So what the fuck is my idea.

Late at night, a woman does her washing at a coin laundry. White washing spins, a single patch of red infects it. Candles burn. A coin is ready to drop. Red liquid ripples through milky white water. The woman waits for her laundry. A coin lingers at an opening; it drops into a pay phone. The woman picks up the phone.

Above is how the viewer will experience the abstract narrative. Below is the story.

• A woman.
• Ex-con.
• She’s done time but not accepted responsibility for the crime.
• Stuck in limbo, a weekly routine.
• She does her washing at the Laundromat.
• Conflicted.
• She seeks redemption, but doesn’t know how.
• It’s time to pay her dues. She is ready to confess.

moodboard

So, someone had to go first and today I took one for the team, sort of. Alphabetical order didn’t give me much choice.

It felt like I hadn’t quite caught my breath and as first cab off the rank my brain started to fire too many thoughts at once.

I was overly conscious of time. Screw you time. Can’t think of many occasions in life where it ‘has been on my side’.

And after attempts at trying to explain how I’ve come to this concept I didn’t even go through what I’m really hoping to make. To be honest, I felt deflated after the pitch and once again, disappointed with myself. Boo. How can it be so clear in my head and then turn to rubbish as soon as I try to speak? Maybe I should attend one of those getaway meditation camps where you sit in silence and only eat an apple a day.

The variety of ideas from everyone was inspiring.

However, I was frustrated to see the different standards and depth of each presentation and would have invested more in my presentation style had I realised the overall standard. This was a case where clearer guidelines may have helped us all.

Feedback from the panel was to be clear if the main intention was purely abstract or contained a narrative, particularly so the viewer understands what they are in for. Also recommended to explore RMIT resources available for conducting surveys/focus groups and potentially looking into technology similar to the eye scanning DIEM project currently being used in RMIT.

After allowing time for my pitch idea to settle, my intentions are much clearer. I hope to explore the audience’s ability to connect the dots and create meaning. Or in short, test how we interpret what we see on screen.

Films that need our participation always give me a buzz, the sort of stories that need some energy and attention to ‘figure out’ (Don’t get me wrong, we all occasionally need a sit back and glaze over kind of movie/tv to fry our brains). It’s crazy that we can produce multiple interpretations from the same image and I wonder what power this gives us a filmmakers. When an audience watches a film, what do they actually notice on screen? What goes unnoticed?

My exploration has eventually lead me to the question, “How far can we push the audience until they stop connecting the dots?” So I suppose this is the ultimate purpose of my ‘project’ this semester.

So far the plan is to take two approaches, a practical and a research both geared towards producing a final piece. Ideally, the final piece will have a narrative that is conveyed symbolically and abstractedly that may or may not be clear to the audience – that will be the whole point!

Practical

• Series of test shoots that begin to explore the influences of mis-en-scene, lighting, etc. e.g. EVA and colour
• Test shoot at 60fps (regardless of smaller Frame Size 720p) on the 5DMiii
• Test shoot milk and ink reaction in studio set up and possibly explore other liquid combinations. Research how to light this situation.
• Test shoot white and red washing in front loader at 60fps

Research

• How particular forms influence an audience interpretation: colour, character definition, mis-en-scene, lighting, composition, setting, camera movement
• Kuleshov effect
• The DIEM project that monitors how audience eyes track across a film frame and where the masses linger
• Experiment if our state of mind influences our response to a film one day to the next.
• Consider directors and previous bodies of work that require audience participation, eg. David Lynch, Lars Von Trier, Maya Deren

Pre-production plan

• Loose script
• Storyboard
• Scout for locations and book with owner/operator
• Audition/screen actors

Still focused on Paul’s suggestion from last week, I attended class with an open mind and without a plan. In our Tuesday session a few example clips were screened and for some reason a scene from The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada came to mind and immediately I felt inspired to recreate it.

To aid as a springboard Paul supplied scripts and so with the collaboration from a stellar group (including two first year students) we set off to shoot in the Building 80 basketball court. Our group also improvised the concept of no spoken dialogue; instead subtitles would deliver the dialogue and in addition another experiment to explore during post production.

Side Note:

The Two Burials scene includes two men seated in conversation, covered by mid shots. Their background settings and eye lines match, however only at the end of their conversation/scene a final wide(r) shot reveals the men are seated metres apart and divided by a doorway.

