Manifesto Video Essay:
Exquisite Corpse:
Sophie Theodosi
Three Personal Position Statements: From Assignment #2
- Every story of cinema must be told by or under the guidance of someone who has experienced that life experience.
- Without exhausting clichés, tropes should be used to make the viewing experience familiar to the audience, whilst still constructing characters of three-dimensional quality.
- For too long the canon has enforced a “feminist reading” to define films with strong female characters, this should forever more be the expected norm of cinema, whereby women are just as if not more powerful than their male counterparts.
Personal Reflection:
My role in the production of the manifesto was to create the second part of the video essay. My section of the video centred around directors and their role in our manifesto. I aimed to look for “good” examples which supported our manifesto. First, I brainstormed a list of movies and directors of whom I thought shared ethical motivations to the production of their films whereby they had personally experienced the subject matter explored. I considered films which I enjoyed watching, and the director had a clear influence on the authenticity of the content within the film due to their personal life experience. I then cut down my list to three of the best examples to be explored in the essay. After curating clips from the named film and interviews with the respective filmmakers, I began writing a script. My script then transferred to a voice recording which I edited to fit the time limit, and assured conciseness. The most crucial skills I learnt during this task was how to edit audio on audacity using shortcuts. I also refreshed my video editing skills on resolve and learnt how to overlap clips using the different layers available on the software.
Ben Virgin
Three Personal Position Statements: From Assignment #2
- Documentary can be a way to explore fresh and different perspectives of the world, and this can be an extremely powerful tool for platforming diverse voices.
- Non-fiction films should be granted the same prestige, respect and reverence as fiction.
- Documentary must endeavour to reflect the problems and realities of the present, however ugly or off-putting it may be.
Personal Reflection:
My role in the production of the Manifesto was to create the fourth and final part of the video. This section centered around documentary and its complicated relationship with the representation of marginalized groups. I first planned out the structure of my video essay, which centered around moving chronologically through the history of documentary and giving specific examples, both positive and negative, of on screen representation in each era. After mapping out the structure and the specific films I would use as examples, I began writing the script and detailing which specific clips from each film I would use. I then created my own voice over using Adobe Audition, before editing it together with clips from each film in Adobe Premiere. The voiceover and script were modified slightly to accommodate each clip’s length. The skill I refined the most during production was audio editing. My initial voice over contained a large amount of background noise, which caused me to use Adobe Auditions De-Noise plug-in as well as the single-band compressor plug-ins to increase the audio quality. I also used Audition’s DeEssser plug-in to reduce the harshness of my sibilant consonants in the voice over.
Sa Wang
Three Personal Position Statements: From Assignment #2
- The power of cinematography should not be used for political propaganda.
- The power of cinematography should not be used for the marketing purpose based on political propaganda such as building up nationalism hype.
- Revealing the truth naturally builds up equality among our humanity, the formalism should be limited, the genuine hearts are the most important.
Personal Reflection:
Throughout this group task, the most valuable thing for me is to gather with the crew and share the thoughts regarding the Canon and the truth of cinema with each other. I find that communication truly empowers the understanding of a bigger picture. In the process I used Final Cut Pro X and a few clips of the films I talked about from the internet, and a rough cutting for the whole groups’ video clips. I truly loved the experience working with my wonderful teammates, that is the best takeaway from this task for sure.
Izzy Versa
Three Personal Position Statements: From Assignment #2
- We should not accept film from problematic film makers into the cannon
- Stories of minorities should be played by said minorities and not an actor that has not experienced the life of those they are playing
- Every art form is imitated and therefore the film cannon should not just focus on films that did it ‘first’ but ones that did it better. An updated list needs to be revised for the 100 best films of all time
Personal Reflection:
For my manifesto I explored the issue of representation in actors and casting. Throughout the video I show good and bad examples of films, where marginalised groups have been represented and the steps in which people need to take in order for a more well rounded cannon. The tone of my part is both serious and humorous. I chose clips and pictures to visualise my manifesto in a way that coincides with what I’m saying but also in a creative way that is up for interpretation. I wrote my script first after long group discussions where we figured out our contention and arguments. I then recorded and put it into premiere pro so I could figure our what clips and pictures to use and for what length they would go for. Our video breaks down the systemic issue of representation in Hollywood and the role that actors play in supporting this problem.