New semester, new me, new goals.

It’s almost like I’m living in Another World…

Terrible puns, aside, my mind has been itching for some action and creativity ever since the banality of the summer break.  It feels great to be thrust back into meaning and purpose.

The initial studio session opened with a brief discussion about ‘worlds’ – how they are created, how they operate, and how they inform audiences.   An interesting point was how integral a world was in shaping characters, motivations and narrative; it is the basis and foundation in every mode of storytelling.

In the case of Alex Garland’s 2015 science-fiction mystery, Ex Machina, the narrative is largely set in a single location: a lavish, futuristic but isolated house.  Whilst on paper, this may seem restrictive, the events that transpire, combined with the visually and metaphorically distinct ‘rooms’ of the house suggest how multiple worlds can exist within a singular setting.

Time is also an excellent factor in distinguishing worlds that are of the same setting.  For example, to take another film, Tarantino’s Hateful Eight, takes place, again, in an isolated location.  There are, however, scenes where we see how the cabin was before a critical event, and scenes where we see the aftermath – in the second instance, the supposed ‘law’ of the room has been completely flipped on its head despite it still being in the same location.

But enough about how worlds can be represented.  We have an important reading to discuss.

This week’s reading, Peter Bloore’s ‘The Screenplay Business’, outlined, in this particular chapter, the collaboration that so commonly emerges during the script writing process  between the producer and the writer.  Bloore does provide a detailed breakdown of specific tips to adhere to, such as “coherency” when providing feedback, as well as “consistency” and “concise” language.

I am unfortunately guilty of confusing “symptoms and causes”, and so often cite problems without necessarily identifying what failed to work.  TLC, especially in this area, is most definitely not my strong suite, so I guess that’s where we start.

References:

Bloore, Peter, 2013, The Screenplay Business: Managing creativity and script development in the film industry, Routledge: London & NY.

 

The semester thus far has been captivating, engaging and something unlike anything I’ve ever attempted.  From interacting with the contemporary art world, to fully scripting and compiling a video portrait of a local artist, I have been exposed to a world new area of media production and creation.

I find it useful to circle back to my beginnings and initial thoughts and goals when reflecting about what I’ve accomplished this semester, in order to accurately gauge my progress and development.  The primary goals I outlined in my first blog post for the semester were to “broaden my personal horizons as well as my technical ability”.

In making this documentary surrounding contemporary art, I feel like I have developed and amplified my overall technical ability from last semester.  I have, after a considerable amount of time with it, become accustomed to the X200, and managing its various functions, from white balance to exposure and focus.  Perhaps the most challenging problem I came across this semester with this particular camera was that occasionally, the footage I would capture would be slightly fuzzy and grainy.

This, I later diagnosed, had ties to shooting in low light conditions and failing to manage the gain/ND filters properly – these were later fixed in later shoots, and it was a most valuable lesson to keep for the future.  In addition to figuring out new things about familiar tech, I also learnt how to properly incorporate radio microphones in my work, allowing me to effectively interview people for extended periods of time without exerting my arms or having to deal with the hassle of dragging a boom pole and shotgun mike around to various locations.

But most importantly, I feel that this studio has expanded my interests and motivations as a media practitioner.  Initially, I felt opposed and unsure about how well I would enjoy this course.  The contemporary art world was definitely something I had never had a profound interest in, and so I was wary as to the progression of the course.  Fortunately, it was extremely rewarding and satisfying to develop my repertoire, especially when interacting with Nick Devlin, my artist, in person.  The conversations we had were both interesting and layered, and I was able to learn so much from bouncing ideas back and forth between the two of us.

I anticipated that producing a documentary would be difficult, and that sentiment was ultimately correct – the most frustrating aspect of this overall project was the communication portion.  Integral as it was, I was constantly hard-pressed to locate times where my group, myself and my artist were free to film and produce.  It was a challenge to have plans booked out for the weekend or the week only to have them fall through due to issues with availability.  There would be lapses in communication for days at a time due to conflicting schedules.  However, this is a staple of media production, and is to be expected with any major project really.

The edit and venture altogether were successful in bringing my attention to a new aspect of media development and I look forward to where these newfound skills will take me in the future.

The edit is arguably my favourite aspect of any media project, let alone that within the area of post-production.   Taking away my rose-tinted editing goggles aside, however, it is extremely time-consuming and at times, I can lapse into a state of inefficiency.

I occasionally find it difficult to maintain a sense of rhythm when editing and compiling footage with recorded audio, and constantly switching between the two, as fun as it is, is almost always littered with problems and inconsistencies.

