Reflective Analysis- A Story of a Burns Victim
My aims for this film were to create a sequence called 'A Story of a Burns Victim',which showed the life of a young girl named 'Sarah', who has suffered a burn from a chemistry experiment that went wrong at school. I wanted to show the 'aftermath' a few months later when Sarah was about to return. In my film I also wanted to include a variety of shots such as extreme close ups. In terms of my aims and context, I think that the final product was very successful. I got the idea for this story after reading the book 'Beautiful' by Katie Piper, which is her autobiography about her experience of the acid attack she experienced several years ago. I then based my short film around some of the things she said in the book, such as emotions she felt.
I managed to use the style of shots that I wanted to, taking techniques from directors which I have watched and been inspired by. The main director who I wanted to work in the style of was Kenneth Anger, who is known for his homoerotic films such as Firework. This was successful as I think that some of the shots which distort Sarah's body whilst she is getting changed at the beginning of the sequence replicates similar shots to those which Anger uses in his work.
Another influence for my film was from the French New Wave style from the 1950s and 1960s. Main notable characteristics for this style of film were; constantly breaking the fourth wall (which is something that features in this sequence) and breaking rules of continuity editing and using free editing techniques.
Someone else who influenced my film, were the Quay Brothers as one of their films, 'The Comb' features similar shots to the ones that I used in my sequence. This is an experimental film, therefore my film does feature some experimental characteristics. For example, one of the most noticeable similarity is the beginning sequence where the female stretches out her arm whilst in bed. This is a shot that I used in my film, when 'Sarah' does a similar thing.
The non-diegtic music which features in this film is an acoustic song called 'Better World' which mainly features at the end of the sequence. This accompanies a voiceover from Sarah talking about her incident and the effects from it. Trying to shoot a variation of shots within this sequence was one of the most difficult things to do whilst creating this film, as well as the editing process. As I had ever made or edited a film before, this was 'new territory' therefore I had to learn how to do things such as shortening clips and changing the volume on the audio as I was editing. This film would be shown on something like 'Random Acts' on 'Channel 4' which is a late night viewing window for short documentaries like my film. Some of the shots that I used in the sequence such as the extreme close ups, helped make the desired effect that I wanted to create within the film. I wanted the film to be realistic and relatable, therefore producing an universal personal reaction as this is something which could easily happen to anybody at anytime. I think that the 'narrative' for this sequence was successful as it was clear of the story which I was trying to tell. This was also something picked up on in my feedback from the audience. Some of the feedback that I got from some of the audience included suggestions that I could possibly fit the audio in time with some of the shots better, as there is a certain part in the sequence where 'Sarah' touches her face, and the voiceover states that time can't heal everything. This would have fitted perfectly to the visual on screen. I think that the sequence could have been edited slightly better, however this was my first time editing so there were going to be a few mistakes. I also think that the non-diegetic audio (voiceover) could have been slightly louder as when I watched it back for the second time, I had to turn the volume up slightly as I was unable to hear it.
For this sequence I did all aspects of post production, filming and editing. I did my main character's makeup, which was a key aspect of making the narrative visual on screen. I then did all of the filming, directing my main character and the editing once everything had been filmed.
I managed to use the style of shots that I wanted to, taking techniques from directors which I have watched and been inspired by. The main director who I wanted to work in the style of was Kenneth Anger, who is known for his homoerotic films such as Firework. This was successful as I think that some of the shots which distort Sarah's body whilst she is getting changed at the beginning of the sequence replicates similar shots to those which Anger uses in his work.
Another influence for my film was from the French New Wave style from the 1950s and 1960s. Main notable characteristics for this style of film were; constantly breaking the fourth wall (which is something that features in this sequence) and breaking rules of continuity editing and using free editing techniques.
Someone else who influenced my film, were the Quay Brothers as one of their films, 'The Comb' features similar shots to the ones that I used in my sequence. This is an experimental film, therefore my film does feature some experimental characteristics. For example, one of the most noticeable similarity is the beginning sequence where the female stretches out her arm whilst in bed. This is a shot that I used in my film, when 'Sarah' does a similar thing.
The non-diegtic music which features in this film is an acoustic song called 'Better World' which mainly features at the end of the sequence. This accompanies a voiceover from Sarah talking about her incident and the effects from it. Trying to shoot a variation of shots within this sequence was one of the most difficult things to do whilst creating this film, as well as the editing process. As I had ever made or edited a film before, this was 'new territory' therefore I had to learn how to do things such as shortening clips and changing the volume on the audio as I was editing. This film would be shown on something like 'Random Acts' on 'Channel 4' which is a late night viewing window for short documentaries like my film. Some of the shots that I used in the sequence such as the extreme close ups, helped make the desired effect that I wanted to create within the film. I wanted the film to be realistic and relatable, therefore producing an universal personal reaction as this is something which could easily happen to anybody at anytime. I think that the 'narrative' for this sequence was successful as it was clear of the story which I was trying to tell. This was also something picked up on in my feedback from the audience. Some of the feedback that I got from some of the audience included suggestions that I could possibly fit the audio in time with some of the shots better, as there is a certain part in the sequence where 'Sarah' touches her face, and the voiceover states that time can't heal everything. This would have fitted perfectly to the visual on screen. I think that the sequence could have been edited slightly better, however this was my first time editing so there were going to be a few mistakes. I also think that the non-diegetic audio (voiceover) could have been slightly louder as when I watched it back for the second time, I had to turn the volume up slightly as I was unable to hear it.
For this sequence I did all aspects of post production, filming and editing. I did my main character's makeup, which was a key aspect of making the narrative visual on screen. I then did all of the filming, directing my main character and the editing once everything had been filmed.
