This week we learnt about the importance of colour and how it elevates film. Colour creates mood and tone and can effectively illustrate directorial styles and distinguish their films and become recognisable. We investigate Wes Anderson and how he uses colour to balance tone in his films. The colours can impact how we perceive emotions from characters whether they are surrounded by bright colours or dark colours. When learning about colour theory in film, I investigated how I can implement a colour palette to my film by corresponding the colour wheel and create a visually pleasing sequence for my assignment 2. During the week I set out to film and had prepared for my actor to wear brown as we were going to film at the botanical gardens. Brown is complementary to green in the way to appeal to earthly tones and situating ourselves in expansive natures. This helps create a calming mood for my film as I follow an internal monologue approach of ‘hope core’ inspired video.

This week we did not have class due to strikes so instead I worked from home. We focused on sound and its importance in various medias. From the reading I learnt a lot about what sound is used for and the development of sound. Vesna Dakic describes that there are two roles to sound in film, that of storytelling and story supporting (Dakic 2009). I reflect on sound for storytelling within speech and how it is the most revolutionary appearance in film, and I think of music in the ways it creates a mood into the atmosphere for film (Dakic 2009). In the use of story supporting for sound I think of ambience background to present a location or set to create a dynamic environment that is not empty and full of other features that are around the sequence. These simple sound additions to film help drive audiences to engage with the story. Learning about the importance of sound helps me realise the impact it has on my own videos and leads to why I find it important for myself to set a mood with music and source sound or record my own to add level and depth to environments I film in.

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

WEEK 1 REFLECTION

Week 1 Visual Blueprint Reflection – Alisha

WEEK 2 REFLECTION

Week 2 Visual Blueprint Reflection – Alisha

WEEK 3 REFLECTION

Week 3 Visual Blueprint Reflection – Alisha

ASSIGNMENT 1 REFLECTION

#1 Assignment Symmetrical Film Sequence Reflection – Alisha

ASSIGNMENT 1 VIDEO

https://vimeo.com/926105525

In terms of communicating symmetry in my film, I took inspiration from the reading ‘Semantic Analysis of (Reflectional) Visual Symmetry’ in how the authors explain Symmetry as being the link of elegance, beauty within a well-proportioned and balanced visual image (Suchan 2018 et al). When coming up with ideas for shots I would correct my positioning or the position of objects in a scene to help well proportion the environment to be as equally balanced as possible. I also acknowledge the other aspects of symmetry in terms of perceptual similarity which refers to the ‘similarity of features’ and ‘semantic similarity’ within a visual image (Suchan 2018 et al). This explanation helped me structure images to guide attention to visual saliency as well to break paths of symmetry occasionally to move the shot or add action to the scene. Especially when moving in the sequences, symmetry occasionally goes off balance. For example, a scene I am happy with in terms of symmetry as a well-balanced image is during the beginning of the kitchen sequence where I open the cupboard doors and change the shot to a different perspective, watching me open the doors. I feel proud of my accuracy and ability to problem solve as the middle of the doors closing was a different center point to where I would be positioned.

Moving along, another aspect of symmetry applied in films is ‘one point perspective’ as explained in the reading ‘The Art of Perspective in Cinematography: One-Point Perspective, Symmetry, and the Golden Curve,’ which is achieved by ‘placing the camera perspective directly opposite from the horizon line and vanishing point’ (Nguyen 2019). Understanding one point perspective helped me storyboard sequences and have my focal point in the middle of the shot which provides symmetry both vertically and horizontally. When attempting to fully secure symmetry in my sequence, I edited the clips by zooming in and expanding the frame to center my focal point as accurately as possible. Overall, within the readings, they helped me understand how symmetry truly adds to the aesthetic experience of film. I also found ways to incorporate symmetry without it needing to necessarily be perfectly exact, for instance a scene where I am cooking pasta in the pot, I understand that the pasta may not be perfectly centered but it’s okay to have some differences and still be symmetrical. Looking at examples of One Point Perspective in Nguyen’s article ‘The Art of Perspective in Cinematography’, helped me look at examples of symmetry through Stanley Kubrick’s examples.

