Risk asessment

Research into Directing

As I'm an actor I'm used to people bossing me around and telling what to do to improve my performance and the staging, however I've never been in their shoes, recently I have found this hard to do ,hopefully I'll find it easier after the research.

Directing definition:
A film director is a person who directs the making of a film. Generally, a film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, and visualises the script while guiding the technical crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision.

Source:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_director

So to be a director is to have your own personal view and with guidance from the creative and technical team we can make a film, anyone can be a director the difference between a good director and a bad director is how you articulate your vision.

I decided to research into the worlds current best directors:
Steven Spielberg is the genius of the Indiana Jones franchise but how did he do it so instead I decided to look up his method of directing:

One of his cinematic attributes that stand out from all the rest is his ability to use cinematographic methods and techniques in ways that have kept the audience in awe for years.
The Spielberg Face.
The image above shows Sam Neill as Dr. Alan Grant in Jurrassic Park, one of Spielbergs directed projects. The camera focuses on Neill's face and closes in while Neill looks the opposite direction with a distressed look on his face. This is called a Track-In Shot, or commonly known as The Spielberg Face. The camera will close up to the character(s) face while the character(s) are seen looking another way at something that caught their attention. This method leaves the audience anxious, excited, and curiously at the edge of their seat to find out exactly what was shocking enough to stop the character in their tracks and stare blankly in shock and awe.

In these shots, Spielberg directs the shot to focus on whichever character is reflected in the mirror in a wide shot, ending in a close-up shot where the character enters the entire frame. This makes it easy to add more than one shot to another with ease using only one frame. The example above is from Spielberg's Minority Report (2002). Another way of using mirror entry is to emphasize the character. The character will be shown in multiple mirrors to make the focus of the shot stick to him primarily. Where as in the Minority Report example you see 2 characters sharing the frame, Catch Me If You Can (2002) and Munich (2005) both feature a mirror entry shot with only one character being shown to emphasize the characters presence

The last unique shot method in discussion will be the crème de la crème of Spielberg's cinematic style: The Uncut Mastered Shot.

Steven Spielberg will use only a single, uncut shot that houses many character scenes in which the use of a wide shot to a close-up to an over-the-shoulder shot back to a wide shot ultimately ending on a close up will all be present in that one single shot. This is while all actors and characters are in motion, or mid-conversation. The Uncut Mastered Shot is a very complicated shot that covers a lot of production time, shooting many scenes all in one uncut frame. This is a very difficult method of cinematography to accomplish; yet, Spielberg executes it with smooth ease becoming one of the best to capture such a shot. 

Source: https://storify.com/OneMisfitKidd/steven-spielberg-methods-of-a-movie-master

So Spielberg has created new camera shots in the industry which has created a new way to show emotion and to immerse the audience to the film. This website has told that I need to look at shots more creatively and I should always relate back to the question: What effect this does shot have on the audience? Now I'm going to look at advice which Spielberg has given people on the internet.

The Right Kind of Collaboration is Key

“When I was a kid, there was no collaboration, it’s you with a camera bossing your friends around. But as an adult, filmmaking is all about appreciating the talents of the people you surround yourself with and knowing you could never have made any of these films by yourself.”

Movies are a team sport.

More Isn’t Always More

“Bloated budgets are ruining Hollywood – these pictures are squeezing all the other types of movies out of Hollywood. It’s disastrous. When I made The Lost World I limited the amount of special-effects shots because they were incredibly expensive. If a dinosaur walks around, it costs $80,000 for eight seconds. If four dinosaurs are in the background, it’s $150,000. More doesn’t always make things better.”

The Stress and Madness Might Be Worth It

It was worth it because, for number one, Close Encounters, which was a film I had written and a film nobody seemed to want to make, everybody seemed to want it right after Jaws was a hit. So, the first thing Jaws did for me was it allowed a studio, namely Columbia, to greenlight Close Encounters. For number two, it gave me final cut for the rest of my career. But what I really owe to Jaws was creating in me a great deal of humility, about tempering my imagination with just sort of the facts of life.”

Source: http://filmschoolrejects.com/features/6-filmmaking-tips-from-steven-spielberg.php

Spielberg is very generous person and what he is trying to say is that we need to respect everybody equally and recognize every bodies talent, I've also got to try my hardest.

This video has told me what I need to do to become a good film director and to create a good film.

