Director
Masterclass Part 1 – Understanding How a Director Works.
This
masterclass was led by Miranda Howard-Williams who, for example, directed an episode
of ‘Holby City.’
During the
first half, we were shown multiple scripts that she had directed, be that a T.V.
episode or one of her shorts and then asked how we would interpret them. This
meant we discussed different styles of shots and how we would incorporate them
but also the challenges that could arise when doing so. For example, a script involving
a digger, we could attach a GoPro underneath the vehicle to enhance the speed as
this would induce more conflict/tension, however, the quality of the video is less
than the rest of the scene so therefore, the clip of the GoPro would only have
to be short, so it still aids the tension, yet it is not what the spectator’s attention
is drawn on.
After, we
then saw her show reel and broke down multiple examples of her directed scenes.
For example, she taught us her way/opinions on how she uses a ‘dirty’ shot
which plays around with the rule of thirds and over the shoulder shot. This means
that when shooting, you can only see the shoulder/head outline that ‘dissolves’
in around the frame.
Seeing
multiple of example from a director herself, was useful in a way that you could
pick at how she breaks down a script to allow her creativity breakthrough, yet
how she also creates visions to prepare herself for filming. Moreover, we got
to see some of her shoot plans on where she envisions the camera work for a
certain shot/scene so there is more structure that would hopefully make the shooting
go more smoothly.
Seeing a
thorough break down of how a director plans, chooses and builds their visions was
extremely helpful as I can take on board different ways of structuring my
pre-production plans and things that I may need to think about when planning my
own shoot. For example, creating a shot plan of the camera work will allow me and
my crew to have more directions on what I want my creation to look at. Moreover,
having a shot plan as well as having a well-developed storyboard means that there
is a definite direction in production so this is something that I will definitely
try to pursue in future projects.
Later in the
masterclass, we got into groups and got given a script from Miranda’s episode
of ‘Holby City.’ This is what we would be interpreting and eventually shooting.
Firstly, we were discussing the way in which the script could be adapted to our
environment (in the studio’s base room), for example, we weren’t allowed to film
in the restaurant paying for a sandwich, so instead we had to think about how
that can be changed for what we had to work with. Moreover, we then decided to
do a mini rekkie on where we could shoot and how planning types of shots.
This is
something that I can do in my own pre-production time as it can give me a wider
scope and preparation on what to expect when it comes to shooting but also
coming up with a backup plan if my vision doesn’t work with the environment
that I originally set it in. Although, I could include images from scouting out
locations, and include them in a storyboard so there are more visual cues.
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