After talking more about what we will be doing for the remainder of the semester, I am probably going to lean less towards creating a short film as a whole and more towards creating little scenes individually. I have to say, already this is making things a great deal less stressful, because it is more realistic to focus on little tasks rather than having this big task ahead of me. I may even be able to create better content because now I can focus on things I that I want to work on and improve on.

In class today we considered everything we have done in the semester and wrote down what we are interested in and this was really helpful. Through considering everything we’ve done, it gave me the chance to really see that I want to work with lighting, and probably focus more on artificial lighting and different sources of light, because we haven’t gone quite in depth in lighting so far in the semester.

What I think I might make:
Short scenes
Investigations
Exercises (perhaps like the expertise exercise we did in class)

How are you going to work:
I would like to work collaboratively and/or help crew on other people’s projects

I’ve been thinking about how I have never really worked a great deal with lighting in filmmaking. I have like a drama and performance sort of background and lighting was always one of the most important visual elements and I have never really translated that into my film products. So I’m thinking maybe I can explore through investigations how lighting can alter the way an audience perceives a character or location.

In terms of visual and narrative content, I’m thinking maybe I could do some long take scenes in a drama style, because I’ve never really considered myself to be great at writing dialogue I could possibly try this out. Since I’m not trying to make a short film anymore, I could probably make like a series of 1 minute scenes.

I’ve decided to start exploring other options for possible pitch ideas, because when I first did the writing exercise I didn’t realise we would be leading this to the pitch and I think I could come up with an idea with far more potential. I’ve always considered myself more as a visual person, as I am always drawn more towards filming something or setting up a shot as opposed to writing a scene with dialogue. Whenever I start to think of ideas, it is not usually a plot, it is different angles of shots and lighting choices as camera movement etc.

In order to come up with a solid concept to pitch, I have been more aware of my everyday life, and things that often reoccur in my life. One thing I have noticed that happens quite a lot is I get calls at all different hours from friends who either ask for help or are completely vague and just ask me to come over ASAP. I get in my car and I imagine all the different possibilities of what I could be walking into. I could rock up to their house, and it is on fire, or I could walk through their front door and hear nothing but screaming, to find them just playing a heated game of “Don’t Panic”. Seriously, this is almost worst case scenario to walk into, like it is the most stressful game I have ever played.

(Warning: Never play this game if you haven’t already)

So I figured this could be a cool opening for a short film, and really the possibilities are never ending. I need to start off with what I want to create visually, because I know the sort of direction I am heading in story wise. I really want to focus on the colour red, as a theme and both through costume and lighting choices. I have quite an idea of how I want to start the film, with red lighting coming through the window behind the subject, with the light source being from a fluorescent sign of either a motel of something, showing she either lives in a motel or next to one in a dodgy sort of area. I’m going to do some tests with some red lights and see if it is believable.

I still need to figure what I want the middle to entail, but I have quite an idea of what I want the ending to be. I was thinking the end can maybe be her parked back outside where she lives, with the shot being through the car with her hands on the steering wheel as she is trying to figure out what just happened. The red fluorescent light from the sign will also need to be tested to see if it doesn’t reflect of car windows. She could start banging her hands on the steering wheel and start screaming, but all of this is silent as she is in the car and the only thing the audience can hear is the buzz from the sign (will need to test how I can achieve this sound).

Whenever I think of what I want to create a film about, I never think of it in a straight line, I am always constantly pieces together as I go, whether I start from the end, middle or beginning. Like at the moment I have the start and end clearly visualised in my head, but the middle I am only figuring out bits and pieces. Only the start and end will have heavy red lighting, I might do some tests with some other colours of lighting and see what sort of mood it brings.

I also want to heavily incorporate what I have learnt from some of the exercises in class. I really enjoyed the classes we spent working with abstract shots and editing them in a sequence, so it is highly likely that I am going to try and include a great deal of abstract shots. I have also never really worked with camera movement (tilting, panning etc.) before this studio, so if I have a scene with minimal subject movement, I could easily work with camera movement to keep the audience engaged.

I’ve missed two classes this week so I’ve been trying to do some location scouting and exploring possible ideas while I’m unable to go to our actual classes. Before I start trying to figure out some more ideas and concepts for a possible film project, I thought I would work with trying to further work with the story from the previous writing exercise.

