THE SET-UP

Assignment: Produce a 2-3min edited film about someone.

Requirements:
– any combination of photos, video, sound and text
– content must be centred around interview with subject

Restrictions:
– film must include found footage which are attributed in closing credits
– at least one original component of must be recorded using school’s H2N Zoom or Sony MC50

PROCESS

My ideas and direction kept evolving; it was truly a creative process. (Maybe not so much “creative” because I could afford to play more with effects and transitions.) These changes taught me about being confident, open to limitations and crisis management. Compared to the previous briefs, this portrait was very difficult to plan. I felt a bigger responsibility to portray someone else respectfully. Along the way, I had also changed the human subject, story angle and visual direction of film.

I learnt that even if the creator may be conflicted, it is important to be assertive and communicate effectively. This way, others will trust the work and direction. When you’re not confident, fake it till you make it! It took a while before I dared approach a stranger to work with. However, by our second meeting, I knew not to waste our limited time. Although changes allowed us to shoot more, I prepared for the essential scenes before meeting:

(After someone finally agrees to participate) Initially, I aimed to use subject’s voice alone accompanied with found footage without recording any original video. This is because he frowned upon displaying his face. How naive of me! I soon realised it is nearly impossible to find online material; that others share the exact vision, much less uploaded them for public use. So it was inevitable that I scheduled another meeting with the busy man.

On the other hand, restrictive conditions like hunting for appropriate footage and creating a headless character, challenge me to think out of the box. In the end, the found photographs have helped to create a parallel narrative which refer to subject’s inner monologue, juxtaposing my original clips that portray his bodily, professional self. I took the opportunity to capture his physical traits and actions that are probably more telling of his personality! Using different camera angles, I explored how film editing can be “invisible” or obvious.

I am more confident using Premiere Pro now, this time using new tools such as razor, frame hold to freeze, effects for split screen and to roll track forward/backward. There was a technical glitch after rendering and ate into my time re-editing segments. But no matter what happens, we still need to deliver by the dateline.

I wonder how to incorporate the photographs in other ways. I hope to rise up higher to the creative challenge within our time constraint. There is also a lack of climax. This film is more descriptive than narrative. I want to include character objective and obstacle in future works.

Constantly assigned new projects, I realise we are not always going to love the work the boss gives. Especially with PB3, I learnt that professionals should be open to opportunities and changing circumstances. Sometimes, it’s being flexible to unforeseen circumstances that lead to our growth! So just do it!