FILM RESEARCH
Time
Magazine
Time magazine is internationally recognised for their iconic close up shots of their person of interest. By looking at the images they utilise as their covers I was extremely interested in the way they display detail from a very intimate and close perspective. This encouraged me to think about my filming style as well as my approach to how I want to portray the journey of the marbles from start to finish.
In today's world, advanced filming techniques are becoming more popular with the public, hence not only limited to the professional filming field. Therefore through my exposure to social media I have learned techniques by observing from the films I see posted.
My personal approach to learning and deciding on my preferred technique is not through research but by interacting with the camera myself. Hence after deciding to focus on "focused" filming, I decided to experiment with the model straight away. I was very pleased with the lighting in the A314 studio, so I decided to uptake the first takes of filming there.
In the images seen above I was testing possibilities for the first scene. I was deciding wether to include the hand dropping the marbles within the frame, or to exclude it. The images above are outtakes from my filming. The large marbles symbolising Nausicäa and her friend are extremely important to stay in focus which I learnt was achievable through lighting deriving from one side.
FILMING PROCESS
EXPERIMENTATION
For the second take of filming, I performed a test on the small marbles as they are more challenging to control in terms of focus and lighting. The few takes I took from this scene taught me that the marbles should be thrown gradually on the platform rather than all at once in order to achieve a more elegant landing on the platform.
The third and fourth takes of the scene were to involve slightly different approaches to the first and second takes. For instance as shown on the left image, I attempted to throw the marbles without including the hand in the field of view. Personally I preferred to include the hand as it adds more of a natural and organic tone to the piece. Additionally I attempted filming from another angle (right image) that captures the reflection of the marbles more accurately. By filming with the light behind the model, it generated a silhouette effect around the model which emphasised the marbles most. However I was not very happy that the window details were evident in the frame.
When I had updated my story board as well as developed a concrete filming method after the experimental trial, conducted previously. To enhance the quality as well as end result of the film I decided to film in the professional filming studio. Working with natural lighting is very hard as it is constantly changing, hence the lighting change is evident with every scene. As seen in the right photograph we set up artificial light to achieve a reflection from the marbles. The white wall helped enhance the presence of the marbles in comparison to the window that we had for the trial film.
I filmed each layer individually with the "Slow Motion" setting on my phone, as it was able to capture the details of the marbles better than the multiple professional cameras we had previously attempted to use.
Furthermore, I filmed many angles for each layer to generate a more interesting experience when the audience watch the film.
The final film is divided into two parts. The first part, (shown above) was filmed with only two large marbles for representing Nausicäa and her friend. The journey of the marbles commences on a loud and rough surface symbolising their distraught state at the beginning of their fall. However the marbles gradually descend the model and land on materials with softer surfaces. The softer landing is a reference to the gradual calmness Nausicaa and her friend experience before their impact on the sand. They are still in agony for survival however not as intensely as the beginning of their fall. Similarly, the marbles are still generating sound from their impact with the layers however not as loudly and aggressively as the start. The marble's quiet landing in the sand symbolises the sudden change of visuals, sounds as well as mood that the movie displays.
PART I
FINAL FILM
PART II
The second part of the film demonstrates a variety of marbles following the path of the two large ones. The small marbles are a representation of the Ohmu insects chasing after them. These marbles are copying the actions of the large ones as they are following their path. However their presence in the film is represented with a chaotic and more maddening sense, in order to represent the extent of their intimidating nature towards Nausicäa and her friend. Similarly to the large marbles, They start of with a loud to a gradual softer sound on their journey. Additionally their sound is inexistent when they encounter the sand as they are no longer a threat to Nausicäa. The sound in the film dictates the tension that Nausicaa and her friend feel, as well as the Ohmu insects.