I had mixed feelings toward the scene in cinema class prior to this class, as my main passion is film script writing. While I still acknowledge that camera work is a huge part of film production, it was not my priority. While I was unable to attend the first day of this course on Tuesday, I looked through brief information about the class activities online. I found out that it involved students actually getting to touch film cameras and shoot one scene from a given script.
I was disappointed that I did not get to experience this activity until Friday when I finally attended the class and luckily got to participate in the same activity. I was joined by three other members in a group, whom I had never met before, so it was important for me to first get to know them and build a bit of trust. After receiving a chosen script and receiving a very quick lesson on how to set up a camera, which I am struggling to remember, we headed to the filming location and began shooting a scene. Even though I was relieved that I didn’t have to do any acting, I also felt like I wasn’t contributing much to our group. While the other three seemed much more comfortable giving their suggestions to the camera, I was just there, working as a quiet assistant. It was a tough moment for me because I had a few suggestions too, but I failed to voice them due to my introverted personality.
This day has clearly shown me where my issue lies, and as much as I want to change it, I don’t see myself improving by the next activity. It will always take a long time for me to change myself for the better. However, this day has also given me a small sense of optimism. When we watched some example scenes from classic movies in the history of cinema, it sparked some script ideas for me that can feature both dynamic and calm scenes.