Evaluative Analysis
Evaluative Analysis
Ethan Garvie
My original intent for my project is to create a post apocalyptic thriller following the point of view of a young survivor, displaying his own personal thoughts in the wasteland. This will be achieved through a film rather than a screenplay as I believe I am able to work far better through moving image rather than writing a script and a storyboard. I will also be focusing on incorporating 'A narrative which establishes and develops a single character' as my brief.
I want to improve upon sequences taken as inspiration from previous short films by using several different lenses (such as my wide lens and 50 mm for my NIKON D3200) and a variety of perspectives such as high shots, low shots, and continuous tracking shots to tell an interesting and mysterious narrative. I will accomplish this by relying on visual storytelling through relevant mise-en-scene such as necessary props and performance of my actors.
The story shall focus on a teenage protagonist (living in a dystopian, post apocalyptic world) who is haunted by the guilt of his past, through the embodiment of a girl before she got infected. He will explore a variety of locations for necessary survival items and equipment, all while desperately attempting to avoid his past, which will be physically following him around the wasteland.
Aims-
To contain a clear visual style that is consistent throughout.
Incorporate angles and perspectives that lead to a lack of dull moments throughout the piece.
Aim to avoid exposition while maintaining a mysterious but understandable narrative.
Create a successful short film that matches the conventions of my genre well, and adapts them in my own unique, narrative/visual style.
SWIMMER-2012-LYNNE RAMSAY
'Swimmer' tells the surreal story of a young man swimming in a rural river, and the people he meets along the way. The immediate idea I had when watching 'Swimmer' was the quiet and tranquil opening of the film. I found that it had a certain professional feeling to it while the company logos faded in and out. This could be because it subverts the stereotypical conventions of an opening, by replacing a loud and impressive introduction to pull the viewer in, with a peaceful, calming environment, including non-diegetic sounds of the waves and flowing water.
The recurring theme of water could show the repetition of this swimmer continuing his long journey. Long, sweeping long-shots run throughout the films 17 minute run time to give the viewer a steady, in depth look into the environment. An active viewer could link the serene non-diegetic sound and overall atmosphere of the film to the swimmers mental state and mood. Also, I like this idea of extending some shots a few more seconds to create a slow story that isn't too rushed. Some close ups of the swimmer last just long enough fro the viewer to take in every detail in the frame. I will attempt to use this technique while editing, putting myself in the shoes of the viewer in order to understand how long shots should run for.
Reflective, mirror-like long-shots also run throughout the credits. I want to try this editing technique a certain points in my film, perhaps during a dream sequence if I decide to include it in the final piece. The black and white filter over the film also allows shadows and highlights to appear richer and frames the swimmer in a stunning portrait of serenity, in her own experiment style. It is because of this that the high key natural lighting contrasts well with the dark shadows that often cascade over the swimmers face in addition to the water. Black and white is an option I could consider for most of my film, or an alternative sequence.
THE GUNFIGHTER-2014-ERIC KISSACK
'The Gunfighter' is another short film I analysed for inspiration to my film. It follows the unconventional narrative of a western film, with a gunslinger walking into a bar, only for all the characters to appear conscious of the narrator of the short film trough diegetic sound instead of non-diegetic sound. This makes for the films many comedic moments, as we find out more about each character through this narrator. The obvious focus on the colour palette and tones for the short sequence stands out to me the most. This use of colour is something I want to try and replicate either through real world locations or in post production during editing.
The Gunfighter contains several warm tones inside the bar, which adds to the sense of heat/tension created in the scene. Keeping this in mind, would allow me to increase the overall effect of some intense scene if I consider my colours and tones whilst editing. I want to try and use this technique to create a better flow throughout the film. This use of colour would also have the ability to link shots and sequences as I would be using a variety of contrasting locations throughout my 4-5 minute piece. Another idea to consider is the fact that the whole film is set in a single location with a fairly simple, comedic narrative. It goes to show how you don't need a variety of real world locations to shoot a successful short film. This is something I will keep in mind when choosing locations to shoot my scenes.
