Initiative post – in the frame

Maybe I should start with this short film I made for my studio in last semester. I do not like it, it does not look like a ‘film’. However, this is my most recent work, so I spent the last couple of months trying to figure out what I am missing in filmmaking.

I think the primary improvement I should make are in visual aspects. For example, the focal length is an area I can put some work in. Certainly, the focal length varies from film to film and scene to scene for different purposes; a short focal length can be used to capture the landscape or a wide shot, as well as contributes to a greater depth of field; a long focal length is usually used to make objects look closer, also it give a shallower depth of field. However, I read that a standard focal length which is often used in film production is 50mm. So, for starters, in order to practice in a more filmic visual style, I think I should use my phone less and start to work with a proper camera.

The second thing I noticed, by watching other films, is camera movement. It was when I watched Nomadland (2020) I discovered this shot, where the protagonist picks up a box of plates and carries them to her van. Instead of using a wide shot to show that movement, the director Chloé Zhao uses a handheld camera to follow this motion. Of course the choice of a shot depends on varies of reasons, but I personally prefers this style and it is the style I want to experiment more as a filmmaker because it seems more immersive; it gives me a feeling that the film is communicating with the audience through the camera lens. It brings the audience closer to the character.

What’s more, I want my film to have layers, in order to achieve this, it not only relates back to the discussion of focal lengths but also relate to some mise-en-scène. At this stage, I do not want to struggle too much with the color or lighting in films, but it is definitely something I have to deal with because it plays a big part in film aesthetics. In terms of mise-en-scène, I think I should care about where my main objects or characters are and what to place around them, so that my film will not look plain. But that needs the aid from the camera too. 50mm standard lens is the closest to what human eyes perceive what is around us, a longer focal length can add more perspective to the shot in a three-dimensional sense; its shallow depth of field will also separate the objects from the background because the background will likely to be out of focus, hence creates two separate layers that I aforementioned. In a short focal length, everything is likely to be focused, it just looks plain; and it is what cell phones usually do. These are the things I need to keep in mind when making films from now on. So, it echoes with the point I made earlier, I should start practicing with real cameras rather than cell phone cameras, I wish that at some point in this semester I can start doing that.

After I achieve everything I aforementioned, I believe my work will start to look more like a real film in visual aspects, and from there I can practice in broader areas such as lighting, color, etc.