EVALUATION OF FINAL PRODUCTION (mind.)

I am more than happy with the final production I have been able to create. I believe I have been able to represent and apply depression in conjunction to Lacan's 'Mirror Stage' theory effectively. I split filming into three separate days in order to allow myself a variety of shots within each told narrative.

The first shoot was the vintage videos I shot, which are found in the beginning of the narrative. I used an app called VHS Cam on my phone (Samsung Galaxy Note 9) in order to produce old style, VHS Camera footage. The reason why I chose to do this for my project is that it is common in most families to have "your most cherished family memories are stored away on old VHS tapes" (Komando, 2016), and I wanted to give a meaningful back story to the subject in the film. Furthermore, I really wanted to emphasise the good things in the subjects life, in order to gage background on the idea of the depression and to allow the viewer to percieve the Lack of happiness that the subject is witnessing, due to the soul draining mental disorder. I did have to adjust the dates in the app settings screen to give background upon what is being shot - this was no issue but it allowed viewers to encode information, without being an active viewer. I found the clips easy to film, I shot at my sisters house (as shes just had a baby), at a fast food restaurant, a friends house, a coffee shop, and college - I wanted to ensure that I had enough 'memories' to enforce a detailed vision into my subjects mind. Within editing, these shots were montaged together in the beginning of the sequence. I believe that these worked effectively in conjunction to the voiceover and the backing track.

The second shoot was done in my own home, using my Canon 200D DSLR, two led lights, and most props on the list, such as: medication, cigarettes. The first thing I ensured in this shoot is that health and safety was explained to the person assisting me in filming, I made aware any tripping hazards and explained safety when using the lighter, making sure that the equipment/household items weren't subject to catch fire, or that myself wasn't burned when using it for the shot. I wanted to recreate the cinematic shot first that I analysed in my planning. For this I adjusted my camera frame rate to 50fps as I wanted to capture an increase amount of motion, for if i wanted to use the clip in slow motion. After setting my lights up in the places they were previous (one facing myself, the other facing the other subject who enters the scene later), I then altered the camera settings to film. I kept the shutter speed as low as I could get due to the slow shutter speed used in that previous image, however, part of me believes this was a mistake as of the 'double shutter speed of frame rate' guide, I found no problems in post production with this clip. The aperture was kept as wide as possible (f1.4, 2.8) to allow more light into my shot, without getting as much grain impact from the ISO, which was set to 6400. All shots in the bedroom maintained the same settings. Within lighting, one light was adjusted in certain scenes to flash like a strobe, I wanted to portray the feeling of anxiety - a common side effect/disorder felt with depression. The shots following this were shot on the stairwell in the mirror, to furthermore reinforce the idea of Lacan's mirror stage, bringing in an actual mirror. I wanted to show what the subject saw themselves, allowing the viewer to engage into his personal life. Shots I used to emphasise the personal life in this shoot included, over the shoulder, close up, long shot (still). I did also experiment with edge lighting in one shot, to connote the contrast between the good and the bad parts of the characters life.

The third shoot was in the studio, shooting footage on a black background for the paragraph where i discuss existential thoughts. I refreshed upon my knowledge on health and safety and made sure i referred to my blog post before entering, to remind myself of the rules. In terms of the camera settings, I ensured the exposure triangle followed the studio settings of 1/125, F8, ISO 100. The (singular) studio light was pushed to the back of the room so it couldn't light the marks upon the black wall, but still allowed for the subject to be lit.

Editing was pretty simple, I used Premiere Pro on my iMac to edit. It all ran smoothly apart from one particular shot, which was the three clips overlayed of the subject in bed - this caused my mac to freeze in playback, allowing extreme difficulty to edit. I am unsure why this is as my Mac is a newish mac with 16GB of ram, using an SSD to read and write data, I believe this was a software bug. Other than that, transitions such as crossfading were simple. I used a constant power transition and the razor tool upon my soundtrack in order to lower the volume seamlessly when the monologue/voice over is added in. I recorded my monologue using a Blue Yeti Snowball Mic and encountered no issues importing into my project.

I chose the soundtrack M83 - Wait, due to the minor chord progression and its previous use in the film 'The Fault in Our Stars', which was used in the same technique, a voiceover featuring montage of clips, with parallel editing of the 'then' and now. The one issue I did have was with trying to find an instrumental of the song, I looked on various services including YouTube, iTunes Store and Spotify and couldn't find one. I, therefore concluded to just using the original song, and lowered the volume as said when necessary.

I believe that overall, this project was successful, despite issues I encountered along the way. I ultimately have nothing I wish to change about this project in terms of filming, other than editing - which would to be - be more precise in transition timing, but that is all.  I can say I focused upon the Lack (Lacan's theory) in my characters life, whilst also displaying the positives, offering an awareness/insight to people who live with depression.

