This week, most of our class was about learning about the different crew roles for a film, mainly focussing on the camera department – especially the focus puller, but also differentiating between the director and the first assistant director. Continuing on from last week’s reading, we also learned how to block a scene.

We converted the classroom into a film set, blocked and filmed a scene.  During the lesson, I learned how and where to place marks on the set, how to make sure a moving actor or prop is able to stay in focus through an entire scene, and which director gives instructions to which crew members. It was interesting learning that many focus pullers are able to do their job without using a viewfinder or monitor, as it seems like a difficult task.

Before learning about blocking – where the scene is briefly run through to see where the camera is moved and manipulated to correspond with the actors – I had always assumed that those manoeuvres were done during a regular rehearsal, rather than in a separate, earlier step. Blocking now makes sense to me, as it means that everything is sorted out before the rehearsal, and the cast and crew don’t have to worry about the camera department attempting to figure movements out during rehearsal.

I believe that the class was relevant to the studio because all of the tasks were designed to give us practical knowledge of an important element of coverage. Without knowing how to block a scene, the cinematographer would be unable to make sure the correct elements of the scene are shown properly; without knowing how to pull focus, the footage would be of poor quality and therefore unusable.

This week, we read an article from filmmaker Luis Bunuel, called Decoupage, or cinematic segmentation. It discusses the necessity of decoupage, which from what I understand, is the process in which the screenplay is translated to film; by planning the images in a way that expresses the emotions and beauty of the screenplay.

Having never heard the term decoupage until this class, I was unable to figure out how to define my major shortcoming in film – in that I couldn’t figure out the creative process of editing footage, particularly to make engaging, aesthetically pleasing videos. Now that I know more about the concept of decoupage, I feel like I can learn more and practice it.

Decoupage is one of the dominant themes in The Scene in Cinema, as it is a very challenging, yet necessary, part of filmmaking. Without it, the cinematographer would produce a boring, dull slideshow, even if their shots were aesthetically pleasing.

References:

Bunuel, L. c1928, ‘Decoupage, or cinematic segmentation’ in Bunuel, L. & White, G. 2000, An unspeakable betrayal : selected writings of Luis Bunuel, University of California Press, Berkeley, pp. 131-135. <https://primo-direct-apac.hosted.exlibrisgroup.com/primo-explore/fulldisplay?docid=RMIT_ALMA11136895260001341&context=L&vid=RMITU&search_scope=Books_articles_and_more&tab=default_tab&lang=en_US>