Blog 20 - Fourth Interview Questions

"I think audiences get too comfortable and familiar in today's movies. They believe everything they're hearing and seeing. I like to shake that up." - Christopher Nolan 

1.  Who do you plan to interview?  What is this person's area of expertise?

A: Currently I have emailed a plethora of LA-based production groups that I believe have made great pieces of work that has affected audiences in many different ways. My highest hopes for an interview is with a cinematographer named Tommy Trinh who is in charge of his own production group called Formula Arts. He is also a key member of another production group called JK Films. With my past interviews I tried to explore the ideas of story and characters as an essential in affecting audiences emotionally. What I hope to focus on this time is the cinematography and editorial aspects of film in order to convey an emotional response.

2.  Post 20 open-ended questions you want to ask an expert in the field concerning your senior project. Your focus should be finding answers to your EQ.

A:

• As a whole, how can the editing of a film provide a visceral connection and emotional response to any given audience?

• How is it that a group of unlikely individuals and people of many different life experiences can come together and emotionally react at the same time when prompted to?

• Personally, what do you feel is the most important when experiencing a film for the first time?

• What do you feel is the most important aspect to note when determining what is visually portrayed for the audience to experience?

• In what ways does music heighten the movie-going experience?

• When conveying the film, which aspect is the most valuable when relaying information to the audience: cinematography, story, or editing?

• Suspending the disbelief of the audience is one of the key aspects of the viewing experience when watching any form of film. What filmmaking techniques are most important when building this believability?

• When laying out a shot list and/or storyboard, how do you ensure the most cinematic and informational shot possible?

• As a filmmaker, why do you believe audiences react the way they do when watching a film, whether it be crying, laughing, etc?

• Being that cinematography is so broad, what key elements of it are the most important when composing an emotionally empowering shot?

• What is the most noticeable mistake that can break an audience’s focus when viewing a film?

• Using cinematography and editing techniques, how can you hook an audience to buy and invest into the story in the first couple of shots of a film?

• What is the relationship like between a director, cinematographer, and editor?

• In what ways does color affect the mood of an audience member in a scene?

• Which aspects of the filmmaking experience have the most room for emotional investment?

• How did your past film projects better you as a filmmaker and shape your styles and techniques that you execute today?

• What genres have you personally worked with over the course of your career and based on those, which would you say would be the most difficult and intricate to convey a specific emotion to the audience?

• What do you feel is the most important aspect when trying to induce emotion into a general audience?

• How were you inspired to become a cinematographer?

• How can a filmmaker maximize the affective domain of the audience’s viewing experience?