What I have done well:
- Being aware and active in class so I don’t struggle to understand what is going on
- Keeping on top of the reading and going through it slowly so I understand more clearly the purpose
- Communicate with peers in class to start building a relationship with them
- Set a good plan for how I will successfully participate to my full capacity for this studio
What I can do better:
- Be more inquisitive for future studios as it will help me to maximise my outcome of the studio
- Be better with blogging
All in all for the first 15 minutes of this first studio I was extremely confused as to what was going on, until I soon realised the depth of noticing that will be required for this studio. Now writing this post I feel a bit more in the clear of what is going on but will be sure to ask questions on Thursday if I am still unsure.
For our first studio today we prepared personal lists of how to maximise our participation for this studio. This is something that only ourselves will be able to mark by the end of the semester to see if we we individually gave as much as we could to get the best possible result. It is one thing to be compose a list of ‘how’ to take every opportunity for a successful result of the class, but also to act upon it and make a recipe for its completion.
For me personally to be able to do this, I know I will need to refer and look over my list of what maximises my participation every week and then reflect and write upon it. I believe this will give me a basis for improvement each week, and also give a good reflection at the end of the semester about what I did well, what I could do better and what I have learnt throughout.
Yesterday (Tuesday 11th October) we began our filming for our final genre sketch. We drew up a list of shot types that followed along with the initial narrative. I thought this was really beneficial because it steered us in the right direction instead of creating shots in the moment.
What was really successful about yesterday is the mise en scene of the film and the camera angles we were able to form. I was really happy with the location we came about and feel that it fitted the plot perfectly. We were able to get a lot of different view points for this horror which really emphasised the psychological movement of this sketch. It shows many points of view and throws off the audience more for what they expect and reinforce what has lead the characters to this situation.
What I feel that we struggled with is the depth of the sketch. We were able to film all the different scenes that we want to edit together but fear that it may not be enough to create an 8-10 minute horror with constantly engaging the audience. I think that once we have a rough cut of the sketch we will be able to see what is missing and the points that are the least engaging. Since we have done this filming early it will allow us to have time to have to shoot more for the film or re create scenes that are of less effect.
Overall I feel pretty confident that we have met the standards of the Project Brief in terms of what is expected.
This week we looked at the film ‘Cabin in the Woods’ I had seen this before and personally wasn’t the biggest fan. I feel like this is a horror film that throws together all of the expected horror conventions into one film rather than focussing on one. One part of this film that I do respect and feel was executed well was incorporating the ‘Final Girl Theory’. This is where the virgin survives/dies last. Not only is this a horror convention, in this film it was seen as a ritual for this to occur. I feel that this is a very expect convention of the horror genre and dates back to the earliest horror films. ‘Cabin in the Woods’ acts upon these conventions of a horror film and incorporates them into the narrative rather than being subconscious.
Watching this film again emphasised the knowledge I have for the horror genre and why I am so fond of it. What I really enjoy is the typical conventions and how auteurs and directors act upon this to either follow it, or find new ways to surprise the audience. I think this film had an influence into why for our PB4 genre sketch we wanted to divert away from the typical horror story line. This does not mean fully diverting away from what is expected in these films, but changing up the protagonist and antagonist to form a more psychological horror with conventions of noir to draw on these differences.
This was a very all over the show week, I had group assignments due for my other subjects and I ended up having to go home on Wednesday night unexpectedly. Although all of this occurred there was progress with our group assignment for Exploding Genre where we have constructed a script, and starting our story board. Im really happy with this progress because it means we will be able to spend more time on filming/editing to be able to create a successful final genre sketch and spend more time on the final Exegesis.
I decided to watch some horror clips as I wasn’t very active/engaged this week, to get some ideas that could contribute to the cinematography and narrative. I watched American Horror Story (season 6) which was a bit of a fail, but made me understand about editing and lighting more intensely for what we want to create. Out of this show I got the ideas of a dark ambience- this is really effective because it can make a simple shot seem more daunting and add to the narrative rather then having to make the scene more complicated. Also what we will need to think about is the sound track and non-diegetic sound. We want to use as less amount of characters as possible so I feel that these different things will be very important in order to put together this genre sketch.
