Author: Amelie Douglas

Final Film Reflection

For my final film, I drew attention to the theme of being ‘away from home.’ I was inspired by my first two weeks living in London as a university student. People always told me that especially during my fresher’s week, it was important to really socialise. Because of this, in the moments we then find ourselves alone, we really sit in that sudden silence. I didn’t want to illustrate university as a negative experience, but wanted to explore the paradox of feeling content with the opportunities and fun that university can bring while also feeling lonely.

From the work we had done in class, I was inspired by the visual postcards, including shots from around London with lots of life. I was also inspired by the lighting workshop, using different tones and intensities to convey contrasting emotions and portrait workshop, where certain angles or frames can show a thought that one wouldn’t notice from a distance.

With shots mainly taken in my dorm room, we see lots of closeups of the protagonist as curled up on their bed quietly. I used the LED lighting device to create a warm orange lighting to show that while there is comfort in being alone, there is a sense of self-doubt on their face in the closer shots. This is further emphasised by the presence of a cake laying on the table, bathed in the orange lighting. Cake, often associated with happiness, brings warmth. Especially when shared with someone. We see this in the presence of two sets of utensils in close up shot, but now it sits alone. Like our protagonist. This metaphor came across effectively in my editing.

To compensate for the self-doubt festering in our protagonist, the film acts as their staggering stream of consciousness. For the more still shots, quick cut them between shades of red and people as we catch a glimpse of more exciting moments. These are shots I took of my friends in a bar in London and more scenic shots of a holiday in Sri Lanka. To add to the compensation, as a voice over, they are replaying a previous conversation about a film their friend was talking about in a past memory. While the plot of the film explained doesn’t match the narrative of the shots taken and it clashes with the chaotic audio of the bar in the background– I wanted to emphasise the ever-changing stream of consciousness being a narrative thread and temporary escapism. I thought this was affective and with the addition of subtitles exaggerated this, especially with the scattered nature of the words and the moments where I didn’t use words at all.

However, reflecting on the process, I feel that I could have come up with a more authentic idea, which would then result in more creative shots that I would be happy with. Overall, I found in editing that I wished most of my shots didn’t feel like there a lack of effort in taking them which there wasn’t.

Timeline:

Week 7 – Portrait

The aftermath – waiting for him to call when he said he would.

Using Erica as my main focus within this piece of film – I wanted to exaggerate the knowing feeling someone can get when you are waiting for that certain someone to call. There’s that anticipation and excitement – combined with the sudden urge to fling your phone across the room. I want him to call – but do I say when he calls? Nevermind, I don’t want him to call…But why hasn’t he?

I wanted to emphasise the warmer colours in this piece – especially the orange hue that I felt almost came off the vibrantly coloured mug Erica was holding in the first couple shots. Here we see that, engulfed in this orange, she is in a place of comfort waiting for someone (this call) to take her out of this comfort. I took note of the way – Erica lets her eyes almost falter in frustration or exhaustion as her character waits for him to call – so I highlighted that in having shots where her face was particularly illuminated. Not to mention the fiddling with her mug – to show the contrast of frustration with nervous excitement – so I purposely chose to zoom in on this.

And with the emphasis on making the frame smaller to show Erica looking at the phone – it felt as though there was a relationship between Erica and this phone – the phone is a person almost challenging her character.

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/EcA27F2g

Lighting Week 5

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/jCee6AE0

Using a plastic orchid flower from my dorm – I played with the lED device – to illuminate the flower in different colours – to draw attention to certain aspects of it. I was struggling at first – to determine what colour I thought worked best with the flower itself, thinking that I needed something to contrast it for more effect. So instead of deciding just yet, I worked with silhouettes. For a softer effect, I used my phone flash instead to shine on the flower to create a black silhouette behind it and as I moved my phone around the flower – its more darkened areas were emphasised.
To try different colours – I then turned to the LED device – I really liked the green hue that was put on a low intensity – which in the darkness – removed the bottom of the flower – so that the head of the orchid stood on its own. It created an eery effect. I was also happy to discover that I liked the purple lighting shone at a relatively high intensity let alone held at a closer proximity also looked beautiful. By zooming in with the camera – the purple lighting was able to accentuate the plastic veins and the actual texture laced within each petal and by moving the lighting around the flower, the darker areas were also emphasised where the heart of the petals in a real flower would actually become a deeper shade of itself.

Editing Week 3

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/i8CeHjjf

A scenic walk down the canal from Kings Cross to Camden Market – while editing I found shots that were originally longer and cut down to alternate with shots consisting of lots of motion created a sense of a dizzying nostalgic feel. However, I did throw in longer shots to fill in time, which I realise now is quite boring to watch.

week 2 – Visual Postcard

Visual Postcard 1:
Peering through some plants flowing in the wind whilst walking through Coal Drops Yard on a cloudy day.
https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/5dCGAfje

Visual Postcard 2:
I think the lighting exposure wasn’t too great in this shot – but in a way I quite like how the light gives off an ethereal effect.
https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/haBCh74j

Visual Postcard 3:
Taking a walk along the canal from Coal Drops Yard to Camden Market and coming across Mike Wazowski.
https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/9gfdE2H6

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