The reading that I really enjoyed this week was ‘Writing the Short Film’ which has three, very different, short film scripts.
The first thing that excited me about this reading was the diversity of the three scripts. They would all become very different films, yet they all manage to entice the reader. The character’s predicament is very clear and is put in the forefront early on. Rather than taking a while to set-up the scenario, the characters are thrown right into the action, forcing them to react and respond. I’ve realized that this is crucial to making a short film as there is only a limited amount of time to tell your story and the best way to do this is to put the characters straight into the situation.
The other thing that interested me was the way each of the worlds were constructed. It demonstrates that as long as your world doesn’t contradict its own set of rules, you can create any world that you desire. The way in which that particular world was shown from the protagonist’s point of view was also critical to telling the story. The way that they view the world is integral to understanding their personality, predicament and how they deal with it.
The screenwriting lecture from Jasmine was a good overall summary of the skills of screenwriting.
One point that I took from it was: “You can’t wait for inspiration, you have to go after it with a club” – Jack London. This really resonated with me as in order to write you need to keep at it and use as many different writing exercises to develop interesting characters, scenarios and story ideas. Majority of the time, the best and most interesting ideas arise from trying a different approach to writing by using different writing exercises rather than waiting for an interesting idea to pop into your head. As someone who likes to have an overall sense of a character or story before putting pen to paper, the notion of just going with your first instincts and letting the character or scenario take you in any kind of direction is interesting and liberating.
For the first semester of Film-TV 1 I hope to gain a better understanding of the production process of films, from the pre-production stage right through to post-production. I hope to gain an understanding of industry practices which will help me feel better equipped to conduct my own productions in the future.
I want to challenge myself by taking on roles that I’m not used to in production such as trying my hand at cinematography or technical adviser. By pushing myself to learn how to best serve the production from a technical stand point I believe I will become a better filmmaker by not letting fear of technology stand in my way.
I hope to learn from the other students not only in my group but in the other film groups as well. I would like to learn how to be a better editor and to learn skills in lighting and sound, which if I’m not in charge of I still hope to learn these skills by watching and helping other students.
By the end of the semester I hope to be a more well-rounded filmmaker who is ready to take on any aspect of filmmaking.
For our first class in Integrated Media we had to familiarize ourselves with K-films and discuss what we noticed about them. Being new to K-films I was interested to see how they worked and to realize that there really is no limits as to what you can create. I really like the idea that you can create something interactive that people can be a part of while still demonstrating a real-life experience. While I am usually trying to find a story to create, I like that the freedom that K-films provide means that you can discover stories or patterns from what is around you.
The first one I watched was called ‘The Market’ which toured a market place, showing people grocery shopping and the various items being sold (including fruit and vegetables as well as fashion accessories). This was accompanied with the ambient sounds of the market with each clip. Some of the clips used long shots and motion, while some were close-ups of the items.
I liked the ambient sounds that accompanied the clip which made it feel as though you were getting a full experience of the environment. I liked the unintentional suspense that came with clicking each new clip to see whether something dramatic or out of the ordinary would occur, eg; a whole box of apples falling onto the floor. However, this didn’t occur. This is also one of the things I didn’t enjoy abut this K-film as it felt repetitive. Perhaps if there was a change in sound or some different activity in the clips it would’ve been more enjoyable. Another thing that didn’t appeal to me was how small the clips were; this made it hard to engage with the film.
The second K-film I watched was ‘Life’ which is a poetic look at the obstacles we face in life. This film is more fragmented, using vision of people on the streets, individuals carrying out various tasks and close-ups on objects. It is accompanied by melancholic R&B music and poetic text (possible song lyrics) that match the vision being shown. The links are in different shapes; angel wings, sprockets and faces which all add to the viewing experience.
I really enjoyed this K-film as it took a more artistic and fragmented approach than the Market. It took its theme of life and demonstrated a melancholic mood which is achieved through the various lighting, vision and sound choices. I enjoyed the poetic text that matched the video and music that sets the mood. Without either of these, the vision can be interpreted in various ways. While every individual will have different perspectives of the film, the text and music add a particular mood that wouldn’t have been achieved without it. However, some of the vision was hard to interpret because of the low-res; the first clip of writing in a diary was impossible to read. While I enjoyed the music, there could have been more variation which would’ve added to the viewing experience.
Overall, I enjoyed watching the K-films and seeing how different creators have taken different approaches to their own films.
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