The task for this unit was to adapt a sonnet into a short experimental film, which was a maximum of five minutes in length (Rymer, 2021).
As this was a primarily individual unit, I took on the roles of Producer, Director, Editor, Camera Operator, and Covid-19 Supervisor. Directing is out of my comfort zone, so this was a challenge for me. I tried my best to communicate my vision with the cast and crew through a powerpoint presentation and verbal conversations.
I wanted this whole process to be collaborative and wanted to gain different perspectives with regards to how I could achieve the finished product. The cast and crew communicated their ideas with myself both before and throughout filming. Due to the sensitive nature of the topic being covered within the film (sexual assault), I also continually checked in with the cast and crew throughout to make sure that they were okay.
As this unit was about experimenting, I found it hard to fully envision the whole sequence of the film and how I was going to put it together before I had filmed and edited it. This meant that creating a storyboard was a bit trickier. Despite this, I created an incredibly basic storyboard with some shots that I wanted to include. As a result of this, I will aim to practice storyboarding or at least have a completed shot list so that I have a clearer idea of what I want/the shots I’m going to get when going into future projects. A storyboard will also allow me to clearly convey my ideas to the cast and crew and allow them to have a clear visualisation (Elemental Media, 2021) of the film.
In terms of lighting, I used both artificial and natural lighting. When it came to the shots outside, I used the natural lighting of the sun to light the shots. We filmed outside at 12pm in the afternoon as this is the point when the sun is at its brightest point in the day (Elliott, 2017), meaning we could get a higher level of contrast within our shots. We had to work quite quickly outside due to the amount of hours of daylight in the winter being shorter.
Figure. 1 Diagram of Natural Lighting Used for Fiction Adaptation (2021)
Figure. 2 Diagram of Artificial Lighting Used for Fiction Adaptation (2021)
When filming indoors in the bedroom, I had initially set up two lights either side of the bed, pointing diagonally at it, but I discovered that one light was enough to get the level of lighting that we wanted. I had the blinds over the window shut, the door to the bedroom shut, and a tungsten light to the right of the bed in the corner of the room. Having one tungsten light as a key light (low-key lighting), it enabled for the shots and photographs to hold a higher level of contrast and convey the character’s emotions (Hellerman, 2019) and the impact that the sexual assault had on them to the audience.
A major problem that I encountered when filming was the fact that the actor, Charlotte Sparkes, texted me saying that she was unwell right as we were about to start our second day of filming. In order to combat this issue, I remained calm and had a discussion with the crew as to what we wanted to do. We decided to go out and film some shots on Tooting Bec Common and see what we could get without Charlotte being there.
I also came up with the idea of including drawings and/or animations within the film to create a story that flowed and to bulk it out in place of the missing footage. Through doing this, I was able to overcome the fact that I hadn’t gathered all of the footage that I initially wanted and learnt how to work with what I already had and improvise. In addition to this, through exploring the use of the unconventional method of combining moving images, still images, and illustrations I was able to push the boundaries of conventional cinema and create an experimental film as a result (Kench, 2021).
After the first day of filming, I came to the conclusion that we would only need to film in three out of the six locations I had done risk assessments for as we had quite a lot of footage that I felt I could fit together already.
One example of an illustration that I made for the film was a brain, which I drew and then cut out using a scalpel. I scanned it into my laptop and phone, using picsart to refine the edges. From there, I put the image into Adobe After Effects, keyed it, put it into black and white, and placed it onto a solid black background. After I had finished with it in Adobe After Effects, I then transferred it into Premiere Pro and placed text over the solid background.
Figure. 3 Hand Drawn Brain
Figure. 4 Hand Drawn Brain in Premiere Pro
In relation to the scale of the images within the film, I wanted to scale them down so that they had a solid black outline and were not taking up the whole screen. By creating a solid black frame/border around the image, it allows for the viewer to view the image without being too overwhelmed and struggling to know where to focus their attention (Kefalopoulos, 2018). In addition to this reasoning, I also drew inspiration on the sizing/framing of the still images from the “Wellow Project” (Waterman, 2020). I liked the way that Waterman had used black frame around the images within the films and wanted to incorporate this into my work. The border within my film also could be seen as a metaphor for separating the character’s memories from reality. When inputting the images into the sequence, I reduced their scale using the effects control panel.
