Project Briefs

Pitch Reflection

Project Brief 3

My group and I have collaborated in outstandingly fair tasks throughout the film pitch and were committed to deliver our ideas and vision of where we aim our film to be headed. Working with the fashion brand, Kodangs, we could all agree on incorporating the natural style of production that signifies women empowerment. As we divided to present each area of the production, I was focusing on the casts as a casting director and also the costume designs. Overall I believe that we have successfully delivered a clear vision of what we aim for the film.

Selling your idea through a pitch is one way of marketing you and your film. The challenging part that I noticed is convincing the panel that our film is unlike any other, because there are other similar films and it takes either a unique idea or desirable component(s) that is mind-blowing as we communicated our vision. I’ve also learned that doing a pitch is a part of the developmental process, in which it is an idea that can be tweaked and improved after a number of feedbacks:

We have a great wonderful idea of empowering women with Kodangs products through commercial fashion film. Though our length of film is disproportional to our goals and visions.
In other words, our pitch shows a film that has the potential to be ambitious though the production itself needs more space (size).
- Solutions include having a longer film than 1-minute purposes not only for Instagram but other platforms, due to their restrictions.
- Another tip is to create series of 1 minute films to be posted in Instagram perhaps each having different locations/costumes.

We deeply think these feedbacks are helpful for achieving the best that our film can be, even in organic/natural-style fashion aesthetics.

Pitch PPT: click here

Egyptian Reflection

Project Brief 2– Reflection

Project Brief 2 was an eye-opener for all of us in the group. When we first introduced ourselves at the formation of groups, we had no idea of what we as individuals are aiming for. Each of us had very different tastes, styles and subjects during the initial brainstorming presentation on the whole studio. Though, as we have known more of each other’s visions, we came to a more narrowed down idea and were getting a sense of what we can do to incorporate each other’s focuses.

What had greatly inspired our experimental short (30 sec) piece are the Egyptian themes and subjects we practiced with when we attended the camera workshop. During this collaborative workshop, we brought Egyptian props that Jenny had to experiment in relation to the cameras we can use. We used both RMIT’s camera and Steph’s DSLR to get some footages of the fabrics and bracelets which then are used as we did an individual edits to see each of our different techniques. Jenny’s vision of the themes and mood board allows her to take upon the director’s role while Steph and Annie each experiment on different camera techniques. I have posed as the actor for creating body as well as fabric movements we could capture in different speed. We agreed that all of us would incorporate slow motion and close up focus on the fabric pattern, accessories and movements.

With all our individual edits, we came together to see the different versions of tastes and I was surprised of how other’s works are techniques that I have never tried before. I was very fond of Jenny’s experimental style of playback and white flashes that compliment the Egyptian music she used. I was also inspired by Steph’s use of slow motion to focus on the fabric movements and glad that they liked my use of overlays and light techniques. Therefore we contributed these different editing styles towards our Egyptian themed piece.

Our further shooting day on the beach was a great lesson for the cameramen as we tried to capture consistent footages according to the sun lighting. Due to this change of weather, Annie had to colour-grade the footages in post-production. Both Jenny and Steph worked well together to use their cameras to capture different angles at the same time and action. Though, we learned that because we were also using hand-held motion, it is a great idea to use stabiliser or a monopod to avoid too much shaky movements. Our other actor and myself tried to create the dancing movements and waited for the right moment for the wind to come. We figured out that the more turns we did as we danced, there is a greater chance that the camera can capture the focal points without the camera following the subject constantly.

We came together as a group as much as we can to edit the final Egyptian piece so that everyone can contribute their ideas during the process. We also did some individual edits when it is difficult to meet and use any part of our edits into the final piece. Overall, from the few challenges we’ve faced in availabilities to meet, shooting day and though we omit some parts of our own edits, I feel successful that we are able to combine all of our ideas into one final piece.

My progress versions:

https://vimeo.com/210215250

They’re aesthetically pleasing

Project Brief 1– 5 images

Seafolly Magazine Shoot

The Dressmaker Film Photoshoot

The Great Gatsby Film Still

Elie Saab Perfume Ad Still

J’adore Dior Perfume Ad Still

I find these five images aesthetically pleasing because of their ability to camouflage the subject matter to the context or landscape. Haute couture fashion in J’adore Dior, The Dressmaker, The Great Gatsby and Elie Saab images signifies the fashion statement and style with elegance and glamour. Charlize Theron became part of the context because of the also elegant, gold and fancy architecture. It’s as if they all blend in together. Similarly, The Great Gatsby shows the fashion aesthetics of the actors to reflect the 1920s roaring twenties period. These setting and context that are constructed as its mise-en-scene act as an extension of the wearable fashion and became part of the main subject.

