I have learnt a lot over this unit. I have decided to go for something completely different and out of my comfort zone in order to create a finalized film that shows a true reflection of my skills and abilities throughout pre production, production and post production.
I started off with the idea that I wanted to do something that would push my boundaries. After reading through the list of sonnets the one that I really connected with was Trespass. When alining with it at face value I began to delve behind the real and true intent of the meaning and felt that this was actually about judgement and being on a forbidden path in life. I also gained this insight through my research of the author and his backstory which can been seen in my separate post. This inspired me to think of jobs and what people do in society that people frown upon. I first went down the route of a drug dealer but after feedback it wasn't different enough and felt very cliche. I also went on to think about murder but this has also been done countless times. I finally settled on a sex worker. I feel this was a subject that is completely out of my comfort zone but would also give me some great visual imagery. This along with the representation of the poem made me push forward with this idea to present to Mike. After speaking to him I got some great feedback explaining that it was a strong route to go down and is still adapting the poem but in my own way although I would have to make it work well in symbolizing what we are witnessing as an audience and be confident in the subject that I was going to approach. I felt the idea was a risk but with the right casting, locations, planning and vision i would be able to pull it off.
I wanted my video to be completely different to everyone else. Instead of following a regular narrative structure with a clear narrative arc, I felt I would play with the brief and focus more on the experimental side of things. I feel my final film does have a build up and there is a story behind what we are witnessing and I have adapted the sonnet well but I felt I could have explored the narrative a bit better. I have used voice over of the sonnet for impact rather than to contextualize but with out the voice over it would not have been as strong in the way of a story. Although I love the final product I have ended up with and feel it shows strong skills and a great adaptation of the sonnet, I could have gone for a more regular story like others on the course. Saying that my main intention was to focus on the experimental side and create a completely innovative and different final product in a style that no one else would have done.
With locations, I feel I picked these out really well. They reflect the story I am trying to tell and create a real tone to the film however I do feel there could be improvements. Although I am happy with the soho location, I wish I could have secured a gentlemen's club to film the strip club scenes in. Although I could still put across the intent of the scene, It would have given me much better footage if I could have shot inside a real club. The footage came out ok but I would have been able to heighten and elevate the project by getting a real scene with a pole, stage and dance floor. In the pre production stages I only contacted 3 different clubs and was waiting a while for them to reply which led me to running out of time. Next time instead of hoping to be successful with the people I have contacted, I will ensure that I carrying on messaging and liaising in order to secure a location more efficiently. For Soho, I secured the rights well contacting 2 different boroughs and ensuring all the rights to film were in place before the shoot day.
In terms of casting, I felt this to be one of my stronger points. I put an advert out on Casting Call Pro in plenty of time and explained the exact nature of the shoot. After receiving several applications I sat down and looked at each one of them. I whittled it down to 3 and was in contact via email with them trying to see if there availability would match up and why they were applying for the role as well as looking through their show reels. I finally settled on Rebecca as she had the most potential to carry the character off well as well as her look. The only thing I should have done extra was to Skype call her before giving her the role. This would allow me to understand her character as a person and to build a professional relationship prior to meeting her but I understand this and will do this for future projects. I also made sure I planned this project well other than casting. I created schedules, liaised well and had a good solid idea before going into production.
Actually shooting the project was an interesting experience. On the day of Soho, the main hurdle was filming in a very busy public space. I felt us as a team dealt with the situation really well as at some points we had a few crowds watching what we were doing. I could have picked a quieter location but this would not have worked for what I was aiming for in the sense of story and imagery. My main role on both days was a director. I felt I directed the shoot really well and all the team said they knew what they was doing at what points. I was very professional and calm which responded with the team well and in what could potentially be a very stressful situation, I was able to keep everyone focused and on board with what I wanted to achieve out of both days. Technicality was also good as I was able to oversee all shots and make sure they were in focus and in a great quality although there were some issues with the club scene. With it being dark, in a small space and with effects like fog, the footage did come out little grainy and murky. I tried to fix this when editing by color grading but it still remains there. I want to make sure that when Im using different effects that I can test it before hand to see how it will affect the shots.
When editing I wanted to make sure that there was a structure and the piece flowed into different sections. I first of all wanted the first scene to be in black and white to show the bleak and dark world that the character lives in. When it goes to the neon and club scenes, bright colors are added in to show the colorful, sexual world of soho and exotic dancing before going back to black and white again. This was also to show that her life goes round in circles and its the same on the daily routine, we end where we started off. I feel the sound design worked well with all of the sound effects and the score allowing me to build and heighten the film making it powerful, emotional and strong. When editing I wanted it to reflect what I had done in a previous work shop. We had to shoot images and place them together to make it experimental and in the form of montages. I feel I adapted from this very well and have a good selection of montages throughout including rhythmic, intellectual and metric that all helped this film to have an experimental look that I was going for. Shooting in 50fps was also a great choice as the smooth slow motion really helped with the impact I was going for.
Overall I feel this was a really great piece that i'm very proud of. Reflecting back on it, I realize that although the majority of it hits the brief, I wish I could have adapted more of a narrative into it. But, having said that, I don't think it would have worked for what I was trying to achieve. I wanted this film to be very experimental and have a sense of power and impact and, writing a more in-depth narrative would have taken away from that. My adaptation was to take the poem and find my inspiration from it creating a tone and theme that would still stay true to the original text, but becoming more experimental, and I feel I have achieved this. There are a lot of things I have learnt from this project and I feel I have gained a lot of pre, production and post skills that I will take forward in future projects.
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