Last Friday we were given the opportunity to devise our own exercises

• Rotating camera under a tree looking up
  Mimicking a scene like this https://youtu.be/LHolRZeQNG4?t=1m49s
  Sarah wanted to create a 360 degree pan – or at least, see if it was possible. She also wanted to try and have leaves falling down around the camera to create a perspective of someone looking up into a tree… (Sidenote: it’s interesting when we try to recreate a human perspective with a camera – maybe we think too much about trying to make point of view shots that will never really work out the way we want… I’ve explored this notion a bit here)This was a really great challenge. Whilst the end products were not quite like the example shot we learnt a lot about the limitations of the camera (being able to angle it upwards so steeply, and that in fact we could pan 360 degrees but this proved somewhat unsteady and probably not worth the effort of learning how to do it steadily with a team)
  Again, having one person in charge (directing) worked really well – the group was all positive and happy to give suggestions and try things out but it was clearly Sarah’s baby and we all wanted to help her test the shot that she wanted. And in the end it came down to whether or not she was happy with it; time the only compromise and not the need to please a multitude of people (the collaborative group).

• Playing with exposure filming people walking
  • Upside down camera
  • Focus pulls — playing with Depth of Field
  • Playing with exposure
  • I asked – why wouldn’t you do that in post?
    Angus replied that he wanted to try and create “authentic” effects – to play in camera is so much more effective then simply in post. And truly it did effect the psyche and the attitiude of the group. Trying something so out of the box was really fun and made for a totally open and creative experience. Again, the product came down to one persons opinion so that ensured that we didn’t waste time as their vision was clear. 
    I have posted the clips in my Google Drive
    

This set of exercises – choosing what would be worthwhile for you – proved one of the most useful works as roles were defined at the point of choosing the person who’s endeavors we would be testing. I really enjoyed the experience and the collaborative work on that day was fantastic. I felt that the crew/team structure and balance was clear and was working!

Seeing people (like Sarah) with a really clear vision is frightening. At times I feel like this subject is forcing me to question what I want on such a deep level that I am unsure how to go about answering the question, and I am unsure how to go about finding out what I want to know and to realize…it’s complicated, and I’m not too sure of the best way to go about it.