Project 1B: Film & Sequence
DDWO001
Teacher: Christie Cooper
Joyce Mok
3471404
Chosen strategy/technique:
A night of encounters wandering in the streets / or the world around you
Chosen Film:
La Notte
La Notte
La Notte, a 1961 Italian film, roughly translated as "The Night", depicts "a day in the life of an unfaithful married couple and their steadily deteriorating relationship" (IMDb, n.d.).
The film's is filmed in black and white, which creates a sense of eeriness, mysteriousness and also emptiness. The use of long shots and aerial shots, (seen in Figure 1. and Figure 2.) form an impression of an "exquisite alienation" and establishes a perspective of "deserted landscapes" (criterioncollection, 2013). This film for me looked quite terrifying as it explores elements of isolation and darkness (seen in Figure 3.) through the colour scheme and the use of camera angles. The sounds of white noise which was played at some occasions, emphasises the eeriness of the movie.
Figure 1.
Note. This is a photograph of my annotations of a scene from La Notte.
Figure 2.
Note. This is a photograph of my annotations of a scene from La Notte.
Figure 3.
Note. This is a photograph of my annotations of a scene from La Notte.
Mind-Map of My Plan For Video
Figure 4.
Mind-map
Note. This is a photograph of my mind-map, created by myself on Procreate on my iPad.
My Film: Walks After Midnight (draft)
This is a film that I have created, which follows the concepts of darkness, eeriness and mysteriousness which was conveyed in the film La Notte. I have used my iPhone to film fragments of videos and used iMovie to place it all together. I have applied a filter over it, making my film black and white, alluding to La Notte. I have also used a piano song called "Comptine D'un Autre été" by Yann Tiersen, a French composer.
Storyline:
A young girl takes a late night walk, where she goes to a park and finds out she really wasn't alone.
Analysis:
I have used the technique of using "a night of encounters wandering in the streets" to create a photo memory kind of feel. This is because when we are walking we often take mental pictures of where we are, either subconsciously or deliberately. I'm used this to my advantage, and was able to convey a sense of isolation and darkness.
Feedback
I received a lot of feedback, which includes on how I presented my video. I received feedback on the music which was played alongside the video, and how abrupt the ending of the video was, therefore, I will change the music to something more suitable. I will still use a piano music, as it suits my video, but changing the song to more of a bittersweet and relaxing music. I also received feedback on my editing, and how I should edit some fragments of videos, to more slowed down, as together it doesn't always look smooth.
Final Video: Midnight Walk
Here in this video, I have changed the music from "Comptine D'un Autre été" by Yann Tiersen to "Sernade" by a composer, Schubert, arranged by Liszt. This song is better suited to my video.
I have done more editing to make the fragments of videos more smooth-looking and comes together more coherently.
Analysis:
Through the technique of "a night of encounters wandering in the streets", I was able to create a short film documenting me going on a walk late at night. Also, through the movie La Notte, I conveyed similar techniques which includes black and white film, extreme isolation, mysteriousness and also a bit of creepiness. Many people have thought that the movie comes off as creepy, which made me have an idea to put something in my film that is deemed as creepy.
Due to the circumstances of where the world are (COVID-19), it is now normal for us to be alone and be isolated. This conveys a very sad emotion, as we humans are interactive and social beings. Through this, I created a short film that follows me throughout my walk, with a bittersweet ending. The ending is meant to be bittersweet, as isolation became the norm, which provokes a sad and sombre feelings, when me (the protagonist) finds out that I'm really not alone, in someway it brings me comfort. After all this time of walking alone at night, and due to lockdowns which allows us to be isolated, it was sweet to find out that I wasn't alone. This further alludes to how people can find comfort from something that is scary, because of how isolated people are. I am trying to convey how COVID-19 has affected people and how the littlest thing or a creepy thing can often give comfort because of how isolated we are.
References
criterioncollection. (2013, October 30). Three Reasons: La notte [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WeidpPfPk8
French, P. (2018, March 22). La Notte. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/oct/20/la-notte-philip-french-classic-dvd
La Notte (1961). (n.d.). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054130/
