I think today I learnt the most I have of any week. All we did was reflect. Don’t underestimate. Reflection is in fact the most underestimated feat of the film making world. Yet how do we grow, or understand our work for what it is if we don’t reflect?

We watched everyone’s staircase scenes and I found a lot of camera techniques and actor blocking. One group manipulated the space so fascinatingly. I know what the space looks like which they filmed and they managed to transform it through the camera eye. The blocking of it is very dynamic because the camera itself is often quite still with movement in the frame. I love the smoothness of the tempo which is a beautiful synthesis between character blocking and editing. They leap around in the space quite confidently even if there is the slightest lack of continuity it really works. It makes me think about how much liberty we have with straying away from the logical and being a bit more experimental even if it means giving up some continuity.

Something fascinating I took from today that Robin mentioned is that not everything we see on screen was purposeful, in fact, much of it was beautifully accidental. That inspires me to be more open to spontaneity on set.

One specific shot drew my attention in a greatly positive way. Aki’s film edit included one tracking shot whereby the camera moves backwards as the subject walks forwards (mcu shot). The subject then turns away from the camera, to which the camera reacts by abruptly jolting forward in the direction of the turning subject. This really fascinated me because it is not a point of view shot but we are taken into the world of this character. The way the camera abruptly jolts forward mimics the character’s movement. We didn’t need a POV shot to experience this character’s perspective which is amazingly unique.

Reflecting on these films I’ve noticed a pattern whereby, during a conversation where we use shot-reverse-shots, many students cut to the receiver in the conversation. The shot seems to linger before the next character says anything so we get a very awkward silence that drains the pace of the conversation in a non-realistic manner.

EPIPHANY: Do not ever plan a storyboard or design camera blocking without having been in the setting. Taking inspiration from Roman Polanski who walked into a space with no clue what he was doing and just let his mind experience the space before bringing in the crew and designing shots, let yourself experience a space and let it speak to you. You will find yourself with a much more poetic understanding of the space and how to film in it