https://rmiteduau.sharepoint.com/:v:/s/GoldenAgeCinema/Ea2x9C7sLR9IizWRsYEYGzUBmjXLXTwD_FFg-u1g9UOm4g?e=NmkHEV

As a brief introduction, the In Media Res sequence produced depicts someone taking a pill, going into a dream sequence where he is forced to face his past, ending with ambiguity if he has escaped the dream or not.

What you were trying to achieve in terms of critically communicating about Framing in Film and explain the method in which the editing process was used to attempt this? 

Similar to my first assignment, I am following Cagle’s (2007) citation, emphasising the importance of “lending an air to realism” when framing the shots for my film. However, due to this work depicting a dream sequence, I had to also depict some ambiguity using asynchronism according to Hayward (2000).

I accomplish this sense of realism by using cuts that chronologically follow one after another. The first part of the scene follows the protagonist picking up a package, opening it, looking at the pill inside, and promptly passing out. Him passing out and awaking in the dream world is linked through a jump cut of him passing out on a park bench in a similar shot. Long establishing shots are then utilised to capture the new space the protagonist is in, making it more realistic as the protagonist explores the new environment he is in. He then returns to his room as he collapses on the ground, facing upwards similar to where he is facing as he lies on his bed.

To create asynchronism, I decided to make the “real-life” scenes black and white, and the dream sequence to be fully in colour, lending the audience to associate the “real-world” with mundanity and lifelessness, and making the “dream-world” more wondrous and mysterious.

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

The pre-production this time around was much more turbulent than before, as I had a much weaker vision of what I wanted to create this time around. On top of that, I fell ill for about a week this time, which not only prevented me from working on pre-production, it also meant I was not in the workshops for a week, preventing me from bouncing my ideas with my peers and receiving suggestions before I had to solidify my concept and proceed with filming. With the benefit of hindsight, I believe that in the future, I should be more proactive in pre-production and be much more open to sharing my ideas with my peers or friends in order to strengthen my concepts before moving on to production.

As I was using the Sony FX3 with a tripod for filming this time around, I had to plan out a shot list in advance, as I only had limited time and daylight to film all my scenes. This became a blessing in disguise, as the filming process went much more smoothly than previously, and I did not have to refilm my scenes like I did last time. I believe this experience emphasised the importance for preparation prior to filming, and I hope I will keep this diligence up and expand on the details I include for pre-production in the future.

Filming was also much easier, as having a tripod made shooting a variety of scenes at various locations much easier than using a mobile phone with a phone stand as I previously did. The Sony FX3 also made it much easier to capture close-up shots and film in darker lighting, which expanded the range of what I could film drastically. This experience emphasised to me the usefulness of professional equipment, and how the use of better tech drastically improves the quality of the film.

As for post-production, I had actually filmed much more footage than I needed, and I had to cut an entire sequence out to fit the scene under 2 minutes. Luckily, the scene still made chronological sense after the cuts, but I believe this to be a lesson in properly planning out the amount of time a particular scene should be given so this doesn’t happen again. As for sound design, the audio captured by the Sony FX3 was much more useable this time around, however audio that I recorded in post was subject to a lot of background noise, that I had to denoise myself in Premiere Pro. In the future, I hope to be able to record audio in post in a more appropriate and sound proof environment, especially when it comes to dialogue.

Your reflection should also include commentary on what you thought the most and least successful parts of your In Media Res sequence were, and why so?

Babbar (2024) outlines the evolution of cinema across various dimensions, on how each served to shape film as a multifaceted art form. While the use of better equipment with the Sony FX3 helped me achieve this goal partially, I believe that much more could have been done in terms of utilising a variety of tools, such as sound design or visual effects to enhance my product. Especially for a dream sequence, I believe if I had utilised more distortion for the audio and visual elements of the scene, I could have enhance the feeling of distortion that the audience feels, fitting the tone of my film to a greater extent.

Beyond this, I still believe I achieved a sense of ambiguity according to Hayward’s (2000) definition, which states the use of jump cuts and asynchronism between image and sound as key aspects. Not only did I utilise jump cuts, I used smash cuts in particular, utilising the loud disruptive sounds to transition between the dream and real world to disorient and confuse the audience. Asynchronism between image and sound was also used, as the dream world had little to no background noise, just music and a distant distorted voice beckoning the protagonist to explore the space. Overall while a sense of ambiguity was achieved, I believe it could have been more successful with the implementation of more techniques.

