I did this Google form survey to find out a wider audience’s view on certain questions about Society. I think this gave me a wider understanding of not just the people that are close to me but a more diverse group of people my age and their opinion on whether Society restricts or had restricted their life. I used these questions to find out the vulnerable side that people won't necessarily talk about but can say anonymously on this questionnaire. These questions are the type of questions I plan to ask in my voice over of my film. I will either use answers from a Google form, interview my own group of people or or have someone speak out on behalf of the people that answer the Google form. I was surprised at the answers to the question; do you feel like you have to conform to society's beauty standards. The answer to this was 40-60 which surprised me as their was a bigger difference in results than i though. The majority of people said that social media was the biggest influence of their insecurity, which is not surprising as it's a growing platform that is very influential and young people. It was interesting to see everyone's views on their own insecurities and how many are very similar. It is sad to see how many people are insecure about the way they look, even though other people wouldn't necessarily notice. I asked the last question of ‘are you excited for the future?’ to finish off this survey. The answers to this were 90-10. it is good to see that the majority of people are excited for the future. However, for that 10% I would like to know what influenced them to feel this way and whether it's society's impact.

Location Scouting

Dartford Heath Loctaion 1

I found this location when I was location scouting. These photos are from an area in Dartford Heath which is a reminiscence of the aftermath of a fire. In this area of the woods there are a bunch of burnt down black trees that go on for as long as you can see. I think this location gives off a sad and fearful mood I'm tying with the concept/ metaphor I want a creative Society. Although the structure is going to represent the pressures of society, I think the box being placed in this atmosphere will show that there isn't much hope that Society can be fixed as it is broken around the outside as well. This location is a 12-minute drive from my house and a 45-minute bus journey. As I'm taking equipment the best mode of transport to use would be a car or a van as this would help transport my ladder, my structure and give a space for my model to change clothes. There is also a car park within 4 minutes walk from my location. This is ideal as there is only a limited space we can carry the equipment from the car.

Gravesend Location 2

My second location I found was somewhere that I've been before and taking photos. This location was accessible as I visited there about 6 months ago and it was a good atmosphere that created a sense of abandonment and isolation. The colours from the graffiti on the walls will stand out in the background of my shots. This location is about half an hour drive from my house. I will also need to take into account that I need to pick up my model which will add an extra 15 minutes onto my journey. There is a car park which is located on the maps which is a 5-minute walk from where I want to shoot. I haven't been to this location prior to shooting so it is risky to be able to access this same area.

Greenwich Location 3

This was my backup location in Greenwich. I passed this place before and thought it would be a good place to film as I was looking for abandoned looking places. This location was just under a bridge in Blackwall Lane which is quite far for me to travel to. However when I passed this place it looked like you couldn't get in as it could have been private property. I went to visit this place to see c-diff it was accessible to the public, but unfortunately it was private property. This means that I will either have to contact the owners or find another place to shoot similar to this.

Dummy run

For my dummy run I created an interview-style film. For this edit I intertwined the interview footage with aesthetic footage from my trip up to London. I used a range of camera angles to keep the audience's attention and I cut between them. I decided to try this method of editing as it was one of my ideas of putting together my final Project. I was either going to to put audio over the top of my footage or intertwine my footage and interview clips. From this dummy run, I have decided that I would like to just use the visuals and put the audio over the top. Although I like the cutting to the interviews between shots I also think this takes you out of the main footage and takes the emotion out of it. Also if I used interviews in my final film I would have to keep the location the same with everyone I interviewed, otherwise I think it would be too chaotic. Another idea while making this was that I could use my interviews and get them across in a different way instead of just recording someone's voice, by potentially using a voice effect for example for a phone call, or a monologue. This would grab the viewer's attention. Also, from my experience with having ADHD I find it hard to keep my attention while listening to things and taking in what it's saying. Getting the audio across to the viewers in a different way could keep my audience's attention, and also give more context to my visulas, by supporting the metaphor.

research

NF Music Videos

Through NFs music videos he uses a bunch of black balloons as a common metaphor through his videos. They represent his dark thoughts and emotions. In some songs he references them as his burdens. They follow him where he goes and other people in the shot carry different amounts. I want to use this idea of using a metaphor to as a constant theme to reinforce the idea of not being able to separate from emotions or burdens, and the idea of them always being there. I think I could use something like this to represent the burdens of society in my own film.

