L5 Identifying Direction

Digital Copy of Sketch Book:

What I want to achieve in this module:

• To have made a short film with a story line that can be told either linearly or non-linearly
• Apply what I've learnt from Investigating Contemporary Practice into my work
• To be able to direct a production crew and cast in achieving my vision

21st April:

Side Project - Cinematographer for Isabel's project.

I acted as cinematographer for Isabel's project. She gave me an idea into what the film was about and the sorts of things she wanted in frame. For me, this was a chance to experiment with composition that I may later use myself in my own film:

Anna is framed central and is boxed in by the cupboard and fridge in the background, giving a feeling of being trapped. This matches to Isabel's theme for her film which is a different more deep take on a self help video.

I also experimented with the golden ratio, something I studied in Investigating Contemporary Practice. Using it in this way created more negative space which draws the viewers eye onto the heart even more so.

Source of Inspiration: "Heavy" by Linkin Park

Heavy (2017) 

Performed by Linkin Park, Directed by Tim Mattia

This music video was in my top five from Investigating Contemporary Practice, and I want to use this video as a source of inspiration for the visual and stylised look of my film.

In this frame, I see:

• There is a TV with white noise present on the screen
• the light that is on by the window is drowned out by the diffused light coming from out the window
• Chester Bennington's shirt is the same colour grey as the walls and furniture around him
• There is low saturation
• This frame in the edit is only present for less than a second

Having seen this, I want to know:

• What was the motive for writing the song that's in the music video?
• Why is everything grey?
• Why has Chester Bennington decided to act in the music video as well as perform the song?

• On 20th July 2017 Chester Bennigton, lead singer of Linkin Park committed suicide 2 months after the release of One More Light; the studio album which the song Heavy is part of.

• In 2017, in the USA, 56% of adults with a mental illness did not receive treatment for it.

Knowing this, I think the text is conveying:

• The white noise on the TV is metaphorical for the state that Chester Bennington's mind is in; a haze. A TV is something where people can watch and be entertained and educated. For there to be white noise on it means that there is no information to take from it for the brain to process. This could mean that for Bennington, nothing he sees can educate him or entertain him in the state his mind is in.

• The single tungsten light that is on obscurely during the day time is also symbolic of the emotions the song is bringing across and also that which Bennington is feeling. The tungsten light serves no purpose in lighting up the room as the light from the window is flooding the room. In context, this could mean that Bennington feels like he is a small light that cannot compete with the blur of blinding light that comes from the world. If that tungsten light was to go out, it wouldn't make much difference to the amount of light in the room. This might mean on a more tragic approach, that Bennington is feeling very alone and possibly contemplating suicide.

• Grey sets the colour of the room and as Bennington's shirt is the same, there is an affinity of colour. Meaning that Bennington is blending in with his surroundings This means that he is invisible and doesn't stand out; a point which may reflect how he feels; backed up by the emotions and feelings he sings in the song. The low saturation also draws out the vibrancy and life in the shot; again metaphorically representing how Bennington feels.

• The act of showing this frame for such a short space of time is in the context of the current state of addressing mental health in today's societies. Many people still don't have access to the help they need to cope with mental illnesses and many people still can't openly talk about it because of this facility shortage and awareness. Thus, everything this frame is showing, is quickly brushed aside in the edit; not allowing the audience enough time to see what's there and therefore have a reaction to it or be aware of it.

• I think Bennington decided to act in this as well as perform because he is one such victim of the themes the video is addressing. And using this art form is a way for him to express his struggles more openly.

I think the text is successful in its communication because:

• It takes away everything an audience member expects to find tension in; contrast. By the use of affinity, the audience has to try and search for anything that stands out.

• It uses visual language well to show and not tell, the struggles metal illness brings; reflecting the difficulty that comes with expressing such struggles in the real world.

From this text, I want to:

• Further understand the principles of using visual language in such away to show something that often needs a lot of words to say. Thus I want to understand just what it means to be a visual director.
• I chose to analyse this one frame out of the entire music video because for me, it sums up the entire video and song. In one frame, it is able to show what the theme is, what it's doing in regards to the story of Chester Bennignton and how it needs to be made more aware of.

