Question 1

Lighting techniques were covered in the lecture. This is relevant to our film because we had wanted to recreate a specific feel from the dinner scene of ‘Oceans Eleven,’ which is achieved completely through the warm glow of the lighting. The technical use of light in that scene is beautiful and exactly what we wanted for our dinner scene. Thankfully, after reviewing the footage, the dinner scene looks great; very Oceans Eleven.

We could’ve only achieved this by reviewing the footage from our practice shoot; something that was also covered in the lecture. Our practice shoot was done a week before our actual shoot and it really opened my eyes to how important they are, honestly the footage from the practice shoot had enormous problems and looked pretty bad. We lit things from the wrong sides, didn’t white balance correctly, everything could be improved upon. Because of this, I am so thankful we had such an extensive practice shoot, it was tiring, but definitely worth it to get the lighting etc right.

Question 2

In the week 6 reading about developing a crew, I found a few ideas stood out to me. I find that my film crew this semester fortunately works well together, and this reading highlights a few reasons why. Firstly, as explained in the reading, ‘first and foremost, everyone you recruit must understand and accept your commitments to the project,’ and ‘no crew functions well unless roles and responsibilities are clearly defined.’ I think these are the main reasons why this group assignment has run so smoothly thus far; because in one of our very first meetings (or possibly our first one from memory), we each specifically stated that this subject and this assignment was our number one priority, and because of this, we have been able to trust that each person will do their work on time and in most cases, early. Also in our first meeting or two, people quickly fell into their own roles. While some were more clearly defined than others, we each accepted certain responsibilities and were happy with them. This is another reason why i have been able to trust that each crew member contributes, as well as making sure that all jobs are done well.

It was also interesting that the reading outlined not only the jobs associated with each role, but the personal traits that make a good producer, art director, D.O.P, etc. These traits are potentially why we fell into our roles so easily, but although I enjoy organizing and scheduling, i hope to explore more technical aspects of film making as well. Hopefully next semester I can explore sound or camera work, and am not limited by the traits required to ensure I do the job well. At the end of it all, i thin hard work speaks for itself, and as long as the crew works hard, it doesn’t matter so much that I’m naturally more suited to producing than sound.

Question 3

Great care would’ve been taken in the choreography of ‘Blowout.’ The pans of the camera are timed perfectly with the movement of the actors. The movement of the camera also sometimes occurs before the actors movements, so as to foreshadow, such as when the male character sat down and the camera moved back toward the chair just before he did. In that same shot, he was framed by metal bars; the camera moves so as to frame the shot with parts of the room, such as the wooden structuring. Also, instead of having the actors in the shot, occasionally just a reflection of them from across the room is used, such as just before the female is handed the phone, creating a more interesting shot.