A Palette Full of Emotion on Vimeo.
This studio was extremely insightful in terms of learning different techniques to engage an audience and also continuously challenge myself to learn techniques on Premiere Pro that I may not have acquired previously. Screen Lab allowed me to be experimental and abstract and dive into a technical world I wasn’t comfortable with. I gained practice and experience throughout this studio, while also maintaining the ability to work within a time frame for a large scale client. I followed briefs and articulated my process through contributing to blog posts weekly.
In terms of the final work, I collaborated with Julia, Tully and Bailey. We found common interest in all wanting to establish a short film that explored the use of colour in film. A key concern we wanted to address was how we can make this film educational through cinematic techniques. I believe our final work A Palette Full of Emotion communicates this concern and engages its audience though our aim of it being easily digested through choice of film and audio. This allows the work to be understood by ACMI’s diverse audience. Restrictive elements, including time limit had to be addressed in order to make sure we had the right amount of visuals and audio, so our final production educated its viewer. The end product had to take our audience on a harmonious journey while simultaneously briefing the viewers about the psychology behind colour interconnected with emotion.
After debates and research of previous approaches to how people address colour in film, we decided on taking a cinematic approach. We hoped with this method it would keep our audience engaged until the end credits.
Research videos
I believe every project has room to develop and improve. Core things I would focus on if I were to keep working on this piece and screen it somewhere else is to extend the time restrictions. With 2 minutes, it was difficult to include information and tell a narrative at the same time. It restricted how much theory detail we could input in our final, so with extra time we could thoroughly educate our viewers. I would also experiment more with sound, including sound track for the final production. This would change to a softer, less cinematic sound that calms the viewer when watching a different media piece. Another method I wanted to take was the transitions between clips, and the story it told. I wanted to start specifically at red and flow through the film as if it was going through a rainbow, eg. orange, yellow, green, blue, violet. In my mind it would just be a light projection display with either sci-fi or soft poetic music looping through each level of colour, not necessarily focusing on emotion but telling a story in itself. However, I am still pleased with the topic we focused on for our final film.
Production Assets:
When starting the pre-production process, there were key considerations within our group. Firstly, we analysed the prompts and contextualised the studio prompt, brief and aims for our final film. We devised an idea which responded to ACMI’s industry-related video brief. As a group, we extensively researched films and television that explored emotion through the use of a colour palette. This topic was chosen as it was visually engaging and educational with a soft approach. Using visual, educational and audio components, we began our process of pre-production. At the beginning, the topic was still broad so in order to refine our topic, we delegated each other roles to maintain consistency.
Team Roles
Collaboration was a critical part of the production steps as we were working as a larger group. Communication and input was what we relied on. However, due to the restrictions of Covid-19, at times it was difficult to find a balance between work and personal lives. We sometimes struggled to call together to discuss ideas. This also posed a challenge when we hit the editing stage, but with use of Microsoft Teams, we were able to accumulate all of our research and findings in one place. This allowed anyone to catch up or contribute when necessary. With classes online, we were able to present and consult Cat when we needed and receive relevant feedback from our peers. As a group, we developed a foundation of research. Our concept stemmed from the research from Andrew Kennedy (2014), which suggests that human psychology shows evidence that specific colour schemes denote specific emotions which impact the way in which the viewer perceives the film. From here, we began developing a script and curating a list of films that were going to be featured in the final production. Our script involved dialogue and included the films and the year they were released. This acted as documentation and ensured we covered all creative theories of our film.
Script
We developed both an in-depth storyboard and generic storyboard, that allowed us to collaboratively work and pan out which films fit accordingly. Using the program Miro allowed us to comment, sticky note, subtitle, brainstorm and more. This was very practical and reinforced our vision to piece together how the final production would look. Using this app promoted collaborative work immensely which was a beneficial element in the production steps.
Storyboard on Miro – link
Story board on Canva
Additionally, on Miro, we conceptualised ideas for our title. This began with discussing our topic, colour and eventually extending it into different texts. After discussion, we landed on ‘A Palette Full of Emotion’. This played on the idea of a colour palette, which was our main focal point and how it conveys emotions to its audience.
Title ideas on Miro.
From Week 11, we began our production phase. As there was no B-Roll footage being used, we curated an extensive list of films, which involved time-codes of Youtube videos and dates of release. From there, Bailey who is our editor, assembled clips that reflected our script.
Screen cap from our final production
For final production, it was important we followed the ACMI title guide. This required us to ensure our lower third attributes were in the font Fakt Pro for the movie title and PX Grotesk for directors names. The start of our film commences with an explosion of colour, followed by a fast paced transition of films that exude a vast palette. It then slows down into a more categorical timeline as we discuss the psychology behind each colour. Audio is a huge element in our final video. Using a fast paced, heavy drum rhythm builds up the way our film pans out. Films transitioning on the screen, many well known, and some attracted to specific audiences. We deliberately offered a wide variety of films so individuals would recognise at least one film. From action, romance, to animated films, we embedded them all to enhance our inclusivity.
Reflection of Week 9 Presentation:
History of the POV shot: Aileen & Cassandra
I decided to choose ‘The History of the POV shot’ because it is something I am aware of but haven’t acknowledged when I watch film and television. Aileen and Cassandra successfully educated me in an aesthetic manner on types of POV shots and the history behind it. An element I found interesting was the reasoning behind using the POV shot. From placing the viewer in the centre of action to contributing to emotional engagement. It made consider what movies I enjoy that use this technique. This presentation was set out immaculately with a large curated list of films that use the POV shot, as well as using their own creative direction to film scenes of themselves. They address the history, context and an analysis which implies they have thoroughly researched this topic and responded to the brief of creating an engaging and educational industry video for ACMI. I look forward to seeing their final production in the coming weeks.
Reference:
Kennedy, A., 2014, The Effect of Colour on Emotions in Animated Film, Open Access Theses. 201. https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/open_access_theses/201
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