Reference:

American Mental Helath Statistics 2017:

-http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/issues/state-mental-health-america-



Side Project: Cinematographer for L4 Student Film

I undertook a job as cinematographer for Ketsia; an L4 student making a project of her own. I was given a direction in regards to her vision for the film and then given free reign to frame and move the shots based on her guidelines.

This has given me a chance to further play around framing as something to consider for my own film. 

10th May:

Production Day:

Myself and Will (Director of Photography) read through the equipment list

Set floor plan taped to the back of the set

Shooting schedule

Will and Craig (Sound) set up the camera

Myself and Isabel (Shot logger & Editor) set up the daedo lights

The back of the Studio

Aimee (Actress) familiarises herself with the script

Layout of the set

Craig sets up the Tascam

Aimee helps dress the set

I set up the tungsten light behind the window of the set

Matt arrives to take a look at the set and help with the lighting

Isabel makes notes on the shot logs

The entire set is lit with the bounced light of one tungsten light and polyboard

Aimee gets into her position

I direct Aimee on what she'll be doing in the first shot

I also direct Craig and the others about movements, placement of the camera and mic and what to capture.

"Autotomy"

Will and I adjust the shoulder rig

Myself and Aimee are in costume

Will and Craig set up for the first shot of the day

I make a few set dressing adjustments

I go over with Aimee her actions so she's confident in what she needs to do

I oversee how the shots are framed through the monitor

Craig and Will set up for a slider shot

Clive is ready to do the clapper

I watch the movement of the shot through the monitor so that I'm happy with the framing

- Images Credit: Clive Davies -

Chekhov's Gun Theory:

Matthew Patrick explains Chekhov's Gun (11:05 - 11:28)

If a gun is shown in act 1, it must be fired in act 2. In other words, If it's not essential then don't include it in the story.

I considered this whilst on set. I had a lot of close up shots in different places of the compass. In pre-production it served as an important prop. However now, it doesn't serve any purpose to the film or the character's progression. I made the decision to cut it out of filming altogether on shooting day.

The Stock Footage:

This footage is not my own and is third party material. However, the terms of Fair Dealing give me some leverage on using it:

Fair Dealing:

-Taken from .GOV website-

Under Fair Dealing:

• I'm permitted to use the material if it is not affecting the market or profit of the copyright owner
• As long as what I've used is in reasonable amounts and not excessive.

Post Production

Isabel's Rough Cut:

My edit to Linkin Park song "Heavy":

Colour Grade:

I've done the standard 1st Pass and 2nd Pass colour corrections, correcting and matching shots. For the third pass, I've played with how I want the visual to  look. More or less, how it was shot on the day is how I wanted the visual to look. But there are a few adjustments I've made in Divinci Resolve:

• I've added a lot of saturation to the shots with the lizards in and in the yellow field. This is because Lizards have enhanced colour vision in comparison to humans so I've reflected this in certain shots where the lizards are present. 

• As for the field, it is the only saturated amount of colour we see throughout the film up the the daffodils at the end. Because it's a dream the girlfriend has, that vibrant field mid way through the film gives the audience a sight of what the girlfriend wants; to be free.

• I've also added a LUT over the edit called "Film Look:...."

• I've also had to make an extra adjustment to the shot with the table and her on the floor as shown below:

The wine bottle on the table was selected especially for the film because there is a lizard on it and I don't want this to go unnoticed. So what I've had to do here is first create a new node, then take the mask tool and select the black label around the bottle.

With just the label highlighted, I'm able to now adjust the luminance on the label only without affecting the rest of the shot.

The lizard is now visible but the rest of the shot maintains the grade I want it to.

Next, I need to adjust the skin tone of Aimee. As this is a scene later in the day and the light is not as intense, her skin tone needs to be more in the shadows than it currently is. What I've done is selected the colour and only highlighted her skin. Now I'm able to adjust her skintone without affecting the rest of the shot.