As stated in the previous segment, the most disappointing aspect of this film was my relatively weak concept. I confess that the use of an ambiguous dream sequence was mostly used to mask my lack of vision, so I could focus on creating a mysterious atmosphere without actually delivering on the mystery. While this may work for a short 2 minute scene, I believe that a stronger concept will be needed for my next assignment. This flaw was emphasised by my lack of socialisation with my peers, and I hope that I will be more effective in coming up with ideas with the help of peer feedback and discussion.

(1034 words)

References

Babbar, I. (2024). Evolution of Cinema, International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 6(1): 1-4

Cagle, C.(2007). Two Modes of Prestige Film, Screen, 48(3): 291–311

Hayward, S. (2000) Cinema Studies: Key Concepts Second Edition. Routledge, New York, USA, 9-10

Pre- and Post-Production Proof

Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline

Pre-Production Planning

Weekly Blogs (Week 4-6)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blogs (Week 4)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blogs (Week 5)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blogs (Week 6)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

This week’s workshop was focused on the structure of a film, such as utilising the 3 act structure as a guideline tell a more dramatic and consistent story. We also discussed the use of cuts and transitions to evoke certain emotions, such as how smash cuts can be used to disorient audiences, L cuts to tie 2 scenes together, and J cuts for smoother transitions and building anticipation. More ‘outdated’ cuts like wipes and irises could also still be used in the right settings as well, such as for comedic purposes or evoking an older time in filmmaking.

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

This week we focused on David Lynch’s directing style, giving us a more wholistic view of how sound design, editing, colour theory, and shot composition all relate to one another to create a coherent final product. While I might not be the biggest fan of Lynch’s visual style, learning about his intentionality of his filmmaking gives me a greater understanding on how to create prestige film, as it emphasises the importance of keeping in mind all aspects of what goes into a film to create an outstanding product. I personally find that I tend to neglect colour and sound quite often, and hope to improve this in the future

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed.

This week I filmed and edited the final cut for my second assignment. Filming went very smoothly, as the Sony FX3 with a tripod allowed me more flexibility for shots in terms of positioning and lighting. In the future I hope to continue taking advantage of the use of high-end equipment for my projects. This time around, my biggest disappointment was my concept for my film. I didn’t have a strong idea of what I wanted to do, so I defaulted to a dream sequence. While disorientating as intended, I found that there wasn’t really any solid story that could be followed, which left the film unstructured. In the future, I hope to be able to plan out and discuss my ideas with my peers at a greater length for a stronger concept.

(340 words)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

Unfortunately, I was sick and could not attend the workshops this week. From what I could gather, we discussed colour theory and colour grading this week, and was introduced to tools such as Da Vinci Resolve for more effective colour grading, and the Blackmagic Camera app for better filmmaking on a mobile phone

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

This week was focused on how hue, saturation, and brightness could be used to effectively change the look of a film, and in turn, affect its tone and mood to better fit the story. Hue determines the ‘colour’ of the film, often used in order to give a film a monochromatic look, which audiences may associate with certain things or emotions. Saturation was described to have a similar effect, such as how many war movies used a desaturated colour grade to emphasise its grittiness and associate the films with the monochromatic pictures that were common in the past. For brightness, a brighter scene could emphasise cheeriness, while a darker scene could be made to be more dramatic.

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed.

This week was when I determined what I was going to film and my planned shot list. As I will only be renting the Sony FX3 for a day, I had to make sure that I had all the shots planned before I went out to film. I had to make sure I had enough time daylight and time for filming, which meant filming certain scenes at certain times. I have planned certain scenes that rely on natural light to be filmed earlier in the day, while scenes without daylight to be filmed later.

(264 words)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

For this week we mostly focused on sound design and how we can utilise sound to make our film’s more immersive and impactful. In particular, we focused on Ramin Djawaldi’s perspective on soundscapes on his work, such as how he blended “organic” and “inorganic” instruments to create the opening for Westworld, in accordance with the show’s themes. We were also introduced to free tools to help us create these sounds, such as Vital Synth, AR Synths, and Infinite Drummer.

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

This week was mostly focused on the importance of sound design in order to immerse a viewer into the atmosphere of a story. Sound design can be utilised to create make fictional objects more realistic, the prime example being the Batplane from the Dark Knight series, and how sound designers used a variety of foley in order to create the sounds it made. We also learnt of the importance of music, in setting the tension and mood of a scene, ensuring the audience feels what the director intends them to.

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed.

This week was mainly focused on coming up with an idea for Assignment 2 and planning how to shoot it. I am determined to rent a Sony FX3 from AV Loans this time for my project, as I was dissatisfied with the shot quality last time. However, I am still unclear on what I am planning to create.