Ana Mendieta Landscape Installations

Ana Mendieta's Silueta series represents the female body and the images show vulnerability. The shapes are distorted and are often outlines, like the body was there but has gone, or a murder scene where the body fell, but has now been removed. They use just a few colours to add impact and the colours can look like blood or like they have been burned. The images convey a feeling of powerlessness and sadness. I like the use of bold colours and simple shapes and I will use this idea in the visuals of my film. I also want to try to convey the sadness, vulnerability and powerlessness of the images by putting the female body in the landscape.

Sarah Morris Film

Sarah Morris' film Strange Magic uses the landscape and the built environment to contrast with the human body and show their vulnerability. Her subject was the luxury goods market in France and how some people have to work hard to make the goods for wealthy people. I am interested in how clothes and designer goods help people to construct their identity and can be used to convey a certain impression. I will consider this when I am making my film, as the model's clothes will be important to the visual composition and the emotion of it.

one to one feedback

Annette

Dummy run has been really useful, has done two trials, for final edit. Look at hiring mics from Kitstore either lapel or a mount mic: you can always cancel the booking. Use your camera skills to help in refining film shots. Take photos in advance that you can share with your participants, but also you can annotate with any changes/ quick decisions.

Thinking about time of day. Be realistic about how likely your actors/ interviewees are to attend, gear your plans around that. always add in a fake deadline to allow for delays especially if there’s a particular time that is important such as sunrise or sunset. When writing on your Spark site, as well as analyzing ‘What’ something is: for example some contextual research, you are looking at, it’s key to also reflect using the follow up prompts of ‘So What’ and ‘What Now’ to target your findings. Try and review your work on your Spark site at least once a week.

Add scripts, colour grading, sound recordings and any digital work, whether a success or not to your spark site and briefly evaluate it. Revisit your contextual research now to gain more targeted insight into how to deliver the effects and mood you want to deliver.

Peer feedback

MIDPOINT REVIEW?

Structure reaserch

Rebecca Horn Structures on the Body

Rebecca Horn is a German visual artist that mixes reality and fiction. She makes body sculptures where she experimented with attaching objects and connecting the human body with different structures. Her photos and films are very unnatural and the structures are built around the body, incorporating the body within the objects. The structures make the body move in certain ways and stop it from moving freely. I like the use of space in her photos and the simplicity to them. I would like to use this sense of structure in my own work, a structure built around the model’s body, to show a sense of being trapped.

Structure planning

I sketched out a few shape ideas for the structure I'm going to build. I started with the idea of a sphere, however I didn't know what material to make it out of as it will need something that was bendy and also see through as it's a hollow shape. I did like this idea as it could create the sense of being trapped inside of the world or universe but I think this would be a challenge to build. I also thought about building a square based pyramid that would be buildable out of wood or cardboard, however I would need to make this shape bigger for the model to fit inside of it as it is pointed towards the top of the structure. The size is definitely an issue as it can only be a certain size to fit in my transport that I'm using so I need to make sure that I build it to scale but also that the model can fit in it. This shape would be more complex to build but would also create a more unique space that a model to use to perform in. The shape creates a more restricted area, because it is a confined space towards the top. The next sketch I did had an unusual shape but was also a taller structure. This was a more complex design and would fit someone standing up if needed. The structure I decided to Settle on was a cuboid. I would like to build this structure out of wood so it will be sturdy and I'll also be able to paint it. The Cube will be confined to the size of the model crouched down. This will give the effect of the cubes restricting the movement of the model as it is a metaphor for society.

