This week’s studio was challenging, but on the whole much more enjoyable for me. For the first time I felt on top of the task at hand, and able to contribute at an equal level to my classmates. The group I was in had good chemistry and similar ideas of where to take the script. This made it easy for us to get our tasks done in good time.
Both groups were mindful of staying to a rough schedule of when we had to change scenes/locations/shots, which meant we all got equal time to use the equipment, experiment with camera angles, and figure out which components worked and which didn’t.
I found it very helpful that I was in Group B, and subsequently acted in Group A’s scene first, shooting our group’s scene after. It aided in my understanding of the process and helped get me in the right mindset for filming. For example, it reminded me of skills we’d learned in previous weeks such as the procedure for calling the shots. I’m now more proficient at this, thanks to the repetition of hearing it during that first shoot this week. It also helped reinforce the role of the first AD which had not really been clear to me previously. I now understand more fully that they are the boss on the set, in charge of the more structural or practical elements of the shoot. Their tasks include but aren’t limited to organising and upholding the shot schedule, organising the shoots, making sure production is running on time, and setting up the next shot. With this more thorough knowledge of the role of the AD, I feel more prepared to take on this role future tasks if it’s called upon me.

AD’s on MDMA’s.

I’m still unsure of how to compress the size of this file down to the size capable of fitting on the blog pages, so instead I uploaded to vimeo and linked, like we’ve done for class tasks last semester.

In yesterday’s studio our task was to complete a basic edit of our group exercises. I was in a group with Wei Yun and Darren who were awesome to work with. Because I was absent on Monday, Wei Yun showed me the basics of the premier pro program which was really generous of her. Together with their help I was able to satisfactorily complete this edit of our task. (Above)

I can still see where I need to develop my skills. The black at the end is just a tech mishap. Without Wei Yun I would have not even gotten this far; she’s amazing. I need to get back in the edit suites this week and practice more editing; I do find it a daunting task.

“Boys Next Door” by Kubism (Sydney, 2015)

What I would incorporate from the influence of digital collage is investigating a non-linear approach to film-making. I’m intrigued by combinations of different filming techniques and the aesthetic product (especially those that are easily identifiable as a particular trope of a genre or time period). I’d like to be able to pinpoint these, and utilise their differences to exhibit contrast between scenes/perspectives/locations/genres. I also admire how a contrast of different cinematic tropes/techniques/aesthetics can contribute to a feeling of incongruity; confusing or unsettling the audience. It would also be interesting to collate found footage or orphaned footage with that which I make myself, and how these could enhance a narrative.
Collage interests me as a media student in this cross-disciplinary class because I’ve always found the process of script-writing, and constructing a narrative in general, very linear. Whereas digital collage traverses time and genre, combining influences and styles with no depreciation of their individual aesthetics. I’m still unsure how I’d like to integrate this pursuit of mine into this course, but hopefully I get to experiment with it. Perhaps with my own footage combined and edited with found footage, which I’d hope would elicit different emotions from the audience than if it were just a regular scene. Or even to demonstrate how the character feels sans verbalisation (e.g., in a scene where the script’s dialogue has a character hearing news they’re unhappy about, but having no outward reaction, very quick edits of rough, vintage footage showing violent imagery etc.)
It would also be fascinating to use in heightening scenes of sexual tension (very fast multiple splices of soft-core porn into scene etc), or to show someone’s decent into madness. I think collage could be used in this course to go where the script can’t, and by adapting aspects of digital collage into the big print, more of the character’s interior thoughts or the future of the plot could be made clear to the viewer.

my room and my collages

example of film collage and some examples of my print collages below.

I’m looking to practice editing and working with film techniques. I’m fascinated by collage and practice it a lot in a physical format. I want to begin collaging different strange snippets of orphaned footage from the past to take on new meanings – especially in my music video class. I think this is where I want to take my work potentially. Anyway, here are some of the types of videos I’d like to integrate into a moving collage.

When I first enrolled for this studio, I had a somewhat skewed view of what would be involved. I thought when I read through the course outline that it would bring me closer to script writing, and writing in general, which is what I’ve only recently realised I should be pursuing. Writing is really what makes me content and I feel I have a good handle of it. Though I’ve enjoyed making content in this and last semester of my university career, I want to angle my classes toward this end in the future. Therefore I wasn’t really anticipating to be so quickly using camera/sound equipment etc., and I feel much less able and confident than my peers.

However as the course outline details and as we’ve discussed in class, the traditional method for production (in that script is finished when beginning pre-production) is what we’ll be experimenting with throughout this course. As well as how and who brings dialogue to fruition. Hopefully through subverting these norms I also get to experiment more with not only the media side of this course, but also the writing side.

I’m also intending to get better (hopefully MUCH better) at using the equipment and get a handle on the proper BTS jargon/terms/rhetoric which will enable me to become an asset on sets.

PRAY 4 ME.

In today’s studio we once again joined with the creative writing students to bring to life a short script from earlier in the week. Though we were all a little confused as to what we wanted as the final product, it was really useful to flesh out the tools we’d be using later in the course. These included the proper method of setting up a shot before action, and practicing working with the cameras and tripods.

When group 4B directed the shot I was “cast” in their scene which was fun, though I felt sorry for them because we had taken up so much of our allocated time, not leaving them with a lot to get their shoot done.

This is definitely the most professional looking product (and the one I had very little to do with). It was all shot by my friend Sam who is crazy good, he’s a graduate of film school and works on lots of music videos. Contacting the band for licensing to use their track was easy and they were totally into it (what hetero boy band from Geelong doesn’t want their song in a lingerie video).

This was another promo video for the lingerie brand I work for. My official role for JBC Lingerie is branding consultant and PR representative (makes me sound so fancy). This video is much sexier, and Manya is a crazy amount of babe.