(227 words)

https://rmiteduau.sharepoint.com/:v:/r/sites/GoldenAgeCinema/Shared%20Documents/Student%20Submissions/s3992585_Hao_Wen%20Chan/HaoWen%20Chan_s3992585_Assignment1_MediaStudio_2025.mp4?csf=1&web=1&e=8EpjK0

As a brief introduction, the opening scene I produced for this assignment is meant for a dark comedy depicting a student’s struggles in the job market.

What were you trying to achieve in terms of critically communicating about Framing in Film and explain the method in which the editing process was used to attempt this? 

Cagle (2007) cite cinematography as a crucial part of film that reviewers attribute to “lending an air of realism”. Through my shot composition, I aimed to capture this realism for the topic. I wanted to emphasise the small and cramped room the student lived and worked in, which also worked as a metaphor for how “trapped” the student feels in this situation. I utilised medium shots with visible walls to convey this information to the viewers. As the room this was shot in is essentially just a rectangle, incorporating two shots from both ends of the room was a quick way to establish the space the scene was taking place in. With regards to the shot of the bathroom, filming through a doorway, with the wall obscuring half the shot, further achieved the cramped feeling of the room. Outside of establishing space, I also utilised close-ups frequently in crucial moments to emphasise the student’s emotions and feelings in a particular moment, such as disbelief and frustration.

As for editing, I utilised longer uninterrupted shots at the start to emphasise the mundanity of the scene and how the character is slowly getting ready for the day. During the internship application montage, there were more cuts to emphasise the amount of work the character is doing, and to subconsciously hint that more time passes despite the shorter real time length. During this montage, I used similar shots repeatedly to emphasise the repetitiveness of the process the character is going through. The scene ends as it begins, with slower cuts to focus on the character’s frustration with the lack of reward.

Babbar (2024) note the importance of sound design in filmmaking, pointing out its ability to create mood, atmosphere and emotion in films. Similarly, I used audio as the primary way to achieve comedic effect with contrast. The scene starts slow, with constant background noise to emphasise its mundanity. It then changes in mood to a more exciting and upbeat song with lyrics, portraying the characters initial enthusiasm which is quickly contrasted with their growing exhaustion of the process. The music abruptly cuts to the character receiving bad news and abruptly starts again when they physically and verbally express their anger.

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

I was light-handed on the pre-production of this scene. I wrote down the general themes, tone, and story of the scene, as well as the shots I was intending to film, however during production I soon realised that I would not be able to follow my initial vision due to certain complications. These complications included the gear I was working with (I was simply using my phone propped up on various objects as my camera), as well as the space I was working in (cramped, hard to move around, not much space to set up shots).

During production, as I tried to follow my initial shot list, I quickly realised that some shots were not feasible, which led to me entirely refilming my footage, and I had to get creative and work around these constraints. I gave up on filming on low light settings because of the noise, and experimented with a variety of shots to make my footage look more interesting.

For post-production, I worked on audio and colour grading. In terms of audio, I largely stuck to a royalty free background noise, as the actual background noise recorded varied too much from shot to shot, making it jarring. I also used my own condenser mic to rerecord dialogue after the fact, so the audio was clearer and more intelligible. For colour grading, I tried to make every shot as cohesive as possible, to emphasise that all events were taking place in the same space, as to not take the viewer out of their experience.

In the future, I believe that I should pay more mind to lighting, not only by using better and more varied gear to increase my ability to capture footage in varying light conditions, but also by taking the existing conditions in mind, such as the time of day and existing lighting in the space. Working with a camera and tripod should give me more options in terms of shot composition, so I can make the film more visually appealing.

Your reflection should also include commentary on what you thought the most and least successful parts of your Prestige Cinema Opening Scene were, and why so?

Ahemad (2024) lists the portrayal of cultural norms and values as well as the reflection of political climate and ideologies as one of the aspects attributed to the golden age of cinema. I believe that I was largely successful in this part, as I was writing about the shared experience of difficulties in the job market that many are facing right now, aided by the experiences I am currently going through. Through the openings comedic take of the experience and my framing of the scene, I believe I accurately depicted the feelings of the experience, while also making it light-hearted enough as to not be too pessimistic about a situation many audiences might relate to.

I also believe that my editing helped significantly improve the quality of my product. I believe I chose an excellent song to contrast the characters mood, which allowed me to express a comedic tone more easily. Many of the other choices in editing that I outlined previously, such as the use of repetitive shots and quick succession of cuts, had the intended effect of simultaneously putting you in the mood of the character and emphasising the scenes comedic tone.

