Monthly Archives: April 2015

Week Six: Reflection/Epiphany

Having time this week to share and discuss our ideas for proposal with our classmates was certainly very helpful and inspiring on many levels. Not only because we can use this opportunity to deeply think about what and how we are going to investigate, but also because we can hear what everyone else is interested in and are going to investigate. For me, that is the most intriguing. Although we were introduced to work with one another at the start of this course, we don’t seem to know much about each other or what everyone is interested in or want to do after this course. I think we all felt the strongest sense of community during that class as we all listened to one another and tried to suggest ideas or help each other out. We all got to know each other truly as individual creative thinkers rather than just a collaborating partner in a weekly exercise.

 

Week Five: Reflection/Epiphany

I felt that this week’s exercise was a lot more organised. We have the opportunity to plan our first exercise. Not only that but because we started straight away on our 3 hour class, we got to do 2 exercises. Our first exercise was a little uninvolved given that we had a crew of 10, and there wasn’t enough for everyone to do. That is not an issue though as sometimes that’s just how it is in a real production.

Performance:

In the single take this week, the script was a very suitable to explore performance and focus on the little gestures and the actors’ interaction with space. Reflecting on our groups’ choice to have the camera transition between different framing as the actors moved from one composition to another was quite effective (as opposed to having a static frame where they move back and forth in). It was challenging to perfect with such little time, but the concept was an inventive one.

The edited scene this week was the most efficient and organised shoot I have participated in so far. Everyone assumed a role and our director (Amy) did an awesome job! I find that having a first A.D and allocating very specific roles to each team member is the key to making a film shoot run smoothly and a pleasant experience. In terms of performance, we gave our actors the liberty to interpret the role they were given, in this case the ‘robot’. The executive team did have to suggest and guide the performance in some ways such as speech tone, movement, gesture, and timing, but it was the actor’s ‘flamboyant charisma’ that brought the character to life!

Although I didn’t direct the performances for this week, it was a chance to observe and compare how others approached the task. In the exercises which I did assume the role of director, I generally focused on getting the actors on the same page as the way I planned it. Communication is a very important part of this. I would walk them through each action and even explain the motivations behind why they were doing something, this included things like looking out of a door before walking, turning around to close a door before spotting someone behind the wall, etc. A big part of my process was determining motivation and causality in the scene (which may seem a bit too literally at times) or creating or including a gesture or movement that makes sense.

To me, it was also an effective strategy to try to incorporate all the timing into the physical movements and actions and curating the sequence of events based on how they would actually proceed in reality. For example, in the shot (week 7: own scene) where my mother had to walk into frame the moment I closed the fridge, my initial instructions was to walk towards the kitchen from the center of the lounge. I predicted that this will allow some time for me to open the fridge and close it. We had to make slight adjustments but it was a much more natural way of timing and synchronizing the actors. Rather than telling them to just wait and walk in. I also believe that the natural progression of the action also make it seem more natural. They get into character before the actual shot.

This is my epiphany for this week.

Week Seven: Reflection/Epiphany + Methodologies: 9

Making Own Scene:

Producing our own scene this week outside of class time was an exciting and meaningful challenge. On the one hand I was keen to test out an idea I had since last year. On the other, it was meant to be a much simpler task of coverage much like the previous exercises we had done in class. And this meant that finding the time and people to help put it together was a greater challenge, especially with such short notice. Never the less, it was a huge turning point for my research of methodology, from hypothetical questions and potential investigations to a solid practical experiment.

Reflecting on the outcome, it made me realise once again my technical weaknesses:

  • exposure
  • colour grading
  • frame consistency in footage
  • continuity
  • and, I just realised how soft the sound is, the speakers in the editing suites are way too loud…

However, it also have set my investigation on an early start. I realised in the filming process, or during the process of ‘decoupage’, that I started to develop my own set of film language that is based on how I interpret my experience of reality through different representations. Having established these representations I then applied them to the different events or shots in the narrative depending on their nature, e.g. whether this is a personal observation of another individual or an act of being conscious of my own self. A simple task quickly become an exploration of ontology and a questioning of the nature or act of observing anything.

This led to an epiphany of how I can explore the questions raised in my research of methodology. I can set up a list of my own film language or a philosophical implication of each film language, and apply them to a scene in the final weeks. The language I develop over the next weeks will be some sort of code that will be embedded into the scene. This will be applied according to how the event or act in the story is and what it indicates. Before creating the final scene, I will first investigate and develop the set of ‘codes’ through observations and reflections on a series of filming exercises and how I seek to interpret the world as I create them. This list of ‘codes’ is not a canon to how to use or communicate with film language, and it may not be an absolute treatment of reality and neither are the more institutional and traditional ways of filmmaking. It is merely a personalised and individualised artistic expression that may potentially be a way of consistently expressing my own experience of reality.

 

Methodologies: 8

As discussed last week, some of my initial ideas for my research proposal are:

  • Methodology as meaning or as an artistic process. focussing on the filmmaking process or method as an act of meaning (maybe like method acting, but method filming).
  • Perhaps coverage informed by philosophical ideas. How often is the use of coverage (or the camera) ontologically driven or to express our experience of reality.
  • How to explore space with coverage(the shape of the space dictates the narrative)
  • Human experience through coverage/covering a scene as we explore or experience something?(or a narrative dictated by any kind of physicality perhaps – sound, music, space, maybe some sort of data). A story of our senses? A story of observing? A story of measuring reality with our experience.
  • The act of pointing a camera – Voyeurism
  • The meaning of covering a scene.

