In Film, I grew greatly as a filmmaker, but also as a student. This project was much larger than the Conceptual project and required much more planning and commitment. Over the course of the project, I learned better coordination and planning, how to manage equipment better, and how to work with others and communicate more effectively.
Visual Narrative
We were challenged to produce a visual narrative, which is a film that tells a story without dialogue. This was certainly a challenge as I started, but I quickly learned how to use expression and character movement to evoke a sort of “silent dialogue”. The film made me think about how I’m directing my actors; I couldn’t rely on dialogue to tell my story, so I needed to make sure that I knew exactly what I wanted to communicate to the viewer through my actors.
Narrative synopsis
We see a person, dressed in fancy clothes, with nice jewelry, in a dirty room with duct tape on their mouth. Their hands and legs are tied up. They have been kidnapped. They wake up, trying to figure out where they are. They panic. They manage to sit up. They see a shadowy figure with a baseball bat, the kidnapper, and they get scared. The kidnapper knocks the person out with a baseball bat.
The person wakes up yet again and struggles to get out of their bondage. They see a security camera blinking. They spot a razor blade among the junk and try to figure out how to get to it without the security camera seeing. They get up and start to walk around the room, like they’re pacing in anxiety. The person gets to the razor and kneels down on it, pretending to pray. They are actually cutting the rope around their wrists and ankles with the razor blade where the security camera can’t see them doing so. Once the ropes have been cut, they bolt at the door and smash into it. The lock breaks open, revealing a long hallway. The person starts to run. We see the kidnapper in their chair watching the security camera screens. The kidnapper picks up the bat and runs to get the person. There is a chase scene of sorts, with the person and the kidnapper running through the halls. The person is running blindly, trying to just get out, but the kidnapper knows where they are going. The person finally reaches a door to the outside world; they can hear cars outside. They desperately begin banging on it (abyss moment). They aren’t able to open it.
The kidnapper closes in on the person trying to escape. The kidnapper hits the person with the baseball bat. The person wakes up in the same room, tied up again. The kidnapper raises the bat, and breaks the person’s leg.
I learned a great deal about editing and color during this project and spent more time than I ever have on any school project on it. I pulled two all-nighters to get it done!
Finally, my project was done! I put a lot of hard work into it, and while there are always improvements to be made, I’m happy with the overall product.
Griffith scene
We started out the Narrative unit by studying D.W. Griffith, one of the most influential filmmakers of all time and the person who brought film into the mainstream. Griffith established a way of editing called the “Griffith pattern” where you start with a shot of an external location and slowly move your way in. We created our very own Griffith Scene to practice his method.
Suspense scene
After studying Griffith’s pattern, we moved on to studying Hitchcock and how he built suspense through his filming and editing. We produced our own suspense scene, imitating some of Hitchcock’s hallmarks.
Chase scene
Then, we moved on to studying stage direction and the 180-degree rule that’s used when you have moving subjects. Essentially, the rule dictates that if you have a character moving to the right of the screen in one shot, they must continue moving right in the next shot (and the same for left). We produced a chase scene to practice implementing this rule.