Post 1:

Through the semester of study and practice, I realized more clearly that the job of a director is complex and challenging. I can safely say that in any movie, acting and stage performance, the director’s work is indispensable. If the director can’t give the actor an answer, then the actor won’t know what kind of mentality he or she should use to perform. Reflecting on assignment 1, I said I didn’t understand what my cousin told me “don’t impose your understanding of the character on the actor, you must give the actor room to create his or her own work in order to have a living and breathing performance.” Now I have thought about that and could understand it. I believe it is a way to breathe life into the characters in your story. Improvisation this concept keeps coming to my mind and it has benefited me a lot. Other than that, subtext is a new concept was introduced to this semester, which can be elusive, allowing actors to express the soul of their characterization and better portray their roles. It can also leave the audience eager to dig between the lines for deeper meaning. Maybe I will use it in my next projects.Plus, when I get a script, the first thing I should do is to understand the details of each plot, experience each character, and then provide a motivation for each of the character’s actions to make the plot dynamic. In addition, we also discussed character description and script analysis, which contributed to the final film. A series of exercises in the class, such as the audition, rehearsal, and acting, assisted me to learn the job of a director.

Overall, this course is both interesting and practical, and definitely met my expectations, with the added extra of learning about subtext. I hope that all students who have dreams in the field of directing and film will be successful in reaching their goals in the near future.

Thanks Sebastian, I really appreciated everything you have taught us through out this semester!

Post 2:

The name of my scene is “Messy Kitchen.” It was shot in a panicked, overwhelmed condition. During the rehearsal and analyzing the script, I did not give the actors the scene only once because my actors are not well trained. I was patient in my communication, patient with myself, and patient with my actors, and believe that an untrained actor can be a great film actor. Plus, I like to let the actors play freely during rehearsals, to see more possibilities and innovations.

This scene involves Jerrod’s fumbling around with cooking is a major part of the film. I told the actor that if your performance is clumsy enough, it’s also a way to get a laugh and create comedy. During the shoot, I again told the actor playing Jerrod to play it up while keeping the scale in mind, and I would capture every tense shot on camera. Doing so really gave him the freedom to play and make the most of his performance. Additionally, the interplay between the actors is essential. The actor who played Eric was chosen directly at the audition stage, and his personal background, communication, and appearance were a good match for the character of Eric, such as the hair gel, which reveals some arrogance, condescension, and sarcasm. At the same time, when personality, aspirations, and opportunities merge into one, the tension comes out. Since my actors are all from China, the choice was made to have the actors perform in Mandarin. This was actually a joint suggestion from Sebastian and my actors, which I did not realised before. By comparing the shots I found that when they were performing in their native language, the emotions were more intense and natural because the process of translating the language in the brain was eliminated. I have to say it was a good choice. Also, I personally feel that too much guidance and definition for the actors rather wastes the aura of the actors, even if the actors are not professionals, they will have their own creative ideas that can be adopted.

In the shooting of this project, I chose to do a rehearsal version in advance before the official start of the shoot, and this process was advantageous because my two actors did not know each other before, and during the rehearsal process, they were able to communicate well with each other to understand and adapt their performances. Meanwhile, it also allowed me to see the spark and endless possibilities of both actors.

Speaking of this project, my scene was trying to reach to comedy style, and make audiences fully engaged with my story. I am a huge fan of comedy, especially in today’s fast-paced society where people need more outlets and ways to relax, reduce the stress of work or life, and regulate their emotions, and that is one of the reasons why I am fascinated by comedy. Besides, this atmosphere is actually the creation of a variety of aspects, including the shooting screen, storyline, actor performance, line design, music, and special effects, etc. Furthermore, the aesthetic value of comedy comes mostly from the content of life. I hope the audience will be impressed by Jerrod’s first attempt at cooking and the witty background music, which makes the audience feel relaxed and free. Moreover, in a way, it also reveals the struggle for dignity and the spirit of challenging oneself between the two men.

Whereas, since this is my first time trying to shoot a comedy, the core things I am willing to improve and extend are, from the post-production point of view, I want to learn more about the methods and techniques of comedy editing. Through discussions with Sebastian, I know that faster shots may be more pleasing. The slow and drawn-out plot does not help the continuation of the stack of laughs, while the fast and compact plot will look relatively enjoyable. Besides, I have to pay more attention to composition and angle coherence when shooting, so that when viewing will not distracted. On the other hand, if I had the chance to continue working on this media piece, I would delve deeper into the process of making people laugh. Since the comedy focuses on the dramatic structure and the conflict of the characters’ actions, I would spend more time thinking about how to show Eric and Jerrod’s inner conflict more reasonably.

All in all, I hugely enjoyed the experience of shooting with these two actors, but need to continue to learn various techniques in depth. As a director, we have to work with the actors and backstage crew to achieve the desired effect for the final film. Also, this course provided me with vital skills and knowledge about directing performance, which is a precious and valuable experience that will be quite useful in my future research field, creative projects, and even my career.

Post 3:

Collaboration is a skill that I have been relatively lacking, and I was afraid to talk much during the first few group exercises, not knowing if it would be effective. Fortunately, the process of working with professional actors or classmates this semester has improved my communication skills in collaboration. In fact, collaboration is vital for directors. For example, to enhance the motivation of actors. I think that the premise that the director and the actors work very well together, will definitely be beneficial to the quality of the whole film. The actors are physically and mentally happy in the process of acting, which also helps them to show what they want to perform. And if the director feels comfortable working with the actor, they will also feel relaxed while directing the film. This creates the most comfortable and natural shooting and creative environment. For instance, during the process of shooting a short film, I was able to confirm details with the actors and accept their subjective acting demands, which was beneficial to the film collaboration. When doing script analysis exercise with my group, I tried to constantly throw out my ideas about the expression of my lines. In this way, it has increased my creative spirit and sense of active participation. By communicating with my classmates, I have been able to boldly express my opinions through words, which is the progress I can see in myself. More important, listening to others is a key point. This means keeping a good learning mindset when working together, not denying others outright, but perhaps also learning from them and learning different ideas. As a result, the skill of collaboration is inevitably crucial and useful in any field.

Final scene