Proposal done! I think it went well. It was really great to hear everybody’s ideas, and if I’m completely honest, there wasn’t a single idea I didn’t find myself interested in. With that said, there are obviously going to be ones that stick out, and for me those were:
– Aidan’s idea to focus on how places look at night, and to learn how to film at night. The idea of a place being unfamiliar at different times/in different lighting was brought up, and I think that’s really interesting. I also like the different possibilities that come with night shooting, and how everything somehow seems to become more interesting in the artificial light you find yourself with, and all the sounds you just can’t hear when its busy.
– Jamie’s idea to learn how to use lighting that’s not natural to light a subject, likely to create a scene belonging to the crime genre. Jamie’s work so far just looked so cool, and I really loved the shot of someone standing silhouetted in front of car headlights. I was just really excited by her photos and think that if they looked amazing, her film work will too.
– Jess’s idea to shoot a scene like the one from Girls. There’s a lot I like about that scene, and I agreed with everything she had to say about it as to why it would be interesting to draw from in making your own project.
– Sam’s idea to film dreams. It’s just so cool. You could do anything, and yet I still think it will be a challenge, and I think that’s really exciting.
In regards to my own proposal, I got some feedback in regards to the focus on the directors. The first piece of advice was to really pay attention to sound in the close up montages. An example was given that for the bit with the toast being buttered, the sound would be really exaggerated and could actually be something such as a rake being dragged across concrete. So the sounds for each action need to be loud and exaggerated. That’s some really good advice and will be lots of fun to play around with, I think. It does make a lot of sense though. Wright is trying to make these little actions seem dramatic by putting them in an action montage, and only to add to that, they’re all shot close up. Of course the sound would need to match this! But I don’t think I would have thought of that until post. I also got some advice to look into fashion as well, since my interest in Hughes in largely based around costume. So maybe I’ll watch for people at uni and write some posts about fun outfits I’ve seen, and dig through my wardrobe and find some 80s era clothing that I could use. Overall it just feels good to know that at least for now, I’m on the right track. I know I’m taking on a lot by exploring character, as well as Wright and Hughes, but I think they can come together in all different ways and result in lots of little experiments that should be really fun to do and useful in understanding character as a concept and how to be a better filmmaker in general.
