WEEK 4 – epiphany #4

Looking at silent footage is seriously effective.

I paid so much attention to detail – I saw mistakes, I also saw the flow. Although, pointed out by Paul, our week 3 exercises shown were poorly done. I like the honesty – and I saw what he meant. Seeing them silently though really highlighted the establishment of the shots and make me look purely at the framing.

Friday’s exercise was really great! It was a big group – and therefore there was more pressure to take your role seriously. Which I did… as best I could. I was an actor. Dreading seeing myself on screen – but it really gave me an insight. I was able to view from the outside – even though I was apart of the group. I contributed where I could – but also listened to the Director. It was interesting seeing how the shot was set up and then how it played out… The location was frustrating. But you face obstacles on set – and I guess that’s just one of the things that happen. Because it was so restricted I feel like we had a chance to challenge ourselves with shots. My team had a set amount of shots they wanted to do to fulfil the requirements and finish the scene – while we were at the location a little bit more creativity started to kick in and they wanted to try a few other things. We completed the shots with time left – so we redid a few more. Although – I felt like we didn’t push ourselves enough. We didn’t push ourselves creatively enough – we assumed shots to make the time limit and create a smooth process. But because these are exercises I think this is the time we really push ourselves to think outside the box – and even fail. I would be happy to fail at creating a shot – only to know that I took a risk and tried something different. But failing at a shot that is a go-to-shot would annoy me – because that is playing it too safe. But I think when you are working with a team and they are also reflected in what you make is a pressured environment and you have to consider how they feel about the shots. Compromise – but in teams you can’t be selfish.

I think my group did well in working together and sticking to roles. I liked that everyone took their roles seriously – and did what they could with them.

I haven’t been able to see the footage or edit yet – so I will see how that goes.

WEEK 3 – epiphany #3

This week (although I missed Wednesday) was really fun.

The more this course moves along – the more I enjoy it. I sense that some students are getting edgy that we have a lot of control. A lot of people want the best marks and to create the best things that they possibly can (maybe…) – we are so use to sticking to a criteria / set tasks. I like that we have the control. I like that this is experimental and that we are outside a set amount of tasks. It makes me feel like an adult… It makes me feel more in control of what I am learning and what I am capable of doing. I do understand that people are feeling confused and wondering how they are going to get their marks – but I think we need to learn to enjoy the process rather than the final result. I have complete trust in my tute – I feel like I am in a room of some very talented people. So it’s exciting for me to learn how they think, how they feel about exercises and how they react to being pushed creatively. I find it all very interesting.

The Friday class was great – the exercise we had to do really put the pressure on. We were forced quickly to work with people we didn’t know well and allow them to direct us. I unfortunately wasn’t able to direct a scene (as we ran out of time) – but watching other people think on their feet was interesting. Some people handled it well – some people wanted to make an abstract shot (or a well thought out shot) and others wanted to just get the shot done.