Monthly Archives: June 2014

How it all worked out.

Ah fuck. Well those first and last paragraphs are depressing. Here’s what I wanted out of this semester:

I’d like to come out of the course with a polished, semi-professional looking creative film piece that would improve my portfolio. I’d like to learn how to collaborate with other people well, I think this definitely could have been improved last semester in Broadcast.

I want to be able to talk about film, and understand what makes films good or bad, critically. I want to better understand my taste in other people’s work and to better understand my own style in my own work. I’d also like to improve my technical skills with Premiere and camera handling.

More than anything I’d like to do my best work. As in, to the best of my potential. I let lots of little things slide all the time, things that I know could be improved, out of laziness, or not wanting to say anything, and I want to stop doing it and start producing my best work.

So, didn’t come out of the course with a polished creative film piece. Didn’t collaborate well and if anything my enthusiasm for working in a team sunk even further. I did learn a lot from the experience though. I learned that I need to voice my opinions early on, before it’s too late.

I also learned that even morons (not saying any people that I worked with were morons) have something to offer to a creative project. I can definitely see that working in a team is a much better way to do things, not only because there are more hands on deck but because there are multiple minds working on one project and different people create in different ways. You can take the best of everyone’s ideas and collaborate to make something better than any thing that one person might have thought up on their own, even if that person was a genius. Our group didn’t manage that unfortunately, but I can see how important it is to seek out and be open to different ideas and perspectives. Even just talking to other people about an idea is really beneficial. Other people can see what you can’t, and have ideas that you won’t have that might work better than your own.

I do think that I’m better at talking about film, and I notice cuts and choreography and lighting etc much more than I used to now that I know how  they are created. I now find films more inspiring, because I notice different elements and how those pieces contribute to the whole thing. It’s awesome to know how much effort goes into producing a piece of film, but also how achievable it all is.

Another important lesson was the importance of the story. As film makers learning to use equipment I guess a lot of our focus went into being technically good. Mostly, getting great shots. But when it came to post production and the first screening in class, it was easy to see that the story is the most important. If the story is great, and the footage tells the story well, it’s a great film. A well shot film with no story, or a story that you can’t follow, is a good-looking, shit film. Kind of like an attractive guy with a shit personality, who is terrible in bed. Someone is going to like him, but that person is going to be incredibly boring and probably not very smart.

My skills with the camera and with Premiere were definitely improved, a lot. Ta.

With that last paragraph I really failed myself though. I feel like I really should have just said, ‘nah, let’s not go with that script’, or, ‘I know it’s a pain in the ass to have to do auditions but let’s just do it anyway’, or, ‘for fuck’s sakes it’s only one fucking night let’s just do the movie night thing,’ or, ‘please don’t bring your shitty DSLR’.  If I had have I think things would have gone a lot better. It was laziness and it was being too nervous to speak up, just as I predicted at the start of the semester. And because of it I didn’t do my best work, just like I predicted at the start of the semester.

But all in all, it was worth it and an absolute pleasure, most of the time.

Film and TV 1 Reviews

The Chase

Extremely well shot, loved the colour grading, sound, actors and range of shots and choreography of actors was all really well done. The tension was built really well but the story lacked. It ended before anything had happened. Also I feel like the decisions that the girl made in that situation were unrealistic. I highly doubt many young women would run into a secluded alley if they felt they were being followed. It would have been more powerful if it was shot at night, and then that might have made more sense. I liked the suspense, but I think the ending would have been better with closure. It felt like the entire thing was leading up to something big, and then it just ended. Really well shot and cut together though. This team worked really well with moving shots, angles and perspective.

 

Budgerigar

Budgerigar was really funny. I liked it. The colours were fantastic and the way that tension was built and the fast cuts were used was fantastic. I particularly loved the brave use of dramatic lighting, it came out really well and wasn’t unnecessary or showy, it just fit the scene. Didn’t like the twist of him being in love with the brother that was like himself.

 

Sliced

Cutting the scene with the girlfriend was a really good decision. I loved the symmetry of your shots. It was really well shot. The script could have used some tightening on the details, and some tiny improvements, but so could most films. It was really good, it was genuinely funny, the story was clear and well told, the shots in the supermarket (despite the unfortunate placement of the bread haha) and the dramatic outdoor shot of him taking the bread out of a baggie were superb. I do think ‘White Bread’ was a better title though, kinda emulates ‘White Powder’.

 

Shelter

I liked it, but the story was a little cliché, and seemed more like a small scene from a feature film rather than a short film, that wasn’t really an issue I’m just not sure if that was the intent.  I thought it was well shot and the space was used really well. The sliding door thing was really cool, and the use of light was great, whether done in post or during the shoot. I didn’t get the vacuum nozzle gun and the calculator wall thing though. The film didn’t seem like a comedy so to have those rather novel props in there was just confusing rather than humorous. It detracted from the storyline, distracted the viewers and killed the tone of the piece a little.

 

Milk

I really loved Milk. It was relatable and funny. It had a shaky start though, that first scene didn’t really flow well. The cuts of the second housemate were a little confusing; something didn’t fit together well there. However, from the moment that the non-empathetic-pickle-eating-housemate says there is no milk, the piece flows. Some of those moving shots are insanely good, but one was a little too shaky. That one shot might have been better with a stationary camera. The ending was great though and loved the “ethnic kid stole my scooter” thing. I love comedy that picks on racism itself and how stupid it sounds rather than any particular race or person. The story was perfect for a five minute short. The film was built up really well and there’s nothing like an ironic ending. I can’t really remember that well but I think the audio could have used a little fine tuning.