FINAL PRODUCTION: 'mind.' - UNIT 11 FILM STUDIES

Pretty Hurts - Beyoncé (LYRIC ANALYSIS - UNIT 11 FILM STUDIES - SCRIPT PLANNING).

I, initially decided to review the lyrics to Beyoncé's 'Pretty Hurts' due to it's deep meaningful lyrics, and how it can be associated with Depression. However, after printing out the lyrics and analysing them (jotting notes down etc) I found that the song focuses deeper and could link to Lacan's 'Mirror Stage' theory, due to the justification of body issues and self acceptance, spoke about in the song. The lyrics "Reflection stares right into you, are you happy with yourself?" and "perfection is a disease of a nation" reinforces the proposed idea "that human infants pass through a stage in which an external image of the body (reflected in a mirror, or represented to the infant through the mother or primary caregiver) produces a psychic response that gives rise to the mental representation of an 'I'." (Easthope, 1993).


Although this song delves into body issues, I feel there is a good amount of influence I could take in order to help reinforce and apply Lacan's theory into my own self-scripted monologue, in my production. I can use some of these lyrics as a guide and link it to my own stimuli of Depression, as body image could be part of this.


Here are my jotted notes below:











Bibliography:




Antony Easthope, 1993, Contemporary Film Theory - A Pearson Education Print on Demand Edition, Pearsons Education Limited, Edinburgh Gate, Harlow, Essex, CM20 2JE, England

EQUIPMENT LIST: UNIT 11 - FILM STUDIES PRODUCTION

The list below has been categorised, regarding what equipment I will need, whether behind the camera, or props for the mise-en scene:

CAMERA EQUIPMENT:
- Canon 200D DSLR - MAIN CAMERA
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9 - SECONDARY CAMERA
- iPhone X - SECONDARY CAMERA
- Tripod for DSLR
- 64GB Ultra Fast SanDisk SD Card.
- 50mil lens - FOR EXTREME CLOSE UP SHOTS (to add variety and add to cinematic conventions)
- Standard 18-55mm lens - FOR MAJORITY OF SHOTS DUE TO VERSITILITY

LIGHTING EQUIPMENT:
- Lamp - Mise-en Scene
- LED Light's - Approx 2 for Production
- Studio Lights - For any shots that are shot in the studio upon a black background.

MISE EN SCENE PROPS:
- Pack of Cigarettes & Cigarette Buds
- Ash Tray
- Bed (not made)
- Clutter (essential mess)
- Empty cans of drinks
- Empty medication packets.
- Lighter

EDITING EQUIPMENT:
- iMac/MacBook Pro with Adobe Premiere Pro
- Blue Snowball Microphone - TO RECORD VOICEOVER MONOLOGUE
- VHS CAM APP ON SAMSUNG NOTE 9 (£2.99 APP COST) - TO GATHER OLD STYLE VIDEO FOOTAGE

All of the equipment and props above will help construct the scenes I plan to shoot - overall achieving a successful cinematic production.

In terms of filming with my DSLR,  I believe that I will be using my Bedroom primarily with the studio being used in any other circumstance.

In terms of Health and Safety, and also precautions, I will need to make sure that:
- Wires for any equipment, such as Camera Battery, External lights, are tucked away, but are made aware of for anyone helping film.
- Food and drinks will not be taken into the studio in order to prevent spillages from occuring, this could result as a hazard for any electrical items.
- Any equipment will be fully tested/charged before use to avoid any issues when filming.
- Any props will be carefully placed and used in the correct manner.
- The lighter used will be used in the appropriate manner, avoiding any hazard that can be caused, such as fires etc.

BRIEF & PLAN FOR PRODUCTION - FILM STUDIES (UNIT 11)

REVIEWING THE BRIEF & PLAN

When reviewing the Assessment for Film Studies, I decided to opt for the option of creating a short film, applying one of the theories we have studied for the unit. I decided to focus upon Lacan's mirror stage theory, as I feel it will be easier to articulate into film with the resources I currently possess.  I feel that I have a clear understanding of knowledge upon the Mirror Stage theory, and therefore I feel that it would be easier to articulate through cinema, especially if I relate a storyline to personal experiences.

I've decided after a stimuli (which will be discussed below) that i would like to focus upon the idea of mental illness', specifically depression and other emotionally distraught diagnosis'. I feel this would articulate the mirror stage particularly well, due to the way depression can make someone feel; "experience depressed mood, loss of interest or pleasure, feelings of guilt or low self-worth, disturbed sleep or appetite, low energy, and poor concentration." (Mental Health Foundation, 2019). As someone who has dealt with Depression and other mental illness', I believe I can articulate this into cinema with the sense of realism. 

