“A View In the Dark” dir. Nathan Lee

 

The studio exhibition was an enjoyable experience to attend and be a part of. For my contribution to the event I was an MC, which essentially is a host. Initially I was quite nervous about the task due to it being in a big dark room and not being able to see anyone’s faces, but when I did it I felt as if it was just like any other presentation. I do like public speaking, maybe not as much as when I was younger, and I feel more confident when it’s around people I already know rather than complete strangers. I have gained lots of experience from public speaking after being school captain in high school.

Thankfully, we didn’t encounter any technical difficulties. I originally intended to pause between every film and get the director to come and talk about the film and ask questions, kind of like a talk show approach. Unfortunately, however, we simply did not have enough time and with so much to get through, the films would just play one after the other and we would hold a conclusion.

I have always thought watching a film can be totally different when seen in a cinema compared to a TV at home or a laptop, and the quality is always so enhanced, and inevitably gives off a unique and greater experience. Watching all these films in a cinema on campus, made them look so genuine and really well made, I really enjoyed watching all of the student’s films, and I was really impressed by the quality and overall creativity going into all of them. The reason I like this studio so much is because you as a filmmaker get to make nearly anything you want to, getting total creative control and having little to no limit. This is also great when it comes to watching everyone else’s films and seeing what can be made up, and there were some In particular that had me shocked they were made from people I knew from class.

“PRYER”, directed by Ziwei Cai, initially blew me away in the audience. To me the film looked like a hyper realistic videogame trailer where the character is off on an adventure that is really fast paced and action packed, I really liked the techniques with how the film was shot such as the fast camera movements, the lighting and the blurs, it followed a specific look all the way through that really contributed to the high quality of the film. Even though it was only a minute long, I believe it was as long as it needed to be and was enough to get wow reactions from the audience.

“Deprived” by Emily Nicholson was a standout for me because I had worked on this project as a camera operator, and it was the first time I had seen any of the footage I shot come together, or the project at all for that matter. Up to this point I had no idea how the film looked, and it was especially rewarding to see all this work pay off. I loved what Emily had done with creating a montage told through visual effects, such as the actors face appearing behind his shadow, and how the coloured powder played a huge part in the ending. I had no idea of the footage’s actual quality and hadn’t been given the chance to see my work, so only seeing it in a cinema for the first time made it all the more special and I was lucky to have worked on this project.

If I was to continue working on my film “A View in the Dark”, to screen it at a festival or expand on it, I would make the film longer in order to delve deeper into the main character, and establish more on who he is and why he is the way he seems, explore the psychology behind the character, and establish a better understanding on his actions, or his original intentions. I don’t think I would add more of a plot to the film but keep that how it is, but just add more scenes alone with the figure, possibly writing diary entries or notes that explore his inner thoughts and give the audience a bit more of an insight.

The exhibition was a chance for every student to see theirs and others work in a positive light, on a big screen in front of the peers, their family and their friends and share that proud vibe of what they achieved this semester. We all have a piece of work that we are proud of, and this gives us the chance to share it with those who are close to us, inviting them along to get their approval or their liking of what we have spent the last 12 weeks dedicating ourselves to.