Final Piece: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1jgWT6nz8zQEnfp_dzHkxxibaKRiu976y?usp=drive_link

My idea for a film drew inspiration from the countless documentaries we both watched and partook in throughout the semester. Although I was very tempted to do one of the ideas I had for a fictional film, I was really engaged by the aspect of both creating stories and drawing inspiration from the every day, and recalled a story a friend had recounted to me earlier this semester. Her anecdote was about the time she was travelling in Italy on Mother’s Day and had lost her mother the year before. In the bustling crowd of the Trevi Fountain, a stranger held a sign that read “If you’re missing a mum this Mother’s Day, give me a hug”. She then went and got a hug, and got to talk about how she missed her mum, and that stranger made such a big difference in how she felt that day. 

Throughout this semester, I have really been intrigued with the non-fictional stuff we have observed, particularly the more spur-of-the-moment interviews such as the taxi driver, and the mechanic, as well as the content of “From the East” and exploring the lives of people. The short film I wanted to make is non-fictional and would invite strangers in the streets of the CBD to come and talk openly about something they have been struggling to talk about elsewhere. One idea I had was to do a similar thing to the Trevi fountain anecdote, with a sign that invites people to a hug if they need it, and ideally have some people talk about why they need it. In the end, I decided to hold a sign that read “If you’re missing somebody, hug me and tell me about them”. 

The plan was to film over two/three days to try collect enough footage, but by the end of day 1, I already had the bulk of what I wanted, with around 7 people approaching me to talk, before it eventually started raining heavily. I still attempted to shoot on another day, but this time outside of the State Library. This proved to be much more challenging, with the setup being there for 40 minutes, and not a single person taking the opportunity, which is fair enough as it can be a challenging thing to talk about. 

 

DECISIONS AND REASONING

One of the main aspects of the final product was a lot of B-roll of strangers, some in groups, some couples, and some people sitting on their own. I was always planning on having this type of footage in the final product, but initially, it was going to be cut up to break up the interview parts of the film. Instead, due to the lack of footage around the interviews, I chose to create an intro with a piece of writing that I wrote myself and used as a voiceover. Whilst in the presentation, the feedback was that a voiceover for context was not needed, I felt that it helped contextualise the piece, as well as adding more substance that did not feel forced or unnecessary. I was happy with the inclusion of this in the final piece as it did not take away anything from the small number of interviews I got, but in fact, added to the emotion of it, and made what people were saying feel more honest and authentic. 

Camera: In my original planning, I had thought to put the camera closer than it ended up being. This would’ve been more effective as maybe being able to see the faces of all the people that approached would have been more significant, but we determined that the camera being right there would also be a deterrent for people, and decided to instead put it at the top of a small staircase, looking down towards where I was holding the sign. I ended up changing positions so the camera wasn’t directly in front of me, which still worked very well. I kind of liked that the people that approached were mostly faceless. The placement of being opposite and a high-angle also meant that I was able to capture all the people walking past, which I did not include much of, but it would have been useful to implement if I felt that it was needed to show the length of time that I was standing out on the footpath. 

Audio: I wanted to include some sort of music, and went searching for calming piano tracks that could play in the background, not completely taking over, but being noticeable enough to still heighten the emotion of the final piece. I was very happy with the two songs I chose to use and felt that they both fit well into the nature of what I wanted to do. 

I also had a hard time deciding what to do regarding the recording of the conversations. I had initially thought that a lapel mic would be the right move, then thought I should just hold the microphone, but after running some at-home tests on how the lapel mic sounded and how well it picked up people talking to me, I settled on using it. In the final piece, there was quite a bit of background noise, which some people may find distracting, but there was no real way for me to try to remove the sounds of the city without distorting or ruining the audio of the people I spoke to. I personally did not find the noises too distracting, other than possibly the church bell in the last conversation. I also used an audio track of rain to add to the ending and credits, which I felt was better than wrapping it up in silence.

The ending: When I updated Robin on how the project was going, and the fact that we were rained out on the first day of filming, he asked if I had any shots of the rain, as it may be a good way to finish the piece naturally. I did in fact record the rain hitting the footpath, and people rushing to get back undercover as we attempted to wait out the rain, but it had rained earlier that day, and the forecast did not see it stopping soon. So to finish the film, I showed the images of people avoiding rain and the water bouncing of the pavement, which I really liked, and I am lucky that Robin gave me that suggestion. 

 

In what ways do you hope your practical work engages its audience and communicates a key concern of this studio?  

My intention for this film was to highlight the real stories people have and maybe don’t tell as often, and through these stories of missing the people they loved, audiences would be able to relate and think back to their own experiences, ideally feeling connected to what is being said. I think this focuses on a key concern of the studio that was something I was really interested in throughout the semester, and that is how real stories and actuality can play into storytelling (and fiction, despite my piece being non-fictional). 

 

Imagine you are going to keep working on that media piece (e.g. to screen it somewhere else like a festival, or develop it into a different kind of work) – what core things would you want to change, improve and/or extend, and why?

If I were to continue developing this piece, there is still a lot I would like to have changed now that I have finished editing. I would definitely film in more locations, and be more organised by asking the people who offered to also hold a sign. In filming more, I would have also changed the position of the camera around a bit more, maybe side on to capture the people talking more. Regarding the camera position, I had one of the crew helping me also take photos on an old film camera, but I should have given more direction, as the still images of people talking from a different position to the camera would have allowed me to hide cuts easier, and also would just capture the moments I was hoping for from a different perspective.

I think overall, I have enjoyed making this film and developing a lot of different aspects of it, but now that I have tried doing something non-fiction (and hard to do, standing on the street with a sign in not as easy as I thought), I would like to do something fiction in the future and develop my actual writing and creative skills in that area. I am proud of the final piece, even if it did not fit exactly what my original vision was.