Reading Response 3

A superobjective is what the objective of the main character is. Mamet tries to explain this by giving a situation and asking others to think of a scene for it. In the case of On Directing Film, it is a student trying to earn the respect of a teacher. That is the superobjective and the concept of the scene. Establishing the character does help the superobjective, as the character is what is of pursuit of the superobjective, but it doesn’t need to be established all the time. As long as the protagonist wants something, the audience will want it as well.

By ‘cutting’ in different parts of a film, typically changing shots, the film can create a sense and climax to the audience. The example used by Mamet is the House of Games when there are two guys fighting over a gun. The next shot, or cut, is of professor looking on with the gunshot in the background. We don’t actually see the two characters fighting and the hot, but it is implied what happens through the eyes of the professor. This gave the sense of helplessness to the audience as they watched on while something major happened.

In the section “Where Do You Put the Camera?,” they came up with a variety of shots for one main concept. Each one of those shots was trying to convey the same meaning, but at the same time, there were many that portrayed different meanings when they proceeded along. I realized that you have to be careful when planning your shots because of how many different meanings you can take from one scene.

The concept of clichés popped up in the reading as well, especially using the clock to indicate earliness and time. Clichés have been used many times in the film industry and are a lot of times, unavoidable. Mamet mentions that you shouldn’t shy away from clichés, but try to make it better. I agree with this, but then again, it would be hard to determine what is ‘better’ considering clichés have been around us for so long and used many times.

What struck me the most in the reading was on page 24, when Mamet says that narrative weakens the film. I actually disagree with that, along with how he said that you don’t really need to establish the character. What keeps me paying attention to a film is the narrative and how well the characters develop through that narrative. I feel that it’s an essential part of creating art work, especially if you intend to have some sort of storyline. If you do not have a decent storyline or a character that can grow, there’s not much you can do with the film and, in my opinion, it can turn out to be a boring and maybe even cliché.

Source: David Mamet's On Directing Film