You try to maintain a sense of relevancy and importance when working in the suites, keeping material as succinct as possible without being too unclear and surface-based.  All additional footage that is inserted in between the interview segments should aim to be stylistically relevant to the material that the interviewee is discussing.  IN addition, there must be a sense of consistency in colour between various snippets of footage, and this is where colour correction comes in.  This is undeniably crucial in ensuring the final project transitions nicely from one scene to the other.

Again, I tried my best with chopping the entire roll together, and the end product, despite being slightly longer than expected was ultimately something I was rather pleased with.

The final task is to shorten this into a 30 second compilation.  One final stretch.

I managed to set up an interview with Nick after a very long and drawn out waiting period, where contact was difficult and time was short.  After setting up a three point lighting configuration, I sat Nick down and asked him questions ranging from his early education to his inspirations; how he arrived at becoming an artist.

The hardest aspect to overcome was arranging the location and positioning of my lights and camera to ensure the subject was appropriately lighted and nicely framed.  It took a lot of re-adjusting and fiddling before Nick arrived, as well as when he was in the interviewee’s chair.   As I wanted to get a variety of angles in order to vary the flow of the interview, the process took far longer than expected.  It would have helped significantly had I figured out the logistics beforehand, and accurately drawn out the multiple angles I wanted to capture.

My rapport with Nick, however, managed to steer the conversation in a very casual, exciting manner.  The answers were layered and could be stitched together to make for multiple flexible edits.  I tried to keep the questions as open-ended as I possibly could, allowing for a comfortable series of transitions between footage of his artwork and the ‘talking head’.

This week, I visited Nick’s studio for the first time.   The trip was relatively problem-free, and my 30-minute tram ride was only hindered by the amount of gear I had to carry by myself.  I decided, this time, to employ the use of a monitor to clearly envision what it was I was going to be shooting – leaving nothing to chance.

I arrived at Brunswick, outside his studio in the afternoon; I initially completely missed it, but managed to retrace my steps as per Nick’s directions.  The studio was positioned next to a car repair shop, and so the architecture slightly transferred over to the next building, making it resemble something unlike my pre-conceived idea of what an artist’s studio should look like.

Nick’s studio was spacious, more so than he showed me in the pictures, and had ample space for me to set up the X200 with a tripod.   As his works were spontaneously displayed around the space, it was very easy for me to move in between his processes to film everything.

In radio-miking Nick, I was able to clearly record little quips and comments as he ran around his studio, cleaning and prepping for his next work.   The primary issue I had with this location was the issue that it was quite low light.

Some of the shots I took that afternoon were slightly grainy – the gain was boosted to compensate for the lack of light, and as a result, some of the images were extremely low quality.   I, for one, though am relatively confident that Adobe After Effects can help rectify this issue.

As I was unable to have enough time to capture an interview (that, and his studio had the wrong lighting and not enough space for a formal interview), I left with the footage.  It looks like heavy editing is about to be underway.

This week simply involved me developing my one week pitches and explaining my intentions and ideas before the class.  Unfortunately, I was unable to meet up and take test shots prior to the presentation but I believe I managed to convey my ideas well enough to offer insight into where my project was heading.

For lack of a better term, ‘candid’ is the direction I am looking towards.   This has much to do with the haphazard nature of Nick’s work, but also with his personality.  It resembles a sort of controlled spontaneity, as his art is innovative but still manages to grasp at situations and dilemmas relevant to today’s world.

However, aside from drawing up a series of mock storyboards and maintaining a constant stream of communication with Nick, there has been minimal development this week.  Shooting was meant to start this week, but it ultimately fell through, so fingers crossed for next week!

The in class exercises revolved around another three point lighting exercise where we had to follow the setup of a standard interview.   We also experimented with the zoom recorders, given the off chance that anyone in our group wanted to record sound externally.

The zoom recorders were fiddly, and chewed through batteries extremely quick, so it took a while to adjust to the process behind recording.   As I plan to record video simultaneously with audio, this equipment will probably not be on the agenda, but in a situation where a camera would be unfavourable, the zoom is great, especially when paired with a radio microphone.

With the lighting, I initially mixed up the fill light and key light, not remembering what was what.  The key light is the main light used on the subject, or in this case, the interviewee.  The fill light essentially fills in the shadows made by the key light, preventing the subject from getting too dark.

The radio microphones are fantastic.  I only got a taste with them earlier in the semester, but they are extremely convenient, compact and far more efficient at picking up long-term interview than a boom mike.  They will definitely see some use in the near future when I scope out Nick’s studio.  The primary note is to test the audio first to ensure that the entire recording is not sabotaged by a stray strand of hair.

