Friday, June 24, 2011

Untitled Feature - Beach Scene


So this is a scene about half way through my feature length script. My assignment was to shoot a scene that encapsulates the overall tone of your script. I chose this scene simply because it provided me with an opportunity to focus on writing, and also try a few things I had never attempted before.

It was the first time I had shot a scene that was entirely dialogue; a conversation. Also, it was my first ever attempt at auditioning and working with actors who I had not known prior to filming.

For the most part I was happy with the result, but strictly in relation to the circumstance. I thought that there was a nice tone to the scene. I think there were some nicely framed shots and it had a decent fluidity. But I still see a lot of room for improvement. Obviously this kind of existential type dialogue carries the risk of sounding pretentious, irritating or simply lame. I think that the writing bordered on all of these but didn't quite tip either way. Also, I think the acting could be stronger (but the directing and writing is partially responsible for this). I think that the individual shots could breathe a little bit more and didn't have to be so tight on the faces. I think the scene could have used some more camera movement too, some of the shots felt too "still". Regardless, this particular project has probably taught me the most moving forward in my work.