NAME: Jase
Van Meeteren
DATE: 29 September
2016
FILM: The
Hunt
DP: Spencer
Plewe
TMA 285 DIRECTOR’S REFLECTION
Reflect on how your film turned
out. Have the courage to evaluate your work not only with a
self-congratulatory eye, but also with a critical eye.
Step back; pretend the film wasn't made by you. Be exacting. Be demanding.
Don't let yourself off the hook. Be completely honest about your performance.
- Turn in a hard copy of this
statement the next class session after your film screens
- Upload the statement to Learning
Suite the day after your film screens
- Post this
to your blog with your film the day after your film screens
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?
Briefly answer the following:
What, specifically, did you want to
communicate? Were you successful? Why? Why not?
I wanted to
communicate that the woman in the film was stalking this guy. When he saw her
He wanted to get away because she was horrifying to him. I was also sort of
making a commentary about how hard relationships are to make. I feel like I’m just
really weird and it is hard for me to connect with people in that way. I end up
messing it up. I think there were some aspects that were communicated well. I
think her performance at the end really helped to show how stupid she felt. I
think that was helpful. The beginning was hard to get into though. I think that’s
where it didn’t quite get there.
How, specifically, did you try to
say this? What
visual elements, techniques, etc. did you use?
I tried to
use depth to make things seem scarier. Every shot during the chase was meant to
be super deep to create a feeling of suspense and tension. Flatter elements
were used to make characters feel trapped. I tried to use these ques to make
the woman seem scarier but I don’t think I really put enough emphasis on the
why of the chase, just on the chase itself.
What did you learn about storytelling:
It is so
important to have a good hook with your beginning. Once you do that it turns into a much better
story.
Working with actors and getting performance:
Blocking — camera and actors: It is so
important to block them perfectly. The smallest movements are so visible on a
giant screen and those small movements intemperate many different ways.
Visuals — composition, framing, visual
elements: I learned how fun depth is to play with. If there was one thing in
the film I think I did pretty well, it was use of depth. I loved how we learned
about what going from flat to deep or vice versa does for the story, and I
think it was really fun to play with that.
Design & Art Direction: It was kind of hard getting things together,
especially because I wanted this to be a sort of period piece. It was really
fun to put stuff together though. I was going to have the coat that Wes had on
the girl but it turned out it was too big for her to run in. I was glad to have
it though, because it really helped hide Wesley’s clothes and put him in the
period. I guess I learned that you really should be prepared for everything.
The Production Process — collaboration with crew, the
logistics of making this piece: The crew was a lot of fun. Everyone did really
well, especially Spencer. His framing choices were great, and he had some
amazing lighting insights. The hardest part was finding locations. Once I found
them, the rest of the production process went really smooth, it was actually a
really fun shoot.
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 thought most people responded pretty well to it. The only thing I
would say is that I really need to work on setting things up quickly and
effectively. They need to understand right at the beginning so they aren’t
wondering what the heck is going on during the film.
Other observations:
I just
really wish I would have worked a little longer on the story. I thought the
idea was really fun, but I just needed to think of one thing at the beginning
that would have really sold it.
Directing photography on Jase’s chase scene was a lot of fun. Things started a little shaky when we discovered that the Blackmagic 2.5K, which is the camera we shot on, didn’t accept the video microphone I checked out, so we couldn’t use them together to record sound. Instead, we improvised by using the camera’s built-in mic and Jase’s phone recorder to separately record sound. Everything else on the technical level took off without a hitch!
ReplyDeleteI noticed that I was very observant of contrast and tone throughout the shoot. I pointed out a contrast issue with a shot of a man’s hand with a wedding ring, and the background had too much affinity with the ring, so we darkened BG to help the ring pop out. I also heard compliments on how I moved the camera with panning shots in the house scene and the parking garage. I gently leaned my weight on and off the handle to ease the movement. Being aware of the varying distances from the subjects to the camera, I kept a hand on the focus knob to adjust to the proper distances depending on who subject is.
Something I can improve on next time would be to check for all available recording options and learn from what works and what doesn’t. I’m going to try being more prepared with different kinds of tools that I may need to fix something or add something more.