Film 3: Shot for Shot: Signs
Kent Thalman
10/20/16
Director's Reflection
DP: Hailey Davis
Film 3: Shot for Shot:
Overall response (2-3 paragraphs):
In 2-3 paragraphs, write an overall response to your film: Were you successful at achieving what you set out to achieve? What are you proud of? What would you do differently if you could remake this piece? What did you learn?
Overall, I am very pleased with the experience of having made this piece, dispite the many flaws it contains. It has been the best learning experience for me so far, and has taught me one powerful lesson: that every single thing makes a difference. Every tiny thing that is different in the frame or soundtrack create a different movie. The experience for the audience won't be the same, which makes every film unique. The challenge is making decisions that make an individual film most effective.
I am proud of how most of the images turned out as far as their quality. I feel that the lighting was pretty close, although there was plenty left to be desired on that point. Also, I was happy with how Adam read on screen. I am glad that we finished mostly on time, and that I had the chance to work with Hailey and Adam, who are both very talented and professional. Hailey brings a lot to the table as a DP, and doesn't really need much direction honestly (at least as far as camera is concerned). And Adam will always come early and stay late, and help with way more than an actor is supposed to help with in more ideal circumstances.
If I were to remake this piece, I would change a lot. The tone of the space was far too dark and low key, so I would have tried to use more fill lights, and pump the light from outside the window. I also would do way more location scouting to find a better match for that space. That turned out to be harder than I thought, and I'm still not happy with how the space looked in the end (I learned that I should always error on the side of too spacious!). I learned too much to list, but most of all I am comprehending the need to be able to see an image while composing/creating it, and know how it is going to FEEL. I need to be able to really see what I am getting while directing a film, and feel how it is working.
Briefly answer the following:
What, specifically, did you want to communicate? Were you successful? Why? Why not?
I wanted to communicate the same feelings as the original scene, which, in this case was a failure. I believe this was mostly because of my lack of mastery or control of the visual elements. I needed to simply be more precise with my camera moves and my lighting especially. I don't feel like I could have done much for the performance because of the shot for shot requirements, but it would be interesting to redo the assignment and give the actor more latitude to perform in stead of copy, and then see if I could still cut it together about the same.
How, specifically, did you try to say this? What visual elements, techniques, etc. did you use?
I really focused on matching the timing a little to much I think. That wasn't as important perhaps as matching other things. But otherwise, I consciously chose Adam because of his shape, and chose the location because of its look, even thought its geography was pretty off. I also tried to put extra time into set up and lighting. Once again, this ended up being a mix of failure and success.
What did you learn about storytelling:
First, I learned to approach a scene musically. We talked in class about how the bumps in the unsteady camera moves really affected how engaged the audience could be in the scene. It didn't allow us to trudge forward with the slow approach to the pantry. Also, I need to allow the scene to create questions, and then slowly hold off on the reveal, so that the audience engages in the action with the characters. This is done through performance, but also by shooting it in a way so that details are slowly revealed as the character realizes them himself. This allows the audience to participate as opposed to simply observing.
Working with actors and getting performance:
Making a shot for shot recreation of something is a poor way to make a performance feel authentic. That's not an excuse, it's just sort of true. I think it's also hard as a filmmaker to feel you heart engage in someone else's pre-executed ideas. However, I also learned that actors need to act. They shouldn't feel like they have to help on set or get distracted by talking to the director about movies or friends, etc. Time on set is sacred, and we should be focusing on how we're building our movie in our minds and in the actual space. So I need to give the actor space to act and think.
Blocking — camera and actors: The camera blocking is simple, but elegant in this scene. It is the very subtle changes that make the storytelling rich with texture, as opposed to the huge, dynamic camera sweeps. Also, I learned that if I am going to successfully block an actor, I need to see them as they perform. I was too busy looking into a tiny viewfinder that I couldn't see anyway to notice what the actor was actually doing. Thus, Adam's walking and other movements feel kind of funny.
Visuals — composition, framing, visual elements: Get a monitor if possible. I need to be able to see the frame to compose it. And, everything makes a difference. I still feel like the visual components are controlling me more than I am controlling them.
Design & Art Direction: Find a location that is too big rather than too small. It's easy to make a space feel smaller, but making it feel bigger is really difficult. Also, frames get cluttered very very easily. It is easier to move things on set than to paint them out of frame in post (which I did a lot of on this one).
The Production Process — collaboration with crew, the logistics of making this piece: More pre-production would have helped me feel more prepared in production. But either way, I feel like I make notes, but don't follow them very well still while on set. I need to review all of my notes an hour or two before shooting, so that it's fresh in my mind. Then review all notes on a shot before each shot so that I know that I got what I needed.
What was it like to watch your film with an audience? Did they understand it? Miss the point? Why did they respond the way they did?
It was a great learning experience. Honestly, I matched most of the “important” stuff well, but missed enough details that the feeling just didn't come across to the audience. And that was nearly unanimous. So, I learned that there are things about the musicality of a scene that can really effect how an audience participates. Each shot moved straight to the point of the shot too fast, and therefore, the audience didn't feel like they were discovering the story with the character.
Other observations: Mel Gibson is a genius actor. I am starting to learn what “thinking” looks like, versus just going through the motions. It makes me really want to try acting more!
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