Guest blog by Director of Photography ... PAUL HOWARD

Columbia University

Shoot Day 5 - The last few small scenes of Big Apple Dreaming were shot in a cab, which proved to be quite challenging. The day was overcast and due to the tall buildings, not a lot of light actually made it's way into the interior of the cab as we traveled. Fortunately the scenes were brief so we were able to do shoot them several times to make best use of the changing ambient light. New York streets are bumpy, so going hand held in the cab is really hard work.

We shot the scene, stationary, with a green screen. Mainly because we needed shots of Evan driving and it was  safer this way and better for Evan, not enjoying driving in NYC, especially in a cab with other drivers cutting him off. We'll add movement to these shots in post to better simulate travel.

Guest blog by Director of Photography ... PAUL HOWARD

Shoot day 4 - Our production team had been working for several days to secure a very special location for our last scenes, The Waldorf Astoria. The stunning Park Avenue foyer has a massive chandelier sparkling above an intricate marble floo

Guest blog by Director of Photography ... PAUL HOWARD

Shoot Day 3 - A 5am start. Central Park is beautiful at this time and today the weather is shaping up to be gorgeous. Our first location is the Delacorte Theatre, a huge outdoor theatre built in 1962 with a seating capacity of 1800. Originally the scene was written as an interior, so we quickly figure out how to make it work as an exterior scene to take advantage of the stunning park backgrounds. As we walk to our location, a massive bicycle race begins, allowing us excellent cut-aways of park life.

Guest blog by Director of Photography ... PAUL HOWARD

With the first day under our belts, a later start and a lighter day is planned for our second shoot day. The sun is shining, filling us with energy and we're back at The Boathouse Cafe, in Central Park, to shoot a few short scenes with HILDY, played by Randwick student Gillian Fahey and CHIP played by American actor Evan Newman.

Guest blog by Director of Photography ... PAUL HOWARD

DAY 1... After months of waiting, our '14 day study tour' to New York finally became a reality. 4 teachers and 10 students from Randwick TAFE Screen & Media dept are in New York as part of the Going Global Initiative to help students network globally for their career advancement.

We are here to attend the Tribecca Film Festival, meet film students from our sister college BMCC (Borough of Manhattan Community College) and collaborate with them on a Rom-Com Musical short film, written by our teams' director PHIL MOORE and I'm on board as Supervising Cinematographer.