The Creative Collaboration project has so far been an intensive process of recording, questioning and researching details about the artist.   As my artist, Nick Devlin, shies away from the hubbub of the internet and social media, it is difficult to source information or a rundown of all the works he’s done, let alone pictures of those works.

As such, I offered to meet him in person to not only learn more about his work, but to also develop a rapport that may not have been obtained or created over the phone.   It turned out well, and I was able to record the entire conversation.  More importantly, he was comfortable enough to offer me information about his practice, his interests and hobbies, details which can help to develop a more intimate and profound narrative about Devlin’s personality and how that integrates into his work.

The process of transcribing his interview was also an enjoyable process and helped to organise my thoughts as well as the linear progression of the narrative I was to make.  It would open with a brief discussion about the art he makes, before moving onto his family and his appreciation for classic directors like Andrei Tarkovsky and Alfred Hitchcock.  His description was quite honest and down-to-earth, and so that made the process of visualisation even easier.

I have started brainstorming a series of ideas surrounding various shots of the studio, but unfortunately have very little information to go with.   I have yet to have another discussion with him about the dates of film, and it feels like communicating with Devlin can only take place in limited bursts, and I emerge from the conversations having forgotten to ask a few crucial questions.  The interview procedure I adopt is very spontaneous – I roll with the conversation and casually segue into the most natural points.  With Devlin, it uncovered some niche qualities that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, but it distracted me from information about his studio, the atmosphere, the location, as well as the size.

It goes without saying that the hardest point of this project is the time window we have to communicate and effectively adjust our plans to interact with an artist.  In addition to this, there is also the problem of being completely overwhelmed with ideas.   With every video project, there are an infinite number of ways to represent someone and their work, and sifting through multiple concepts is difficult, as I am often attached to my ideas, no matter how good or bad they are.   I try to force ambitious ideas in, and with an allusive and conceptually based artist like Nick, it is difficult to properly describe his work in clear manner.   At times, I feel, especially with this topic of modern art, that I may not be able to represent the work correctly, or give justice to it.

The project so far has been very eventful and despite my bank of ideas, I do have concerns on how well I will be able to apply them around the intricacy of Nick Devlin.

 

We received information regarding our artists this week, including contact details; emails and mobile phone numbers.   This, for me, was perhaps one of the more daunting aspects of the course:  establishing contact with an artist whom I knew nothing about felt exactly like venturing into unknown territory.

My artist, Nick Devlin, from my research, has a very minimal online presence (perhaps he prefers to keep it that way) and from what I gather, I will have to unpack more information once I get in contact with him.  From his brief online biography, he seems to focus on more politically charged works, something which resonates quite strongly with me.  I look forward to our future discussions.

Louise provided information on how to properly structure interview questions to ensure a wide variety of answers whenever we got the chance to properly talk with our artist – this was also a great brainstorming exercise to practice our segues into following questions, to maintain the pace of the conversation without any awkward moments or pauses.

As for the various class exercises, this week we continued with shooting vox pops out on the street.  I was assigned to both interview and find people on the street.   As a less talkative person, I found myself struggling to approach people in a clear and directed manner.   This style of on the spot communication and interaction is definitely something I need to properly grasp for future reference.

Location scouting, also, is crucial in developing the overall tone of the video – we opted for a decorated alleyway to capture the essence of the ‘street art’ motif, linking it to the overall theme of the exercise.   It was a visually sound decision.

 

Week 4 consisted of an analysis of various art documentaries that Louise showed us in class, as well as an exercise where we had to go out in the open and film some street art.

The alleys of Melbourne are fantastic, with many different styles and works present across the city.   It was refreshing to leave the confines of RMIT to shoot some new and exciting footage – my only concern was the overcast day and the ever present issue of rain.  It especially interfered when we went to Hosier Lane to shoot some beautiful street art, causing mishaps and forcing us to wrap up unexpectedly early.

The weather aside, there were numerous factors at play that compromised the quality of the footage – wind, people, tons of background noise, and going out in a completely impromptu manner, I feel, had a heavy impact on the footage I ended up getting.

I’ve always been just okay with production.   Post-production is my personal favourite, but this week’s exercise was greatly helpful for it rekindled the importance behind framing and conceptualising good practical shots.   It is precisely this that makes editing all the more easier.

The second class on Wednesday had us briefed on how to tackle vox pops, and my group handled it quite well – we received a range of solid answers, with the only problem being that the sound quality wasn’t as great as expected.  Handling a boom pole/shotgun mike is far difficult than it seems and maintaining the perfect distance takes years of practice.