In this week’s Wednesday class we watched over the door and stair scenes that were shot on Friday. In seeing these scenes we noticed a few problems with the continuity and with shot coverage. Being inexperienced actors, it is really hard for them to remember the positioning and actions that were made in previous shots-this made it tricky during the editing process to produce a fluid and smooth scene to watch. I don’t believe that there was enough variety to the shots within the scene- they could have been filmed from different angles and perspectives. This would have allowed for a much more dynamic scene. If we were to have used varying shots within the scene, there would have been more room for experimentation and alternatives throughout the editing process.

Once again, the framing is an aspect that still needs work. Next time, I would like to emulate the shots from a film in a scene that has stood out to me. I feel as though it would help me gain a better understanding of the camera coverage, movements and framing. Paul also suggested that a good way to set up the framing and plan the shots for the scene is to take photos on your smartphone. I think this is a really great way to help create the vision for the film and allow all collaborators to see exactly what it is that the director is aiming to achieve.

On Friday, we collaborated with a group to create two scenes (one long-take and one regular scene) working off a script. The collaboration process and choosing the roles felt fast paced and rushed, however, I feel as though everyone is starting to grasp a solid understanding of how to shoot a scene efficiently and successfully. I thoroughly enjoyed shooting the long-take as I was able to compare it to the long-take we did in our first class of Semester. The acting is less daunting now and the film crew is much more decisive. Our group was good at thinking about the actors positioning within the long-take. We wanted to choreograph the actors in an interesting and aesthetic way.

Epiphany:

This week I grasped the notion of filming to edit. It is really important to think about how the film is going to look when it is cut together in post-production. I have realise that planning and storyboarding is essential in order to cover as many shots as possible. As a result of this, dynamic coverage can be achieved and there are varying scene possibilities to work with in the editing suites.

Identifying my vision. Identifying my themes. Questioning my artistic identity.

I have decided that I want to focus on creating a scene that I care about, something that is personal to me. The book,  Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics (Rabiger 2003) conveys that it is much more likely the work will be ‘intense’ if it is something that is personal to the director. Ragiber explains that it is important to make sure that ‘your early filmmaking’ is not ‘just an exercise in skills but about something’ (2003, p. 24). I think that if I am using a script that my friend has written and that I have had an input in I will be more likely to create something distinct and successful.

Being an individual creator of film, a film artist. An “auteur” cinema.

Within all the tasks that we are doing in class, the focus has been centralised on creating your own individual scene. When I think of our work as being individual I immediately think back to the work of the Cahiers du Cinema.  If film is seen as an art form then there must be an artist in the creation of the art (Thomson-Jones 2008, p.40). According to the Truffaut and the Cahiers critics, auteur film ‘bears the mark of an original and creative cineaste’ (Thomson-Jones p. 40). In this course I keep wondering how the scene can be my own- how do I leave my mark and style in what I produce? We are always cooperating with others in order to make a scene so what can determine the scene as belonging to me?

In the book, Aesthetics & Film, Thomson-Jones explains that the director can be

‘the sole author of a film because his role in supervising and coordinating the activities of others determines the aesthetic significance of the film’.

She further states that there can be multiple authors for a film depending on whether their role ‘determines the aesthetic significance of the film’. She explains that there are lots of different ‘artistic collaborators’ who work on a film.

Taking Thomson-Jones’ notion of the author into account, I believe that in creating my own scene I will be collaborating with others who help to produce the aesthetics of the scene.

My individual style and mark will be evident in the way that I direct and fundamentally evident in the artistic selections I make-whether they are ideas from my collaborators or myself.

References:

Thomson-Jones K 2008, Aesthetics & Film, 1st edn, MPG Books Ltd, England.

Bazin asks, ‘What is Cinema?’, and Metz replies, ‘cinema is a language’.

In Aesthetics & Film Thomson-Jones touches on the codes specific to film and the message of the film to its viewers. I’m thinking about how I can apply a message within my scene; something for my viewers to unravel. I have always been interested in the semiotics of film and thought it would be interesting to focus on semiotics when making my own scene. In pre-production, I aim to think about the connotations of my shots; I want my shots to have symbolic meaning. I’m not thinking quite as deep as Metz when I look into my scene- I don’t feel as though cinema is a language, however, I do like to think about the symbols and meanings in the production and post-production of my scene.

(Thomson-Jones 2008 p. 62)

Thinking about the role of the actors and performance within a scene. I think it’s really important to block the scene to determine how the actors will move within the space of the scene. The blocking of the actors can allow for a more planned and concise shot construction. I worked on a short film recently which had a 7 minute long-take. Within this 7 minutes of filming, the actors had specific spots marked out which guided their movements during the scene. During the pre-production stages of the long-take, a choreographer worked with the actors. The choreographer was needed to create a visually pleasing scene in which the actors moved naturally within the space. Choreographing the actors within a scene is something that I would like to employ within my scene. Does the choreographing create a sense of theatrical performance rather than cinematic performance however? This fine line between cinematic and theatrical performance is prevalent in the film, ‘Birdman’ which uses many long-takes throughout.

