Thinking Independent Study

• To begin with, a topic for the documentary needs to be chosen. This could be: The representation of women in action movies since the 1950's.
• Then the two films that we will use to explore this topic must be chosen and watched. One of these films could be a popular film we know well, and the other one may be a less mainstream but equally valid film exploring the same topic.
• Research on the topic should have begun by now, and some ideas for the development of the script as well. When the topic chosen and its manifestation in the films are familiar to us, then we should start to write the script.

Portfolio for Barrio Chino Project

Pre-Production

For this project, I took on the role of the director. In the beginning I was uncertain of what my exact job or involvement in the project would be, and was wary of becoming involved in things that did not concern me. Initially, I saw my job as a sort of “supervisor” of the entire production, who needed to make sure things were going according to plan. However, when we arrived on location, it suddenly occurred to me: We had no plan. Here lies the first and perhaps most crucial mistake I made as a director. I failed in providing my editor and cinematographer with a clear idea and vision of the story (if it was a story we were indeed trying to tell), which not only would have made for a much simpler and efficient shoot, but would have made for a better film.

Production

So, without a solid plan, we basically improvised most of what we did in the restaurant and around Barrio Chino. The cinematographer and I thought up a quick and vague idea of what we should shoot and in what direction to take the project, and then did our best to shoot those scenes. The workers in the restaurant were informed that we would be filming there, and they were very cooperative and helpful, especially when the manager agreed to let one of the waitresses stop working for a minute to shoot the scenes with her in them.

Almost every scene was shot out of sequence, with what we could shamefully call a narrative only existing in the heads of myself and María Figueiras, the cinematographer. I feel we had no trouble at all communicating with each other and in sharing our ideas, one of these being myself and the editor, Catalina Somoza, acting as a couple behind the two actors to make it seem like the restaurant was not empty.

I was very careful to avoid what I dreaded: becoming a dictatorial director and becoming upset if I wasn’t listened to. Instead, I found that the joy lay in collaborating with each member of the group and making the project a group experience.

There was also a moment when we needed the waitress for one shot but she was no longer available to us, so we instead shot the scene so only an arm would have to be shown, and this way we could use any arm.

 

Post-Production

When the footage was imported into the laptop the editor, Catalina Somoza, and I began to piece together the footage. It was during this time that I discovered how fun editing could be, all my previous experience with it having been frustrating, confusing and irksome. I was able to see the footage slowly take shape and a narrative, however shaky, being formed. The wonderful thing was seeing on the screen what he had had in our heads only days prior. We paid special attention to the sound of the film. Despite the noise level in the restaurant, the audio that was recorded directly to the camera had been recorded well enough to hear and understand what the actors were saying.

In this screenshot, which actually ended up in the final cut, my arm is clearly visible on the left hand side of the frame. Because we were worried that the sound of the voices would not be heard, we recorded them on a separate device. However, it was obviously not our intention for my arm to be showing in the frame.

Evaluation

With respect to pre-production, and as I have already mentioned, the failure to provide a clear plan proved extremely hindering. I feel this was my main and most important mistake throughout the entire process, however it served to show me the significance of pre-production and its influence on the final film. The plan was not the only thing we could have done differently in pre-production, however. We also could have gone to the restaurant before the actual day of shooting and familiarized ourselves with the location and therefore would have been much more prepared when it came to shooting.

For next year, I think would like to be involved in the scriptwriting, or perhaps try directing again. That having been said, what I value the most out of this project was the learning experience. Being the director allowed me to be involved in each aspect of the project, and I enjoyed this sense of collaboration, and I would like to try directing again now with a little more experience. However, in this case there was no script to be written, so I would be interested in doing so in another project to see how a scriptwriter works within a crew.

The final film turned out to exceed my expectations, especially after the actual shoot, when I thought we were going to end up with a chaotic mass of clips and no order to put them in.