Media example – from class

Within Jan Švankmajer – Descendo Até o Porão (1983) (Down to the Cellar), Czech surrealist filmmaker (15 min) we are exposed to a strong sense and understanding of what it’s like to be in the body of the young girl that is depicted.

 Some media techniques used to heighten this feeling:

• The use of sound enhances the sense of touch through the amplified diegetic sound. For example the sound of the girls hand gripping and slipping the wooden handrail is amplified/ exaggerated unrealistically resulting in a communication of the texture of the wood to the audience.
• The slow movement of the child allows for her footsteps and the creaks of the ground to be clearly heard, enhancing the communication of what it would feel like to walk on the same ground.
• Strong object with recognisable texture are used. eg. The tussle of the lolly wrapper
• close ups of objects create emphasis of the contact with them.
• intimacy is created though extreme close ups of facial expressions and the use of intimate sound. For example, the man gargling water in his throat and mouth.

Media example – of my own

 Some media techniques used to heighten the feeling of touch:

• The use of sound and exaggerated movement in combination. For example: the mixing of the makeup is aggressive resulting in the sound and therefore the thick, gluey texture being communicated.
• The use of extreme closeups much like the class example is used to communicate emotions which reacts with the different sensations on Edward’s face.
• the use of POV camera angles invites the audience to be more empathetic

Week one exercise – video work exploring touch

Some notes from planning:

 

 

As shown, I was very indecisive and struggled a lot to be happy with a concept I felt fit the criteria and allowed me to expresses my concepts.

I slightly regret not sticking to some of my original ideas as I thought they wouldn’t be executed well. Hopefully in the coming weeks my work improves and this will start with my planning.

Synopsis:

My video revolves around the story of a man who desires to feel music once more. He sits in his old leather chair and explores his worn hands and rough skin. After sifting though records of his past he hands one of his favourites to his daughter in hope for her to have the same experience he has with the feeling of the record.

What worked well/not so well about the finished piece:

I like how I attempted to use my inspiration from the media examples of the use of sound. However, this was not overly effective as the mic wasn’t as strong as I expected therefore in editing although I tried to enhance the sounds they didn’t have the effect I intended to the extend I intended. This can be seen in the texture of the record cover – the plastic makes an exaggerated dietetic sound which helps communicate its texture.

I don’t like how the narrative is very slight. I wish I had better planned an arc in which would result in a more engaging media work.

I wish I was able to better capture the sense of touch of the protagonists hands. The roughness and ware of the skin was a texture I tried to communicate but overall failed to do. In reflection, I wish I had used extreme close upshots to make this more intimate and personal.

This weeks reading

 Straughan, E. R. (2012). Touched by water: The body in scuba diving. Emotion, Space and Society, 5(1), 19–26.  

Within the above reading from this week on idea I found interesting was the discussion of “mobilising emotions through diving” in which the explanation of how deep diving can intensely harm the body as a result of the increased pressure is made. I in particular found the line “this somatic alteration is experienced as a sense of euphoria” to be interesting as I felt myself overwhelmed with all the things I do that may harm me but bring me pleasure. This concept is fascinating to me as I see it within society everyday. It evokes the question of why we allow harm to be inflicted on our selves over and over for the result of short lived pleasure. This is hard to answer, much like the questions posed of what it feels like to be engulfed in water and how we might describe this feeling.

References:

Jan Švankmajer – Descendo Até o Porão (1983) (Down to the Cellar), Czech surrealist filmmaker (15 min) 

Youtube. 2020. Edward Scissorhands Makeup Scene. [online] Available at: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3tDMnQPfgg>

 Straughan, E. R. (2012). Touched by water: The body in scuba diving. Emotion, Space and Society, 5(1), 19–26.