Last semester I focussed on observation and approached it in a filmic sense from a D.I.Y perspective. The formula was simple; I shot “what grabbed my attention” on an iPhone. It was about using cinema as a way to capture spontaneity. It was a solo effort and I learned plenty of valuable lessons over the course of the semester. I am satisfied with what I achieved, but I’ve moved on.

I wanted to continue with Paul this semester because I want to refine my filmmaking skills. More than anything, I want to settle on a filmmaking process, an approach, a formula, that I can reliably execute each time I produce work. Paul has certain filmmaking principles to adhere to, and I felt I didn’t take up enough of them last semester. It wasn’t out of neglect, rather it was more that I used the semester to develop the skills by myself, through self-experimentation.

I don’t know how to use an EX3 properly, nor how to best record sound. I want to develop these skills so I can focus more on executing my own formal ideas at a more frequent level.

Basically I want to find out what works, but also what is effective and economical. I feel when you have an understanding of what works, then, and only then, you can develop its possibilities. I want to be innovative and try something that I haven’t done before. What exactly is that? I don’t know – it will be much clearer as the semester goes on.

Is this too much to ask? Am I being unrealistic? Perhaps, but I’m aware, as Paul says, that filmmaking is an endless learning process. But I want to nail down a core, a fundamental idea of technique and a skillset that makes use of it.