On Tuesday of this week our group conducted our major shoot for Project Brief 5. The process was long and often logistically complex, yet I believe our team worked efficiently together. Our main concern at this point in time is that we will not have enough content to create an at least 8 minute long film. We played around with our script a lot throughout the day, which made it hard to determine just how long our film will actually be. I think that after making a rough cut of the footage we have, we will probably plan to reshoot an extra scene or two, not only to flesh out the length of the film, but also create a slightly more conclusive ending.

In terms of the semester overall, I have really enjoyed the freedom that this studio has allowed when it came to creating content. Although we had to try and either adhere or challenge specific genres in each project brief, we were able to use varying formats of storytelling, and create plots based on our own ideas about a genre of our own choosing. We had studies all sorts of genres from Westerns to Film Noir, so choosing an area to specialise in was never a hard task.

One of my main goals for this semester was to step out of my comfort zone when it came to sound editing, as well as to explore the different areas of cinema which I would usually steer away from. I was able to practice my skills in sound in Project Brief 2, and although I still need to spend a lot of time improving in this area, I was grateful to be given the opportunity to test out the format of purely audio storytelling, which I had not done before.

With the screenings each week, I was was exposed to a lot of different films which I probably would never have seen on my own accord.  Movies such as Berberian Sound Studio and Ronin were two of such films, which helped to explore horror and action, two genres that I often avoid. I especially enjoyed the week in which we watched Aliens, as not only was the film one of my favourites screened, but we also conducted a debate in class which made doing research on the topic more fun and interesting. Watching a film each week was helpful in that it allowed us to better interact with the theoretical side of genre by making connections to a movie we had all seen, allowing us to discuss it as a class.

Being able to work individually as well as in a group (if we chose to do so) also added variety to the work, making it more enjoyable and applicable to our personal styles of learning. Using photos, sound and video allowed me to explore some of my skills, as well as exposing me to knew areas, all whilst applying the notions of genre theory.

This week’s theme of hybridity and homage was extremely relevant with our Project Brief 4. With our intention being to explore the amalgamation of Film Noir and Horror, the readings and film came at an appropriate time to assess how we would interconnect these two genres. Whilst the film that we watched, The Cabin in the Woods, combines Horror and Comedy, it was still useful in our exploration of just how different genres come together.

The Cabin in the Woods uses comedy to point out the tropes of horror, whilst almost lovingly paying tribute to it. The film does not seemingly make fun of horror films, but instead uses it’s already established form to generate reactions and moods within the audience, often also leading to comedic effect. Analysing the effects of these connections and outcomes will hopefully help when trying to generate links between Film Noir and Horror.

I do believe that horror is often inherent within Film Noir, although these connections are not so relevant in the reverse order. Film Noir centres on the world of crime and the sometimes ‘horrific’ acts involved when these crimes are committed. Although graphic or controversial content was usually not portrayed on screen in the noir films of the 40s and 50s, it’s place within these stories could be seen as a linkage point between the two genres. This could be a possible area to explore for my exegesis, which will accompany Project Brief 4.

I have never really been a fan of Action films. Initially, I thought that this was because growing up they were always sold to me as “boy’s movies”. This is probably partially the case, however, there are other factors that constantly seem to erk me when watching these films. Firstly, the widespread disregard for human life usually leads me to care little for the protagonists of the film. If we don’t care about the fate of the ten men you just shot in order to save your ‘damsel in distress’ or protect your bounty of cash, why should I care when your life is put into danger?

I also think that the plot lines are usually too far fetched to be relatable in any way. I know that the point of action films is often escapism, and I can often appreciate their complex stunts and visuals, but with no avenue for relatability, my interest wains quickly. I hoped that I would be able to enjoy Ronin, but unfortunately I found that it did fall into these common action traps.

It is action films like 21 Jump Street and Tropic Thunder that I am able to enjoy the most. Not only is their self-aware nature refreshing, but their ability to play on the hybridity of comedy and action is something that I find far more enjoyable to watch.