As a result of this course I am aiming to achieve a scene that I can classify as my own. The prospect of creating my own scene in which I have researched, planned and produced individually is exciting. I am yet to discover my distinct style of filming and my own approach to directing. With the scene that I produce I will need to decide if I want it to be personal or purely for entertainment. My friend has written a few scripts so I think it would be really good to collaborate with him to create an original scene-whether this means using something that he has already written or coming up with another script specifically written for my scene. I quite like the idea of working off a script that has only one scene. It’s simple, focussed and restricted. With no narrative surrounding the scene- no start, no end-I feel as though I will have the ability to experiment with the types of shots that I use and how I want the characters to be perceived.

I’m hoping that by the end of the Semester I will have created a successful scene. In order to create this scene I have to think about what it is that makes a scene good. When I’m creating a scene I really like to think about how everything works within the space of the scene and particularly how the shots are framed. When we reviewed our scenes that we made in class Paul suggested that the framing in some of the shots wasn’t good. This made me wonder how we could frame our shots in order to create a scene that was engaging and aesthetic. When I next shoot a scene I’m aiming to have a central focus on the framing. Aspects that I want to think about when shooting are:

-Rule of thirds

-Frame within a frame

-The role of the lighting and Mise-en-scene in creating an aesthetic frame

-The blocking of the actors within the frame

-The camera angles within the scene in order to set up a good frame

-Looking through the viewfinder

-Balancing the frame

-Controlling the frame

-Using the frame to limit what the audience sees

-Having a loose frame or having a tight frame.

The final scene in ‘Whiplash’- Directed by Damien Chazelle

Miles Teller (Andrew Neyman) and J.K Simmons (Terence Fletcher)

I chose this final scene from ‘Whiplash’ because I like the alternating Long shots with Close-Ups and Extreme-Close-Ups. I found the camera coverage within this scene to be particularly interesting as the camera position is constantly moving around the drum kit- it covers left, right, above and below the kit. Before seeing this film I couldn’t imagine so many different types of aesthetic shots around the drum kit and performer. Chazelle has used many differentiating shots and angles which frame the figures in a controlled and balanced way. The proximity of the camera coverage to the drums and Andrew make us feel as though we are there on stage performing with him. The camera is mainly static throughout the scene, however there are moments of rapid and fast paced camera movements. The camera frequently cuts back and forward from the same shots.

Analysis of the shots in the scene:

