P H A S E 1
Project Description:
” Groups will rearrange dream fragments taken from their Seminar dream journals shifting time/place and sensory input systems. Performance/stories/photo tableaux may be combined using Surrealistic techniques and Chris Marker’s La Jetee. Multiple perspectives from literal camera angles to stylistic approaches are required. Investigating, reporting, simulating and empathizing will generate sequences, transitions, scripts and imagery. Revisions and refinements include storyboards and transcriptions.”
Role Designation:
Camera Person: Ali & Salma + Help from McKenna
Character A: Mckenna”Struggled person”
Character B: Paloma”Mythical person”
Editor: Mckenna ( most experienced)
Costume designer: Ali & Salma
Make up: Salma & Mckenna
Schedule For 3/12/19:
10:30 to 11:30 – Further planning of Spring Break and shooting times + makeup plotting
11:30 to 12:30 – Course Evaluations
12:30 to 1:30 – Lighting Practice + costume designation and experimentation
1:30 to 2:40 – Practice Shots for the first half of the video.
Storyboard:
Page #1
Page #2
Page #3
Story Outline:
The storyline is someone wakes up or gets out of bed in distress mood, with an extreme anxiety feeling, but they are striving to reach an ending point being the main character’s objective.
*Note* The mood throughout the whole video will be in a dreamlike state that the reality will become attainable.
Something that allows the person to work every day with determination to get there.
The dream and aspirations are materialised in a person, excessively concerned with the high possessions. This person being the mythical character.
”mythical” character is someone that can carry themselves in an almost professional manner, this character is unattainable to the main character.
It is extremely glamorous and confident and sexy, trying to be the ultimate person for the main character. We see the sequence of the character day. Every scene the mythical person will essentially be getting closer and closer to the climax that towards the end the main character screams at the mythical character in an anxious and regretful way. * expressions and emotions transferred around the scenes and the movements contained in the main character*
Visual Inspiration:
- Genre
- Art House
- Music Videos (R&B, Hip Hop, and 80’s)
- From US & Pakistan so far
- Burlesque
- Directors, Figures, Production Companies…
- Beyonce – “Lemonade” Video Album
- Solange – “When I Get Home” Video Album
- Weird Life (Music Video Production Team)
- Ravyn Lenae – “Sticky” & “The Night Song” Music Videos
- Raveena – “Honey” Music Video
- LadyBird – Greta Gerwig
- Call By Your Name – Luca Guadagnino
- Men I Trust – “I Hope To Be Around” Music Video
- Kanya Iwana – All her work
- Wes Anderson
Moodboards
As an amalgam of our inspiration, I went ahead and developed a mood board as I find them to be very useful in communicating and clarifying ideas.
Character A Mood Board
Character B Mood Board
P H A S E 2
In the second stage of our project, we began working together on the actual video. During the second break, we got together and began working on the video. Approximately 70% of our shots were completed then.
Filming proved to be difficult but I wanted to start experimenting. This is because I have experience with photography and I feel the need to progress to its next stage, film. I asked the group if it would be a good idea to take some more interesting shots than just straight ones. To explain, for the first scene, Character A is supposed to get out of bed in a straight shot; no interesting angles, no change of motion to capture the depressed nature of Character A. To remedy that we decided to shoot the same scene from several different angles; one from straight ahead and far away (A), one from a similar angle and close up (B), and lastly one from behind/adjacent to the subject (C). This range of footage gave us the opportunity to craft a more interesting visual.
Scene 1 – Shot A
Scene 1 – Shot B
Scene 1 – Shot C
After talking to our professor, we found that another scene needed to be edited or re-filmed. It was our last one. The reason for this was because the shot was wobbly, not in focus, and above all did not capture the emotions and words that were being expressed by Character A. We as a group were not sold on the scene either but, after talking with our professor we 100% sure that it needed to be changed. We have decided to complete this on Thursday the 4th of April.
