My chosen emotion:
I chose the emotion ‘confusion.’ “Uncertainty about what is happening, intended or required,” “the state of being bewildered or unclear in one’s mind about something.” – Oxford Dictionary.
I will be using the emotion in such a way that portrays confusion within oneself; “Who am I?” For my short film, I will use two characters (one being the main character). As well as this, I will be using after effects to get the look I am aiming for.
My plan:
I want to light the characters in such a way that produces very harsh shadows. To achieve this i will have a harsh white light positioned above the actors’ heads to create a ghoulish, shadowy effect, keeping the background very dark. For my first use of after effects, I will make the initial character morph into the second, main character. After this shot, the word “who” will flash on screen. For my next use of after effects, I want to morph the second character’s face to look ‘demon-like.’ Then the word “am” will appear on screen. For my final use of after effects, I will have the second character’s face look like it is on fire, creating an ominous atmosphere. Lastly, the word “I?” will show up on screen and then it will black out.
I believe my plan helps my aim in portraying internal confusion by bringing someone’s hypothetical thoughts into view; It provides a very literal and physical approach to this mental feeling.
Other experimental film makers:
I decided to look at the work of three different experimental filmmakers so as to get a wider range of work for the subject area.
The first two films I chose (shown above) are very experimental visually. The first film is created using a series of flashing images that creates a feeling of playfulness, hence the title “Playtime.” The second film is definitely the most unusual by not using any definite shapes or images that are familiar to the viewer. However, the music used creates a sense of fear. This shows how powerful sound is and highlights how it will be especially difficult for me to create a short film with no sound that really portrays a specific emotion.
Finally, the third film uses a rush of hyper-realistic images and sounds to create an intense atmosphere. Again, it benefits from the music and effective sounds it uses which helps to add drama.
However, all three films are similar in the way that they are artistically free which gives room for experimentation. It doesn’t have to go by a set of rules and thats what makes them so different and interesting.
Final Film:
Evaluation:
Overall, I would order each investigation as such: ‘TV show and set design’ challenge as the most successful, ‘Foreign language film review’ as the second most successful and the experimental short film as the least successful.
In the end, I believe my work on the TV show and set design challenge was the best because the work that I completed was the most considered and useable in a real-life situation. For example my research on the original TV game show, ‘QI,’ is informative and detailed, I have included detailed concept art and floor plans and a useful moodboard. However, I could improve my logo, which is lacking in creativity somewhat, and my research on the role of a set designer which isn’t as thorough as it could be.
The next most successful challenge is my foreign language film review. Out of everything I had to complete for this section, my research and my final review is the strongest; The research I completed is, again, very detailed and my film review of Run Lola Run, I believe, is well thought out and the hard work is apparent, having tried to replicate the look of the example Empire Magazine article shown to us. However, I would say the weakest part of this section is the research on how Empire Magazine structures their articles. This is because it is clear that there wasn’t as much time spent on this section as the others making it obvious that it isn’t at the same level. Although, this section of the film review investigation was the part that I found the hardest because I really wasn’t sure what to write.
Lastly, the least successful
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