The 'Craft' in filmmaking

Traditionally, we were taught that filmmaking has three broad components:

1. The Technology
2. the Aesthetics
3. The Business

These are pretty much well known parts of filmmaking. The technology was one used for image capturing and later the exhibition and distribution of the images. The aesthetics was what provided the backbone to the way your filmmaking project was structured and generally your guide as you went about structuring your project. the business side governed who financed your project and who determined where it was finally exhibited and got a chance to recover the money invested in the project.

The part that one actually learned most about filmmaking was the fouth part- the craft of filmmaking. This was all about making sure your pictures were decently exposed, your sounds were clear to hear and your storyline remained 'legible' to viewing audiences. These were more or less the 'basics' of filmmaking, that you had to maintain in any situation.

The point was driven home to me all over again on a recent documentary project. The owner of the post-production house where I work assigned me a bunch of newcomers with sub-standard equipment to handle the job at hand. The boys and I toiled but the documentary remained scratchy, uneven and muddled looking. I protested about it but the other machines and manpower were occupied elsewhere. The project was eventually turned down by the client and we stopped working on it completely.

After three months, the client decided to pick up the project again. So I got a friend who has an edit system to work on the project. We just sat and did all the common sense- craft -things, placed the subtitles in the correct place, smoothed and leveled the sounds, matched the colours a bit so that shot-to-shot transitions became 'smoother', re-did the cuts so that the basics of cutting on motion were followed. 

Then I showed the documentary to the client again, and he actually clapped, thumped the desk in joy. Suddenly there was a documentary that he could show to the world.

It was the same documentary, same technology, same aesthetics, same budget, but a better application of the craft had changed everything.

When we learn cinema in film school, this is all that we learn- what is the story we are telling, what is the point of each scene, the shot and the cuts that we made. In the hurly-burly of shooting small budget projects (where everyone plays multiple roles) we sometimes overlook the basics. And when you come to the post production stage, well, we're kind of stuck and have to sort matters bit by bit, applying good old classical 'craft'.