Critical Evaluation

Once we were given the brief for the film I had a pretty clear idea about the film I wanted to make. Having just watched Bela Tarr’s Werckmeister Harmonies I wanted to make something that was clean, solid and told a story through the uses of images that were simply but strongly constructed.   

The story of an attempted murder and revenge was chosen for it’s simplicity. The events could be easily shown but also I wanted to show the emotions of each character within the ‘plot’, doing so through use of the specified techniques, most specifically the use of colour.

Inspired by Tarr’s use of the long take to be the event of what is happening on screen, I quickly devised the opening shot that would show a location and setting before introducing the event and action to the location, the event and action being the attempted murder of a character. What I wanted to follow was a series of shots that gave the viewer psychological insight into the characters and to also cleanly shows the resulting events of the attempted murder. The film would not focus on the context of the attempt or the relationship of the two characters prior to it, allowing the audience to view the events figuratively but also to create in their own minds the reasons behind such events in the real world and what effect they can have on people.

My contributions to the project included extensive initial storyboarding including the creation of the idea. I also shared in a third of the camera operation duties, as there was three of us in the group, as well as the editing. I would also claim the role of producer if it was going as I organised the day and schedule of the filming along with booking equipment.

The project did not change in anyway from the initial plans and storyboards. The film was designed to be achievable within the group’s means. This meant being able to shoot it within a relative short amount of time, however, I do not believe this detracted in anyway from the artist content of the film. Being realistic about what we could achieve was perhaps one of the reasons I think the final film is a success, it’s simplicity and muted direction result in a solid little film that allows the viewer to fish for meaning rather than dazzle with over the top camera work and to not be spoon fed meaning. Through careful composition and thought about colour and shot length meaning is constructed through the cinematic elements specified in the brief just as equally as the story of the film, achieving the formalistic ‘leveling’ of the film’s forms.

When shooting inside the house we found that some shots had to be changed or recomposed due to the planned shot simply not working either physically or us not liking how it looked when put into motion. The most notable of these is the shot in which one of the characters climbs a stair case. This was originally set to be shot with the camera at the bottom of the stairs looking up, however it was soon realized that the event of the character entering the house and going upstairs should be treated as one continues happening so should be shot in a single take, so as to had a realistic feel to the sequence. The shot composed looking up the stairs was also quite uninteresting and only really showed the movements of the character up the stairs instead of being used to create meaning like the rest of the shots did. The shot was changed so that the character would come through the front door and climb the stairs in one continuous take, (although later dived by a shot in the edit, the effect still remains as the character remains in the same position until the film ‘returns’ to him), this fit in better with the reserved and observational style of the rest of the film, allowing and inviting the viewer to interpret the events in their own personal way.

As the film progresses the film becomes less ‘realistic’, the lighting is much more formalistic, this one done much for cinematic meaning as well as an exercise in crossing between realism and formalism within one film. Within the bedroom in  the final scene, the lighting, evoking the first scene with green and a murderous red streak flowing through the head (mind) of one of the characters is hardly the height of realism and creates meaning in a different way to way in which the first opening shot does.

Perhaps a fault in this shot is that the colours are not as strong as they could have been and therefore perhaps the meaning of them could be muddied because of their lack of ‘intent’.

If I were to do the film again I think I would try and cut down the number of shots used and show the story as more of a series of events with one shot per event. I would do this and would achieve a greater realism but also open up better composition  opportunities which I feel is quite important to a film that is trying to create meaning through all of film’s forms. I would also try and better fuse the use of colour within the world of the film as believe that formalism works best when disguised as realism. The great thing about film is that no other art form can quite so realistically replicate real life and at the same time operate like any other art using it’s form to create meaning. If formalistic meaning can created while being displayed within a perceived ‘real life’ or world then it will surely have a greater impact and relevance to life and world of the audience, unlike an abstract work which can sometimes feel detached from the ‘real’ world.

Something else I thought was weak in the film was the use of point of view. The film’s observational style does not suit the point of view shot, which I think may lead the viewer to identify with one or both or the characters at it’s peril. The film’s meaning is supposed to be derived from observing the characters without specifically addressing who they are, as the viewer can fish out their own reason for actions such as these. The only that we thought would help combat this was to balance point of views between the characters so that they only have one each, not allowing the audience to get too emotionally invested in one character more than the other.