During pre-production, I brainstormed some ideas. In total I had 3 ideas and expanded on a story about cooking in my kitchen as it’s a wide-open space for me to work in and there are many props to add character to my shots. I created a brief and got some feedback from peers and from my lecturer. What I needed to expand on was establishing a narrative that is not too broad and has a backstory and reasoning behind the sudden passion of cooking. Learning from this and from my lecturers idea of stumbling upon a recipe, I decided to change my brief. This helped me create 2 different parts of my Symmetrical Film. I then brainstormed a storyboard which I mostly followed and added some more symmetrical shots to expand the simplicity and provide more perspective from different angles.

Beginning production, I started in my room and turned down the blinds to allow for my sunset lamp to highlight the scene. I would use my tri pod for majority of the sequence as I was going to be fully in shot for majority of this part. When filming in my kitchen it was difficult to follow the storyboard in some moments. For instance, I had an idea to have my camera face the stove whilst it was on from the opposite end, however I realised this was a dangerous idea. I did not have enough space for my phone to rest behind the stovetop, and I also did not want to endanger my sister by having her film around there. To solve the issue, I changed those parts of the storyboard but tried to display a similar scenario just without me in the shots. I used my tri pod to film whilst incorporating handheld and had my sister help me for some moving shots.

Postproduction has been helpful and really cleans the aesthetic functions of my work. I firstly assemble my footage in order of my storyboard. Then I edit the length of the clips to their desired length and mix and match according to the storyboard. I then colour grade as best I can and then I go onto effects and smoothening transitions. Changes in the future would be to film my sequences where I can see what my camera is going to capture. When filming in my room for the first part, I avoided the front camera for quality purposes. This made it difficult for me to picture where I was on screen and to have my shots symmetrically balanced properly. In the future I would also love to challenge myself and film in a different space that isn’t my room or home. It limits me to stories when I stick to a comfortable environment. If I push myself to go in social spaces, it will only help me grow in storytelling and filming. Working in environments like the beach, parks, alleyways, or shopping districts can challenge me to incorporate the natural elements of the wind, people talking and work along with the natural lighting of these settings.

The most successful part of my symmetrical film was assembling the storyboard and creating the sequences in postproduction. I have a very imaginative mind, so visual planning is mostly straight forward for me. When storyboarding I was able to draw my visual images and create a sequence that made sense and followed symmetrical patterns. When it comes to postproduction editing, I found it very simple to arrange my sequences due to the colour of the beginning section to the kitchen sequence. Going along with the storyboard, I would look back and forth to see if the sequence aligned with the plan. Editing has become easier with use; I understand the templates for the window and how changing them can help focus on the specific aspect I want to edit within my sequence. The least successful part of my symmetrical film was not having the entire film be symmetrical as well as the colour filter, I wanted to employ through the kitchen sequence. When filming I thought creating symmetrical shots would be easy, however during production it proved itself to be challenging. Especially when wanting to be perfect, not all shots are going to be exactly balanced. This is where during editing, I try to zoom into shots to try and fix the balance. I realise that my iPhone camera zoom feature doesn’t work as well as I hoped. When zooming out I found the quality of footage drop drastically, and when zooming in having the same issue. Moving along to the colour filter, I had to improvise and keep working toward trying to ‘warm up’ the kitchen environment to feel more homely, whilst maintaining the video quality. In the future, I want to experiment and practice in my own time how to colour grade more effectively and ways to preset my camera settings to try and optimise the results.

Ultimately, my journey through Assignment #1 – Symmetrical Film Sequence, combines inspiration, creativity, and challenge. Following from the insights of the readings, I learned the different dimensions of symmetry within storytelling, from balanced compositions to one point perspective techniques. Through the process, I learnt how symmetry plays role in not only the visual alignment but also in the narrative structure. A takeaway from this assignment is the importance of planning and storyboarding. Mapping out sequences helps me envision symmetrical patterns to implement in my film and ensure the flow of my film is cohesive. This also helps me adjust shots whilst maintaining a similar visual image. Successes were made in assembling the storyboard and executing, however in post-production I encounter some limitations in achieving perfect symmetry. Technical constraints like zoom quality and colour grading can really impact my narrative and the mood of my film with symmetrical aesthetics. Nonetheless, the obstacles help me learn and push for experimentation, and problem solve through improving my previous strategies. In the future, I am eager to refine my skills and explore new environments beyond my familiar surroundings. Embracing challenges and honing technical experience, I can elevate aesthetic and narrative aspects of my films in the future, whilst maintaining foundation in symmetry and balance. Each project I embark becomes a stepping stone to help me improve in my world of filmmaking.

