Analysis Reflection #2 Question 1

It certainly gave off a strong atmosphere, one of sobriety (apart from the shot of the boys drinking). The woman in the armchair was a very interesting character in her opinion of her own mortality, and that she had chose to move to Broken Hill to knowingly die someday. It was a little shocking, yet refreshing to hear about someone talk about their life view so openly.

The woman and her dog, and the middle aged man both gave off similar vibes of contentedness that helped contribute to the film’s honest mood.  Though I’ve never been to Broken Hill myself, it’s depiction seemed genuine, even if tinged by a creative use of abstract music to amplify that feeling. The camerawork, while a little shaky, I feel worked well with this view of a town that is a little unnerving in it’s remoteness.

Though I’m struggling to recall much more about the piece, I do feel the inclusion of the young men drinking detracted from the strength of the film’s overall atmosphere. Bar this one choice, the film was enthralling to watch in it’s disconcertingly honest characters and barren landscape. The opening and ending shots were especially pleasant, and a nice clean way to open and close the film visually, and thematically.

Film-TV2 | Analysis Reflection #1 Question 5

Cars, Trams, Birds, Footsteps, Cash Registers. The sounds came out surprisingly clear, considering the noise levels in the CBD. I like the footsteps in particular, because they are sounds that are familiar, but never really foregrounded. It is quite a satisfying sound. The beeping Cash Registers was a good one too, Carl’s idea, because the beeping sound is synonymous with grocery stores and so suggests a vivid image of the queue at one.

Together these sounds might portray a crowded, busy city space, particularly because of the noise level present in each. They might be improved by simply a less sensitive gain setting though, to better isolate each sound. At the same time though, this could reduce the oppressive atmosphere of noise audible.

Film-TV2 | Analysis Reflection #1 Question 4

I was definitely confused right from the start. The dissonant voices caught me off guard, and at first I thought something was wrong with the recording, or I had broken my computer. After I’d realised this was part of the recording, I tried to listen to each voice alone, but this was made hard by the alternating levels of each voice. When Gould himself starts speaking it was a relief to hear a dominant voice. As a hook, the opening seemed confusing.

Listening to Gould’s voiceover was much more pleasant and his script proved to be a lot more engaging than the strange opening soundscape. The following narration by the other participants was just as interesting, like a well told story. In that way it seemed delightfully simple a piece, and thus easy to follow along.

Film-TV2 | Analysis Reflection #1 Question 3

Drinking For England excerpt was very interesting to watch. The use of music and scripted shots helped accentuate the drama of the man’s alcoholism in a poetic way, and it may have just been me, but the use of the pub as an interview and filming setting seemed to create a particularly british mood, perhaps pertaining to a broader alcoholism issue throughout Britain? The setting conveyed the sense of honesty too though, the pub having connotations of honesty and genuinity, which helped drive the responses of the main participant.

Film-TV2 | Analysis Reflection #1 Question 2

Much like my goals from Film-TV1, I’d like to learn practical and theoretical skills to apply to coursework, and my own work. However, with the stuff I learned last semester, there is more potential to experiment and delve deeper into those skills. I’d certainly like to take charge on a project, rather than simply contribute, and moreso guide a creative vision.

At the same time I’d love to get behind the camera for a documentary; the prospect of filming on the front lines, as it were, is a lot more exciting than drama where the filming is choreographed. Though saying that, by the sounds of it so far, documentary still requires plenty of knowledge and research beforehand, so rather than just filming everything, you film the most important things.

Overall I’d simply like to commit to the process of producing a documentary I can be happy with.

Final Analysis Reflection (Reviews)

Budgerigar was my favourite film of the night. The absurdity of it was hilarious, and the technical competence of the footage only served to make it all the more enjoyable; it was incredibly well shot. I can’t think of anything that could be changed because it was excellent as it is.

I also really enjoyed Getting By as it had a wonderful opening sequence. The slow pacing of it along with the music made it a very tasteful and emotive opening for the character. Though, I remember seeing a preview of this film where the music was a little louder, and in this version the music was almost inaudible, and personally I found the slightly louder music added to the mood of the opening sequence.

I think it may have been A Love Lost that I’m thinking of (with the voiceover of the man getting out of bed and making breakfast?) that was quite good, but I feel like without a voiceover the entire sequence would have been much more powerful. With a voice dictating the background of this character my attention was drawn away from the shots to listen to it, which all seemed very emotive in themselves. Apart from that this was quite a moving piece.
I thought Sliced was very amusing, if a little confusing. I feel like it would have been a lot funnier had it been more evident that the character’s life was being seriously affected by this addiction (there was definitely a lot of opportunity for visual gags like the toaster scene).

Final Analysis Reflection

I started the semester very ambitious about learning as much as I could from the course, and applying it to work outside of University. I certainly feel as though I achieved this for the first half of the semester, but the biggest challenge was the introduction of the Film-TV film project which had me writing a script – something I had never done before – as well as assisting with Producer duties. I ended up focusing a lot of my energy on this project which led me to neglect a lot of my other work involved in the course. It was tough and though I didn’t pay enough attention to the overall material in the course I was satisfied with the final outcome. The main thing I got out of it by the end was not particularly the skills involved in creating and producing a short film, but being able to apply all of the skills required in such a short time frame to have it run smoothly. I think the main thing I could improve on looking back is just asking more questions, as I could have been more inquisitive about exactly what duties a producer needs to take out.