Over all I am very happy with the film in the way it looks on the surface and that we were able to use the relevant elements within the brief to create meaning within the film.

 The bottom left shot of the storyboard above was the one that was changed to join the one preceding it.

Bibliography

Andrew, J. Dudley, 1976, The Major Film Theories, New York, Oxford University Press, Section 3: Sergei Eisenstein

Katz, Steven D, 1991, Film Directing: shot by shot, Michael Wiese Productions

Chapter 16: Point of View

Equipment list

Storyboards and their resulting shots & floor plans

These shots were designed to show the first murderer character reflecting on what he had done, thinking he had murdered the man, the eating one being lit 'naturally' using house lights along with a reflector.

The bedroom shot being lit more formally, using the red for the murderous streak in the character an the green for the countryside where he had committed the attempt at murder.

This shot was designed so that there was a lot of time establishing the beautiful looking countryside before introducing the violence. The idea behind this was that the violence would bring about an abrupt and shocking end to the natural peace within the forrest.

This point of view shot, using focus to show the character's lack of full consciousness, is a shot which un-wantingly lets the audience identify with the character instead of just observing his actions.

The streak of red in this shot signifies this characters murderous intent and anger. It was lit with a spot toone side of the actor in order to create a shadow across his face to try and show that he has become a dark and splintered personality.

This sequence shot is designed, by showing them in the same shot, to show that revenge character is getting near to the other character, creating tension.

This stairs shot was the most meticulously lit, showing the breaking in of the revenge character and then the climbing up the stairs to the room of the other character. Through the use of specific lighting points we are able to split the actions up but keep them within the same shot, almost cutting without cutting, creating a sense of realism through long take and also a gradual building up of pace through different images.

Like the initial act of violence, the final revenge murder is presented in a single take, merely presenting the act. This was done to heighten the reality and shock of the action but also to present in a way that the audience would not be forced into thinking anything by the film itself, but to bring their own meaning to the events and what they mean to the film.

Sync lessons

The lessons working with the sound group helped me get some practice working in an film making environment.

Lighting Change

In the lesson on Lighting Change, I learnt that a lighting change can be used to show emotions and thoughts within a characters mind as well as physical changes within an environment.

A lighting change can be achieved in many ways such as simply turning a lights brightness up, by turning a light to face a subject or the use of reflectors.

The long take.

In the lesson on the sequence shot I learnt that a long take can be used to create a heightened sense of reality. Cutting can hinder an audiences perception of a real world in front of their eyes were as the long take acts like the mind of a person, one continuous stream of life. A good example of excellent use of the long take is Children of Men were long takes are used in lengthy and ambitions action sequences to the effect that it feels as if the you, the viewer, are participating in the event yourself.

The sequence shot has the be very well planned if to be done well. Extensive blocking and floor plans must be done as well numerous rehearsals with the actors and crew. Composition must also be very tight as the audience will be looking at it for a longer than average time.

POV

In the lesson on Point of View I learnt that:

Point of View can dramtically alter how an audience can read a scene, depending on which character they Identify with, scenes when, scripted the same, shot from a different character's point of view can totally change what they think of each character.
However, if there are no strict POV shots, then the audience are limited to being observers, which can have it's own uses.
Using close-ups and line of sights is the most common way of establishing point of view and identification within an audience it is important to consider this when constructing shots and storyboarding.

POV shots can be established through montage i.e. showing a character looking and then the object they are looking at.

Identification with a character can be established through proximity and angle of the camera to the characters face, the close the camera the more the identification.

Colour

In the lessons colour I learnt that colour can be used to signify emotions of characters, such as the inside of Jack's jacket in the shining, which is red, which surly is a symbol of the rage and anger building internally inside of Jack. I've also learnt that it can also signify and form the basis of a frame of reference within a film, such as the colour's of red and green within Blow-Up, where green represents the basis of 'true' living' and red the pretentious guises that people can put on life.

The use of props, sets, camera filters, lighting gels and lighting heat all contribute the harnessing of colour for creation of meaning.