pmurphybbbwc2019-blog

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Evaluation

At the beginning of this project I started with a few similar film ideas focusing on the topic of people and time. I was most interested exploring a film which viewed something from an unusual perception like the ‘Sun Tunnels’, which was most inspiring because it encouraged me to really step out of my comfort zone in filmmaking as I have never produced a film like this one before. I noticed when researching the works, Sun Tunnels, House watch Imaginary Opera and Traces they all showed their own interpretation to earth, nature, objects, people and places – showing different ways on how something is perceived. After discovering this, the project became very clear to me that I wanted to think of something unusual to look through to study people. After a few thoughts I realised a washing machine was the best idea, from this point of the project I was really excited and couldn’t wait for the project to grow further.

Although I loved my film idea I found this project difficult and challenging as I was dealing with new camera equipment and filming inside a washing machine which had a lot of technical problems like securing my camera, so it wouldn’t fly off during a wash. I underestimated filming inside a washing machine as I put my camera at great risk however produced enough footage to make my film and was pleased with the amount of material.

Although the class won’t be performing their critical assessments, my plan was to project my film onto a staircase at Edward street to interact with my audience. Since the news of COVID-19 I have been away from university and was unable to rent out a projector for my film. Instead, I ordered a projector however it was cheap, and the picture wasn’t very clear, and the colour wasn’t right. I also had a problem with the staircase because one stair case was so narrow the projection didn’t fit, and the other stair case has words written on each step and the projector was too loud during the recordings. Instead I projected the film above the staircase. This was a very frustrating time when projecting my film, which is why I have uploaded two versions of my final piece. In addition, I wasn’t able to get hold of a camera, so I had to film the projection with my film.

I found editing my film quite challenging because it was hard to keep a sequence. I wanted a repeated sequence in my film to relate to people’s routines in life. The sounds in my film was very successful and powerful especially because they are natural sounds.

However, I feel most let down by the projector and wished I’d had more time on this project. If I did have enough time I would experiment more with sound, colour and exploring more moving objects like the record player I tested. This has been my most expensive project so far because I bought a GoPro camera, projector and visiting my friend’s house constantly in London and other waterproof equipment. I underestimated the cost of this project and will learn from this mistake.

Overall, Due to COVID-19 I haven’t been able to gain access to the university supplies which has hugely affected my project. However due to these circumstances I feel my film has evolved well and I’m proud of the outcome.

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Final Piece

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1st Draft - Film

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change in location

Due to quarantine I had to change the films location from London to Isle of Wight, which means I have to project onto a different stair case, so it will have a different effect on my film. 

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In-depth analysis of Film

This film has endless meanings to it. A bit like how life is endless like a repeat of a washing machine cycle. The films audience is aimed at mostly everyone because it can relate to everyone differently as most people individually have different routines in life. This film is mostly aimed at people who are unhappy or lost in their life ‘routine’. I want this film to question people’s thoughts on their routine and question if they are mimicking other people’s lives. These routines could be jobs, excessive drinker, housewife etc.

https://www.susanblackmore.uk/chapters/imitation-makes-us-human/

In Susan Blackmore book, ‘Imitation Makes Us Human’ expresses ‘to be human is to imitate’. She starts talking about the beginning of evolution when our ancestors first began to copy each others sounds and actions. What if humans are still imitating and relaying on others.

At the beginning of humanity it was good and relevant to copy each other however the world now is so experienced, we now live in a world of technology and social media. Humanity now has an increase of mental illnesses, depression and suicides I think this has a lot to do with social media.

From my perspective schools are now so pressurising, encouraging students to all go to university. This puts huge pressure on students. University is not for everyone, I feel this subject is relevant because I hear endless stories of people who are unhappy.

This got me to thinking about people’s routines in life and question whether or not these routines we are choosing are right for us and hope we are not just mimicking other people’s lives. This is why I wanted to convey a film which showed repetitiveness and interacted with the audience in way which hasn’t been done before. I want to recreate a persons routine by making a sequence with clips on the washing machine.

