A few thoughts on my experiences this weekend. I don't know what I'm doing. So that's clear. I am very uncertain of the technical aspects of filmmaking. The camera, angles, editing, verbage. Even on our small sets, there feels like a lot going on and I'm trying to learn to keep it all straight. What I want to discover over the course of this semester is a way of working that feels easy, yet fulfilling, for me, the crew, and the actors involved. I'm not sure I accomplished that this weekend, but I have a better understanding now and know what I'll try to do next time. Ill give a brief recap of our weekend and try to give some thoughts that you may or may not care to take into your consideration. 1. Friday- We shot Natalie's opening phone call with Joey (now Jack) in her hotel room at Lod Cook. I was nervous for several reasons. I was working with an actor who I had know clue about. I was working in a space I had no clue of. And I was using equipment I was very unfamiliar with. Sound like winning recipe? We shot two setups, one on the couch and the second standing. The second setup looked and felt better and I think Natalie's performance reflects that. The fact is, I had to walk into the room, figure out blocking and lighting, set up the camera, and try to make it look good. We then went down stairs to get the MOS shots of her in the car leaving for the Yukon. These do look great and I'll be excited to see them. Saturday: Saturday was tough. There was a fair amount of tension from several factors, none of which are worth mentioning. I will say, that as a director, I felt very out of control. That's not good for anybody. We got what we needed but I think it could have been easier. That's ultimately my job. This again, was a place I hadn't seen before. Go see your locations. Even if you show up 45 minutes ahead of time, just do it so it can feed you ideas and you won't feel like you're making it up on the spot. You may have to make it up, but I still think we could have been better prepared. Sunday This I think was our most successful day. We really only shot the scene 3 or 4 times ( it's a long scene) the actors looked and felt good and I got some stuff that I wanted to get. Overall, the simplest shoot and also the one most closely executed to what I had envisioned. I also showed up 45 minutes before anybody and spent that time looking for what I wanted. If I had to do it all over again, I would make sure I had a camera with me.
Here's what I envision for my "style." I believe in good actors. I don't think we're props. I want to give you the space and the opportunity to work and live. I'd like to be set up early to put the actors at ease, to let them rehearse and run things and acclimate. And when they're ready, we'll shoot. But making all of those where decisions is harder than I thought. I'm not above learning these lessons and I think it's important that we remember that that is why we're in class. To discover our process.
Big thanks to Anthony, Donald, Jess and Evleen for your support and encouragement. You guys were great.
A few thoughts on my experiences this weekend.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what I'm doing. So that's clear. I am very uncertain of the technical aspects of filmmaking. The camera, angles, editing, verbage. Even on our small sets, there feels like a lot going on and I'm trying to learn to keep it all straight. What I want to discover over the course of this semester is a way of working that feels easy, yet fulfilling, for me, the crew, and the actors involved. I'm not sure I accomplished that this weekend, but I have a better understanding now and know what I'll try to do next time. Ill give a brief recap of our weekend and try to give some thoughts that you may or may not care to take into your consideration.
1. Friday- We shot Natalie's opening phone call with Joey (now Jack) in her hotel room at Lod Cook. I was nervous for several reasons. I was working with an actor who I had know clue about. I was working in a space I had no clue of. And I was using equipment I was very unfamiliar with. Sound like winning recipe? We shot two setups, one on the couch and the second standing. The second setup looked and felt better and I think Natalie's performance reflects that. The fact is, I had to walk into the room, figure out blocking and lighting, set up the camera, and try to make it look good.
We then went down stairs to get the MOS shots of her in the car leaving for the Yukon. These do look great and I'll be excited to see them.
Saturday:
Saturday was tough. There was a fair amount of tension from several factors, none of which are worth mentioning. I will say, that as a director, I felt very out of control. That's not good for anybody. We got what we needed but I think it could have been easier. That's ultimately my job. This again, was a place I hadn't seen before. Go see your locations. Even if you show up 45 minutes ahead of time, just do it so it can feed you ideas and you won't feel like you're making it up on the spot. You may have to make it up, but I still think we could have been better prepared.
Sunday
This I think was our most successful day. We really only shot the scene 3 or 4 times ( it's a long scene) the actors looked and felt good and I got some stuff that I wanted to get. Overall, the simplest shoot and also the one most closely executed to what I had envisioned. I also showed up 45 minutes before anybody and spent that time looking for what I wanted. If I had to do it all over again, I would make sure I had a camera with me.
Here's what I envision for my "style." I believe in good actors. I don't think we're props. I want to give you the space and the opportunity to work and live. I'd like to be set up early to put the actors at ease, to let them rehearse and run things and acclimate. And when they're ready, we'll shoot. But making all of those where decisions is harder than I thought. I'm not above learning these lessons and I think it's important that we remember that that is why we're in class. To discover our process.
Big thanks to Anthony, Donald, Jess and Evleen for your support and encouragement. You guys were great.