As I suspected, I think I had the most fun with this unit out of the ones we’ve done in class this semester. It could be that I’m just genuinely more interested, or because of my passion for film, or simply that I understand how to edit a video much more than, say, audio. Either way, I found this unit to be thoroughly engaging from start to finish.
Roger Ebert’s Rules for Reading Movies
Probably my favorite part of this unit was being able to learn and reflect upon the basic tips of one of the most prolific film critics to ever see something on a screen and tell their neighbor what they felt about it. Ebert’s rules were an extremely engaging way of tackling film viewing. Often, when I’m critiquing films myself on Letterboxd, it can be difficult to take in so many aspects of the filmmaker’s vision. Sound, music, lighting, blocking, writing, acting, the list of important aspects to filmmaking that can be intentionally manipulated to enhance storytelling could go on forever. Thus, Ebert’s way of taking out all the abstractions and reducing a scene to its most fundamental parts is really helpful in distilling meaning. It’s something that really changed my perspective on the medium and forced me to think about the intention behind each camera movement in the Kubrick and Tarantino clips I viewed through Ebert’s framing.
Scent of a Woman
For the second post, I studied a single scene on an airliner from Scent of a Woman, a film I’d never seen nor considered seeing. Using Ebert’s rules, I was able to grasp the essence of the scene without even needing audio or dialogue. Simply by watching the camera and the faces of the actors, it became clear. Perhaps that credit goes more to Pacino’s performance than Ebert, but the principle is the same: strong filmmaking requires strong intent.
Digital Bank Assignments
I found these assignments to be the most challenging of the unit. While filmmaking is something I’ve done consistently for a long time, having to compromise creative vision for time is not a decision I’ve had to make. It was hard knowing when to cut and when to say that’s enough, simply because I wanted to keep going. But that circles back to the intent behind the composition: if we don’t have time or the film is already too long, should we even record the scene at all?
Conclusions
This unit, while challenging in some respects, was so much fun. I learned a great deal about how to analyze the macro elements of a scene, how to know when to say no, and was engaged through the entire journey. I think film is and will remain a massively important medium of art for the world. It can do everything and more. Coming to grips with filmmaking and editing, while easy in the scheme of this unit, is something I want to dedicate myself to. Could it be a career down the line? Maybe, but more than likely, it’ll remain a truly important hobby for the rest of my life.