Designing Drama Alternate Exercise 1: Scene from a Spy Movie

Summary

This scene depicts a spy, Constantine, waiting to meet his handler, Janine, in a cafe. Constantine is a double agent, and Janine has figured out that he can’t be trusted. Janine calls Constantine and arranges for him to leave for a new mission tomorrow, and for him to turn in his phone in exchange for a new one. Constantine is suspicious of Janine’s sudden change in her plans, but remains oblivious until the end of the scene, when after drinking the coffee ordered for him by Janine, she sends Constantine a text revealing that she intends to get rid of him in some way, but the scene ends on a cliffhanger leaving it ambiguous how Janine intends to deal with Constantine.

Process

To create this scene, my production group met together and composed a shot list for the entire scene. I annotated the script by writing down each shot that would be in the scene, and roughly where the cuts from one shot to the next would be. I was allocated to play Constantine, and I filmed the scene in my kitchen in the morning, because it was the location I had access to that most resembled a cafe, and it had large windows that let in lots of natural light, which would be the easiest way to light the scene evenly and effectively. I used the annotated script with all of our shots as a reference during shooting, and I also used it as a reference in editing to figure when to cut to the next shot. I added muffled jazz music into the scene to make the location feel more like a mediocre cafe, which would reflect the lines in the script where Constantine and Janine imply that the cafe is cheap and unappealing. I also put an effect on Janine’s voiceover to make it sound like it was coming out of Constantine’s phone. As a group we chose to add shots of Constantine through a window and from behind to imply that he was being watched, and I altered the effect on Janine’s voice when we cut outside the window to imply that she was watching Constantine from outside. As a group we felt the highest moments of tension in the scene were when Janine tells Constantine she’s changed his plans, and after Janine texts Constantine saying goodbye to him, and so we chose to go from mid shots to medium close ups in those parts of the scene. I put a blur at the end of the scene, because I felt it enhanced the cliffhanger ending, and reflected the anxiety and uncertainty Constantine feels at the end, it also implies to the audience that Constantine might have been drugged, while still leaving his fate ambiguous, and I wanted to maintain ambiguity in the ending. I didn’t alter the colour grade of the footage, because the natural lighting meant the shots were lit relatively consistently, and I felt that the contrast between Constantine and the dark room behind him elevated the drama of the scene, and the bright sunshine was interesting in that it was subversive, because the scene is so intense and dark, but the setting is very light and cheery.  

What I got out of this Exercise

I think I improved at working in a group through this exercise, because composing a shot list in my group helped me improve at collaborating and ensuring everyone is able to contribute to the overall work. The input from other group members meant that we all got to make the scene they wanted to make, and our individual ideas and interpretations inspired each other and and fitted together really well in the final product, meaning the scene turned out better than it would have, had I filmed and edited it in isolation. I also gained experience framing and setting up less conventional shots with my camera, such as the shot out the window, the close ups of the phone and cafe order, the over the shoulder shot behind Constantine, and the low angle shot of Constantine looking into the mug. I was able to experiment with sound effects while working on this scene, such as putting an effect on Janine’s voiceover to make her sound like she was on the phone, and putting effects on the jazz music, such as reverb, to make it sound like it was really playing in the location, and like it was muffled by poor acoustics. I also gained experience in editing in learning how to blur the footage at the end, and figuring out how to have it gradually increase over several seconds so it wouldn’t happen suddenly and be too jarring.  I also gained experience performing in front of the camera, and being directed by my other group members, who advised me on how to perform the scene before I filmed it. Their advise was to play the character as very calm and restrained and focus on smaller physical movements and facial expressions. This advise was very helpful, and the process of applying it while filming taught me what aspects of physical performance the camera can pick up on, and helped me figure out how to play to the camera with different set ups, such as being more expressive with my face when filming a medium close up, and being more physically expressive in mid shots. While I do not intend to go into performance, I think the experience was helpful for when I work on projects with performers in front of the camera as I have a better understanding of how to direct their performance, and what it is like for them to be in front of the camera. Overall the scene helped me improve at my skills in terms of cinematography, editing, performance and collaboration with others.

-Holly