Category Archives: Uncategorized

Assignment 4 Golden Age Cinema

Posted on by
Reply

Still Here_FINAL_Compressed.mp4

Still Here_FINAL_Vimeo720p.mp4

‘Still Here’ Reflection 

What I Gained from the Studio 

This studio gave me a deeper understanding of how cinematic storytelling can be used to explore emotional experiences in ways that go beyond surface-level drama with my experience being mostly horror. It was good to branch out. Our short film, Still Here, was created to capture the emotional tension that lingers when grief remains unresolved not through heavy-handed exposition or genre clichés, but through the small, domestic moments of everyday life. At first glance, the film seems to be about a couple bickering in their apartment. But as the narrative unfolds, it becomes clear that Casey is a ghost, and the argument is actually a manifestation of their frustration with the situation and inability to let go.

The aim of our film was to connect with audiences through subtlety and realism. Rather than framing Casey’s ghost as frightening, we approached his presence with emotional warmth and sadness. This aligned with what Susan Hayward (2000) describes as cinema’s ability to “speak through images and mood,” allowing space for personal reflection and layered meaning. Our hope was that viewers would relate to the way grief can haunt everyday life and how something as simple as a dirty kitchen can carry the weight of someone no longer being there.

If we were to continue developing Still Here, there are several aspects we’d want to improve or build upon. The ghost element, while emotionally strong, could be enhanced with more visual and sound design  such as Casey’s absence in reflections, or he’s interactions being more distant with Alex. With more time and resources, we’d also refine the pacing of the final scenes to deepen the emotional payoff. Expanding the narrative beyond the final couch scene might allow us to explore how Alex begins the process of healing.

This studio encouraged me to trust subtle storytelling and showed me how effective careful cinematography, sound, and editing can be in communicating internal experiences. In many ways, our film embodies what Jason Mittell (2020) identifies as “prestige television” aesthetics: emotionally complex, slow-burning, and character-driven. We aimed for the same tone in a short format  minimalist, but something felt.

Making the Film: Development to Post

Development and Pre-Production

The idea for Still Here began as a short sketch in our idea draft, a passive-aggressive fight between two partners that ends with the reveal that one of them is a ghost. This basic concept gave us a lot to work with. From the start, we wanted the story to feel grounded and relatable, with hints of something deeper beneath the surface. The tone was inspired by character-driven dramas that slowly shift into something more surreal, similar to the kinds of subtle genre blends discussed by Cable (2007), who outlines how emotional storytelling can be layered within everyday realism.

In our early writing sessions, we developed Casey and Alex as opposites. Casey was structured, clean, and careful  traits that, in life, might have been annoying to Alex, but in death become symbols of everything she’s lost. Alex, on the other hand, is chaotic, unstructured, and emotionally avoidant. This character dynamic shaped everything  from our script to our set design.

The pre-production phase involved scripting, shot planning, casting, and preparing logistics. We created a detailed Shot List and used the Call Sheet to organise our filming day. Our location, a Docklands apartment that was Laura’s mothers, was selected because it felt like a real lived-in space. As Babbar (2024) argues, the evolution of cinema has always relied on creating believable environments that support character-driven narratives, and we used this principle to guide our production design.

We paid special attention to the opening montage. These scenes  of Casey and Alex eating together, dancing while cleaning, folding laundry were shot with warm light and smooth editing to create a feeling of comfort and routine. This “normal/happy” was key to setting up the emotional contrast that happens.

Production

Filming took place on May 9th. We followed a clear schedule outlined in our Production Timeline, allowing us to manage time and energy across the shoot. Our team included Yusuf Abas (Director), Zara Carter (Producer), Laura Sanigorski (DOP), and Hao Wen (/Editor), along with actors Rosie Hanna and Michael Percival.

The shoot went smoothly overall, though we had to adjust a few scenes based on lighting and actor availability. One of the challenges was keeping the “ghost logic” consistent. For example, we made sure that Casey never physically interacted with anything after the montage. His distance from objects  and from Alex  helped build the sense of absence.

We also used space in careful ways. In scenes where tension rises, we placed Casey slightly off-centre or framed him alone in wide shots. This visual separation supported the emotional distance between the characters and hinted at his ghostly nature, without needing to say it outright. This use of space reflects what Irshad Ahead (2024) describes as the “shadow play” of Golden Age cinema  where absence and presence are played off each other visually rather than literally.

Post-Production

Editing allowed us to sharpen the emotional pacing of the film. The first third of the film is filled with movement and sound  characters talking, music playing, objects being used. But as Casey’s ghostly state becomes clearer, the pacing slows, the shots linger, and the background noise fades. This change was intentional and supported by Hao Wen’s sound design. Moments of silence were often more effective than music or dialogue, giving the audience time to feel what was happening.

The Colour Grading process was also essential Laura headed this supported by Hao Wen. We began with warmer burnt orange tones to reflect comfort and intimacy. As tension grew, we shifted to black white and greys to show that contrast had changed emotionally. According to Lyons (2020), colour and tone in modern streaming television often reflect emotional journeys, particularly in stories about memory and personal loss. This approach directly influenced how we treated the visual tone of our film.

