Blog #7 Boogie Nights

In Anderson's "Boogie Nights," he used A LOT of technical comment to give direction to the cameras and to all the effects that would take place during any given scene. I felt that depending on the type of person reading the script, it could affect each given person differently. A person who is knowledgeable about camera angles and camera shots would appreciate the ample amounts of technical comment because it tells you exactly what you are seeing. For the average reader, it would detract from the story. In my opinion, I fell in between those two categories. I felt that I knew I was reading a screenplay and that the technical comment helped me to "envision" the film more than just reading it and thinking of something in my head. It gives your imagination a little more direction which, to some, might detract the viewer's interest in the story. Overall, I believe that it depends on the individual reading the script. Everyone sees things differently, and I felt that the technical comment did not take anything away from the actual story. I could envision the film more clearly, and it helped guide my imagination for how things would look.

Discussion Questions:

1.) Does the director stick clearly to the screenplay's technical comment and use those particular camera shots that were envisioned by the writer?

2.) Does the screen writer only write the technical comment where they know exactly how the camera must move and how the scene must look?

-Drew Barontini