Would using a star filter for cinematography be too weird?

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks. Next time I will definitely try to set the marks more accurately. I think I gave the actors too much freedom to move around, when I shouldn't have.

Since real locations are pretty cramped though, is there anything I can do to work around that though, for next time?

[Paul Mailath]

-looks at the original question
-looks at the name of the poster
-moves on

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Originally Posted by Ryan Elder

Okay thanks. Next time I will definitely try to set the marks more accurately. I think I gave the actors too much freedom to move around, when I shouldn't have.

Since real locations are pretty cramped though, is there anything I can do to work around that though, for next time?

The lesson to learn here is if a shot is too short it’s jarring. It’s especially a good idea to hold the last shot longer to allow the viewer time to let what transpired sink in before moving to another scene.

[Ryan Elder]

Oh okay, thanks. For that short film I was told to tighten it up and have it move faster, but I over did it. Next one I will let it play out more.

One thing about that shot is that it's an over the shoulder shot, but it turns into a close up, once the one actress leaves. The camera is focused on the actress, and then after she leaves, it turns into a close up of the actor as he turns to look at her leaving. For that shot, should I have had the camera on a slider, cause then as she leaves I can back it up, so as she leaves and as he turns then he is not so close to the camera? If I want an OTS to turn into a close up like that, should I dolly the camera back?

[Brian Drysdale]

See message below

[Brian Drysdale]

I suspect Ryan tends to over cut, he feels the need to put in more cuts than are necessary, which can be distracting. Let the actors drive the emotion, not the cutting

There's nothing wrong with a jarring cut given the right dramatic context.

There are no rules about how you do this. A wider shot with her walking away with him watching would do the same job as all your complicated shots. You could cut into a MS or MCU for him banging the cabinets. The EXT shot of the woman is rather weak with a boring location that doesn't say where she is, not helped by a rather flat performance.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

Jarring can be useful but not in the context of this scene. The point of this scene is the convo and the shift in emotion between them. The cu of the cabinet feels out of place, unnecessarily thrown in as your visual explanation point. The ext shot should be on his reaction and her departure.

Like Brian said the acting and dialogue is flat. If you could have redone this scene you should have spent more of your efforts on improving their performance.

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

I suspect Ryan tends to over cut, he feels the need to put in more cuts than are necessary, which can be distracting. Let the actors drive the emotion, not the cutting

There's nothing wrong with a jarring cut given the right dramatic context.

There are no rules about how you do this. A wider shot with her walking away with him watching would do the same job as all your complicated shots. You could cut into a MS or MCU for him banging the cabinets. The EXT shot of the woman is rather weak with a boring location that doesn't say where she is, not helped by a rather flat performance.

Actually I did have a wider shot, of her walking away, but I chose not to use it because I thought the close up of him as she walked away was better, acting wise. Even if the acting is flat, it was more flat in the wider shot I felt. But should I not always choose which shot because of performance, and go for th wide, if it means better framing?

Originally Posted by Pete Cofrancesco

Jarring can be useful but not in the context of this scene. The point of this scene is the convo and the shift in emotion between them. The cu of the cabinet feels out of place, unnecessarily thrown in as your visual explanation point. The ext shot should be on his reaction and her departure.

Like Brian said the acting and dialogue is flat. If you could have redone this scene you should have spent more of your efforts on improving their performance.

Oh okay thanks. The performances I felt were better during rehearsals, but one of the actors became unavailable so I had to rewrite the plot and the dialogue had to changed to support plot changes, and this new dialogue and plot was rewritten hours before shooting, so I think next time if I rewrite, definitely cancel the shoot in order for more rehearsal time, if that's better?

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

I suspect Ryan tends to over cut, he feels the need to put in more cuts than are necessary, which can be distracting. Let the actors drive the emotion, not the cutting

There's nothing wrong with a jarring cut given the right dramatic context.

There are no rules about how you do this. A wider shot with her walking away with him watching would do the same job as all your complicated shots. You could cut into a MS or MCU for him banging the cabinets. The EXT shot of the woman is rather weak with a boring location that doesn't say where she is, not helped by a rather flat performance.

Well originally when I show the original cut to people, they say there is not enough cuts, and I hold shots too long, and I need to create a faster pace, I was told. So I make more cuts and show them again, and then they say more cutting. Next time I will not put in that many for sure.

When you say that the location does not say where she is, in the previous shot to the location the man explains to her what this file room is and what is in the files. Doesn't that explain enough?

[Brian Drysdale]

It's not unusual for shots to be tightened up, however, this may only involve a few frames, although sometimes the original length is fine when the shots around it are tightened. You also have the right to ignore or use in part people's comments.

The file room is nothing to do with the geography of the woman in the next shot.

Currently, the cutting in the filing room is very film student and the awkward framing doesn't help.

[Pete Cofrancesco]

There are many factors that make something interesting. In this scene you have two characters standing still, delivering flat lines to each other. It’s boring and no amount of cutting is going to help it. You can’t apply a rule as a cure all to fix some other problem.

[Ryan Elder]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

It's not unusual for shots to be tightened up, however, this may only involve a few frames, although sometimes the original length is fine when the shots around it are tightened. You also have the right to ignore or use in part people's comments.

The file room is nothing to do with the geography of the woman in the next shot.

Currently, the cutting in the filing room is very film student and the awkward framing doesn't help.

Oh okay, so when it comes to cutting from location to another such as the woman being in a different spot in the next cut, how do I do that without the geography becoming confusing. When you say the file room has nothing to do with the geography of the woman in the next shot, how do I make the audience understand that she has left the building in the cutting then?

[Pete Cofrancesco]

This could have been accomplished by him walking out of the filing room to the window to observe her getting into her car.

There are lots of creative ways to bridge scenes. Another technique is start and end on cu. For example end with his hand closing the filing cabinet and start with cu her hand opening the car door. Or he using a key to lock the cabinet and she’s turning the key to start her car.

[Ryan Elder]

Okay thanks, but I showed her come out of the building by opening the door, and walking out. But I was told by people that she takes too long to open the door and come out and I should skip ahead cause we don't see to actually see her opening the door. Is that true? Or if a person leaves a building, then we should always seem them come out the door?

I couldn't really shoot out the window though to show him observing her because the location didn't have any windows that could show that.

[Brian Drysdale]

Having the building in the background with her walking away will do the job.