260MC Cinematography Project (Preparing for our rough cut)

Today, some of my group presented what we had accumulated within our project so far. This included showing all our peers the dialogue we had recorded, written by myself. Initial reactions were very positive, however some were confused with the narrative. This was later cleared up when we explained our use of visuals and how we’d re-record the voices through a microphone. We the began to explain our use of theatre space and the issues we faced with finding a location. After this feedback session was over, we continued with reporting the overall progress of our project to another one of our lecturers.

Upon pitching our progress to him, he was immeditely drawn to our use of poetry as dialogue. He further showed up some examples of staging and lighting examples, prompting us to think about our production value more.

We further expanded on our desire to use lighting all the way through. However upon listening to our lecturers comments, we decided that we’d focus on soft and hard lighting in its natural form, thus adding in green and red filters much later. This would add to more realism to our piece, in order to not confuse our audience with too much false lighting.

In terms of our target audience, we’d focus on those 18+ and above. This is due to the theme of our overall piece, considering our given image and the way in which we are constructing it. Therefore we will reach out to our key demographic through the sue of visual splendour (lighting) and also spoken poetry (to convey a deeper meaning).

In terms of how we’d place each scene within the dialogue passages themselves, my peer and I came up with the following order:

Invigoration (by Ashish Patel)

Person A (confused with own sexual orientation): “You came like a storm to me- sudden and unexpected. You were loud, demanding, making me dance to your every word”.

Movement: Crouching

Person B (very strong, not confused): “I arrived when I heard your call. You were a delicate flower needing to be watered. Moving around so gently, with little happiness. Would you had preferred if I left you un-watered, drawing colour from your life even more?”

Person B embraces Person A ever so slowly.

Person A (sexual orientation, frustrated): “I feel trapped by your demands almost as if your love is intoxicating or is that the feeling of me intoxicating myself. I am stuck..Where do I go if I don’t know the way myself, almost as if even your hand feels to far to reach.”

Person A begins to place blame on herself through movements, she then re-enacts a prison cell.

Person B (grounded, sexually aware): “Roar and you will find who you are. Roar even louder, as if no one is listening. Imagine you are waking from a long slumber, you feel different, you feel revived. I have done that to you, I am your solution not your problem.”

Person B encourages person A through movement to get out of their shell, this is then followed by a solid stance via Person B.

Person C (new lover-female): “Sometimes I feel numb, numb by your touch, numb by your longing, numb by your company”

Person C drifts into frame, in a very dazed manner, with a monotone look spread across her face.

Person A: “How can I split my time between you and her? She who is confident, she who is mystifying. She who is feels like home.”

Person A is drawn by both figures, in a push and pull motion.

Person B: “You say your ‘confused’ but your body tells me otherwise. How is it I know every part of you and appreciate your flaws? ‘She’ will let you down; ‘She’ will be your fall.”

Person B then embraces Person A, while he slithers between her (or opposite) showcasing desire.

Person C: “I am your rise not your fall. He twists my words to bring you back to him. Can’t you see he doesn’t want you to be free..”

Person C then arrives back in frame, more confident this time unchaining Person A from Person B.

Person A: I Choose..

Person A then stands in front of both person B and C looking towards the audience, with PB and PC looking at her, she then fades away.

To conclude, my team and I have alot of planning to do for Monday, but I feel that if we stay in deep communication with each other and keep liasoning with all the actors then we’ll be all set.

260MC: Francis Bacon and Sexual Frustration

Before looking deeper into our photos subject matter, I started to revisit my notes from yesterday, where I compiled a few dialogue passages to go hand in hand with our subject material. Upon showing all to my peers, feedback was very positive as they liked my use of emotion and explicit imagery, woven in a very subtle and classy way, in order to not offend or cause controversy.

My Notes

Story: 2 individuals come face to face in their relationship, as one of them struggles to identify with the same sexuality as their partner. Is it a case of broken love, mistrust or is the line of love too confusing for them to see ‘straight’.

Dialogue (poem excerpts by Ashish P-Untitled)

*Channel sexual frustration through movement or situations.

Pan (move at moderate speed, each movement equals a change in scene (tbc)- almost as if it were freeze-framed into a picture.  Include re-enactments more than once in order to include overlays in post, to create an effect where remenants of a particular scene are still active, whilst everything else is moving along, including the characters.

Possibly echo voices and use in ear mics, in order to pick up clearer dialogue from all actors/performers. Further bring in the following emotions: Confusion, anger, pain, defeat, distrust and loss of faith plus numbness.

Untitled Poem (By me)

Person A (confused with own sexual orientation): “You came like a storm to me- sudden and unexpected. You were loud, demanding, making me dance to your every word”.