In terms of progress for Project Brief 4, there’s been some ups and downs. Our initial plot concept was based on a True Detective style interrogation scene, with a woman being questioned as an innocent bystander for a murder that she actually committed herself. Although this idea seemed great to start with, we had significant trouble fleshing out the details of the plot. We have now begun to lean more towards a bottle drama style, and I believe that a simpler plot line will be better constructed in the 8 -10 minute time limit for the film.

The focus on planning for our final project brief continued this week, as we began to hone in on plot for our short film. I always find the task of coming up with an initial idea to expand upon quite difficult, so I found working in a group to be beneficial, as we were all able to bounce ideas off each other. We were able to come up with a basic idea of a femme fatale protagonist, however there is still a lot of work to do in terms of creating a solid plot around the character.

Watching Coherence (2013) in class this week also gave us some inspiration for our final piece. The ‘bottle drama’ format of the film was beneficial to explore, as these type of films are often made with a low budget and small cast, whilst still being able to convey great stories. Not only was the film enthralling, it also didn’t seem like a task that was too unattainable for us, as students to reach for. The cinematography of the film was stylish and meaningful, whilst also seeming possible to achieve with our current skill sets. The small details like frequently showing multiple people within the frame and having different conversations between the dinner guests overlap emphasised the claustrophobic space within the house and how tensions easily arose within the space. Techniques such as these could definitely add to our own filmmaking and inspire our work over the rest of the semester.

The dubious task of brainstorming for Project Brief 4 began in this week’s Monday class. After forming a group with Holly and Cameo, we decided that we would attempt to create a short film in the hybrid genre between Horror and Film Noir. We felt that these two genres would intersect nicely, and be interesting to explore. Having all completed previous assignments in at least one of these areas, a hybrid of the two seemed like the natural path to follow in our Genre Trajectories. Using a mind-map method, we found inspiration in films like Lost Highway (1997) and Drive (2011), as well as tv shows such as The X Files and even Scooby Doo. Whilst these latter tv shows delve into the realm of Science Fiction, the way they construct their narratives by building suspense could be useful despite our inability to incorporate more than two genres into our final piece.

We also watched The Killers (1946) in Monday’s class. Although I used the genre of Film Noir in my first Project Brief, I hadn’t seen this film yet. I did enjoy it, and I was able to clearly define it as a Film Noir, with a trademark ‘fall guy’ and ‘femme fatale’. I think I could benefit from viewing the film again, however, as I did find it confusing at certain points. It was beneficial to watch another Film Noir piece this week, as it aided in our brainstorming process for the final assessment.

Project Brief 3 consumed most of this week in regards to my media endeavours. I began the project knowing that my skills were not great in the area of sound editing, so my main aim was to become more familiar with the programs and tools that can be used when editing in this format.

Overall, I believe that I did improve upon my minimal skills whilst bringing together this assignment. Although I do have some qualms with the finished product, I do think it reflects the argument I try to make in my exegesis. The main problems with the piece are it’s anti-climactic ending, and it’s lack of detail in some of the more intense moments. For example, I think the voicemail could have benefited from a change in sound design when the caller drops her phone, but I struggled to create this sound effectively. I do think, however, that I was able to make the audio in the piece sound like it was coming through a a phone, which I am proud of.

We also delved into Vampire movies in Thursday’s class, which prompted a lot of interesting conversations. It was intriguing to see how each of the different movies played on the Vampire folklore differently, yet we were all still easily able to identify them as ‘Vampire films’. This clearly shows the ways that genre transforms and changes overtime, so it was really beneficial to see several different short clips rather than one whole movie.

The brainstorming process for Project Brief 3 began this week. I have wanted to hone my skills in the area of sound editing and production for a while now, so I felt that an audio based project would be best to test my skills in the field.

