Final Reel

Film Seven: Final

Director's Reflection:

Overall response (2-3 paragraphs):

In 2-3 paragraphs, write an overall response to your film: Were you successful at achieving what you set out to achieve? What are you proud of? What would you do differently if you could remake this piece? What did you learn? 

            In general, I was successful. I had a specific story I wanted to tell, and I think in general I was able to tell it with a lot of the nuances of emotion, suspense, and thought that I was hoping for. The performances were nice and were able to carry that depth—both the things we were supposed to like about the characters and the things we were supposed to question. Additionally, a lot of the time, the visual elements I was hoping to use worked effectively. I was able to use tone fairly well by lighting their faces a bit more than most of the rest of the room, and movement was also effective in some ways. Additionally, because of the location, I was able to use color spectacularly in a way I hadn’t planned on before showing up to set. I am most proud of the performances and the script.

            However, there’s a lot of stuff in this film that really makes me cringe. The biggest one, of course, is the tracking shot. It’s very shaky, the focus is a frequent problem, and the pace just doesn’t work as well as I was hoping. Additionally, there are a couple of angles that are just a bit awkward, or could have been framed just a bit differently to vast improvement. Specifically, I don’t like the shot of Kyler entering the door, because technically it crosses the 180 degree line from where we were looking at Ashley. I would have liked to get just a bit wider, and I would have liked it if the shot in which she is on the floor and he is on the couch had a more interesting background. The sound also has a lot of problems because there were people in the location making noise most of the time, and I didn’t have the guts to tell them we needed it quieter.

            My main regrets have to do with the location, and how I handled it. The family at the house wasn’t entirely expecting us, and they also didn’t understand how quiet we needed it to be for the sake of the sound of the film. However, since they were kind to me and I felt like I was bugging them already, I didn’t want to confront them. This also made me anxious, which made me rush some setups that I needed more time on. This is the main thing I learned—that I have a hard time working when I feel like I’m annoying someone. Additionally, I kind of relearned that having good actors makes the directing process go much smoother.

Briefly answer the following:

What, specifically, did you want to communicate? Were you successful? Why? Why not?

I wanted to communicate a few emotions—suspense, empathy, concern, and wariness. I also wanted to communicate a lot of concrete information—who these characters were, what their relationships were, and what the situation was. In general, I feel like I was successful at communicating this. I think this largely has to do with the performances, and with the overall tone and pacing of the piece (which largely relied on tone and color). Any ways that it wasn’t successful had the most to do with continuity and seamlessness. Some elements of the film are a little rough around the edges. This occurred because of me rushing some things and not being as neat—as far as technical skill goes—as I should have been.

How, specifically, did you try to say this? What visual elements, techniques, etc. did you use?

I used tone, color, and rhythm mainly. Color provided warmth and intimacy, which helped us understand and question the relationships. Tone helped with intimacy as well, but it also, I hoped (although I don’t think this came through as much as I wanted) added suspense and mystery. The rhythm (as far as editing goes) helped by giving the audience time to process the emotions of the characters. I think it would have been good to be a little faster, but I’m also happy that it was somewhat deliberate.

I also relied heavily on the performances to carry the scene, and the actors were quite successful.

What did you learn about storytelling:

I learned that ambiguity in character thought and motivation can be good, as long as we understand what’s ambiguous and don’t feel lost. This ambiguity can be provided through performance and blocking.

Working with actors and getting performance:

Getting smart actors really helps. Additionally, having them understand why the characters are doing something is crucial. I made sure each actor was able to tell me why they were doing what they were doing—especially when they did weird things (such as Kyler putting his arm around Ashley at the end, or Brando not immediately telling Ashley about the text). It also helped that they were able to easily understand some of the emotions involved because they were all married, and that was a significant part of what this was about.

Blocking — camera and actors:

When doing a tracking shot—SLOW MOVEMENTS. Putting two characters who are touching also really helps communicate something. As long as the motions are motivated, they’ll read well if you capture them well.

