With this scene, I was trying to make something that was fun to watch, showed the ruthlessness of the film industry, and also showcase this one character, Lester Siegel, who is a hot shot producer who can talk his way out of or into anything.  This scene is a power struggle, or at least seems to be a power struggle.  Klein seems to have the power for the first half of the scene, and then it shifts to Siegel the second he starts making his case for what he wants.  However, with further study, the power remains with Siegel the entire time, he just makes it seem like it’s not for fun.  This was a cool idea to play with, and so I tried to capture that with the angles the characters were at and with different focal lengths.  For the first part of the scene, when the power lies with Klein, I put him at a super low angle and the other two characters in a two shot to imply closeness.  However, even when Klein has the power in the scene, I used a longer lens on him than I did with Siegel because I wanted him to seem a little more other-worldly and dynamic than the other two characters.  The Mendez character, who has no idea what is going on or how to help in this scene is shown in a flat close up that emphasizes his lost-ness and very distinctly separates him from the movie world, which he is not a part of. 

I think I was mostly successful with this scene.  I wish I could have found a location with a desk in-between the characters to create a surface division.  I wish I could have not shot at so early in the morning because the lighting changed and you can tell.  And I also wish I would have set up a light for the master, because the characters look shadowy and that’s not what I wanted.  And then I also could have tried harder to curb performances.  I think I wanted more eccentricity from Adam.  But with another look, I think it’s fine and is good as just a different take on the character and performance.  I learned a lot from this assignment.  The importance of having a firm and clear idea of what the scene looks like – I think I mostly had that with this and that helped me a lot with the planning and come shooting.  I learned that it’s easier to shoot with two cameras, and especially easier to edit.  And the value of having a script supervisor, who can tell you when something doesn’t fit continuity wise.  That’s really valuable.