Tom Matthews
28th Jan
Today I formed a list of works I planned on exploring or re-exploring, including films we had covered in the first day of media exploration.(Battle Potemkin & Man with a Movie Camera).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30th Jan
I mentioned in the first group session - when looking at the early history of cinema, I remembered the work of Jules Marey (at the time couldn’t remember his name) and his pioneering work in cinematography, with his work in Chronography, a method of photography that captured 12 frames in consecutive seconds which he used to study the locomotion of humans and animals. I had the idea of possibly recreating that style but adding more to the transformation theme, inspired by Kafka’s Metamorphosis, in which a man turns into a beetle; particularly Steven Berkoffs play adaptation with his use of physical theatre (which I have a background in).
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2nd Jan
I watched the Hungarian film Son of Saul. Firstly let me say that it is fantastic and harrowing piece of work.
The method behind the film is one that has really caught my attention. Most of the action is blurred into the background the to the edges of the frame. Only showing the essentials of the story, it is a limitation on what information the audience is receiving, only giving them a bare minimum to rely on.
There is clear influence from the Russian film Come & See. In terms of aesthetic and the emotional direction of the film.
They originally did not want to go handheld as the director felt it was used too often. They attempted to look for stedicams there were not too smooth in order to suggest a feeling of unsteadiness. But unfortunately no such cam existed so ended up using a ARRILITE, mainly for is excellent sound capabilities. but moved in the an ARRIFLEX 235 when sound was not essential. for is mobility and weight. on a shoulder mount. Which I think works very well. As it allows the camera operator close to the actor and still provides this uneasiness in the frame.
(It has been fun delving more into films again and getting to understand more about the particular equipment used and the reasons why.)
From the opening shot we see the film is shot with an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 - reminiscent of early 20th century cinema. This choice adds to the claustrophobia of the film that is already be perpetuated by the invasion of personal space by the cinematographer.
With being shot on 35mm film (using old Kodak film stock to give the film an aged look. There are moments where the lead character Saul is framed as if a portrait. This reminded me instantly of Luke William Thompson’s Turner prize nominated work Auto-portrait & _Human (Who uses 16mm as well as 35mm)
I am interested in possibly exploring this style for myself. It is a style I find to be quite emotionally honest.
Son of Saul, 2015, DVD, Hungary, dir: László Nemes, Laokoon film group
Auto_Portrait, 2017, Installation view, Luke Willis Thompson
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th Feb
Today was the camera theory workshop. It has been a dream to work with film so very excited as you would expect.
Got to see how to load and unload film stock, the differences between T500 and D50 (tungsten & daylight) how if filming daylight inside and vice versa then to use blue gel to go inside and orange to go outside with tungsten.
How that only 20% of light enters the viewfinder and the other 80% is towards to film stock, so you cannot fully trust the image you see when looking though the viewfinder, and when doing so it is good to focus on the grains in rather than image. There was a lot of information. It was also nice to know how the industry is reverting back to film, developing new stocks and re-introducing film projectors into auditoriums.
Also got a overview of loading a film camera. I just love the direct connection you can have with the piece of equipment. it’s so much more engaging than simply setting up by pressing a view buttons.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11th Feb
Today was all about practical work with the camera. No one was really interested in developing my idea in a group so I’ve joined Tanya’s group.
we worked though the worksheet given to us, looking at double exposure, slow motion, fast motion and lighting. We really took our time with this. working though lunch measuring distance between subject and camera for focus, checking the f-stop. I really struggle with numbers so took me a little while to get used to this including ft of film and working out the the seconds shot per metre.
we Then together after the workshop to go over the Tanya’s idea a little more.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5th Feb
Had a lighting workshop in the afternoon. which was fun and great to get hands on with lighting a scene and working on problem solving , such getting rid of shadows, which we found occurs a lot more when adding lights while getting rid of other shadows. it was a shame almost nobody showed up for the work shop though.
------------------------------------------------
6th Feb
Today was a sound workshop in the sound edit suite. Thus was interesting in understanding the usage of surround sound and getting a relative understanding on hoe surround sound is possible to develop in the sound edit suite.
------------------------------------------------------
18th Feb
Brain storming some more. Still not sure if to go abstract or not but I feel it is leaning more that way. I proposed something quite still, focusing on sound a lot. Thought about romantic paintings of the landscape like Turner as a possible direction to in terms of visualisation. I referenced Andrei Tarkovskey as well in terms of the visual poetry that he was able to produce. Still stuck on listing the chakra. My feeling towards this is that they are a good entry point. But focusing on them too specifically it could distract from giving the audience an experience.
Susanne brings up the idea of the elements which are in meditation a lot. Which is an idea I like.
I personally would like to explore the link between soul, meditation and nature. rather than solely looking at chakra
also thought about mirrors and projection could play a role. the idea stemming from reflecting within ones self.
