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.