It seems like the only emotion I worked with was sadness, but actually I did film the same dialogue in the context of a completely different, emotion, one of strange sexual tension. This was a scene I deliberately wanted to make creepy, where there was an uncomfortable sexual between Matt and Max (we all did theatre at school after all) that I could enhance by my use of music.

I began by locating a colour graded front-on shot of Matt and Max from the reshoots on the 18th that I could use as an establishing shot.

I then thought it would be a good idea to build the scene around the music I was using. So I added the “super generic sexual music” that I had stumbled upon in experiment 9.

Now I worked with the music speed and clip size, in order to get a suitable time for the music to be paced with the shots. I decided on a climactic section of the music, where all instruments are working in unison, as one that would be the most emotionally intense, and well…provocative.

I then added in a silent Matt dialogue clip from 0447, from way back in experiment 5.

Now I copied the attributes from Matt’s shots in experiment 3…

 

…and pasted them into this experiment.

It was at this point that I had an idea. If I wanted the scene to be creepy, I may as well just go all out creepy. So, I decided to locate and add a shot of Max deliberate pulling a creepy face that I had located somewhere in the bloopers. If I could then show Matt’s angry and confused reaction of turning away, I could warp the scene as it being an entirely 1 sided attraction.

I figured then that in order to not mess with continuity between the shots, I should add a backshot in between the shot of Max and the side on shot, in order not to mess with the continuity of his turning head.

I found that this idea worked well, but the grading was too different between the back shot and the rest. I decided to manipulate the colour grading on the back shot, in order to have the scenes shots match each other more accurately. I tried pasting the attributes from the side on shot, this worked as a base, but it needed more gold injected. The gold midtones and highlights worked, but it wasn’t perfect. However this experiment was about creating a sense of creepy tension, not colour grading, so I had to move on. I now located a good shot of Matt being confused (he does that a lot) from previous experiments, and found a good one from experiment 5.

Now I decided to finish the scene with a clip of Max looking sorry at the end, to indicate that he understands that Matt was creeped out. I actually used a shot for this from experiment 5 as well.

I then used another shot of Matt from experiment 5 and reversed so it seemed like he was glancing away.

Now the scene was completed, and it was time to export. I had created a super weird sequence, but that was the idea.

The scene is linked below, watch at your own risk:

 

I think the biggest problem with this clip is definitely the colour grading. However, I always mentioned that my goal with this experiment was to manipulate what was previously meant to be a sexual clip in experiment 9, into something that is warped into being creepy and unsettling. I think this was somewhat successful. The contrast between the generic music and Matt’s reaction has definitely intensified a real creepy emotion to the scene as a whole. Whilst I will never stop finding the shot of Max’s creepy face funny, I do think it is a little too comical to fit with the creepy nature of the scene. However, I do think the experiment was a success in the sense that emotions have been somewhat manipulated through the use of music and editing.

Music Credit:

http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/track/sexy