N.11 | "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" (the final duel), Roger Deakins on talking a lot plus more

JOURNAL ENTRY

October 27, 2024: I was supposed to start film school yesterday, but that didn’t happen. They call me on Friday to tell me that the beginning is postponed by a couple of weeks. No problem. I’m busy with filmmaking anyway.

I’m working on a solo nano film (30-60 secs), which I hope to finish this weekend. I’m also working on a micro film that I hope to film before Christmas.

Plus, I bought two new books. One is about directing actors, and the other on building scenes. Cannot wait to have them here.

FILM STORYTELLING

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly (the final duel)

I watched The Good, the Bad and the Ugly again this week. The final duel scene is just legendary.

The scene is masterfully edited to build tension with music as well as shots. Notice how the scene flows from medium full shot, to medium closeup all the way up to extreme closeup of the characters’ bodies, eyes and hands.

Director Sergio Leone adds rapid editing, moving from one character to the other, in order to build tension.

CONVERSATION HIGHLIGHT

Team Deakins → Jesse James Live Q&A

Lots of interesting points from this conversation between Wendy Roderweiss and Team Deakins on the film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Here's my favorite highlight:

Working on the story and the storyboard at length

In discussing how the film looks, Roderweiss asks Roger Deakins how much of the story motivated the choices that the cinematographer made throughout the film.

Deakins replies that discussing the story at length was a very important factor.

During location scouting, the team spent a lot of time together, while looking for remote places. All that time allowed Deakins to talk and discuss the details of the film with the others.

There was also a lot of time spent in the production office — sketching ideas and working with the storyboard artists. The director, Andrew Dominik, had many old-faded polaroids that helped throughout the process. These pictures also sparked discussions.

Later in the interview, Deakins talks about how he approaches composition while shooting.

And again, he mentions that talking (a lot) really helps. He usually discusses the story and the storyboard, the scene, what the scene cuts to, and if the next one is a wide shot or not etc. etc. etc. all of this helps.

Source: From SEASON 2 - EPISODE 111 - JESSE JAMES Live Q&A - with Wendy Roderweiss (paraphrased and/or quoted).

FILM STORYTELLING

The master shot

The master shot (or "master") confirms the location and geography of the scene. Most importantly, it frames what characters are in the scene and where they are in relation to each other. The master captures the scene playing out in its entirety.

TIDBIT I’M PONDERING

Always do things the least interesting way

In the book On Directing Film, David Mamet makes an interesting point on how to keep the attention of the audience.

According to Mamet, you make a better movie when you do things the least interesting way — the most blunt way.

If you fail to do that, you unintentionally risk moving away from the objective of the scene. When that happens, the audience will lose focus, which is the very last thing you want.

How do you keep their attention?

Not by giving them more information. On the contrary, by withholding all the information except the information the absence of which will make the progress of the story incomprehensible.

Source: From On Directing Film by David Mamet (paraphrased and/or quoted).