To pull off this one shot scene, as a camera operator I had to get used to my actor’s movements and how I would frame him.

After knowing my actor for around 7 years I predicted that he would be bored by anything non-spontaneous, so thats how I thought we should work.

In the Wisdom of the Unrehearsed Scene ; chapter 24, pp. 110-144 the metaphors of football and soccer are used to illustrate two different approaches to shooting a scene. Football being high strategic and “regimented” while soccer is more fluid and driven by instinct.

I told Zeon, ‘Just walk around the house and do whatever you like, I’m just trying to learn how to operate the camera.’ But really I was trying to learn how to OPERATE HIM.

Warm up 

I got Zeon to pick things up and just go crazy.  We went from the bathroom, with him staring intensely at the mirror with to throwing bananas onto the kitchen bench. It was really valuable preparation. Having a good feel of the space (the house) after exploring different ways of moving through it helped me improvise later for the real shoot.

“Table read” 

I drew out a storyboard and tried to do a mock “table read” since I hadn’t written any lines yet. I told him that he was relaxing at home and wasn’t expecting to be disturbed and that the phone call should set him into panic. Zeon scanned my scribbles and nodded blankly. When we went to shoot and I broke into a cold sweat as I realised that I was a football coach trying to instruct a world famous soccer player. Perhaps it was my indistinct doodles or lack of vision, but either way my actor was set on doing it his way.

I would describe Zeon’s acting style as predictably erratic. Sounds strange but I began to understand his way of thinking. We were dancing partners (foreshadow for trial #2) but I was mistaken in thinking that I would lead.

In retrospect I should have had a clearer idea of my character’s backstory, intentions and feelings. (edit: This came later in trial #2)

“tape out” 

To be frank tape didn’t work. Tape on the floor was too small to notice. It was difficult to have him look up and down on the floor. Instead using reference points of the room like “the washing machine edge” was much easier and allowed him to look a lot more natural while completing an action.

BINGO!

After trying out a few different approaches, what worked best for both of us was having key points of action that MUST be completed in order to move onto the next one. This way I was able to have a basic  understanding of where Zeon would end up in the room without tying him down to specific movements. This method also worked for Zeon because he was able to stay spontaneous and exercise his amazing ability to improvise while being somewhat predictable. 

This “dot point script” gave us flexibility but also a clear guide; we were both very entertained and kept discovering new ways to do things! I took note of some of the actions that he would often forget like “close door” and remember to cue him at the good time so he’d have enough time to get to the next action but also not break character because I startled him.

In conclusion I am very excited to get started on the actual shoot and Zeon is a fantastic energetic person to work with.

In the past, I have relied heavily on editing to dictate the drama of a scene. So with this exercise I am very interested in exploring the bare bones and often, forgotten elements of coverage. In one shot, I wish to create a scene that is just as engaging as one that has multiple cuts. To do this I will have to have a good relationship with my actor and a lot of patience.

What I want to explore with this assignment is how blocking intersects with pace and in turn, how this can have a dramatic effect. By focusing on one character and how they interact with the space around them I will try to create some interesting framing.

Movement of the camera to be motived by his movement in the same way that movement of an actor motivates cut in fluid editing. I’d like to view zeon from more angles to get a more humanist perspective.

I definitely wanted:

• A slow walk across the entire space to give establish distance (like in Barcelona)
• The camera to seem like a character in itself e.g when it moves to the microwave before it goes off and suddenly moves to the clock almost “wondering” what zeon was looking at.
• The framing to seem like it just “falls into place” while retaining an element of surprise
• Make a normal looking space seem dynamic

THE SHOOT 

Our approach to shooting this was quite like how one might rehearse for a stage play. We went through the scene a few times without shooting and I read out his actions to him as he did them. Since Zeon had a lot of actions and lines to remember, and all in one shot, the main challenge became remembering all of them. What helped was rehearsing one part of the scene for example the first half of the phone conversation over and over until we were happy, then trying to connect it to the next part.

Things to improve:

1. Clearer intentions, motivations: is he lying?
2. finessing the camera work
3. not an “effects” piece

one 

Since I had no pre written lines because Zeon seemed to be very good at talking sense without guidance, there were some minor differences in what he said with each take which heavily influenced the entire ‘plot.’ For the next shoot I will definitely decide on some clearer intentions. (edit: we have decided that Zeon forgot the DATE of the wedding that he is speaking at and the phone call reminded him)

two

Although we had done 14 takes there was still more perfecting of the timing that could be done. see google drive link.

three

More thought could be put into WHY he is doing things. When Zeon walks away from the microwave and sits on the couch in the back room it seems unnecessary and it is quite obvious that I have told him to do it simply for the LOOK.

PROGRESS

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1YBT26ceKGJnIWW3h9GfJsbD7uyDmqvps

part 1: the challenge was keeping Zeon in frame as he moved

part 2: framing Zeon on the couch in the background and slowly bring the phone into frame was tricky. Also timing the inclusion of the phone in frame with when it rang was difficult as I was calling his phone with one hand while operating the camera with the other.

part 3: Remembering to cue zeon about shutting the door. Between the previous dialogue heavy part and  having to walk into the room.

I was happy with:

• The left sliding camera movement with the door that brought us into another room that we didn’t know about. I liked view zeon through the glass door and having him open it to create a fresh look.
• moving from room to room without looking where I was stepping.
• the part where zeon looks back and the camera searches for what he is looking at almost judgementally or in panic that he will be late.