DIRECTING FOR FILM & VIDEO Scene Sampler DA360 - SUMMER 2003

"LIZZY" was one of three "scenes" directed by an ensemble of student Directors.  Like all the scenes in the course, this one was loaded on purpose with "problems".  First, it was a night shoot with a cast ranging in age from 11 to 65.  Second, it was filmed in a secure part of a major manufacturing site.  Third, all the action takes place between the rails of a set of train tracks.  And finally, the crew battled 40 mph winds and high ambient noise from a nearby highway as well as an airport.               And then there were the mosquitoes...

"LIZZY" became an exercise in patience and the gentle art of Directing for all involved.  This scene used our largest crew -- nearly 28 in all.  Thousands and thousands of watts of light were pumped into each shot to insure there'd be enough image to edit and eventually pull down to a contrast and intensity to deliver the feeling of a West Virginia family fleeing for their lives along the tracks in the middle of the night.

"SAVED BY THE BELL" is a scene about a bigoted father who is about to be introduced to his son's fiancee -- a young girl from mainland China.

As "Homer's" children arrive one by one, Homer begins to lose control of each of them in turn.  They're all grown up but he can't stop being the controlling patriarch.

Filmed in a creaky old house, the dining room was acoustically "hot". Also, the creaking floors delivered no end of problems for the crew.

The "problem" for the Directors is how to sustain visual interest in what is essentially a "table bound" scene.  Fortunately, Homer's constant conversational wanderings keep everyone jumping...

...until the person he is sure he is going to hate -- his son's fiancee -- becomes his new best friend.

I really have to compliment our crew.  On several occasions they worked back-to-back 18-hour days, crewing as they did more than one scene.  And the student Directors learned a lot.  They learned to pay attention to their actors.  They found out it is indeed possible for a crew to take over a shoot if a Director isn't diligent all the time.  And they learned that an hour of preparation can often save a whole day on location.

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