Figure. 5 Film Still of the actor standing in a street
Initially I wasn’t going to have any dialogue in the short film however, as I was editing, I felt that it could use some sort of dialogue to make the footage and shots that I had more effective. I decided to do a voice over for the film. When coming up with the script for the voice over, I wrote a notes page of all the potential things that I could say and the thoughts I had and tried to formulate them into a script. After editing each sequence, arranging and rearranging the footage in Premiere Pro, I recorded the voice over for each sequence.
When editing the film, I became stuck in terms of how I could develop it so that it was at a point where I was happy with it and it was complete. In order to develop my film further, I received feedback from both peers and two lecturers.
The feedback I received from my peers was that the white noise and static within the film felt wrong and displaced. In addition to this, they suggested that upon the line “Sometimes, I feel like he’s so close to me, I can feel his breath on my neck again and again and again” I could have the word “again” appear on screen every time it is said within that line. As a result of this feedback, I added this over the top of the shot that I had decided to use for this line.
The feedback that I received from the lecturers was to change the white noise and static that appears on screen to a more glitch like effect as the static is rather repetitive and “amateurish”. A couple of suggestions that were made in response to this were to have a glitch effect between the static and the clips, maybe have an image underneath the static, an ice effect could be overlaid on top of the clip/still image. In response to this feedback, I changed the static clip I used so that it looked more realistic and added some glitches in.
Kat Sengstaken also suggested that I incorporate the number 45 that I had used in an earlier sequence into the still image that I had used for the line “Everyday things aren’t so normal anymore/ordinary anymore. I can be walking and he’s there”, which acts as though the person that assaulted the character is still with her in everything she does. Following this, I copied the sequence of 45s over the still image of the leaves, making them smaller and appear within the different areas of the leaves within the image.
With regards to sound, I struggled with the consistency of the voice over and ensuring that there was no hum of the microphone within the voice over. Initially, I had recorded part of the voice over in my living room at home, which produced an audio quality that I liked however, as I didn’t record all of the voice over at home due to me going back to university and the fact that I hadn’t written all of the script at that point, the sound quality was inconsistent. I attempted recording the rest of the script in my bedroom at university, but as it had carpeted floors instead of the wooden one I have in my living room at home, the audio was vastly different. I also attempted recording the audio in the sound booth at university, but as the microphone I had used was omnidirectional (Merriam-Webster, 2021), the sound of people speaking in the background was picked up. As I have seen musical artists record music within their bathrooms, I tried this out. However, I found that it made the voice over echoey even with a denoise effect on Adobe Premiere Pro. Programme Director, Mike Rymer, and Lecturer, Sam Creamer, explained to me that when recording audio in a bathroom, the usual practice is to put things like blankets and towels up around the room to dampen the echo. They then advised that I use a directional mic as it only tends to pick up sound from one direction (Fox, 2021) and re-record the voice over in the sound booth to help dampen external noise (Creamer and Rymer, 2021). After re-recording the voice over using the finished script with a directional mic within the sound booth, I found the audio quality to be much better and more consistent than that of those I had previously recorded. Even though the sound quality was much better, I could still hear a slight hum, which I fixed using the noise reduction effect within Adobe Premiere Pro. Here is an example of what the audio sounded like before I re-recorded the voice over: https://youtu.be/xMIzQpT2TGs
In addition to the voice over, I received the feedback from Programme Director, Mike Rymer, that the film felt quite silent with solely just the voice over. We came to the collaborative conclusion that it would be best to input some ambient sound such as rain or wind, alongside the voice over. I looked online for some royalty free ambient sounds and decided upon wind, which I then put into the second audio channel on Adobe Premiere Pro. I decreased the gain of the wind so that it wasn’t taking over the sound of the voice over.
Upon the line “but I know that my story isn’t done” (Impact, 2021), it was suggested by a peer that I have the wind fade out as the ending of the film holds some sense of positivity in terms of the character moving forward with their life and learning to trust again.
When further reflecting back upon my edit of the film, it is clear that it has a thematic/rhythmic montage (Matrix Education, 2021). I have cut the footage, still images, illustrations, and text together based on the words within the voice over, so that each visual displayed on screen matches with what is being said. Through doing this, it creates a clearer narrative within the film and connects what is going on visually with the message that is trying to be conveyed about the impact that sexual assault can have on people.