Person B (very strong, not confused): “I arrived when I heard your call. You were a delicate flower needing to be watered. Moving around so gently, with little happiness. Would you had preferred if I left you unwatered, drawing colour from your life even more?”

Person A (sexual orientation, frustrated): “I feel trapped by your demands almost as if your love is intoxicating or is that the feeling of me intoxicating myself. I am stuck..Where do I go if I don’t know the way myself, almost as if even your hand feels to far to reach.”

Person B (grounded, sexually aware): “Roar and you will find who you are. Roar even louder, as if no one is listening. Imagine you are waking from a long slumber, you feel different, you feel revived. I have done that to you, I am your solution not your problem.”

Possible Scene Situations:

• Heated Argument
• Expressive dance
• Passing each other, getting closer each time.
• Talking, fighting then talking
• Looking lifeless, but creating a sense of refinement through facial expressions and sounds.

Upon reflection, today’s session was not only extremely productive but really allowed all to express their thoughts as this particular project begins to come to an end. The next week or so will prove very challenging, due to other demanding modules taking centre stage as well. However I feel me and my team are prepared and ready to really evolve our vision in terms of are subject matter, into something impactful and emotionally stirring, further allowing us to think about our final presentation as well, and what type of style we’ll opt for in showcasing our research, progress reports and much more.

260MC: Francis Bacon Vs Rodin

Upon continuing with our cinematography project, I decided to do more extensive research on the photo we received, Francis Bacons The Lying Figure.

Background

“At the beginning of September 1959, Francis Bacon travelled to Cornwall, seeking to escape the distractions of London, and took out a six-month rental on a studio in St Ives from the artists William Redgrave and Peter Lanyon. One evening at a party in St Ives, Redgrave noticed Bacon talking with Brian Wall; Bacon asked Wall what he did. ‘I’m a sculptor’, replied Wall; ‘How interesting’, Bacon retorted, before continuing, ‘actually there are only three: Michelangelo, Rodin and Brancusi.” [1]-bacon and Rodin in dialogue – Ordovas, 2013

The Picture

Upon researching the picture more, I found out that the image includes a reclining figure who is spread out on a sofa. Further representing pain and violence (which was a re-occuring theme in Bacons work during the 1950’s.

“fragmented torsos, painted with a complex blurring of gender distinctions, Bacon incorporated some of his most powerful representations of shifting sexual orientation.”-faggionato.com[2]

As I interpreted the picture in my own way, I felt it involved two individuals within the painting itself, merged together through aggressive rough brush strokes. Thus in this way it showcases sexual orientation as something which the subject almost feels unsure about as they may feel ‘divided’ in terms of how they represent themselves to what they see themselves being in too.

I’d further say that Francis Bacons work with Rodin’s really showcases intricate body movements extremely visually. Considering that each artist explores in depth violence, pain and even shock in some cases. Especially in a very explorative sense as both artists dwell extremely well into body movements. Thus relating both their respective works into our own, we are hoping to visually establish a connection between our audience and our work in a deep and engaging way through a strong narrative alongside specific lighting aswell.

Bibliography

[1]  Movement and gravity – bacon and Rodin in dialogue – Ordovas (2013) Available at: http://www.ordovasart.com/exhibition/movement-and-gravity-bacon-and-rodin-in-dialogue/ (Accessed: 19 November 2016).

[2]  Francis Bacon: Studying form – exhibitions (no date) Available at: http://www.faggionato.com/exhibitions/francis-bacon_1 (Accessed: 19 November 2016).

260MC Cinematography Task (Progress Report)

Recently my group all came together to share our progress on our cinematography project so far. I began to brief everyone of what needed to be done, whilst also revisiting our overall idea as well. We decided that we needed to find dancers and book out the space in which we’d want to film our video. Now, as it became clear to us that we’d need a first draft very soon we decided to crack on with enlisting all our talent and various additional services.

