“Etterpåklokskap” or hindsight as its named in English is what I think is the most important learning tool for reflection in both real life and academically processes. After the submission of ‘Sneaker Spastic’, the time for the final Screening came. Unable to participate here, I thought I’d reflect this piece on what I saw from our ‘Sneaker Spastic’, ‘Dirty Laundry’ and ‘Cake’, and draw some conclusions on what I will bring into TV2. Having seen a few of the final short-films in the screening, these were very well produced and edited shots, and I think that our shots were not the best ones but are to be better with learning and improvement.
In ‘Sneaker Spastic’, the suggestion about color was a good one but in the end, creating the perfect color grading was a new editing skill and this skill can develop into the right flow with more experience. The intention of it was to do something different and creating a dark scene without making it too dark. However, the night theme had been confirmed and the audience felt identified. In ‘Dirty Laundry’, my main curiosity was the operation of camera technique, lighting, the directing of the actors and the final editing. How to make the actor play real and ‘unconscious’ of the faking of the disappearing laundry and how to transform the two worlds to the main character. Overall here, I think the lighting continuation was really good and the actor was directed well as well. The only thing within camera technique and production here that I would comment on was the shot from behind the actors shoulder where it looked like that the camera seemed like another second person’s angle instead of an ovs shot.
In ‘Cake’, my curiosity was how (and literally how on earth) these camera angles were done and varying the settings of the house used for shooting. Somehow, this team managed to shoot the first angle from a straight vertical birds eye view, from the top ceiling, and down to the actor, while she woke up in bed. The director made it clear that nothing was impossible in movie land and a two-human/ladder made ‘crane’ worked for this and really draws the viewer into this movie world that was being created. This trick together with the ‘God’s light’ shining from the box, the imitated ‘Aaaah!’ in angle voice style and the focus on the piece of cake were small details but important ones that demonstrated the short-films main point: this subject’s (the cake’s) world of dieting and craving sweets to get the perfect figure.
It’s all about hindsight. Happy holidays!
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Reflection on script writing, editing and the script process.
Reflecting back to the beginning of TV 1, getting to learn the importance of script writing showed its true face during the shooting and also in the post-production. The interest from the author, the producers and the actors was there but where was the imaginary finished version of ‘Sneaker Spasic’ that Aysha Zackariya wanted to produce? Where where the real Leon and the homeless man? As I went directing, Goi sound recording and Vanessa filming, there was no time to think about that. I kept in touch with the author throughout the script process and what we are editing now these days is the result.
Time has been ticking for the past 10 weeks and watching James Miller and Jak Miller performing the main characters was the best part of the entire ‘Sneaker Spastic’. From the moment of the casting and until today I wondered if these actors were the correct people for the main roles but as the rehearsals and the shooting went there were no doubt that these two fulfilled the characters Aysha intended to create. In terms of the script, there were a couple of awkward moments where the actors struggled to perform and asked me a couple of times of the ‘how to’ in different lines. The tree of us had different approaches of it and it didn’t feel natural until the actors said it their own way. This part of the script process reflects back to the analysis to both the short films ‘Clown Train’ and ‘Three’.
Reading the script while watching the short film, became two different subjects but with the same meaning and intention of the authors idea. There is a lot of space in between the script’s lines and the actual film that are not noticeable until the post-production. It is this information (shot construction, actor’s performance, time limitation, location limitation, sound recording, camera technique, photo technique, lighting, security assessment and the casting), that I will bring into TV2, next to the academically theories of these.
However important these things are, I think the two most important ones is team building and project management.
Team building because I have learned how to tackle unpredictable situations and characteristics in a professional manner together with the constant implementation of criticism from group, class, professors and friends.
Project management because of the language of film production varies from one stakeholder to another, the time setting, the budget setting, the make up and styling, the location and production design, the newest technology and software programs and how to do all this at once together with other studies, job, family and friends. These skills are both full time jobs and not to mention, confidence builders.
Can’t wait for TV 2: bring on second semester.
Time has been ticking for the past 10 weeks and watching James Miller and Jak Miller performing the main characters was the best part of the entire ‘Sneaker Spastic’. From the moment of the casting and until today I wondered if these actors were the correct people for the main roles but as the rehearsals and the shooting went there were no doubt that these two fulfilled the characters Aysha intended to create. In terms of the script, there were a couple of awkward moments where the actors struggled to perform and asked me a couple of times of the ‘how to’ in different lines. The tree of us had different approaches of it and it didn’t feel natural until the actors said it their own way. This part of the script process reflects back to the analysis to both the short films ‘Clown Train’ and ‘Three’.
Reading the script while watching the short film, became two different subjects but with the same meaning and intention of the authors idea. There is a lot of space in between the script’s lines and the actual film that are not noticeable until the post-production. It is this information (shot construction, actor’s performance, time limitation, location limitation, sound recording, camera technique, photo technique, lighting, security assessment and the casting), that I will bring into TV2, next to the academically theories of these.
However important these things are, I think the two most important ones is team building and project management.
Team building because I have learned how to tackle unpredictable situations and characteristics in a professional manner together with the constant implementation of criticism from group, class, professors and friends.
Project management because of the language of film production varies from one stakeholder to another, the time setting, the budget setting, the make up and styling, the location and production design, the newest technology and software programs and how to do all this at once together with other studies, job, family and friends. These skills are both full time jobs and not to mention, confidence builders.
Can’t wait for TV 2: bring on second semester.
Reflecting on post-production
It is funny to see and learn what went wrong and what went well in the shoots and how to do the best of the final editing. A deadline is set and the group is motivated and prepared to hit it. ‘Sneaker Spastic’ shall end on the 2nd of June, not the 11th. Due to eagerness and prioritizing the weekend for this showed that we do more out of the editing in longer days than short sessions. Plus we get to study without being distracted and interrupted by other students as in for example the library.
As our short film is coming to an end, other courses are shouting to be accomplished but we want to neatly finish the coloring, lighting, flip-flops, reverse shots, speed and duration configurations and the cuts of Leon and homeless man first. What humans can do without being conscious of the rolling camera is out of words and we have had some hard laughs a couple of times looking like question marks thinking “why does he do that? Say that?” and own thoughts of “What was I thinking when? Why didn’t we do this instead? Was I being too nice? Too bitchy? What is that thing doing in the frame?” This is placed in our sequence of fun shots and is placed separately into a section of ‘behind the scenes’. Author Scorsese was right!
Playing around FCP teaches a lot about editing but mostly about how to operate on Mac computers quicker than others by all sorts of hidden short cuts, video controls and screen, slug and viewer slugs. Film editing is fun.
As our short film is coming to an end, other courses are shouting to be accomplished but we want to neatly finish the coloring, lighting, flip-flops, reverse shots, speed and duration configurations and the cuts of Leon and homeless man first. What humans can do without being conscious of the rolling camera is out of words and we have had some hard laughs a couple of times looking like question marks thinking “why does he do that? Say that?” and own thoughts of “What was I thinking when? Why didn’t we do this instead? Was I being too nice? Too bitchy? What is that thing doing in the frame?” This is placed in our sequence of fun shots and is placed separately into a section of ‘behind the scenes’. Author Scorsese was right!
Playing around FCP teaches a lot about editing but mostly about how to operate on Mac computers quicker than others by all sorts of hidden short cuts, video controls and screen, slug and viewer slugs. Film editing is fun.
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