‘Shaped By Time’ | Korsakow Film & Critical Statement

Shaped By Time by Anita Ganju, Thomas Hatchman, Alan Chiew, and Jake Baldwin 
Download via Dropbox link (FTP server unavailable from University network)
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/0aum3ejqy5ay481/AABCHWqat4UeWHQj4IUaMJ8la

Critical Statement

This Korsakow film is a conceptually driven piece, which aims to explore the human experience of the aging process. Shaped by Time uses mini-narratives that follow unidentified characters to portray a fatalistic attitude that, with age, people are gradually confined into their lives – socially, physically and structurally. The film adopts elements of a traditional three-act structure in the sense that the audience is obliged to experience each act separately, and in chronological order. However, due to the database structure of the Korsakow program, the film does not rely on the same cause and effect chain that a conventional narrative would. Ultimately, Shaped By Time has aimed to present an alternative linear narrative within the database format, by embracing the “absence of plot” (Shields 2011, p.324) that can be experienced with interactive documentaries. According to creative nonfiction writer David Shields, a lack of storyline “leaves the reader room to think about other things” (2011, p.324), which hence describes Shaped By Time ’s intended engagement with its audience. Whilst Shaped By Time embraces the “collage” (Shields 2011, p.314) structure within each act, the overall linearity and strict chronological structure of the film contradicts Shield’s concept of the “literary mosaic” (2011, p.334). This is accomplished by forcing the user to experience the film from its beginning to a predetermined end, thus enforcing the “resolution and conclusion”, which according to Shields, is “inherent in a plot-driven narrative” (2011, p. 318). This has been achieved through the technical manipulation of the SNU rating of each clip as well as the key words used. In keeping with the film’s central theme, each act represents a specific age range, with transitional clips that serve as abstract ellipses so as to not disorientate the audience with the jumps in time. Similarly, each act relies on its own pattern and design elements, whilst maintaining overall pattern-based consistencies such as the sole use of close-ups, the limited 10-15 second time limit of each clip and the visual focus of each clip on shapes – as the film has assumed a perspective from the experience of shapes in everyday life, thus symbolizing the idea of our lives being ‘shaped’ by time.

The audience is guided into act one of the film with the first transitional clip of a hand flipping through pages of sketches that each depict certain stages of life, until stopping on a simple sketch of a child. The contextual significance of all of the transitional clips is their reflection of the conceptual impermanence of life and the inevitability of the ageing process. The symbolism of both the faint, apathetic sketches and the fast flipping of the pages, represents the evanescence of life, as each clip shows a transient progression into the confinement of old age. In terms of pattern, these clips are vital to the structure of the piece and subsequently the user’s awareness of the film’s linearity. These transitional clips also add texture to the piece, as they are colourless, static shots that use basic shapes to depict the figures of a human – from birth to old age. This was done so to separate them from the primary content, yet to also draw the audience’s attention to the significance of their role within the film, thus allowing users to experience the film as one collaborative piece. For example, the final clip of a sketch of an old man in a wheelchair being torn from the notepad is used to end the film. These clips represent the driving concept of the film and keep the audience on a chronological track. Moreover, from a technical standpoint, the transitional clips have been used to move between thematically determined in and out key words that lead the user through the predetermined three-act-structure.

Thus, it is evident, that the initial transitional clip alerts the audience to the point in the narrative’s life span that the first act is exploring. Youth. Users are free to explore each clip in this act. 10-15 second clips have been taken from the first person perspective, outdoors in a playground and indoors in a playroom. The content of the clips are based around the idea of leisure, as the character explores the narrative spaces around him with liberal camera movement in brightly lit, colour-saturated environment. The cinematographic qualities of these clips have been matched through the use of the ‘Maven’ filter that was applied to the clip via the image sharing application ‘Instagram’. This application was used to constrain the sizes and overall format of all of the videos used in the film, so as to maintain the collaborative nature of the work. When observing the patterns within the ‘Youth’ act, it is evident that each clip, within the playground scene, is initially based around abstractly shaped playground equipment. Through the manipulation of key words within the film, the audience is allowed the freedom of having a great number of options to choose from in terms of progressing through the scene. This structural liberty aims to compliment the concept of spacial and social freedom that is embodied by the clips. Similarly, a variety of shapes, such as rectangles, squares and circles have been used when designing the thumbnails of clips that surround the SNU, to again reflect the creative freedoms of childhood. This is further supported by the interface design, which clearly lends itself to the aesthetic presence of the film and correlates with the interactive user’s intangible experience. More specifically, this refers to the clips being scrambled and potentially overwhelming, which in conjunction with the variety of shapes, aims to create a sense of boundlessness for the users, as each clip seems to be “competing for a place” within the scene (Shields 2011, p. 316). The second transitional clip to guide users out of the youth act has been given the lowest SNU rating in order to allow users to experience all, or at least the majority of the clips from this section before moving onto the second act; a technique that has been applied to each act.

