Direction Unit: Coursework

Directing a Crew

Last Thursday we had our first experience of having a crew and directing them. We were given a scene involving two characters meeting at a pre-arranged time, Person 1 gives Person 2 a note then we see Person 1 opening the note.

I had a plan as to how and what I wanted to film but when it came down to it I fell into the traps of "what not to do". I knew that I needed to shoot the same scene multiple times with the camera in different positions and not trying to film it in order. But, I didn't get enough footage each time I had the camera in position by not shooting the whole scene, instead, I filmed just part of it; which, when it comes to the edit, becomes very limited and uninteresting. However, as we were under a strict time limit, I know I would have been limited to shooting the whole scene as many times as I would have liked. 

I also need to work on my communication with the cast as I found it difficult to try and show how I wanted them to be in terms of subtle acting with facial expressions and body language. When being part of someone else's crew, I feel my strengths are being able to give advice and be on a camera or point out lighting issues.