[Frameworks] query for those who teach filmmaking

[David Tetzlaff]

> Forget this "story telling" stuff.  That is something else.

For a class or assignments defined by an "experimental' rubric, sure. But for any general motion-picture production class "story" is essential, though not, of course in a Bob McKee Hollywood formula kind of way. Which is to say that choices in composition, color, and the semiotic system within each framed rectangle all should be made within the context of the overall purpose of the work. You have to have a goal in mind, something you want to say, to make good choices about how to use the medium to express it effectively. Thus, especially for beginning students who have no background in fine-art film, "telling a story" is not at all "something else" from the semiotics of the individual shot (or cut), but inseparable.

.......

As for the whole question of "speed"... I'm in complete agreement with John that introductory pedagogy should focus on the bread and butter aspects of shaping meaning (in the broad sense, which would include poetics, abstraction, etc.) In technical terms, to me this means straight cuts, and basic fades/dissolves in the NLE, things which place very low demand on computing power, and can be executed quickly on even the most basic hardware. A "need for speed" (if I may be so bold as to employ a Tom Cruise/Tony Scott film reference on Frameworks) suggests to me that students would be doing compositing or other kinds of effects work where rendering time becomes an issue. To me, THAT is Something Else ("too much French pastry" in the words of the great Al McGuire) and it's presence in any introductory class is (to mix metaphors) putting the cart before the horse, IMHO.