Author: Duru Pamukcu

for this week, i realised i have quite some footage to work with; so, i ended up making 3 portraits. all with different spirits, my 3 portraits are as follows:

poor holly

inspired by the holly plants in epping forest, i aimed to create a double meaning between the nature and the name “holly” as a character. portraying the holly plants and the character holly, poor holly expresses the essence of feeling lost and chased, especially in the vast forest. i aimed to get wide and close up shots of the chaser (our dear course mate karl) whilst giving the suspense and horror feeling. i am happy with how this turned out, and i think some of my cinematography choices played an important role in conveying the emotions of this film.

a happy charis found in the wild

this is charis! she is very happy to be in the forest. she is being bubbly and giving a “house tour” of the forest.

in all seriousness, this light-hearted film expressed an opposite feeling to poor holly as i caught candid, happy moments from our trip. as i wanted to emphasise the down to earth bits of our trip, i utilised hand-held natural camera shots and captured charis in a friendly way. i think this is a different and cute film considering what i have done so far, and i enjoyed trying out a softer style.

just the silliest person on earth

serena is the silliest person i know and possibly and most probably the silliest person on earth. for this film, i focused more on the shot types we discussed in class, specifically focusing on medium wide, medium , and medium close up shots. i did not create a character in my head while filming, as if we think about it, real people are characters in our life story. without much narrative, i captured serena’s natural, real actions. she was being silly as usual.

overall, i think this was surprisingly one of my favorite tasks so far. i have always been more interested in filming scenery and inanimate subjects; yet, i found filming with people very fun and social. though i still very much love filming in peace and with myself, i think now i am more open to capturing actors/people.

this is a very serious attempt at working with an external light for the first time…

spanish or vanish

did you do your duolingo today?

if you have ever somehow been indulged in the language learning app duolingo, you possibly know of the comedic craze around it. the app, or the character duo, sends threatening (!) notifications to invite users to go back to the app and learn language, most commonly spanish. so this film is about duo, and spanish, and a bit of horror.

in terms of lighting, i aimed to start bright to convey an innocent, not at all threatening duo. over time, i tried to make the lighting darker, emphasise the shadows and give a more creepy feeling. the more the viewer looks at duo, the scarier it seems to be.

i think for a first attempt at using non-natural light, i did a good job. there were moments where you can see some noise, and i have been struggling with noise in my other night time shoots as well and i am hoping to improve on it.

after finishing the edit for this film, i realised i wanted to take this a bit further than experimenting with light. i wanted to make this a proper film. so with help from my very kind friend tim who volunteered to score, and an interesting observer who got caught on camera during the shoot, this new edition of the film came together.

spanish or vanish (twisted edition)

in fact, there is a twist. the story is not about duo at all. it is a conspicuous monster who was using duo as a cover to shift the attention away from her.

using the same footage from spanish or vanish, the twisted edition introduces a twist to the film and takes it a step further. starting with innocent sounding music and evolving into chaotic, disrupted sounds, the score emphasises the urgency and thriller. the ending is aimed to be surprising and catch the audience off guard.

i  very much enjoyed the process of making this, and it was interesting to work with the same footage and change it to make two different films.

thank you to tim and nabihah for their many contributions!!

glimpse at night

as i was shooting my postcards last week, i was aiming for a simplistic and minimalistic image. this week while editing i wanted to experiment and play with the software but i found that my initial intentions should be pursued. either way, i tried my best to both try things i have not done with da vinci resolve before but also to stay persistent.

hope you guys enjoy it 🙂

 

if only i could sleep

what if i were there

unless i am it

notes:

as a homebody i find my personal space, my room, quite important.

as i move into a new room and create a new personal space, i explore the beauties and details of it.

the titles of these shots explain my thoughts during the process of recording.