Completed Timeline

REFERENCES

Suchan, J., Bhatt, M., Varadarajan, S. and Amirshahi, S. (2018). SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF (REFLECTIONAL) VISUAL SYMMETRY A Human-Centred Computational Model for Declarative Explainability. [online] Accessed 18 March 2024 https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~stellayu/publication/doc/2018symmetryACSJ.pdf.

Nguyen, T. (2019). The Art of Perspective and Symmetry in Cinematography: One-Point Perspective. [online] Medium. Accessed 19 March 2024 https://medium.com/@tuyettrangnguyen95/the-art-of-perspective-and-symmetry-in-cinematography-one-point-perspective-47158772a23e.

In this week’s workshop, we learnt about The Golden Ratio, which is something I have heard of before but never quite understood. Reading ‘Exploring the Golden Ratio in Film and Photography’ helped me understand that the golden ratio is the ‘perfect proportion’ and attracts our attention due to the mathematical relation to Leonardo of Pisa’s Fibonacci sequence. It is related due to ‘the ratio between the numbers continue to grow [close] to Phi’ (Kastwar 2022). It acts like a geometric stencil that help artists manipulate what audiences primarily look at when engrossed in a visual stimulus. As we learn symmetry for our first assignment, the golden ratio assists in creating balance and proportion in art and creates captivating visuals (Kastwar 2022). Learning this has helped me develop understanding to the importance of the golden ratio in film. Previously thinking its some complicated stencil, where in reality it is not difficult to wrap your head around.

REFERENCE

Kastwar, A. (2022). Exploring the Golden Ratio in Film and Photography. [online] Purpose Studio. Accessed 21 March 2024. https://www.purposestudios.in/post/exploring-the-golden-ratio-in-film-and-photography.

In this week’s workshop, we were able to share our briefs for our upcoming assignment. The assignment is a 2-minute comprised video that follows a storyline and is symmetrically balanced. I spent time with my friend Lucy, and we shared our ideas together. From my own feedback I learnt how I needed to focus more on the narrative aspect of my brief as it didn’t have a backstory that gives audiences a reason to know why the story is taking place. Besides the brief, we investigated visualising stories and looked at album cover art and how they impact music listeners to visualise the songs on the album into a connected cover art. We also looked at the storyboards of ‘Get Out’ and ‘Batman: The Dark Knight’ to display how storyboarding helps flow the narrative of the story and conveys and image on how to compose and arrange scenes. Working in class, we went out to film with the Sony Fx3 cameras to create a long take. I worked with Lucy and my friend Lyn. Lyn was our actor, I directed, and Lucy filmed. This was helpful for us to challenge skills in filmmaking and following instructions whilst getting familiar with the camera. We created a little sequence that followed Lyn purchasing a drink from the vending machine. I learnt the importance of narrative in my storytelling and how it plays an important role in symmetrical film to flow sequences.

In this week’s workshop, I learnt how to chroma key which is something I had no previous knowledge of. I realise that it’s easy to complete. Following my lecturer Cat, I found some stock footage of a bunny on a green screen then pasted it on a background. I then learnt through editing to apply an effect called Ultra Key on my bunny greenscreen layer. Then I simply select key colour and used the dropper to get the exact shade of green and it isolates the colour from the bunny making it look as though the bunny is moving in the background. Moving in the future, I have confidence on how to chroma key and will easily remember the process. During class we were introduced to the Sony FX3 Cinema Cameras and how to use them. Following my lecturer Cat was very useful as she goes through every function needed in terms that are understandable for someone who isn’t familiar with cameras. I felt confident using the settings we were taught to set the camera on. From the reading this week I particularly enlightened my previous understanding on symmetry by focusing on key purposes. I understood how symmetry is used for aesthetics and stylistic purposes that are often linked to elegance from its well-proportioned and balanced visual imagery (Suchan et al. 2018). The analysis further explains how symmetry is divided into four points, physical, mathematical, psychological, and aesthetic points of view.

