For RED ONE we decided to make a documentary type film because, as a crew of three, we usually set out to do factual based films of different subject matter.
We knew that we couldn't cover too big a topic in the time we had, so we decided to make a short piece based on the interests of my housemate, Max, who is a "secret musician."
We looked at different videos discussing different approaches and styles we could do the feature in. We watched some clips on YouTube of other musicians giving interviews about their music, hoping it would give us a little bit of direction and inspiration.
We decided to have Max's own vocals playing through the film as the primary soundtrack. This meant that we had to use the sound booth for the first time in order to get a good quality recording, which is something I am glad we finally learned and can utilise in the future.
We got some cutaways of Max int he booth, as well as along the street we live and in his uni class, making his ceramic guitar.
We filmed the interview twice; the first time we decided was too dark, and his interview answers seemed too vague to stitch an interesting edit together, so we re-filmed it, this time with two LEDs and made sure we probed him for better answers. It helped that he had done the whole interview process the first time, as he seemed a lot more relaxed the second time round.
The editing process was pretty simple once we had gathered all that we needed. Lucy did the edit, as she usually does, and had it finished in less than a week.
I think the end product turned out fairly well. Max is definitely a vibrant enough character to have made an interesting subject, which was important as people tend to look at a persons status in order to place a value on their stories, which is why we thought making a small feature on just a small aspect of a random and "average" person's life.
We did experiment and try out new things during RED 1, like the use of the steadicam,the AF100 and the soundbooth. We weren't sure how strictly we were supposed to stick to our "typical" film making ways, but we see every film as an opportunity to progress and learn new skills, so we decided to incorporate the new equipment into this project.
For RED TWO we worked separately, which was an idea I was both excited and nervous about. I find, when you work in a crew, you have to settle on an idea and it may not be an idea that you entirely have your heart in. It's usually a compromise by all parties and a mix of ideas that can stray from the personal and initial point you were trying to make/put across. Having said that, working as a crew and having people to bounce ideas off of can be very productive and useful when it comes to thinking outside the box.
I was excited at the prospect that my restrictions would be limited to my own imagination and not having to go through the process of explaining and selling an idea to the rest of a team, which is something I am really not very good at. Though the freedom was exciting, the nerves came from the idea that the film would be an exposure of entirely myself, which is quite an intimidating and unnerving thought, to say the least.
We went to Dan our lecturer for some sort of guideline; a theme we could all stick to and then compare the end products at the end. Dan gave us the work "exploitation" to base our films on.
Coming up with initial ideas is really where I fall down during the process of film making. I find it really hard to get the ball rolling and tend to question my own ideas rather a lot. One of the first things that came to my mind was how we "little people" are exploited by corporations and companies to line their pockets.
I did want to try my hand at experimental film making, and my first idea was going to be based on this idea, showing various images being represented as innocent and friendly for us to later find that the things we presumed to be so friendly were actually quite dark and sinister (as a representation of how, with a camera and words, we can be led to believe that a product or an idea is something it actually isn't). I liked the actual idea, but I wasn't sure exactly how I would go about doing it in an experimental type of way. I kept the idea at the back of my mind, thinking of ways I could make the idea translate into a film.
I decided to just sit and watch some adverts to spark some sort of inspiration. I decided on several adverts which I found to be particularly exploitative and manipulative of their audience. I decided I wanted to make my own version of the adverts, each one subtly exposing ways in which companies use media to their advantage in trying to convince the audience to but their product. The first shot was of the cereal box, which in the turning on of a light, gets transformed from a dirty, beaten and broken box, into a clean, white setting with some colourful text to brighten it all up. This was to represent how companies can make something look like whatever they want it to, as they're completely in control of what they show and how they show it, which I thought would be a good introductory shot. The second advert was for a bottle of mouthwash, based on the Listerine advert on the TV at the moment. Everyone has their own interpretations of media, but to me, the Listerine advert seems to use "scare tactics" by suggesting that the viewer may have gum disease and that their product could be the cure. Though subtle, such suggestions could spark questions and worry in the viewers mind, eading to them buying the product "just to be safe". I decided to approach this one in a much more obvious and bold way by using the same basic structure, but going way over the top with it by suggesting that by not using the product you could potentially die.
