Critcal evaluation of the finished experimental piece 'The Raven'

In the end I am quite happy with how this piece turned out. I think that it fits the brief and that we made a good attempt at an experimental film. This is not to say however that there are not faults with it.

First the actual content of the film. I feel the films most striking feature is the use of lighting in the scenes where the Character Lewelyn, the voice in side Ben's head, is lit by lights with red and blue filter. The brief, being one that asked for experimental gave us free range to try different lighting structure and colours more than we would have been able to in a standard drama or documentary that would simply ask for three point lighting. We looked for different ways to create meaning in this piece and the lighting is a key example of this. In film conventions it is widely accepted that s character who is dimly lit or in the shadows is either hiding or 'in the dark' or ignorant of something. Similarly a well lit character is usually accepted as a knowledgeable, powerful or a good person. Here we have subverted this slightly. The well lit character of Lewelyn is obviously the opposite of a good person, therefore a polar opposite of what Ben is perceived or sees himself to be. So here we wanted to experiment by lighting Llewelyn well where as Ben is darker and duller. This then symbolises that Ben is receding, into the Darkness whereas Lewelyn is coming into the light. Therefore the message conveyed is that Ben and Lewelyn are in a sort of competition for control and as Lewelyn becomes brighter Ben becomes Darker. This is reinforced by when Ben takes the tablet Lewelyn recedes into the darkness showing that for a short time he is being pushed back into the darkness and quietened down. This however is only temporary. What this also does is anchor that Lewelyn is a fixture of Ben's imagination.
One of the other major experimental elements to this piece is the editing techniques we decided to employ. One of the standout effects is the ‘bad TV’ which creates the effect of a TV with a bad signal. As well as this we used the sound of static over the top of any dialogue. This was in order to convey the message that whatever Ben was saying was being impaired or was weak. The signal was interfered and weak therefore the same can be said for the character of Ben. One thing I really enjoyed with this brief was the ability to experiment so much with the use of editing and lighting it meant we were able to tell a story in a different manner. Instead of it being said explicitly the story is hinted at through our use of lighting, after effects and sound design. Personally I found this incredibly interesting. The chance to experiment in this way was something that had previously not been something I had had much interest in. However now I have a whole new appreciation for this discipline and the scope that it has. There is so much that you can do with it and not be hindered by any of the ‘normal’ filmic conventions.
Another point on our editing is the pace, I think that we achieved a pace that was driven enough to keep the audience’s attention but was not quick enough as to be off putting. We did use flash cutting but it was sparsely but this was in order to create a sense of drama and tension. Conveying to the audience the element of the film where Lewelyn is taking over Ben’s body. Again we were given free rain to do this due to the experimental brief.
The Sound design is also something that makes the piece strong. My favourite element in this is the Bird song. The conations of bird song are of peaceful mornings, and of nature’s beauty. Here it has been manipulated into something grotesque which moves along the story. By going against the cultural connotations of bird song and createing a garbled mess that when linked to the images created a strong message. The idea of trying to block something out but in effect making it worse. It also creates this feeling that Lewelyn is getting angrier. In general the sound is well put together and thought out in my opinion
In General I am very pleased with the outcome of this project; I feel it is a well rounded piece that fits the brief. It tells a story but does not rely on narrative conventions. Instead it uses light, editing, and sound to tell its story. Recounting something with out the need for explicit story telling.
I think the main thing I have taken away from this project is a new appreciation for experimental film and filmmaking. Before I am ashamed to admit I was a little sceptical but taking on the research necessary has made all traces of this scepticism vanish. I now have a wide understanding of Experimental film as a ‘genre’ or category. In addition I feel that this project has shown me a different approach to filmmaking. And in particular story telling. Before I had mainly seen narrative in terms of the familiar theories and conventions. Now I see and understand how to create a strong structure that does not reply on implicit dialogue of conventional narrative conventions.

