Short Film Block II

Yours & Mine | Wait For Me | About Employment | In Decision | Mister Sunshine

About Employment was very raw and the perspective spoken from Yin Brown is extremely interesting. I think this film was well created and uses visual techniques that really bring the viewer in, each cut is executed smoothly and I enjoyed the overall story line and think its important how honest Yin is about her disability and speaks of other topics people may not initially know for example when the film begins she talks about how other people who struggle with disabilities may not approve “am I putting myself on display..Oh look at this..Im not your ape in a cage”. Wait for me was probably one of the best made short films we have watched this semester. While the story line was extremely tragic tragic the film was done beautifully..The footage of John as a child and growing up was amazing and really created an emotional appeal. The interview set up was well done and I thought this film wast’t lacking in any aspect. Your’s and mine was one of my personal favorites, the shots were done very well, I specifically enjoyed 1:47 where the film captures the child’s feet running up close, then transitions to a further away shot, as well as the shot from underneath the watering hole at 2:30 was incredible.. although there is no verbal audio throughout this film (till the very end) it is extremely powerful and each time I watch it I can take something new away from it, whether its realizing that this young child is 12 years old and having to complete such tasks everyday having so little, not even shoes, and realizing how different lives are around the world, or realizing how happy she is as she does so. The film was a story and a somewhat unfortunate one made into something beautiful with an incredible message at the end. In decision was also amazingly and seemed to be on a professional level of short film, the shots, cuts, audio, close ups, overlaying dialogue, use of black and white- everything was done well. I think this film is extremely relatable and has a way of making viewers feel less alone in this world, and the message/ story is important. Mister Sunshine was widely recognized and actually won an award in 2016. My favorite quote from this film is “money don’t make you happy it just gives you a better quality of unhappiness”. This film was very interesting to me and I was shocked to find out a student had made it.

First Block

A Place Like This | Pockets | Keeping Balance | Photographer | Why We Create

Each of this films were extremely interesting and featured a wide variety of cinematography aspects. The films all presented their one individual style and story. While some of the films featured a more structured story line, others were lacking the standard three-part structure. For example Keeping Balance featured a man speaking of his journey as he became a developed photographer, but the film did not feature much of a structured story line. As the viewer was guided through the film with the protagonist narrating his experience’s it sort of continued then ended without any rising or falling action. I will say although there wasn’t a strong story line present throughout thus film the style of this film was one of my personal favorites, I enjoyed how the entire film was in black and white, the interview framing and set up, the B-roll that was used, transitional shots of the photographer taking his photo’s to the final product of the photograph, as well as the level of the audio and choice of music in the background. All of these elements made the film greatly enjoyable to me. Contrasting this film, the short film Keeping Balance had an excellent use of story structure. As the narrator is on camera describing her struggles throughout life, the film becomes very emotional almost tragic at some points, but as the film comes to an end she comes to a beautiful conclusion and the viewer is taken on a journey throughout this film in just a matter of five minutes. The short film Pockets was only a total of three minutes long, but definitely was a very interesting film that captured my attention, the idea behind the film is very creative and enjoyable, one thing that I occasionally didn’t understand was the framing and how close up some of the shots were, (often cutting off the subject) but I am going to assume this was all done for artistic purposes. One thing I noticed about the short film Why We Create, was how well the videographer utilized depth of field, the shots are very clean and well done throughout this film, there are some times where the audio begins to fade off quieter and I cant exactly understand what the male is saying but the film was still well made. Probably my favorite, or second favorite film out of these five was A Place Like This, the film is well rounded and features excellent use of footage, b-roll, audio, and interview scenes, and even a great story line all while leaving just the right amount of mystery. The lighting throughout this entire film is excellent and I found everything aesthetically pleasing.

While this documentary presented itself in the form of a movie, it could have been potentially better in my opinion. The story line has the potential but the way this movie was executed often had me becoming bored. I noticed throughout the film I was checking my phone multiple times because I was not fully involved in the film. I did take note of moments in this film where the actual visual elements were done well, for example angles, and b-roll matched the style of this film, as well as I thought the re-enactments were down well.The film was done in a humorous way which I imagine could be entertaining to viewers, some might even call this documentary “off-beat”.

I thought each of these documentaries were well made and featured various aspects of story structure, and film techniques we have been learning throughout this semester. I will say that one of these documentaries in particular, had me more bored and unimpressed then others. I learned a lot from the documentary Ugly Delicious and it was extremely informative. This film also had me the most hungry.. The cuts and edits made throughout this documentary kept me interested from start to finish. Parts Unknown: Houston was my favorite because it showed just how great my home town is. Multiculturalism was the main topic, as it showcased different ethnicities and their traditions, as well as show the way some blended with others. I enjoyed learning about the various reasons as to what purposes various cultures have to celebrate and other different aspects not only related to food. The Chef’s Table probably had my favorite story line, mainly because it takes you on a young woman’s journey, and the struggles, and worries she encounters as she tries to establish herself in this world. The interview process was longer in length throughout this documentary episode but it really allowed for a more serious tone and foundation to be established. I think how the history was also incorporated into this film was extremely important. Another note on this film is that the quality of the footage was excellent. In defense of food was probably my least favorite film, and i’m not sure if it was because of the subject matter, story line, or that I felt is was drawn out at some points far too much. I will say it did shed a lot of light as to how my food choices should be made consciously, because they will affect me in the long run and can steer me in the right direction. Overall each of these documentaries were very interesting and were not simply just about food. They each featured a deeper meaning, values, history, and symbolism that I didn’t expect to discover initially.

I Believe my documentary (as my previously made projects) is a cross between host-driven & narrator-driven. Although I will feature someone who will be interacting with someone who will be casually having discussions throughout the documenting process. Ive stolen this style because it is was comes natural for me, but going forward in the future I would like to focus on one specific style/ elements to better set a theme and possibly more mature or serious tone to my films.

My goal is to create a simple short film that takes my viewers on a journey to the grocery store in which I purchase the food products I would regularly. An aspect that will be different from my regular routine is that this time I will be reading the actual ingredients that the products I purchase contain, unfortunately I have never done this and have been living and consuming food under the mindset of ignorance being bliss. This story line will hopefully fit into the 3-part structure being A) my journey to the store and actually purchasing my usual products B) Most likely Discovering unknown, artificial, and potentially unhealthy ingredients in products that are perceived as “Healthy” C) After this discovery, sort of moving forward, realistic approach and learning from the experience and better preparing myself for future purchases.

(out of order)