During the shooting of a short film Adelle, Kerry, Max, Andrew and I worked on last Wednesday, I was reminded of a few things. Firstly, that time is money. I have been on a few different sets and it’s not until you get firsthand experience that you truly understand how crucial time management is. We allocated about 3 hours (3PM-6PM) to shoot and ended up finishing around 7PM. This wasn’t a problem as I didn’t have to be anywhere, but I thought too much time was spent getting the right ‘image’ in terms of frame, colour temperature, contrast, lens, etc. Which brings me to my second point.

Andrew and I had a chat about how becoming too knowledgable about camera’s can be a problem. Too much time is spent perfecting small elements, and less time is given truly thinking about the cinema of it all. Perhaps this is a wholly ignorant point of view, but that’s why I felt the need to write about it.

My approach to filmmaking has never come from a ‘technical’ approach, purely in terms of the camera settings. I like spontaneity, imperfection, ambition, and these things can be held back when too much time is spent obsessing over minute differences. The filmmaking process, or my own, should be spiritual, not contrived. This is not to say that the camera, or all settings should be ignored; that is not at all where I am coming from. I am merely suggesting that for me, personally, I feel I can often achieve my aesthetic without a nuanced understanding of the camera.

I think back to a short film I shot last year on a camcorder. It was located at a cemetery, there was one actor (Kerry) and I had no idea what the film was, what it would look like, etc. All this came by instinct; placing the tripod somewhere, directing Kerry to perform some kind of action, getting the camcorder out and hitting record straight away. There was one particular shot that went for about 30 seconds, and between each take (we probably did about 15) I only spent about 30 seconds thinking how I could improve the shot. It has been the most fulfilling filmmaking experience to date.

Of course this brings out other questions, such as working on a budget, or with a bigger crew. I guess what I’m trying to articulate is that I’m not interested in working in the orthodox way.

I haven’t really thought this out properly as the feelings/ideas are new but I will return when I have inevitably thought a bit more deeply about this. I should also say that I do want to understand the basic principles of camera operation. Robin, as a cinematographer, I hope you’re not cringing when you read this!