Author: Karl Lugovskaya

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/f8b9c517

For this project, I decided to do two things: experiment and complete edit in limited time. I succeeded in both, yet I felt discontent with my final outcome.

In the experimentation part, I tried to use the effects I did not have a chance to use before and build narrative around them. I liked the glitch effect, so I applied it throughout my footage in various shots. This really gave me a chance to learn how to work with effects in DaVinci, like adapting formats to change the speed of an effect or its other qualities. I would say that by using this effect, I built a narrative around the location that was not there in the first place. In the previous post I described the mood of the location, yet here I attempted to give it another look, which did not really suit it. (Well, it could have worked if I would have added an audio track like I intended in the beginning, but without it, it was really hard to make my initial idea work.).

Yet, now looking back on my edit, I already know the improvements I would make, like extending the ending to add more beautiful shots and perhaps adding the other one I disregarded initially for the sake of keeping the edit shorter.

 

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/He3eBA32

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

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Player/gD5J4iDG

These are the examples of three shots I filmed in one of the alleys in Elizabeth Olympic Park, which represented the shots that actually changed my mindset about the filmmaking process.

The first shot, with its imperfections, like the long time it took for me to set it up in the beginning, showed me the way other people shaped my small projects. For example, the guy in the shot saw me filming and decided to show some tricks right in front of the camera, giving me the opportunity to make my project good. It is especially ironic, as I intended this project to be one of those soulless but technically good advertisements of the place. However, because of other people who influenced my shots, I actually got more footage showing more humane moments, creating a completely opposite effect. And this random participant was not the only one. In that place, the alley where I filmed, I was approached so much by curious and happy people that it completely changed my understanding of the location. I actually felt how it was to be there, and it impacted the choice of the subjects for my shot.

With my second shot, I attempted to control the environment in a generally uncontrollable environment. The day before that, I liked how wind dropped leaves in front of me, creating this beautiful picture. Yet, I got unlucky in a way the next day as there was no wind. So I tried for like 3 minutes to create this effect. It did not really work as I intended yet, but I liked that I kept persisting that day, as in the end I at least got enough material to work with in postproduction.

Finally, my last shot was something I was really proud of. This shot was an accumulation of my 3 years as a filmmaking student. It combined everything: my personal experience of what looks good on camera, my self-found findings on how to make a shot look good, my technical skills, and, I guess, my aesthetic sense too. This shot is static (the camera movements are decreased to a minimum). Yet it feels alive and dynamic because of the focus change and wind in the shot. In a way it made this shot magical and conveyed this sense of hidden beauty within the location I was working in.