Photos March 21-25

This little square house is in the middle of my apartment complex. It is the most bizarre thing in the world, because the architecture and style do not match the rest of the place at all. To capture this feeling, I framed the square house as a flat object with other pieces of the complex with depth.

This has likely been the worst month in the last couple years for allergies for me. I wanted to get a close-up of the seemingly innocent pollen producers that have been hard at work trying to kill me. I love the shallow depth of field and the contrasting lines in every direction.

I am always astounded by the magnificent architecture we never admire here in provo. With this photo, I purposefully included the shadow on the ground to frame the picture's bottom. It also reminds me of I Am Legend.

With this picture, I wanted to capture how strange the light post looked to me and provide a dynamic photo. The Blue and green in this photo strongly separate the two planes, and the buildings on the right provide some nice depth. But what is up with the space under this lamp post?

Perhaps this is my lamest photo of the day. I wanted to see the roots growing into the fire hydrant. It is a strange happening that makes me imagine the roots reaching for life (aka water). My original intention was to provide the hydrant with powerful framing (a low angle), but I wasn't able to see the roots growing into it.

Director's Statement of Intent - Film 6

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT OF INTENT: BARTON FINK

1.     What is the story--the beginning, middle, and end--of this scene in three or four sentences? In other words, what happens in this scene as it starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

Barton Fink enters an empty hotel lobby. The strange and awkward Clerk, Chet, checks Fink in and makes him uncomfortable. Fink exits to his room.

2.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively? How do you intend to communicate that information?

The audience must understand that Barton is uncomfortable in the new situation. I will do this by enveloping him in his setting—making him appear small. Barton is a transplant in a new place and not confident in his ability to fulfill the role he has decided take. To communicate this, I will consistently place Barton in uncomfortable framing.

3.     If this scene is from a longer piece, what is the narrative, emotional and thematic purpose of the scene in the larger story?

This helps establish the location where Barton will meet Charlie Meadows. Barton develops a severe case of writer’s block and the hotel is a character that helps unsettle Barton even more.

4.     What emotion do you want to communicate in this scene? How do you intend to do this?  

I absolutely want to communicate discomfort. I intend to do this by purposefully negating continuity, placing Barton in bizarre framing within the hotel, and communicating formalistic acting methods to my actors.

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

The first image of the scene is of Barton standing alone in a hotel lobby. The last scene of the film is of Chet standing at the counter.

6.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experience(s) does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

I like the strange and bizarre, and I find speaking with lobby clerks to be incredibly awkward at times. I never know what to say, and I’m always worried they will think I’m crazy. I need to make this scene because it makes the clerk the fish out of water in the situation in addition to the man checking in. Equal playing fields.

7.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene? (Be sure these elements apply to the assignment as listed on Learning Suite; only choose elements that you have read about or that we have covered in class.)

I will use vertical lines to create a sense of domineering architecture, and these lines will separate Barton from Chet in dramatic ways. I will also use browns and greens to convey a sense of sickness. Flat space will also contribute to the quirky nature of Chet, whereas deep space will help illustrate Barton’s foreboding sense of doom.

8.     What are two or three potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

For one, the scene is not very exciting and not a whole lot is discovered about the characters. I chose this intentionally to practice creating subtext and meaning out of lines that seemingly mean nothing more than their face value. There is a lot of stress behind Barton’s character, and I want to convey that without the actors saying it. To accomplish this, I will really have to focus on the differentiation of their framing and performance. I also am worried about finding a location for Monday night. To ensure I have a check-in desk, I have three locations that I plan on approaching in the next few days.

Film 5 - Brick - A Scene in One Shot

I really loved this assignment and project. Working on Anna’s Big shoot the week before made me extraordinarily excited for the possibilities and the options I had with my script. While there are always things I feel could have gone better, I believe that my shoot went incredibly well.

We started at 7AM on Saturday morning, the only time I could reserve the Nelke to shoot in. The HFAC scheduling office was extremely accommodating, scheduling a stage manager to assist with lights and stage. Because of this, we were able to get an incredibly distinctive look. With our successes in location, however, there were some other setbacks. Being at 7 in the morning on a Saturday, I could only find extremely dedicated actors to fill the seats of the three written specifically in the script. If I had gone later in the day, or perhaps spent even more time finding people, I would have liked to give the actors background performers to work off of. It would have really filled the space and influenced the performances of the leads.

As for directing on the day of, I found that this assignment really lent to being the ubiquitous winged witness. My original plan had the two leads ending on the stage at a low-angle. Upon entering the space and blocking, however, I learned that this made it feel like a cheap recording of a staged play. Not the feeling I wanted to communicate. In addition to blocking of the actors and camera, I do not think I adequately captured Cooper leaving down the stairs to underneath the stage. He just kind of becomes enshrouded in darkness and the audience fails to truly recognize he has left the space. Had I seen this before editing, I would have wanted to bump up the lights of the wings.

