#filmnarrative

Moving tableau critique.

Overall I thought the critique went well, and I really enjoyed a lot of the other groups films and listening to the talk about their ideas. Our tableau was a performance driven piece and I think the performance let it down which is a shame but a fair criticism and I feel disappointed in that. This impacted other aspects as the vodka bottle became overly forced and fake as a prop. However, I was happy to hear they thought I had done a good job on sound, even though the off screen dialogue was too loud and clear, that it felt unnatural which is understandable and something I would keep in mind for the future. The lighting was a bit dodgy which in hindsight I see how it could seemed very fake or staged. 

We filmed our moving tableau yesterday and it went a lot better than I expected! I cringed a bit at my writing but I think with the actors it seemed natural so hopefully it comes across like that on camera. Pulling off blue hour was always going to be a challenge because of how little little a time window it was but I think we managed to get a couple of decent takes. I was on sound which I loved surprisingly, definitely a role I would take on again. I really, really enjoyed it, I think because of how immersive it was. I think we could of felt a lot more organised though as we were down to crew members leaving three of us to everything. The communication and planning has not been great, with me and one of other member having most discussions/seeming most interested. This was hard as I felt like I was imposing and pushing decisions that were not my role but otherwise wouldn't get done and it was also a shame that other people didn't seem engaged. Hopefully the tableau came out decent, I’m yet to see the footage. However regardless of that, I felt excited when we were shooting so it was good to try something new and go out of our comfort zones even if we didn't execute everything perfectly.

For my screenplay I wasn’t quite sure what to write about so I tried to reflect on different events or moments in my life where I have felt like I’ve had to make a decision. I personally like to try and write about people in a natural, realistic setting as I usually find scenes like that touching and effect me most. Something that is important to me is how people interact and are effected by the people around them. People are complex and I like to think about how this creates different relationships with people I think the importance of emotions and human connection is sometimes overlooked, especially when it comes to conflicting feelings.

I personally felt as though our tableau went very well and the whole group worked together effectively. We were very organised which made the experience less stressful and the shoot ran smoothly. We managed to achieve the kind of look we were going for.

Pros/things that went well

- The use of Shadows and off screen

-lighting worked well

-nice aesthetic and good tone

-worked visually and was intriguing

Cons/improvements

-blocking was a bit off and actors reactions delayed

-certain aspects weren't believable, like the bag didn't look heavy. More thought put into props in the future and how the audience doesn't know the location.

- camera was a weird height, so even though the peep hole effect worked well, this took away from that

- Shadows could of been a bit stronger

Mood boards for tableau project

Out of the Lumiere brothers films there was two I personally engaged with most. The first one included a little girl climbing up to look into a mirror/box of some kind. Out of all the short films this one had the most narrative structure and story line which caught my attention. A number of people also entered and exited the frame, which made it visually interesting. The second film I engaged with was the one featuring a helicopter, as people are running from the start and i found it easy to become immersed in the action to see where it would lead. Both films felt quite comedic and planned even though they seemed to try and make it seem natural. And whilst sound was used neither was particularly reliant on it.

In the scene from ‘Elephant’ the characters are framed from off centre/side angle, with the camera in a similar position to where a security camera would usually be. The characters interaction in the scene although kind of sweet, feels very awkward and the characters feel distant from each other, especially as they don’t properly face each other. Because the boy is in the centre of the frame with the background blurred it feels as though he is quite disconnected or cut of from the world around him. The colours in the scene are also quite washed out and sickly in contrast with his bright yellow top.