Thoughts after recording short film

 

    

        Before recording our film some concerns that I have was that - were we going to be able to get this film long enough? Will our film come out boring? When will we record our film and where? Our film is supposed to be suspenseful and somewhat scary, will it have that effect? I wanted to create a film that was actually somewhat good, something that the class will enjoy, and something that I can actually be proud of. After recording the film, although the special effects such as the sound effects have not quite been added yet, I can tell that this short film has exceeded my initial concerns.

        We decided to record our film on campus, it was the easiest place where we can all meet, and recorded it on the day off of class which was perfect for all of us. Our film was basically about a schizophrenic person who went to class but then suddenly started feeling like he was being watched and followed. My role was the person who was following the main character. This was a fun role, I wore all black, with black gloves and a mask as well, and I just tried to seem as scary as possible on film. I did sort of the Michael Myers type of movement where he menacingly just walks everywhere and makes no sudden movements.

        Our filmed turned out to be 5 minutes long which was perfect, we included some amazing over the should shots, wide shots, close ups, etc. Without the sound effects the film on its own has that effect of horror and suspense, so if done right the effects will only further improve it. I had a ton of fun recording this film, I enjoy doing these type of projects. I can't wait until the class sees ours, and I can't wait until we see our classmates films as well. 

Ideas for short film

 

    

          With my group none of us had a direction in mind of what sort of film we wanted to produce. We were all open to any genre, we just wanted to create a film  that will turn out good, that we'll have fun making it, and one that we can be proud of. We started going through every genre, horror - we can do a classic serial killer type of film, haunted house, but then we kind of turned away from it. Scary movies are quite hard to make, it takes a lot of special effects, and what if you make a scary movie that isn't even scary? I would feel very awkward if that happened to me. Then we starting thinking about sports films, we're all into sports, maybe a classic underdog story, or a heroic championship win. It is a topic we're familiar with but we wanted to keep brainstorming. Lastly we considered a simple film, for example we watched a film about someone getting stopped by a police officer, there wasn't a huge plot or anything, but it still contained great emotional pulls like suspense. With a simple film I feel like you are able to be more creative with the camera because the dialogue and the actions of the character don't take control of the film. Overall we have not yet decided on the direction we wanted to take, and we are still just brainstorming.

            In terms of cinematography, I want to be more creative with this film. Whenever I record a video I just record like a direct angle of whoever I am recording. After learning about over the shoulder shots, close ups, wide-shots, etc., I want to try and include them in the film. Although these are all shots that I have seen countless times, before this class it is not something I processed or quite paid attention to. Transitions done right are beautiful to watch as well, how the camera work can show you a sort of illusion that is able to connect one image to another is really cool to see. I don't often watch movies but when I see cool camerawork I often get pleasantly surprised by it and even still tend to think about it even minutes after it happened.

        Lastly I want to try consider the symbolism in the film as well, how different colors represent different emotions. Such as blue being sadness or royalty, red is anger, white is pure, etc. Also how different angles conveys different emotions, an angle above the character makes the character seem tiny and weak. An angle below the character makes the character seem strong and powerful. I am looking forward to making this film, we have to start heading towards more concrete ideas for the film, but overall I just hope it comes out good.