This class saw us filming a few basic scenes as a class, similarly to last Friday. The scenes came from the ideas of three students who took the role of director, while the rest of us did what they said. Like last week, I found this process extremely useful, more so even as I found myself behind a camera this class rather than in front. Of the three scenes, I personally got the most out of Mimo’s, mainly due to my more central role. Being the person in charge of the camera plugged into the monitor for everyone to see made me feel surprisingly under pressure. For a lot of the time, I felt like I was just trying to make it look like I knew what I was doing(kind of a day to day feeling for me), but as it went on it started to feel like maybe I did kind of know what I was doing. One of the main things that took me a while to get right was the combination of panning and titling to follow the actor, Ella, as she walked from one point to another. After some failed attempts, I felt I did pretty well on the final take. Something I found useful here was the tip that Paul has shared a few times now of starting in the uncomfortable position, and moving into comfortability when moving the camera. While directing is probably my main interest, I have found that I really enjoy being directed, and trying to do whatever it is the director wants.
Like last week, I was able to watch the other roles being filled, including the directors and those in charge of lighting. I particularly enjoyed the different styles of directing, as Corey, for example, took a seemingly more one on one approach, as he stood right by the people working camera, giving very close direction, while Ella, for her scene, seemed to be kind of overlooking it all from afar, often talking to everyone as a class/crew. I felt both of these styles were solid, and totally complemented the style of each of their scenes.
(I also nearly broke a $1000+ camera today from pure clumsiness, maybe carelessness, but I’m happy to never speak of that again)