Film 4 - Dramatic Unscripted One-take

DIRECTORS RESPONSE

Give your overall response (2-3 paragraphs):

Write about your overall response to your film in 2-3 paragraphs: Were you successful at achieving what you set out to do? What are you proud of? What did not work as you expected? Why? What did you learn?

This was a fairly easy piece to plan, but difficult to execute. If I’m being being perfectly honest, I’m proud of my camera operating for the most part. There were a few moments of distraction, but all things considered, I think I was able to get some cool shots. I only wish that I had planned the route in such a way that the steepest part was at the end.

Briefly discuss the following:

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

I wanted to communicate the thrill of downhill longboarding. I think I was moderately successful. A few shots I felt adrenaline watching them, but several could have been more powerful.

How, specifically, did you try to communicate this?

Shots of the ground, shots of the wheels, shots of the world whizzing by the subjects (parallax shots)

What did you learn about storytelling:

There is a plot structure to every scene, no matter how simple.

What did you learn about working with actors and getting performance:

This was all about finding talents that were good enough to make things interesting, but not so good that I’m unable to keep up. These guys lived in an apartment above us, and it was quite serendipitous running across them.

What did you learn about blocking the camera and actors?

The camera can move a lot when you’re hurtling down a hill on a piece of bamboo on wheels. For better or for worse. Pre-planning and pre-practicing the shots was key. Also picking the proper rig was key to the success of the piece.

What did you learn about visual elements such as lighting, composition, framing, etc.?

Lighting contrast, as well as contrast of depth can really increase the intensity of a scene. Perceived movement is also very hard to manipulate.

What did you learn about design and art direction?

That I couldn’t control it very much, aside from choosing the location, I liked this location because it had some cool lines, as well as lighting cues.

What did you learn about the Production Process such as pre-production, collaborating with crew, securing equipment, etc.?

Camera tests, camera tests, camera tests. If I hadn’t done tests, I would have used a different camera on a different rig at a different time of day. Sometimes in your head something works, but in practice, it needs to be adjusted.

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?

They seemed to enjoy it! Certainly I felt the lull at the end read, but not as much as it read when I was editing, which was a pleasant surprise.

If you could remake this piece knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?

I would change the location, to switch around the steepness of the hill, in order to create a better rising action, climax, and falling action of the scene so I can keep the audience engaged.

-Tanner