Reflection: lonely

In this clip, we chose to get Tom to sit by himself on the steps, while everyone else walks past. To emphasise his loneliness, we start out with a tighter shot, before slowly zooming out to reveal that he is sitting on his own.

Initially, we filmed with less nose room, but I decided that it seemed quite odd, so I cropped it in post. Apart from that, I also originally used “All By Myself” by Eric Carmen for the background music because I felt that it ticked all the right boxes. However, I realised that, firstly, it is not copyright-free, and secondly, the song has recently been used for more comedic purposes (although, while still evoking emotions of loneliness). Just as an example of this, it was used in an episode of FRIENDS, when Joey moved out of Chandler’s apartment. As such, I went with a different solemn-sounding song (Suzuki’s Theme by Endless Love) found on the YouTube audio library.

On top of that, I wanted to add the sense that this clip was set in a time period without as much technology as today, so that the character could not simply look at his phone for company, or an instant remedy to his loneliness. As such, I used a faded film filter, as well as an analogue overlay (from Motion Array) to achieve this look. The original version has a warm tone to it, but I felt that it was not necessary, and I preferred a cooler tone for the clip (to reiterate loneliness), so I took the saturation of the overlay down.

Subsequently, I feel that we could have tried to zoom out more smoothly so that the audience would not be suddenly made aware of the technology.

Word count: 291 words

reflection: watched

For this clip, we decided to shoot from the point of view of the stalker. We felt that this was the best way to convey the idea that Levi is being watched, hence the shaky camera work. Getting into the character of the stalker, we hid behind a group of plants, but made sure that we shot at an angle whereby Levi could still mostly be seen. We then zoomed in to his face – I feel that this shot effectively tells the audience that the stalker is watching Levi specifically.

One thing I would have done differently is to stay in that same position and zooming further into this face there, instead of moving across the plants. This is because moving across the plants resulted in the clip having a significant amount of time where only the plants could be seen, and the audience would get bored rather quickly. To add on, it would be awkward to cut out the aforementioned part of the clip in post, as there will be an awkward jump cut, which is very jarring.

Another thing I think we could have done to improve the clip, is to film Levi walking down the street and turning back once in awhile, while we walked behind him and hid behind a nearby object whenever he turns to look. However, due to time constraints, we were not able to carry this out.

In post-production, I used a mysterious-sounding track (A Ghost Town by Quincas Moreira) that is similar to those used in Western action movies. I feel that this gives the sense that someone is about to attack (or be attacked).

Word count: 274 words

lonely

Watched

Reflection FOR “HAPPY” VALENTINE’S DAY

“Happy” Valentine’s Day is a short romantic-drama film, created as a response to the iconic toothbrush scene chick flick Bring it On. Inspired by the infamous Saint Valentine’s Day massacres, I decided to inject a touch of murder into the clip, featuring a jealous third-party female. Said character is the former love interest of the main male character. Knowing that her ex-boyfriend is currently spending time with his new girlfriend on Valentine’s Day, she gets upset and vents her anger. Meanwhile, the couple wakes up and they begin their morning routine by brushing their teeth together. Knowing this, the jealous ex-girlfriend sneaks into their apartment, finds a knife, and proceeds to the bathroom to stab the girl.

Initially, I planned on having the camera follow the jealous ex-girlfriend’s movements for the stabbing. Unfortunately, I had to scrap the idea as, after a few takes, I realised that the camera could be seen in the mirror due to the angle. However, I still wanted to achieve the effect of “being watched”, so I placed the camera such that the bathroom doors were clearly framing the subject as if someone was right outside the bathroom.

I also wanted to convey to the audience that the girlfriend would be stabbed, without having to show what happened, so I filmed the ex-girlfriend’s stabbing motion and cut to black in the middle, enhancing it with a scream and a stabbing sound effect. Watching it back, I feel like I (acting as the girlfriend) could have reacted to seeing the ex-girlfriend coming into the bathroom, as it would seem more realistic had I noticed her in the mirror.

Apart from that, I wish that I had taken more angles for the toothbrush scene, but due to the size constraints of the bathroom, other angles seemed unsightly and unfeasible.