Wednesday, 9 December 2015
New Wave Film Evaluation
Planning-
Before beginning on the production of my new ave film I planned where I would shoot footage to use in my film and how I would shoot it. Footage I used was filmed in 3 different locations including, Manchester City centre and art galleries around Manchester, the urban areas of Digbeth and finally certain areas of Bedworth. I used these areas in particular as I felt that they were able to give my film the gritty and urban feel that I was going for. Whilst filming in these locations I visited places within Digbeth and Manchester which were covered with graffiti and also visited Art galleries, this was so I was able to create a contrast between the 2 forms of Art in my film.
Digbeth
Whitworth Art Gallery
Bedworth (Car Wash)
Research/Influence-
Throughout my contextual study of New Waves 2 of my texts 'Easy Rider' and 'Midnight Cowboy' used trippy and psychedelic imagery which I found interesting. Due to this I decided to use this style of editing as an influence and use it to develop my film to look as psychedelic as possible. The particular sequence I used as an influence from Easy Rider is the LSD scene toward the end of the film where 4 characters take the drug and begin to trip, the overall imagery of the scene suddenly becomes psychedelic and trippy to fit in with the way the characters are feeling. The same thing happens in the sequence I was influenced by in the film Midnight Cowboy, where the 2 protagonists visit Andy Warhol's factory club which can also be viewed below.
Methods and Techniques-
From my initial camera and lighting tests that I carried out earlier on in the year I ensured that I improved on a number of different technical elements. One key technique in which I improved on was ensuring that all of my footage was in focus and that the image was not overly exposed. When I first carried out my initial camera and lighting tests exposure was a key problem and affected quite a lot of my footage. By handling the exposure and focusing correctly it ensured that my footage looked more professional and suitable for a client. I handled the exposure by ensuring that I had the correct aperture and ISO settings selected when I was shooting each part of my footage, something that i was not able to do very well in my initial camera and lightning tests.
In my final video I have a made a short film that appears trippy and psychedelic and includes footage filmed in places such as Manchester, Digbeth and Bedworth. Throughout the course of the film I try to showcase many new wave techniques as possible, these include jump cuts, psychedelic imagery, long takes and non digetic sound. I used these specific techniques to show that I used the period of the new waves as an influence when shooting footage and when editing footage.
I found out throughout my research that jump cuts were used a great deal in Jean Luc Godard's films and also in the texts which i focused my contextual study on, because of this I felt that it was essential to use jump cuts in my film. Psychedelic imagery was also a key part of my film, a lot of my film includes layered footage which gives off a sort of 'trippy vibe'. I used this because in the film midnight cowboy, there is a scene set in Andy Warhols factory club which uses a lot of colour over the top of film and different patterns masking the characters, therefore I felt that by including this in my film it would be a great way of incorporating specific techniques used within the New Wave into my film.
Updated Design Brief-
Although I generally stuck to that of my original design brief there was some parts of it in which I scrapped and new parts which I included. I decided to not film an actor standing in the same spot for 10 seconds whilst a time lapse was happening as I felt that it would not of fitted in well with my film and also it would of taken too long and interrupted my strict filming timetable. Although I filmed in both busy and not so busy parts of each city I only decided to include the footage filmed in not so busy parts e.g. the galleries of Manchester, the graffitied areas of Digbeth and a car wash in Bedworth. I did not include the footage filmed in busy areas as I did not think the quality of the videos looked high enough to feature in my film. A lot of my footage was left out of my film mainly due to the fact that I had filmed so much footage and I simply did not have enough time to edit al of the footage into the film.
Challenges I Faced-
Although I did not face many challenges or problems throughout the course of my New Wave Film production, one issue that i did have was that when editing my footage I discovered that a few of my clips did not render to the full size of the screen. However I was able to find a way around this and overcome the problem, I discovered that in Birtish New Wave films the images did not always fill the screen. I also used a scene in Midnight Cowboy as an influence to amend the issue. Visual evidence of this can be seen below.
Midnight Cowboy
My New Wave Film
The top image is a scene from midnight cowboy and below it is a part of my new wave film. Due to the clip not filling the screen I decided to leave the footage as it was, I did however duplicate the footage, stretch it, lower the opacity and have the duplicated footage playing over the top of the original as can be seen below. I saw this as an effective way of dealing with a problem. I ensure that all of my footage was labeled throughout the course of my production (as can be seen below) this was to ensure that I would not become confused as to what was what and to also ensure that everything was organised. By doing this I made sure that I was never spending valuable time looking for specific clips as I was able to look for the name of them and find them straight away.
Labelled Footage
Before beginning on the production of my new ave film I planned where I would shoot footage to use in my film and how I would shoot it. Footage I used was filmed in 3 different locations including, Manchester City centre and art galleries around Manchester, the urban areas of Digbeth and finally certain areas of Bedworth. I used these areas in particular as I felt that they were able to give my film the gritty and urban feel that I was going for. Whilst filming in these locations I visited places within Digbeth and Manchester which were covered with graffiti and also visited Art galleries, this was so I was able to create a contrast between the 2 forms of Art in my film.
