Survivor: Furman Edition

For our short film, my group decided to recreate the tribal council scene in the show, Survivor.

Behind the scenes of my group filming our short film

I came up with the idea because, in all honesty, I had nothing else, and I just recently had watched the show. I binged Survivor through quarantine and started watching the news season with some friends because they’ve never seen the show.

All group members worked together in directing because we bounced ideas off each other and talked about what kind of shots we wanted. I was the producer as I came up with the idea and laid out how tribal council works in Survivor and what would be the best way to recreate.

From this lab, I learned that being prepared is essential in filming, how different shots can keep the audience engaged and how each shot tells a different perspective. Production, itself, was fun but difficult because it’s hard to compel a group of people who have really busy schedules. For an actual film, it would be a different story.

Different types of shots can change the perspective and keep the audience engaged. Certain shots can influence the overall mood of the scene, bring attention to an object, or create a specific reaction from the audience.

From learning about the process behind a short film and the different shots, I can use these skills in the future by improving my storytelling.

More behind the scenes!