Question 1

Throughout this semester, i hope to develop my skills as a film maker, particularly in the technical area. I find ideas quite easily, though i have a difficult time figuring out which ones are good and which are bad, so perhaps i will learn that too. Technically, i am still a novice, and have little idea about how to make a film, and more importantly, what makes a good film. When i am confronted with film to analyse, it is easier for me to find themes and meanings than to determine whether it is technically good or not. “Does this shot work?” who knows, certainly not me. If i have enough time, such as when writing an essay i can generally figure it out, but my analytic skills could also be developed. So i hope to become more natural and comfortable with film techniques, terms and practices.

Question 2

“Do not write as if it is real life, as real life is boring.” We all know this in some way, but i took it down as a note because sometimes when writing ideas we tend to forget, and our characters end up being uninteresting. You don’t aim for your character to be boring, but if you are focused on the plot aspect, you may forget about your character. The same goes the other way, if you are really character based, you may come up with a really mundane plot, so something with potential to be really interesting seems like real life again. It was also useful to know, specifically, what makes a good character. A character with a dramatic reaction to something that affects them, they want something, they react outwardly. These are all things that i know in the back of my mind, but forget to consider when i am coming up with ideas. Having these points from the lecture noted will be really beneficial to me as i think they are really strong, universal ideas, and as outlined in question one, i struggle with differentiating a good idea from a bad one.

Question 3

Slogans for the screenwriter’s wall. In Mackendrick, A. On film-making, (p. 40-43). New York: Faber & Faber, 2004.

In this reading from week two, i found each of the points from the “Screenwriters wall” useful and to the point. Particularly how movies show, and then tell. They are first and foremost a visual medium, and the visuals alone should be enough to get the point across to some extent. Movies can still be brilliant if there’s no sound or dialogue, or, as the reading suggests, if they are in a foreign language.

This also ties in with the point raised about student films being too long, and i think in many of those cases, perhaps the students didn’t utilise the visual aspect as well as they could have. there is a reason films are much shorter than books, a picture says 1000 words. This excites me because it makes me want to create something short, with as little dialogue as possible, and just focus on the visual aspects of film instead. It could really develop my awareness as a film maker.