Old Sole – Real to Reel

From my studio, a work that I engaged with was Old Sole, a film by Chiara and Tallulah. A key idea that I thought was expressed well in this documentary was using observation filming techniques in just watching what happens when shooting a setting in its entirety to capture not just the little details that happens in Mattia’s work day which the viewers may be unfamiliar with, but also it humanised the setting where to Mattia, it is a place for him to continue working on his passion. This documentary also captured the spontaneity of Mattia revealing himself and expressing his own thoughts and concerns with his career and the future of it as in the first half the video, it kept the diegetic sounds to add depth in showing off traditional craft and trade of Mattia’s in repairing shoes as well as his concerns about a sustainable future. Afterwards it then changed to a more upbeat and happy tone where it transitioned to Mattia talking more about his family in generations of the cobbler trade. These sequences even the build up to them in the documentary was playful in the chronological order of events where it had contrasts with the old or older being the long history of the cobbler trade and Mattia’s family and relating it to the future in the sustainability for shoes and the future career of Mattia’s son and Mattia’s thoughts on him continuing or discontinuing the family’s legacy of being a cobbler.

Life Of The Funeral  – Real to Reel

Another work from my studio that I watched in depth for the reflection task was Life of the Funeral by Dylan. This documentary was about Erin’s thoughts and reflection of having a career as an embalmer and mortician. The interview structure was engaging and creative in that it  encapsulated the mysterious and suspenseful tone which was used throughout the documentary. This suspense is also utilised in the hook being at the very start where it elicits curiosity from the viewers perspective in wondering what is this job that Erin really wanted that they finally got. Since it would have been very difficult and almost unethical to show the type of work that Erin does for a living, I thought the poetic mode of documentary used by Dylan was great in capturing shots that matched with the underlying suspenseful type of music used throughout to paint an overall picture with emotions and reflection of Erin and her thoughts. Dylan’s use of observational filming and recording Erin working from home as well as the surroundings of where she lives was effective in that these shots worked and made sense and logic with what Erin was talking about. Another important element in this work which really enhanced it was the sound design. Despite the tone of music being relatively consistent, it was also dynamic in that it heightened the intensity and disturbing aspect of being in the same room as people who have passed away as well as the possibility of spirits and ghosts after death and being around Erin as she works. 

As Blue As The Ocean – Thinking With Pictures 

Outside of Real to Reel, a work that I engaged with was Ahrin Tapat’s essay film titled As Blue as the Ocean for the studio Thinking with Pictures. Drawing upon abstract meanings and associations in nature,natural elements or themes is another idea or concept I thought that was communicated in the film. In this case it is the ocean being apart of our daily life and even our dreams. A key idea that I think Ahrin communicated and implemented into this essay film in relation to his studio was the consistency and variation in visuals across the film. Different hues and saturations of blue are used throughout which represent different time periods in life from transitioning from a child to becoming an adult. I thought in particular the almost teal colours used represented nostalgia and remembering moments of being a child and young. The dark blues similar to a deep ocean blue to me represented conflict or difficult times and challenges that occur when growing up. Towards the second half of the film, these blues were used together which may represent the present it that even though there are challenging times, there are also memorable moments that are experienced as well. 

From my studio, a piece of work that I engaged with was Elsa and Kai Tong’s experimental video titled Hurt. As described in the synopsis it showcases the emotions of growing up with already experienced injuries prior. This is conveyed through providing the inanimate objects with a facet of being a living thing with items being the mandarin and the egg. Throughout the video with the use of poetic techniques such as close ups, it created a disturbing tone as it focused on how these items get injured and have their shell ripped apart but, at times, also showcased intimate scenes with these items getting repaired. I really enjoyed how Elsa and Kaitong also used split screens to convey the explosive list in how these items can get hurt over and over again as well as how they become temporarily fixed and also contrasting between getting fixed and becoming ripped apart. Towards the later half I thought the change in colour towards purple definitely changed the tone of the video as it enhanced its disturbing tone in the close ups creating a dark type of tone and emphasising the hurt these items experience. Even though not a lot of layering audio was used , it allowed more attention to the visuals which I thought was very effective so the audience can focus on thinking more about how what is shown makes sense to them. The question “Are you still you” ended the video well and in an engaging way where it made me question myself to what I just saw as well as trying to find the similarities with the items being broken but then repaired again.  

Another work that I engaged with from my studio was the video titled To Verb made by Jason Jia, Ziyi Ning and Charlotte Duanmu.Throughout To Verb, it took note and showcased mainly through split screen the details in the perspective of the authors as well activities of the mundane with a prompt being a verb . The stock motion in one of the shots was quite clever as it really accentuated  the details of the verb being crumpled and its action on the item. The split screen gathered a list of different perspectives to be shown expressing the authors thinking about the verb and their relation to it. Towards the 2nd chapter of the video the camera angle movements became more dynamic and engaging with being accompanied by audio. The sound effects were also successful in  enhancing the visuals in creating a disturbing and unpleasant feeling and almost exposing the dark side of what these verbs can do to items. Whilst chapter 1 and 2 had someone saying the verb the audio and visuals were based on, the 3rd chapter removed which was a successful technique in making me contemplate more about the visuals even more with the type of verb they were trying to portray. 

For the studio Deconstructing and Reconstructing genre, a video I watched was Spiral made by Annabel Cohen, Sarah Menegon and Courtney Joyce. A key idea to me that this video was trying to convey was of the horror, thriller type of genre where a repetitive cycle and loop of  the main character who is living in isolation and by herself . She is also repeatedly shown to be in bed with watching the news reports of a murder which overtime i found out that it was actually her.  The dark color tones and the distorted audio varying in pitch highlighted the loneliness the main character is living in but later developed into emphasising and reflecting her evil intentions. With the use of repetition in audio and visual effects and consistent use of colours, it definitely was successful in conveying the endless cycle the murderer is living in and that she does not want to leave it and instead embraces. This is especially shown when she is happily holding a vinyl and a glass of wine as if that is her coping mechanism to not feel guilty in murdering people as compared to the start where she is in blue lighting emphasising her loneliness with her looking sad and hunched over.

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