During the AS coursework it was necessary to expand and develop my working practises. Creativity is obviously a great help at the planning stages, be that writing a script or even just exchanging ideas within our group but also the ability to be creative in every facet of production results in a more fluid production.
The first digital technology we used was to research film openings within our chosen genre. Using YouTube we were able to search for specific scenes from films that we thought was useful, this process soon steamrolled and we had watched dozens of scenes, both on YouTube and on other video hosting sites that inspired us to write our own sequence. Using the digital technologies at the point of research helped us to be creative in our planning stages and to know how far we can take the expected representations of the genre within the sequence without it becoming a pastiche. We could view other directors and writers approach to the opening sequence. Who uses subtlety to subvert the tension within the scene? Who grabs their audience by the throat and shakes them to show the threat? And who simply sets up an enigma in a traditional sense? E.g. man with a briefcase sits down, another man joins him, exchanges the briefcase for an envelope, and they go their separate ways. What’s in the briefcase? What’s in the envelope? Who are they? Researching the huge range of differences within our chosen genre as well as others helps us to understand the language of film used in setting up the enigma.
During production the obvious use of digital technology is the camera itself. In planning the sequence we created story boards and planned the shots, but when it came to shooting it was obvious that some of the shots would not be possible to create. Instead we thought on our feet and created alternatives for ourselves. A prime example of my own creativity with the camera was when shooting an over the shoulder of our leading man, Lloyd, cleaning a car windscreen we had terrible solar glare in the lens. To solve this I flipped the shot from over the shoulder to a standard mid shot from the opposite side of the car eliminating the glare. Choices like that are where my own creativity and problem solving came into the forefront. Shooting multiple takes would enable us to be more creative and decisive at the point of edit. This also gave us leeway to shoot the take from a slightly altered angle or change the action slightly and be more creative during the editing process as a whole.
As a result of the choices made during filming my most creative exercise utilising digital technology was in the edit, be that a positive thing or not. As the sole person responsible for the edit it was up to me not just top to put the pieces together but to cover the cracks in our filming. In between glare, focusing issues shaky camera and wonky camera angles I had to find enough to work with. Luckily we had enough takes to choose from and for me to try and piece together a clear narrative and smooth edit. Smooth it wasn’t but I could be creative then with the media software to import typography. The use of text on screen helped to cover some of the jump cuts and lead them into one another helping them flow more smoothly. Unfortunately the choice of fonts on Windows Movie Maker isn’t massive and the effects are basic but I made the best of it and I think it worked. I used a font that had connotations for me of suspense; it looks pieced together from other print as is used commonly in films and TV for ransom notes thus evoking that response of tension and subverting the seemingly positive, suburban setting into something “not quite right.”
Considering myself, now, as a media producer I should always be expanding my skills and developing my creativity. Moving into the A2 I intend to further those techniques already used as well as attempting more. Be they practical or creative. Learning new techniques and using new technologies encourages creativity and versatility in production.
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