I thoroughly enjoyed the moving image project and I am planning on doing it next year. Our project title was called Interpretation. Once given our script- Ticket we had to interpret it into our own vision. It was based on the genre Romance, since my role was being the Director this was my job, my aim was to try and make sure the film was creatively produced and brought together. I interpreted the script to the best of my ability but found it quite difficult since I didn’t take to the dialogue and if given the opportunity would have changed it quite dramatically. I held responsibility for the structure of the film creating an awkward “quirky” vibe portrayed mainly through the characters tone and camera work.
In the first couple of weeks I researched on genre’s romance themes, etc. I came up with the idea of putting the film into black and white and found the French New Wave (La Nouvelle Vague) – late 1950s and 60s. I thought this fit well into our film and gave it a raw, edgy outcome. This then meant the film had character, which was lacking! I also based the theme on the French film Breathless (1960) directed by Jean-Luc-Godard. I tried to interpret the film so we could apply it to our own.
This was too in black and white but had major influence on our film in for example camera angles, edits-quite dysfunctional. Also a very valid point to make is French wave films were on a low budget approach- like ours and it helped filmmakers get at the essential art form and find out was a more comfortable and honest form of production. Having this in the back of mind helped me see what was really needed in our film. I also had the idea of using French music using a piano that was used repetitively throughout the film to produce structure.
One advantage of me being the actress is that I could really try and put over to the audience that the girl was quite mysterious filled with tension and nervousness. Tim the male actor found it quite difficult to act but maybe this was good because it just created even more of an awkward atmosphere in the film. It took two separate attempts to film but it was a slight struggle since it was very cold and windy!
I also delivered a short treatment at the beginning just to give the group some basis to what we were aiming to achieve in the film. The overall outcome of our film was decent. If given the chance to make improvements to our film I would have done more rehearsals and given the actor more time to read the script because to be fair the acting was quite poor. However, he was not to blame since the male actor dropped out and so we used my flat mate last minute. Also I had arranged a female actress that also couldn’t make it so I stepped into the role of Lisa! Since I was director this was the last thing I wanted to do since I had limited control to how the camera shots were used, angles techniques etc and other factors involved.
Through doing this project I now have a greater understanding to the moving image production process. I have learnt more about how location and mise-en-scene is so important in portraying the mood/ tone of a film. Our film was located on a bench n a park-naturally where people meet and chat. I have learnt such small details such as a missing button on a shirt, wrong lightening are in fact very necessary details that must be considered. Also Phil was a great deal of help showing us other short films and is great to be taught by someone in the industry! Our film is quite weird and slightly disjointed in the fact that it doesn't all run smoothy for example the camera techniques aren't smooth. They are quite edgy. But this was supposed to happen to make the film a bit more unique and interesting. Also we could have improved our film by using some close ups on the male actor and I. Another thing is that even though we produced a film some members could have been slightly more committed to turning up to seminars and filming in order for our film to run smoothly. Even though I had a directer's role I stepped in other positions such as sound and being the actress. I am very much looking forward to doing it next year! Here is the film:
"Ticket" Group Edit from Samantha Freeman on Vimeo.
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