For my third Project Brief I was tasked with shooting and editing a 2-3 minute film based around an interview with a subject of our own choice.

This has by far been the most intellectually and emotionally challenging Brief so far. I wanted to choose a topic that was important enough to me so that I wouldn’t slack on it, or have any excuse but to give it my all.

On the 20th of February last year, I lost my best friend to cancer, and from that day forward I haven’t been the same person. Losing Ricky helped me to refocus on what and who really mattered to me, and since his passing, I have remained significantly close with his family whom I love very much.

I wanted to give Darren and Connie a platform by which they could express their sentiments about their son, about the hospital system, about cancer, about their thriving Ricky Taylor Foundation and mostly about how far they’ve come in the year since.

As I have mentioned in previous blog posts, working with Adobe Premiere Pro CC and film as a medium is not within my area of comfort, but I found through this Project and the use of Lynda.com, I was able to expand my knowledge of editing and the way that it affects the overall mood of the film that I’m creating.

I went with a very sorrowful piano track to complement the general mood of the film, but moreover, that piece has a certain rhythm to it so that the visual and the audio contrast with each other harmoniously.

I selected red as an accent theme colour because that was Ricky’s favourite colour as well as the colour of the Foundation logo.

Nonetheless, I did have some technical difficulties with the ZOOMH2N that I used to record the dialogue from the interview.

In an attempt to make my interviewees as comfortable as possible while discussing such a sensitive topic, I placed the microphone a distance from Connie and Darren, thereby allowing the camera to pick up some background distortion. I understand that being in front of a camera with microphones in your face can be particularly intimidating, especially for people who aren’t used to it, which is why I decided to steer the interview in a more casual direction, whereby Connie and Darren felt comfortable and the dialogue didn’t seem hostile. While the sound is subtle with the background music over and the dialogue masks it, it is still present and I now know for next time that ideally I would have the microphone closer to their mouths.

Overall, I’m truly proud of this piece. I feel that I really did Connie, Darren, The Ricky Taylor Foundation and hopefully Ricky proud also.

Enjoy.

1. What is the ‘controlling idea’ (Robert McKee) of your portrait? In other words, what is the most interesting thing about your participant/interviewee that you want to communicate?

The most interesting things about my interviewees are their insights into loss and illness, which is something that the majority can relate to. Moreover, they have a highly personal perspective of these issues that I feel can really hit home for audiences.

2.  How is your portrait film structured?  (Remember there might be multiple forms of structure employed)  E.g. Discussion and depiction of an event or process? A Journey? Use of voiceover narration? Other?

My film is structured in a way that the viewer is taken on an emotional journey with the interviewees, the shots that they are in are highly personal and poignant, so that the viewer can directly engage with their sorrow. At the same time, my questions are not heard, but it is evident what they may be because the interviewees mention the question in their answers. I also utilise voiceover narration in order to connect two separate events or feelings to one another.

3. What do you want your audience to make of your interviewee? (e.g. What are you saying through them and/or human nature, human folly, or noble human inspiration?)

I want my audience to perceive my interviewees as exactly as they are: inexplicably strong and brave, while also exposing their vulnerability in a way that audiences are able to sympathise and empathise with them.

4. How is your portrait being narrated? Why? How does it affect the structure?

My portrait is being narrated through the utilisation of very raw and honest visuals, with real-life stories and events that these people have experienced. There is a sense of stark honesty in their inability to hide from their character, whilst providing them with a means to present that honesty.

5. What role will the ‘found footage’ play in your portrait? For example, reinforcement? Ironic counterpoint? Contrast? Comparison? Other?

The Ricky Taylor Foundation attempts to provide teenagers with a quality of life that they often struggle to find while battling cancer in hospital. Connie and Darren reiterate the fact that a hospital is no place for a teenager, as they can’t be categorised as having the needs of an adult, nor that of a child. The found footage from he dismal, grey hospital starkly juxtaposes with the bright colours and eccentricity of Ricky’s bedroom, and those scenes are subsequent to one another, thereby heightening the effect of the contrast.

6. Does your portrait have a dramatic turning point?

The entire portrait is relatively emotion-charged; the narrative behind it is already quite dramatic. So rather than having a turning point, there are stages in the film that are significantly more downhearted than others, such as the screen that announces Ricky’s death.

7. When does this turning point  in your portrait and why? At the beginning? At the end? Two-thirds through?

The announcement of Ricky’s passing occurs about halfway through the film. This was a deliberate cinematic decision because, despite the fact that three minutes isn’t a long time, I felt that at that point, there needed to be “conflict” or an issue that was presented in order for the slightly more uplifting conclusion to be more satisfying.

8. How does your portrait gather and maintain momentum? 

The momentum is gathered, maintained and reiterated through the constant stills throughout that inform the viewer of facts that aren’t clear through the footage. The stills slow the narrative down, and enable the viewer to develop a deep understanding that is often difficult to obtain in a matter of minutes.

9. Where will your portrait’s dramatic tension come from? The gradual exposition of an overall situation? A volcanic, climactic moment? An impending change or crisis? The contrast between what the interviewee talks about and the found footage?

The dramatic tension is majorly sourced from the background music. It is a key indicator of the mood and the theme of the portrait. Aside from that, the footage is slowed down to often half it’s actual rate to give a more dramatic, slow motion effect.

10. Does the portrait have a climax and/or resolution? Outline them.

There isn’t necessarily a climax or resolution, however the viewers are comforted in the same way they would be with a “happy ending” resolution in knowing that Ricky’s spirit lives on through the foundation.