Digbeth
Whitworth Art Gallery
Bedworth (Car Wash)
Research/Influence-
Throughout my contextual study of New Waves 2 of my texts 'Easy Rider' and 'Midnight Cowboy' used trippy and psychedelic imagery which I found interesting. Due to this I decided to use this style of editing as an influence and use it to develop my film to look as psychedelic as possible. The particular sequence I used as an influence from Easy Rider is the LSD scene toward the end of the film where 4 characters take the drug and begin to trip, the overall imagery of the scene suddenly becomes psychedelic and trippy to fit in with the way the characters are feeling. The same thing happens in the sequence I was influenced by in the film Midnight Cowboy, where the 2 protagonists visit Andy Warhol's factory club which can also be viewed below.
Methods and Techniques-
From my initial camera and lighting tests that I carried out earlier on in the year I ensured that I improved on a number of different technical elements. One key technique in which I improved on was ensuring that all of my footage was in focus and that the image was not overly exposed. When I first carried out my initial camera and lighting tests exposure was a key problem and affected quite a lot of my footage. By handling the exposure and focusing correctly it ensured that my footage looked more professional and suitable for a client. I handled the exposure by ensuring that I had the correct aperture and ISO settings selected when I was shooting each part of my footage, something that i was not able to do very well in my initial camera and lightning tests.
In my final video I have a made a short film that appears trippy and psychedelic and includes footage filmed in places such as Manchester, Digbeth and Bedworth. Throughout the course of the film I try to showcase many new wave techniques as possible, these include jump cuts, psychedelic imagery, long takes and non digetic sound. I used these specific techniques to show that I used the period of the new waves as an influence when shooting footage and when editing footage.
I found out throughout my research that jump cuts were used a great deal in Jean Luc Godard's films and also in the texts which i focused my contextual study on, because of this I felt that it was essential to use jump cuts in my film. Psychedelic imagery was also a key part of my film, a lot of my film includes layered footage which gives off a sort of 'trippy vibe'. I used this because in the film midnight cowboy, there is a scene set in Andy Warhols factory club which uses a lot of colour over the top of film and different patterns masking the characters, therefore I felt that by including this in my film it would be a great way of incorporating specific techniques used within the New Wave into my film.
Updated Design Brief-
Although I generally stuck to that of my original design brief there was some parts of it in which I scrapped and new parts which I included. I decided to not film an actor standing in the same spot for 10 seconds whilst a time lapse was happening as I felt that it would not of fitted in well with my film and also it would of taken too long and interrupted my strict filming timetable. Although I filmed in both busy and not so busy parts of each city I only decided to include the footage filmed in not so busy parts e.g. the galleries of Manchester, the graffitied areas of Digbeth and a car wash in Bedworth. I did not include the footage filmed in busy areas as I did not think the quality of the videos looked high enough to feature in my film. A lot of my footage was left out of my film mainly due to the fact that I had filmed so much footage and I simply did not have enough time to edit al of the footage into the film.
Challenges I Faced-
Although I did not face many challenges or problems throughout the course of my New Wave Film production, one issue that i did have was that when editing my footage I discovered that a few of my clips did not render to the full size of the screen. However I was able to find a way around this and overcome the problem, I discovered that in Birtish New Wave films the images did not always fill the screen. I also used a scene in Midnight Cowboy as an influence to amend the issue. Visual evidence of this can be seen below.
Midnight Cowboy
My New Wave Film
The top image is a scene from midnight cowboy and below it is a part of my new wave film. Due to the clip not filling the screen I decided to leave the footage as it was, I did however duplicate the footage, stretch it, lower the opacity and have the duplicated footage playing over the top of the original as can be seen below. I saw this as an effective way of dealing with a problem. I ensure that all of my footage was labeled throughout the course of my production (as can be seen below) this was to ensure that I would not become confused as to what was what and to also ensure that everything was organised. By doing this I made sure that I was never spending valuable time looking for specific clips as I was able to look for the name of them and find them straight away.
Labelled Footage
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Contextual Study Review
I began my research for my contextual study by looking at New Waves as a whole to understand what they were and why they happened. I began looking at the french new wave as that was the first new wave to take place and change cinema. Once I had a firm understanding of what a new wave was I began looking at the American New Wave which was my topic of choice for the course of my 'Contextual Study'. I began the study by gathering information from the American new wave and the time period in which it took place and then moved on to look at 3 film texts which I had chosen to focus my study on. I did this so that when I watched the films I was able to apply slight contextual knowledge, which helped with my overall understanding of my 3 films 'Easy Rider' 'Bonnie and Clyde' and 'Midnight Cowboy'.
Throughout the process of carrying out research I collected primary research from books and articles which helped to extend my knowledge of the American New Wave and also to help develop my own different interpretations of each individual film text. Whilst doing my research I found that the books I used provided me with great in-depth contextual knowledge of the New Wave and the 60's, however articles online which I read where much more straight to the point and I found them easier to find relevant information from.
