For future reference, considering both of my classes are “tutorial” setups each week, I will simply be referring to them as “tutorial 1” and “tutorial 2”. Tutorial 1 takes place at 10:30 to 12:30 each Monday, whereas tutorial 2 is 8:30 to 11:30 on Friday.

Mondays tutorial was the first class of film, yet instead of an introduction, it saw us jumping straight into the action. Within the first 10 minutes, we had a task, to go out in groups of 3 and each film a 10 to 20 second  still shot of a framed area.

Whilst I’d always been aware of framing, it’s never something that really had ever crossed my mind as crucial. Usually in my previous film work, there was such an air of tension and desperation to tell the story in the simplest way possible without overcomplicating things that framing was barely given a thought.

I approached this task with the goal of making a shot appear more pleasant to the eye based on the use of framing. In order to do so, I focused on a corner table setup in a nearby classroom. By zooming in slightly on the image, I was able to use the raised sections of the wall to create a nice framed area, which allowed the focus to be drawn to the seats in the middle. If there were to be subjects in those seats, I believe my use of framing would be successful in drawing audience focus to them. Whilst I still have no idea as to how to use the elements in my frame to add more to the story like practiced filmmakers do so perfectly. Given that the masterful way filmmakers tell the story in their frames is something which greatly interests me, I hope to post a short dissection of a frame from one of my favourite films in the near future.

Following this task, we were presented with the main goal of the day. This involved (in the same groups of 3) shooting 50 seconds of uninterrupted footage of a certain event in RMIT, such as the Intersection of Victoria and Cardigan Street, or the Alumni courtyard. Importantly, no manipulation of the event was allowed to occur. My group chose the Alumni courtyard as our shooting location, however, upon arrival, it appeared that nothing worth classifying as an “event” was taking place, so we decided to move a few metres ahead and shoot the Carlton gardens instead.

Upon approaching the shot, our main goal was to capture the business of the location. In order to achieve this, we made sure we begun the shot when the traffic lights ahead of us turned green, in order to present the chaotic combination of cars and pedestrians in the final shot. We also aimed to adjust the exposure in order to reduce the unwanted look of a “blue” filter that had plagued some shots in the past.

Unfortunately, due to our inability to adjust white balance, the “blue filter” remained in the shot to plague us all. However, we believed the busy nature of the “event” had been successfully captured in the finished product. With 50% of our goals achieved, I’d say that’s a pretty successful tutorial compared to ones in the past, and I honestly can’t wait for what’s in store next.