The third advert was based on small loans companies (mainly Wonga). I thought it was interesting how they used puppets, instead of real people, and old people puppets at that. My guess was that it was probably down to the fact that it's harder to look at a puppet and think it as untrustworthy as we do with real people. Especially a puppet that looks like an old person, as old people hardly seem threatening, but more vulnerable and may make us think about our grandparents, who we love and trust.
With this one, I decided to recreate the advert with my own poorly made puppet, but have ridiculous dialogue but at the end casually expose the reality of the company and it's goals - to make money from you. Many companies make out that they care about you and want to help you financially, but in reality, they are just there to make money from you by exploiting an individuals desperation and naivity.
I would, by no measure, say that I am happy with the film I have produced for RED TWO. I am happy with the idea I was trying to convey, as it is something I feel quite strongly about, but I'm not content with the way I conveyed it. I think the film lacks substance and structure and isn't what I had imagined it to be. This probably comes from the fact that my main scene, the banker scene, didn't make it in to the film as certain circumstances, such a schedules not syncing up and not access to the right equipment at the right time led to not being able to shoot the scene, though I had an actor and script lined up. it certainly came out a lot different to how I had initially imagined. Having said that, it was a fun process to go through. It involved a lot more thinking than RED ONE did and was certainly more challenging. I think the fact that I really didn't want to show my film reflected that I had put a lot more of myself into it as a film, exposing my personal ideas and feelings to a room of people, which is quite a nerve-wracking experience. There was certainly a massive difference in, not just the two products as a whole, but the processes in which I had to go through in order to make them what they were. The RED TWO film was something I would never have really considered making before this project.
I am so used to representing things as they were, like with the documentaries, I found it very difficult to produce a film that represented things as how I see them personally. It has certainly helped me reflect on what it is I want to achieve as a film maker, and the opportunities that film making can behold.
Wednesday, 27 November 2013
R.E.D. 2
One way we decided we could work in a different way to usual, was to work independently of each other, as we usually work in a crew.
To give ourselves a starting point, we contacted our lecturer, Dan, and asked him to give us some sort of theme or idea to base our films around. One reason we did this was to help get us started, but we also thought it would be interesting to see how differently we would interpret the idea and see how different our end products would be. Dan gave us the word "exploitation" to base our films around.
We decided not to tell each other anything about our ideas so that we wouldn't be influenced by each other, insuring our films were products entirely sourced by own creative thinking.
When I started thinking about what exploitation meant to me (with the more obvious issues aside), I started to think about how big corporations exploit us as customers, to make money.
One of the first things that came to my head was banks, as they're all about money. Also, companies of big brands, whether it's clothes or food.
I knew this was the sort of area I wanted to explore, but how I was going to do it was the next hurdle which took a long time to get past.
I found that trying to think up ideas by myself was incredibly difficult. With no crew to bounce ideas off of and to develop ideas with, I had to spend a lot of time pondering how to approach the project in a feasible way. I wanted to do an experimental film, as it's something I had never done before and wanted to explore that type of film-making.
The first idea I had was to take a series of shoots which would be shot in a way so you couldn't quite tell what they were. I wanted to shoot them so they appeared to be things that were harmless/positive/nice, but then it was slowly revealed that the things that looked so friendly were actually quite dark. I wanted to relate this back to the corporation idea, but I wasn't sure how.
I kept thinking about it and turned my attention to the media and how these companies and corporations sell their products to us.
I started looking at adverts, making note of different ways and techniques they use when selling their product.
After starting on this path, one video that came to mind was the music video for Evanescence's song 'Everybody's fool'.
I liked the idea that the advertisement at the start is a sort of parody, expressing the dark nature behind the products - that the represent "Lies". Whether the lies that are being referenced are produced by the customers (as in the video, where she lies about having made the pizza herself) or the lies are the adverts themselves and are being told by the companies who make them, are down to interpretation.
I liked this idea - a flip side to adverts. Usually we are shown all the positive aspects of a product, and the negatives are hidden away from us.
I decided I wanted to try something similar.
The Banker
One idea I had, which in the end, I didn't end up getting to do due to unavailable equipment and lack of time, was to do my own version of a bank advert.
The idea was to have a man of stereotypical banker appearance, talk directly into the camera about his bank and how much they care about the customer as an individual, as most - (Yeah right!)