Analysing the dialogue of this short film, I love how natural it all appears in addition to it opening with purely visuals setting up the location and the world that this story is set within. The dialogue bounces between the characters in the bar and 'The Voice' that is slowly harming their reputation, and revealing secrets about their personality. This version of a short film suits the kind of 2nd year project that I should be aiming to create and if done correctly, could receive high marks.
My original intent for my project is to create a post apocalyptic thriller following the point of view of a young survivor, displaying his own personal thoughts in the wasteland. This will be achieved through a film rather than a screenplay as I believe I am able to work far better through moving image rather than writing a script and a storyboard. I will also be focusing on incorporating 'A narrative which establishes and develops a single character' as my brief.
I want to improve upon sequences taken as inspiration from previous short films by using several different lenses (such as my wide lens and 50 mm for my NIKON D3200) and a variety of perspectives such as high shots, low shots, and continuous tracking shots to tell an interesting and mysterious narrative. I will accomplish this by relying on visual storytelling through relevant mise-en-scene such as necessary props and performance of my actors.
The story shall focus on a teenage protagonist (living in a dystopian, post apocalyptic world) who is haunted by the guilt of his past, through the embodiment of a girl before she got infected. He will explore a variety of locations for necessary survival items and equipment, all while desperately attempting to avoid his past, which will be physically following him around the wasteland.
Aims-
To contain a clear visual style that is consistent throughout.
Incorporate angles and perspectives that lead to a lack of dull moments throughout the piece.
Aim to avoid exposition while maintaining a mysterious but understandable narrative.
Create a successful short film that matches the conventions of my genre well, and adapts them in my own unique, narrative/visual style.
SWIMMER-2012-LYNNE RAMSAY
'Swimmer' tells the surreal story of a young man swimming in a rural river, and the people he meets along the way. The immediate idea I had when watching 'Swimmer' was the quiet and tranquil opening of the film. I found that it had a certain professional feeling to it while the company logos faded in and out. This could be because it subverts the stereotypical conventions of an opening, by replacing a loud and impressive introduction to pull the viewer in, with a peaceful, calming environment, including non-diegetic sounds of the waves and flowing water.
The recurring theme of water could show the repetition of this swimmer continuing his long journey. Long, sweeping long-shots run throughout the films 17 minute run time to give the viewer a steady, in depth look into the environment. An active viewer could link the serene non-diegetic sound and overall atmosphere of the film to the swimmers mental state and mood. Also, I like this idea of extending some shots a few more seconds to create a slow story that isn't too rushed. Some close ups of the swimmer last just long enough fro the viewer to take in every detail in the frame. I will attempt to use this technique while editing, putting myself in the shoes of the viewer in order to understand how long shots should run for.
Reflective, mirror-like long-shots also run throughout the credits. I want to try this editing technique a certain points in my film, perhaps during a dream sequence if I decide to include it in the final piece. The black and white filter over the film also allows shadows and highlights to appear richer and frames the swimmer in a stunning portrait of serenity, in her own experiment style. It is because of this that the high key natural lighting contrasts well with the dark shadows that often cascade over the swimmers face in addition to the water. Black and white is an option I could consider for most of my film, or an alternative sequence.
THE GUNFIGHTER-2014-ERIC KISSACK
'The Gunfighter' is another short film I analysed for inspiration to my film. It follows the unconventional narrative of a western film, with a gunslinger walking into a bar, only for all the characters to appear conscious of the narrator of the short film trough diegetic sound instead of non-diegetic sound. This makes for the films many comedic moments, as we find out more about each character through this narrator. The obvious focus on the colour palette and tones for the short sequence stands out to me the most. This use of colour is something I want to try and replicate either through real world locations or in post production during editing.