Building process

This was my final outcome of the structure that I built. My model is 5-ft 5 and so I built a structure to fit in the model crouching down. I decided to make it out of wood instead of cardboard so that the structure is sturdy as well as weatherproof incase it rains when I'm filming. My initial plan was to keep the structure natural without painting it however after my location scouting I decided that black would be the best option to paint it as it will tie in with the surroundings and look aesthetically pleasing against the bright colours of the models clothes. The colour black is associated with fear, authority and death and I think this or help with tying in with the metaphor but I want it to portray. I think that leaving the structure without painting it made the box look unfinished, painting it black bought it together.

STORYBOARD PLAN

I thought about doing the shoot with my model and the cube in UV paint and lights but after filming in the other locations I did not think that this fitted with my theme. The other locations were natural landscape and an abandoned industrial landscape, and when edited they seemed to go together. I wanted to keep to my clear and simple theme and I thought the UV paint would not work with this.

CLOTHING IDEAS

For my models clothing I ordered a selection of three outfits, including a maxi dress which I wanted to be bright coloured, a nude-coloured outfit, and a simple black leotard. For some of my shots I wanted my model to be wearing a bright coloured dress. The first dress was my favourite that I chose from as I think the colour was bold and eye-catching, and it will stand out against the black structure and the backgrounds that I've chosen to shoot in. The style of the dress is also extremely eye-catching as the layers and length of the dress covers and model from head to toe. The reason why I wanted the model to be wearing this bright coloured dress is to represent the front people put on in real life even though so the pressure society is pushing them down and restricting what they can and can't do. I think the model wearing this dress in some of the clips shows her real personality that she wants to escape the pressures with.

I ordered two other dresses which one was red and the other was yellow. I tried these dresses on my model, however my favourite was the orange. I prefer the style of this dress as it was bolder as well as it being neon orange which stood out and definitely caught people's attention. My second outfit idea was a nude outfit, to give the illusion of the natural body. I ordered nude coloured cycling shorts as well as a nude coloured top . I tried this outfit on my model however I didn't really like it. The idea in my head was that it would make the scene look more natural and bring the focus towards the model, however it didn't act in the way I thought it would. The two nude colours were different and I didn't think this suited the model very well to give the effect I intended.

For my last outfit I wanted all black to fit in with the the moody surroundings. I wanted something quite simple that didn't stand out as much and reflected on the thoughts and impact that Society has on young people. I ordered a maxi dress in and oversized style, my intention was to give the illusion that she was drowning in the pressures society puts on young people, however the other idea for this outfit it was to film my model in a leotard as this was a more simple approach, and it showed the shape of her body.

FILMING BEHIND THE SCENES

Filming outside was difficult at times. For my first location I had to carry all my equipment to my location that was a long way from the car, so I also needed help with that. The weather was showery so I had to work in between rain showers while keeping my model and equipment dry. I also had to make sure my model was warm enough. Working in a public place meant I had to time it so that I did not get any members of the public in my shots.

My second location was also a long way from the car and everything had to be carried. It was a windy day, and I thought this looked good in the film but it made filming difficult. My tripod got blown over at the start of the shoot so I had to use hand held shots all throughout the shoot. I wanted to have my model laying on the ground but it was cold. I took her blankets and a hot water bottle to keep her warm between shoots.

EDITING PROCESS

I used Premiere Pro to edit my film. I filmed my model making a set of movements in both locations as I wanted the visuals to flow, so when I was editing I matched the movements together so the film flowed along from one scene to another. Although the visuals often change from one location to another the movements provide continuation, and this worked well to achieve what I wanted. While editing I also paid attention to the colours in the scenes and switched between the locations, back and forth from one to the other.

When editing the sound I wanted it to provide a background for the visuals rather than taking attention away from them. I used copyright free music but it was not quite what I wanted, so I slowed it down and it worked really well. The music fills in the spaces between the speech without overpowering it. I also kept the volume of the spoken words low, so with the music they create a track that flows along with the visuals rather than dominating them.

COLOUR CORRECTING

I used my own camera to make my film but I was a bit disappointed with the quality. I used the Premiere Pro colour correction option to enhance the colours in my film and I was pleased with the outcome as it made the colours brighter and sharper and more 3D.

AUDIO EDITING