One Word Film

    For this project, each student had one partner and was asked to make a one-word film. For this, we were given a word to represent in a film we'd make. In the case of my partner and I, we were given the word "surprise." No dialogue, just shooting and editing. We knew that composing this film –especially with the restriction on dialogue and music– would require much brainstorming and observation of our surroundings. Not to mention that we had to have enough diverse footage to fit in 60-90 seconds.

    We started off with brainstorming; my partner and I filled out a sheet with potential ideas to represent the element of surprise. Since I am an extraordinarily busy woman, our space to film was limited to the campus. And so, we looked around the classroom for things that would surprise us. From brainstorming pranks to dreams, we finally settled on a film of a student waking up from a nap after school, only to find no one, and all the doors locked. She explores her surroundings in a daze until she makes a lockpick out of a paperclip and finally makes it out of the classroom, but is met with a surprising fate.

    Now came the storyboard. Once we had our outline of the scenes on the brainstorming sheet, we quickly got to work on drawing out our storyboard. It was very straightforward, really. We'd visualize each shot, and think of the composition, incorporating what we learned about the rule of thirds just a few classes before. 

    

    Now that all the hard stuff was done, shooting and editing was a breeze (for the most part). Since the catwalk and halls were mostly empty, we didn't run into too much trouble and were able to shoot everything in time to edit them in class. For editing, we utilized Adobe Premiere Pro, as it was recommended by Mrs. Stoklosa and I have some experience using it.

    As for the film itself, there were many things to reflect on. For example, the establishing shot where the student wakes up in the classroom could've been shot better. We were aiming for a simultaneous zoom-out and Dutch angle. However, I think it is sufficient enough to be able to tell that the scene starts out in haze and confusion. On the contrary, there were many shots I liked editing and shooting, such as the transition between the hallway and the catwalk. In my opinion, it maintains the continuous sense of confusion that the character feels, allowing the watcher to feel the same. Overall, I could very much improve on the quality of the techniques used, as well as some parts in the composition of each scene. Nonetheless, I very much enjoyed the process of storyboarding and brainstorming, as well as editing.

Link to project: https://youtu.be/GH62ctF2KBU