The Gunfighter contains several warm tones inside the bar, which adds to the sense of heat/tension created in the scene. Keeping this in mind, would allow me to increase the overall effect of some intense scene if I consider my colours and tones whilst editing. I want to try and use this technique to create a better flow throughout the film. This use of colour would also have the ability to link shots and sequences as I would be using a variety of contrasting locations throughout my 4-5 minute piece. Another idea to consider is the fact that the whole film is set in a single location with a fairly simple, comedic narrative. It goes to show how you don't need a variety of real world locations to shoot a successful short film. This is something I will keep in mind when choosing locations to shoot my scenes.
Analysing the dialogue of this short film, I love how natural it all appears in addition to it opening with purely visuals setting up the location and the world that this story is set within. The dialogue bounces between the characters in the bar and 'The Voice' that is slowly harming their reputation, and revealing secrets about their personality. This version of a short film suits the kind of 2nd year project that I should be aiming to create and if done correctly, could receive high marks.
ELEPHANT-1989-ALAN CLARKE
This famous 1989 short film, directed by Alan Clarke, follows the trail of a murderer as he roams through Northern Ireland killing many victims. In 'Elephant', the continuos forward-tracking shots and simplistic narrative drive the film forward. For its lack of an exciting, lengthy and confusing plot with different acts, it is able to grip the viewer due to its variety of perspectives, and sweeping panning shots that follow the killer. This effect works well as the short film combines long takes involving a lot of movement, with stationary close up shots of each dead victim for, what is perhaps, longer than needed. However, this effect allows the viewer to take in each brutal killing in detail. I believe that this could be an effect to try in my own work as it adds a sense of style to the film, completing subverting the conventions of how to edit a film with even cuts.
As well as this, I would love to take inspiration from this film and its focus on a central character. The camera is almost always focused on the killer and his where about's. The long takes, focus heavily on the protagonist, and makes us feel as if we are viewing his everyday life through the camera. In addition to this, the long, still shots that highlight the brutality of each killing by showing the audience the motionless body of the victims, is another feature I could take forward into my own film.
THE GRANDMOTHER-1970-DAVID LYNCH
The Grandmother on the other hand, is a drastically different film to the others, in a very peculiar, experimental style. Combining real actors with cartoon, hand drawn effects, it’s non-diegetic music and 'trippy' stop-motion visuals give it an extremely disturbing and unsettling feeling to the entire film. This is because of the uncertainty as to what the characters are doing exactly, as well as the erratic movements by many of the drawings ad real people. Personally, I didn’t understand the storyline but did find that the colours evoked reactions from me as I watched more and more. For example, the emphasis on the colour red in this piece evoked the idea of rage, passion, and anger. All three of these could be used to describe sequences in the film as many characters lips are a vibrant shade of red, perhaps symbolising blood and appearing almost symbolic of vampires.
I will consider this especially when editing the final piece, using colour to show hidden meanings about both characters I have created especially for this project. For example, I could create different filters that lay over the raw image of the film in different acts to show progression of the narrative, ad to keep the viewer gripped with contrasting scenes.
Other Cinematic Influences-World War Z (2013)-Marc Foster
Analysing more mainstream films in relation to my genre of short film, I also analysed zombie/apocalypse/dystopian films such as World War Z. It was through this film that I tried to replicate its tone as it is most similar in genre compared to the short films we have been given.
The opening of the film, directed by Marc Foster, uses real life news extracts and TV footage from game shows and other media, in an attempt to tell the viewer just how distracted society is from the real threats such as disease and the spread of them. It is done through angular, mirror-like effects that distort the footage, creating an original aesthetic style. Because of this technique one of my plans on how to open my short films includes a similar idea about incorporating video footage that it is not mien from the media. This would benefit my concept for the piece as it follows the conventions of a zombie-apocalypse narrative. However, if I went ahead with this idea, I would want to subvert this feature as it has been done many times before.
