For our third project brief, we were required to make a 2-3 minute short film on someone we may, or may not, know. And for my project, I have chosen a close friend of mine, and most importantly, my twin, Angelica. We’re not actual twins, as in related by blood. But in spite of that, we are twins in life. I chose her because as soon as we were told about this project, she was the first person that came into my head. Not only that, there were also some advice that were given to us for this project that really stood out to me. She’s an interesting person and is comfortable in front of a camera. She’s confident and fierce, while simultaneously being genuine and humorous.

I would say that the most problematic aspect of my work would have to be the flow of the film portrait. To me, and I’m sure for others who view it, it seems quite rushed. There isn’t much time given between each section of the film (and there is actually four different parts to it). Particularly between the makeup sequence and the sentimental sequence, there isn’t enough time given for viewers to process the previous sequence. I didn’t really have much choice than to give a few seconds of break in between each part as we were given a time limit between 2-3 minutes.

For me, I think that two of my most successful parts in the film would have to be the makeup sequence with the 6-way split screen and the cutaway shots while she spoke about her future hopes. As I had plenty of footage of her doing her makeup, I think that the split screen allowed me to incorporate as much as I can into one frame and to do it in a gradual process, where there is a few seconds gap between each screen appearing, gives viewers enough time to actually see what is happening in one screen before another appears and they switch their attention. I thought that the cutaway shots at the end were also quite good, taking into account the mood of that sequence and her dialogue, as they were cutaway shots of her candid moments.

Any key learning discoveries I made? Well in terms of the creative possibilities of producing portraits, I would have to say that I learned that there are so many different ways to portray a person, not just from on-camera interviews or cutaways of them performing a particular action. I’ve never used found footage in the very few videos I have made so far used so it was definitely very interesting incorporating it in. Another thing I learned was how music can have an effect on how the person is portrayed and it’s not something that just sets the mood for the visuals on screen. For example, if you put an eery, mellow score as the participant discusses their interests, the subject might appear as someone quite mysterious and dark.

Something else I learned in the process, or rather reiterated, would have to be the importance of really knowing what you want and planning ahead. I did have an idea of what I wanted but I didn’t specifically know what I wanted. I did begin doing a very rough story board on the first part of my film portrait, however, ended up bailing on it as soon as we got told we didn’t need to submit one. I realised later on that I should’ve kept going with it and it would’ve helped me better when I began filming. I also should have began searching for music during pre-production like I did with the found footage. Between the two and comparing the time I spent searching for each media, music definitely took way longer and was more challenging to find in terms of finding the right music to suit certain sequences. 

And now, without further ado, here is my film portrait on my twin.