• I've got to be critical and always think to myself on how I can improve the film, I also need to see people feedback on the film and how they would change it, however he has warned that I might not be satisfied with my film as if I'm always critical I would always think of different ways I can improve the product also need to recognise every suggestion which is given to me, as this can improve the film however might make it worse and if I think its not a good idea 
• I need to be honest with them, I also need to understand that everyone has an opinion and I need to be confident with my vision and stick with it, you can alter it with other suggestions just that I need to say no so some ideas as I think it wont work
• I also need to communicate with my team in order to make a good film this will ensure that I know what is going on, but I've also got to understand what each role does and how they do it without this I wouldn't know what we can do and what we cant
• I also need ti think that film making is a team sport and that I do need to trust people with what they are doing, I also need to listen and be open with the crew, Its about making the best film we can possibly make not to show off, however we can't fix everything and I need to understand that
• I need a good drive this will keep me encouraged throughout the whole process and possibly make everyone else confident with what they are doing, however I need to look into everything in order to make my vision come to life.

This video is basically about the mistakes our group can make, I'm going to try to apply this videos suggestions to our film opening.opening. Here's what I have learnt:

• We need good characterisation with the characters in order for the audience will be interested with the character and the plot. 
• We need good audio so the audience will keep their interest
• try to prevent 'dead space' and make well composition shots in order to keep attention and to make the opening look professional
• Try to avoid bad lighting so the audience can see what is going on 
• try to cut out excess movement
• try to make the start eye catching in order for the audience to keep an interest in the film
• there will be mistakes in our film and we will learn from those!

Animatic/ storyboard

There will be a different location which the film will be shot in, as well it'll be darker and actors will be wearing there proper costumes, we will also change some shots to make it more intresting

Report on feedback of the questionaire

Getting feedback from the audience over what our opening scene was about required us making a questionnaire with questions such as the ‘How does this wide shot make you feel’ and ‘does the sound create suspense’


Our first research into editing was clip that portrayed a characters past and has opening credits across the pictures. The questionnaire asks if the pictures do portrays a characters thoughts or history. They said it showed this from the transitions as they was a flash before every picture showed up. They also said that the pictures were glitching which could mean it is a scary movie which is something we should consider adding to our own piece. There was also a question regarding the music which most said it created the feel of a horror and a suspenseful movie and as a group we have set out to find something similar because we are trying to achieve the same effect on the audience with out music. Overall on the first influential clip we were able to get the right results and plan to incorporate all these editing aspects into it, such as glitching transitions and the the flash of the images which in itself tells a story.


However, the other clip which is called ‘Attack The Block’ there was more of an interest in camera work with our questions. There was a wide shot of the hall which was used to make the audience feel suspense and to make the characters look vulnerable. The answers revealed that the wide shot was able to achieve the aim. Also it creates the idea of suspense which is why we are planning to incorporate several wide shots so that our character look vulnerable and so that the audience feel some sense of thrill from the opening scene. There was also a question regarding the close up of the characters and if it conveyed a terrified emotion. The reviewers did see this in the characters emotions was shown through the close up and this we should consider adding several close ups so that the audience can build a relationship with the characters.This will make the scenes more realistic


Lastly,the last clip asked questions focusing on camera shots and sound. The clip from ‘Drag me to hell’ had a shot reverse shot with the car at the start that created a sense of mystery. This created a sense of suspense and made the a bit scary. It made it obvious that something was going to be Getting feedback from the audience over what our opening scene was about required us making a questionnaire with questions such as the ‘How does this wide shot make you feel’ and ‘does the sound create suspense’


In conclusion, from the feedback we have put together that wide shots and close ups are good in achieving the aim in making the audience interested and in following the genre convention. Also it creates mystery and creates viewer and character relationship. To intrigue the audience we are going to add the right music to certain parts so that it creates the right atmosphere so that we can influence the audience’s emotion. Also the part that had the opening scene can now be changed into our own by incorporating the glitching of the picture and the sound to create a scary atmosphere for the audience.

Textual analysis of Definatly maybe

The first shot we see is a close up of the envelope this tells the views that this props important and will play an significant role in the story. The close up enables us to see the location of the film: New York and the main characters name: Will Haze





The second shot is a master shot showing the main character. As you can see he is a good looking man which will attract a female audience. Most rom-coms has a handsome guy which other girls desire so they will sympathies for the character and attract an larger audience.This camera shot shows Will's agitation from his facial expression, this will make the character wonder what is in the envelope, which is making the character uncomfortable and aggravated.

This is the first camera movement shot we have in the film opening, its a simple tilt up(from the envelope to Will's face)this allows the audience to see Will's reaction from reading the letter, you can tell by his face that he isn't impressed this allows a chance for the audience to feel sorry for him.

After this, we see a push in to the document, this enables the viewers to see what the document is, it's divorce paprers Will is the defendant which shows that he is not the person who is initiating the divorce this will give the female audience an awe effect on this.

Then it returns to the master shot where Will gets interrupted by his work colleague. The last shot i this row is a close up to his face which shows his fake smile the cinematographer did this to show that Will isn't really happy and maybe doesn't even like his job.



This s refers back to the master shot as you can, its clear that you can see the