In my original post I wanted to explore some locations of either a school yard or typical places where a 10 year old would usually be found, like their backyard or the shops etc. I then remembered that there is this old run down school near a friends house that I briefly checked out and took a few photos (below). Personally, I have always been drawn to the kind of derelict and empty buildings as opposed to those full of life. I find there is more of a story to something that has been left behind. Also, if I were given the choice to shoot a populated location or an isolated location to portray the same meaning, almost every time I would choose the latter.

I originally said that I wanted to film it in an abstract way, similar to the way we have in some shoots during class, but after actually going to the desired location, I found that this method would not be engaging enough if it were to be the only means of visual communication of a narrative. I would have to use them alongside other types of shots, maybe matching this abstract technique with a sequence of drama shots that actually act out either the action or the aftermath. With the use of narration I believe actually believe that the story could be portrayed this way, with the idea of showing the aftermath, with two kids trying to figure out what had just happened, while the narration actually tells what just happened.

I put together a few of the shots I took on location and organised them in a way I would if this were the real thing. I do think that the location could work well with creating a darker mood or vibe of the film. The location’s potential is quite minimal, I mean aesthetically I really like some of the shots I took, but it is quite a small space so it would be hard to find a lot of variety of shots. I’m also unsure of the practicality of this location because I’m not even sure if it is legal for me to even be there let alone film there, so that may be an issue if I were to progress this idea further, so at this point I’d say it is pretty unrealistic to film here.

Since we haven’t really covered lighting in the tutorials, I thought I would look into it some more. I’ve never really worked with lighting, in most of the projects I’ve worked on we just used natural lighting and soft lighting usually from a ceiling light. I’ve never really considered how it can affect a mood or contribute to the telling of a story, but as I started concentrating more on it’s involvement in films as I watched a few. I tend to watch more films from the horror genre, if it isn’t obvious enough from my previous posts, so when I research different elements and techniques in film it is more often than not to be a horror film.

Different genres of films have different conventions, and a stylistic aspect of genre conventions is lighting, and it is an important part of telling a story. Lighting is usually used in a different way in one genre than another, for example, it would be hard to use techniques of the lighting used in The Exorcist in a film like Napoleon Dynamite. 

(Still from The Exorcist) 

(Still from Napoleon Dynamite)

Napoleon Dynamite has used high-key lighting which really brings out the bright colours of both the characters and locations, and this helps tell the story of this teen comedy as it is quite light hearted and entertaining. If you were to watch this film with lighting techniques used in The Exorcist then it would be a completely different film. The low-key lighting used in The Exorcist helps create the creepy and mysterious atmosphere, as the darkness is associated with the story line of the young girl getting possessed, but if this was incorporated into Napoleon Dynamite, then this once socially awkward teen which was used for comedic effect, can be transformed into this mysterious character. If his character was filmed in low-key lighting, the darkness he is submerged in would make the audience feel more vulnerable and threatened. As his character is already quite reserved, this could add to the unknowing of his character and create a sense of fear of anticipation of what his character is capable of.

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I recently watched A Nightmare On Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors (a classic), and while watching I really took notice of the different uses of lighting to communicate things visually. (The stills below are all from this film).

The majority of this film is filmed in quite a consistent way in terms of lighting, as low-key lighting is used to communicate the fear the characters feel. The character of Freddy follows the consistent character trope of “The Monster”, so he is often filmed in low-key lighting to show the darkness that surrounds the idea of his character, which contributes to the fear in an audience.

Although as this film uses comedy through the character of Freddy, in most dream sequences, the lighting varies as he is actually constructing the setting to mock the characters/victims (as seen in the still above).

What I also found quite interesting whilst watching this movie was these two different (images below) uses of back lighting (which is ultimately the subject being illuminated from behind). In the first image, back lighting has been used to capture the silhouette of Freddy, which is very common in horror movies, as it makes the character seem mysterious as you cannot see their face. Although, in the second image, a victim is seen with back lighting but also front lighting, so that more of them is seen than just the silhouette. This communicates to the audience that although they are supposed to feel this eerie vibe, they are also supposed to concentrate on his expressions.

I’ve never worked with Premiere prior to this semester, so whenever I see a note or get an email that says “today’s class is in the edit suites” I get a bit nervous. So far I know a few of the shortcuts that make managing the program a lot easier, and I know the basics of cutting and placing shots in a sequence. Filing is a whole other story though, very intimidating stuff. Paul keeps telling us how one click can result in complete destruction so I have to learn to not be too hasty with my clicking.