Methodologies: 7

“The difference may be the difference between finding a world and creating one; the difference between using the preexisting materials of reality and organizing those materials into a totally formed vision; the difference between an effort to discover the orders independent of the watcher and to discover those orders the watcher creates by his act of seeing. Voyeurism is a characteristic visual device of the closed film, for it contains the proper mixture of freedom and compulsion: free to see something dangerous and forbidden, conscious that one wants to see and cannot look away. In closed films the audience is a victim, imposed on by the perfect coherence of the world on the screen. In open films the audience is a guest, invited into the film as an equal whose vision of reality is potentially the same as that of the director.” – Leo Braudy 1977, The World in a Frame, p.49

Another passage from Leo Braudy’s book triggered an epiphany of an idea for a scene that could potentially be my research topic:

A character (represented by appropriate camera movement) who somehow became invisible to the world around him. The scene is of him/her watching a scenario between two other characters (or maybe one). The invisible character’s reactions or gestures are not signified. The only way the audience know of its existence is to imagine. Maybe hands and body may appear in the edge of frame to indicate a person; or simply, more subtle, by head movements and sudden panning. Humanly movements but no physical presence.

A few days after this epiphany, I came across this short film The Girl Chewing Gum by John Smith who also directed Blight.

The Girl Chewing Gum, 1976

Blight, 1996

Methodologies: 6

A conversation with Jess last week brought up difficulties of collaborations. We discussed how most times it is difficult to convince others to be committed passionately to your projects or ideas. When collaborations in productions generally dictate that we have specific allocated roles of execution, the team you work with are often uninterested or are not able to be involved in the conceptualisation of your project. Even if they are teamed up with you from the start, what you initially had in mind or the motivations behind your concept soon have to become irrelevant. Sometimes, even if you try to communicate them to your partners, their reception and interpretation of your concept will never be what you intended.

Methodologies: 5

Jess’s questions have inspired and triggered questions of my own.

What are the reasons behind decisions of coverage? aesthetics? style? reality?

I am also intrigued by the question of window or frame:

“In the closed film the frame of the screen totally defines the world inside as a picture frame does; in the open film the frame is more like a window, opening a privileged view on a world of which other views are possible. The closed film definition of its inner space is therefore geometric and architectural … In the open film, character plays a more important role than architecture, unless that architecture is the momentary frame inside the film frame: a doorway, a proscenium, a window.” – Leo Braudy 1977, The World in a Frame, p.48

  • How often do we relate to the scene we cover with our experience of it? Maybe this is what I am bothered by: I am too busy experiencing rather than making?
  • How can we use coverage for different purposes?
  • How often is coverage philosophically driven? or merely to describe the events in creative ways? How do we create meaning with coverage? Do we dance with the camera like Chris Doyle?
  • The relationships between the 3 dimensional aspects of spatial dynamics in scene coverage and the compositional and photographic aspects of framing the shot.

Methodologies: 4

Since starting this course, I have recently revisited my journal of film ideas over the Easter break. And found that I was able to add quite a few details on each idea and they all seem to be related to scene construction and coverage. The Creative process is a funny one. I get this funny feeling whenever I am revisiting a past work or concept and find myself adding, reflecting or thinking differently when I approach it.

In addition to my new insights to scene construction, I also felt a sense of detachment from the ideas due to the natural course of time. This meant that I could approach it with a certain objectivity that I previously didn’t have. I visualized new things when reading my notes and scripts. Places where I was blocked and couldn’t perceive how the characters or events could continue to make sense suddenly didn’t seem to be a problem anymore.

It has also been quite a while since I have reviewed some ideas and have become even more excited about them than the first time.

 

Methodologies: 3

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to be first assistant director on a film shoot. Previously I did not know much about the role aside from the fact that it is a pretty challenging role with some heavy multitasking. Through this experience, I have learnt that a First A.D’s responsibilities are:

  • Keeping track of time and the duration of each shot
  • Keeping track of the shot list & organizing the order they are covered
  • Managing and organizing all actors & crew on set. Making sure everyone is where they should be.
  • General assistant to Director
  • First aid and Safety person

It was a very rewarding experience. Not only did I meet a lot of like-minded people but I was also able to observe how they approached the different roles in a production such as: director, cinematographer, sound mixer, etc. While watching a group work together in a real situation, I saw evidence of focus, teamwork and commitment that had not been as prominent in the short term collaborations we have been exploring so far due to time constraints. However, since the exercises we have been doing are aimed for personal insight, experiences and improvement, they provide learning opportunities that are different but equally as important.

Methodologies: 2

In the coming weeks I plan to explore:

  • The difference between the industrial model and postindustrial independent film-making practices.
  • Look at each role involved in a film production.
  • Find out about them through practice.
  • Reflect on the development of my method of practice.
Note: This list is subject to change during the process of research and reflection.