'when Godard zooms, you know it's a zoom'

I'm beginning to realise just how conscripting and formulaic filming drama really is. Even with just crafting the storyboard, for example, you are made painfully aware of what you can and cannot do as student filmmakers, especially when the look you are going for has a set of codes and conventions that aren't overtly experimental.

Every niggling little thing needs to be thought out. Every crash cut, jump cut, focus pull.. stuff like this you can't really afford to make up on the fly. And it makes sense now why doco and drama were swapped from one semester to another - I really can't imagine having to work within these confines for another 3 month block. But at the same time, it's probably better to get us used to this emulative approach so that once we do get around to making our own docos, we'll be much more likely to come up with something innovative.

In as much as we can, anyhow.

That aside, pre-prod seems to be running smoothly. No major hiccups, and now that everything is sorted, we seem to be on track. The only noteworthy difference is that instead of fiming this coming weekend, we'll be doing it the next. Which theoretically gives us less time in post, but more time to fine tune everything for our big day. Also, the equipment factor isn't really one we can get around. In a way I'm glad it's been pushed back, because it means our actors will get time to rehearse, and won't feel as though they've been thrown in the deep end.

Always be kind and accommodating to your actors. If there's a lesson that doesn't need learning by any of us, it's that.

nature of the beast: learning the ropes in cinematography

Today's hour of power was spent brushing up on what, by now, ought to be a given/second nature for many of us, but it certainly can't hurt to reiterate the basics at this point in time.

The nature of the camera has a large impact on the way films are shot, as it has a direct correlation to the nature of the frame. These composition choices need to be clearly thought out from the very beginning, so that mise en scene can be taken care of accordingly.

We are lucky in that the cameras we are using have viewfinders. Apparently a feature was shot on someone's mobile phone last year - I can only imagine how much of a headache it's going to be to edit something of that quality, but hey, it's a world-first and the technology makes it possible in this day and age.

The aspect ratio of a frame should always be used to its full potential. We can opt to shoot in 16x9 as opposed to the native 4x3, if stylistically this will add specific meaning to the narrative. The key to always ask oneself is how much are your shots going to reveal? How flat do you want the frames to be? Remember, the frame is NOT reality, i.e. cheating is permissible.

Godard commented on the nature of watching (audiences), whilst watching a film. The idea is to make viewers forget that they are, in fact, being engaged - that is, to sublimate their senses without becoming overbearing. The sky may be the limit with character, but from a technical perspective, everything must serve a purpose. Once people remember that they are watching a film, it loses any lasting impact it could have had on them, making it moot.

There's one hell of a fine line between theory and practice - will any of dare to cross it this semester?