- I am interacting with the audience by projecting onto the stairs. 

Projecting onto the stairs gives people more awareness:

I want the film to show awareness to people because people can get so caught up in their routine. When they watch the film, I want them to become more aware of their surroundings (routine). This is why I am projecting onto the stairs because I’m showing the audience a different perception of the stairs by giving the stairs movement and life. 

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Film: Lighting, Sound, Time

Lighting:

I want to keep my films lighting simple and natural. I don’t want to distract the audience by enhance colours and contrast as it may distract the meaning. However, after looking at A Space Odyssey’s colour scheme I placed a colouring ball in the washing machine which made a significant effect when the machine spun at its maximum, manipulating the making to resemble the ‘time of humanity’ was very effective and pleasing to the eye. 

Sound:

The natural sounds of the washing machine are very effective to the film. I like the way it almost echoes and bubbles the trickling sounds from inside the washing machine. The sounds sound like we are in bubble, a metaphorical bubble: “A person's fantasy, delusion, misbelief, warped convictions or otherwise his/her inner mental world and how that rolls with and into real life — and that inner-outer interface is such that it's easily upset or even destroyed by bad news or personal misjudgment or misstep.” This related to the meaning of the film because people misjudge their life decisions and are delusional because they don’t take notice to the beauty in life and are focused too much on their routines in life. Groundhog Day is a very good example, when the main protagonist is so caught up in his routine i.e Job he forgets the beauty of life enjoyment and love. By the time he realises what life is all about he was able to live beyond his trapped days. 

Time:

I think it’s important to keep the natural timings of the washing machine cycle however, I will play around with the editing in case a fast or slower tempo would relate well with the films meaning. 

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Inspiration from Shimon Attie, Berlin.. Photo I took on the Isle Of Wight

During this time of quarantine, I have been isolating on the Isle of Wight away from my family in case I carry the virus. I have been going on long walks everyday looking for inspiration for my film. 

I have discovered on my walks there are a lot of bunkers on the Isle Of Wight. These parts give a strong atmospheric mood to the island and ironically reflecting on the world’s mood of quarantine. These meaningful historical bunkers reminded me a lot of Shimon Attie work in Berlin. 

During this dark time of change in the world CONVID-19 and being in a unfamiliar place which has lots of dark historical parts made me want to change my film. Ideally, I would project my film onto this wall and change the meaning of the film: to compare todays ‘modern routine world’ to the time of the WW2. 

This subject is very powerful and meaningful however due to the lack of technology I am unable to project my film onto this wall because I don’t have a portable projector for outside. 

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washing machine representing time?

The washing machine represents time, like a clock they both move in the same motion and are the same shape. Should I make my film even more simple by projecting a time lapse of a clock onto a staircase?

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Destiny animation film - research. (Similar meaning to my film)

I found this short animation film which is about getting caught in a routine. The moment the guys stops worrying about time, the time seems to almost stand still, and he can see beauty in the world. This is the sort of message I want to give in my film. Relating to routine and repetitiveness in people’s lives I want my film to show metaphorically a realisation of the dullness or unawareness or how people are unappreciative to the surroundings in their life. I want people to question their motives and lives to see if it’s worth it and to see if they really are happy. 

For example, most of the population go to university because others attend university. It has become this vicious cycle of ‘repetitiveness’ of people copying others thinking it’s the normal thing to do thinking it the next step in life, “a way of life”. People are lying to themselves costing their future and happiness. According to ‘itv news’, two thirds of universities and colleges have seen an increase in the proportion of students dropping out in the last five years, official figures show. 

As reported by The Guardian last month, suicide rates among students in England and Wales have risen slightly over the past 10 years, with 1,330 student deaths by suicide – 1,109 (83 percent) were those of students studying at undergraduate level, while those studying at postgraduate level accounted for 221 deaths (17 percent). I think with the increase of social media and schools becoming more competitive has led to a great pressure on students today. The world has become more competitive which has led to an increase of mental illnesses and suicide.   