I tried to only use information that was relevant to my topic, and cut out bits of information that did not support my study, this helped to ensure that my overall essay was concise and that i did not waffle on too much.
The most difficult part of the contextual study for me was analysing specific sequences of the film's as I found it particularly hard to analyse specific edits and develop an interpretation from those edits. I really had to persevere and look at a variety of different sequences throughout my films in order to ensure that my analysis on these edits was good enough to include in my contextual study.
Throughout the process of carrying out research I collected primary research from books and articles which helped to extend my knowledge of the American New Wave and also to help develop my own different interpretations of each individual film text. Whilst doing my research I found that the books I used provided me with great in-depth contextual knowledge of the New Wave and the 60's, however articles online which I read where much more straight to the point and I found them easier to find relevant information from.
I tried to only use information that was relevant to my topic, and cut out bits of information that did not support my study, this helped to ensure that my overall essay was concise and that i did not waffle on too much.
The most difficult part of the contextual study for me was analysing specific sequences of the film's as I found it particularly hard to analyse specific edits and develop an interpretation from those edits. I really had to persevere and look at a variety of different sequences throughout my films in order to ensure that my analysis on these edits was good enough to include in my contextual study.
Freud - Structure of The Personality
Sigmund Freud's model of the human personality was considered pioneering, he suggested that the human psyche was made up of 3 interacting elements:
The Ego- The ego operates alongside the reality principle, it works out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often by postponing pleasure to avoid negative consequences of society. Like the id the ego avoids pain and seeks pleasure, however unlike that of the id, the ego remains realistic in its search for pleasure. Freud made the analogy that the id is like the horse and the ego is the rider, "The ego is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse" (Freud, 1923, P15). The ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is realistic, rational and is orientated towards problem solving.
The Superego- This is the regulator of pleasure, it will censor the id, but will also license it. For example in the film 'Fight Club' the superego appears in a number of different forms, initially in the self help groups which allow him some sleep and then within the fight clubs which allow the acts of aggression. The superego may also be identified with the police who enter the narrative at moments of crisis. The superego is developed when one realises the social norms of society.
The id- This part of the human personality is formed via the desires of an individual and can be seen in the film 'Fight Club' through the character of Tyler Durden who effectively does what he wants whether thats hurting people, sleeping with whoever he wants or stealing whatever he wants. Whenever he has a desire he acts upon it, even if this causes pain or inconvenience to others. The id demands instant satisfaction and when this happens we experience pleasure, when it is denied we experience displeasure or pain. Freud believed that the id operated on the 'pleasure principle' which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisifed immediately regardless of the consequences.
References - http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
The Pocket Essential 'Film Studies' - Andrew M.Butler
The Ego- The ego operates alongside the reality principle, it works out realistic ways of satisfying the id’s demands, often by postponing pleasure to avoid negative consequences of society. Like the id the ego avoids pain and seeks pleasure, however unlike that of the id, the ego remains realistic in its search for pleasure. Freud made the analogy that the id is like the horse and the ego is the rider, "The ego is like a man on horseback, who has to hold in check the superior strength of the horse" (Freud, 1923, P15). The ego engages in secondary process thinking, which is realistic, rational and is orientated towards problem solving.
The Superego- This is the regulator of pleasure, it will censor the id, but will also license it. For example in the film 'Fight Club' the superego appears in a number of different forms, initially in the self help groups which allow him some sleep and then within the fight clubs which allow the acts of aggression. The superego may also be identified with the police who enter the narrative at moments of crisis. The superego is developed when one realises the social norms of society.
The id- This part of the human personality is formed via the desires of an individual and can be seen in the film 'Fight Club' through the character of Tyler Durden who effectively does what he wants whether thats hurting people, sleeping with whoever he wants or stealing whatever he wants. Whenever he has a desire he acts upon it, even if this causes pain or inconvenience to others. The id demands instant satisfaction and when this happens we experience pleasure, when it is denied we experience displeasure or pain. Freud believed that the id operated on the 'pleasure principle' which is the idea that every wishful impulse should be satisifed immediately regardless of the consequences.
References - http://www.simplypsychology.org/psyche.html
The Pocket Essential 'Film Studies' - Andrew M.Butler
Lacan - The Mirror Stage
Lacan's theory of 'the mirror stage' refers to the idea that when baby's look into the mirror they believe that what they see is superior in comparison to themselves. They fail to understand that the reflection they see is them and instead set the reflection as an icon to worship and will strive to correspond to the image in which they see.
In the same way women often take on the same behaviour in cinema; the ideal depiction that they see on screen is a representation of a superior being that they see and straight away wish to transform themselves into. By seeing the ideal image on screen it therefore can result in the female audience believing that they are nothing more than an object to be watched and admired. Because of this people can develop body dysmorphia.
Monday, 7 December 2015
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