The dubious task of brainstorming for Project Brief 4 began in this week’s Monday class. After forming a group with Holly and Cameo, we decided that we would attempt to create a short film in the hybrid genre between Horror and Film Noir. We felt that these two genres would intersect nicely, and be interesting to explore. Having all completed previous assignments in at least one of these areas, a hybrid of the two seemed like the natural path to follow in our Genre Trajectories. Using a mind-map method, we found inspiration in films like Lost Highway (1997) and Drive (2011), as well as tv shows such as The X Files and even Scooby Doo. Whilst these latter tv shows delve into the realm of Science Fiction, the way they construct their narratives by building suspense could be useful despite our inability to incorporate more than two genres into our final piece.

We also watched The Killers (1946) in Monday’s class. Although I used the genre of Film Noir in my first Project Brief, I hadn’t seen this film yet. I did enjoy it, and I was able to clearly define it as a Film Noir, with a trademark ‘fall guy’ and ‘femme fatale’. I think I could benefit from viewing the film again, however, as I did find it confusing at certain points. It was beneficial to watch another Film Noir piece this week, as it aided in our brainstorming process for the final assessment.

Project Brief 3 consumed most of this week in regards to my media endeavours. I began the project knowing that my skills were not great in the area of sound editing, so my main aim was to become more familiar with the programs and tools that can be used when editing in this format.

Overall, I believe that I did improve upon my minimal skills whilst bringing together this assignment. Although I do have some qualms with the finished product, I do think it reflects the argument I try to make in my exegesis. The main problems with the piece are it’s anti-climactic ending, and it’s lack of detail in some of the more intense moments. For example, I think the voicemail could have benefited from a change in sound design when the caller drops her phone, but I struggled to create this sound effectively. I do think, however, that I was able to make the audio in the piece sound like it was coming through a a phone, which I am proud of.

We also delved into Vampire movies in Thursday’s class, which prompted a lot of interesting conversations. It was intriguing to see how each of the different movies played on the Vampire folklore differently, yet we were all still easily able to identify them as ‘Vampire films’. This clearly shows the ways that genre transforms and changes overtime, so it was really beneficial to see several different short clips rather than one whole movie.

The brainstorming process for Project Brief 3 began this week. I have wanted to hone my skills in the area of sound editing and production for a while now, so I felt that an audio based project would be best to test my skills in the field.

After exploring Film Noir through images in Project Brief 2, I felt like investigating a more modern area of genre for this assignment. This is the main reason why I have chosen to make a horror piece, particularly in a ‘found footage’ style, similar to films such as The Blair Witch Project and Cloverfield. I think that it would be interesting to see how I could develop this idea to be presented in an audio based format, seeming the original sub genre relies heavily on visual iconography.

We also delved into the world of musicals this week. This was an interesting process for me, as I am usually heavily adverse and cynical towards the genre – My usual stance is that most musicals could be told just as well, if not better without all the over the top singing and dancing. We watched the Australian TV Musical One Night the Moon, which I really did try to enjoy, and appreciated its subtle approach to the genre.  Yet found myself still getting irritated with the musicality of the film quite quickly. I understand that the formulation and use of music in film is an art of its own, yet I still felt that the tragic story could have been told better if the singing aspects were eradicated.

Berberian Sound Studio (2010) was a relatively difficult film to digest. I could easily appreciate it’s investigation into the production of film audio and it’s unique visual style, and I enjoyed seeing these aspects. Yet I found the plot of the movie to be relatively predictable, slow, and surprisingly un-scary for a movie chosen for horror week. I did enjoy watching a movie that had obviously had a lot of thought put into the premise, however. It was not your typical ‘cabin in the woods’, ‘possessed children’s toy’ or ‘ghost in the house’ film, and it didn’t allow itself to rely on jump scares or one off spooks to get your heart pumping. The way people treated each other throughout the film was probably the scariest part, and it was refreshing to see humans as the villains rather than something haunted or supernatural.

At the beginning of the course, I indicated that I wanted to improve my skills in sound production and design, as I believe this is one of my weakest areas. I often find myself ignoring the detail of sound, subconsciously seeing it as less important than the visuals of a piece. This does, however, make a hugely negative impact on the outcome of my works. Berberian Sound Studio encouraged me to open my mind to the creative opportunities that sound allows, and I hope to investigate this area for the next project brief.