Shot for Shot Directors Reflection

Sergio Leone's For a Few Dollars More

Here is the shot for shot remake.

Here is a side by side comparison. 

NAME: _Matthew Taggart_

DATE: _February 26, 2017_

FILM # & TITLE: _Shot for Shot: For A Few Dollars More_

DP: _Billy Knowles_

TMA 285 DIRECTOR’S REFLECTION

Reflect on how your film turned out. Have the courage to evaluate your work not just with a self-congratulatory eye, but also with a critical eye. Step back; pretend the film wasn't made by you. Be exacting. Be demanding. Don't let yourself off the hook. Be completely honest about your performance!

- Turn in a hard copy of this statement the next class session after your film screens

- Post this to your blog with your film the day after your film screens

Overall response (2-3 paragraphs):

Write an overall response to your film in 2-3 paragraphs: Were you successful at achieving what you set out to achieve? What are you proud of? What would you do differently if you could remake this piece? What did you learn? 

This scene means a lot to me on a personal level, and so I really wanted to do it justice in this assignment. As I said in class, I kept thinking about what it’s like to learn a song someone else wrote and then play it from your own heart. It gives you a different type of connection that you don’t get hearing a song on the radio. I felt like this was what happened for me on this assignment. I felt a deeper connection with this scene for sure, but I also feel like I had my eyes opened to new ways to tell a personal story even if the elements in the story are foreign to you. For the most part, I thought I achieved what I set out to do.

I felt that there were several shots where we were able to get the timing down almost perfectly, and while those felt good, the ones I really liked were the ones where we had to make do with a change of location or other unforeseen event and were able to adapt and communicate the same thing as the original film. I was also proud of my organization for this shoot. I’m not saying things went perfectly, but I felt that I was able to come to set more confident because of all the paperwork and pre-visualization I did on this assignment.

If I had the chance to do this again, I would have given my actors more of the back story. I know that showing them animatics or clips isn’t always the best thing to do, however for this assignment I think it would have helped, as well as giving them more than a reader’s digest version of the story. There is a great deal of back story that comes before this scene in the film, and if my actors had been more familiar with it, I think it would have been easier for me to communicate what I was going for. I would also have thought through the meaning of each shot even more than I did, so that I would have noticed more of the shots where we were framed just a little off.

Briefly discuss the following:

What, specifically, did you want to communicate? Were you successful? Why? Why not?    

I wanted to convey the feeling of triumph over adversity that I feel when I watch this scene. I love that Mortimer comes so close to death, and then with the help of a friend is able to rebound and ultimately win the day. I think I communicated this as much as is possible seeing the clip without much knowledge of the story. The blown out skies behind Mortimer didn’t really light him the way I thought they would where in the original you see him look like an avenging angel. So in that sense, I don’t think I made as much of an impact as Leone, but I think it was a step in the right direction for me as a filmmaker.

How, specifically, did you try to communicate this?       

As I stated above, I really tried to match the framing and lighting on Mortimer exactly the same as in the film. Of all the framing, I think on Mortimer I missed the most correct angles and lens choices, which as I said probably weakened the overall impact.

What did you learn about storytelling:   

A few weeks ago in class we discussed that it’s really only possible to utilize two or three of the visual elements when it comes to filmmaking. I really feel like I noticed this during this shoot. In essence, the shooting plan was already made for us, we knew what we wanted things to capture, and yet, seeming small elements like costumes, location, and the height of the actors constantly disrupted to some degree, the plan we had in mind. If you want to tell a successful story, it’s in small details that you can get your theme across. Things like costumes matter, and can add or detract from your story in ways you might not consider on paper.

What did you learn about working with actors and getting performance:  

Since my scene didn’t have much dialogue (or physical motion from the actors), I really noticed how important it is for actors to know the subtext of the scene. Emoting from the eyes, or small facial ticks can speak volumes. Certainly Leone accomplished this much more effectively than I did.

What did you learn about blocking the camera and actors?     

This whole exercise made me want to write a scene, just so I could try and compose shots the way Sergio Leone did in this film. It really dawned on me how much you can get out of the story-especially a visual story-if you take time to block the actors, and select the right lens.

What did you learn about visual elements such as lighting, composition, framing, etc.?       

I feel like there were multiple times where Billy and I “corrected” the frame so that it fell more in line with the rule of thirds, or some other “rule” like that, and then once we looked at the frame from the film, we realized that it wasn’t framed according to those guidelines, because the way it was framed originally did more for the story than just show a good looking picture. I felt like this was something I noticed in other classmate’s remakes as well. It really hit home to me that even if you are someone who believes that “story is king”, you have to acknowledge that for the story to be a great king, it needs to rule while paying attention to those visual elements. (side note: I will try not to use quotations like that ever again.)

What did you learn about design and art direction?     

Trying to replicate what the characters looked like, and wore as costumes did a lot to cover some of the other mistakes I made in creating this shot for shot, because those designs do a lot to convey what these characters are about. Everything in Mortimer’s shots are strait and clean, whereas El Indio is always at strange angles. The both wear black, but even then the type of black clothes they wear speaks volumes. Even tiny details like the type of holster, or the type of facial hair can do a lot of the leg work for you as a storyteller.

What did you learn about the Production Process such as pre-production, collaborating with crew, securing equipment, etc.?    

I learned that if you’ve done a solid job in pre-production, you’ll have a greater chance of success. I’ve always kind of known that, but since this was one of the most in depth pre-production plans I’ve ever made, I really know it to be true now. I was lucky that everyone was willing to go the extra mile on this shoot, and that was something that stood out to me as a reason projects can be successful. If everyone has the same passion to complete a project as you do, then not only will your collaboration be better, but your final product will be stronger as well.

                  

What was it like to watch your film with an audience? Did they understand it? Miss the point? Why did they respond the way they did?  

This was a fun one to watch with the class. I think everyone was able to understand what was really going on, and if we had more time in class to discuss it, I would have liked to have heard peoples interpretations. I think the fact that this scene is so long and yet always interesting goes a long way in making people invest, even if it’s just for the sweet relief when it’s over. I watched a documentary in preparation for this where even Clint Eastwood talks about how he thinks the scene is way too long. It seemed to me that everyone felt that same anticipation while watching.

Any other observations or notes:

This was a brutal assignment, but I feel like it was an exercise that made me a better filmmaker. I would like to have another opportunity to dissect a scene like this.