In which ways can dialogue/written word be used in order to act as a unifying vehicle to deliver information and emotion from within a piece?

My research task over the last 5 weeks has involved the research and exploration of dialogue/written word and the different ways it can be used to convey both narrative and sentimental information to an audience.

Over the course of the last 5 weeks, my research idea for assessment tasks 4 and 5 metamorphosed from simply focussing on dialogue between characters, to focussing on all forms of written/spoken word. Although this was not my intention, I feel as though it was an appropriate direction to follow considering my interest in both film, writing and poetry.

In the beginning, I intended to create one cohesive clip with different elements of dialogue littered throughout it. However, upon research, reflection and practical endeavour – I realised that it simply would not be possible to produce something cohesive, refined and conceptually dense in this space of time. Subsequently, I decided to produce a set of 4 clips, each exploring a different mode of dialogue/written word. Some of the scenes were excerpts from movies/theatrical productions and manipulated to suit the sentiments I intended to portray, and some of the scenes were written by myself, drawing inspiration from outside sources such as Su Freidrich’s Sink or Swim (1990).

Each clip focusses on a different aspect of dialogue/written word, I decided to explore: dialogue between two people, the poignancy of monologue within a scene, the effect of an internalised soliloquy, and a more abstract idea of using subtitles and spoken word over a series of unrelated footage. I decided to create 4 separate clips in order to create something dynamic and diverse, and to embody the prompt I had set for myself and investigate how dialogue can be used as a unifying device within a cinematic scene.

This final clip is an excerpt from my BOY sequence. I decided to use a 2 minute sample from this sequence because not only do I think that it is the most fitting clip to suit the prompt I synthesised for myself, but also because it is one of the clips I am most proud of, and satisfied with. The clip focusses on the use of dialogue/written word in conjunction with snippets of footage I filmed in order to create narrative. I believe this clip most suits the self-assigned prompt due to the fact that it is the written/spoken word that creates a sense of unity within the clip. Without the written/spoken word, the footage would seem out of place, disjointed and nonsensical. Although this aesthetic embodies the ideas of abstract cinema and experimental film, the dialogue provides the footage with yet another facet of meaning and allows the footage to transcend the barrier between footage and film.

I intended to use long shots within this clip in order to captivate the audience and draw their attention to each minor detail that occurs within the frame. Opposed to my other scenes, this clip has little to no editing in order to employ a more unobtrusive, observatory feeling. Additionally, my use of timely shots is intended to evoke an almost apprehensive feeling throughout the scene, building up anticipation only to be relieved by the introduction of dialogue.

The feelings of trepidation and anticipation are heightened by the lack of sound within the clip. I toyed, tentatively, with the idea of introducing a soundscape to play in the background of the clip, but I later decided against it as I found it to be too distracting from the most pivotal aspect of the scenes, the dialogue. The use of spoken word over the top of the footage separates this clip from my other three, because it gives an almost documentary-esque feel to the footage in the way that it narrates and breathes life into the subtleties of what is happening on the screen.

I decided to employ the use of black and white within this sequence because I feel as though the footage is able to embody a more sombre feel to the piece. My reason for thinking this came about when experimenting with the colours within the footage. Because each segment of footage is visually unrelated to the last, I found the constant change in colour scheme and lighting to become extremely distracting and almost visually volatile. However, when I used a monochrome effect in Adobe Premiere, I felt that the footage had a visual harmony and offered a more stable medium for the dialogue to be expressed within.

Ultimately, I count myself lucky to have been able to work with a multitude of different people in order to create a piece that investigates dialogue. I enjoyed all aspects of the assessment, from writing the dialogue, to filming the footage and editing them together. I enjoyed the creative license I was allowed when manipulating the footage into something that meant more than a sequence of fragmented clips. However, it is perhaps the knowledge that I have gained from an assessment task such as this that is the most invaluable to me. I now consider myself to be more informed when it comes to recognising the use of dialogue within a film, and the importance of it when intending to convey meaning and information. Finally, although my piece is not as refined as I would have liked it to be, I am ecstatic to have created something that I am not dissatisfied with and is echoic of something that I would like to produce in the future – I count myself lucky that I was able to explore the poetic nature of written/spoken word and how it relates to film.