REFERENCE

Suchan, J., Bhatt, M., Varadarajan, S. and Amirshahi, S. (2018). SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF (REFLECTIONAL) VISUAL SYMMETRY A Human-Centred Computational Model for Declarative Explainability. [online] Accessed 18 March 2024 https://web.eecs.umich.edu/~stellayu/publication/doc/2018symmetryACSJ.pdf.

‘Dreaming of Home’ is a beautiful photo collage that makes me feel a slice of nostalgia, a feeling of yearning and as the title suggests, makes me think about home. Its dehaze makes some images blurry, and the flash captures that feeling of being in the past in some instances where the light in the sky feels so dramatic. I love the free-flowing vibe of being outdoors, since we sometimes forget to enjoy the naturalistic environments surrounding us. The little daisies and the fireplace feel a sense of community as we can all relate to seeing daisies resting amongst our front yards, and truly anyone in the world loves a firepit to spend time with friends and sit in the dark peacefully with the comfort of small light and the spark sounds. Even the little dog, it brings me back home. My favourite images of the collage are the daisies in full focus on the field in a close up, and my second favourite is of the girl standing in front of the tree with the sky shining through the left corner. Overall, I am thoroughly captivated by the nostalgic sense of youth and natural surroundings generated by this photo collage. The colours are bright and exaggerate well together and provide a nice contrast. The dark trees beyond a light blue sky are so beautiful to look at. It’s amazing how vibrant the warm filter makes it look.

Moving onto Maggie’s work ‘Coburg’, I was very happy to discuss with Maggie about her work. She states how she rode her bike around Coburg and took photos, capturing the raw and natural beauty of the place. This is a truly beautiful video submission for a photo portfolio. The black and white scale images are not dramatic and work calmingly. The serenity evokes peace and is a wonderful viewing experience, along with the well-articulated soundtrack of the sound of crows, the slight breeze, street music and the tram. It truly makes you feel as though you are in Coburg looking through a historical timeline of the street. In some ways, it reminds me of Vivian Myer’s style, especially being able to capture people just going about their daily lives. The blur in some photos feels mysterious and as though the images are from the past. Interestingly, the whole video does exude both past and present details, within the yes vote. I love the way the video combines even if it is not structured in an orderly fashion. I really enjoy the presentation style because it feels like flicking through moments in time even though they are scattered. Some photos are overlapped with others, again another intriguing choice and even if the images are different, they meld together and fit. The fades suggest they are a part of the same location, just different aspects captured. Overall, I love the essence of capturing the heart of Coburg and the different lifestyles portrayed. The farmers, and the local businesses, people on the go, and the slice of city life with the tram really showcase an assembly of different personalities and reasons for life. The black and white greyscale is beautiful in essentially placing things together and forming how the past and present have emerged together.

From the screenings, my studio matched with ‘Drop the Pilot’, where the whole class merged in a whole group assignment to create a captivating story in a made-up town, which I cannot imagine how stressful, yet rewarding this would have felt for the students. As we read Peter Petrusma’s ‘A Glimpse Behind Bars,’ we gain a sense of how over time, the level of creativity and confidence increased, and everyone eventually felt confident in their abilities to share thoughts. The writing became easier within the group, and eventually everyone got along well and enjoyed the assignment. To help people visualize each character, the group created concepts for them to pass by. The class had a whole summary at the front of the entrance to invite us into the story without being overloaded with unknown information about what the studio’s assignment was. I think this really helped me with understanding the layout and setting of how this show was being told. It’s wonderful to see the inspiration that burst into the mind of Peter seeing the use of Radiator Springs as an influence on their isolated town of Barrel. I also feel happy that the people who worked on the group assignment felt connected and excited by the characters that they created within their tropes and ideologies. Overall, I enjoy how this studio invited the idea of collaboration, and how when introduced to it, makes the process of expressing opinions and thoughts not so challenging and helps make stronger connections with peers when everyone is on the same page.