• Extreme high angle Long shot of the band on stage
• Medium over the shoulder shot of Fletcher, Fletcher positioned to the left of screen in focus. The band and Andrew are in the background out of focus-camera pulls focus to Andrew.
• Medium shot of Fletcher positioned in the centre of the screen
• Bird’s-eye-view shot of Andrew playing the drum solo-Drums take up most of the screen-Andrew is in the top edge of frame.
• Low angle Close-Up shot of Andrew ’s profile -he is positioned on the left side of frame-his face is central
• Out of focus Extreme Close-Up of cymbols
• Low angle shot from behind cymbols- frames Andrew in the centre of the screen
• Another Extreme Close-Up of cymbols
• Extreme Close-Up-Andrew’s P.O.V of the sticks on the snare drum
• Rapid camera movements-Andrew’s P.O.V-looking at the different drums- roughly shot-hand-held
• Close-up of hands drumming-hand-held-the frame moves slightly
• High angle Close-Up. Half of Andrew ’s head is cut out of the top of the frame
• Over the shoulder Medium shot of Fletcher-Andrew out of focus-Fletcher in focus -Camera tilts down to keep Fletcher within the frame -Fletcher fills most of the right screen space
• Cuts to Close-Up profile shot of Andrew  -left side of frame -band out of focus in the background on the right side of the frame
• Cuts back to the over-the-shoulder shot
• Wide Shot of Andrew  playing the drums-centre of the drums
• Extreme Close-Up -drum sticks and snare drum
• Close-Up Andrew framed between cymbol and drum -frame within a frame
• Extreme Close-Up- drum stick on cymbol
• Close-Up- hand hitting the cymbol -position in the right side of the frame
• Cuts back to Close-Up of Andrew  framed between the cymbol and drum
• Medium Close-Up- cymbol and Andrew – out of focus- camera tilts down on an angle from Andrew. Andrew and the cymbol are in frame-cymbol in focus-quick focus pull to Andrew
• Extreme Close-Up of hand playing the cymbol
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew , he is positioned off centre to the left of the frame, his head is cut off at the top of the frame- Bass player in background-out of focus
• Low angle shot of Andrew – he is postioned in the right side of the frame, the cymbol stand has been used to create an aesthetically pleasing frame which directs our eye to Andrew
• Cut to another Extreme Close-Up of the drum stick hitting the cymbol
• Low angle Medium Close-Up of Andrew – just his head postioned to the right of the frame and the cymbol on the left side of the frame- there is really nice balance within this shot
• Cuts back to Extreme Close-Up of cymbol
• Extreme Close-Up of Andrew s ear and sweat- his ear is positioned in the centre of the frame
• Extreme Close-Up of his sweaty shirt- can’t make out many details
• Extreme Close-Up of stick hitting the cymbol
• Medium Close-Up- Andrew  positioned to the left of the frame
• Back to the Extreme Close-Up of the cymbol positioned to the right of the frame.
• Cuts back to Medium Close-Up of Andrew  positioned to the left of the frame. -These shots work well cut next to each other because there is a balance between where the action is positioned on the screen- it alternates between the left and right positions, helping to keep the audience engaged.
• Hand-held rapid camera movement tracking the sticks hitting the cymbols. This shot is chaotic, disorientating and rough but it works really well-reminds me of Wes Anderson’s style- It is a shot that I would love to try within one of my scenes.
• Bird’s-eye-view shot has been used again however it is now shot from the back of the drum kit- Andrew  is half in frame, positioned at the bottom of the screen.
• Extreme Long shot of the stage- the stage is positioned in the centre of the frame
• Cut to a Close-Up of Andrew ’s dad looking through the gap in the door- frame within a frame
• high angle Close-Up of Andrew  -his movements take up the whole frame -Camera tilts up to close-up of his face positioned in the centre of the frame.
• Extreme Close-Up of the bass drum
• Extreme Close-Up from behind Andrew  who is positioned on the left side of the frame- his shoulder is out of focus, the cymbol positioned to the right of the frame is in focus.
• Camera tilts up rapidly to see Fletcher in focus positioned in the right upper corner of the frame
• Cuts back to high angle Close-Up of Andrew -the frame is not quite static-slight movements of the camera
• Close-Up of Fletcher who is positioned slightly off centre to the right of frame.
• Camera tilts up as Andrew leans back- Medium Close-Up on the profile of Andrew where he is positioned on the left edge of the frame.
• Extreme Close-Up of cymbol which fills entire frame
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew  where he is positioned on the left side of the frame
• Cuts to P.O.V Close-Up of the snare drum
• Cuts to Close-Up of Fletcher positioned slightly off centre to the right of frame- his head is out of the frame at the top.
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew – postioned left of frame.
• Cuts to another Close-Up of Fletcher
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew – postioned left of frame.
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew -positioned left of frame.
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Medium shot of Fletcher-positioned on the right side of frame, cymbol in the centre
• Medium Close-Up of Andrew ’s profile- positioned left of frame
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Medium shot of Fletcher-positioned on the right side of frame, cymbol in the centre
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Camera tilts up in a Close-Up shot of Fletcher’s hands until we see his face positioned on the left side of the screen
• Cuts back to the medium shot of Fletcher-positioned on the right side of frame, cymbol in the centre
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• High angle Close-Up shot of Andrew -positioned to the left of frame
• Straight-on angle Close-Up of the snare
• Cuts back to the medium shot of Fletcher-positioned on the right side of frame
• Close-Up shot of snare drum
• Close-Up shot of Fletcher’s face and hand- positioned on the right side of the frame- the top of his head is out of frame
• Close-Up shot of snare drum
• Over-the-shoulder of Andrew -Medium shot of Fletcher- Andrew  is out of Focus, Fletcher in focus
• Cuts back to the high angle shot of Andrew
• Low angle shot of Andrew ’s profiled-positioned in the centre of the frame
• Long Shot of Andrew  on stage-positioned in the centre-darkness to the right of the frame, can see bass player on the left side of the frame-these are you used to frame Andrew  in the centre
• Bird’s-eye-view of the drums and Andrew  at the top edge of the frame
• Over-the-should of Andrew -Close-up shoulder out of focus-Medium-Long shot of Fletcher on the right side of frame
• Camera slowly and slightly tracks forward and up in a Low angle Medium shot of Fletcher- centre of frame.
• Low angle Close-Up of Andrew -part of the drum in frame, top of Andrew is cut out of frame
• Close-Up of cymbol
• Close-Up of drum sticks hitting drums
• Extreme Close-Up of cymbol in right bottom corner of the frame-Andrew in the background out of focus
• Extreme Close-Up of cymbol as it opens and closes
• Extreme Close-Up of the bass drum pedal
• Two Close-Ups shot through the drums and cymbols -Andrew out of focus in the background (frame within a frame)
• Bird’s-eye-view shot of drums
• Extreme Close-Up of cymbol
• Extreme Close-Up of sticks hitting the snare drum
• High angle Close-Up of Andrew
• Pull focus- Close-Up of Andrew – face centre of frame
• Extreme Close-Up of Fletcher-fills the frame
• Extreme Close-Up of Andrew -fills the frame
• Extreme Close-Up of Fletcher-fills the frame
• Extreme Close-Up of Andrew -fills the frame
• Extreme Close-Up Fletcher
• Extreme Close-Up Andrew
• Low angle shot of Fletcher- camera tilts up
• Camera tracks in from an over-the-shoulder shot to a Medium Close-Up of Andrew.