We can also see in The Dressmaker fashion costume which are in contrast of the bare nature of the Australian landscape, that its fashion still complements and support that nature due to its pale colours and simple haute couture designs. Perhaps, the wing (like Australian birds) and hat designs symbolises the local Australian inhabitants such as its animals. They also symbolises the international influences that took place during the period such as fashion influences from France, Paris. Wearable fashion also does incorporate functional properties. Which is shown with how Seafolly’s bikini are constructed in the context of beaches and rocks. Which again, these images are relating fashion to the Australian nature and landscape as the rocks became part of the wearable fashion, even in contrast (no beach within the image’s frame).

Another reason why I found these images interesting is its use of symbolism that relates to the setting. Both J’adore Dior and Elie Saab images are perfume advertisement stills that uses free flowing light fabric dress that looks like the fragrance. The are combined in the context of a fancy building and the glamour style in the city as part of that landscape. So fashion that complements its landscape or context is what I want to focus on within fashion films.

Entering the world of fashion through media

Project Brief 1– Reflection

The best thing about starting this studio; More Than Fabric is that my satisfaction is fullfilled with coming to learn about the collision of both media and fashion. I’ve had a dilema before I started my media and communication degree… That I was either going to study media or fashion… or anything to do with art. So I am glad, very, very jumpy that I can now incorporate both departments in this one studio. It really is a dream come true, in terms of where I want my life to be headed as well. Fashion can be everywhere we are, from marketting, business and the media. We see clothing shops and immediately relate that to fashion. But also, these products are originated from designs that are from a form of art, which is often portrayed in fashion shows, TV or even films where we see costumes. The obvious example, The Devil Wears Prada, implements the idea that fashion and the media collide in art forms or medium such as film.

We went ahead to the exhibition in the design hub building. There, we listened the panel talked about high risk in fashion media, focusing on documentaries that reflect the new emerging form of communicating fashion; through art films.

From this gallery, I learned that there is more to fashion than just wearable art. Its also the art of functionality and other properties. A fluffy fabric was used as a chair cover while patterns we normally see on clothing fabrics are used as window designs. I want to show that fashion is more than fabric with the artistic fashion films that I will make. I want to help fashion companies, whether it is to market or advertise or simply to just express, to bring to the community the message that there is more to it than wearable fashion. Film can enhance that idea.

final horror series

PB 4

EXEGESIS summary-

Series of Audio-Visual Horror Subgenre Sketches.
Our final project was to do a final and longer sketch that curates a reflection to the ideas that I have been exploring throughout the semester. My research question was “are genre just tropes?” and I’ve found that what makes a genre is not only a grouping of tropes and patterns but also the aesthetics, mood and cinematic experience of emotions within a text. While I have taken upon further research for a wider exploration, we were encouraged to find inspirations for our sketch. The focal point that has been reflected upon my genre trajectory is the inception of genre boundaries that are sometimes taken too seriously into a strict classification of films according to the set-rules that cause the limitation and lack of creativity. This idea is explored by Ishiguro in 2015. Hanich (2010) in the other hand specialised in the idea that the categories we form are part of our experience. For example, horror branches out in a couple of different subgenres including the slasher, thriller, vampires and the supernatural and we can usually tell the difference through the tropes present. I’ve learned that these subcategories are all able to generate the lived bodily experience and fearful emotions including terror, shock, dread and horror. In a nutshell, tropes equal genre which equals emotions. So there comes the second part of my question, can film still be considered a particular genre if its key tropes are removed? My series of three horror-subgenre sketches (which may as well be considered as meta-horror) that includes slasher, vampire and supernatural horror will be the experiment of this study.

Within my three chosen horror sub-genres are tropes and conventions that operate to portray the aesthetics of fear. I had removed each of their key tropes to prove that they are still its genres without sticking to the set-rules. Jackson (2013) defines metahorror as films that self-consciously refer to their own construction and do not break through the fourth wall completely. What I’ve received from Jackson’s ideas are inspirations of metahorror that helped my sketches. So my idea was to omit fangs in Vampire sketch, the presence of knife in my slasher sketch and finally the phenomenon of evil and harmful personality of a ghost in the supernatural sketch.

Although the vampire sketch presents itself as a typical gothic romanticism with its warm hues of the shots, blood and preying subjects, it omits the presence of fangs on any shots.

https://vimeo.com/199307120%20

Likewise, the slasher sketch omits and replace knifes, saws or any weapons to a single red marker that does not in any way look harmful or even bloody. This sketch however, uses fast cutting shots and jump cuts in hand-held movements after longer moments of suspense with perspective and establishing shots.

https://vimeo.com/199303539%20

Finally, the supernatural sketches utilises dark, cold monochromatic tones with unsettling dread and terror background music along with shock tactic especially whereabouts in moments of creepy silence. In addition, the ghost is scary with an all distorted white mask and always appear suddenly except that she is cheeky and comedic unlike the typical dangerous villains of horror.