I believe my least successful parts of the opening scene was the shot quality and composition. Not only am I an amateur in terms of shot composition, I was utilising poor gear on top of that, which I believe led to a rough and potentially half-hearted product.

Overall, while I am decently satisfied with what I accomplished given my restraints, I have much more to improve on and I am aiming to increase the quality of my next film. To achieve this, I will have to keep the failures and complications of this project in mind during pre-production, so filming can progress as moothly as possible. I will also have to experiment with more gear and a variety of spaces, if I am to achieve higher quality shots that can be called “cinematic”

(1056 words)

References

Ahemad, I.(2024). Shadows and Light: Exploring the Legacy of Golden Age Cinema, The Seybold Report, 19 (1): 854-862

Babbar, I. (2024). Evolution of Cinema, International Journal for Multidisciplinary Research, 6(1): 1-4

Cagle, C.(2007). Two Modes of Prestige Film, Screen, 48(3): 291–311

Pre- and Post-Production Proof

Adobe Premiere Pro Timeline

Pre-Production Planning

Weekly Blogs (Week 1-3)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blog (Week 1)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blog (Week 2)

COMM2628 – Weekly Blogs (Week 3)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

For our third week, our class was focused on how to frame our shots to make them look appealing and “cinematic”, particularly with the use of the golden curve. We also went over the importance of audio: such as foley and soundtracks, and how crucial their role is in cinema.

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

The main things I learnt this week was to be more mindful of how I frame my shots, as I noticed that much of the footage I filmed last week looked unappealing as they were unbalanced and badly framed. I also learnt of the importance of audio, and that while good foley is unnoticable when executed well, bad audio has the capability of dragging an audience out of an experience entirely.

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed.

This week I filmed, edited, and finished my final cut of Assignment 1. I refilmed all of my footage, as I was unsatisfied with how it looked due to low light conditions and opted to film my footage with more light instead. I also colour graded my footage and edited its audio, giving my film a more cohesive look and feel. While I am satisfied with the results, this assignment has taught me the constraints of using inadequate gear, and with this experience I hope that I can be more prepared in the future to deliver on a higher quality product for my next assignment.

(226 words)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

For our second week, we mostly revisited the lessons we learnt from week 1. In our workshop, we continued experimenting with the Sony FX3 cameras. This time around, I focused more on handheld moving shots, filming either a moving subject or just the space in general.

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

The main conceptual elements I learned from this experience was the importance of planning out shots, as without any concrete goal or vision of the way these shots should look like, a lot of them lacked a consistency in quality throughout the shot.

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed.

This week I finished up on pre-production and moved into filming. For this assignment, I am planning to film everything on my phone with myself as the subject due to personal time constraints, and because of this a few problems arose. Firstly, filming in low light conditions present a huge issue as there was a lot of grain, and filming myself as the subject is especially difficult as I cannot adjust the camera with the subject in frame and must estimate how it will look. In the future, I plan to refilm my low light shots with a variable ISO rather than the default camera on my phone, and in the future, I would like to work with a proper camera with actors other than myself.

(214 words)

What key learning did you do in this week’s workshop?

For our first week, we mainly learnt about basic cinematographic techniques such as framing and shot composition. Importantly, we learnt the importance of utilising these techniques, as the way a subject is shot can help with storytelling, conveying emotion, and setting the mood. The main examples of this weeks workshop centred around Alfred Hitchcock’s work and Better Call Saul.

Reflect and describe the main conceptual elements of this studio that you learnt.

Through Hitchcock’s examples, I learnt the uses for both close-up shots and long shots; how close-ups can help convey the importance of an object or centre the emotions of a character, and how long shots aid in storytelling by setting the stage for the audience. Through Better Call Saul, I was introduced to the usefulness of breaking common cinematography “rules”, as they can help convey uneasiness within the audience.

Reflect and describe the main media making elements you experienced and completed

In terms of media making, we were mainly tasked with using the Sony FX3 to try our hand in filming one-point perspective, although I also dabbled in other techniques. My main takeaway during this activity was the importance of where the camera should be positioned, as even a slight change in angle could make shots look much more flattering.

Consider in what ways you hope your final work engages its audience and communicates a key concern of the studio? Draw upon your experiences from attending the studio exhibition.

“Performing Futures” is a studio focused on how live performances can help us imagine, visualise, and embody possible futures. Furthermore, it puts an emphasis on how media can be used in innovative ways to help achieve this goal. I believe that the use of speculative design, as defined by Dunne and Raby (2013) may be one method of achieving this studio’s goals. More specifically, Dunne and Raby (2013) describe the use of props in speculative design as paramount to its function, as they serve as triggers that can ease us into constructing ideals, values, and beliefs in our minds that we can entertain and reflect on.

