Although not part of the brief for assignment 3, I have spent some time reflecting on the experience of working with non-professional actors. For this assignment I asked some of my work students if they would be willing to act in the film. Given that it was primarily a party scene and I said I’d… Continue reading Reflections on Assignment 3 – working with amateur actors
One of the technical problems I experienced during the filming of Assignment 3 was with the over-exposure of the large kitchen window in many of the shots. Most of the actors were standing inside the kitchen and so I made a choice to expose for the interior so that it was possible to see the… Continue reading Reflection on Assignment 3 – The over-exposed window
I’ve been really struggling to come up with a plausible story for Assignment 3. It is clear to me that the ‘implied meaning’ aspect of the assignment is where my stumbling block is. For each attempt at a credible story (visual and spoken), I was simply not satisfied that the viewer would understand what was… Continue reading Implied meaning and subtext
In the past, I have watched various Swedish and Danish films and they all seem to have similar traits in terms of their subject matter. They are usually quite controversial and the choices about what they choose to show is typically very graphic and with a tendency towards showing violence up close. I was interested in finding out more as… Continue reading Scandinavian Film and the Dogme 95 manifesto
As I have been working my through the storyboards for Assignment 2, I found myself from time-to-time confronted with the problem of wanting to put more into the video than the 12 shots the assignment allows me. I began thinking more about the editing process and the role it plays in film-making and how a… Continue reading Editing film – Walter Murch
Matt Workman has produced a brilliant video where he does a detailed analysis of the lighting techniques used in Quentin Tarantino’s Hateful Eight movie. Matt Workman is a cinematographer and the founder of the website Cinematography Database. I tried to recreate two of the scenes using the lighting techniques he describes. In analysing the exterior… Continue reading Lighting techniques in The Hateful Eight
One aspect of the course that I am thoroughly enjoying but at the same time finding challenging is the requirement to generate good stories. Even if the exercise material gives a hint of a storyline, you are still required to build up the body around the story. In many instances the course gives you the freedom… Continue reading What makes a good story?