In going over our idea, we re-alliterated how we wanted to showcase the particular image we had received (Francis Bacon-The Lying Figure). Mentioning how we’d showcase a relationship where one of the parties would be dealing with sexual frustration through their orientation. Thus would touch on this through a particular dancing style (i.e contemporary dance). We’d further involve a full pan in our piece, where we’d place the camera in the centre of our location. We would then expand on this, by overlaying the different images onto each other. One example of this style can be seen in the following music video[1]:

 

Upon showcasing a small presentation to our peers and lecturers, covering our image and our visions. We made sure to go into detail about our image, the way in which we were presenting it, technical aspects, initial reactions and so forth. Alot of the feedback was positive, as many liked how we wanted to showcase each subjects emotions through coloured lighting (i.e red representing anger), further being intrigued by our choice of location (The Dome, on the top of ET building, Pirates of the Carribean Inspired). However they did bring up how we should be careful in how much creative input we would give to the dancers themselves, as we’d want them to choreagraph their own sequences. We further noted how we’d create a short outline or even some guidelines for the dancers to follow, in order to keep their own interpretation of the image itself on track with ours. Another thing which was pointed out included our research into the photo, as although I’d collated alot of notes on this we didn’t really cover  enough throughout our mock presentation. One link which we did use included the following, however we only skimmed on the information from the site very briefly:

Francis Bacon Vs Rodin [2]

To conclude, I would say that my team are extremely motivated and focused in delivering on our ‘cinematography task’. Our main challenges will include enlisting talent, whilst also making sure to manage our time effectively alongside the other projects (which I feel can be done effectively). Thus am ready to get everything running in motion regarding this particular project.

The following Monday my group met up to discuss our progress so far. I started off my sharing with everyone that I had no luck securing a location or dancers, however had connections with a possible dance teacher who teaches students. However, after planning all logistics for our idea, we came to the conclusion that we were missing alot of parts for our project, even if we just had to present a mock piece for now. This promoted me to find out if the TV studio could be used for our location, which sadly could not due to a clash in bookings. Leaving us with plan C to shoot our film on the second level of ET (the small dome). Now, although many people walk in and out of this particular area, we’d stress before hand our plan for filming. Thus keeping them in the loop of what shots we will be filming and where they should place themselves (i.e possibly wait patiently to cross to the other side/go up the stairs). I further suggested that we possible take some photo stills, in order to essay our source image even more, giving us enough material to use in our final presentation.

Bibliography

[1] AdeleVEVO (2016) Adele – send my love (to your new lover). Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk4BbF7B29w (Accessed: 19 November 2016).

[2] Movement and gravity – bacon and Rodin in dialogue – Ordovas (2013) Available at: http://www.ordovasart.com/exhibition/movement-and-gravity-bacon-and-rodin-in-dialogue/ (Accessed: 19 November 2016).

260MC Placing context in Media: Cinematography Project

Today some of my group met up to go over our cinematography project. Before starting I started to brief my team on the notes that I’d collated last week (see below):

Upon listening to what I had found many started to share their initial reactions to the picture itself. We further revisited the main brief to know specifically what we had to create and the formalities of our own piece.

The brief:260mc-assignment-brief-cw1-2015-v2

In thinking of some ideas, my group gravitated towards showcasing the message of ‘sexual orientation’ in a very experimental way. For example, working off shadows, emotions and also various situations where sexual orientation would be highlighted in a very engaging and meaningful way, rather than it being told in a theatrical fashion.

To conclude, my group garnered some great ideas in thinking about our image. Further opening up our creative minds to look deeper within the picture, in order to really get across our creative visions, playing in context with our given picture.

The next day my group met again to discuss our project, we also checked in with our main tutors to get some feedback on our progress so far (see notes below):

Upon gaining feedback we explained our idea in detail. Our lecturer liked how we were thinking of representing emotions through lighting. She further suggested that we pay close attention to the cinematography, considering that we would not want our final cinematography piece to come out as a music video.

Throughout today, I stayed committed and driven. I brought my team together efficiently and made sure all views were shared and expressed in a relaxed environment. I further added to our notes by going into to detail on setting and subject, with many of my peers contributing some very well rounded ideas.

Bibliography

Bacon, F. (no date) The Lying Figure (1)- F.Bacon. Available at: https://theircreations.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/francis-bacon-lying-figure-no-1-1959.jpg?w=506 (Accessed: 10 November 2016).

260MC: Lighting (2 Week Mini Task)- Report

Upon receiving the following brief ‘task-3-lighting-from-a-photograph‘ my group were assigned a picture. The picture we received included Edward Hoppers Morning Sun[1].

My initial thoughts on the picture were that it was very simple yet impactful. For example the subjects gaze suggests that she wants to escape from the world she knows, but can’t. Further connoting a sense of isolation and disarray, as if she is stuck in one place and cannot see the beauty around her (i.e the view through the window) in an emotionally connected way. Rather she see’s all as being very monotonal, as her thought processes are almost in black and white.

Upon thinking of ideas on how to plan out our short shoot, my team decided that we’d forge different angles to see the viewpoints of the subject through herself (for example, her face, eyes and so forth).