Because today’s class was editing individually, it gave me the time to look around the program and see the sort of tools that are available. I used the shots from last week’s ‘abstract shoot’ and just put them in an order I thought worked well and left them be. I wanted to focus on how I could change the colouring and edit the visuals, but this took quite a long time. Some of the tools are hard to find, so by the time class was almost over, I started to find the video effects that let me adjust colouring, so I will have to continue exploring this another time.

EXT. BIKE TRACK ALONG RIVER BANK

He rode through the thick still air, and as he rode around the bend, alongside his friend, his smile was brought to a halt, as he saw quite an unfortunate familiar face. Standing in the middle of the track were two thirteen-year-old boys with faces you’d expect to see in a nightmare. They were in the year above in school, although they should be two above, but they were held down. He stopped his bike and yelled at his friend to stop, but he turned around in confusion and rode straight into the boys. They had him. They grabbed him and pulled a tomahawk to his neck. He watched his friend stand there in fear, with nothing he could do.

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This could be filmed in a sequence with quite literal shots, like a drama scene that shows the two boys riding their bikes next to the river. Although, it could also be filmed in an abstract way with a narration. The shots that follow the narration could be shots of either a school yard, or just shots of where a child is usually found with friends, like a park or their backyard etc.

Shooting with no intent of capturing visual concepts or ideas is quite an interesting task. The main outline we were given in today’s class is to go out in groups and create aesthetically pleasing shots, that would go towards making a short 1-2 minute abstract film. Our group went outside to the courtyard outside building 6 and 28. I have never thought about shooting here but the aesthetics of the area are quite consistent and could really work well in capturing shots that could work together.

We had to take on different roles for each shot, a DOP, a camera assistant and a camera operator. The first round of shots were more independently done, but we soon realised that we should probably go with the instructions, and with doing that I believe the shots were much more successful. It also made me feel a lot more comfortable, because with my first shot I just couldn’t seem to find a location and composition that I was happy with, so each having these separate roles meant we could all contribute to a shot.

One of the aims I hope to achieve through this course is to be able to find confidence within my filmmaking ability, and to start to develop a personal distinctive style. In my recent work, I haven’t focused on creating a colour palette or style with composition, but in the future I hope to concentrate more on the aesthetics of a shot, and not just as a single shot, but working in relation with the rest of the content.

Whenever I watch a film, I tend to focus not only on the colour palettes but also the types of shots that either are similar or work in juxtaposition with each other. An obvious choice to discuss when on the topic of colour palettes in film (and distinctive style as a whole), is Wes Anderson, but I want to concentrate on one film in particular, an Australian film directed by Justin Kurzel, The Snowtown Murders (2011).

Whenever I watch this film, I am in absolute awe of the way it is shot. Within the first minutes, it is apparent that the colour palette contains dull blues and greys. This colouring somehow gives me the essence of reality, but it has a darkness to it which definitely suits the nature of the film, as it is based on a series of murders in South Australia. Even just looking at stills from this film, I feel this coldness and I believe even if I hadn’t have seen this film, I would still get the same mood and feel from these stills.

(Stills from The Snowtown Murders)

Some directors are known for their distinct style, and one of those directors is Martin Scorsese. Although he can create a perfectly styled colour palette, I am more concentrated on his use of relationships between shots. The Departed (2006) is one of my favourite films directed by Scorsese, and his use of balance in many of the shots from this film is quite noticeable. The balance he incorporates is most distinguishable when used symmetrically. For me, whenever I look at a symmetrically balanced shot, it just visually makes sense to me, and it is aesthetically pleasing to my eye.

(Stills from The Departed)

Because I have a background in photography, I guess I am used to creating series of photographs, and usually when doing so they have to relate visually, and until now I have never really considered the same for film. I guess you could say I just had an epiphany. Week 2 of Film 3 and I’ve had my first great realisation. It may take some practice but in the following weeks I am going to try to explore ways in which I can focus on creating work that are distinguishable as my own. One day I hope to be able to create a film and someone from Sweden sees a still and goes “hey this must be from Jamie’s film, wow her distinctive style is SO distinct”. When I look back on previous works of mine, I always think there is something missing, and maybe a certain flow is what they are missing. A concrete visual flow. This has been wild ride.