In the background behind the banker there was going to be a large group of people, all looking directly into the camera also, smiling, representing the "satisfied customers". As the shot changes after the first part of monologue, the background starts to become fuzzy, and as we near the end of the banker's monologue, the back ground image has disappeared to reveal the banker standing in front of a green screen - the happy customers were just a visual trick - fabricated to fool the viewers into believing that they could become one of those happy customers, too, if they were to join.
The Mouthwash
The mouthwash ad was inspired by the recent Listerine advert that's on TV at the moment.
When I started thinking about what exploitation meant to me (with the more obvious issues aside), I started to think about how big corporations exploit us as customers, to make money.
One of the first things that came to my head was banks, as they're all about money. Also, companies of big brands, whether it's clothes or food.
I knew this was the sort of area I wanted to explore, but how I was going to do it was the next hurdle which took a long time to get past.
I found that trying to think up ideas by myself was incredibly difficult. With no crew to bounce ideas off of and to develop ideas with, I had to spend a lot of time pondering how to approach the project in a feasible way. I wanted to do an experimental film, as it's something I had never done before and wanted to explore that type of film-making.
The first idea I had was to take a series of shoots which would be shot in a way so you couldn't quite tell what they were. I wanted to shoot them so they appeared to be things that were harmless/positive/nice, but then it was slowly revealed that the things that looked so friendly were actually quite dark. I wanted to relate this back to the corporation idea, but I wasn't sure how.
I kept thinking about it and turned my attention to the media and how these companies and corporations sell their products to us.
I started looking at adverts, making note of different ways and techniques they use when selling their product.
After starting on this path, one video that came to mind was the music video for Evanescence's song 'Everybody's fool'.
Evanescence - Everybody's Fool
I liked the idea that the advertisement at the start is a sort of parody, expressing the dark nature behind the products - that the represent "Lies". Whether the lies that are being referenced are produced by the customers (as in the video, where she lies about having made the pizza herself) or the lies are the adverts themselves and are being told by the companies who make them, are down to interpretation.
I liked this idea - a flip side to adverts. Usually we are shown all the positive aspects of a product, and the negatives are hidden away from us.
I decided I wanted to try something similar.
The Banker
One idea I had, which in the end, I didn't end up getting to do due to unavailable equipment and lack of time, was to do my own version of a bank advert.
The idea was to have a man of stereotypical banker appearance, talk directly into the camera about his bank and how much they care about the customer as an individual, as most - (Yeah right!)
In the background behind the banker there was going to be a large group of people, all looking directly into the camera also, smiling, representing the "satisfied customers". As the shot changes after the first part of monologue, the background starts to become fuzzy, and as we near the end of the banker's monologue, the back ground image has disappeared to reveal the banker standing in front of a green screen - the happy customers were just a visual trick - fabricated to fool the viewers into believing that they could become one of those happy customers, too, if they were to join.
The Mouthwash
The mouthwash ad was inspired by the recent Listerine advert that's on TV at the moment.
Listerine TV advert 2013.
To me, it seemed as though they were using subtle scare tactics by suggesting that bleeding gums (something that isn't too uncommon among people every now and then, and can be caused by a number of things, some as simple as having too hard a toothbrush!) could be a sign of something quite serious, making you feel as though you need to buy their product to fix it. I felt the way the reflection states "That could be gum disease, you know" quite intimidating, as though she's not advising you, but telling you in a pessimistic, worry-inducing-because-she-likes-to-watch-others-suffer-to-make-herself-feel-better-about-herself kind of way - (sorry, that's the only way I could describe it!)
I decided I wanted to take this to the extreme, and go very overboard with the idea that by not using Listerine, you could develop gum disease stating that by not using it you could develop "Gum disease, Scurvy and even death".
The Cereal
I had recently been watching several documentaries about food and healthy eating, and I was actually quite shocked at how much bad stuff is in the food we consume everyday. Obviously, we know what's healthy and what's not, but we tend to judge it by what has nutritional benefits and what doesn't. People know that a pepperoni pizza is unhealthy because of the amount of grease, cheese, the processed meat and lack of any vegetable (or anything that came from the ground, for that matter.) People don't look any further than what they can see, but most of the food we consume each day, is filled with chemicals and what-not.
