Directions Unit: Steven Finn L2

During todays workshop we were based in the studio. Steve began the lesson by showing us a page go script. This script at first seems like very basic dialogue, between a male and female character. When reading it at first it was clear the man had been in trouble at work, and forced to resign/fired. My first impressions of this were that its pat of a script and it tells only part of a story. However, its storytelling is much more complex than it would first have appeared. We spent a fair bit of time going through the script with Steve, and form hints in the dialogue, we worked out as a group there is much more to it than that. We worked out that the two characters were previously in a relationship before. The female seems to be very moral, and thinks what the male did was wrong. Although its not guaranteed, we came to the conclusion that they both work for a tech firm and the male was quite high up, and possibly brought out by a bigger company. In the script she says "no publicity?" which is probably because the company didn't want a big fuss made, which could damage the companies reputation.

We then went onto blocking the scene. Steve got us to have  go at directing, blocking etc. Most people made the mistake of setting up the camera first, rather than actually blocking the scene. Starting with the camera restricts the action because you and the cast are acting around the camera, rather than having the camera act around them. If a certain shot looks good after blocking it, then you can mover the camera and get filming. In the end, we set up a good, interesting shot which had both characters in, and it didn't get boring. Directors are restricted to time. If it runs over, there is poor communication and if it runs under, it could probably be done better.

For our next lesson, we have been given different scripts. Mine is A&E. I need to break this down for directions and props in an attempt to block on Monday.