Of course it’s at the end that it feels like I’m really only at the beginning…on the cusp…filled with energy to explore and critique further. But such is the way the world works.

I think that my investigation of coverage and movement on screen has led me to finding a style of working with people and to uncovering the kind of movements (of the camera and of people) that I prefer. I like raw people. I like things to appear unhinged and slightly askew… it leaves room for the imagination, for an element of viewer activity and thought. It is a more OPEN kind of text. Not tightly shaped and constructed and not overcrowded. I’ve really enjoyed finding this rawness, it’s really been a great learning experience.

For a next piece (I don’t want to call it final, however it will probably be the last piece I complete within the timeframe of this subject), Seonaid and I are moving to collaborate and produce something that will be relevant to both of our investigations: she is looking at space, and I movement.

Today we planned that piece. It would be easy to go and shoot something with simply the two of us – we’ve done it before; no plans, no stress and no overbearing time limit, and it has been fine, it’s worked well. We know each others working style and now, we’ve gone through the past 12 weeks of this subject together, we understand each others objectives, and each others thinking quite well (and if not, we are easily able to shift one another back on course). I really can’t imagine a better way to finish the semester then doing something together, and helping each other realise something in our investigations.

We have planned a piece that is a fairly non-descript conversation.
Person2 meets Person1(who is seated) in a space, they exchange words and they exchange positions. Person1 exits, and Person2 is now left, seated back in the space.
We have incorporated some challenges (tracking shots, creating an entry that can fit well with the interior space, and working in a big white space). We want to try and create some ellipsis in space and see what effect that has on the piece. It has been devised to all be shot on the tripod. At present there is only one shot that tracks and one with a pull focus – it’s true and it is unfortunate that we have moved away from creating multiple shots within the one take. If we have time, it would be interesting (especially for Seonaid’s investigation) to see if we could do this on some level.

I am really looking forward to this piece.
Seonaid will direct the actors and I will shoot it (or DoP). This is maybe not the best tie in to my investigations however I feel that writing and constructing the scene has been, and will be very informative to my investigation in general. It will also be useful to look at how Seonaid works with the “actors”. And I also should mention that having the opportunity to shoot something that has been planned and structured will be a really great way to again bolster my knowledge and my investigation.

Actually planning the piece was enjoyable and not stressful. I think we found the right way to work with each other and that has enabled us to get things done whilst also making sure that we are doing a good job. We both have high standards, so we often get frozen in our own critique and it stops us from getting things done. But here, we’ve got each other to spur each other on, and it will be great to see how the shoot turns out. We are going to find a 1stAD and someone to be responsible for sound so that we can do our ‘creative’ roles and try our best to fulfill them without getting bogged down by having to be aware and thinking about the big picture (time, possible hazards, etc).

The planning for the shoot and some stills of the space are below.