Making a Great Film that Connects with Audiences: Part III "How do I shoot and act in my film?

In Part I of this series, we explored how to write a story that connects with audiences (using Pixar's Wall-E as a model) and then in Part II, we explored how to plan to film that story. Now, in Part III, we are ready to shoot the film.

But the key thing we'll cover this week is that in order for your audience to connect to the film, you need to make sure the images and the performances are compelling. Let's take a look at how to shoot compelling images first.

1. HOW TO GET GOOD LOOKING SHOTS

Before we get into the details of good looking shots, I want to mention one of the current great cinematographers, Roger Deakins. He has won numerous awards for his work crafting some of the most incredible images on film including American Society of Cinematographers Lifetime Achievement award. His most recent film is the critically acclaimed Blade Runner 2049. We'll be using some of his images to illustrate how powerful images can be in connecting us to the story.

So before going into the techniques, I want to first recommend that you use a tripod for these techniques because if you use the shoulder rig like we used in the last project, it'll be much harder to achieve the look you're going for. As you progress, you'll be able to handle more but for now, let's go for the tripod.

A. Manual focus and shallow depth of field.

In the last project, we didn't talk about focus and your camera auto-focus was doing the work for you. This is fine for beginners but as you move to more advanced levels, you want to go manual controls. Every camera is different so consult your camera's manual to find out how to switch to manual control.

With manual focus, now you can control what person or object will come into sharp focus. When you're in the automatic settings, the computer usually picks the most obvious choice but you might decide that it looks much better to focus on another area.

The other effect you want to use when you capture a person or object in a shot and give the audience a sense that they need to be completely paying attention to that person or object is what we call shallow depth of field. It looks like this:

You notice that Ryan Gosling's character is in complete focus while the background is blurry. It gives the audience a much deeper connection with the character because they aren't distracted by the background. So how do we achieve that?

With most basic videocameras, it will be difficult because the shallow depth of field effect is usually achieved by using a certain type of lens. But it's not impossible; there are a few low budget ways to get this effect. Here are five different ways:

1. Proximity of subject. Get your subject as close to the camera as you can. This will make it so you can focus on the subject alone and the background will be blurrier.

2. Proximity of the background. Get your background as far back as you can go. The farther the background the blurrier it'll be.

3. Zoom into your subject. If you zoom into your subject, you'll again optimize the shallow depth of field.

4. Aperture or Iris or f stop. You need to make your f stop at its lowest setting. This will again optimize the shallow depth of field.

B. Your image and light

So this is a very complicated topic and we will go more in depth on how light works in your film's images but for now, let's just isolate two areas that will be important for this film:

The color of the light or white balance

So all light has a different mix of colors. Some light is more blue, some are more orange. The main problem I see in amateur films is that when you are watching the film, the color seems to be off and this is often because the white balance is not set properly. White balance is the process of calibrating your camera to show colors accurately under varying light conditions. So what do we do?

Set the white balance manually every time you shoot. Most video cameras have a manual white balance; check your manual. So most of the time, you need to find a white piece of paper and have someone hold the white paper in the area you are shooting. You then zoom into the white paper and press the white balance button which sets your camera's white balance appropriately.

Shots need to be appropriately lit

We'll go into detail about lighting a shot using film lights and other sources, but if you find that your shot is too dark or too light in certain areas, you can adjust your camera for this.

1. You can adjust the exposure settings. If you go high on the exposure, the image will be brighter. And if you go low, then it'll darken. An easy way to make your shot look better.

2. You can also adjust the iris or aperture. This is how much light is let into the camera's sensor and it can give you a lighter or darker image as well.

2. HOW TO GET GOOD PERFORMANCES FROM YOUR ACTORS

So besides having good looking images, the performances of the actors needs to be believable. Oscar winning actor, Dustin Hoffman talks in his Master Class about how it's the job of the actors to bring their personal emotional truth to the scene. When actors do this well, it electrifies the film and connects the audience to the story.

But why is it hard to do this? I think we have all seen actors perform in a film and said to ourselves, "This is not believable." I think for the most part, it is fear and nerves. Actors who are fearful or nervous often smile or look at the camera or overact.

So how do we avoid this? I have used a process that I call "Emotional Prep" but it's just a variation of the many techniques that actors have used over the centuries. Essentially, Emotional Prep is a way for actors to really focus deeply on the emotional state they need to create to make their performance believable.

Here's how it works.

Step 1. Figuring out the emotional state of the character.

The actor must figure out what the character is feeling at the beginning of the scene, so that when the director yells, "Action!" the actor is ready and in the correct emotional state. Once she figures out what the emotional state is, she can move to step 2.

Step 2 Figuring out a memory, "what if," or "now" situation that will generate that emotion

Now, I believe there are three different ways an actor can help themselves simulate the correct emotional state.

A. Memory: Memories are powerful ways to generate emotions. When we think about someone who angered us five years ago and we remember their face or something they said, this can trigger a real response in our physical and emotional systems. Because powerful emotional experiences are still buried in our long term memory, we just need to evoke them to help us get into character. This doesn't always work because sometimes, the memory is too strong and you can't deal with it, or it's too weak and it doesn't match the emotional state of the character. But most of the time, it does the trick.

B. "What if" situations: If the memory method doesn't work, then you can imagine "what if" something similar happened to you. Think about the character's situation in this scene and imagine a similar scenario that impacts you. If the character is in love, and you don't have memories of being in love, you may still have someone who you are attracted to and you can access that image of them for this scene. As long as the "what if" situation is something that has a visceral effect on you, it can be a useful tool.

C. "Now" situations: Sometimes the memory or "what if" situation doesn't work and you need to find something else. Dustin Hoffman tells the funny story of how he helped his co-actor, Justin Henry, who was 8 years old at the time to cry for a scene for the film. Justin was having a hard time crying for this scene but Dustin pulled him aside and told him that Justin should think about how all of the friends he made during the film shoot, all of the people he really enjoyed hanging out, all of them were going to probably not see each other after the film was over. That in the film world, you make friends and then you move on. The boy began to think about this and realized that it was true. He then began to cry and they shot the scene with the boy in this emotional state. Justin went on to be nominated for an Academy award for this performance. If you are in a scene and you can find something that's happening right now that will emotionally put you in the mood, use it. It can be very powerful.

Step 3. Closing eyes and breathing.

So now before you go into your scene, you need to close your eyes and breathe. This is so important because we must get focused and relaxed. Closing the eyes focuses us. The breathing relaxes us. It helps us get into that otherworldly state that's close to being hypnotized.

Step 4. Use your five senses to evoke the memory, "what if," or "now" situation

So in order to make either of these situations real for yourself, I highly recommend that you use all five senses to bring it to life. The visual is probably first. But sounds, smells, touch and taste all are great ways to provoke an emotional response.

Step 5. Finally, open your eyes and then bring this emotional state with you into the scene.

FINAL THOUGHTS

In conclusion, we want to make sure we take the time to capture the best looking shots we can get film as well as make sure the actors are giving their best performances. When we do both at the same time, we are on our way to making a great film.

Next week, we move on to post-production or how to edit your film that connects with audiences. See you next week!