Made my own notes seeing what else we can get from meditation because we seem to be focusing more on the chakras on a very surface level and not spirituality, mediation, visualisation, and anything else that could be linked with it.
Tanya thought of using a sound scape which could be great. With meditation bowls.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
21st Feb
Had a meeting in Covent Garden. Spent a lot of the time not really going anywhere in my opinion. But Tanya did want to experiment with paints in water, which could be fun. I referenced 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick and the time travel sequence and The Tree of Life, directed by Terence Malick. both ion which used paints, oils to create solar systems and nebula’s, so could be good reference.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25th Feb
We still seem to be debating if it should be narrative film or Abstract, have a person in it or not. And we are still not developing from just having a list of Chakras.
So today we sat down outside and just tried to get to an idea though a process of elimination as we had way too many ideas.
It kind of worked. Crossed off narrative story but still had so many.
We went outside in the sun to try and progress somewhere
I thought of presenting an idea I had, which stays with the meditative feel, spiritual journey and transformation, some themes of the chakras but not really focusing on them as no one can really progress forward .
The idea, which would be to open on the forest and just stay still many static or very slow paced movement, we see a fire burning, which is then extinguished with water, this leads us to a small stream of running water. Keep the cuts to a minimum and holding on shots as much as possible to create a meditative feel. Definitely needed expanded on.
We then thought of having someone enter the frame at the beginning at start to interact with the environment. (Tanya had the idea of maybe using couple of smaller screen for close ups of the interacting and so we can keep the larger screen as a master) I thought it could be nice to almost remove the pick ups you would normally have cut into the film, removed and places along side the film. Almost as a deconstruction. But depends on how the film feels. To continue, the person can interact with the fire. Be washed away with the water. Interact with the now wet earth and look up into the sky. I brought up Tarkovsky again to Tanya, Mirror, the Sacrifice specifically.
really emphasise the environment using surround sound. Keep it single screen but in quite an isolated room. Everyone said that it seemed like the great avenue to go down.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4th March
We reconvene to carry on from where we left off. I got confused when Tanya and Shail were explaining the idea heavily based around the Chakra, listing them essentially. talking about a person walking down the street being angry, then being somewhere. I was confused because it seemed not be what discussed at all previously so I was pretty confused. I had started looking at references that could work for this film and I still have no idea what this film is.
We looked at the storyboard, which was actually a mood-board. It seems to be a list of colours in the same sequence as the chakras, these colour represented by different landscapes and a red cloth. but apart from that I’m struggling to see the relevance. Being the only one asking critical questions, I asked why a red cloth and didn’t really get an answer.
I tried to give input but it was never taken in consideration. I am not sure if I’m communicating my points clearly enough. I do ask critical questions but I feel that isn’t really welcomed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Romanticism paintings - (Turner, Jon constable etc)
I’ve always had a particular liking to romantic era paintings , especially the likes of JWS Turner, I find them to be dramatic, emotional, have excellent composition and compels the audience to take their time to allow the painting to draw you in, rather than modern/contemporary art which I have found is most of the time a visual bombardment which I guess coincides with todays lesser attention span and higher need for visual stimuli.
I find romantic paintings had that mediative/ reflective sentiment. Visually impressive but in a much subtle way. A side from looking online for images of work I also went to the National Gallery.
cloud Study, John Constable, 1822
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives - film - Director: Apichatpong Weerasethakul:
The Film tells the tale of a dying Uncle who spend his last days with his family and a forest spirit that used to be his son. Represented by a cow and a black, silhouetted humanoid with red eyes.
I loved the pacing of this film, as it was very meditative and I liked the idea of how they represented the soul.
-------------------------------------------------------
Samsara, Baraka films:
These two films I find to be the representation of spiritual meditation translated to visually. Not just for it’s experimentation in time-lapse and tracking shots, but in it’s primary focus on national wonders of the earth, religious ceremony and ritual ( mainly eastern) and it’s symbolism that contrasts this to modern or developed society. Never forcing a narrative to the audicen but allowing the images to formulate a narrative that is formed though the audiences own individual interpretation. There are mirrors and contrasts to each of the sequences that are created and also uses meditation bowls, chanting for is soundtrack.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
4th March
We reconvene to carry on from where we left off. I got confused when the idea was still heavily based around the Chakra, listing them, essentially. talking about a person walking down the street being angry, then being somewhere. I was confused because it seemed not be what discussed at all previously so I was pretty confused. I had started looking at references that could work for this film and I still have no idea what this film is.
We looked at the storyboard, which was actually a mood-board. It seems to be a list of colours in the same sequence as the chakras, these colour represented by different landscapes and a red cloth. but apart from that I’m struggling to see the relevance. Being the only one asking critical questions, I asked why a red cloth and didn’t really get an answer.
