From today’s class, Paul made the students show their work and how far they’ve done with their projects. I have to say that their work really inspire me and impress me because I don’t think I’ve done that far, honestly, and also their ideas and skills in filmmaking and editing videos is really impressive.
I only filmed a little bit of work and went a few laundromats which is, for me, good so far. However, I don’t think my work is good enough for the project. In this case, I could feel that my motivation is fading away and it seems quite hard for me now to catch up with everybody in the class. Though, this doesn’t mean mean that I haven’t done any work on my project, it’s more that I’m inspired by my own ideas much and it can stop me from enjoying the process. This seems to be one of my biggest struggles apart from the editing skills because, if I don’t enjoy the process, it can be really difficult for me to make a piece of work.
Nevertheless, this is not going to stop me from what I’ve always wanted to do. I think the best solution is to keep working and the beauty of filmmaking will come back to me again. It may take time, but it is still better that doing the project only to finish it not to enjoy it. Hopefully, this project will lead me to a clearer view of what I would like to do in the future and also encourage me to always do something better and inspiring, to be able to deliver the messages.
After the presentation and a whole lot of research and preparation, I am really confident with my ideas and hopefully it will turn out as I expected or even better.
I listened to other students in the class and it’s really interesting how everybody has their own project that they all approach in different ways and they all have various different goals. I found it helpful for me to listen and watch them presenting in order to guide me the best way to deliver my ideas well and interestingly. A lot of projects in the class inspires me, because they are really creative in many different ways. They also encouraged me in a way that I want to do more and better and also made me believe that my experiment would work out how I planned.
After receiving the feedback and others’ ideas, it is true to say that I took my experiment too seriously by thinking that it will always work. I have to keep it in mind that an experiment doesn’t always work out the way they’re expected, however, it also doesn’t mean that it is a waste of time to test something. I learned that it is better to go with the flow and to believe in the project itself no matter what it will turn out. I’m planning of doing more research and deciding if I should still shoot one place or more in order to make it more interesting and also to give it a little bit of a variety.
Overall, I am still excited to do this project and see how it will be. I hope this will show how colours are able to tell a story and also express particular feelings as it’s meant to.
After i went to class this afternoon, I have learned a lot about how acting and filmmaking from the class. It amazed me how talented and focused the actors and actresses have to be in order to finish their work. And also, it is actually quite fun and interesting being a part of the process while filming.
Firstly, Paul showed us what the director would say and how everything is done before the actual action. There are a lot of steps and talking while preparing. Also, I was quite surprised how close the microphones have to be to the actors to make the sound clear and perfect for the film. In the beginning, I was the camera, my job was to capture the right angle in the right time and also try to avoid the microphones above the actors. I found it quite challenging, which is surprising because I thought it would be easy. Trying to capture the moment in the right time and also to follow with the flow, story and the feelings in the film isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. However, after a few times of trying and changing from here and there, I understood better of how it’s done and also feel more confident with the camera.
I also found that it’s really difficult to not only remember the lines as an actor but also to understand the given situation from the director.
Overall, I am impressed by what we all did in the class. I could see that everybody was a little confused at first by what they had to say and what to do but after a little bit of practice, we got better.
I’ve come to a conclusion that I’ll be experimenting on colour theory as I’ve done some research earlier for my presentation in week 7. I have always been passionate in shooting at a laundrette and swimming pool scenes in my film one day.
As I did a little bit of a research about colour theory before, I found that colouring can be really effective in filmmaking in terms of emotion and the pleasant of the whole scene. I want to experiment whether colouring can really effect the emotion or not by shooting the same location but changing and editing the colours and angles. Swimming pool is a great location to film in terms of the variety of the choices I can lay around when filming and editing such as waves, sound of the water and people swimming etc.. Another interesting place to explore is laundromat. Since a lot of people tend to think of laundromats as kind of a creepy place, I would like to turn it around and lead them to other kinds of views by using colours as my main mechanism. The sound of the machine, the movement when it’s swirling. My ideal of a laundrette I will film would be a vintage kind, where the machines are in retro colours.
Surprisingly, this is the first time I am really excited to do the experiment in filmmaking since I always see it as something vague and really hard to narrow things down. Hopefully, this experiment will give me a better view of colour theory and filmmaking.
In class this week, Paul showed us Mad Men scenes then we copied a scene from the movie to learn about the angles and composition in filmmaking.
The new thing for this class was the monitor. Now, all the confusions about filmmaking is slightly gone as I know what monitors are for. It is so much easier to have monitors to show the cameras’ angles since we had three camera shooting. However, the monitor in my group didn’t work due to the battery, I assume. So we ended up shooting only with two cameras with different angles and focussing on two different people.
