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Filmmaker's Block

  • Writer: Helen Edgeworth
    Helen Edgeworth
  • May 8, 2020
  • 1 min read

So after the initial spark and excitement of the film, it's safe to say I creatively hit a brick wall. I was really struggling with fixing the clips together so they didn't look disjointed. To reinspire myself I thought back to Matt's words in one of the meetings about a romance scene with building tension but no climax. I thought of the most infamous romance film I knew of which was Casablanca. Then I thought about how prior to lock down one of our ideas we were to film was someone constantly changing the channels of a television set. So I created this:




With this edit, some aspects worked such as the loading screens and the repetition of the actors looking at each other. But some elements seemed to try hard and obvious in what we were trying to achieve defeating the subtle objective of the film we intended to make.


We decided to have a group facetime and discussed that we all liked the format of the tv channel hopping as it gelled all the clips together in a way that visually made sense.


 
 
 

First and Second Drafts - Why Don't They Work?

  • Writer: Helen Edgeworth
    Helen Edgeworth
  • May 4, 2020
  • 1 min read

In discussions with my collaborative group, regarding current world affairs, we felt maybe creating a film too entirely frustrating might be not the best idea. Also, the practicality of this idea faltered, in the original proposal pre- COVID 19. The film was to be displayed in a cinema where people would be unable to leave and be forced to watch. However, if the film was to be distributed online people could turn it off, or scroll through entirely defeating the object of some ideas like the long black space.


The two clips below presented my example ideas for the editing of the project and although some elements were frustrating I'd seemed to miss the mark and neither of the drafts seemed to work.


In our group discussions, I had to reassess what frustration actually was. The two dictionary definitions were as follows:


  1. 'The feeling of being upset or annoyed as a result of being unable to change or achieve something'

  2. 'The prevention of the progress, success, or fulfilment of something'

The issue with both drafts was although the clips worked individually, they both lacked a clear direction of where the film was going and having no underlying narratives like in the examples I looked at such as Hypernormalisation or Montage of Heck. Which would keep the audience long enough for them to be frustrated by the film instead of feeling confused. Matt suggested looking at the opening monologue of American Beauty [1999] Sam Mendes as an example of keeping the audience interested in the visual language happening on screen.







 
 
 

Looking at John Smith's Films

  • Writer: Helen Edgeworth
    Helen Edgeworth
  • May 4, 2020
  • 1 min read

The Black Tower [1987]

  • The long black video keeps audience interest with narration

  • The audience is waiting for a reveal

  • Repetition of the Black Tower keeps the intrigue, you want to know its meaning

  • Where there is no narration, Smith uses the visuals of the Tower

  • 2nd half of the film links to current Covid-19 lockdown - views from windows

  • The tower is a metaphor


OM [1986]

  • Sound is repetitive and irritating

  • Misleading

  • Ask questions about our preconceptions? and how they may be false

 
 
 
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