Evaluation

EVALUATION

Throughout this year, I went into this course with photography as a stronger means of expression. As we started the pathway stage of the project, I made the transition into film, as I found all my photography had a strong narrative which I felt needed to be explored further. As we entered the confirmatory part of the project, I wanted to create a short film which was a progression from every other project. As well as this I wanted to improve my skills technically, in film making and be more adventurous in my ideas.

During the project 24/24, we were given 24 words and had to express each one through photography. When doing this project, I shot in raw and took photos of my sister, alone at night, in a dark street. In the photos through the use of high exposures and the flash gun as well as shooting in raw, with the ability to change many of settings and create a striking visual style. These photos essentially acted as a springboard for this entire year, the dark narrative which featured, ran throughout the following projects. From the stop-motion animation poetic piece that, which featured a series of photos which this time were presented as an animation with text and also music. I continued a similar theme for the next project, which was based around the word Love. I chose to do the darker side of love, obsession and love from afar; this once again had a dark narrative which ran throughout. Therefore it made most sense to me to explore a darker narrative for my final project, in the genre of horror and psychological thriller.

The first thing I did was look at the work of classic horror film makers and more modern short film makers. The work of Alfred Hitchcock, I looked his style of direction as well as the way he portrays a female character, typically icy blonde haired and beautiful and his use of twist endings. As well as this looked at the work of horror and science film maker John Carpenter and the way he creates atmosphere within his films. What struck me the most about his work was his portrayal of everyday suburban streets and the way he can twist a shot of picket fenced houses in broad daylight into a dark and sinister image. What I also thought was important was to focus solely on the atmosphere that he creates in these films rather than the blood and gore. It was during this point in my research that I wanted this short film to focus solely on one person, their expression and their journey in the story, overall making more of a psychological horror film essentially frightening the viewer through the use of my own skill as a film maker, through editing and through sound. I also researched more modern film makers such as the work Chris Cunningham, a music video director. As the length of my film was going to be around three minutes, his technique and his work was very helpful in helping me tell a story in a short space of time.

The soundtrack for this project was the next thing I did. I felt it was important to create the soundtrack before I did anything else. I bought a pair of USB to MIDI leads and connected my piano to my laptop and used Mixcraft (a multi-track sequencer) to create drum loops, beats and melodic phrases as well additional sound effects. This was a long process as the track itself had sixteen different layers to it. However I feel to create the soundtrack first was a huge benefit as it gave me an even clearer idea of the structure of the video. The music itself was inspired by electronic music and modern alternative dance music as well as more traditional horror soundtrack scores, for example the chromatic string section which comes in halfway through the piece.

When shooting the video I managed to do it in two days, in the evening. I filmed in a small village in Frenchay which felt very secluded and empty yet also quite homely. The lighting was a very important factor for me as I wanted to create the illusion that it was the night time when in fact it was still daylight. The reason for this was because I needed enough light to tell the story and filming after sunset would have been very difficult. As well as this, in the video there’s a point in the story where the female character meets her own self dressed in a black veil. Therefore I used the tripod and fixed it in place so I was able to merge two separate shots into one frame, creating the illusion that there was two of her.

The next step was the post-production stages. I edited the video using Sony Vegas, which I had used on my previous projects. I added visual effects to all the footage, bringing up a stronger contrast between black and white and added an icy de saturated filter to the video. I made sure I used quick sharp clips in my video and edited them at a fast pace to add suspense in the film. What was also a challenge for me was lining the video up with the soundtrack that I had already made, several re-edits of the music had to be made and in the end, I condensed the film from five minutes to three and a half minutes to keep a good pace going for the viewer.

After the video was made, I had to plan what I wanted to do when presenting the work at the exhibition. I did an art installation where I set up a mini set where the viewer could sit and watch the video. In the set I wallpapered a black backdrop had a sofa where the viewer could sit and watch my video, whilst also being watched by others as well. The idea was a mirror link, where the viewer would be watched as they sit and watch my video, making them part of the installation and part of the project. As well as this during the video there are several scenes at the start where the girl is watching herself on TV which also relates to the idea behind the installation. I researched into similar installation artists who have looked at this idea. Dan Graham used the idea of a mirror, where the audience watched themselves so they became the viewer and the installation at the same time.

I was very pleased with the response I had to my video, I feel it works at its best when viewed with the previous projects and where the sound can be fully experienced and heard. However all in all I think I managed to produce a video which startled viewers with the just the one character, through the use of the soundtrack and the quick jumpy edit of the video. The installation piece worked how I had a planned as a set where the viewer has to step in to becoming part of the project themselves. Many seemed to enjoy the video and others were left a bit startled and confused which was part of my intention in the first place.