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Horror Sketch

PB 3

After a pitch presentation about my intentions and interest of study, I’ve came into further brainstorming thanks to the feedback from the panel. I’ve wanted to explore the emotions or reaction generated by different sub genres of horror and how they may have been a hybrid for a mixed emotion response. Inspired by pieces such as ballet performance film, Black Swan (2010) that also incorporates psychological thrilling elements and Into the Woods (2014), a dark fairytale musical, I was motivated to a boundary-blurring piece to sketch. Therefore in my pitch I thought I would experiment on a challenging and opposing genre such as a hybrid of horror-musical, a rare yet interesting genre collision. As Allan pointed out as a feedback that emotions associated with both genres are opposites, it got me thinking can horror be a musical? The panel also encourage me to think of examples in which however, it is difficult to think of a legitimate terror, suspense kind of horror that also include musical elements to it. Therefore, I’ve further retouched my idea of a sketch that instead, will focus of horror use of music/soundtrack and its affect on audience fear emotions. This sketch perhaps is a resemblance to a horror film with a lot of music within, as well as conveying sonic narrative, instead of experimenting a musical horror film.

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Sketching “Rom-Com”

PB 2

EXEGESIS-

Audio sketch “What a Day”.

“What a Day” (2016) is an experimental audio-sketch that intends to define the romance comedy genre. The approach of this sketch is to challenge the ideological boundaries (as well as its ideological influences) created throughout romantic comedy films by bending certain popular tropes and conventions while discard some others. Often stories are divided up according to patterns of conventions and there comes genres as boundaries. As Ishiguro had mentioned, “I get worried when readers and writers take these boundaries too seriously…” (2015). Hence, what would challenge this strict grouping is to create or “sketch” a genre that removes the use of one of its popular tropes and still proves the piece to be a romantic comedy piece.

According to Mortimer (2010), romance comedy is known to consist of displacement and disruption in its narrative content that is complemented with gag, comical suspense or surprise as well as the subversion of the adult world. These films are predominantly predictable; with viewers know the basic happy ending and who the characters will end up with. Rom-com films rely greatly on the journey of the characters to achieve that happy-ending. “What a Day” is an example of a rom-com sketch that denies this popular happy-ending element while comprises other tropes and conventions. Additionally, the audio piece ends ambiguously, without the listeners knowing if the couple will end up together or not. As the audio piece is a parody, it defines the typical disruptive obstacles in rom-com ideologies and mocks the romance out of the couple. While its parody imitation includes the use of humour, verbal exaggeration and subversion of the adult world with the “truth or dare” plot, the typical pop romantic music is replaced entirely with a comedic-tone music. Garwood (2000) argues, “The virtues of the ‘old-fashioned’ visions of romance held by the songs have to be accepted as credible and relevant”. The background music complemented in “What a Day” is not one of those pop songs holding traditional romance semiotics. Furthermore, the experimentation of this background music and narrative component supports that without the satisfying ending, “What a Day” is still a piece about romance and relationship and it is still up-lifting. The audio text is about the romance of the two couple and is comedic because it is a parody of that archetypal romance (beside it having an ambiguous ending).

Romance comedy is indeed about the “celebration of love and relationships while lifting central characters out of the tedium and loneliness of their normality” (Mortimer, 2010). But rom-com can also be seen as a parody of that celebration due to its construction of made-up idealisation about the happily ever after as one reconcile with another. As “What a Day” portrays, rom-com is like looking at a relationship on truths or lies basis. As explained by Grindon (2011) Hollywood rom-com promotes “widespread illusions that everyone was destined to meet their true love or that lovers united in marriage lived happily ever after”. Therefore, the genre’s usual components generates audience’s blissful daydreams that there is always a happy ending after a number of obstacles, causes them to be dissatisfied with their own relationships (Grindon, 2011). The audio piece, through its experimentation, proves itself to be a rom-com without a happily ever after. Yet, it also implements the idea that relationships are not always blissful and heaven-like, turning audiences to the worldly reality rather than constructed rom-com ideologies.

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Final Film

The Script

.. In progress.