In thinking when we’d film this particular aspect of our mini task, things proved very interesting. This is because we could not arrange a meeting for all of us to be present. This then prompted my group to hold a group meeting in order to settle all and to find the best date.

As we eventually settled on our filming day, we brought on board our subject, further telling her about the project. This then prompted us to put our research and creative visions in action. What I further liked about this set up was how we took turns to film. Helping us not only boost team morale but also keep all of our creative juices flow.

In terms  of similar work, to our own short project I would probably say that family dramas inspired me in my thought processes. This is because there’s always one particular character who’s traits are different to the rest. Furthermore I’d say that our use of repetitive emotions to false lighting, helped us to work with shadows further demonstrating our skill + craft.

Edward Hopper (Timeline) [2]

Lighting Task

Upon reflecting on my group’s project I would say we successfully implemented false light effectively into our media piece. However, some drawbacks included our use of natural lighting and the strength of our lighting as well. Considering upon viewing our final edit, it was noted that the lighting in some scenes looked too exposed, further opposing our source material as such, as our given image was ‘Morning Sun’ by Edward Hopper. For next time, we would probably try to color grade our piece, this would allow us to manipulate false light more efficiently, garnering in those orange and yellow tones significant of  a morning sunrise. Overall, however I would say that our use of shadows and positioning of our subject really encapsulated our message, or rather the pictures message of loneliness and emptiness, showcasing someone who is numb and vacant in a world such as this one.

Lecturer Feedback(2)

“The piece showed effort, and I like how you tried to experiment. Some of the cuts didn’t really work for me, they seemed a bit too similar and I don’t think the fades helped. You could have had some ambience sound as well to give your piece more character.”

“You have represented the image well, where you get a sense of the lonliness and can almost hear her thoughts. The lighting could have been less harsh, as there were quite a few shadows. I would have liked to see more colour, where the painting reminded me of a gaze, a soft gaze. Well Done!

 

Peer Feedback  (4/11/16)

+

1. The Lighting and the shadows portrayed in piece conveyed emotion plus subject well.
2. Pretty cinematography, accurate imitation of referenced image.
3. Good soft lighting, it looked a lot like the painting.
4. Reflected the image well and proved and intriguing watch.

_

1. Could have used natural sound to give image more depth.
2.  The actual story could have been stretched out more in depth.
3. A bit more action could be suitable cause it was the same shot all over again.

To conclude, upon receiving all feedback my group took all constructive criticism well. We further made it clear that we’d hope to color correct and possibly add in more orange and blue tones, but due to time constraints this was not possible. Thus for next time, we’d make sure to manipulate false light effectively, possibly using different lights. Overall I am happy with my team’s dedication and our final piece for are ‘Lighting Task 3 assignment’.

Bibliography

 [1] www, P. (2009) Morning sun, 1952 by Edward hopper. Available at: http://www.edwardhopper.net/morning-sun.jsp (Accessed: 1 November 2016).

[2] The School of Life (2015) ART/ARCHITECTURE – Edward hopper. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rluUMpndKbo (Accessed: 1 November 2016).

260MC: Lighting Workshop/Task 2 (evaluative critique of peers work)

In today’s lecture we went over ‘lighting’. My notes from the session can be found below (including responses from my peers):

The Purpose of lighting

• Captures the drama
• Intensifies situation.
• Practical lightning
• Shaping (gives scope to characters)
• Translates emotion and gives it to the audience.
• Implies the Genre.
• Highlights important pieces of the set, the frame.
• Can be used artistically and aesthetically.
• Creates mise-en-scene

After brainstorming about lighting we were introduced to a short clip showcasing high key cinematographers in the media industry (including those who worked with Christopher Nolan on the Batman Trilogy. Some advice that I picked up from the clipped included the following:

• Focus on relationships!
• Whenever you are shooting two characters, you are shooting the relationship between these two characters authentically/artistically.

Afterwards, we were shown two clips from different movies which demonstrated lighting very clearly. See below for a description of the short clips, including my notes regarding the style of lightning and the use of it.

The first clip was from the film  Road to Perdition (Sam Mendes). In this particular scene, we are shown Daniel Craigs character alongside a young boy (who we see at the start of the clip running to Craig’s characters office to collect something). As soon as the boy enters he is polite and asks for something fro Daniel Craigs character. It’s here that the lighting is very dark, however, the smoke from Daniel Craig’s character is very apparent. This in itself showcases Craig’s characters superiority. Furthermore, the dark lighting emphasizes the tension. Whilst the smoke acts as the central character, as its very present, considering its always getting back-lit. In contrast, the young boy (played by Tyler Hoeclin) is seen to be presented in a very dark light, with only a little bit of light touching his hands. This therefore indicates his character’s low self-esteem and confidence.