I wanted to to an advert that showed how companies try to represent their food as clean, enjoyable products, highlighting the benefits, but hiding all the bad shit. I wanted to do this in a way where it showed them using media and technology to their advantage, so I decided to do two shots - the first showing a Lucy Charms cereal box all beaten, covered in dirt, with a bowl of dirt beside it (to represent it's value as a food source). The second shot was the same positioning of the box and bowl, but in a white, clean and pristine environment. The transition between the two shots happening after you here the word "striking!" called out, resulting in the image blowing out as if studio lights had been turned on and turning into the new, clean image. I thought it'd be an effective way of representing how companies can use media and technologies to make the product they're selling seem like something it's not and how they can choose to represent it in a certain light, so to speak.
The Puppets
The puppet idea was based predominantly on the Wonga adverts, which consist of puppets made to look like old people - Usually the two women briefly talking about the company, always finishing off with a complaint about the mute male puppet, that seems to just "YOLO" everything, living in his own little world of silence.
I made a puppet for the production, which took several sessions of sitting sewing, pricking millions of holes in my fingers.
I didn't have the time of patience to make another puppet, so I decided to make the male puppet out of a wooden spoon, as the male character on the Wonga adverts never speaks.
I wanted the puppets and set to look really low budget and crap (which I think I achieved) so I made the set by drawing it and sticking it to a wall in my house. The first time round I made it too small, meaning I had to redo it all slightly bigger. Really, it was still a bit too small, but I didn't think it really mattered too much because it wasn't meant to look great.
I wish I had had the time and creativity to have made more parts to this film, but thinking up ideas takes me a lot more time than any other part of the production. It is something that I really struggle with but hope to overcome in the future.
I'm not particularly happy with or proud of this film. It's not really what I had imagined initially, though it does get across the point I was trying to make. I still like the idea of the film, but I think it could have been executed in a much more effective way.
I still think this project has been beneficial in getting me to actually creatively think up concepts surrounding an idea, and think about how to convey a message to an audience, both subtly and not so subtly.
Resources
https://www.wonga.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4NK6QBAyD4
http://www.listerine.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_mongering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhC1pI76Rqo
I decided I wanted to take this to the extreme, and go very overboard with the idea that by not using Listerine, you could develop gum disease stating that by not using it you could develop "Gum disease, Scurvy and even death".
The Cereal
I had recently been watching several documentaries about food and healthy eating, and I was actually quite shocked at how much bad stuff is in the food we consume everyday. Obviously, we know what's healthy and what's not, but we tend to judge it by what has nutritional benefits and what doesn't. People know that a pepperoni pizza is unhealthy because of the amount of grease, cheese, the processed meat and lack of any vegetable (or anything that came from the ground, for that matter.) People don't look any further than what they can see, but most of the food we consume each day, is filled with chemicals and what-not.
I wanted to to an advert that showed how companies try to represent their food as clean, enjoyable products, highlighting the benefits, but hiding all the bad shit. I wanted to do this in a way where it showed them using media and technology to their advantage, so I decided to do two shots - the first showing a Lucy Charms cereal box all beaten, covered in dirt, with a bowl of dirt beside it (to represent it's value as a food source). The second shot was the same positioning of the box and bowl, but in a white, clean and pristine environment. The transition between the two shots happening after you here the word "striking!" called out, resulting in the image blowing out as if studio lights had been turned on and turning into the new, clean image. I thought it'd be an effective way of representing how companies can use media and technologies to make the product they're selling seem like something it's not and how they can choose to represent it in a certain light, so to speak.
The Puppets
The puppet idea was based predominantly on the Wonga adverts, which consist of puppets made to look like old people - Usually the two women briefly talking about the company, always finishing off with a complaint about the mute male puppet, that seems to just "YOLO" everything, living in his own little world of silence.
Wonga TV advert
I did find it strange that in these recent small loan company adverts, they don't use real people. They use puppets in the Wonga advert and CGI aliens in the Pounds To Pocket adverts.
I made a puppet for the production, which took several sessions of sitting sewing, pricking millions of holes in my fingers.
I didn't have the time of patience to make another puppet, so I decided to make the male puppet out of a wooden spoon, as the male character on the Wonga adverts never speaks.
I wanted the puppets and set to look really low budget and crap (which I think I achieved) so I made the set by drawing it and sticking it to a wall in my house. The first time round I made it too small, meaning I had to redo it all slightly bigger. Really, it was still a bit too small, but I didn't think it really mattered too much because it wasn't meant to look great.
