4 hour film challenge unusual perspective

4 Hour film challenge.
Unusual perspective.

Plan.

When starting to plan our 4 hour film challenge we started to think of things from different viewpoints, which is where we came up with the idea that there may be a prisoner trapped inside or a ghost who cannot leave, from this we decided to have all shots looking out of a window into a reality of which the person cannot experience. We also decided to split our time equally and use 2 hours filming and two hours editing so that we could edit effectively and not have it look rushed or unfinished. We also needed enough time to edit as parts of it got complex therefore an effective use of time was needed in order to get the fast paced editing in the end.

When making our shots we decided to use a range of high key and low key lighting to add contrast to the film as well as old fashioned music that was slightly poor quality to add a nostalgic feel to it as well as emphasising the poor quality of life that the 'person' may be experiencing. We chose to use a contrast in order to get the audience to question if the entrapment that the 'person' is a bad thing or a good thing emphasised by the use of low-key and high key lighting.

Final edit.



Evaluation.

One thing that could have further enforced the idea that the 'person' was trapped was by using a larger range of shots instead of just looking out of a window, for instance we could have used a close up of a hand resting on the window or a fist hitting the window trying to get out and being unsuccessful. As well as this the very end shot could have had another silhouette standing at the window to even more emphasise the fact that the 'person' is trapped and unable to escape their prison.

Another thing that could have improved the film was by using diegetic sound instead of only non diegetic sound which was only nostalgic music. We could have used knocking on the windows, footsteps or even whispering of what the 'person' is thinking as in monologue to what is happening, what they are thinking and what they are feeling. By using this we could have again emphasised the fact that they are trapped as the audience would get to understand more about the character rather than just what they are feeling.

However a strength of our film was the fact we used a range of lighting involving high key and low key lighting adding different moods to the shots for the audience to decode and try and gain a sense of what the 'person' is feeling. This was also a strength as we got to show our range of skills involving in lighting and how we can use it to create a different feel to each shot.

Another strength of our film is that we were able to demonstrate complex editing skills and even though we encountered technical difficulties like having to rely on the warp stabiliser due to a broken tripod and this not always working we were still able to finish the edit to look effective. We were also able to cut up different shots and even had split second shots to try and give the film a deeper meaning and add an almost 'creepy' feel to it by making audiences question what is happening.

Overall I think that our film is effective by using a range of lighting, camera and editing techniques to get across the idea of the 'person' being entrapped to only look out to the world outside. This also meant that we could use and show a range of skills. However with adding more diegetic audio to the film and a wider range of shots involving props and the movements of the 'person' within the mise-en-scene we could have get the idea of entrapment even more identifiable by the audience watching instead of trying to actively decode the meaning.