This week, for exercise 7, I had a go at acting. Overall it was not the most enjoyable experience, I did not like that I could not see what the shots actually looked like. This meant I was making movements based on what other people were saying but I did not see the implication of it. I figure now that I have had my go I can be behind the camera next time! I found in this exercise that I was looking at it from a more directorial perspective, which is definitely something I would like to do in another exercise.
I liked how our footage turned out, and I think making the decision to have it black and white was a good choice considering we then did not have to think about colour temperature. It also proved what we had discussed previously that, especially in black and white, we can very quickly accept what we see as the reality. When we looked at the colour version, it looked very fake – there were clearly artificial lights in the space. I do think though it worked I was wearing a dark outfit that day, which I think made my face stand out as a focal point.
One thing I was unhappy with, which was discussed in class, were the unnecessary shadows. When pointed out, it actually drew me out of the reality of the scene. I will be sure to watch out for this next time, and figure out some ways to combat the issue. Overall I had an enjoyable experience with exercise 7, and this was especially because this time around we actually had many different shots, and did many takes too. It was good that there was some variety and we did not just have to settle for something we did not like. The only downside of this was that I did not manage to take down the shot details, which is disappointing.
On Thursday, I enjoyed enhancing my knowledge and learning how to correctly set white balance. Just playing around with it in class, we focused on the pink chair, making the colour very green. We made the remark that it had the look of Paranormal Activity, which is interesting, considering that was a low-budget production. It is definitely an easy way to set a particular style without relying on any post-production colour grading. Using white-balance to colour in certain ways is definitely an intriguing element that I would like to explore further.
Doing the colour temperature exercise was definitely more challenging than I thought – it is more than just stepping through different lights. I think we managed to achieve it in the shot where I was outdoors and stepped indoors. The shot started blue and as I walked inside the colour was more true to life, and the blue tint was eliminated. It was interesting to explore though, and when achieved is affective, as shown in the French Connection clip.
My final thought for the week goes to cinematographers, and doing more research into who it is that has shot some of my favourite movies. For example one of my favourite films, Marie Antoinette was shot by Lance Acord, who also did Lost in Translation, Where the Wild Things Are, Being John Malkovich, and Adaptation. I find it interesting to see how different people work together to create these stylised films. Of course Sofia Coppola’s work is very different to Spike Jonze’s work, so how has Lance Acord aligned to their styles, whilst also bringing forward his own style (as well as his skill and talent) to the films. The next time I watch a movie, I think my prior research of the film will not be of the director, or the actors, but of the cinematographer.