Laugh if you want. no, go ahead.
I’ve written a small shooting script or two in the past. I’ve always wanted to shoot a real low-budget flick. The whole shebang, actors, lights locations sets, music and all the rest of it. I’ve toyed with it so much I’ve went as far as trying to rope in performers and technical folks. This is how far it usually goes though…
Me: So you wanna make this flick then?
Co-Conspiritor: I was interested, but now I’m going to look at this shiny thing over here.
See what I mean?
Anyway, since I started actually paying attention to how movies are made, and less to just the stories, I actually started noticing how they are composed and portrayed. Commentary tracks on DVDs help out LOTS. Two movies stand out as really making art of their shots (in my opinion) and they might surprise some
Number One is PI: Here is a movie that blends the music to the mood to the action. The Camera is both OUR eye and the Eye inside the mind of the character. It was so compelling.
Number Two is 187: This is a “good teacher gets revenge on bad kids” story. Watch the camera work and sound on this, it is momentous.