Mentalson! wk 7

Warming up for A3- The Wisdom on an Unrehearsed Scene

Trial #1 A3 TSIC:

Gerry and Julia class exercise

Trial #2 A3 TSIC

Conclusion A3 TSIC

Story is nothing without form

Trial #2 take1000000 Further exploring pace, space and the camera as a character.

Zeon and I with a combined 5 hours of sleep (for separate reasons) managed to shoot another version of assignment 3 today, and had a blast doing it.

We have come a long way since the first take and it’s been too much fun. After spending many hours together it has become a lot easier to predict the subtle movements and timing that of my actor and we seem to be very in sync.

REVIEW.

After speaking with Robin about trial #1 a few things became evident.

Things to improve on:

One

Trial #1 contained a lot of elements that I was interested in exploring without much thought on why I was including them. For example, I wanted to have Zeon walk across the room to establish the space. Originally his walk from the microwave to sitting in the couch seemed achieved this, but seemed awkward and unnecessary. For trial #2

Two

So far our method had been to just shoot over and over again with improv and very minimal planning. This lead to some inconsistency in the dialogue. For example, was had Zeon completely forgotten the date of the wedding or was he simply late? Being more decisive about the details of the scene helped us concentrate on more important things like pacing.

FOR TRIAL #2 

Happy mistakes

Gizmo the dog featured in our scene this time and it was great. Gizmo, an amazing talent, had been following Zeon around all morning and it was quite unnerving for me as the camera operator. I was so afraid I might accidentally step on the poor little pup. When filming the take that ended up being our ‘one shot wonder’ I was extremely bummed out that I had JUST missed zeon leaving the room, after getting everything else almost perfect. After reviewing the footage I noticed something that made me smile. Our new shining star Gizmo had stolen the scene and left us with an excellent dramatic effect.

Another happy mistake I made was my “sliding” camera movement which I tried to sync with the door. I ended up jumping the gun and moving to the left too quickly. After reviewing this I actually prefer this look because it brings us to the next room much smoother and faster.

Things I would fix: The timing of the phone being called: I had to do this with one hand

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1codXosplDlCRISxmY-9Gi2eLOEO3p6sp/view?usp=sharing

Final of trial #1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1nDEG8MdaJa18W-DxN1izm9_MqWZSo62k/view?usp=sharing

final of trial #2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1codXosplDlCRISxmY-9Gi2eLOEO3p6sp/view?usp=sharing

I found this shoot very educational and fun. I’ve always been very nervous about picking up any camera, but this exercise helped me realise that to make something you just have to shoot it. It has helped me loosen up and become more ok with mistakes and imperfection. What I enjoyed most was rediscovering the pure joy of filming whatever comes to mind. In future I will definitely replicate this exercise to get a feel of a location and break into the mindset of my actors.

This exercise also helped me remove the awkward ‘in between’ moments of trying to film a scene. For example having to yell “CUT!” to create a new camera set up, which might cause actors to lose momentum. This “run with it” approach also made it easier to think of new ideas on the fly and become more flexible!

This was a very rewarding experience. Syncing up with my actor and really being in the moment is was so exciting and irreplaceable.

Interview with the actor:

1. How did you find the shoot?

“It was good, it only took a few hours and a lot of the planning aspect/preparation for the scene was a process of elimination, Brainstorming movements, dialogue, improvisations, pacing, camera techniques and spacial construction. I found the lines pretty easy, considering a lot of the lines weren’t planned beforehand, a lot of the communications with the director/camera operator were loose and easy to follow along, i felt like at times the movements that i needed to memorize (although simple.e.g. sliding a door) came to become complicated when compiled all together to complete the one shot. at times i would perfect the opening section, to completely neglect what i had to do immediately after, which in turn.. due to human error on my behalf, lead to multiple takes being ruined. i’d like to believe that with each mistake, i would improve on the following take. Another interesting element, i might add, was the camera operator/actor dynamic, i felt very comfortable working in this environment where there was opportunity to build or cut back on aspects of the project as the day went along. i never felt like an addition or subtraction of dialogue or movement was unnecessary, and given the time that i was present, i feel like we landed on the best possible outcome, and in reviewing the final take.”

THE SHOOT

In this exercise I acted as Gerry in a gender bending, passive aggressive scene out of the 90’s. The main challenge for our group seemed to be finding a prop in RMIT that even slightly resembled a home phone. I got a real shock when the younger members of our group asked what a “receiver” and “dial tone” were when reading the script.

I learned that it might be good to ask the director what kind of shots we are doing as an actor. I thought since this scene was focused on the looks the two characters were giving each other that there might be a few mid shots or close ups but there weren’t any of me in them.

I felt like a bit of a prop since my only role for 99% of the shoot was to sit there and pretend to fill in a crossword. In the end I had enough time to draw up a custom crossword from scratch, which ended up not being in frame.

After we briefly talked about the special unnoticed skills of actors in a previous class, one being the art of doing “nothing” well, I have certainly developed a new appreciation for how hard it can be. I found that if I tried to really become someone bored by the situation, with only a crossword as entertainment, the waiting became a lot easier. It was very funny realizing how meta it all was. Especially since Natalie was pacing around nervously as part of her role, but was between takes nervously checking the time trying to hurry up the crew as we only had about 15 minutes left.

