My Studio – Film Form

Things That Bother Me – Emily 

Emily’s piece was one of the ones I was most excited about after her pitch. I personally throughout the semester found the interview format super engaging, which was interesting since documentaries haven’t really been something I have enjoyed consistently in the past. But Em chose such a good subject for her piece, and I really like how she derived inspiration from ‘Pills’, a short film that is in reality quite depressing and satirical, highlighting the poor quality of life of Glenn Gould. 

The title cards which she took from the handwritten list were a really nice creative choice, and I feel like this was the best way to keep an authentic feel to the entire piece, as it wasn’t generating titles from a theme that her grandmother talked about, it directly took her own words and used them to outline what was the focus for that segment. I think given the studio’s idea of exploring how actuality and reality play such a huge part in storytelling (fiction or non-fiction). 

Throughout the semester we have also practiced working in crews for class exercises to get a true grasp on how to use different equipment to create a coherent final piece. I think the handheld camera use from Em demonstrated her handle on the equipment though, and turned out really nice. Logistically it would have been easier for her Grandma as well with just Em rather than a whole crew, which resulted in such good responses that give insight into who she is and her character. Really liked how this piece turned out. 

 

Keep Going – Miller 

Miller’s piece was super different and I was surprised by how engaged I was throughout the chaos. Going back to the idea of being inspired by reality and actuality, the fact that Miller drew from the experience of the people close to him with neurodivergent disorders to create a piece that is just utterly chaotic but funny is a really cool idea. Voiceover was something we had also discussed in class briefly but did not get the chance to experiment with it too much. The way Miller has overlapped a number of different audio clips to create the absolutely chaotic cognitive overload that the main character experiences. This felt like a way of depicting real-life experiences, but instead of putting it in an immediately negative light, it seems absurd and outlandish, which positions the audience to either relate or wonder if the neurodivergent experience is really like this (assuming they are not neurodivergent themselves). 

 

Uncomfortable film-making screenings

From what I could gather, this studio looked at ways to break conventions in a way that engages audiences, whilst simultaneously creating a deliberate uncomfortable feeling that is less seen in larger-scale films. These two films stood out to me, as they really had me confused at times, but in a way that I wanted to understand what was going on and what they meant. 

Do Geese See God – Phoebe, Jaden, Joey

The editing of the film was so cool. That’s my summary of it. The way that everything moved backwards around the main character was so impressive, and I have so much respect knowing the amount of time and planning that would have had to go into it. I did not pick up on it at first, I just wondered why the character was walking down the stairs in an odd way. Throughout the piece, I definitely felt that intended uncomfortable feeling, especially during the party scene as people danced around the protagonist, who stayed still for the most part.  

Sonny Vaughn – Adi 

When I first saw this piece, I wasn’t aware of what studio it was from, and my first reaction to Adi was quite literally “That was an intense viewing”. The super shaky handheld shots, the lack of dialogue, and the somewhat painful music all added to the heightened stress I felt throughout. Despite not knowing entirely what the goal of the main character was initially, it felt like the stakes were extremely high at all times. One shot I particularly liked is at the beginning, where the protagonist is hidden in the darkness, camouflaged onto the building in the distance, only for that camouflage to be completely disrupted by a passing train. It felt almost like a jumpscare at the time. 

 The other element that made me feel VERY uncomfortable was the period of silence towards the end of the film. In the screening which was in a theatre, I felt like I had to hold my breath for the duration, as I did not want to make any sort of sound that might disrupt the anxious feeling that Adi had created with the sudden audio void.