PROJECT BRIEF FOUR
‘Paper plates & bokehs’
Still of Original vs Edited Bokeh exercise. Watch here.
After my return from The Reject Shop’s party aisle, I came home equipped with paper plates, silly string and fairy lights; taking on the challenge of transforming some of these fundamentally uninteresting objects and repurposing them in a way that adds dimension and creativity to my scenes. Honing in my diy skills, I went to work and mapped out the different ways I could bring to the life the cinematic possibilities of paper plates in a way that contributes to the overall aesthetics of my film.
Perusing the home decor and arts thread on Pinterest (a weird place to search for filmmaking motivation, I know), I was particularly inspired by the luminescent decorations of Christmas ornaments and the way they hung vibrantly around the tree or worked as embellishments for the household. Indeed, it was through the vast array of colours and shapes that I came across, that I was hit with the epiphany to make shapes out of my very own fairy lights that didn’t require going out and purchasing a new set of bulbs. Using the paper plates I had, I made my own personal light leak through a technique known as ‘bokeh’. This involves cutting the centre of a piece of cardboard to a desired shape, attaching it to the camera lens where it subsequently causes the footage to mould to the shape of the bokeh.
Aside from some of the failed attempts I encountered whilst undertaking this exercise, I was nonetheless thrilled with the end result as I am now starting to become more aware of the different ways I can add layers to a frame and ultimately, the different ways I can seek out the cinematic potential of a seemingly mundane object.
‘Let’s get silly’
Stills of Silly String Exercise. Watch here.
Inspiring romance isn’t really an intrinsic attribute of silly string, nor is it known for its ability to forge deep connections between two people. I suppose in some respects silly string is a fun loving and playful form of interaction, but as we get into the intricacies of it, silly string is really just bright coloured plastic string being propelled from an aerosol can (but that’s subject for another discussion). So why use it in our films at all?
Going into this exercise, I was eager to experiment with the aesthetic possibilities afforded by silly string and its supplementary use to my storyline featuring an adolescent couple enjoying a day in the park. Aside from the splitting moments of fluff and somewhat cringeworthy chasing scenes, without being too intimate, I wanted to communicate their relationship in a way that could be easily be interpreted through their actions. Keeping in mind my research topic—this being the ways in which ordinary objects have the ability to add cinematic value to a film—I was interested in how I could incorporate silly string as the sole object that facilitates any form of interaction between the pair.
Here, I found that an innately simple, but wholly overlooked item, has the capacity to portray a narrative that is both enjoyable and visually stimulating without the need for dialogue to explain the situation. Undertaking this exercise taught me that being resourceful and having a willingness to trial different forms of communicating a narrative will often yield results better than I’d expected. The silly string, in addition, helped significantly in evoking a naturally playful air between the couple; making my job as director and camera operator far less demanding.
Although outwardly vapid in its form, silly string bears an array of artistic and cinematic possibilities through its association with youth and juvenile misconducts, vibrant appearance and general air of care free playfulness. Also considering its ability to engender a sense of intimacy and rapport between people, silly string has the potential to add to the aesthetic and narrative qualities of any film.
‘Skateboards as storytelling?’
Still of Skating Exercise. Watch here.
Storyboard and dates of shot list
Diverging from my initial plan to research how ordinary items can add cinematic value, I went on to draft a storyboard that would enable me to tell a story stylistically. The narrative begins with an establishing shot of a suburban street which gradually transitions into a tracking shot, revealing more of the homely looking neighbourhood then finally, an individual house will fill majority of the frame. The camera closes in on the details of this particular house, including an extreme close up of the front garden and its picket fence, which I intended to demonstrate through a split screen. My intention was to incorporate quirkiness and whimsicality through my exaggerated use of the camera; adding to the overall nonsense with which my storyline is entrenched.
Obtaining a smooth tracking shot of my neighbourhood proved especially difficult when keeping balance on my skateboard while, at the same time, operating the camera with a hand held stabiliser. Considering my lack of skating experience, it isn’t hard to see why I struggled to maintain a consistent speed while also ensuring that the camera remained steady. However, I wouldn’t completely dismiss skateboards as insufficient tracking tools when they’re, in fact, quite excellent in adding fluidity and excitement to the storyline as they quite literally take the audience along for a ride. Initially, I was ready to give up on this experiment as I was getting increasingly irritated by my inability to see what I was filming, while also maintaining my balance on the skateboard. I allowed myself to get too easily discouraged by the raw footage as the playback revealed a shoddy and presumably un-editable clip. It wasn’t until I went into post-production that I realised most clips are salvageable and shouldn’t be disregarded too quickly; simple cuts made to a video, and a bit of experimenting with the stabilisation tool in Premiere Pro, works wonders in cleaning up an initially disastrous clip.