The second section of the film introduces users to a less fragmented world of structure and detail. It is clinical and restrained, and the shapes are sharp and direct, there are also less of them. These aesthetic patterns aim to reflect a loss of freedom from the last act, with more definitive occupational and recreational focuses that indicate the stage of life that is now being depicted: middle-aged adulthood. In contrast to the first section, where the shapes are larger and rounder, here they are smaller and more detailed. The film is now indoors, and footage frames life with a sense of confinement. The shots in this section of the film are office and apartment based, focusing on shapes that are thematically focused and aim to convey a sense of structure and control. For example, the office-based videos focus on office items such as circular posters, square calendars and computer keyboard buttons. The reduced pace of this act creates a controlled rhythmic pattern, which works with the interface design to symbolize a significant loss of freedom. For the user, this is experienced through the content as well as the actual interaction, with the reduction of thumbnail options provided on the interface. The juxtaposition created between the shots in the first act and the second act is vital in expressing the overall meaning of the film as a montage (Shields 2011). The reduction in vibrancy of colour contrasts, pace of film, thumbnail options and spacial freedoms all work to emphasize the film’s idea that we become confined into our lives with the passing of time.

In an attempt to further this concept, the third act explores the final stage of life. Old age. This act has a more focused narrative then the previous acts, representing the idea that life has slowed down. Suggestions of confinement and entrapment can be identified in the scene located in a chemotherapy day unit. Cancer, as a chronic illness, in conjunction with chemotherapy treatment are both associated with repetitive routine, restriction and an intangible slowing down of life. Cancer is commonly associated with the ageing process, and Shaped By Time has honed in on the psychological, social and physically imprisoning experience of such an illness that is often felt by elderly people, to emphasize the key concept of the film. In terms of pattern, clearly defined shapes and the intense focus on simple moments within each clip aim to limit visual exploration, yet heighten the abstract meanings being conveyed by each clip. Similarly, the choreography of each clip creates a measured rhythm with carefully considered actions, presenting a limited perspective. For example, the clip showing the elderly man’s hands opening the packaged sandwich uses a simple action to express the character’s sense of entrapment and inability to function freely within his controlled environment. This restrictiveness is further emphasized through the user’s interaction with the film. The interface design, in this final act, restricts the audience through the limited number of thumbnails that appear with each SNU. The user is also encouraged to feel a sense of depletion through the image of the dying tree in the background of the third act. Again, the meaning of this image is founded through the juxtaposition through the images used in the first two acts. The audience is presented with a saturated image of a healthy tree in the first act, which was reduced to a more trimmed back tree in the second act, and thus allowing this final tree serves to indicate to the audience the key notion that age limits any living creature’s inability to interact with the world around it as freely as it once could. Each clip in the third act express their messages metaphorically, more than thematically, as they are representing a stage of life, yet are also indicating to the audience that this is the finale of the narrative – this is the emotional and conceptual place that Shaped By Time will leave its audience.

“By incorporating materials that are inextricably linked to the realities of daily life, the collage artist establishes an immediate identification, both real and imagined, between the viewer and the work of art” (Shields 2011, p. 364). Shaped By Time has aimed to frame the human experience of ageing within typical social and physical environments in order to create a relatable experience, for users. The actions and visuals of each clip represent Shield’s notion of the ‘real’, yet it is the orchestration of this linear collage that aims to express the imagined –the theoretical ideals regarding the intangible experience of ageing from the perspective of western modernity. It is interesting to note, the perspective we took, as filmmakers, did not involve our current stage of life. Consequently, the film portrays a subjectively, and thus potentially distorted, interpretation of an age that has been (youth) and the ages that are yet to come. This distortion of reality through the “assemblage” (Shields 2011, p.359) of each act, intends to encourage the interactive user to actively engage in a contemplative manner.

References 
Shields, D 2011, ‘Reality Hunger: A Manifesto’, Vintage, Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, New York

Premiere Shortcuts

The V shortcut to change to the select tool has been extremely useful when changing from any other tool to make moving clips around on the timeline much faster. Likewise, Alt+Scroll I’ve found is very handy when it comes to the fine tuning of cuts, allowing you to zoom in and out with precision to make cuts that might be even single frames long.

Coen Brothers Clip

Though I haven’t seen this film, the edits in this scene seem to place a focus on the props that propel the action. Between the main back and forth shot for the conversation between the characters, the first alternative cut is to the fish placed on the table, then the lighter, then an over the shoulder showing more fish. This seems to suggest a significance to the lighter as it remains hidden from view until it’s owner leaves the scene.

Visual cuts in conversation happen as a character speaks rather than between lines, which maintains a smoother pace of the exchange. Like the props, particular character actions are shown as close ups such as putting a document in the safe, putting out the cigarette in the opulent bookend, pulling a gun out their pocket, pushing the money across the table, which contribute to a heightened awareness and tension of the action.