For our Monday morning exercise, we were given scripts during our Wednesday class in order to prepare for filming. I read my script on the train home and was feeling optimistic for shooting on Monday, as I have worked with some members of the group before on uni and personal film projects and know their knowledge and capability. Unfortunately a lot of the group were late to class and no one seemed willing to do any editing, which is understandable as it can be time-consuming, I myself couldn’t do it, because part of my job, three days a week, plus hours of overtime, is editing and I certainly didn’t want to do anymore.

The issues came because the roles weren’t clearly defined and this is a continual problem that student film productions that I’ve observed have. Unless I’m wrong and it’s supposed to be more collaborative, but I feel like during these exercises, it’s good to embody the roles we choose/are given and stay within their professional parametres and it certainly helps me decide what’s for me and not for me in terms of deciding what I could do in the future. I chose to do sound for the first scene and then to help with lighting for the second outside/cafe exercise (I ended up using the reflector and doing some gaffing). I chose these roles because I don’t really enjoy acting as director or cinematographer in uni environments, as it always seems that other group members abdicate from wanting to do the director role, only to then spend the entire exercise trying to tell the director how to do their job. It’s this macho attitude that is really off-putting for me, I don’t really like the term ‘mansplaining’, but it’s something that I’ve continually experienced with male uni students, who are younger than me and have been at uni for less time than me, but  because I’m quiet in person about this stuff, some act as if they need to explain everything to me, which comes across as a bit condescending. I don’t think it comes from a bad place at all, it’s just noticeable for me, because it seems to happen with a couple of guys each semester and is not something I experience when in a group with female students. 

I was trying to stick mainly to doing sound recording, but did notice that there was an issue with trying to light the scene, the ceiling lights were causing a problem and the windows were blown out, but if they adjusted the aperture the actors would be underexposed so they decided to use CTB gel. I don’t know if I would have used any gel for that situation, I probably would have just adjusted the shot and set up the lights and diffused them a bit, until I felt happy with the scene. But that was the decision made and that is down to what the creative team wanted and thought was best, so I don’t have an issue with their decision as it was their scene to direct.

For the next scene the director was switched, it was necessary as we were all doubling up on roles to cover the group members who had to act and we were struggling in the first scene with not having enough crew for each role, so if everyone could do two roles it would help shooting go more smoothly. This part felt really rushed, and the director was moving through shots without really looking at the script or giving enough direction which was a bit worrying. I was trying to reflect light onto the actors, because they were sitting in the shade and was trying to get direction from those looking at the shot on the viewfinder, about if I should adjust my angle, and it came to a point where I had to ask them to reshoot the final scene, cause it was just too dark from what I could see and I wanted to readjust my reflector. Although I didn’t see the shot through the viewfinder so I didn’t know what settings they were using, so perhaps I was in error. Then a big portion of the group went to get coffee, but I don’t drink coffee, so a few other group members and I were just left with the gear. It was all very rushed and muddled.

I don’t really know what the solution for this is, probably more preparation and synchronicity across all of us, would certainly go a long way. I know I have focused mostly on the negatives here, but I do enjoy working with the group, as they are all very nice and know what they’re doing. I think group dynamics can be a bit tough when there are a few big personalities. While I was doing the exercise I was mostly having fun. I find it really interesting to have to deconstruct a scene and think about how it should be shot or all the different ways it could be framed and blocked. I love working in a group of people who all want to be there and share their knowledge. It’s just when I analyse it and reflect that I can come up with what we could improve upon in the future.