@will.barlowmediaproduction (2018), "The Aftermath" INSTAGRAM

Stimuli came to me from revisiting my A-level Photography project, in which I focused upon my own experiences with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I knew initially, that I didn't want to recreate this as it would lack creativity, and wouldn't relate to the brief. However, I found some photographs that would incorporate into this production, that I would like to recreate. An example of this is this image to the left. I constructed this image using two battery powered LED lights, a DSLR camera set in Manual with the Shutter Speed set extremely slow (about 5 seconds). I constructed this image in my bedroom at night to reinforce the preferred reading. I wanted viewers to see that the person lying in their bed was stuck in a state of shock/depression, where they couldn't leave their bedroom due to their mental illness preventing them, they felt safe in only that confined space. The woman in the image is representative of hope, a mother figure if you will; guiding support - offering warmth and safety (also reinforced in the mise-en scene as the lamp next to her is in the shape of a home, with tungsten warm light out). The subject in the bed has his back turned as he doesn't know what to trust, and is stuck in isolation, visually depictable by the cool toned lighting hitting his face (from the LED's).

Incorporating this into video will be difficult, due to the shutter speed issue and different techniques I will have to experiment with, however, if I keep the lighting the same, and experiment with either slow motion or the 'smudge-motion' technique, it may be proven successful. I can apply the image above as a base stimuli due to the similarities it withholds with the symptoms of depression.

In separate posts, I will write up a script using the appropriate cinema format, location research and an equipment list.

Bibliography:

Mental Health Foundation, Accessed 5th January 2019, [online] "Depression | Mental Health Foundation" https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/a-to-z/d/depression

Will Barlow, 25th April 2018, [online], "The Aftermath: Part 2" - https://www.instagram.com/p/BiAfs4thXF6/

Applying Mulvey's 'Male Gaze' Theory - Bad Teacher: Car Wash Scene

The 2011 comedy film 'Bad Teacher', directed by Jake Kasdan; follows the narrative of "a lazy, incompetent middle school teacher who hates her job, her students, and her co-workers is forced to return to teaching to make enough money for breast implants after her wealthy fiancé dumps her." (IMDB, 2019). In this sequence, we see the character 'Elizabeth Halsey', played by Cameron Diaz host a car wash with her students in order to raise money for charity (although her intentions are to keep the money to herself and use it to get a boob job). This sequence applies Mulvey's 'male gaze' theory to extreme visible lengths, due to the sexualisation of the character throughout.

The scene begins with an establishing shot of a student outside the school holding up a carwash sign, however, we also see cars driving straight past the students sign. I believe that Kasdan used this short lengthed shot to reinforce the idea that people were not interested in a car wash, however this changes in the upcoming shots. We see Elizabeths car pull on to the school's carpark, with her car door opening using her legs to push the door open, this instantly enforces Mulvey's male gaze theory as "a multiplicity of viewing positions and a multiplicity of relationships to the object in view, including sexual objects"(Bolter, 1999). We also hear non-diegetic rock music play in the background as she sticks her leg out of the car, emphasising the idea that she's rebelling against the professional stereotype of a teacher and furthermore implying the disruption (in a good way) she holds within the car wash scene. 

Following these introductory shots, we see a montage of reaction shots from prominently males watching Elizabeth washing the cars. The male gaze theory is solidified within these reaction shots, with a fellow male student saying "holy shit" starting off, we also see men take off their sunglasses and smiling watching Elizabeth. The shots of Elizabeth following this are all shot in slow motion, which allows the audience to gather pleasure, as they can look for a longer period of time "In their traditional exhibitionist role women are simultaneously looked at and displayed, with their appearance coded for strong visual and erotic impact so that they can be said to connote to-be-looked-at-ness.” (Mulvey, 1989). The scene abruptly ends with a police driver crashing into another car, not watching the road but instead, watching Elizabeth - reinforcing the male gaze and adding comedic value to the film, as the stereotype of a police officer has been reverted, due to not following the law, and driving away after crashing; i.e a Hit and Run.

Bibliography:

Bolter, Jay David; Grusin, Richard (1999), "Networks of remediation", in Bolter, Jay David; Grusin, Richard, Remediation understanding new media, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, pp. 64–87

IMDB (Accessed on 2nd January 2019), [online] "Bad Teacher - 2011", https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1284575/

Mulvey, Laura (1989) “Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Film Theory and Criticism :

Introductory Readings. Eds. Leo Braudy and Marshall Cohen. New York: Oxford UP,

1989, pg 19.