On the first lesson of Designing Drama, Robin stated that narrative film was not photographed story and as media practitioners we should not make any assumption about how things are done in media productions, but we will discover how things are done. And I understood him right away when we were given the first exercises – the script of zoom meetings of Barney, Rachel and Evie, Martin. My first instinct was to analyze the characters’ emotions and their relationships. For example, Barney seemed lonely, then in shock and hurt which was totally opposite with the just-too-cheerful Rachel, made me wonder if he was in love with her without her knowing; the characters from the second script also depicted a contrast in their attitude where Martin was indifferent and bored while Evie was so enthusiastic which resulted in her being more and more annoyed. Those were what Holly, Ella and I took into consideration, and Robert loved the outcome.
However, what our professor paid attention to was none of the things that our group cared about, but the toys that were unintentionally placed next to us, the background behind us, the clothes we wear, our gestures, and how those things contrast each other when we conveyed Evie and Martin. We assumed we should care about the emotions, but as it turned out it is more about all the things that are not mentioned in the script: the inclusion of something, exclusion of something, little details in costumes and body language, and many more. At first it seemed a bit unnecessary, but when I refer to how myself watch and analyze a scene or a movie, I realize I do the same thing. Just like how I noticed the Wong War Kai suppresses the main characters of ‘In the Mood for Love’ (2000) in frames of doors and windows throughout the whole film, it is the least expected element in a scene that build up layers and layers of meaning to the film.
Another question to be answered in the studio is ‘Are films real-life?’. To me, yes, if I think of films as reflection of or inspired by the reality, an ideology, and a community. But also, no, because real life cannot be compressed in 120 minutes, which is why we need an art director to decide what to put into frame, so that lighting, costumes, gestures, props, and many more, can express more than itself and delivery a meaning or a message to the audience.