A few reflective questions on my upcoming project brief:

  1. What is the ‘controlling idea’ (Robert McKee) of your portrait? In other words, what is the most interesting thing about your participant/interviewee that you want to communicate?

I think my interviewee as a person is the most interesting thing about this interview. As a young man (a similar age to most of us at university) his experiences and passions are engaging.

  1. How is your portrait film structured? (Remember there might be multiple forms of structure employed) E.g. Discussion and depiction of an event or process? A Journey? Use of voiceover narration? Other?

The portrait is structured through the use of narration as a voice over. The images are reflecting what he is saying, but not strictly.

  1. What do you want your audience to make of your interviewee? (e.g. What are you saying through them and/or human nature, human folly, or noble human inspiration?)

I want to show my audience (university students) that following your passion is important. You never know where your ambitions will land you.

  1. How is your portrait being narrated? Why? How does it affect the structure?

The portrait is being narrated purely by the interviewee and what he says. His comments create the interview along with the video footage. The footage is a representation of him so I think it’s important to use his voice to tell us about himself.

  1. What role will the ‘found footage’ play in your portrait? For example, reinforcement? Ironic counterpoint? Contrast? Comparison? Other?

I’ve used found footage in my project as a reinforcement of aspects of my interviewee e.g. found footage of coffee highlights how much he loves and relies on coffee (as a lighthearted representation).

  1. Does your portrait have a dramatic turning point?

At this point I don’t think I necessarily have a dramatic turning point but I do have a structure that moves through his passion growth. It moves from photography being a hobby to actually being something he wants to pursue and is a creative outlet for him.

  1. How does your portrait gather and maintain momentum?

I think he gathers momentum and maintains it by being such an energetic person in terms of his ambition and playful nature with his photography and writing work. Because the audience is university aged students (particularly our media class) I think that my interviewee’s personal interest in media will allow his story to maintain momentum, as it is a common link between him and the audience.

  1. Where will your portrait’s dramatic tension come from? The gradual exposition of an overall situation? A volcanic, climactic moment? An impending change or crisis? The contrast between what the interviewee talks about and the found footage?

I don’t think that the portrait I’m creating of my interviewee is particularly dramatic or creates too much tension. I’ve designed it to be a playful, upbeat representation, therefore if there happens to be tension, I think it will come from a gradual exposition of the situation overall.

  1. Does the portrait have a climax and/or resolution? Outline them.

At this point, I haven’t given my portrait a climax however; a resolution could be described as where he sees himself in the future and his goals. His goals are resolving what he has to say and are bringing you to where he is at in his career today.

 

… And they all lived happily ever after.