I regret to say that the best performances always seemed to happen when something went wrong. Battery ran out, someone started singing opera in the Hallway, or an actor replaced key words and lost focus. Cutting is obviously a crutch in a lot of ways. But on the same token, if a cut is used purposefully, it can incredibly lend itself to the meaning of the scene. Performances were incredibly strong, but the actors would alternate takes in giving their most honest portrayal. The best performances came after I spent time building energy with the actors—kind of like a sports team, psyching each other up.

For this shoot, if I had the opportunity to do it again, I would want tighter close-ups in certain key moments and beats. I feel like I stay too wide, and could have done better with tighter framing. Granted, when we finally got into the space, it was decided with my DP, Anna, to shoot on a wider lens than my original plan at a 50MM. I could have punched in more in post, but I didn’t want to lose quality.

Director's Intent - Film 4 - Scripted One Take

1.     What is the story--the beginning, middle, and end--of this scene in three or four sentences? In other words, what happens in this scene as it starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

Brendan confronts Kara about his missing girlfriend, Emily. Kara does not give any information, and Brendan leaves.

2.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively? How do you intend to communicate that information?

The audience must understand that there is a romantic relationship gone awry between Kara and Brendan, and I intend to separate them with space and surface divisions. They must also understand Kara’s power over Brendan, so I intend to place her higher on the stage.

3.     If this scene is from a longer piece, what is the narrative, emotional and thematic purpose of the scene in the larger story?

Brendan has received a mysterious phone call from his old girlfriend, Emily. He knows she has been associating with the high school drug ring, so he confronts Kara. This scene establishes Brendan’s relationship with Kara. It also shows that Kara knows more about the missing Emily than she is letting on.

4.     What emotion do you want to communicate in this scene? How do you intend to do this?  

I want to communicate disgust. The two characters, Kara and Brendan have a long and colorful history together. I will utilize surface divisions and wardrobe colors to clash the two and separate them from each other.

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

The first image in the scene is of Kara, petting a younger freshman boy’s head like a dog. The final image of the scene is also of Kara, alone on the stage.

6.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experience(s) does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

This is a detective story of a young loner destroying his high school drug underground. When I was in High School, I remember pulling up next to an old friend in the parking lot to see her hot boxing with another guy. It broke my heart, and I have a huge vendetta against drug use. I actually walked the cop back out to her to turn her in. While this scene does not explicitly contain drug use, the characters within are entirely affected by it.

7.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene? (Be sure these elements apply to the assignment as listed on Learning Suite; only choose elements that you have read about or that we have covered in class.)

My plan is to use surface divisions to separate the actors from each other to convey their relationship. I also desire to give Kara a black and white wardrobe, whereas Brendan muted grays. This will distinguish their personalities. I will likely remain in the lower third of the gray scale.

8.     What are two or three potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

This scene is dialogue heavy and requires strong performances from the actors. I chose this scene to stretch myself and also give an opportunity for me to put trust in other people. I also foresee obtaining the location to be a challenge. I plan on talking with you, Jeff, about possibly shooting in the Nelke. If that is not possible I am going to ask Emma May about Provo’s Hale Centre Theater.

Film 4 - Shot for Shot - The Village

Original

Remake

Together

Let me be frank. This assignment was difficult to complete for a number of reasons, and while I learned a lot, this isn’t a project I’m necessarily proud of (a project I won’t show to potential clients). It is difficult to recreate scenes from masterful filmmakers, certainly. Leading up to the shooting date, however I was sick. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, I felt like I was dying—in no uncertain terms. I pushed through the planning regardless, and on the day of the shoot, James, my Director of Photography, was also sick.  It was a weekend full of sickness, but the show still went on. And it was a valuable learning experience.

The first thing that I wanted to match as well as possible was the location. If I had been far more forward thinking, I would have been able to schedule a time to shoot at the LDS Motion Picture Studio back lot. After talking to Kyle, it was clear that in order to shoot in one of their cabins, I would have had to give three weeks notice. And even then, I would not have been able to use electricity (I’d have been charged $60/hr. for their electricity). For the other cabin that looked similar to the one in the film, I would have been charged $50/hr. for a room that I wouldn’t be allowed to move around in. I’ll admit that Steven’s apartment was not a great fit. The archways in front of the door did not match at all, and the color red contrasted with the greens and browns of the actual film heavily. If I had the opportunity to do it all over, I would most certainly go for the MPS. If I had the opportunity but not the money, I would have spent more time trying to find an appropriately sized room. Location really can tell more of the story than I ever thought possible.

In the field of framing and lenses, everything I tried just seems slightly off from the original. The most difficult shot was of Lucius’s back before he turns to be stabbed. There was simply no possible way to capture a similar look with the slider we had checked out. It is clear that the actual film used a dolly or similar apparatus. We ended up using a shoulder rig, so the shake makes it significantly more unsettling in our version.  Here’s a picture:

            In the end, I learned that my effort in finding an appropriate location and communicating with my DP exactly what I needed before the shooting day would have made for a much better product. I am proud of my actors, and think they did very well matching performances and mannerisms of the original. I learned that the smallest camera movements can often be the most difficult to achieve, but the most powerful in storytelling.