After completing our first cut, we had a tutorial to discuss how to progress from here on. The tutors thought that the shots convey our mood and tone well which is reassuring. They also thought that the frames and angles of most of our shots are really well executed. However, they thought that our incidental shots run for too long, which i would agree with as I feel these shots should be around 1-2 seconds long rather than they are about 3-4. This will increase speed for the viewer and keep interested.
We also decided to remove the shots of the off license from this cut as they weren't well filmed enough. This leaves us with less locations to showcase from the shoot day, however I believe it's important to have more purposeful and well filmed shots rather than higher quantities.
Anna explained how important the language of film is, and as a viewer how we read into everything shown without even realising it. This lead me to think that possibly we could take more relevant incidental shots rather than just around the house – for example the Bukowski reference means more than simply a book on a table. In terms of editing, we were recommended to record a placeholder voiceover so that we can edit following the conversation, making cuts relevant to important points in the film.
Some references the tutors suggested included director Mike Mills and his film Beginners. I’ve had a chance to watch the film today and I love how stills and photographs are used to visualise the dialogue being narrated. This was a suggestion the tutors brought up, as well as using our handheld ‘still’ shots we could also incorporate art directed photography shots and found references to visualise the narrative. I think this will also bring a more layered, textured experience for the viewer which could give a more artistic, surrealist style which we are potentially lacking with this first cut.
With reference to the script, we are now going to rewrite sections to add more potential references which we could shoot stills for or find some archived imagery. This will add to the feeling of memory within the conversation between father and son, and touch on ideas of objects holding meaning by simply showing these objects.
Mike Mills – Beginners
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