Outside Work

Outside of University I have been able to partake in different film jobs to help build my own portfolio. As a part of the team at MMU Press, me and my friend Lauren from the course were able to produce a short film on one of the days out that MMU had in store for foreign exchange students and any other students at MMU. The idea of this day out was to draw the different landmarks around Manchester with permanent markers onto a see through umbrella, then later draw over with colored pens creating a finished umbrella that you can keep. The day then finished with tea and cakes and at a secret library located in Manchester city Centre. Our job was to film the whole day and edit the film together to send back to MMU Press. When filming the walk and the crowd decorating the umbrellas, I wanted to create a professional look with a wide range of shots to keep viewers interested, I did this through the use of pull focus shots from the umbrellas to the landmarks that were being drawn. Other ways of doing this were through the use of wide shots setting each location and reactions shots of the crowd who where enjoying themselves. Once we were able to sit down with the tea and cakes I was also able to get interactive shots with the people partaking and other shots of the stunning location of the secret library. We decided to interview Lisa Bach the woman running the day out and get her ideas on what the day was about and how it helped bring the international students into Manchester and not only show them around but make friends with people on different courses. We filmed this with a Canon 700D keeping Lisa’s eye line high up and to the left of the screen, also defocusing the background to help her stand out in the shot. When recording Lisa, we used an attachable Rhode microphone that was focused on Lisa’s vocal area to help block out background sound. Overall the job helped build my ideas for cinematography.

Another job I also worked on was filming a music event called ‘Sofar’. The event consists of different bands playing secret gigs in places like offices and houses around the globe. I was able to film in a huge office space in Manchester and wanted to focus on getting the right shots to create a professional film. Although the lighting in the room was highly saturated, I was able to have three different angles of shots at the same time and white balanced to create a more neutral colour. Again I was also helped by my course mate Lauren and when editing we wanted to focus on keeping the different shots fluid to help create a more interesting watch. We were able to film all three bands that took place and also used establishing shots to help set the scene of the area that the bands where performing. This job in total helped me with becoming more professional with my editing and cinematography skills. Sofar and Lisa Bach have also both asked me to help make other films in the future. 

Reflection on Rotterdamn Film Festival 2016

 

Towards the end of January, I was able to attend Rotterdam Film Festival. The Festival showed a wide range of talent in many different film genres and I was able to have the pleasure of watching a fair few of these films. The first film I saw was situated in a huge 2 tier venue, with nearly every seat taken. It was to view the film, ‘The Daughter (2015)’. This film ended up being my personal favorite of the entire festival and showed the struggles of a family torn apart by a secret love affair and with the character playing the daughter committing suicide over the fact that her father could not look at her anymore when he found out that she wasn’t his blood child. Over all a very moving film with smooth running and artistic cinematography. When looking at my own work in comparison I think ‘The Daughter’ captured story telling very well and I would love to create or work on a film with such a compelling script, the look and cinematography of the film brought it down to earth and helped the audience bond with the characters, this was essential to bring such a powerful ending. Again, something I would like to incorporate into my own film.

On the same day I was able to watch the highly anticipated ‘Demolition (2015)’. The film was shown in a huge film space with not much leg room between the seats and a metal sculpture on the wall that reflected the entire film. Demolition was a satisfying film but did not live up to the storytelling standards of ‘The Daughter’. The film had many subplots that seemed to thin out and not r
eally be explained and personally wasn’t as compelling. Although actor Jake Gyllenhaul is always able to interpret characters to a high standard and played well within the film as the main character. The film did use some high quality shots and gave me ideas for my own cinematography.

The Next day I was able to view three Malaysian short films all within one sitting in a fairly small cinema space. These three films portrayed ideas of possession, seduction and paralyses. Each film left a lasting impact with an alternative style of cinematography such as the short film on Paralyses that was entirely filmed from the point of view of someone who was paralyzed. Also the films left disturbing yet intriguing ideas of seduction and possession.

On the same day I was able to watch another attention-grabbing film called ‘Aaaaaaaah! (2015)’. The film looked at the idea if humans acted like apes on a daily basis, creating a hilarious yet odd film. The entire audience of the film didn’t know whether to laugh or cry which I think helped for an impacting film that would leave a lasting memory. ‘Aaaaaaaah!’ helped me with my own ideas with wanting to leave a lasting impression on the audience.

Overall Rotterdam Film Festival was an eye opener and helped in enabling me to create my own ideas for my film work.  

Film Synopsis: Amy

 

 Asif Kapadia’s documentary ‘Amy’ 2015’ Is the tragic story of singer, Amy Winehouse and her life leading up to her early death. The film begins showing Amy’s life with clips of her growing up and the audience watching the star rise through the use of home video and interviews with her family and close friends. The documentary delves into Amy’s rise to stardom showing the ongoing battle with her long term boyfriend Blake and their struggles with fighting and addiction to heroin that Blake introduced into Amy’s life. We also see Amy’s father who took on a manger role for her even when she was in rehab, forcing her to do shows. The film shows unheard tracks that Amy had wrote and kept secret from the world. Also discovering Amy’s ongoing battle with bulimia, this illness, drugs and alcohol left Amy dead in her flat and this broke the hearts of many fans, family and friends.