8.9

In this class we watched all of our films and talked about what was good and what needed improving. There were a few things that were important that we needed to know. In a long shot we have to show the full body, including feet. It's not a proper long shot if it only goes up to the knees or a 3/4 length. Those shots aren't good because they're neither nor, they're in between. We needed to make sure the camera was focused when shooting, and also to adjust the camera height when doing close ups of people to suit their heights. We are allowed to cheat the geography, to suit our shots, because the audience isn't there, they only know what we show them. It was important that we didn't break the fourth wall - look at the camera when acting, because that is interacting with the audience and it becomes distracting.

I learned about the observational and subjective nature of the camera, how sometimes directors can choose to make it cold and passive and just there, or to have an opinion on/about the scene.

The really important thing we had to remember was the 180 degree rule. Breaking that is called crossing the line, which some directors choose to do to create a certain effect but generally it's not a good idea because it changes people's conception of things in the film. I hadn't really thought much about the rule while we were filming so I wasn't sure if we had broken the rule in our film but I'm glad we didn't, as I learned it last year, so I should know.

Another important thing we needed to remember was the continuity of acting and also the continuity of the background. I learned that because you can cheat the geography to your advantage, you can shoot the scene from same place even when changing the angle, because the audience doesn't know any better. We should do this because we need to keep the continuity of the background so there won't be any sudden changes in lighting or color when we switch the angles, especially if in a real film when they shoot on different days, the weather conditions might be different so it could be really obvious that the scenes don't line up. It's extremely important to stay in character for exactly the same reason. So as I said before, I have a renewed appreciation for actors and directors, to be able to recreate certain scenes exactly as shot before on different days and to get into the same emotional state every single time. That takes quite a lot of dedication.

"Houston, we have a problem." - Apollo 13