In Wednesday’s class we watched back our poorly filmed shots from Friday. Despite the quality of the shots, I enjoyed watching them back in silence because it allowed us to focus on the camera movements and framing rather than the acting. When reflecting on how the camera could have been used differently we saw that the camera movements weren’t fluid, the panning and tracking was rushed and the frames hadn’t been set up properly. I’m hoping that it was the time restriction that caused for these mistakes. Watching the shots back really helped me to realise the importance of planning a shot and effectively communicating your vision to the crew and actors.

In class we were put into filming groups, given a script and location for filming on Friday. We briefly mapped out each scene, the camera coverage and the positioning of our actions on location. I really wanted to achieve a scene that was filmed to edit. We spoke about filming to edit in class and how it can used in order to manipulate time and control the emotion of a scene. I suggested to the group that it could be effective to cover the entire scene from different perspectives as this would give us more to work with when editing. As I wasn’t there for filming on Friday I am really interested to see how the shoot turned out. I am looking forward to editing something that I didn’t work on to see if it differs from my groups vision for the scene.

Epiphany:

This week’s epiphany has come from the mistakes that were made with the quality of filming when pressured for time. I realised that pre-production and planning is key to creating an aesthetically pleasing shot when given a time restriction. As a director, if you are uncertain of your own vision for a scene then it is extremely difficult to translate that vision and communicate it to your crew and actors. In realising that rough planning is needed before filming, I have also discovered how important it is to leave room for experimentation and improvisation- this is where some of the most aesthetic and interesting shots can take shape.

In this week’s class we set up the camera and audio. The aim was for everyone in the group to have their own turn at directing a shot within a scene. I think we all felt a bit pressured for time with this task however it was useful in helping us to think on the spot. We found that we had to be really efficient with our approach to the shots by explaining quickly and clearly what we wanted our actors and crew to do. There wasn’t enough time for me to direct my own shots however I still planned out in my mind how I was going to direct the scene.

This was the first shoot that we have done with a full audio kit, camera and tripod. This made it hard for everyone to swap roles quickly but it was good to see everyone in action, trying to rotate as fluidly as possible. I think a few people felt overwhelmed by the audio kit but it was good that we could all help each other out. Our location was larger than the previous weeks as we were outside however we still felt restricted to one section as we didn’t have time to move around. Despite this, I really liked how we made use of the same location by choosing different angles and perspectives. We probably didn’t frame the shots as nicely as we would have liked to but it was still a good location to work with.  

The shots felt very spontaneous and required quick thinking from everyone involved. I feel as though each director was improvising with their shot and wasn’t particularly pleased with the final result as they weren’t able clearly think about the blocking of the actors and their vision for camera coverage. From the task, I learnt that communication was integral to transmitting the director’s vision across to the crew and actors.

In class we also touched on the importance of audio. Particularly, we spoke about where the audio leads and trails within a scene and it’s impact on the audience. Paul spoke about ‘L’ and ‘J’ cuts and how they can be used in order to create a more engaging scene. I have learnt about ‘L’ and ‘J’ cuts in Film-TV however I never realised how important they are in grasping the audience; making them feel as though they are within the scene and experiencing the character’s emotions. In order to achieve this, the dialogue of one character needs to be heard whilst the camera is focussed on the other character’s listening face. The listening face is more enticing to watch as the audience feels more inclined to listen to what is being said. The audience is not focused on the action of saying the dialogue. They are more focussed on the character’s reactions to what is being said and are watching how it makes them feel.

Epiphany:

My epiphany for this week is about using filmmaking as the research tool. Paul suggested that the filmmaking (physically going out and shooting a scene) is the research. This notion really stood out to me because I do feel as though I am learning more by physically picking up the camera first and doing the theoretical research second. By using the camera first, I feel as though I am able to more easily connect to the theoretical aspects.