This is how the shot turned out

Current edit and colour grade (no sound):

The Final Cut:

Identifying Direction: Module Evaluation

In this module, I feel that I’ve been given the chance to really give it my all in making something that reflects my career path. Before the idea generation process began, I’d already had thoughts about what I wanted to make as a linear short film. That being said, I found that it was beneficial to start an idea from random and from scratch. This was because I couldn’t have given it any thought beforehand, so the concept and the vision I have for it would be as fresh as a blank page. This makes it easier to take the idea places which normally, one would be reluctant to do with a long held idea that’s become too precious.

After the idea workshops, I went along with the concept of packing. At which point, I began to ask the questions of whose packing? Why? Where are they going? What are they packing? I centred these questions on emotions I felt at the time of the idea and pieced together a story which the protagonist would be symbolised by the things she packed in the suitcase.

I progressed with this for a while, up to pitch day where Steve and Matt would give the idea approval. Interestingly enough, the concept of lizards and propagation of species came up in conversation in regards to why the boyfriend would cheat on the protagonist. This triggered me to research a little more into lizards and their behaviours.

As a result of this, the idea changed from the suitcase being the centre of attention to the imagery of lizards shedding their tails to distract a predator so they can escape. As the idea was included in the process of drawing out a solid three act structure, the film started to project a more avant garde experimental vibe than a clear cut linear story. For the purposes of my decision to want to use lizard stock footage, this factor was actually beneficial.

In time, the story was solid and I set about planning the set design, lighting and camera work. I wanted to use the set in Studio C as I felt I would have more control there rather than shooting on location in a flat. The challenges I faced during this was finding a slot in the studio to film and also hiring out the right kit for the right purpose for filming.

Next, I had to assemble my crew and cast. I got a lot of help from my friends on the course and my flat mate from Film Production Technology. As I couldn’t find an actor available to play the male role, I undertook this part myself.  I had to use a small budget to buy props such as roses and wine glasses for set dressing.

I was only able to get the studio for one day to set up, rehears and film. Granted whilst it was a non-stop fast day, I really feel I’ve learnt the absolute basic of what it takes to direct a relatively large crew; all so that they can work according to the vision I have for the film. Given that we only had one day to film, the footage came out really well! We only needed one light that bounced off a poll board to illuminate the whole set.

There were a lot of shots that needed to be cut altogether, mainly down to time but also because they were not essential to the edit. Shots such as close up from different angles I had only included for the sake of giving the editor more options.

When it came down to editing, Isabel had offered to do a rough cut for me. This gave me a chance to give someone else all the resources, and see how they edit the film I had in my head. When I saw the rough cut, she wasn’t almost perfect with the initial cut I saw from my storyboard. I made a few adjustments and began then to work on the colour grade.

Having learnt the basics in Davinci from Matt, I felt confident and more daring to try different tools in the software. To my surprise, the way the film was shot on the day was exactly how I wanted it to look and so I only had to make some minor adjustments to colour correction and added a LUT over the edit to give it the cinematic polish I wanted.

I composed the music myself, looking for a sad but accepting kind of emotion. As if to say that it’s unfortunate they broke up, but the protagonist is a lot better off for it. I thought about composing something more for the film as well as the end song. What I found is that the film itself doesn’t need any overdone sound. The simplicity it has it well enough.

Overall, this module has been a success for the most part; in achieving what I set out to make. Having said this however, I may have undertaken more than I had time for. If I could do this module again, I would want to have more time to make a film like this. Or, I would make a film that could be better made in the time that I have.

I’ve realised that when planning on your own and not in a group like the collaboration module, there is a lot to consider and small room for error. But if prepared enough in advance, things can run smoothly and the results can be very satisfactory.

As this module draws the end of second year, I feel that I’ve progressed since I started and have a new found confidence going into final year. As the time for me to consider my final major project approaches, I intend to apply everything I’ve learnt to bring out a film that is made to the best of my ability and reflects the kind of film maker I want to be.

L5 Show Reel: