ASSIGNMENT #5 – STUDIO REFLECTION

I had a nervous feeling going into our exhibition. Although I had seen my work (and shown friends) several times, showing it to my peers was a different experience altogether. Afterwards, however, I felt more re-assured then I had at anytime during the process. Although it obviously has its flaws which I will discuss soon, I thought in many ways it succeeded.

I found my opening music (a snippet of a track made by a friend) to stand out quite a lot. It is quite attention grabbing, with the high tempo jumping out at you along with the text on screen. It also gave the work a solid beginning and ending point that I thought others’ work could’ve used. I also found the overall goofy nature of my work to work quite well. I decided against something overly serious (as I often do with my student films), as a way to focus the viewer less on taking it seriously as an artwork, and more as a fun experience. I also found the relaxed vibe helps to let the audience laugh at the work, which was one of my creative intentions. I also found my concept of having the camera in the middle of a circular table to be a great success. With other works, when I wasn’t thinking “where should I look?” and worrying about missing key info, I was finding that it seemed there was only one (very obvious) focal point for the viewer, and that exploring the frame gave very little reward. During Hands Up however, I found myself free to look at each individual character at any point, allowing for future viewings to catch every reaction and detail. I think this factor predominantly helped me realise one of the key ideas and concepts we discussed in class, which was to differentiate our work from standard filmmaking. The poker table concept opens up the work to be viewed at any angle the viewer wants, and rewards them for trying out different angles. 

If I was to keep developing Hands Up into something bigger, I would have a few core things that would work on. I’d start from scratch: the same concept, but re-written & increased in length. The short run time was perfect for this exhibition, but with more time & resources, a longer run time (including an actual poker scene involving actual match play) would increase the piece’s scope and potential greatly. Once re-written, I would need a solid budget, to create a more realistic & expansive setting, and to use higher quality equipment. While I’d stick with the original setting concept ( abandoned space, run-down & modest), but fully create it from scratch in a real location. I would also increase the prop and costume work. Greater rehearsal to get the performances more spot-on, and more room for character development would also greatly benefit the work. The final goal would be to create some kind of actual playable ‘game’ mechanism within the video. While one of the successes of the work in its current form is that the viewer is not an actual character but instead a spectator, creating a form where you inhabit a character, and have to bet / fold (judging the facial reactions of other players to see if they are bluffing), could take it to the next level as an experience.

From viewing all the other groups’ work, I had a few insights about their work, my work, and VR in general. The first was one that I discussed with many of the groups, which was how important high quality video is to a successful VR experience. While we all enjoyed each other’s work, we agreed that the limitations of the equipment we used left a lot to be desired, and that for VR especially, having full HD video is very important. I noticed this most with the Briars group’s work, as it was a nature film first and foremost, and having beautiful visuals is key in that genre. Another aspect I noticed, this time in the first work we viewed (about cyber-bullying), was how they used spatial audio. It was the first time I’d heard it while using a headset and I found it greatly increased the immersive quality of the work. It made me wish I had done it for my film, and opened my eyes to the prospect of a truly immersive world inside the headset.

I found that being in an audience had varying impact of the experience of the work. It felt like the immersion quality was slightly lost. I found myself thinking too much about being in a room with other people around me, and when you can hear the other audience members it takes you right out of the experience. But one positive was for my work, as I heard a few laughs, it seemed to spread across the room slightly. Just like in a cinema, funny things are funnier when you’re around other people who are laughing with you.