This week my group decided on what we are going to produce for PB4- and that was to follow the horror genre with aspects of Noir and possible bottle drama. We have quite a good story line that I think will contribute nicely to each of these genres as we have now learnt from watching so many films that one film is never just one genre.
To produce a 8-10 minute video we felt that giving the audience a question right from the beginning would make it more intriguing because we are going to start in the middle and not really have a beginning or an ending. I really like this idea because it gives the audience an emotional connection to the film straight away as they sympathise for what they see and therefore want to find out what happened and why. We have decided to base our film around a women where she has done something bad (killing someone e.g. her husband) and the psychotic break down she goes through in covering it up, hiding it, and flash backs to why it happened. I think this plot is effect because it gets inside the head of the protagonist and can give the audience the decision to either like or dislike her.
I am excited to start working on this and for the remainder of this week we are going to decide on locations and form together a rough script which will plan out our story board.
This week I looked further into the readings as my last project brief was on Film Noir and felt interested to look more into the history and areas I hadn’t done so for PB3- as this might have effect on PB4.
What was raised in the reading ‘House, Rebecca R. (1986). Night of the soul: American film noir. Studies in Popular Culture, 9(1), pp. 61-83.’ it stated that even though film noir has many typical aspects such as dark and mysterious tones that are very easily identifiable. Quite a few of the Noir films you would though to be noir are not. I thought that this was a very good point made by House as I can understand the idea that audiences see a black and white film surrounding a murder mystery and automatically think that it fits into the Noir. Yes, it has the expected concepts but Noir films are said in this reading to be based around one character and in one set location.
Film Noir has been debated for many years to not be seen as a genre. This is because unlike genres such as Western with conventions of setting and conflict, noir is more noted for its tone and mood. I really admire the quote “It seems reasonable to agree that American Film Noir is more of a movement then a genre”. I think this is a better way of looking at Noir because it doesn’t cut it from genre but shows it as a type of cinema unique that cannot contrast to anything else.
Last week consumed of many late nights and fiddling with the editing of PB3. Overall I am pretty satisfied with the outcome of my film and feels that it acts upon the expected conventions of the Noir genre, but it also has a creative side revealing my thoughts and expectations of Noir.
What I specifically feel went well with this genre sketch was the portrayal of feeme fatale and showing the two different personalities of the protagonist, around her family and then facing her inner demons. I feel that this film didn’t need much diegetic sound as the visuals themselves portrayed the idea of what is expected to be a women and how that is conflicted.
One part that I feel could have had more work was the camera angles themselves. I really liked the high shots I incorporated in the kitchen and the reflection use in the mirror, but I feel my shots needed to be a bit more distorted to increase this abstract visual of Noir. If I do decided to follow on from PB3 and use this genre in PB4 I think that carrying on with the idea of Femme Fatale is a good insight to look upon as you can really play with the conventions and manipulate the story line to distract the audience from what they expect, but also subconsciously use those conventions expected.
Over the past few days of writing my presentation of what I am going to portray in my up coming Genre Sketch and where that will lead me, I have been brainstorming a lot of ideas about how my sketch will foreplay. I have brainstormed the way in which I am going to convey this piece which is in the eye of a mother who is expected to hold herself together, but when the children go to school and the husband is off at work that is when her true colours show. I think that this is a good approach because it follows on with my idea of gender in genre and the image that is expected of women, but compared to PB2 I can play with the editing more so. I have done a bit of reading of Film Noir and what is expected so I feel that those few things I need to have in the back of my mind when creating it but this also really gives me a good chance to step out of my comfort zone and play around a bit.
Eeek had to pop off to New Zealand early to see my family so was unable to attend both the screening and the seminar… BUT thankfully with Daniel’s help I think I finally feel confident in my PB3. I was really nervous for this has I have to make a video genre sketch, but I think the creative and unique light I am wanting to convey could really work in my favour. I have decided to look into Film Noir as it is so different from anything I would ever watch, but I really like the expected creative aspect of it. I have always been a lover of crime and horror films so I feel that with a touch of Film Noir I can present a wacky and abstract image. What I focussed on in my last genre sketch was the idea of gender in the horror genre- this is something I feel passionate about and feel that I can develop into other genres which I want to also flow into as I feel it is something people don’t usually focus on but can really dive into the conventions of Film Noir as well.