Staring at footage from past projects of mine and then comparing it to the quick shots taken in our last class, I can already see the obvious improvement, I can’t wait to see how even this will compare to footage from the end of the course! Now knowing the very basics of lighting, focus and depth of field we were told to go and record one of the key parts of any shot: action! This could have consisted of any movement or piece of dialogue.

We were instructed to look for an interesting setting in which to place our action and Paul told us about how he spends his free time wondering around RMIT looking for new rooms and locations with interesting features that he can shoot in. Now in my first semester here I did a lot of wandering around wondering where the hell my classes were and where I could find a printer. Did pretty well on the first part, still haven’t figured out the latter. But now my wanderings will have a purpose! Since Paul said that its put a new perspective on anywhere I go. Ive started to think about the angles of everyday places, and if I wanted to shoot a scene there, where would I place my actors, my light source, my camera?

My group chose to take our camera to the elevator, thinking that would give us a lot of opportunities for natural action in a (kind of) stationary setting. I thought since we were in the middle of a class block in a relatively short building, the elevator wouldn’t be that busy. I was wrong. Some passerby’s may have accidentally become part of our action.

The most important lesson I’ve taken away from this class so far is that mistakes are how we learn, and that recognising them is the best way to increase your skills and become a better film maker. That being said I have to admit that even in this simple exercise I made mistakes. I forgot to zoom in and focus and create a depth of field before I shot my scene, only realising when my team mates did it for theirs. Its embarrassing to have so quickly forgotten the lessons of the previous week, but with how much I berated myself for my error I know its a mistake I won’t make again.