LINKS TO BLOG POSTS W7-W12

Week 7

Week 7 – Reflective Post

Week 8

Week 8 – Reflective Post

Week 9

Week 9 – Reflective Post

Week 10

Week 10 – Reflective Post

Week 11

Week 11 – Reflective Post

Week 12

Week 12 – Assignment #4 Reflection

LINK TO ASSIGNMENT #4 SHAREPOINT FOLDER

Alisha’s Assignment 4

LINK TO ASSIGNMENT #4 GOOGLE SLIDES

Assignment #4 Presentation

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1Ijq7MHsGvirQBLvpEN9tLrJ86PAynlIgGcOq-bazDhQ/edit?usp=sharing

Release Form

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-cEbl6ucpbmmWuVMVyBQl0qMl2neGY2ewy_Xai_8DbI/edit?usp=sharing

Assignment #4 helped me broaden my experience with Photoshop. I am so happy that I chose a unique style of Colour Splash to help expand my skills and help me critically analyse themes and areas to take photos based on the need for isolation of colour. During pre-production, I ensured to plan some poses and props that could be used to highlight and center the attention on. Small objects really stand out amongst a greyscale backdrop when coloured. The sketching process helped me think of designs and pre-planned things to bring on the day as well as the outfit my model, Grace would wear on the production day. I also formed a few photo boards from Montsalvat to get an idea of the facility and know what is definitely there as I had never been.

I like to plan ideas as I used to create storyboards for media projects as a visual guide to follow. I didn’t follow along with 2 ideas as the grounds were wet and the sky wasn’t as clear as I had hoped. But we moved along and during the production and being at the colony, ideas swarmed in my head.

The production stage was great! Grace was an amazing model and followed directions very well, she understood the main focus there whilst still enjoying the visit. We have been best friends for over 10 years so it was a great relaxing day with someone I trust. The facility had lots to offer with various plants and miniature objects with unique character to them. Some sculptured faces and various paintings and strange yet beautiful architecture. The facility held a farm area that has been renovated into living areas, a church, gardens, graveyard, cafe, art gallery, swimming pool, and the best part the grand palace area which is where a lot of weddings are hosted. I couldn’t recommend this place more, it has a wonderful history of an almost 100 year old continuous art colony.

Moving onto post-production which I haven’t touched upon in my other reflections. This took some time to complete. I had to learn how to implement colour splash style. This involved Photoshop which is something I have never been confident in with its various functions being a little overwhelming, however applying this feature was a breeze thanks to a few YouTube videos

The first image displays how I had to create a black and white layer on top of my original image. The layer you choose is based on the portraits, you choose black and white and switch to the layer that is black and white rather than the curves. This ensures when you colour you are removing the overlayer of the portrait from the background. You select the paintbrush tool and make sure the colour is set to black to make sure there is no filter added with the removal of the portrait. Then you simply colour away as if it’s a colouring book, and you can turn it on and off to track where else you need to colour. Since I wanted to highlight the rose, I ensured I got all the corners to make things very precise and not catch any of the pavement behind it. This was relaxing to do mostly, other than the really small corners that were hard to get an exact lining on. I could change the size of the brush by simply right clicking my mouse which was something that I wish I had known on my first few photos. This took a few hours, to say the least as I had around 50 photos chosen out of the 330 that I took that day. That’s how beautiful the place is, and I also took so many from different angles, arguably too many.

Moving on from Photoshop was Lightroom, I used Lightroom after applying Colour Splash as it was going to be more accurate to the colours and there wouldn’t be previously applied filters that might be forgotten from switching to black and white instantly. Plus I wanted to create different shades of black and white to experiment with the tones and moods the photo was replicating based on the colours highlighted. I am familiar with Lightroom so it wasn’t anything confusing. I mainly used vignette to get a black ‘sphere’ encasing the photo to try and isolate the center from the background. I also wanted to switch between the dark and cinematic types of filters. I tried to change exposure and contrast, however, I felt that those features blurred and grained the images due to the intensity of the black and white. I instead switched to focusing on the clarity and de-haze functions, as well as trying to make the colours on the images as bright as they could be to really stand out.

