My aims for this film was to make a surrealist or art film, I was not particularly sure which I wanted but was drawn more towards the surrealist approach initially. The film ended up more of an art film but this was something I realised through the editing process so I am happy with that development. This happened as I was editing, deciding which scenes would go where and what looked right the film formed itself. At this point I decided not to overlay clips to make it surreal as I liked the way it was looking and the ideas it was giving me about the audio. I decided on the words I wanted over the images while editing, as I watched it through I just knew what I wanted when I thought about the ideas of the film. Originally it was about questioning who you are and if your image defines you, this developed as I was editing to the way you see yourself. It took a more negative turn but I think it fits the imagery better.
In terms of the technical aspect of the film I am very happy with the outcome. I considered it a black and white film initially but did not decide until after the first day of shooting where I filmed in colour then changed it to black and white in editing. From them I started filming in black and white as the tones could be adjusted in camera and produced a better image. I wanted to used natural lighting for most of the film so I made use of the available light, my sister's house gets great natural light which is the main reason for choosing to film there. I used artificial light for the crying scene and the mirror scene. I used two LED lights I wanted to highlight one side of the face but fill in the other side slightly to give an intense look for the crying scene. To get the look I desired I held a light quite close to one side of Collette's face and one further away on the other side but at a lower angle. I just moved them around until it looked right on the camera. For the mirror scene I just wanted a little more light so I used one to get more. I'm a particularly happy with the lighting I captured in this film, I think the natural aspect gives it a realism and the artificial has added depth to certain scenes. I don't think it is obvious either which I like.
Camera setting up was quick for me as I am confident with the manual camera settings but I took longer with framing the shots, I thought it composition was a really important aspect. For most shots I kept Collette central in the frame so she was the main focus. I used some offside shots where Collette's presence was there but was not the main focus as I wanted people to see she was there but know that's not what they needed to look at. I think this was really effective and the audiences attention is always where it should be. I used a focus pull in the mirror scene to guide the audience attention from Collette to her distorted reflection. It was my first time doing a pull focus so I wasn't confident with it and the shot was hand held too since the area we were filming was not big enough to set up a tripod. I am happy enough with the outcome but I feel I could do it better in future by either practising more or taking more time to get it right.
Directing Collette went really well, she did everything she was asked without questions which made it really quick. Of all the scenes shot the ones that demanded most direction was the crying scene and the bath scene. They both took a lot of preparation between takes. Collette found it hard to cry on request so we took a half an hour slot to get her into the mindset, we went through thought processes of thinking of sad things and how to push that to crying. I learned that it's not easy for everyone to cry and it can take a while to get that emotion out depending on the person, I think going through the process was a really good decision and helped Collette a lot, the outcome was great. Besides the technical implications of the bath scene we had to go over what I wanted her to do once she was under the water, making sure she didn't hold her breath too long and knew if she needed to she would get out of the water right away. It came out really well, aesthetically and technically I am pleased with this scene.
I like how I've been able to see a clear development in this production from the ideas and meanings behind the film to the editing. Taking on a production all by yourself is a huge task with a lot of work involved but, I think I did it really well and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. If I was to redo the film I would pay closer attention to some of the details such as Collette holding glasses in the water reflection scene, I would have removed the glasses. In terms of time management I feel I could have done better with it, I think I manage the workflow pretty steadily but overlooked a few documents which if I had taken more time to look I would have done sooner. All in all I think think outcome was great and it is one of my best pieces so far.
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