Through the practical research we have undertaken so far, I have become to slowly understand how I like to work as a filmmaker. Being able to focus in on producing just a scene, with or without constraints, and reflecting on these processes each week has made me closer to discovering what my working methodology may be.

One of the things I have discovered so far is that reviewing the location and creating a shot list from knowing the location well is very important to me. In many of the exercises, I (or the group as a whole) would have clear ideas about how I would like to cover a particular scene, only for this to completely change once I had arrived on location. Everything from the space in the location (vast or cramped), the shape of the location, the backgrounds (or lack of), the lighting, etc, can all alter the way you end up filming a scene. As I have experienced through the class exercises so far, when I look at a script and have a clear vision of how I would like it to look, it becomes hard for me to let the shots go and adapt to the requirements of the location. In these situations, my creativity becomes crippled, and I can’t be spontaneous or adapt in the short time I have to direct the scene. The way in which I would like to work in the future, is to not look at the script until I am at the location, possibly with the DOP and/or Producer (or maybe alone), during pre-production rather than waiting until the day of filming. This way I can let the location inspire the shots, and use it to my advantage in creating interesting coverage of the scene.

I have also discovered that I prefer to mark up the script initially during pre-production and then create a shot list from this. I find it to be quite a fluid process to mark off where and which shots I want to cover certain parts of the script and use the marked up script as a basis for the rest of my pre-production. I feel as though a shot-list it would help with the organising of filming as not everybody may find it easy to follow someone else’s marked up script. While I haven’t used a storyboard so far in the exercises, this would also be beneficial in visualising the way the shots will look. In previous courses, I have taken photos of the location with stand-ins as a storyboard, rather than drawing one. I find this works a lot better as you’re able to not only visualise the scene within the specific location, but also when you take a photo you are also able to see how the lighting is and if you need any artificial lights to illuminate the scene. This is something that previous groups have also found to work well, and is something I will employ in the future.

The major epiphany I have had in terms of my working methodology is that in the past, I have used the script as a basis for my visualisation of the scene. However, using the location as the primary source for pre-production is far more helpful and interesting to me. By waiting until I am at the location before I even look at the script will allow me to be more creative and use the location to my advantage.