“Playing Dead” is a performance based around theatrical plays, with the use of screens to add to the atmosphere and immersion of the play. It was primarily based around the idea of a service where an actor (with the help of artificial intelligence software) is employed to pretend to be a deceased person. Our goal with this performance was to introduce the audience to this concept, and the potential repercussions and consequences for a service like this being widely employed.

Through the narrative, we explore it’s use as a device for interacting with deceased loved ones, either as a tool to seek closure or as a coping mechanism. With the use of some worldbuilding, we made references to how capitalism may corrupt such a service, how people would discuss the morality of it (through a podcast), and how a service like this may affect both the client and actor mentally. I hope that the inclusion of these elements made it easier to conceptualise the concept; by creating a suspension of belief as we made the concept more “real”.

Outline the singular most successful and singular most problematic aspect of your process/finished work.

I consider our use of innovative media techniques to be the most successful aspect of our work. Primarily, I consider our use of screens and OBS Studio to immerse audiences into our performance by visualising the technology used in our speculative fiction as a major point of success in comparison from the first time we performed it without any additional media techniques.

In particular, the use of this media technique that I received the most feedback from audiences, peers, and tutors was the visualisation of the artificial intelligence software working in the background and giving prompts to the actor live. It further elaborated on how this speculative technology may function if it existed, which I feel serves to ground this concept, making it easier to conceptualise it in reality. Schneider, the creator the one person show YOUARENOWHERE puts this into words: “(Tech is) the same as the text. We’re using all these things to tell the story at the same time” (Tran 2016).

One problematic aspect of our performance was the lack of a cohesive message. The first scene sets up the company providing the service as a greedy, exploitative force, and the scenes following it engage with how this affects the clients who use this service, However, our final scene focuses more on the philosophical implications of engaging with this service, i.e. “Does it matter if it isn’t real if the emotions are?”. While both concepts are valid venues of exploration, I feel we could have improved the performance if we stuck to one exploration.

Imagine you are going to keep working on that media piece, what would be the core things you would want to improve and extend and why?

If we were to move forward with our performance, I believe that we should implement more physical props to the performance. Currently, what is happening on stage is mostly left up to audience imagination. Sets that invoke the spaces the characters are inhabiting will serve to further immerse audiences in the performance, hopefully so they spend less time filling the gaps in imagination and use that brain power to engage with the concept.

Outline one key thing you’ve learnt from your studio experience that you will take into your future thinking and practice.

The main skill I’ve attained throughout this process is the use of OBS Studio. While I may only have a basic understanding of its uses and functions, I am now familiar enough with the program to be aware of the potential it has. This will enable me to explore and discover new applications of this software for my future work, especially if it involves live performances.

What’s one key takeaway about working collaboratively?

While everything worked out in the end, I believe our team effectiveness was slightly inefficient. We all had different visions of how the narrative and message would look like, and I feel this led to a performance that could have been a bit more cohesive than it was. While no major conflicts arose, as everyone was willing to compromise and set aside differences, I believe that amending the teamwork process may prove useful to prevent future conflicts in a potentially more confrontational dynamic.

Harper (2018) outlines 5 stages in team development: Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing, and Adjourning. I would like to focus on the storming stage. In the future, I believe it will be important to create an environment where discussion is encouraged, where people feel free to share their ideas even if they may conflict with other’s opinions. That way, a consensus of the vision and direction can be defined before the dynamic is normalised, and the group can work more cohesively and efficiently.

(844 words)

References

Dunne A & Raby F (2013) Speculative Everything : Design, Fiction, and Social Dreaming, MIT Press, Cambridge.

Harper H (2018) The Stages of Group Formation, and how they Aid Your Teams Success, WorkStyle. https://www.workstyle.io/stages-of-team-development

Tran D (2016) 6 Shows That Perfectly Combine Tech and Text, AMERICAN THEATRE. https://www.americantheatre.org/2016/07/06/6-shows-that-perfectly-combine-tech-and-text/

Week 7:

COMM2627 – Week 7 Blogpost (Written Reflection)

Week 8:

COMM2627 – Week 8 Blogpost (Written Reflection)

Week 9:

COMM2627 – Week 9 Blogpost (Written Reflection)

Week 10:

COMM2627 – Week 10 Blogpost (Written Reflection)

Week 11:

COMM2627 – Week 11 Blogpost (Written Reflection)

Week 12:

COMM2627 – Week 12 Blogpost (Written Reflection)