Final Work

Final Work

Experimental film Vimeo adress: https://vimeo.com/195274345
Experimental Sound Address:  https://soundcloud.com/lydia-dawson-2-sound-only

This presentation below was given as part of the project in which we had to evaluate our final work. I think as a whole my group have work incredibly hard and I'm very proud of what we have created. Although we did have a few issues in the beginning with loosing work, people being ill and having technical difficulties we managed to push through and create something we are all proud of. We confidently conveyed our key themes and ideas and managed to do it creatively in this short film.

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Inspirational Images for film

This series of images convey the themes, ideas and look I wish to create in the short film for this task. The majority of these images convey the themes of anxiety and internal feelings confined inside someone wanting to get out. This is the main theme of our film and I this within my role of cinematographer. Other images convey the type of look i want to give, i have taken a screen grab from 'The Royal Tenenbaums' a film by Wes Anderson. It shows a man looking in a mirror analysing himself, not only that but it is shot with a wide lens which is how i hope to shoot my film.

My Contribution

During this task i believe that every pulled their weight in terms of their individual roles, everyone understood what they had to do and got it done to the best of their ability. My role a cinematographer was to get the shots we needed and to get them in a way that would tell the story not only clearly but creatively as well.

I decided straight away that i wanted to shoot using a wide lens, i wanted to do this because i knew i would be shooting in a very small space and i thought to emphasise that i would attempt to show as much of the room as possible. Using influences such as Wes Anderson and the Coen Brothers who often use a wide lens frequently i learnt the best way to compose the shot with it in wide. This was either having the the subject dead centre of the frame with it symmetrical on either side or to have subject stick to one side of the frame. In this case i used a lot of shots in which the subject stayed in one side of the frame including my close up shots i would have only one eye in frame or part of the face.

I enjoyed my role as cinematographer and learnt a lot from experimenting with different techniques, while doing this task I also took on the role as director due to the fact it was only me who was around during the actual filming. Which meant it was my job to get the performance out of my actor and get them to portray the image that i wanted. I think she managed to do quite well being that she isn't a real actor and I think i did well to convey my ideas to her in order for her to give that performance.

when filming i decided to do two lengthy shots of the subject doing her make up, one in which she does it normally and the second being the one where she messes it all up. I decided to shoot these out in full as I believed it to be the most efficient way of getting all the coverage i needed. I then went back and got all the smaller shots i needed, all of my close ups, all of my little interchanging shots that we put in-between her doing her makeup. This will have made the editors job slightly harder which at the time i didn't see but looking back its clear that it wasn't the best way i could have filmed it.

I'm proud of the product i have created and the contribution i made to the group in order to finish this task and I'm also proud of how well my group has worked together to create this film.

Production of Film and Sound piece

Sound list

• Bathroom Atmos
• Knife scraping another knife
• Knife scraping on a plate
• Paperclip scraping on wood table
• Tap dripping
• Breathing
• People talking 
• Girl screaming
• Extractor fan

Each of these individual sounds will be edited and transformed to sound strange and uneasy, other than the atoms sounds as they will contribute the first layer of the soundscape. With the people talking we will be able to add reverb and distort it so that its unclear whats being said and place it so that it sounds like they are voices within our characters head. 

Equipment List

• Zoom H5
• Wind Shields
• Rifle Microphone
• SD card
• Hard Drive
• Head Phones
• Canon XF100
• Wide lens
• Video Tripod

This is equipment used for the sound only piece, all equipment was collected by Lydia as the recording of sound is her role. I will be collecting the video recording equipment and film within the week. 

Locations

The only location used in the film is a bathroom which can be done in my flat, other locations are all to do with audio aspects like crowded areas for voices, and then places with interesting atmospheric sounds for the piece. The reason for using the one location is because we decided to create a minimalistic film that could be made into something with quite complex meaning.

Short Film Analysis 2003 'Telling Lies' by Simon Ellis

Simon Ellis' contemporary short film 'Telling Lies' made in 2000 follows a conversation between two people over the phone but rather than using visuals it uses subtitles against a black background. However, the subtitles tell a different story to the actual spoken dialogue in an attempt to convey the idea that people don't always say what they are thinking. The text shown is the only visual in the film which i believe to be extremely effective as it means that is the priority focus as its all we can see. Even though there is a conversation being heard we concentrate more on what we can see and because of that the written conversation is what gets taken in by the audience.

