I feel I’ve
made great progress with filmmaking throughout the module. The sound piece and
films I have made in the module taught me a lot about the technical and
creative side narrative and documentary filmmaking.
The first sound piece taught me a lot about creating a space through sound. I hadn’t had much experience with sound design, so this taught me a great deal. For example, using different microphones for different recordings, and layering sounds.
The first sound piece taught me a lot about creating a space through sound. I hadn’t had much experience with sound design, so this taught me a great deal. For example, using different microphones for different recordings, and layering sounds.
Then
turning this into a film proved a challenge connecting the visual side. It was
difficult building a narrative from what had been quite an abstract sound
piece. We ended up making quite a minimalist film ‘Down’. Making the film allowed
me to experiment creatively with how to visualise the sound. We blended
multiple loud uncomfortable sounds from public spaces, then contrasted these
with the quiet of the lift. We visualised the loud busy urban environment by
using fast cutting, handheld camerawork, lens whacking and shooting through
glass/reflections to create an anxious and rushed aesthetic, characterising our
protagonist who appeared lost in her environment. In contrast, we used longer
takes, steadier camerawork and fades in the lift to convey more stability.
Making the
documentary was especially challenging. Finding a topic for a documentary was
the hardest part, but we soon came up with multiple ideas. We were especially
lucky when we decided to make a documentary about Thrifty store, as we did not
know about the building it was situated in and their plans to grow into it. The
store owner, Bally, was a good character and was happy talking and appearing on
camera. We decided to use two different styles of documentary filmmaking to
tackle both the shop and the abandoned areas of the building. In the shop, we
conducted quite formal sat down interviews, talked to workers and filmed quite
candidly. In the rest of the building however, we used a shoulder cam and
camera light to film Bally walking around the building, talking to the camera
about his plans for the area. This we cut with static cutaways of different
details and communicating the size of the place. Shooting the documentary was a
new experience for me. It taught me a lot about how to conduct interviews,
asking open questions and researching the background of the place to tell its
story. I also learnt a lot from tackling different challenges such as filming
long interview tours around a large snaking building.
Shooting the film also taught me a lot about organising shoots with actors and difficult
locations. At first, shooting on a moor seemed too difficult a task to realise.
Transporting Actors and equipment and keeping them fed and dry could be too
difficult on no budget. However, we picked a perfect location near a pub and
bus route, and watched the weather forecast for the best day to shoot.
No comments:
Post a Comment