Visuals — composition, framing, visual elements:

There’s a shot that I think is really ugly, when she’s sitting on the floor and he’s on the couch. They’re placement is good, but the background is flat and plain, especially when there’s so much around them in other shots. That shot feels out of place, and I wish I had composed it differently so that it wasn’t so boring and different than the rest of the story. Otherwise, I’m quite happy with some things. There are a lot of light sources or reflective surfaces in the film that could potentially compete for attention during shots of the characters, but I think I balanced most of the compositions well enough that they don’t detract. For instance, in shots of Brando sitting alone on the couch, there is a shiny metal Christmas tree behind him, but it just balances the frame, making us still look at him, rather than drawing our attention away.

Design & Art Direction:

One empty wall is ugly when all of the others are full. But, aside from that, having a really busily decorated home gives a really intimate feeling, which turned out nicely.

The Production Process — collaboration with crew, the logistics of making this piece:

Make sure the owners of your location know what they’re getting into. That way, it’s possible to confront/remind them if things get out of hand. Also, in the case of renting/borrowing equipment, make sure you do it as early as possible…

I was really hoping to shoot on something with a better resolution and dynamic range, but I guess if a scene is lit well, the 5D doesn’t do too bad…

                  

What was it like to watch your film with an audience? Did they understand it? Miss the point? Why did they respond the way they did?  

I was really happy. After looking at that film for a few hours, all of my on-set regrets were the first thing on my mind. However, watching it with an audience helped me realize it still has a lot going for it. All three actors’ performances were complimented, which made me feel great, as did the fact that everyone understood the story, that they cared about the emotional element of the story, and that the ambiguity read well.

Other observations:

Nope. I’m ready to be done for a few weeks.

Film Seven: Statement of Intent and Shot List

Director's Statement of Intent

1.    What film or TV show is this from?

This is an original script.

2.     After reading the entire script, in 3 sentences, what is the story of the entire film?

A married woman invites a male friend over, but begins to feel nervous after she can’t tell whether her feelings are remaining completely platonic. Her friend learns that her husband is on his way home, but instead of telling her right away, tells her that he has feelings for her. She sends him away, her husband comes home, and she spends time with him.

3.     After reading the entire script, what is the theme or message of this film?

The theme is that although it may not be easy and it may cause some problems, it is best to be open and honest about your feelings, especially with someone you are in a committed relationship with.  

4.     In 3-5 sentences, what happened in the story immediately before your selected scene?

This would be the opening scene of the film if it were longer, so the before element is hopefully inferable from the story. Before this, Sarah and Kenny have been casually hanging out, while Mike has been at work.

5.     In 3-4 sentences, what is the story—the beginning, middle, and end—of this scene? In other words, what happens as the scene starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

Since the entire story is this scene at this point, this is the same as question 2.

6.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively/plot-wise in order to engage in this scene? How will you communicate each piece of information?

There is kind of a lot of information that needs to be conveyed in a short amount of time here.

The audience must know that Sarah is married to Mike and not to Kenny. This is communicated through bits of dialogue throughout the piece, such as Sarah talking about her honeymoon.

They must know that Mike is on his way home, and that Kenny knows this but Sarah doesn’t. This will be communicated through the text and the shot of Kenny seeing the text, which Sarah won’t be in.

They must know that Mike doesn’t know that Sarah has invited Kenny over, which will be communicated through Kenny asking Sarah whether or not Mike knows.

They must know that Sarah is a bit nervous/guilty about having Kenny over, which will be communicated through her performance (facial expression and verbal tone).

Finally, they must understand that Sarah has some suspicion about whether or not Mike saw Kenny leaving. This will be communicated through Mike’s suspicious performance once he gets home, in which he doesn’t say much and treats Sarah with wariness.

7.     What is the narrative and thematic purpose of this scene within the larger story?

This is the opening of the story, so this scene sets up the situation of Sarah, Kenny, and Mike. Thematically, it’s meant to set up the emotional tension created by this situation, while still creating empathy for all of the people involved. Through this emotional exploration, the scene will hopefully begin to establish the theme of the problem of Sarah not communicating her feelings to Mike.

8.     What emotion do you want the audience to experience while watching this scene? Why? How, specifically, do you intend to do this?  

I want them to feel a mix of sadness and suspense. The sadness is meant to be a part of empathizing with Sarah. She has probably made some poor choices, but has done them for good reason, which is something of a tragic place to be in—this is why the sadness. The suspense is important because it reflects the consequences of her choices, as well as the choices that Kenny makes. Although it would be nice to give Sarah time to hash out her feelings and relationship with Kenny, in life, sometimes we’re not given this, and the fear that Mike will find out has to take over.

I intend to capture these feelings largely through tone and lighting. I want the lighting to be soft to create a cozy, faux-candlelight effect. This helps the empathic nature of the scene to be there. Still, I want there to be high contrast in the tone, and the lighting will be fairly low-key. This will help to create suspense—through non-coincidence of tone in the surroundings of the image. This is not film noir—the characters do not have malicious or hidden motives. This will be reflected in the softness of the lighting.

I will also use character blocking to reflect a lot of this. In the beginning, Sarah and Kenny will be physically close. However, as Sarah gets more stressed, and as she realizes more and more problems, they will be farther and farther from each other. Likewise, when Mike first comes in, he and Sarah will be far apart, helping with the suspense between them. When they end up physically close, it will feel tense because we still don’t know what’s going on in Mike’s head.

9.     What is the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene?

The first image is of Sarah leaning against Kenny on the couch. The final image is of Sarah leaning against Mike on the couch.

10.  Why is this scene personal to you? What specific personal experience(s) does it remind you of?

Although I don’t tend to withhold my feelings from other people very much, I have had times in my life when I’ve not known the best way to approach my feelings toward another a person. For instance, for a while, there was someone in my life I liked, but they were in a long relationship at the time. I figured it would be best for me to not tell them about my own feelings, even though it was difficult. Once this person ended that relationship and I finally told them about my feelings, that brought about its own whole new set of problems. This scene reminds me of this because it is precisely about this—not knowing what to do in  a relationship and using coping mechanisms to deal with the anxiety that bring about their own set of problems.

11.  How should the lighting feel in this scene? Why? You may include sample image(s). (Not from the actual film!)

I want soft, warm, but low-key lighting. This is to simultaneously create intimacy, empathy, and suspense.

This is a good amount of softness and contrast             This is the correct warmth and softness, but a bit high

This is really close to what I’m going for, although indoors

12.   Which two specific visual elements—line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement—do you intend to use to purposefully communicate the emotion of the scene? (You will be graded on your execution of this plan)

Tone: this scene will use high contrast to create suspense and tension. The darkness surrounding the characters will help us feel like there could be something lurking in the shadows. There isn’t anything physically there, but emotionally, maybe there is. Additionally, this will help key us into their facial expressions, and performance will be important here.

Movement: This scene will feature movement in a few ways. There will be a few tracking shots in which we move with characters as they move around. This is to place emphasis on the meaning of their movements as they move toward and away from one another. Additionally, there will be a shot of hot chocolate spinning in mugs. This is intended to reflect the turmoil Sarah is feeling.

13.   In a bulleted list, describe three potential obstacles you may face in creating a successful scene. Describe how can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

Lighting: I’ve never had such a careful, tricky lighting setup to try to work with before, so this is something I will have to be aware of at all times. We will have to use our brains to light this, but I think we can do it.

Camera moves: Although there are only a couple of shots I intend on doing this, I want to have a couple of Steadicam shots. In the past, it seems like a lot of people in our class have had trouble using the Steadicam. As such, I will be sure we spend plenty of time balancing and weighting it, and that Spencer knows how to use it. Additionally, if it doesn’t work, I have a backup plan that we can use to avoid unwanted handheld shots.

Performance: This scene will rely heavily on strong performances. I plan on spending a good amount of time with the actors helping them understand the motivation behind their characters, and making sure they stay connected at all times. Additionally, I am casting all acting students to perform in this scene.

Shot List