I believe this film is very effective in conveying its themes and ideas well, i think that if they had used more visuals for example; showing people actually talking on the phone, it wouldn't have been as effective as it would mean audiences have to concentrate on what they see and hear. By focusing on one it makes the impact of the dialogue both written and spoken much better.

This film was helpful as it links well with the 'Sense of Space' task and in terms of coming up with the themes and focus of my film its definitely something i can pull on. as we will be attempting to convey similar ideas in terms of showing two juxtaposing thoughts at the same time however both of ours will be visual rather than audio.

Analysis of 'Meat Factory Ear Worms'

As part of this module we were asked to examine a sound piece that created a sense of space and atmosphere. From the ones given i decided to analyse the 2008 piece 'Meat Factory Ear worms' by Richie Bernie which tells the story of a young man working in a slaughter house in Ireland. i chose this one because not only does it manage to encapsulate the atmosphere of a slaughter house with its use of sounds like; machinery, cows, steam and knives and tools scraping but it manages to add a flare of creativity and style which gives the piece a unique twist. 

The main focus of the sound piece is on how this young man coped with the gruelling tasks he had to carry out day to day at the slaughter house. This is mainly done via narration, however behind that narration their are atmospheric tracks like stated before that set the scene. Its here that the piece manages to add juxtaposition to great effect. In one particular sequence the man talks about the "sweet smell" of flesh in the factory, this is underlined not only by the scraping of knives but quite a beautiful score that would seem, in any other situation, to be quite calming but in this case by using it in juxtaposition it makes it creepy and uncomfertable.

Although the piece is quite experimental in terms of its creative style and how it tells the story it is fundamentally a documentary piece that does well to encapsulate the story of this young man. Bierne manages to paint a clear and vivid image with both background atmosphere and narration underlining key sound effects to help illustrate the narrative.

An Analysis of 'Salaryman 6' Directed By Jake Knight

'Salaryman 6' is a 7 minute Japanese short film made in 2002 by director Jake Knight in collaboration with Ryoko Tanaka. The film follows protagonist Shiode, a Salaryman living in Japan as he documents his day today life using a automatic camera in an attempt to overcome his memory loss, the narrative ensues from there as the cycle and repetitive nature of his life unfolds. The themes of the film revolve around the emptiness of life and repetativness both of which are clearly shown through the films use of cinematography and the use of symmetry in the frame.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film, one aspect I felt was particularly effective was the use of symmetry in the frame. The use of an extremely wide lens and display ratio allows for a lot more to be shown in shot, this meant that Jake Knight was able to fully show how the architecture and surrounding life mirrors itself and repeats. In this shot for example by using an extremely wide angle lens Jake Knight is able to show the full repetition of the building in on single shot. This style has a likeness to Kubricks work or even Wes Anderson in terms of the construction of the frame.

One thing that i thought didn't work particularly well was the use of comedy during the final moments of the film. Throughout the film the use of morbid themes was clearly present and by using comedic elements ultimately took away from the mood. I think the film would have worked a lot better if it had kept with the running themes it had set up.

Multiple techniques were used in the making of the film that i felt impacted the overall mood and effect that the film has. one of the most prominent one was the colour pallet used in the film. All the colours used in the film wether it be in costume, set or props are all cold and dull. this enhances the overall dull atmosphere that the film is attempting to create. Nothing really stands out, nothing is unique and by having that, it in itself is unique and stands out. 

The second technique is the use of a book ended narrative. The term 'Book Ended Narrative' refers to a narrative that finishes in the same place it began, a film in which the story does a full circle. I believe this also further enhances the themes the film is trying to represent. By having a book ended narrative it brings the cycle into full view and shows the repetition clearly to the spectator.

Ozymandias

I stumbled across a poem recently written by Percy Bysshe Shelly titled Ozymandias, the poem follows the story of a traveller who comes across the ruins of a statue of the Egyptian Pharaoh. This poem has given me an idea to create a piece surrounding a protagonist that is living with such guilt over a past choice or situation. He can't look at his reflection, he can't look at himself in the mirror. we learn more about this character through the reactions of other characters and the interactions he has with them. Like in this poem Ozymandias is only seen or represented through the eyes of the sculptor, the sculptors work is only seen or understood by the traveller, and all of these representations are given another representation through the poets perspective. All the players in the poems narrative give further dimensions to the overall image to the Pharaoh. I intend my piece to follow a similar narrative arc with the characters. I intend to begin scripting soon and will update in a follow up post.