What was I trying to achieve in terms of critically communicating about symmetry and the arc shot in film and explain the method which the editing process was used to attempt this?

In terms of critically communicating symmetry and the arc shot, I focused on the importance of colour in film as explained from Mary Risk in her article ‘How to Use Colour in Film’ from the weekly readings. Learning how to be a great visual artist means using colour in terms to balance tone in films and surrounding characters in colours that can be seen as optimistic or traumatic (Risk 2020). In my film, I created a sequence in a calming green environment. The environment reminds my character of calmness and taking time to reflect and look around her, instead of rushing a process. By using colour in storytelling, we can emotionally effect everything seen in frame (Risk 2020). With symmetry, placing Lyn in the middle of wide green landscapes can isolate her but comfort her as she blends in the environment in her brown outfit. She stands out but she is not contrasting in something neon that doesn’t fit and feels out of place. Moving on, reading ‘Art of the Cut’, Steve Hullfish recalls conversations with editors and the lessons learnt of effectively editing from their techniques and shared experiences. For instance, in the reading we focus on the importance of organisation and how it plays a big role for editors approach to scenes and to understand how to describe scenes through visual storytelling (Hullfish 2022). Numbering sequences also helps editors focus on transitions and locations on how the narrative approach can change depending on environmental and character influences (Hullfish 2022).  Finally, editors discuss the importance of looking at every scene and organising them based on the whole sequence they were a part of (Hullfish 2022). When undertaking this approach, and for the arc shot, I ensured preparation for how the arc shot would look when filming and how I can edit the arc shot to prolong it or shorten it depending on environmental factors and visual storytelling. Looking at examples of arc shots, its also important that there isn’t continuous repetition of arc shots. This is to ensure the flow of sequences and change the ways we follow characters from scene to scene with other engaging camera techniques, shots, and angles. After creating my own attempts at arc shots, I enjoy the ability to transition within a scene in how my character can hide parts of the curve through movement of her body and within my camera. It can create tension and allows for me to move in or out of the scene for proximity. Overall, learning the importance of colour and editing techniques had helped me achieve symmetry and implement my attempts at the arc shot through these methods. By balancing colour within symmetry, I can achieve emotions and create a symmetrical balance within bright or darker colour tones. By preparing for an arc shot sequence with organisation and looking into every scene before the arc shot, can ensure I create a dramatic or noticeable prolonged sequence that fits in visual storytelling effectively and engages audiences.

How did your preproduction/ production and post production process go and what would you do differently next time?

For Assignment 2, Pre-Production was very effective as I thoroughly planned for the narrative and storyboarding. Firstly, I knew that I wanted to do a hope core inspired video, that focuses on internal monologue and finding ways to move on from internal and mental anxieties. I created a script to read along that would be my actors internal monologue. This helped me create visual scenes in my head for a storyboard which was used as a guide when creating but was cut mostly due to the length exceeding two minutes.

With the storyboard, script and actor arrangement, we began filming for 3 hours during production. Filming with my friend Lyn is a wonderful experience as she is an art student like me, so she understands the importance of following directions, and I have worked with her for a final assessment during high school. Botanical Gardens was spacious and people around us offered to help us film which was thoughtful. Overall filming was effective as I followed my storyboard and ensured my equipment was charged and fully prepared to assist me in filming. I would take double takes for most sequences to ensure of a satisfied result.

Postproduction is the most challenging yet rewarding part of this assignment. I had over twenty-five minutes of footage to cut down into two minutes, which is imaginably a challenge, but I completed it. Arranging the videos became difficult since I cut out a major portion of the film, the beginning. Reason being that the premise of the arc shot was not present which meant it was irrelevant for what this project needed to achieve. I instead merged a new idea of a flashback to display the events that happened previously so not all that section goes to waste. I then worked on creating gaussian blurs to distinguish between the past and present then worked on smoothing transitions and sound effects from Pixabay.

Timeline

Continuing I reworked my script to fit my new storyline. What I would adapt to next time is finding a specific work of inspiration for my film to try and challenge myself to replicate different styles. I also purchased a new camera, so I plan to work on different ways of filming in production with a new device.

What were the most and least successful parts of this project and why?

The most successful part of my project is definitely an improvement to symmetry and colour. I paid close attention to symmetry and I had more control on directing since I had an actor. This helped me rearrange or re film sequences to almost perfection for symmetrical balance. Colour also improved, as mentioned in my weekly blogs, I wanted to establish an earthy tone to the film as I  was filming in the Botanical Gardens, wanting to achieve a calming and environmental tone. It becomes visually appealing and exaggerates the beauty of the grass and blue sky. The least successful part of my project is the pre-production as I plan too much that I need to unfortunately gorilla style my production process. This can make practice challenging as I need to come up with ideas on the spot rather than authentically plan layouts that I can later understand. To try and improve this I will try and simplify the concept of my projects to be more direct and plan enough that I can transition from sequences and fill in any gaps if I need to with a clear direction that I can tweak in between.

Reference List

Daki, Vesna. 2009. Sound Design for Film and Television. [Online]. Available at http://esdi.pbworks.com/f/Sound%2520Design%2520for%2520Film%2520and%2520Television.pdf

Hullfsh, Steve. 2017. Art of the Cut: Conversations with Film and TV Editors. Routledge: New York. [Online]. Available at https://api.pageplace.de/preview/DT0400.9781315297125_A29510263/preview-9781315297125_A29510263.pdf

Risk, M. (2020). How to Use Color in Film: 50+ Examples of Movie Color Palettes. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-use-color-in-film-50-examples-of-movie-color-palettes/.