The other clip shown to us features Leonardo Dicaprio in Catch Me If You Can. In this particular scene from the movie, we see Leo’s character enter to find a jacket in his kitchen and his parents sorting out their divorce. The lighting includes warm lighting (which touches on the jacket, highlighting it as the central figure of the scene. Furthermore, the room is very hazy that we get to see beams of light coming through. There are also hard shadows in the bedroom scene which rely highlight the scene and also the clear tension of the situation effectively through the lightning.

In conclusion, today’s session was extremely informative and engaging. The video texts used were clear and very visual. Whilst written material was easy to understand yet deeply engaging. As for the skills session during the day, they were very independent and well organized. For me, this helped me to step out of my comfort zone, as it pushed me a little more to really work independently in using the equipment, whilst working in a team as well to create small artifacts which would be  useful in practice but also clear to the eye (in representing particular techniques).

One highlight of the day was evaluating some of my peers work in one of our workshops. The piece of media we were evaluating included the task we were set last week (task 2: making a relationship). The first thing we were briefed on is how we were going to evaluate our peers work, this involved one of our lecturers handing out small pieces of paper to us to write the good and possibly weak points of the videos we would see. Further passing it back to the person after, so that they’d get detailed feedback regarding their week in an organized fashion. This proved successful as it meant that those  feedbacking really included a lot of detail in their response, further including what their peers could have done better.

 

260MC: ‘Love?’- Creating a Relationship (reflection)

Love can be the best and times but it can also be the worst. It can change a person’s character for the worst, consuming them in anguish and guilt, making their other half feel numb with pain.

The black and white filter represents a love which has been lost. It captures a love that is no more, but is desperately in need of saving. As for the shots, the use of close-ups and over the shoulder shots not only portray intense emotion, but they also showcase to the audience sadness as one of the lovers tries to get through to the other with no avail.

The final shot (close-up) twists the story a little, as we see one of the characters stare in fury, maybe showing their true colors to their partner, possibly citing this as one reason why they are not so connected anymore. The reason I wanted to showcase this was because I wanted to represented a love with many layers rather one that is extremely pure and strongly. This is because I felt that in showing ‘Love’ in this way I would be hinting at a more realistic representation of it (to an extent), rather than overly dramatizing it too much.

Overall, I would say I am happy with the overall result. However for next time I would probably include more blocking, as I felt I didn’t include enough of this technique in my film. This would maybe involve the characters walking in, going from spot A to B in a certain fashion (incluing emotion/body language). However in listing the positives, I’d say the over the shoulder shots and the close ups really captured the mood, considering we could not use dialogue. Therefore really captured the essence of the scene through facial expressions and ofcourse clear camera angles too.

260MC Placing Context in Media: Blocking & Spaces (reflection)/Photographing The Face (feedback)

In today’s session we went over blocking and spacing (see my notes below):

Throughout the session, we discussed the importance of spacing and the power of blocking. This was useful as we were given the chance to gain a better understanding of the camerawork behind blocking and spacing. For example the benefits of it and how important creating emotion is through these particular styles of camerawork.

We further learned about ‘narrative beats’, when a particular moment of a story is significantly heightened. When applied to this week’s topic the following can be seen:

• Changes in blocking
• Changes in camera

*All the points above contribute towards ‘narrative beats’.

Upon concluding on this particular session, a lot of visual aids were used to grasp our understanding of this particular topic. I would further say that I learnt a lot about the importance of blocking and spacing and how it truly captivates the action or even the drama in a film.

Afterwards, we moved onto our next session, where we discussed Task 1 (photographing the face). This task involved us filming a one-minute long portrait with no sound or text. It challenged us to think about mise-en-scene, lighting, positioning and what we wanted the audience to get from it.

My Long Portrait:

For my long portrait, I wanted to showcase profound vanity of my subject. Further capturing in a single shot the effects of extreme vanity and the power of loving oneself solely almost as a religion.

Upon reflecting on my peers ‘long portraits’ many were interesting and innovative focusing on a variety of message and hidden meanings.

Below include analysis notes of my peers work and my own (critiqued by others):

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To conclude getting critical feedback on my work really helped in establishing my craft and my working style. It allowed me to listen to other people’s viewpoints and to get a grasp of their own portrayal/encryption of my own work. Further leaving me with helpful advice and tips for the future, if I were to do the same assignment again. It let me appreciate the power of craft and vision, as many of my peers were very creative in the comments and really fed back to me well on what they liked and disliked, to which areas they thought would look better fleshed out (see slideshow above ‘Ashish Patel’).