After exploring Film Noir through images in Project Brief 2, I felt like investigating a more modern area of genre for this assignment. This is the main reason why I have chosen to make a horror piece, particularly in a ‘found footage’ style, similar to films such as The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. I think that it would be interesting to see how I could develop this idea to be presented in an audio based format, seeming the original sub genre relies heavily on visual iconography.

We also delved into the world of musicals this week. This was an interesting process for me, as I am usually heavily adverse and cynical towards the genre – My usual stance is that most musicals could be told just as well, if not better without all the over the top singing and dancing. We watched the Australian TV Musical One Night the Moon, which I really did try to enjoy, and appreciated its subtle approach to the genre.  Yet found myself still getting irritated with the musicality of the film quite quickly. I understand that the formulation and use of music in film is an art of its own, yet I still felt that the tragic story could have been told better if the singing aspects were eradicated.

Berberian Sound Studio (2010) was a relatively difficult film to digest. I could easily appreciate it’s investigation into the production of film audio and it’s unique visual style, and I enjoyed seeing these aspects. Yet I found the plot of the movie to be relatively predictable, slow, and surprisingly un-scary for a movie chosen for horror week. I did enjoy watching a movie that had obviously had a lot of thought put into the premise, however. It was not your typical ‘cabin in the woods’, ‘possessed children’s toy’ or ‘ghost in the house’ film, and it didn’t allow itself to rely on jump scares or one off spooks to get your heart pumping. The way people treated each other throughout the film was probably the scariest part, and it was refreshing to see humans as the villains rather than something haunted or supernatural.

At the beginning of the course, I indicated that I wanted to improve my skills in sound production and design, as I believe this is one of my weakest areas. I often find myself ignoring the detail of sound, subconsciously seeing it as less important than the visuals of a piece. This does, however, make a hugely negative impact on the outcome of my works. Berberian Sound Studio encouraged me to open my mind to the creative opportunities that sound allows, and I hope to investigate this area for the next project brief.

This week’s film focus was Aliens (1986). Although I had seen and enjoyed the film’s predecessor, I had never ventured further into the franchise. I did highly enjoy the film, despite finding it to be a bit slow to start with.

The debate held in class centred on the statement “Aliens is more than just a Science Fiction film.” My instinctive initial reaction was in favour of this belief, yet I unfortunately found myself winding up on a team needing to to oppose the obvious. Although we struggled initially with the task, we decided to take the stance that Aliens cannot be deemed as more than a Sci-Fi film, because the nature of Science Fiction itself includes an amalgamation of several different genres. Although we did begin to convince ourselves and win the debate, I do still believe that Aliens is a genre defying movie.

Project Brief 2 was also due at the end of this week. I chose to explore the genre of Film Noir through photos, which I found to be both challenging and interesting. Rather than trying to formulate a cohesive narrative story through the images, I instead attempted to recreate the tone of the genre through a varied bank of stills. I purposely included urban settings with damp streets, long shadows and neon signage, but I think I probably could have improved my project by choosing one specific theme to focus on.

Nora Ephron’s staple Rom-Com, Sleepless in Seattle (1993), was the subject of this week’s screening. Interestingly, I found that the dialogue and specifically the comedy of the film often perfectly fitted into the definition of humour from the week’s readings. Claire Mortimer (2010), noted that we often find things funny because a character’s behaviour towards a situation is unexpected. This is perfectly demonstrated in the film when 8 year old Jonah starts asking his father, Sam (Tom Hanks) explicit questions about his new relationship, which one would not usually expect from a small child.

Mortimer offers another definition for comedy, in which “comic suspense is [created] when a character is involved in a scheme of which the other characters are not aware”. Although not as blatantly utilised as the previous definition, this type of humour can be seen when Sam’s friend tells him that he will find out about Tiramisu on his first date since his wife’s passing. Unaware of the dessert, Sam is mystified as to what the term means, and the audience finds humour in the scenario as they are most likely aware of information that he is not privileged to.

References:

Mortimer, Claire (2010). Chapter 4: The comedy of romance. In Romantic comedy. Oxon: Routledge, pp. 69-83.