Pre-presentation Work-in-progress Documentation (Project Brief 3 pt1)
My exploration of the notion of world has indeed, yielded some interesting results. For this third project brief, I condensed the concepts and ideas I had researched into a one minute teaser reel; what could be described as a thematic trailer.
The teaser trailer was not a complete example of narrative, but nonetheless was designed to formulate from a number of elements, a world that I have been intending to explore since the beginning of the course.
The world that is encapsulated in my work-in-progress is inhabited by an illicit gem smuggler called Tony Becher. His world is one of money, danger, and the allure of diamonds. As my work in progress shows, the world in which this character inhabits is fundamentally urban. One of the primary locations in the world is Tony’s penthouse. I wanted this to be not obviously lavish, but still indicative of the affluence that comes with his line of work.
Through my work in progress, I wish to base my world on this guiding principal: Diamonds = power = a dangerous kind of safety.
Actor Ildiko Varga, here imbues her character with a sense of concern as she gazes upon her husband at work. It is a look of acceptance, nonetheless tainted with a hint of fearful anticipation.
Furthermore, I wanted to create a sense that there is an allure to the diamonds themselves that moves beyond money or power.
Seemingly unmotivated, this shot, in which a gloved hand simply touches some diamond and rings, is meant to portray this allure for diamonds that moves beyond their monetary value. This is another core principal of my constructed world in terms of character motivation.
In my work in progress artifact, I have used mise en scene extensively in the construction of world. Most notable of these has been the construction of the Tony’s apartment. What is immediately apparent is the upper-story view from the window. This was achieved through removing the windows of our shooting location and replacing them with a royalty free stock image of the New York skyline. Technically this was accomplished by creating a number of masks within the original footage and then placing the stock image behind it.
The original footage
The original view was removed
This image of New York was chosen for its archetypical urban aesthetic and affluent connotations
The image was added to the view
Artificial blur was added for depth of field and realism
After this, I adjusted the colour grade of the layers to match more or less exactly. The next step was to apply a blur to the background of the scene. This not only created a more shallow depth of field look, but primarily served to smooth out any rough edges that might remain – adding realism.
Indeed, the use of a colour grading served a purpose beyond that of simply matching the elements together. In fact, within the work in progress artefact, the colour grade did in fact aid in constructing the feel and tone of my proposed world. Within the isolated scenes pulled from the larger narrative that my work in progress represents I intended the tone to be cold, sterile and ominous. For this reason I purposefully edited the white balance to make the image appear cool in the scenes that contain the diamonds. Furthermore I utilized the optical properties of the diamonds; i.e. their sparkle. These two visual elements connote the cold and lavish indifference of diamonds; within the world they indiscriminately cause pain and fear (the cold look) as well as wealth and power (the sparkle).
The props which populate my artefacts’ mise en scene also help to shape the world I wish to create. As mentioned above, the chiefest of these are the fake diamonds which I purchased online. I needed to create a sense that there was a great number of stones and that their value was almost beyond the audience’s imagination; more diamonds than they have ever seen. To achieve this volume, I obviously needed to find a source of fake diamonds as props. Thankfully, my cousin’s wedding which I attended earlier in the year provided an idea. My course of action was to buy a great number of wedding crystals usually used to decorate tables at such festivities.
To add more production value, I purchased these fake yet convincing engagement rings from China
The musical score I used, purchased from Artlist.com royalty free, was also picked with total consideration to the tone and tempo I wished to achieve. Its ominous strings and sighing piano notes helped me form a feeling that the world is on a knife edge and could destabilize at any moment.
A number of props work together to create the world-informing mise en scene
To conclude it is worth pointing out that I believe my artefact has greater potential for extra scenes that will further construct the world.
A special thanks to the wonderful Ildiko Varga for her superb acting.
(722 of 1225 words)
I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.
michaelfirus • April 26, 2017