Select from one of the readings from week 5, 6 or 7 and describe two points that you have taken from it. Points that excite you, something that was completely new to you.

I have taken two points from the ‘Developing a Crew’ section of ‘Directing: film techniques and aesthetics’ by Michael Ragiber.

One that intrigued me was the description of the role of the Director of Photography, partly because it was my role in our short film project. Another reason why I wanted to learn more about this was because, before starting this course, I had always wondered what a Director of Photography’s job really was. After seeing the title in so many movie credits, I still had not been able to differentiate the doings of the DOP and the director. After doing the reading though, it’s become pretty clear. The DOP is in charge of the image: they take care of the lighting and are the authoritative voice on what the camera captures. While the director may have the final say, their focuses should more or less be geared towards the performance of the actors, leaving much of the responsibility to the DOP.

The second point, and the one I feel was the most important when it came to the shooting of our short film, was about how important it was that a film crew have a solid structure in terms of roles and chain of command. Each member should have a clearly defined role and be informed of their duties and responsibilities, as well as which person they should communicate with for each and every situation. While of course this helps since it means that everyone remembers what they have to do to contribute to the process, I feel it’s also very important because it means that everyone remembers what they don’t have to do. In a team setting, especially something like a student film, it becomes easy to want everyone to contribute a little bit to every aspect of the project. However, this isn’t as efficient as keeping the responsibilities within boundaries, and trusting each member to do their own job. Being First A.D. on the shoot (I had to switch roles) I at first found it difficult to separate myself from much of the creative practice going on, but I realised that in trusting the DOP or director or whoever to do their job well, I could stress less and focus more on doing my own job well.