Sorry about not responding for months. I just got caught up actually shooting things rather then spending my time on the internet. =]
The parameters consisted of having an outdoor night shot, an outdoor day shot, a shot with a practical, a window shot where the outside is not completely blown, and a 3-point lighting situation.
Thanks Tom. I appreciate your kind words. I have a lot to learn, this I know, but the best part about it is that I just crave more. I've never felt like that about anything else really (besides watching movies of course).
I understand the difficulty of the story line with the mixed shots and I wish that we would have not had that requirement but alas we did. It also seemed the best way to do the story in general.
The smile was accident (and it started down pouring right after that take which was our best one camera wise), excuses excuses I know, but the truth nonetheless. I tried to make it seem that they were happy that they got out of their place without getting set on fire.
I will be posting my latest work soon. I feel that its a good step up from this one.