Some of our best editing choices were simple: letting a shot run a second longer, or fading out the sound just before a key line. These techniques created mood and meaning without over-explaining anything and helped us keep a scene longer without ruining it with extra dialogue that was meaningless.

One of my favorite moments is the bedscene. Alex leans her head toward Casey’s space, but they don’t touch. That space between them  that emotional gap, says more than any line could. It’s the moment where she starts to accept he’s gone, even if she’s not ready to say goodbye yet.

Collaboration

This film was very much a team effort. Our group worked well together, and each person brought their strengths to the project. I had a vision for performance and blocking. Zara was highly organised, keeping production on track and supporting everyone. Laura’s cinematography helped shape the visual style, and Hao Wen was on Boom capturing sound. I contributed mosty during preproduction and production , only providing feedback during post-production.

We had creative disagreements, especially about how “ghostly” to make Casey. Some of us wanted to make it obvious  using effects like Casey disappearing in a mirror while some wanted a softer, more emotional approach. In the end, we all agreed on the softer emotional approach removing the supernatural element down to a fade out. We didn’t overdo the supernatural, which kept the focus on the emotional story.

Throughout the semester, our class activities helped us practice these skills. Previous assignments being on camera framing, movement, tone, and editing all became tools we used in our final shoot. Watching other groups ideas and presentation also helped us reflect on our own process. Seeing the variety of approaches in class gave us confidence that there wasn’t just one way to tell a good story.

 

Reflection on Peer Presentation 

One of the standout pitches from Week 9 was Lazy Susan by Group 6. Although the film wasn’t completed yet, their concept was clear, well-developed, and visually strong. Set around a family dinner in an Asian household, the project used the rotating Lazy Susan as a central metaphor, representing cycles of communication, tension, and cultural tradition.

Their intention to reflect personal cultural experiences through a prestige cinema lens was particularly compelling. Drawing inspiration from high-quality family dramas, the group focused on subtle character dynamics and unspoken tension. Their plan to use long takes, emotional dialogue reminded me of the visual storytelling techniques we used in Still Here, especially in scenes where mood and silence carried emotional weight.

Even without a finished product in mind, the group’s focus on emotional realism and visual symbolism was clear. Their pitch showed a strong understanding of how domestic space and performance can speak volumes, a quality we also aimed for in our own work. It was a thoughtful and grounded concept that, once realised, will likely be very moving and relatable.

Reference List

  • Ahead, 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.
  • Cable, C. (2007). Two modes of prestige film. Screen, 48(3), 291–311. https://doi.org/10.1093/screen/hjm017
  • Hayward, S. (2000). Cinema studies: Key concepts (2nd ed.). Routledge.
  • Lyons, S. (2020). A streaming comes across the sky: Peak TV and the fate of nostalgia. Flow Journal: A Critical Forum on Media and Culture, 26(5), 1–6. https://www.flowjournal.org/2020/05/streaming-nostalgia/
  • Mittell, J. (2020). Better Call SaulThe prestige spinoff. In E. Thompson & J. Mittell (Eds.), How to watch television (2nd ed., pp. 13–21). New York University Press.

Assignment 2

Posted on by
Reply

Link to videos numbered 1-3  Media Factory Blog

SUBVERTING NARRATIVE STRUCTURES   (1)

This being the first short film we decided to reverse the three-act structure around having the end of the journey start at the beginning. By having the resolution at the beginning, we are subverting the way the story is being delivered and watched by the audience. We also wanted to make it relatively anticlimactic but also confusing to the audience about what the concept is (of course leaving it up to them). We began with spinning the camera at the train station, then a montage of the train  with build-up and some foley and then we ended with a super anticlimactic scene. While this is a subversion of narrative techniques and we are breaking conventions on narratives by reversing the three-act structure, we are still using somewhat of a focus on editing to help us further drive home the unconventional concept of breaking the narrative structure. As Studio Binder says the idea of subjective and objective shots exist on a scale that can be used to emphasise key moments. So, what we did was combine the edit with a unique use of the camera to give this breakdown of the three act structure some interesting depth.  

  

SUBVERTING CINEMATOGRAPHY AND PERFORMANCE  (2)

For this short film, we decided to film a monologue. We didn’t want this to be a regular monologue about nothing but rather have a thought provoking, poetic piece that touched on issues that could delve into the idea of surrealism and layered meanings that people could interpret how they wanted to.  

One of the main points of subverting the content was the delivery of the monologue. As discussed in Studio Binder, the concept of Mise – En – Scene Wes Anderson has very precise detail in his short compositions and appreciation of colour. Even though the surroundings are often bright and saturated and colourful, the characters are usually depressed or traumatised. We used this theory to play with the shots. Our protagonist is talking about how she tore her mum open at birth and has a wild temperament. We decided to shoot this handheld with a selection of pans and quick zoom on certain words. The zoom backwards is to show just how big the world is around her and how she is the centre of this unusual universe. The play on the way the script is delivered is on purpose as well. While this script does discuss something unusual and serious, we thought it would be more interesting to deliver the lines in a playful way that shows she’s a bit in touch with her reality, much like the camera angles, the whole thing is all over the place, but the character isn’t any better. That’s why we chose to do it the way we did, to break the conventions during the monologue and have unreal dialogue that was slightly monotonic, whimsy and robot-like.  