Additionally, of the 1,330 deaths, there was a significant gender disparity - 878 (66 percent) were men, and 452 (34 percent) were women. But why are the majority of student suicides male? A stereotypical representation of males is tough and are expected to keep in their feeling which can lead to depression and other mental illnesses. Depression could be the reason why there is a significant disparity between males

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Audience: Projection onto stairs

Projecting the film onto the stairs gets the audience interacted with the film. I want the audience to feel affected by what they are watching making them think about the movement of the stairs. 

Mostly everyone has a washing machine and staircase in their house, but no one has thought about us walking up and down those stairs; supposedly giving the stairs life and movement. 

Stairs are very familiar to people so when they see an unfamiliar movement on the stairs they’ll instantly feel affected and question what they are seeing. The meaning behind my film isn’t visually obvious but I want it to be portrayed in this way, so people will question the film. I’m looking into naming the film along the lines of ‘Mimic’, ‘Follow’, or simply, ‘Living on repeat’. I think the name of the film will also help guide the meaning behind it.

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Exploring time and Looping - Groundhog Day 

Groundhog Day 

Relating to my film, Groundhog Day is a good example of my message.

For example, lets say you’ve been returning home after work everyday, drinking excessively for years, bad habits which you’ve never gotten over. Or you been a workaholic through out your adult life and realise the stress and anxiety which has build up inside you, making people miserable. This film explores the small changes in life which can change peoples lives “Regardless of whether the change we implement is big or small, as long as we maintain an open mind and continually invest time in our growth, we can continue to improve our lives until the day we die.”  

“What if you or I were caught in the same endless cycle as Phil in Groundhog Day?”

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2nd Shoot - record player

This is my second shoot filming on top of a record player. This time I set the pace faster on the record player to see a variety of speed and effect in the image. 

Watching this take at a faster pace also made me a bit dizzy to watch, which wouldn’t be very good for my audience to watch. 

The movement of the record player spinning round in circles viewing house objects has a similar effect to the washing machine. They both view objects in homes which don’t move like sofas, pillows and stairs. Seeing from the record player and washing machines perspectives gives these still objects life and movement which is the affect I want for my film. 

Shooting on top of the record player was a good experiment however, I feel filming from a washing machine’s point of view is more affective and pleasing to the eye. 

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Next I need to investigate and explore other machines and mechanical movements to explore other affects. 

- record player

- car wheel 

- bicycle wheel 

- maybe I could make a wheel object? 

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1 Min Film and meaning

My first edit (1 min) was a good attempt filming inside the washing machine. Next, I have to make sure I have extra safety equipment for my next shoot so the camera doesn’t detach from the surface when spinning in the washing machine. I need to buy waterproof duct tape and stick-on go-pro equipment to film my next shoot.

Filming from inside the washing machine and looking out to see the stair case made the image very eye pleasing. Staircases are always still but life is always moving on it; people walking up and down them everyday. Its interesting to see the staircase in motion with the washing machine reflecting on people’s lives. 

PROJECTION/AUDIENCE note - I would interact the audience by projecting the footage onto the staircase or just above it. 

After investigating in A Space Odyssey’s colour scheme, I followed up on my idea of including a glow in dark bouncy ball. It did create the affect I wanted when the washing machine spun at its maximum ability however the ball was to visible and random to see at the begging of the cycle as you could clearly see there was a ball in the washing machine, which made it look unprofessional and random. If I were to carry on this colouring scheme in my film I would look into enhancing colours when editing my film.  

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MY 1 MIN FILM

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Film Still, 1 Min Film - inside the washing machine.

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Note

Idea: Watching Samuel Beckit / intro of a close up eye gave me an idea to add a faded layer over the washing machine. Adding the eye to the image would convey the idea of ‘life repeating itself’. The eye would represent people watching their own lives and other on repeat. Compositionally the circle of the eye and the washing machine would blend well together.

Eye - Film Still