Mike Figgis, Moviemakers' master class, more on camera

I bought that Mike Figgis book and now that I'm reading it more thoroughly I'm actually liking it. That should please both Ben and Ward who think I don't actually read anything. Ben would be even happier if I got emotionally involved with the text. Figgis' book is one of those "how does DV changes the process?" meditations which is useful. I've never seen one of his films, not even Timecode. They just look too ugly. If you read this you know why. He's definitely one of those "performance is more important than the look" guys. I also skimmed through Tirard's Moviemakers' Master Class, a collection of interviews with filmmakers on production approaches. What was interesting was that this diverse group of directors all seem to say the same thing: you can only learn filmmaking by doing it, a performance begins with casting, you can't go in with too many preconceptions. A worthwhile read with a very spcecific production focus.

Two things I learned from Sunday's shoot. First, I was leading Ben too much in the pedestal/jib down. It's like anticipating something too much. I should have let his move "pull" the camera down. Second, I'm playing around with the POV shots. I originally shot the POVs of the broken spinner from a true Ben's eye POV. But when watching the shots I realized that they would look better wider making the spinner look more isolated and lonely. So I reshot the POV yesterday by myself. But then a new problem surfaced. The shot is so wide that it's obvious Ben isn't in it. So I have to reframe. Anyway, the point of all this is that a POV doesn't have to be too literal. Sometimes the more meaningful shot works better.