    

SUBVERTING CONTINUITY AND EDITING CHOICES   (3)

  

For this short film we wanted to mess with the flow of time and present the film in a non-chronological format. We kept it simple and just filmed a café making our coffees. Their eftpos machine wasn’t working that day, which further added to the chaos. We initially just edited it out of order but then decided to switch it up and subvert the edit by playing with the time and slowing everything down in parts and speeding it up in others. We played with the music as well and decided to use a horror – esque soundtrack to further subvert the idea of a simple coffee being made and make it have some type of awkward comedic undertone. Studio Binder discusses the concept of creating pace. How long to hold the shots, or when to cut the shots can really change the way a film feels. That’s what we wanted to do with this edit. By choosing to edit this film in a really unhinged way would further drive the concept of subverting the entire edit and the idea of continuity. So by consciously choosing to play with the pace and abolish the idea of continuity and added some weird sounds, something quite mundane becomes a bit creepy and leaves us not quite knowing whether someone is going to be stabbed or whether someone is just getting their coffee.  

Assignment 1

Posted on by
Reply

The performance in the 2014 short film ‘Unedited Footage of a Bear’ is effectively demonstrated to communicate the difference of characters being shown in the film, specifically between the unnamed woman who we presume to be Donna and her alter ego, the main difference between her and the alter ego is the performance of the actor although there are aspects like makeup and costume that contribute to the audience’s sense of which character we are observing.

 

The performance of the unnamed woman in “Unedited Footage of a Bear” is unsettling and eerie, as the film aims to create a sense of unease and horror. The woman appears in a fictional television commercial for a medication called ‘Claridryl,’ which is supposed to treat allergies. However, the commercial quickly takes a dark turn and becomes increasingly disturbing. The actress’s performance effectively conveys a mix of fear, confusion, and distress as the commercial descends into chaos. The character’s portrayal however, coupled with the strange and unpredictable events in the commercial, leaves the audience with a sense of discomfort and a lingering feeling of unease. Naremore J. says “The audience remains present to the actor, sending our vibrations and signs that influence the intensity, pace or content of any given performance”. This is achieved thanks to the actress’s performance and behaviour as each character switching between happy and cheerful then leaning towards normal and concerned ultimately switching to the dramatic and unhinged actress.

 

As a filmmaker, being aware of this technique of performance as a tool for directing audience experience is made abundantly clear in the short film because without the contrast of a sane versus unhinged ‘Donna’ the message of the film and the audience’s reception of which character is being portrayed becomes skewed and unclear. The performance of the unnamed woman is crucial to the success of “Unedited Footage of a Bear” in delivering its intended message and creating a memorable and disturbing viewing experience

Reference List:

Alan Resnick, Ben O’Brien (director) (2014) Unedited Footage of a Bear [Short Film], Adult Swim, United States

Naremore, J. (1988), Acting in the Cinema. Univ of California Press.

Monty Python Analysis

Posted on by
Reply

The performance in the comedy film, “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” which was released in 1975 (and is one of the most iconic works by the Monty Python comedy group) assists in breaking the convention of typical films based on mythological journeys. The film is a comedic parody of the legend of King Arthur’s quest to find the Holy Grail. It’s known for its absurd and surreal humour. Here are some factors that contributed to its unique performance and impact. Visual Comedy is a personal feature of the film that was a standout attribute for me. The Knights Who Say “Ni,” the Black Knight’s limb-lopping, and the absurdity of the Trojan Rabbit are just a few examples of the memorable visual gags that played on the convention of serious setbacks and obstacles in the hero’s journey. Another factor of the film is that it frequently breaks the fourth wall and plays with cinematic conventions “for the purpose of comedy and mockery”. This self-awareness and meta-humour added another layer of comedy for the audience. On top of that is the aspect of the film “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” that utilises absurdity to satirise historical and mythological narratives. This approach allowed them to both mock and celebrate the Arthurian legend.

 

Reference:

Harness, T. (2022) How to break the rules of filmmaking to evoke emotions, Videomaker. 

https://www.videomaker.com/how-to/directing/storytelling/how-to-break-the-rules-of-filmmaking-to-evoke-emotions/

Uncomfortable Filmmaking Week 3

Posted on by
Reply

We talked about our experience watching monty python and our favourite scenes and how it subverted conventions of film making. Afterwards we then watched mullholland drive the movie was surprisingly good and i know most peoples first reaction and thoughts are negative during their first watch but i genuinely enjoyed how chaotic it was. It’s like a puzzle I had to piece together and I enjoyed that. we also went through things like modernism and post modernism and post post modernism or meta modernism and i won’t lie my head was spinning.