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    How to Film on Location for Amateurs
    How to Film on Location for Amateurs
    How to Film on Location for Amateurs
    Ebook63 pages55 minutes

    How to Film on Location for Amateurs

    By Andrew Buchanan

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    About this ebook

    Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRead Books Ltd.
    Release dateSep 12, 2016
    ISBN9781473358317
    How to Film on Location for Amateurs

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      Book preview

      How to Film on Location for Amateurs - Andrew Buchanan

      Filming a Village

      I can think of nothing easier to film really badly than a country village, a pile of ruins, or a cathedral, for, on the surface, the story is ready-made and the cottages or stately spires reduce the necessity for picture composition to a minimum. Consequently, there is little left to do but shoot ‘views’ famous to all tourists, pan up and down steeples, and use filters that make the sky jet-black and the buildings snow-white. Maybe life will be so utterly still in these parts that the director will feel it necessary to introduce ‘movement’ into his scenes, and so he will induce his sister to appear in every shot, wandering about like a sleepwalker—strolling through arches, crossing roads, or leaning heavily over old bridges.

      Apart from ruining sequences in this manner, it is probable he will not attempt to capture the spirit of the place, because he did not begin by studying it. Now it is a surprising fact that immediately one regards the city, town, or village in which one resides, through the eye of the camera, the place becomes, or should become, transformed into something unfamiliar—by reason of the countless features accentuated by the inquisitiveness of the lens—all of them creating, together, the fundamental character of the location, and unless that character and/or atmosphere is captured and projected on to the screen the film can be of little importance.

      The second point is that a village need not be famous before it can be filmed. I have a preference for places which have rarely been heard of save by the inhabitants. Rarely does the professional producer discover an utterly unknown girl and lift her to stardom. It would be better if he did, instead of concentrating only on established stars, casting them irrespective of suitability. Similarly, the amateur should not film ‘the renowned beauty spot’, but should give prominence to the unknown village, discovering its hidden beauties and emphasizing the part it plays, however small, in the life of the nation. Leave the famous places to makers of picture postcards, and concentrate upon that tiny hamlet you found by accident when on your way to somewhere else. But whatever its character may be it has to be approached with extreme care, and not shot from any angle, anywhere.

      A stranger becomes acquainted with a place only after he has wandered around its back streets for a few days. He would learn nothing about it by standing at the top of its main street and staring at the view before him—which would be the equivalent of the conventional opening long shot that begins every poorly made scenic film. And so the first step is to study the location and prepare a simple script based on one’s observations. Why does the village appeal to you? How do the inhabitants earn their livings? Are they mainly agricultural? Do they depend on the sea? Is there a tannery? Whatever the main occupation of the villagers may be, you will find signs of it in unexpected places. Look for them, and list them down.

      I would begin the film with a close-up of a signpost bearing the name of the place, shot from a very low angle. If it is a fishing village I should follow the introductory shot with several well-chosen close-ups, beginning with sea waves which filled the screen—rolling on the beach, or dashing against the harbour wall, followed by strong hands mending nets, sorting fish, and painting old boats. The effect of these shots would be increased if they were divided by glimpses of gulls swooping for food on the quayside, perched on mast tops, or floating around the anchored fishing boats. Such brief scenes create a prologue to the film, and plant the fact that the village whose name was seen on the signpost is a fishing village. Do not worry about long shots at this stage. Introduce the place to the audience gradually, each series of shots revealing more and more, so that by the time a long shot does appear, everyone will be able to see into it with understanding, having meandered around the streets beforehand.

      And so now we have emphasized the dependence of the villagers upon the sea we should take a look at their dwellings, and we might well begin with a few studies of their trim little back gardens, for the back of a house always reveals more about its inmates than the expressionless front. We will find that the sea invades them in the form of shells, set, a trifle too decoratively, in borders—coral heaped by kitchen doors—and, perhaps, an anchor or a rusty mine perched up in the middle

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