DP Scene Assignment - Blog Post #11 -

Boy oh boy was this assignment interesting! I've NEVER really been very good at any other job on a film set. I don't know why. I mean, I guess I'm a pretty good gaffer and all but then again, who really has a hard time gaffing. When we had to pick a scene, rewrite it, do a story board, and draw up floor plans, I thought it would surely be the end of me. It turns out, that Im not as terrible as I thought I was. Doing all of the preproduction stuff was fairly easy. It was when it was time to film that things got a little complicated. I had a good DP that knew what he was doing. I just wasn't a great director. I think the hardest part for me in the on set process was trying to convey exactly what I wanted to my DP. You see what you want in your mind but just have no idea as to going about describing it in words. I think the hardest and biggest challenge that the cinematographer faces is creating and capturing the exact vision that the director wants (also doing it in a timely manner). But once you figure out what the vision is, its not so difficult getting the shot. When I was directing my scene assignment, my DP really understood what I wanted to do with my lights and was very good at lighting the scene, and it shows in the final product. I think that in order for me to improve on the work I've done, I need to learn how to communicate my vision better. That would make things alot easier on everybody.