Indeed, it is here where I learnt to become less impatient with myself and my camera operating abilities, as there are ways that a clip can be rectified through editing. Not only this, but undertaking this exercise has introduced me to more unconventional ways of achieving a cinematic look that is both fun and enjoyable to watch. Granted, there are quite a number of improvements that can be made to the overall outcome of my skating clip (such as tweaking my ISO settings to remove the grain and ensuring that the camera doesn’t cut out too much out of the frame) however, I nonetheless feel more comfortable in my abilities as a filmmaker where I’ve learned to become more resourceful and to not readily dismiss a clip on its first take.
‘Camera and ISO experiments’
Original: The image has been shot on the ISO setting (1600 ISO) – Bright and vibrant lighting – moderate shadows.
Edit #1: The image has been shot on the ISO setting (800 ISO) – increase in shadows – underexposed image – dulling of colours gives the image a matt finish – pale complexion.
Edit #2: The image has been shot on the ISO setting (400 ISO) – moderate shadows – increased contrast, decreased highlights – underexposed image and inclusion of blue tint evokes.
After experimenting with various ISO settings and colour correcting palettes, I was able to successfully test the effects that post-processing has upon footage to create a dramatic and sombre atmosphere. I found that being able to distinguish between the advantages of having a high ISO setting compared to a low ISO setting and vice versa, really contributes to the overall tone of the film and its ability to exude a particular aura. I feel as though this production exercise really gave me insight as to how footage can be perceived based on how it has been filmed and that the correct lighting helps considerably in conveying emotion.
The editing software, Adobe After Effects CC, has extensive functions and features that enabled me to explore the different ways lighting and colour can be manipulated to achieve different effects. I found that the adjustment of correct colour hues, contrast and saturation help tremendously in adding warmth or coldness to a clip and how that, in turn, changes the way the audience perceive the footage. What surprised me most was how little experience and time was needed to drastically change the appearance of a clip. A simple raise in colour saturation can create intense vibrancy while at the same time increasing shadows and decreasing the visibility of facial traits. Similarly, a simple amendment to the exposure can help give the clip a more matt appearance (depending on how it is used) as well as dulling or enhancing a character’s skin tone and emotions. Whilst there is still much more to grasp, I believe that I have learnt the essentials in applying the appropriate ISO setting depending on how crisp and clear I would like my clip to be. In addition, I now know how to manipulate colour schemes in order to achieve the desired mood.
I found that the underexposed clips tended to have better cinematography as it muted the overbearing brightness and replaced it with a more crisp, clean appearance. A moderate ISO setting (between 400-800 ISO) created soft shadows along the side of the model’s face, ultimately adding depth and plains to the frame. This setting limited the amount of light that entered the camera lens which therefore, helped to set the dejected mood of this scene as harsh lighting was moderately minimised. Additionally, these particular ISO settings darkens the model’s hair, creating a nice contrast with her pale skin and giving her character more vulnerable and delicate features. Whereas the lower ISO setting, I found, saturated too many of the colours and essentially, drowned out the model’s facial features which proved undesirable as my product relies on the audiences ability to read the characters’ emotions in order to drive the narrative forward.
The most important lesson that I have learnt from doing this production exercise, is that lighting and the way in which something is filmed has a significant impact upon the aesthetic elements of a clip and can determine how the audience interprets the overall product. In the future, I believe this new skill that I have acquired will enable me to film more confidently as I will not be as concerned with switching between different settings until I find the most appropriate one. This skill has granted me with a broader understanding of how post-processing can be used to establish certain vibes and ultimately, how clips and filming can be improved to have the desired impact upon my target audience.
‘Contextualised research essay’
I’ll be honest with you guys, I went into this project brief with only a half a vision of what I wanted to do as my overall research question, and what it was that I wanted to achieve by undertaking this particular investigation. Taking into account my abilities as a filmmaker, which I believe to be somewhat limited, and the amount of time that I had to complete this project brief, I overwhelmed myself trying to think of the perfect research question that could account for all of these factors…
From the get go, I knew I wanted to create something visually enticing (as I have such a hard on for the aesthetics of practically everything), but I felt that this was too generic of a concept to explore and I found myself pitching something that I was only half-heartedly into. On the day of our presentation, I announced that I was interested in exploring the ways in which I could use seemingly monotonous, everyday objects and portray them in a way that liberates them from their mundanity. This could be something as simple as using streamers, silly string or fairy lights to create enigma and dimension within a shot. I wanted there to be little reliance on post-production as a means of creating a visually stimulating film and instead, utilise what was readily available within my frame. I suppose my hesitation to wholeheartedly pursue this idea stems from my intrinsic need to tell a story after years of growing to love narratives. Indeed, it is the more unconventional and philosophical approach to this media studio that put me in a far more reflective place than I’m used to. With less emphasis on the practical side of filmmaking and more so on my approach as a filmmaker, I found myself in a sort of grey area. This is not to be misconstrued as me not appreciating the aims of this studio, but rather, it challenged me to go beyond what I’m used to; which is my tendency to simply create a film without much consideration or analysis of what it is I’m truly trying to achieve; all I knew is that I wanted to create a story—whatever that might be.
