In-Camera Editing

Time flies. Week 13. Two more weeks to end of semester.

As part of our preparations to embark on advanced directing next semester, Kym presents us with the basic knowledge of In-Camera Editing:

Create movement amongst actors in a shot; to move the subjects within the shot with respect to the pace and drama taking place within the frame in any particular scene.

With respect to the above, we must ask ourselves the motivational and logical reasons in moving the camera with respects to the subjects in frame.

In addition, there are 3 key points to remember in making any shot:

1. Logic
2. Justification
3. Motivation

Relationships of Actors

An actor's relationship in a scene is affected by the following factors:

1. Environment
2. Other characters
3. Himself

Learn to identify the relationship conflicts of the actors in a scene to understand the scene better.

Try to put behaviour + actions + thoughts before texts --> will give a reasonably good performance in actors.

Environment can sometimes really enhance the performance of actors in any particular scene.

Dead Man Walking Presentation

We directors each has an individual presentation on a 2-hander scene for Dead Man Walking film.

Something interesting we learnt in class today with regards to the study of Climax Chart:

1. The reflection of the Climax Chart determines the shot sizes where beats/key moments take place.
2. Separate actors' graphs will help to evaluate the intersection of the emotional aspects in the scene.
3. Actors think through a 'Pause', of which is usually to be earned before being used.
4. 'Pause' is a setup with emotional intensity.

Good lesson today despite our ill-prepared presentations.

Ah Hock Done!

Finally, our group has completed the semester project and our very first virgin short film: "48 - Ah Hock"

However, it seems like everything looks ok after the First Cut but the more we look at the Final Cut, the more flaws I find in our short film. I wonder if most directors feel that way to their films, be it a short of a feature length movie...hope i'm not the only one to feel this way.

After having spent more than 10 weeks at the film school at NP, i can't help but reflect on the words of friends who tried to dissuade me from furthering my studies in the course stating that it's a waste of time...

Question is: Did i learn anything in this semester?

In fact i think i did learn things here and there but more so in Film Directing and Film as Art. Technology as Film is so so...Screenwriting & Narrative Analysis are also medicore in teachings. BUT the best is i got to make my short film : )

What i hate most is the way the system is being established in our course. Unrealiable equipement and snail-paced hardware, crazy admin guidelines, ridiculous schedules and deadlines are simply driving us crazy especially to Producers and Directors.

I wonder if there are any serious plannings and considerations when the course come up with the semester schedules. *sigh

Character Analysis

In our Film Directing class today, we learnt the fundamentals in creating characters in a film. Here's 2 insightful equations:

1. Character + Objective --> Actions
2. Objective + Actions --> Character

We watched a short film by Martin Scorsese in his segment of the New York Stories: Life Lesson starring Nick Nolte as an artist. His character is studies as a case study in how the character is being told to the audience via his actions and his objectives.