Our group took a while to actually get filming and I think it was because of some confusion between our roles. We had some very vocal actors who probably shouldn’t have been commenting on how to shoot the thing (me), the director occasionally operating the camera leaving our actual camera operators confused, and a sound recordist with no dialogue to record.

REVIEW

After watching both versions in class we were all really happy with how they turned out. Neither of them were rushed and they both had a lot of thought put in to them.

Here are some thoughts I had:

Acting: is it non naturalistic? Does it matter? As an audience we accept the established tone I think and that becomes the new “naturalistic” within the world of the film.

How do u have the actors get in sync and on the same level of naturalistic? For example in our version Natalie’s movements were very gestural and concise while I looked like I could have been accidentally in the shot; some unknowing random who happened to be in frame. I thought that the instructed back and forth pacing seemed like an non naturalistic activity in itself which sort of established that the rest of it would have to be slightly theatrical.

There were some interesting differences between the two groups.

group 1: excellent lighting and use of space. The scene was all about Julia but Gerry seemed to be in it with her because of their close proximity. I really like the way he looked back at her instead of our version where Gerry just looked up and it wasn’t as noticeable and important.The close up of Julia on her phone looked great against the dark lighting, the phone screen wasn’t too bright  and added the perfect amount of contrast to the scene.

group 2 (our group) 

There was a lot more tension between the characters because of the framing. Both versions started off with Gerry in a midshot which acted as an anchor for the rest of the scene. Julia seemed to be orbiting around Gerry, but he was bored and stubbornly uninterested.

THE SHOOT

Zeon and I with a combined 5 hours of sleep (for separate reasons) managed to shoot another version of assignment 3 today, and had a blast doing it.

New things that we tried:

1. the character as a dolly
2. spinning dance
3. changing the starting position for the shot.

Trial #2 take1000000

Further exploring pace, space and the camera as a character.

We have come a long way since the first take and it’s been too much fun. After spending many hours together it has become a lot easier to predict the subtle movements and timing that of my actor and we seem to be very in sync.

Happy mistakes

Gizmo the dog featured in our scene this time and it was great. Gizmo, an amazing talent, had been following Zeon around all morning and it was quite unnerving for me as the camera operator. I was so afraid I might accidentally step on the poor little pup. When filming the take that ended up being our ‘one shot wonder’ I was extremely bummed out that I had JUST missed zeon leaving the room, after getting everything else almost perfect. After reviewing the footage I noticed something that made me smile. Our new shining star Gizmo had stolen the scene and left us with an excellent dramatic effect.

Another happy mistake I made was my “sliding” camera movement which I tried to sync with the door. I ended up jumping the gun and moving to the left too quickly. After reviewing this I actually prefer this look because it brings us to the next room much smoother.

Things I would fix: The timing of the phone being called: I had to do this with one hand

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1gWx78pxFCRm80hAmu2HMpZjz131BtNTk

REVIEW

the differences between trial #1 and #2 

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. 

On the first day back we dived into shooting a scene we had revised before the mid semester break. By reshooting this scene we were trying to resolve a few problems. However, there were some aspects of the original version that I liked. The way Catherine drops into the frame and is well placed but still arrives as a surprise, suits her pushy, assertive character.

1. The break away from the conversation shot of Catherine seemed out of place and awkward in comparison to the smooth reverse shot that established the scene.
2. The upward tilt shot of Catherine was an attention grabbing use of movement but didn’t fit into the tightly framed, static shots that came before. Catherine leaving table to a random edge of the nearby wall also looked unnecessary and caused some confusion with her position in relation to the table, which then made their eyelines inconsistent.

To solve these issues,we came up with a simpler alternative which made it easier to keep track of eye lines and not have to calculate them as much. Instead of walking off the the side, Catherine simply slid back to the table behind her where she had conveniently left her bag on the way in. This bee lining method reduced chance of error and also allowed us to have less camera set ups.

Playing Catherine was really fun but came with some challenges.

1. getting flustered
2. sliding elegantly in an office chair and blocking

one Getting flustered is a specialty of mine. Without much preparation with lines and rehearsal it was easy to become stressed when there was a whole class waiting on us to “get it right.” Being in this position taught me that it might be good to give actors I may work with some warning before we start actually filming by making a point to say “yep we will shoot in 5” instead of , “OK READY YEP GO NOW” I found that what was making me nervous was that I was thinking about too many of the crew roles at once. Our director seemed to notice this and tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey don’t worry about trying to adjust your body to fit in the frame, : she said, “that’s our job.”

I didn’t know that I was doing it but I had been watching the screens in the corner of my eye trying to frame myself.

two blocking and delivery

An unnoticed skill that some actors possess is being able to smoothly and naturally plant themselves right into the perfect spot in the frame while being able to deliver their lines. What really helped me was associating a line with a movement. For example I repeated “*slide back in chair* “actually weren’t they both called Arthur”

Some more things I noticed 

• A lot of “what are we all waiting for” seemed to happen. But as we got into the groove our AD got very good at shushing us and taking control.
• Too much tape! – there was so much tape on table that I was confused about what it meant.