For my project I have been inspired by the work of animal rights activist group Anonymous for the Voiceless who hit the streets to educate people on the farming industry. I have been especially intrigued about the “anonymous” side of it and the unselfish work these people do in the interest of animal liberation.
Oscar-winning sound designer & director, Walter Murch on Editing.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire – Opening Titles
This is another example of hunger games, and I want to use the Mockingjay as the main symbol, and the arrow through the beginning to the end, and finally shoot the mockingjay around fire.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Title Sequence by Anne Winkler
Comedy Sketch Escalation Pattern
‘The Two Ronnies’ was a comedy sketch show on BBC One during the 70s and 80s which featured the double act of Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett.
In this sketch the ‘sweet shop’ the shop keeper gets himself into trouble by priding himself that “nothing is too much trouble” and that customers can be as picky as they like.
The sketch starts out with an reasonable scenario of a women wanting a specific weight of sweets to buy. The sketch really gets going when another customer comes in and starts pushing the boundaries of what is too much to ask of the shopkeeper.
The customer first requests that he would like a quarter of a pound of liquorice all sorts, which he then later adds he only likes the orange ones, leading to the shopkeeper having to separate the orange from the other coloured sweets.
This scenario grows and grows to be more ridiculous as the customer demands a gob stopper that finishes in the colour pink, a mint with a specific hole size, chocolates that melt in your mouth but not your hand, only soft centred milk chocolates, the length of a liquorice roll and to count out exactly 1100 of Hundreds and Thousands.
This all leads up to the breaking point for the shopkeeper who then pours the tub of Hundreds and Thousands onto the customer’s head. He becomes so wound up, when the next customer comes in with a reasonable request like at the start of the sketch the shopkeeper overacts. In this case instead of cutting up toffee into small pieces he smashes it all with a hammer.
This build up of a mundane scenario growing out of control is a common feature I have noticed in sketches, for example the same system can be seen in The Monty Python’s dead parrot sketch where at first the customer simply complains that the parrot he just bought is dead to then smashing the parrot on the table and screaming in its ear to prove it.
This is something I would like to incorporate in my own sketch however, only having one minute to show the journey from the mundane to the ridiculous will be a challenge without making the sketch seem rushed.
HOPKINS, K. (2011) The Two Ronnies – Sweet Shop Sketch. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbGMS5jQFcs&t=1s [Accessed10th November 2017.]
MONTY PYTHON. (2008) The Parrot Sketch – Monty Python’s The Flying Circus. YouTube. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjOSLCR2hE&t=23s [Accessed 10th November 2017.]
Title sequence of the movie Into The Wild
This is the title sequence of the film “Into The Wild”. It is basically like this. A view of someones’s back and he is standing on the ground and all the elements like buildings, trees (the whole world) just rotates to appear and I think I can also use this way of showing the titles to the project I made.
Bruno Mars – That’s What I Like
This music video is very powerful in the way that it is edited using graphics and animation to add content variety and style.
Animated drawings are used in the video to compliment the singer Bruno Mars dance. Dance movements are highlighted with white flashes and lines. They help to keep the viewer interested all the way through to the end of the track. These animations all appear in slightly different ways ranging from a fade, to a slide in from the left and also feature graphic drawings related to the lyrics such as The Eiffel Tower.
I would like to include animation in my fashion film to make it more unique and to add personal value to my work. This way it is different from other films in the industry, making it more memorable to viewers.
Zara Man | Spring Summer 2015 Campaign
This campaign caught my attention because of the complexity of the shots included in the film. The slightly muted lighting and understated scenery created moodiness and I felt was a good backdrop to highlight the models, and the collection that was mostly monochrome colours.
There are a vast number of shots ranging from close ups to long shots, medium shots and low angle shots. These all make the film more technically advanced and interesting for the viewer to watch. This is a technique that I am extremely interested in and would like to experiment with myself.
I think that a campaign focused on men can be powerful, especially as so many brands like to focus on female ranges. I think women are still interested in male fashion and will view certain male campaigns as well as the female campaigns. This all helps to increase brand identity.
Kat Napiorkowska- Living with OCD
The fim I am making is an attempt to represent Obsessive Compulsive Disorder through visual means in an artistic and unusual way. I will be orienting the whole piece around hands and how they are crucial in the anxiety relief achieved through different compulsions.
When doing research about OCDs and ways in which they have been represented in art, I came across a Polish filmmaker- Kat Napiorkowska, who mainly focuses on mental disorders. The video she has made on OCD is not only highly insightful, accurate and relatable for anyone who suffers from the disorder, but also well-edited and aesthetically pleasing. I really admire the narration, although I do not think I will be using any in my own video.
The film seems very intimate and personal, and that is an effect that I want to achieve in my work. Similarly to Napiorkowska’s film, I will be doing a lot of close-ups and detailed shots, trying to keep them short and simple. The frames will be well-balanced and I will possibly use some symmetry to reflect some characteristics of the disorder. The cold, almost monochromatic colours seen in the video are a good representation of the topic and create a slightly tense and anxious atmosphere. I am considering using a similar colour palette.
Inspiration from Melanie Martinez – Mrs. Potato Head
The idea for my film came across rather abstractly – I knew I was interested in a commercial for a cosmetics brand, but there was no concrete idea for what exactly. I tend to find a lot of inspiration in music, because the melodies of a song create a feeling and image in my head. Melanie Martinez’s album “Cry Baby” focuses on the character Cry Baby, a sort of childlike embodiment of the singer facing her current issues and concerns. The entire album has a whimsical feel to it while tackling very serious matters, such as abusive familial relationships and the harms of modern societal beauty standards. ‘Mrs. Potato Head’ in particular is difficult to watch: it is centered around a young infatuated couple, both attractive and happy. The man presents the woman with a slip for a facelift appointment, assuring her it will be an improvement. Driven by either love or insecurity, the woman follows through, enduring a surgery stuffing her chest, plumping her lifts, and altering her face. The visuals are haunting, if not a bit uncomfortable, as you witness the surgeon carve and peel off her skin, leaving her blotchy, misshapen, and deeply depressed. The man leaves her, disgusted by her new appearance (which he paid for), and quickly replaces her.
My film is not so serious as this, but the music video struck a chord with me. I wanted to capture a modern problem and am hoping to incorporate a childlike whimsy to filming. It’s too easy to provide a message about “loving the real you,” it’s about creating media that sticks with viewers so they remember the visuals and connect it with the message. Part of what makes Melanie Martinez so memorable is how she forces her audience to watch very harsh realities in a childlike way – it is jarring, in fact. Adult situations are, clearly, meant for adults, and by styling it to be colorful and cute, we as an audience squirm. But it sticks, and it works. Storytelling, I believe, is less efficient if it’s easy to put together, and I’m hoping to create something like that, even if it is less cynical than Martinez’s work.
With my budget, I know I cannot uphold the atmosphere I would like, with brighter colors and decorations, but I am hoping to edit my film to have a somewhat similar feel to ‘Mrs. Potato Head.’ I love how there are some very dull and dreary scenes, but it all has the same feeling. The bright atmosphere tricks you into thinking everything will be happy, and if I can incorporate that, I’d be very pleased.