Gradually Gaining Insight...

This last class (which was about two weeks ago) is difficult for me to remember. It's always been hard for me to adjust to school and recall the things being discussed in my classes after a long break, but here it goes.

The first thing we did was watch a short film called, "The Last Summer," which was created by a graduate film student for his thesis. It was helpful to see all of the elements of the filmmaking industry we have been learning about being united on-screen. By watching this film, we were able to see how the setting, the actors, the screenplay, the script, etcetera are able to mesh and become an organized story. Each week, we do a different workshop that is focused on a different aspect of film. For example, we have done workshops on sound, editing, and cinematography. But it can sometimes be difficult to tie all of these elements together. This short film helped me to wrap my head around the fact that each part of film is intimately tied to the other parts of film. Yes, they each are constructed and work differently, but they are all vital to the end result and must fit together.

After watching and discussing this short film, we were also shown several videos. The "Academy Award Winning Movie Trailer" was very funny and emphasized how cliche and predictable many movies can be advertised in trailers. Another video was of Alfred Hitchcock discussing the importance of cinematic tension. He was telling viewers that the most important factor in film is determination; and when the plot calls for tension, it must be built up and then relieved. Otherwise, the audience will not be satisfied with the plot's delivery. After discussing these videos and answering questions, we then broke up into our individual film groups and discussed any last-minute details.

In my group, we made some important decisions on what type of lighting we should use in certain scenes. In addition, we decided where we were going to film and when our first time to film would be. We also decided to do a walkthrough of the different camera angles before filming. By walking through the set and camera angles beforehand, the actors' and other crew members' time wouldn't be wasted with a lot of standing around on film day. After making these decision, we were ready for the camera and have already begun shooting our scenes. I am excited to see what the final product will be!