I tried to give input but it was never taken in consideration. I am not sure if I’m communicating my points clearly enough. I do ask critical questions but I feel that isn’t really welcomed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Pre Production & Film
At this stage of the production, there had been some difficulties between myself and the rest of the group. I didn’t feel I was trusted with my input in project development. I had worked on the shot list and raised my concerns about shooting in 60 fps. At this point felt that I wasn’t getting my thoughts across and felt I wasn’t being listened to and found myself repeating my points across weeks. It became particularly frustrating when someone else would raise a point I had been making and be listened to and have that thought taken seriously then and there. Such as frame rate, locations shooting, pacing, intention, raising my concern about not having a script. I’m not sure if I’m not explaining myself clearly in these moments but I had became noticeable
This has led me to become a bit detached from the project as I felt my toes were being treaded on. But the way I reacted to this was negative, which hasn’t helped anyone and I wish I had handled this in a better manner at my role because of this unintended reaction.
In Pre production. there was confusion with the equipment booking on the Monday before filming. Hasan asked me to email him the list of equipment. I did so, he confirmed that he had received the booking and began to process. Something when wrong with the booking system. Tanya found this out, I had not realised she had began booking equipment out so when I was to go to Hasan to see what happened. I booked out the equipment a. there ended up to being a double booking as I missed the message Tanya sent saying she had booked out the equipment. I was little confused when asked to book equipment. in the confusion on the Friday when collecting the equipment, I realised I had for the pretty important film stock. luckily managed to Get it before Hasan had left. He mentioned the disorganisation, which was embarrassing.
----
When the day came to leave for filming. I had also forgotten to light meter. which made shooting on the film pretty useless, but made the good excuse that filming interior on film and digital for exterior could be a nice contrast.
filming in the woods first was great as the location was very well chosen. it was the first time filming which a shoulder mount so took a while to get comfortable with it.
Next was filming at Lulworth cove. filming the sunset on shoulder mount and tripod for the GoPro for it’s time-lapse capability.
The next day; We we decided to film the sunrise and fire scene on the beach. I don’t think the sunrise was exactly how Tanya was hoping it would be. But it was so similar to romanticist painting, which was something I was hoping to get a chance at, so I was happy. The Bonfire filming was most likely the most successful moment I had with the filming.
We spent time filming in Lulworth again, I was using the GoPro attached to a rope to film from a pan of the sky down to the sea and then under the water.
Then Drone died and fell also into the sea and that was pretty unfortunate.
We found the much sought after yellow flowers! leaped out of the car to film as much as possible. I also noticed a beautiful view of the landscape with the sky, fields and ocean and filmed that also.
-----
The next day I thought we were filming in the green room but turned out to be a room in the library. So this took a bit of time to set up with the lighting as I was told we would be filming in the green room, where the lighting is already set.
we shot about 45 seconds and had to wrap for the next week.
------
The following week I found location in London to film the grass shots .Alexandra Palace, and highgate wood. Then last minute was told to forget about it and to film at uni instead because other didn’t want to carry any equipment.
We filmed on the grass. I was told what I had filmed the previous week was not great and some of the group then started taking over filming. And I just gave up that day really If I am being honest. Not a nice feeling.
The next day was filming in the Green screen room. took awhile to set up again but once we got going then it went pretty smoothly.
---
after that was final day, filming in the microscope room was nice, really fascinating discovering different patterns and finding a new perspective from familiar items.
End the end of the day we found out that the film reel was useless. apparently the film wasn’t stable in the camera and kept shaking. It was confusing as I set up the camera carefully, also side Susanne and Joesph and it all seemed right. Like how we were in the workshop we went step, by step. anyway it was basically a disaster on my end.
Evaluation
Overall, My experience on this module has been mixed. While it started off with full energy and engagement. nearer the end of the project I felt as wasn’t particularly wanted within the group. I felt slightly as if I was in an echo chamber at times and not being heard. I am not sure if it was the way I was trying to communicate with people that this happened but I did make a conscious effort to be clear, although I do tend not to sugar coat how I feel and can come across as harsh sometimes when people are not used to it from peers. I think this is due to my time in drama school where we were encouraged to be direct, honest even if painful during a critic between students but also to balance with positives. I forget that others properbly have not had that type of feedback before.
It was amazing to take the lead on filming for the first time, even though it has seemed to be a disaster. especially with the film not working out as it has been a dream of mine to work with film, and I definitely have learnt so much about it and have a better sense of what could go wrong wit the camera.it has also encouraged me to start reading American cinematographer magazine and do learn as much as possible in cinematography. Now I know where I went wrong in terms of more precise preparation with the camera, including getting in more practice, something I very much intended to do next semester.
I want to be a better team member. I’ve always seem myself as great working within a team but It just all went wrong for me on that end. I did let my emotions get the better of me at times, especially nearer the end of the project. sometimes people clash but it’s normal and it’s good in the long term to finding how to work with different people who you might not work with. As intriguing as experimental film, Video art is and I have found a new interest in that. I am really, really hoping for more narrative filmmaking next semester.