I wish I had had the time and creativity to have made more parts to this film, but thinking up ideas takes me a lot more time than any other part of the production. It is something that I really struggle with but hope to overcome in the future.
I'm not particularly happy with or proud of this film. It's not really what I had imagined initially, though it does get across the point I was trying to make. I still like the idea of the film, but I think it could have been executed in a much more effective way.
I still think this project has been beneficial in getting me to actually creatively think up concepts surrounding an idea, and think about how to convey a message to an audience, both subtly and not so subtly.
Resources
https://www.wonga.com/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4NK6QBAyD4
http://www.listerine.co.uk/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear_mongering
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhC1pI76Rqo
Thursday, 14 November 2013
R.E.D. 1
A typical film for me to make would be a factual based film, such as a documentary, made with my usual crew of three. As we all usually work together on most films, we decided to work together on another documentary type piece for this project.
We got together and started trying to decide on a subject for the film, that would be feasible in the time we had. We thought, rather than focusing on a place or building like we did with 'Resurgam', we could do a small feature on a single person. We thought it would be an interesting contrast within our work to just focus on one character and an aspect of their life, as documentaries usually document something on a much larger scale, like buildings and their history or a particular time of someone's life. Though most of the stuff and documentaries we see on TV are of such content, I think it's important to focus on "smaller" subjects. Just because someone isn't well known or popular, doesn't mean they don't have an interesting story or life. We chose to do a bit on my housemate, Max, and the fact that he's a "secret musician" which we thought would be a good contrast to the typical musician documentaries you see which is all about how their music got them to where they are.
We decided to take out the AF100 and the Steadicam for the cutaways and a Canon 7D for the interview.
The first time we shot the interview, we decided to not use any lights as we wanted the environment to seem as natural as possible, with the subject in their natural environment, his bedroom. We were also aware that the two cameras would probably be nerve-wracking enough, so we didn't want to make the process seem any more intimidating than it had to be. After shooting, we realised that lights would be a necessity, as the room was just too dark so the footage wasn't to a very good standard. We decided to get all the cutaways done and return to the interviews when we'd booked out some LEDs.
Though this mistake meant we had lost time, it actually worked out for the better as we came up with some new questions, stemming from the answers Max had given us int he previous interview. He also seemed a lot more comfortable with the entire process the second time, giving a more relaxed performance.
We had plenty to work with when it came to the edit. We had enough cutaways to stitch together the pieces of interview we wanted to keep and I'm happy with how the final film turned out.
Rocco Deluca http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZz9Nl9XdhU
I Trust You To Kill Me documentaryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-weAHezBKg
We got together and started trying to decide on a subject for the film, that would be feasible in the time we had. We thought, rather than focusing on a place or building like we did with 'Resurgam', we could do a small feature on a single person. We thought it would be an interesting contrast within our work to just focus on one character and an aspect of their life, as documentaries usually document something on a much larger scale, like buildings and their history or a particular time of someone's life. Though most of the stuff and documentaries we see on TV are of such content, I think it's important to focus on "smaller" subjects. Just because someone isn't well known or popular, doesn't mean they don't have an interesting story or life. We chose to do a bit on my housemate, Max, and the fact that he's a "secret musician" which we thought would be a good contrast to the typical musician documentaries you see which is all about how their music got them to where they are.
The first time we shot the interview, we decided to not use any lights as we wanted the environment to seem as natural as possible, with the subject in their natural environment, his bedroom. We were also aware that the two cameras would probably be nerve-wracking enough, so we didn't want to make the process seem any more intimidating than it had to be. After shooting, we realised that lights would be a necessity, as the room was just too dark so the footage wasn't to a very good standard. We decided to get all the cutaways done and return to the interviews when we'd booked out some LEDs.
Though this mistake meant we had lost time, it actually worked out for the better as we came up with some new questions, stemming from the answers Max had given us int he previous interview. He also seemed a lot more comfortable with the entire process the second time, giving a more relaxed performance.
We had plenty to work with when it came to the edit. We had enough cutaways to stitch together the pieces of interview we wanted to keep and I'm happy with how the final film turned out.
Research Links
Rocco Deluca http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZz9Nl9XdhU
I Trust You To Kill Me documentaryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-weAHezBKg
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