In terms of my practice on this project, I feel I worked well in terms of the group and in terms of my role as producer director. I made sure we were organised and managed to get all our filming done in the given time frames. I feel I acted in a professional manner with regards t timetabling and organisation. In terms of directing, Stephen and my self tended to both shared the directing and the camera work on set. In heinsight although it doesn’t fir our designated role, it worked well, as we were both able to give our spontaneous ideas that gave us extra footage to work with in the edit suite. This was experimental this was no bad thing and we ended up with about 2 hours of footage over all. Although this lead to a monumental organisational task during the capture it meant we were not restricted in anyway by lack f footage. So overall I feel this was a well managed production.
In conclusion, we were all very pleased with this piece and although the brief at the beginning mat have given us a little bit of a headache in terms of ideas, we came up with many and I feel we executed our final idea, in a well rounded and competent manner. Displaying our skills and knowledge of both the medium of experimental film and the equipment used.

'Blue Monday'

Blue Monday-Duvet Brothers (1984)

This piece could be described as a ‘scratch piece’. In terms of experimental film, I find it incredibly interesting.
The concept of the film is something different to what one would expect even for an experimental film. However weather or not it is right to be able to expect anything from an experimental film in another issue all together. The best way I can think of to describe this piece is a collage, a collage of moving images, news reels rather than newspaper cuttings. The images, are from a broad range of sources, and seem to be in several categories. One to represent the rich and powerful in society, images of the royal family, a man burning a bank note with a cigar, vulgar displays of wealth. Then there are the images of the miner’s strikes and the poverty of the working classes of Britain in the late 70s and early 80s. Then there are the images of communist displays of military power and organisation. Then there is the text inter woven with these images. There are many different visual elements in the film. Each adds something to the films overall message and power.
The meaning created by these images is seemingly obvious. The filmmakers are making a statement about the political and social atmosphere of Britain in 1980s Britain. The main point to make here is the idea of juxtaposition to create meaning. Here we have the images of great privilege and wealth against images of striking miners. This obviously shows the two extremes of the economic scale that existed. The images then that are brought in of the Thatcher and the Torie government consolidate this idea. Her government was all about the self and capitalism. The film then is clearly trying to convey the message of the evils of the Tory government and their selfish ideals.
The other message I feel is conveyed in this film is the ideas of capitalism leading to chaos and anger. This is then reinforced by imaged of the miner strikes and clashes between protesters and the police overplayed by pictures of organised military parades of what seems to bean eastern European communist state. This then is clearly conveying the massage that capitalism and selfishness lads to chaos but a communism and the idea of sharing out wealth fairly leads to an ordered state.
Another point that adds to the meaning of the film is the soundtrack. The music is a classic 80s synth pop track however at the time it was new and revolutionary. Much like industry was becoming less and less dependant on the power of men (the miners strikes) the music is not reliant on the talent of several different gifted musicians, it is a more mechanical process. Everything is becoming less organic. Also the actual sound, this driving industrial sound is fitting to the themes, the idea of an industrial nation in disrepair fits well with the ideas of a nation that is becoming more mechanical and electronic and fewer dependants on man power.
What category this film actually falls into is a slightly difficult issue. This film could be described as a documentary, as it is documenting the political culture of the 80s and how many of the population were felling. Its use of stock footage and newsreel fits into the conventions of documentary. The editing and composition however does not. It is much more free. I see this as an experimental film for this reason. Usually while making a film about political unrest, a filmmaker would go to interview people, gain different opinions. This disregards all of these ‘rules’. To me this defines it as an experimental piece. The editing is something particularly interesting. The way the music and clips are edited in a way that fits together makes the film even more effective. The cuts fit to the beats of the music which makes it a lot more interesting for the view and also more powerful. It makes one take notice; the beats in the music and the rhythm are replicated through image. One example of this is when the military procession is crossing the screen; they appear to be marching in time to the music. This creates a more powerful image and is a great example of how these filmmakers have used the combination of music and sound to create such an effective piece.
In terms of inspiration and influence for the project, the editing of ‘Blue Monday’ is something that I think we can draw on. Not the themes or massage it conveys but the way it uses cuts to create a more powerful film. One parallel I have noticed with the provided viewing materials is with the Chemical Brothers’ ‘Star Guitar’ video. The way the beats match cuts or action on screen. The industrial feel to the music, and industrial back drop. Although the Chemical Brothers are not trying to convey any strong political message there are some similarities.
In conclusion this is a vey effective piece of work. It conveys a message concisely while still being interesting to watch.