Screen stills from ‘The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada’ (2005)

The sun was shining, the courts were packed and a peculiar “gym” group session provided entertainment; picture a self-conscious bunch that just discovered the fitspo hashtag.

The first year students generously volunteered to provide on screen talent and we captured the scene traditionally with a MS reverse MS and a revealing wide. Last minute we grabbed OTS reverses in a final attempt to convince the viewer the subjects were sitting closer.

Have yet to edit the footage so will post results soon, but after a quick review and assembly edit I think we got it! A few lessons and/or reminders:

• Continuity is distracting, no matter what level of production quality.
• ND filter for greater control of aperture worked on the Sony.
• Matching eye lines when people aren’t actually seated together is tricky.
• Subtle technique in The Two Burials case, as its purpose is symbolic and not a huge plot reveal. In our production it is clearly a big reveal. How could this technique intentionally development plot, character and setting?

I’ve been going about this all wrong.

The week felt like a pile of bricks was dragging behind my every step. It made the group discussion harder to navigate and I was so disappointed how much I struggled to articulate my thoughts cohesively. Nonetheless, the process was therapeutic and although I left feeling scrambled, my thoughts have eventually sorted themselves out.

The relaxed group discussion with Paul and the 3 other students revealed how vast everyone’s ideas are. Both the simplistic or complex nature of each idea is exciting and I look forward to hearing these initial concepts develop. My concept was centred on abstract cinema and how this form can still achieve an audience response and or interpretation without a narrative structure. After fleshing out why I was focusing on this, an epiphany came when Grace highlighted how I am “running away” from a narrative or story that will always exist, even in abstract cinema. And there it was. The realisation that I’ve been going about this all wrong. Abstract cinema is not what I’m interested in, it’s the interpretation or response the viewer can produce! It has been through ‘abstract’ cinema’s ability to realize this that I’ve been leading myself down the wrong path.

I’m fascinated by how each person can find different meaning in the same piece. The way we project our current state of being onto what we watch. How one viewer may notice a prop, a character’s minute reaction and another viewer may miss or dismiss something. How you might view and read a film differently from one day to the next.

After reflecting deeper on the group discussion and taking on Paul’s feedback, I have also been reminded that it is OK to not have a plan. And as much as I resist, there doesn’t always need to be a reason behind everything we do.

The freedom we are given in this studio is simultaneously invigorating and crippling. I struggle with the unrestrictive culture, the fundamental no right or wrong approach. And yet these same reasons inspire me, pushing us to explore unchartered terrain without consequence.

AIM

Explore how colour and light placed in a scene influences a viewer’s interpretation of the subject.

PLAN

• Scout locations with bold colours and interesting light
• Compose the frame with the same focal length and distance to subject using a MCU
• Maintain the same neutral performance from the talent (avoid any display of emotion)
• Edit to collage the shots back to back

REFERENCES

Made in U.S.A (1966, Jean-Luc Godard)

Images sourced via Film Grab

Working together with a creative and supportive group, we set out to find a unique location that would help us all achieve our ideas. The State Library was suggested and after we gained approval to film within the building, we quickly became inspired by the space. It provided authentic mis-en-scene and a soft, textural light. Together we helped one another execute our experiments and troubleshot as a team. I finished the shoot feeling inspired by the girls and the chance to work with like-minded people.

Eve’s experiment was really interesting and probably the most successful (…not that they needed to be). I learnt a lot from viewing her final edit, as it was so simple but engaging. Considering my reflection of Gus Van Saint’s Elephant, Eve’s experiment proves how a long tracking shot pulls you in as a viewer and demands your ongoing attention.

For my initial edit, I aimed to simply align the shots back to back. Not surprisingly, the results did not produce an response from me/the viewer for the subject. I wondered if with additional shots, say a dozen, maybe the viewer would have more time to form a response. I collaged and repeated some of the shots to further experiment with the footage and concept. Although I may not have achieved an emotional response the final product is still interesting and effective. However, it has sparked a critical reflection on how we, people, always look for things (faces, gestures, objects, etc.) to create meaning. And although we are perceptive and astute at connecting the dots we still need a certain level of information or influence in order to develop a response.

    

     

Keen to try this experiment again but incorporate an action or expression for the actor that is repeated against different coloured settings. By adding a new layer of interest for the viewer to interpret, will they form an emotional response?