In order to conduct final checks on my film, I decided to screen it on a bigger scale using a projector in order to check that it was adaptable for screenings. I got lecturer Sam Creamer, to watch the film and provide me with any feedback. The feedback that I received from Sam was to input more of the glitch effect so that it is consistent and shows the commitment to an idea, and to add some sound effects with the still images so that there isn’t such a lull and the audiences’ attention is maintained. In response to this, I rewatched the film and added more of the glitch effect throughout the film, particularly when it came to the still images. By doing this, it gave a greater sense of fluidity throughout and helped make it seem as though I hadn’t just put the glitches in randomly without thinking about it. I also added sound effects like traffic, footsteps, and rustling leaves during the sequences with the still images. I tried to select sound effects that matched up with the words being said and the visuals on screen. One thing that Sam had suggested that didn’t work out after trying it, was to have the final still image slowly zooming in on screen. I keyframed and rescaled the still image and then played it to see how it looked. Sam and I both agreed that it worked better as a still image with a border around it. After replaying it again after making the changes, I also decided that the static visual lasted for too long a time period so, decreased the length of those clips.
As soon as I had finished editing the film, I sent it over to the crew to see what they thought of it and whether there were any changes that they thought I could make. They expressed that they felt it was complete and that there were no more changes to be made. After receiving this feedback, I then exported the final video and uploaded it online.
In the future, I will aim to carefully think about how I go about recording the audio so that it is consistent and I avoid external sounds.
Link to the fine cut:
https://youtu.be/Pwq0TgTdxa8
Bibliography:
Creamer, S. and Rymer, M. (2021) Fiction Adaptation Lecture Series. [Kent: University for the Creative Arts 10/12/2021].
Elliott, G. (2017) What is the Hottest Time of the Day?. At: https://sciencing.com/what-is-the-hottest-time-of-the-day-12572821.html (Accessed 04/12/2021)
Elemental Media. (2021) The Importance of Using Storyboards. At: https://www.elementalmedia.co.uk/the-importance-of-using-storyboards-video-production-malvern/ (Accessed 14/12/2021)
Fig.1 Diagram of Natural Lighting Used for Fiction Adaptation (2021) [Shot Designer, Screenshot] (Accessed 04/12/2021)
Fig. 2 Diagram of Artificial Lighting Used for Fiction Adaptation (2021) [Shot Designer, Screenshot] (Accessed 04/12/2021)
Fig. 3 Potter, E. (2021) Hand Drawn Brain. [Illustration] In possession of: the author: Rochester
Fig. 4 Hand Drawn Brain in Premiere Pro (2021) [Premier Pro, screen shot] (Accessed 04/12/2021)
Fig. 5 Film Still of the actor standing in a street (2021) [Premier Pro
Fox, A. (2021) A Complete Guide to Directional Microphones (With Pictures). At: https://mynewmicrophone.com/a-complete-guide-to-directional-microphones-with-pictures/ (Accessed 11/12/2021)
Hellerman, J. (2019) Types of Film Lights (and How to Use Them). At: https://nofilmschool.com/types-of-film-lights (Accessed 12/12/2021)
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(Accessed 14/12/2021)
Kench, S. (2021) What is Experimental Film - History, Examples & Movements. At: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-experimental-film-definition/ (Accessed 11/12/2021)
Matrix Education. (2021) Film Techniques: Montage | How to Analyse Film Step-by-Step. At: https://www.matrix.edu.au/film-techniques-montage/ (Accessed 12/12/2021)
Merriam-Webster. (2021) Merriam-Webster Dictionary: Definition of Omnidirectional. At: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/omnidirectional (Accessed 11/12/2021)
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Waterman, S. (2020) From our mothers’s arms (2020) From the ‘Wellow’ project (2020) [Online Video] At: https://vimeo.com/445881835?embedded=true&source=video_title&owner=6704742 (Accessed 11/12/2021)
Waterman, S. (2020) Wellow (2020) From the ‘Wellow’ project (2020) [Online Video] At: https://vimeo.com/441845713# (Accessed 11/12/2021)