Starting the script with a draft is a successful practice that I have taken, seeing that it is my first time constructing a formal screenwriting skills. In the script I wrote, I have realised that it contains a dense amount of dialogue and expressive body language. Much of this action is portrayed with facial expression instead of highly active performances. I think that this form is suitable in going for a Indie style of realistic, non-exaggerated performances that we usually might have seen in mainstream films. Newman had stated that conventions of setting and human being representation on this kind of films are “typically naturalistic” (2011, 87). Likewise, we do not have exaggerated courageous or intellectual characters but rather ordinary ones representing lives of adolescents and young adults who may have suffered through past drug uses or crimes leading them into juvenile detention centre. These are realistic experiences that we human in real life is naturally a part of.

As we discussed and did some retouches on the script together, we decided to make some changes on some parts of the script. Because Dea is focusing on creating the characters, both she and I had a read-through to see if any psychological side of the characters and their behaviours are appropriate and make sense. The main adjustment that we’ve made is toward the ending of the short film.

Option 1

Option 2

Option 3

Option 3 would be our final choice for the script narrative. James in our group thought that the ending would need to be prominent, not necessarily a final closed up resolution, but something the audience will think twice about. Plus, we wanted our film to be experimental with a rather “unfinished” ending to symbolise the true reality that our lives goes on ordinarily despite the dramas. Hence, James suggested that what if Julie slapped Ryan instead, as he lost control of his anger. I thought that it is a great unusual and unique idea, considering that Ryan is a being who has been treated without strictness or discipline by his calm “inferior” mother. After Julie’s slap, it would be a shocking and unexpected treatment for him yet also for the audience. Therefore we decided to go along with this sort of ending. I am now excited for the shooting and how the performance will come to be as well as any adjustments that might be made during the shooting.

Finally in week 9, we have officially finalised our script. There had been a couple cross outs and add ons but it seems like we are all satisfied with our screen writing end result. What we need to rely on is bring this piece out during the shooting days in which we are looking forward to in week 10.

The final script…

Juvies Script, click here

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What Juvies sounds like

The sound design of our film would be the experimental aspects for me into trying out different methods whilst producing the piece. What I’m aiming to play out for the audience is for them to hear a correlation of sounds to the character’s mental subjectivity. Whether it is the sound of running water to portray calmness and security, or upbeat intense bass sounds to portray discomfort or emotional instability. To put on unique kind of sounds orchestrated as a unity would be something I am excited to experiment on. Walter Murch mentioned..

Similarly, I would put the dialogue or voice overs as the more dominating sound for the film. But rather for music, I thought of putting it as a subtle supporter of the character’s situations, which takes its place more towards the back or the sides of the orchestra. Instead, environmental sounds are equally important to portray the character’s mental subjectivity and emotions in which then would be placed among the sides of the orchestra.

These sort of sounds curated are of environmental sounds that naturalistic and may take part in our film. We need these sounds to enhance the sense of realism and a more pronounced way of how individuals hear their surroundings. Characters are therefore correlated with environmental sounds as if that is what they are listening to or hearing what they take in from their environment. Again, that will contribute into conveying their mental subjectivity.

Water running; taps, fountains, waves
Wind
Trams
People chattering
Sounds of doors
Breathing
Footsteps

Music and rhythmic melodies that I have found from free music archive websites are crucial into creating that aura of dramatic tones. These background musics allow us to generate a more impactful effects towards the audience. It serves as a bridge in connecting the character’s emotions and engagement with the audience.

Upbeat and jumpy tones (White Limit):

Excitement
Ryan meeting/engaging with Julie
Playful
Interests of Ryan’s emotions

Jumpy tone (White Limit) with mellow tensity:

Discomfort
Emotional instability
Journey/ experiences
Flashbacks

Rock electric guitar (Let’s Make Hate):

Adventurous side- Characters sharing stories
Hardship of past experiences
Crimes

Celeste clinking bowls (taken from NGV):

Water creates calmness
Randomness, the unpredictable pattern- symbolises character’s psychological and mental disorders

White Limit

Let's Make Hate

Bowls on water

“Let’s Make Hate” music symbolises adventurous side of the two characters into sharing their stories and form their relationship. Also, the electric guitar rock kind of sound relates to the hardship of experienced they had all the crimes they did and their time in juvenile detention centre to modify themselves. The chill, slower but mellow tone of this music symbolises their never ending journey that they keep going on and that life goes on. Furthermore, during their slow pace along walking on their journey it shows that they don’t have to rush, and that in learning about their identity they need to take their time. The mental disorders and “messiness” is symbolised by the clicking bowls on the water sounds that are random and not in order, which also portrays that we cannot always predict the human mind.

Voice overs and dialogue corresponding to the background music in our film is inspired by one scene from Gia Coppola’s Palo Alto (2013).

http://https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePRb_reuB-M