It was completely fascinating by how challenging it is for a beginner like me to set the cameras where they should be and also to be able to avoid other cameras to be in the frame. Also, for me, one of all the fun parts was when we tried to tell Gabe and Justin to move camera up and down to get the framing right. I have learnt that changing angle a little bit and effect the whole scene and even the feeling in the scene. It can change the audience’s perspectives as well.
Admittedly, it is challenging to get the framing and composition right when there’s so much going on such as audio, other cameras, acting, and also to not make the audience get confused by the cameras’ angles.
As the third week of semester goes by, my fear of creating something totally different yet still inspiring was hopeless. However, this documentary called Everything is a Remix by Kirby Ferguson keeps me believing in my dreams of making creative films. According to Ferguson, there is no such thing as original. It is undeniable to say that most of the movies are inspired from previous movies, however, that doesn’t mean those movies are not creative as such.
Kirby Ferguson explains and gives examples why everything is a remix. As he says, 79 out of 100 movies are based on other films, however, it doesn’t mean that they copy each other’s ideas. It’s more about using other arts such as books, music, shows, and films as inspirations. It is interesting how we think that, for example,a movie like Star Wars is original. Yet, Kirby claims that an inspiring movie as Star Wars is also a mix of other movies such as Yojimbo (1961), Flash Gordon (1936), and Hidden Fortress (1958) etc. To know that films are not usually authentic is surprising for me because I used to see films as something creative and original. It makes me to see filmmaking in a different point of view. However, this also gives me hopes that it is okay to pick things up and mix them together to create a piece of art, but again, plagiarism is always something I have to keep in mind. Also, Kirby shows that it is not a bad or wrong thing to use something as an inspiration, thus, it can be another kind of creativity as well.
Creation requires influence. – Kirby Ferguson
Later in the documentary, Ferguson shows how Kill Bill (2003/4) is basically a mashed up film. There are plenty of scenes that the director used that was inspired by other films such as The Searchers (1956), Gone in 60 Seconds (1974), and Game of Death (1978) etc.
Nevertheless, this leads me to wonder what and who gets to decide whether something creative and fresh or not since everything is a remix. What is the difference between plagiarism and using it as inspirations?
Overall, this documentary by Kirby Ferguson leads me to a clearer view of how former films and arts can be inspiring and influential. However, it is also good to try to imagine and use the pure ideas from your own first, then adapt it with something you see as creative in order to make your art more interesting. It gives me belief that if I am stuck with the same ideas to make a film, it is best to have a look at former films, music, and arts to freshen up my ideas and mix it with something in my mind to create a something. This documentary also makes me look at filmmaking differently, how they put everything together, how they create an interesting storytelling and how they make people unaware that they great film may be inspired and almost the same as other films.
In this week’s exercise, I got a chance to go shoot something only for three shots. My group, Justin, Allison, Polly and I were quite stuck of what to shoot in three shots and also how to make it relate to what we are studying. Shots I had in my mind were mostly have to shoot outside uni, but unfortunately, we were not allowed to do so. In the beginning of the exercise, it was already challenging in terms of coming up with creative ideas. But finally, I came to a conclusion (Allison’s idea) that we will be shooting a filmmaking technique called Point of View Shot (POV shot) which is quite interesting for me because I did not know much about this technique and I learned so much more from this exercise.
We had our camera, sound recorder, and tripods ready. Now, one of the challenging parts is finding a suitable location to film. I walked around campus with the materials looking for a location and being extra careful holding the camera and everything. Finally, we found our spot.
The location was quiet and suitable for filming, it was new building 9 where people usually go to hang out. Then, we began to plan our scenes, showing how POV shots work, the best way was to create a little conversation between two people and film it in different angles. We filmed in three point of views, three shots each. The result came out quite impressive for us as the shots we clear and apparently show how POV shots do. After this exercise, I have learned how fun and interesting filmmaking can be when you don’t only shoot what you want to show but also include several cool techniques in order to explore the beauty of filmmaking.
After learning and actually shooting Point of View shots, I found it quite fascinating how unaware of this technique until I tried. There are a lot of movies using this technique, which happens to be one of the interesting techniques and pleasing to see in films as well.
For example, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,by Michel Gondry, uses a lot of this technique to show different kinds of feeling. It is one of my favourite films of all time in terms of the camera angles and the plot of the film.
In this scene, Clementine was talking to Joe under blanket having a conversation about her insecurity. In order to make the audience engaged and make the scene personal, the director did a POV shot. Therefore, it brings the audience closer to the characters and feel like they are actually with them. It is intimate. Also, point of view shots make the film interesting because it is rare and it makes the audience feel like they are at the location with the characters. This film doesn’t only use POV shots to engage with the audience, Gondry also makes it even more intimate for the audience by making them hear what Joe thinks in his head.
