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:

Summative Assessment Film Poem Idea Generation

This blog post delves into how my ideas about the film poem changed over time:

This process began with me exploring the various themes suggested in class. I was immediately drawn to the theme of identity and finding oneself in London. My initial ideas focused on following the experiences of a young teenager navigating life in the city. The idea was inspired by my personal experience of moving to London as a first-year fresher at UCL. I vividly remember the paradoxical feeling of loneliness. Despite being surrounded by one of the most populated universities, with endless opportunities to meet people, try out new societies, and socialize, I often felt disconnected and struggled to find my ‘crowd.’

I had already developed several shot ideas for a storyboard, drawing inspiration from films like Her and The Pursuit of Happyness. These concepts were showcased in my Week 10 MMI Draft 1 presentation. However, after presenting my proposal and receiving feedback from tutors and classmates, I started to rethink my approach.

Although I believed my initial idea had potential and could resonate with many viewers, I realized it would depend heavily on the quality of acting, as the narrative centered on a single protagonist. This was a risky choice, given my limited access to professional (screen-trained) actors who could commit to the project. Additionally, I noticed I was staying within my comfort zone by relying on a traditional, dialogue-based narrative. However, the “film poem” brief was flexible, encouraging us to push boundaries and experiment with form.

Consequently, this led me to pivot toward a completely new angle. After some reflection, I decided to explore an inanimate object and its significance in everyday life. Shoes quickly stood out to me as the perfect subject. They are an essential part of our lives—we go almost everywhere with them—yet they are often overlooked and treated as mere accessories. Moreover, shoes could be used to explore the theme of identity in an intriguing way. For instance, I began to consider how our very identity is shaped by the paths we walk and the places we inhabit.

Shoes ultimately represent the connection to the spaces we traverse, marking the ways in which these environments influence us. As shoes wear, scuff, and become more personalized, they reveal how each step, each place, and each experience has contributed to the shaping of our identity.

This idea of shoes being the silent witnesses to our experiences fascinated me. I also expanded the concept further, thinking about how shoes could represent empathy. I thought about the famous quote ‘You can’t really understand another person’s experience until you’ve walked a mile in their shoes.” (It is generally attributed as an Indigenous proverb and popularized in the 1895 poem by Mary T. Lathrap, Judge Softly. Read full poem here – https://jamesmilson.com/about-the-blog/judge-softly-or-walk-a-mile-in-his-moccasins-by-mary-t-lathrap/). This made me want to explore idea that to truly understand another individual’s suffering or pain, you must step inside their shoes and experience what they feel.

I also reflected on the privilege of owning shoes. Not everyone has access to them, and for some, walking barefoot is an unavoidable reality. This added another layer of meaning to the film, highlighting how something as seemingly mundane as footwear can symbolize comfort.

 

 

 

 

Week 7: Who really are we

https://mediacentral.ucl.ac.uk/Play/119533

if the link above doesn’t work, use the one below

https://youtu.be/tE6cw89ryl0

Do you sometimes ask yourself the same questions?
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Only Video material is my ownwork,
song and text are from:

Text and Inspiration from tiktoker: @wisdoomer

Song: Chezile – Beanie (Lyrics) – YouTube (720p)

https://youtu.be/mUP7EKZWUdQ?si=ilRu9ufJbDS_bTgx

week 4 – audio & field recording

hello this is my girl dinner

the title of this piece was what was said in the first ever audio recording i got on my camera: it was dear charis showing her quick dinner, and i thought it was the best was to start off the audio assignment.

for my piece i chose two locations: my flat kitchen and the epping forest. one of the most important things in my life is my friends, and they are, in this case, my “field.” therefore, the audio includes many moments and conversations between my friends. the epping forest was a recent trip we went on together, which made my creative inspiration come out a lot, and i wanted to record bits of audio there too.

this assignment made me really think on how human sounds can be captured and edited, and how they offer such a variety. it can be loud, quiet, deep, high, disturbing, calming, mumble-like, clear… sounds from people allow a wide variety in the soundscape, and this made me enjoy recording them.

along with this, the nature sounds also piqued my interest (and then nature became a big part of my blog portfolio) as i do not get to experience them as often as i should. the sounds from the forest and nature made me contemplate the differences between outdoor and indoor audio as well as human voice vs nature’s harmony.

i faced some difficulties getting my hands on the field recorder and i ended up using the camera mic for the assignment, however i think either way i was able to explore how digital audio recording space functions. bringing together my gathered audio i found that each of them were recorded in different dBs and i used davinci to equalize sound levels. i also realised that for some of the audio i had, the mic was turned up too high which was a great lesson for me as now, i always make sure to check the sound levels before recording.

overall, i think the audio assignment was a great experience which taught me many things from things to check while recording audio to how to put together and layer sounds in editing softwares.

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