BTS Shot of Character A & B After The Last Scene
On another note, styling was an interesting challenge. This is due to the fact that we could only afford to work with the clothing we already had. As a result, I, as the head stylist, had to work with clothing that not only matched our video concept, the locations, etc. but also make use of what we had. Luckily, both Paloma and McKenna had a lot of material to work with and this resulted in three main looks. The First is a red velvet suit, the second a navy blue jumpsuit, and the third a yellow sundress. Each of these looks capture strength, femininity, and elegance as character B is supposed to embody these traits.
Red Suit (A Better Image Will Be Provided)
Blue Jump Suit
Yellow Sundress
Lastly, being a part of a group dynamic that is communicative and positive was something I really appreciated. During our spring break shoot, I was in the middle of personal issues and I decided to talk to my group and let them know that I was having a difficult time. I was not expecting to be met with the level of support that was given to me. They helped me to think of different actions plan I could take, which I am very happy to have opened up as I feel like I have support. It is difficult to do things by yourself and it is impossible to do things at your highest creative level when you are alone as well. This was an important lesson for me.
P H A S E 3
After meeting with our professor and getting our critique, my partners and I absorbed what was said and decided to act on it. The alterations we needed to look into were:
- Audio
- the reason for this was because the music did not exactly fit the tone that we wanted to express within the piece. A balance of suspense, romanticism, and energy. I suggested a few songs by Yasmine Hamdan, a Lebanese musician. Among those included were Hal and Herzan. Our editor tried to fit them in but was not able to, however, after some more searching she found another song by Billie Eilish called “When I Get Older.” it wonderfully captures the combination of the theme and tone.
- Scenes
- Intro
- The introduction was a bit rushed and, therefore, we decided to prolong the moment so that the viewership could be better absorbed into the world. We did this by adding shots to the beginning of the film. The shots were of a pet fish and a collection of pill bottles. The fish is supposed to parallel the feelings of the main character. Furthermore, the collection of pill bottles were incorporated to outline the feelings of the main character as well.
- Intro
-
- Stairs 1 & 2
- For these scenes, the issue with them was that they were somewhat out of place. To make them more coherent we re-edited the film to allow for a better transition between the scene before and after both.
- Stairs 1 & 2
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- Ending
- The ending we originally had was problematic due to two things. The first issue was that it was shot horribly. The continuous shot needed to have been produced with more equipment or with someone with more steady hands than I. In addition, our professor mentioned that the way it was shot gave off a different tone than the one we wanted to portray. We took this and created a new ending. One that fits the tone and theme much more than before.
- Ending
- Editing
- In terms of editing, the issue was the lighting. We remedied this by re-shooting different scene that had poor lighting situations. This included scenes from the first half of the film, where the lighting was a pinkish-red hue. To make the color stronger we came up with the idea of painting a piece of plastic with red acrylic paint, letting it dry, and then taping it to the lights in one of our partner’s apartments.
- As you can see the lighting was intense which gave lends its hand to the tone of the strong and somewhat wicked personality of Character A.
Final Video Link:
https://vimeo.com/329481939/49b1ddaef5
https://vimeo.com/329481939/49b1ddaef5
https://vimeo.com/329481939/49b1ddaef5
Reflection:
I had a very great experience working with my group this project. We all listened to one another when needed and were very open to new ideas and supporting one another. This was one of the best experiences I’ve had working in a group; however, at times i felt that we may have listened too much to one another. To the point that maybe our ideas were getting lost.
To rectify this, the leader of our group consistently asked us if we were sure with a decision or not. I noticed her behavior and began to do the same. By changing this element of behavior, I found that not only was my group more honest but that it developed the relationship to where I could as well.
In all, I leanred about the importance of listening to one another and being completely honest as that will push everyone to bring more to the table.
As for the video itself, I found this experience to be very insightful. When we were given your critiques in class, we realized that thee would be a lot to improve. Most of the shots were boring and repetitive. Rahter than sulk, my group and I took note and the next day we re-shot much of out video.