I found this movie really interesting and for the film I will be making, I want to make it something slightly similar to this film. Hopefully, it is not going to be only a good story but also show some views from the character and make it really personal for the audience.
Further of the research, David Christopher Bell shows 10 fascinating uses of point of view shots. He simply gives ten examples of what POV shots would look like in films. It is surprising how a lot of movies, or directors, use this technique. Also, I have learnt that not only the point of view of a person from the eyes that is called POV shot, it can also be someone shooting a camera kind of thing. One of the movies that did a great job of this kind of technique is Chronicle (2012).
Overall, after learning this technique and actually shooting it, it makes filmmaking even more fun and interesting. It amazes me how this technique can make the movie different just by shooting different angles. I would like to film my first experiment using this technique.
Class in this week, Paul made us think about writing script and using our ideas based on real life action. This is one of the ways to brainstorm ideas and come up with something simple, yet fascinating.
There are several steps to write scripts, firstly, we listed action we see in a cinema or in real life that we can imagine or even anything that we like and admire. The first thing that came into my mind is an action of somebody crossing the street in a crowd. While thinking and listing things that could happen in real life and also would be great to film too, my ideas started to flow and more of floating in the air. Say, after the scene of somebody crossing the street, then the camera captures a guy looking for a girl, who’s crossing the street, however, he is too late to follow her so he’s stuck. Admittedly, the idea was quite simple, however, it is interesting how imagining about something can lead you to the next scenario, which can bring you to a good short film.
Also, one action that I really like is swimming. There are plenty of things that would be great to capture, such as waves, people swimming, or even just the sound of the water. Plus, filming underwater is one of my favourite scenes.
When it comes to listing locations, it is even more fun. I came up with a lot of places such as
Swimming pool (of course)
Library
Park
Airport
Museum
Stairs
Forest etc.
Then, we listed people in the scenario in their particular theme. So, the scene that someone crossing the street, I pictures a girl with a dark red coat in a winter, dark brown long hair, she seems mysterious but also open minded.
Overall, this class helped me get through the challenging part, which is starting and narrowing down the ideas. Surprisingly, it went really well and easy.
As I am already interested in design and media, I went deeper to the importance of colours to media and filmmaking. Nowadays, colours are effective and powerful how we perceive the film and characters. According to Lewis Bond, who creates a documentary about the history of colour and how colour has become a big part of filmmaking.
In my point of view, colours are really important in terms of delivering emotions and effects. In graphic design, black represents mystery, power and elegance. However, in filmmaking, colours can represent something different basically depending on how the media want to show it. Furthermore, according to the video, it is fascinating how people, as audience, subconsciously use different colours to associate with different characters.
There are three key elements to any colour, which are hue, saturation, and value: Hue – the actual colours such as red, green, blue etc. Saturation – the intensity of the colour
Lastly, value – the brightness or the amount of white in colour, low value means the colour is darker than the higher value colour.
Also, I have learned that colour schemes are extremely important when it comes to filmmaking and colour theory. In the video, Lewis Bond, as well, gives examples of types of colour schemes and how they work. There are four main kinds of colour schemes, which are monochromatic, analagous, complementary, and triadic. Filmmakers use these schemes to make the films effective and emotional.
Throughout the video, it is really interesting and fascinating how colours can be effective and influential. From the example Lewis Bond gives about a movie – Blue is the Warmest Colour – using blue to express the emotions of the lead actress, it shows that the audience assume the emotions subconsciously. However, this leads me to the question whether filmmakers and directors mean to use colours to express feelings or it’s just Bond’s thing about colour theory.
Furthermore, Lewis Bond also shows us that the colours are not only based on the colour of the scenes, it can be anything; clothing, wall of the room, anything. This documentary gives me clearer idea of how designs, colours, and cinematography are important and influential to films. Colours can also differentiate the characters whether they are bad or good as well. Therefore, in order to express the feelings effectively, it is best to use the colours properly. It is one of the fun parts in filmmaking to learn and use, as I am interested in designing, colours are really important and can actually effect people’s feelings and emotions as Lewis believes. However, using wrong sort of elements and colours can give the audience a wrong idea and emotions.
Overall, from this video, I’ve learned that colours play one of the important roles in filmmaking and in order to make the audience engage, it is a good mechanism to use. Hopefully, I’ll be able to use these colour schemes in filmmaking and enhance the skills and interest in design and media together to create a piece of art.