With this mentality in mind, I found myself changing my original research question and opted for something that is more familiar and comfortable to me. This being the desire to create a storyline that, this time, also incorporates style. In saying this, however, the sudden change of research question proved too ambitious of a concept and I quickly learned that while it is all well and good to have a vision—that vision is nothing without execution. I was hit with this sudden revelation when I attempted to use my skateboard as a dolly that could capture tracking shots of my neighbourhood. My intention behind this more unorthodox, makeshift device was to trial different resources that could add dynamic to an otherwise dull suburban street. The outcome, however, turned out to be a shoddy clip as well as a huge disservice to the highly acclaimed “wobble cam”. Yet, in spite of this hard-hitting reality (where I found that I needed far better skating and organisation skills if I were to tell a story stylistically), I was nonetheless able to use the world around me as a conduit in which to convey my narrative. In particular, it was venturing out into my suburb’s local festival, Summersault, that I was presented with a plethora of amusement sights, neon lights, rides and vibrant landscapes which adhered beautifully to my vision of a stylistic narrative. Here, I quickly became inspired to use the festival as a backdrop for my storyline, wherein the fluorescent and multicoloured lighting provided the perfect ambience for my intimate storyline between two adolescent teens.
I didn’t, however, completely scrap my original idea from my final project as I was starting to become increasingly more invested in the concept of creating dynamic within a frame as well as fulfilling the cinematic potential of seemingly random items. After continuously oscillating between my two research questions, I finally set out to put my resourcefulness to the test in taking something initially uninteresting and making it, well, interesting. Traversing the aisles of The Reject Shop, I was beckoned by the knick knacks and trinkets of the party aisle and so, my basket was filled to the brim with items of seemingly little purpose, those of which included silly string, paper plates and artificial flowers, thereby marking the beginning of my make-these-not-so-interesting-items-interesting journey. The findings? Well, I had a particularly hard time making paper plates even remotely compelling and found that using them in their normal state was, to put it bluntly, rather dry. Determined to use what I had, I was suddenly hit with the epiphany to not use the paper plates within my frame but to instead, make a heart bokeh out of them. As you can see in my earlier experiments, a bokeh is an artistic technique that involves cutting a shape in the centre of a piece of cardboard, applying it to the lens, and transforming the shape of any lighting fixture. In addition to this, I went on to use silly string as a form of creating depth within my frame by layering it in front of the camera lens, essentially creating a natural embellishment to the shot, and having the actors interact with the silly string by breaking the fourth wall. Ultimately, I used objects that are traditionally dismissed as being tedious or uninteresting and repurposed some of them to generate a sense of excitement and curiousness within the audience.
‘Collaborative post’
Over the course of this semester, I was faced with the fulfilling and simultaneously infuriating aspects that come with collaborative work. Using my resources, I sought out two of my close friends who I asked to play the lead role in my list of experiments/short film. Needless to say, the familiarity and years of establishing a bond with each other, from primary school to university, made it that much easier in putting my mind at ease when attempting to direct my actors while operating the camera.
However, I must confess that I did take the easy route and used a friend with whom I’m very comfortable with and have collaborated on numerous projects in the past. It also worked in my favour that she, Ann, is highly used to being in front of the camera; considering the fact that it was her long-term desire to become a model and work in the fashion industry. Yet, being friends for this amount of time does not come without its pitfalls. The closeness of our relationship often made it harder to maintain a level of professionalism between director and actor, to the point that I often struggled to instil any sense of authority when the time came to really perform. Not only that, but there were times when my friend did something that didn’t look quite right in front of the camera (sometimes she’d make a very unflattering face without knowing it) and I found myself becoming a little too sheepish when trying to critique her performance out of the fear of hurting her feelings or appearing too bossy.
Yet, in spite of the hardships that come with working with a friend who you’ve known in such close proximity, also means there’s greater room for understanding and connection. With the both of us studying in the field of creativity and communication, I found that we were able to resonate with each other on a level that we hadn’t before this project. In particular, Ann knew the direction with where I wanted my film to go, knowing that she needed to tell a story through her actions and expressions, and acted accordingly in front of the camera. Aside from my meekness and inability to sometimes critique her performance, I found that working with a friend ensured that we were more in sync with each other and that we have a better understanding of what the other person’s vision is and the way they we execute this vision. Our closeness, I felt, really aided the filming process of this project and allowed me to hone in my skills as a director and filmmaker.