observation 11

I was at Centrelink a few weeks ago and I was left alone at one of the desks while the employee went to find something out for me when I heard a couple talking at another desk. I often find myself listening in on people’s conversations and I don’t even realise how rude it is until later or if they catch me watching. The woman was speaking calmly to the employee explaining that she hadn’t informed them of her new living arrangement because it was on and off, but the man slipped up and told them they were living together 24/7, this caused the employee to change the payments the woman was receiving. When I got up to leave, the couple were just ahead of me and once we were out of the vicinity, the woman started screaming at the man about how much he’d fucked up. She hurled abuse at the man for at least 30 seconds before she grabbed the keys from his hand and drove off without him. He stood there for a few seconds before walking in the opposite direction.

THE FILM

I think if I wanted to translate this into a film, I would want to make it a scene of a large conflict. Perhaps even keep the setting of the front of Centrelink. I think this setting would actually work really well in a film. The couple could either be very clean and well dressed, maybe to juxtapose with the setting and the commonalities of attire often seen there; or I could work with the sort of look the two actual characters were sporting: dirty tracksuits and a hoodie. I would want this to be a very short and only focus on one scene, and have it mostly focused on the dialogue and acting of the conflict, and not so much on the aesthetic and style of shooting.

reflection 6

During today’s class we started our group assignment on exercise #4. The task was to re-make two scenes from existing drama films by assignment roles to group members and creating it in our small groups. Even though I do think it can be beneficial to deconstruct a scene, I don’t think it was very beneficial for our learning in this studio. I think there was a certain limiting aspect to this, because we blocked the scenes to match the existing content, but we weren’t able to shoot in our own creative way, we just had to try and copy the original, which I didn’t enjoy at all. I think maybe I would have changed it by using an existing scene in terms of action, and try and re-create it by using own shots and set/location to try and build the scene in an idiosyncratic way.

Reflection #5

I spoke to Robin after class yesterday, and he made me realise that it isn’t rude to try and teach people how to use equipment. We spent the class orchestrating a drama-like set up of a conversation between two people at a table. With only a director, camera operation, a boom swinger and a sound recordist, most of the class were left to watch. Having done two studios previously that focused quite a lot on the use of equipment, it is both tedious and difficult to watch the process of learning from the beginning. As I watched the set up and production of the scene, I reluctantly offered a few pieces of advice to the sound recordist and the boom swinger but I just felt rude doing so, and I don’t really know why. Robin can’t really go around and teach everyone how to do everything so I guess it is ok for the students to help each other out. So I think that’s something I want to do a bit more of in the coming weeks, because sound (and camera) is something that not many people in our class have really worked with before, and I have both recorded and mixed sound on multiple productions so I guess I should help out a bit u kno.

reflection #4

From now on all future observations have to be followed by how that observation could be made into a film. Looking back on my last 8 observations, I don’t see any instant film ideas come out of it, or even an image in my head of how it could be seen in a drama scene (I’m not really keen on documentary at the moment so I’m adjusting my eyes to only see drama), but I think with this new proposal, I think I might start to observe different things because of my new intention. I’ve also noticed that I don’t expand much on what I actually see. Last week a few people read out an observation, and they tend to write about how they view the situation rather than just what they actually see, and I think this is what I need to work on. I think if I start to kind of explore my observations more and give them more thought than just writing what I saw. Although in my last reflection I did start to reflect more on what I saw and how it made me felt so I guess I’m ~growing~ in this process.

the interview reflection (#3)

For the second individual exercise I took a bit of a facetious approach to the interview, because I have already done a similar assignment to this and I did it like a sit down serious interview, and I think I learnt all that I had to learn with that approach. I’ve got to admit, editing a piece like this is much easier because you know the sort of answers you’re going to get with someone acting as someone who knows the project and the time limit, whereas with the other approach you kind of have to sift through a lot of their answers and cut and edit it to make it comprehendible (or not). I kind of knew the outcome of this assignment before I even shot it. I had a few questions I’d ask Monaliza, I’d get a pretty basic answer, and I’d cut in some external footage and that’s about it. I kind of wanted to focus of aesthetics for this project, but I guess if I were to do this again, I’d take it more seriously and actually put more preparation and time into it. Although, I did think my idea and final piece went well. I think it’s kind of weird and awkward but that is what I was going for so I guess that is a success.

Observation #8

I always feel guilty when I see someone who is seemingly homeless or in some way affected by drugs or alcohol, I tend to grab my bag a little tighter and pick myself up a bit so I’m ready to make a quick escape. This isn’t fair. There is no real reason I should fear people like this. Like today I was standing at the platform about to catch the train when a man who was wearing dirty sweats crouched down near me and takes out the contents of his bag. At a quick glance I saw a pipe and a lighter, and an empty Gatorade bottle, which from my angle I couldn’t tell if it was just an average bottle or a homemade bong. See? Why do I assume that he has a fucking bong just because of the way he was dressed. He didn’t even look at me but I was already afraid of him. When the train pulled up to the platform, I walked down a little further so I wouldn’t be on the same carriage as him. As it were, he ended up being at the opposite end of my carriage, and he caught my gaze and kept it for a few seconds. I felt offended within myself that I would assume so much from someone I know so little about. It’s not like I’ve ever had an exchange with someone in public that would leave me to be so afraid. Maybe I just feel vulnerable when I’m by myself. Maybe. Maybe I’m just afraid in general. Maybe.

reflection #2

I think one thing that I’ve really noticed in my own processes of making things is that I tend to try and fast track everything. Like when making a film, I’ll try and get through everything in pre-production as fast as I can and just tick the boxes of things. But with this course I’m starting to notice the smaller details in the storytelling process. This “revelation” was kind of realised when we went for a walk during class to sort of clear our heads. There was no real task set but I noticed myself kind of watching people and seeing what they are doing, and kind of trying to rush a moment I would then write as an observation and then write a script based off my initial observation and then make a short film. When I really just need to chill. Things take time, and they take care. I also feel like I stress myself out when I can’t come up with an idea when I sit down and try for an hour. I think storytelling needs to be something I think about 24/7 and not just when the time comes to come up with an idea and write up a script. I think if I want to achieve anything in this course it would be to learn the whole process of coming up with an idea and taking things in a slower approach and I guess it’s lame, but enjoying the whole thing.

observation #7

Yesterday I was driving on a busy main road with a friend in the passenger seat and I was turning into the left lane to turn the corner and as I was about to change lanes, I saw an old Asian man wheeling a double mattress on a trolley. He taking up the whole lane. It was almost surreal because I had never seen such a weird thing happen, especially in the middle of a busy intersection. After we stopped to let him pass us, we turned around and saw him crossing the road between all these moving cars. There was this really weird moment in the middle of it all where I just looked at him with my mouth unknowingly wide open, as he just stared straight back at me in such a “what are you looking at” sort of way, like somehow I’m the weird one in the scenario.

observation #6

When I was leaving ALDI the day and I noticed the guy in front of me holding a few bottles of wine and a six pack of glass beer bottles. His phone started to ring and as he started to reach for his phone in his back packet, he dropped the beer and the glass smashed almost in slow motion. The area around him instantly reeked of beer. As the damage was already done, the only thing I could offer were the words, “we’ve all been there” as he just stood there, disappointingly answering his phone.