What have I included in the final piece:
After watching these sequences and considering what could be added into my film, I have included longer takes such as the drastic cut from the abandoned building to the storm scene that opens the second act. The thunder sound effect increases the impact of this harsh cut and is reminiscent of 'Elephants's long takes on the victims body due to the length of the extreme long shot. In addition, I tried to keep a fairly simplistic narrative with a story that isn’t spoonfed to the audience. I wanted to take this from Swimmer as it relies on visuals and calming non diegetic audio in order to push its story forwards. In addition, i was inspired to focus on shadows and slow moving panning/tilting shots, similar to those used in this film as well. I also decided to consider my colours, tones, and even the time I was shooting from The Gunfighter. I decided to use green/blue tones throughout the film to give the feeling of a cold, infected environment, further advancing my meaning and conceptual intentions, through the use of colour.
As well as this, I would love to take inspiration from this film and its focus on a central character. The camera is almost always focused on the killer and his where about's. The long takes, focus heavily on the protagonist, and makes us feel as if we are viewing his everyday life through the camera. In addition to this, the long, still shots that highlight the brutality of each killing by showing the audience the motionless body of the victims, is another feature I could take forward into my own film.
THE GRANDMOTHER-1970-DAVID LYNCH
The Grandmother on the other hand, is a drastically different film to the others, in a very peculiar, experimental style. Combining real actors with cartoon, hand drawn effects, it’s non-diegetic music and 'trippy' stop-motion visuals give it an extremely disturbing and unsettling feeling to the entire film. This is because of the uncertainty as to what the characters are doing exactly, as well as the erratic movements by many of the drawings ad real people. Personally, I didn’t understand the storyline but did find that the colours evoked reactions from me as I watched more and more. For example, the emphasis on the colour red in this piece evoked the idea of rage, passion, and anger. All three of these could be used to describe sequences in the film as many characters lips are a vibrant shade of red, perhaps symbolising blood and appearing almost symbolic of vampires.
I will consider this especially when editing the final piece, using colour to show hidden meanings about both characters I have created especially for this project. For example, I could create different filters that lay over the raw image of the film in different acts to show progression of the narrative, ad to keep the viewer gripped with contrasting scenes.
Other Cinematic Influences-World War Z (2013)-Marc Foster
Analysing more mainstream films in relation to my genre of short film, I also analysed zombie/apocalypse/dystopian films such as World War Z. It was through this film that I tried to replicate its tone as it is most similar in genre compared to the short films we have been given.
The opening of the film, directed by Marc Foster, uses real life news extracts and TV footage from game shows and other media, in an attempt to tell the viewer just how distracted society is from the real threats such as disease and the spread of them. It is done through angular, mirror-like effects that distort the footage, creating an original aesthetic style. Because of this technique one of my plans on how to open my short films includes a similar idea about incorporating video footage that it is not mien from the media. This would benefit my concept for the piece as it follows the conventions of a zombie-apocalypse narrative. However, if I went ahead with this idea, I would want to subvert this feature as it has been done many times before.
What have I included in the final piece:
After watching these sequences and considering what could be added into my film, I have included longer takes such as the drastic cut from the abandoned building to the storm scene that opens the second act. The thunder sound effect increases the impact of this harsh cut and is reminiscent of 'Elephants's long takes on the victims body due to the length of the extreme long shot. In addition, I tried to keep a fairly simplistic narrative with a story that isn’t spoonfed to the audience. I wanted to take this from Swimmer as it relies on visuals and calming non diegetic audio in order to push its story forwards. In addition, i was inspired to focus on shadows and slow moving panning/tilting shots, similar to those used in this film as well. I also decided to consider my colours, tones, and even the time I was shooting from The Gunfighter. I decided to use green/blue tones throughout the film to give the feeling of a cold, infected environment, further advancing my meaning and conceptual intentions, through the use of colour.
I believe that my short film, titled ‘Fragments’, successfully shows character development as well as a protagonist facing a problem. I wanted to combine a fairly simple narrative idea about guilt haunting a certain character in a physical form, with stunning visuals of a post apocalyptic world. I believe I have achieved this to the best possible quality. I knew I had to stay away from a film entirely made of the protagonist walking (as I was worried I would create) and I think I have strayed away from this. Also, I think that my wide range of shot types and the many ways I have moved the camera, support a clear visual style in my own work.
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