It's a wrap

Write a production report on your crew roles this semester and comment on your experience of the subject.

I've been thinking about TVP202 and reckon what I'll take away from it is a better idea of lighting and a little humility. After coasting through last year I found a group of skills I lacked in my primary crew role of director for a drama scene. Other roles I had were lighting assistant on another fiction group, camera operator on Ben's doco and assistant on Geoff's doco.

Directing the scene from Gary's House was the most challenging thing I've done since starting this course. I also spent more time working on it than anything other than blogs. While trying to plan the shoot my head began to hurt in ways it hadn't for years. It was impossible for me to visualise how to shoot the action, in part because I hadn't fully planned it. The other part was learning how it would look in the studio. It was interesting to compare the two fiction shoots I worked on, while their appearances are almost opposites they were both a bit bare. I understand studios are an ideal location as you can minimise the variables in the shoot, controlling the elements including (in theory) the people on and off the camera. In practice - and this is one thing I learned during my stint as acting manager this year - you can not hope to control everything. So, while mistakes were made, I learned a lot.

The exercise showed what set design can do for your frame and a sense of the scope of lighting. It would be beneficial to expand the lighting tutorial in the studio or set it as a task like the current camera exercise. More elaboration was needed of non-naturalism. I got the impression the set designers were in the dark about it too and, well, we know the actors weren't even allowed to discuss the idea.



As camera operator on the profile of artist Dennis O'Connor I appreciated Ben had picked a subject that should have been easy to film. But, while trying to keep steady pans over artworks, I was reminded of Glenn Steer's comment that camera movement needs to be disguised by movement on camera. After that I tried to stick to static shots of the artworks.

There were some problems on the second part of the shoot, the camera refused to white balance and the shots have a bluish hue. In a way I was glad the camera had a black and white viewfinder on the day because it would've given me a lot more stress knowing I couldn't fix it. The other advantage of the B&W viewfinder was it forced me to focus on composition. I found myself using the rule of thirds and occasionally fifths to frame the shots.

As assistant on Geoff's doco about kangaroos I wasn't sure what I should do aside from carry stuff around and hold the boom. There were a few opportuities to light and question interview subjects but most of the time I thought the assignment was doomed for not being in the Australian Story style. Now I've seen it come together I think Geoff has done a remarkable job, even if it's more in the style of Stateline. Jo thought his interview style was excellent. I think she did a great job herself, there would've been serious gaps without her quotes.

Aside from lugging gear, I offered Geoff a few different clips to consider but he thought they didn't sit with the style of the piece. Some were borderline broadcast quality as a result of being shot on a digital stills camera but it was footage he wasn't going to get, like this boxing match:



Overall, the subject was fun and it was great to be presented with a seriously challenging project. At times the course seemed to meander a bit, the doco on US cinematography was interesting but the insights were few and far between. Dunno what I would've shown instead, maybe something like Frontline to give an idea of the lengths people go to for their craft. Or maybe a series of close viewings of classic cinematography, clicking through groundbreaking sequences frame by frame and admiring the composition and lighting. Or maybe just more practical work, the immediate feedback of screening the camera exercises was excellent. It would've been good to get the peer assessment discussions flowing but at least the process wasn't as harrowing as how it had been described by students of a former lecturer in the course.