These photos visually display the different types of colour splash styles I was experimenting with. The left being without vignette and is a lighter stone-type grey, and the right is a lot darker with shadows prominent, surrounding the orange pots with vignette. I didn’t choose these photos in the end though because I felt that there was something lacking and I didn’t really understand the purpose in association with my concept. Out of the 50 photos I chose 22 in the end, I felt it was a comfortable amount considering the amount I had shot originally. I didn’t want to minimise it anymore with my selection.

A key learning experience from Assignment #4 is the evolution of my style. I think I enjoy focusing on the darker tones in photography, as for Assignment #1 and #2 I used darker areas to capture the bright, highlighted aspects of the image. I think they provide a great focus for the eyes to follow and gravitate towards. Maybe next year when I invest in a professional camera, I’ll be able to focus on light beams through photography, as I find them equally as pleasing and something I’d like to experiment with. My style isn’t subjective to location, as I can find a memory to photograph anywhere, though I definitely find myself using the black and white filter on my phone as I believe it shows a great contrast and really displays the details in fine quality. This assignment made me realise how much I use the feature of vignettes on my photos to help enhance the focus. This assignment has helped me learn the importance of conceptual thinking in my work. Concepts help guide my work and how my photos correspond to one another when it comes to themes and environments. Purposely I had my model be Grace as she is a part of youth, and she is about to commence in the busy student life. I chose a beautiful art colony as those places provide the experience of appreciating and noticing our surroundings without hurrying the journey, and trying to reach the end.

If I was to repeat this assignment, I would want to change the style of photography. I really enjoy experimenting and I admire the colour splash style, however, I also miss some of the colours from the images as the place is historical. I could have used a style that felt more vintage and explored warm tones. I didn’t change the style because I wanted to learn skills in Photoshop and because I still think the style is appropriate for the location. I love the outcome of my photos, and if they truly didn’t turn in my favor then I would have changed my original pitch.

The strongest concepts covered in class that have left an impact on me were Week 1 and Week 4 where we listened to ‘The Decisive Moment’ and watched the ‘Finding Vivian Maier’ documentary that focused on street photography and the ethical propositions. Firstly, ‘The Decisive Moment’ left an impression as I enjoyed the idea of capturing a memory and how taking a second photo creates a new memory, even if it is the same location and same ‘experience’ as the first photo. Trying to capture the perfect image can mean missing out on opportunities for photos that you can take in the moment without waiting. It left an impression on me to not overthink when taking photos, but to also know what I am looking for and why I take photos of certain things and reject others. It lets me think about what’s important to me in photography which helps guide my style and the themes I capture. The idea of creating a memory in a photograph is interesting and definitely true. I also really liked Henri Cartier-Bresson’s narration about spontaneous acts in the essence of representing an event through photography. It makes me feel like I am documenting important memories for people or for myself.

Vivian Maier has become my favourite photographer, I absolutely adored the documentary about her, and I truly think her work is remarkable. It made me reflect on whether she wanted her photos to be released publicly, though I don’t necessarily think that the act of releasing them was wrong. In the end, she captured those photos for a reason, and she wouldn’t have held over 150,000 in her collection just to burn them for no one to see. Her described personality is intriguing, she seemed very closed off from everyone even if she was entirely involved in their lives as a nanny of sorts. I love her street photography and portraits deeply, and I hope to incorporate her style into mine when I get a professional camera.

The idea of street photography is difficult to master, as I believe that if you are out public then it is not an invasion of privacy if someone photographs you, depending on reason as well. Unfortunately, we live in a world where everyone is documenting their lives in some way, taking videos and photos everywhere. It’s inevitable that you are unintentionally on someone’s phone in the background somewhere. I think that if there is a direct photo based on your person then the right thing to do is to ask for permission if it is posted publicly, though if you are in the background I believe consent isn’t needed. There are many ways that consent can be brought about, but the best way is to ask and record their permission to document their consent. Street photography won’t go away, but the ways people go about it are way less invasive than Vivian Maier who would sometimes photograph troubled events that are inappropriate to capture.

Overall it has been a great semester of photography and I have grown tremendously in my skills since I have not taken any previous photography classes, only experience with my own day-by-day photo taking.