GSJG_Blocking

Blocking. What is it and why is it important?

In my opinion blocking isn’t something that an entire day should be allocated for, but it’s something that is seen as a necessity before shooting a production at Full Sail. In my mind, and the way it is in the real world, a crew should be talented enough to show up on set the day of and begin production instead of walking through a scripted set of shots. Why do we have it? Because it’s a precaution to make sure we can handle our hardest shots, and so we can find out weakest links before we begin shooting for real.

Today was a good example of how a good crew should operate. I warned my camera team that I was going to be hard on them today. I told them that I operate at an extremely high rate and they responded to that, rising to the challenge. I was not disappointed when we blocked out 18-shots in 18-different locations in an 8-hour period (which is unheard of for film-school students). This included a 3-hour set up for one (1) shot. That’s bringing the mail and result of first-rate teamwork. More so than that after the camera team saw the look I was going for, it only reinvigorated their excitement for this film…as well as my crew’s.

I have to admit, I owe an apology to my DP (Director of Photography). Blocking is supposed to be his time to shine, but since I have a distinct look I want to achieve, I took the viewfinder, assumed control and went to town. I was probably that happiest I’ve been in a long time, yet ironically because I was so intense everyone thought I was angry, lol. I had to explain later that I was so focused that I came across that way. But c’est la vie, you can’t please everyone.

The greatest response I had from everyone came from the entire crew’s reaction to a few of the shots. For the most part, I designed this entire film for how I wanted specific characters and movements to be seen. As a result, no one understood how I wanted things to look. Yet, when they finally saw how I blocked specific shots I could barely hide the smile on my face when afterward they were talking about how awesome certain shots looked.

I know this film is still a “student production” but one thing I can promise is that it’s not going to have the typical appeal most productions have. Not every shot is going to be amazing or groundbreaking, and some things we are doing are very primitive and basic, but I’m trying to tell this story in a way that will pull people in and entertain them. (This is something that’s extremely complicated when you factor in that we’re shooting on one room the entire time)

With blocking finished, now comes the hard part: incorporating the talent.

In the end, this entire film is my responsibility and whether we are wildly successful or dreadfully horrible, I will gladly assume any negative or response or reaction this production receives. Obviously I am hoping for a positive response, but I’m prepared for the worst. We have a long ways to go before we can start to smile, and tomorrow is just the first day.

My personal challenge is to bring out the best performance from my talent (aka the actors). I have had the least time to work with them compared to the other crews (which is an enormous disadvantage) but I trust in my framing and I trust in the look of our film. The only one who is left to step up is myself. As such, this is now squarely on my shoulders, and I’ve already sacrificed too much to get to this point to give anything less than my best effort.

So let’s see how far we can push this and create something that represents storytelling at its best.