YEAR 3 BEGINNINGS
ART DIRECTOR
ScreenSkills definition of an art director:
The work of an art director is more specific and directive than the work of a concept artist. Art directors determine the design ‘language’ of the film, which requires them to have an understanding of what the final, on-screen image will look like and how to get there. They work with the concept artists to develop sketches and artwork that communicate the artistic vision to the rest of the crew.
RESOLUTION 1
I know I really want to make a short film for my final project. I´m also very aware this is my final year before going out into the real world, where it will be much harder to make a film just like that. That´s why I want to use the resources I have at uni to the max this year. I
would like to design and build a set for this.
I also know that I am more interested in the visual side of film. I think a big part of this project is for us to prepare for our
careers and find and practice the things we want to do. I´ve become very
interested in cinematography, art direction and storyboarding. So, I want to
make a film for my portfolio that shows off my interests and skills. Laura and
I were thinking of working together, but our problem is that we are both
interested in the same things, the visual side. Were not sure how we could work
then, seeing as neither of us is particularly good at coming up with story
ideas, and both of us want to control the same aspects of the film.
We´re still coming up with ideas on how we could make it work. For example,
we thought we could make two short films that were somehow linked together like
a part 1 and part 2. That way we would have our own films to be in charge of,
but we would still work closely together on the same story. We were thinking
that we could make a story from two different point of views, like if we had a
man and a woman character, from each of their point of view they are innocent,
and the other is the crazy one. I think this could be interesting, and we could
explore unreliable storytelling.
Another option is that we work separately on our own projects, but we
would still help each other, especially in the making of it. We we´re saying
that if we don´t work with each other we would rather just work alone then, not
try to find other people still. I think for now we are just doing some research
to see if we come up with similar ideas, or if we come up with completely different
things. We will decide then if we´ll be a team or not.
So for now I still don’t have a clear idea of what the story would be, but I have already created a mood board to show what I would like it to look like.
BEGINNING MY RESEARCH for both res 1 and my dissertation
THE LOVE WITCH
Dir. Anna Biller
2016
I watched The Love Witch and I really enjoyed it. To begin with I thought I was watching a film from the 60´s but its just the way it was made. It was filmed on film and used dramatic lighting, striking hair and make-up looks. I really love that kind of vintage aesthetic. On top of that the entire film seemed to be so carefully designed, with great sets and costumes.
The topic
of the film is very interesting to me, and actually relates to my dissertation.
It´s a very feminist movie, clearly made by a woman. She has topics such as
women´s sexuality and how it´s has been demonised, house wives, the male
fantasy, witchcraft and love. The main character is a young beautiful witch
named Elaine, and she is desperate to find love. She portrays herself as the ultimate
male fantasy, and hopes for a man to fall in love with her. She believes women
should be servants to their husbands for a happy marriage, but I think she also
hates being out of control, so there is conflict there. Another interesting
character is Trish (Elaine´s neighbour) to whom, Elaine explains how we women
must give men everything they want to keep them happy. Trish disagrees saying asking
well what about my happiness? But in the end of the film when Trish´s husband kills
himself it’s almost as if the roles have been reversed. She is the one saying
you were right, maybe if had put in more effort and be the fantasy wife he
wanted me to be, he would still be alive… I also think the scene in which she
dresses up as Elaine is very telling. I imagined that maybe she was becoming like
her, this seductive male fantasy, thinking that maybe she could’ve saved her
husband if she was like that before. But then of course she finds out that it
was Elaine who drove her husband to madness. Elaine drives two men mad with her
love potions, but interestingly, she is immediately turned off by them, once
they started having strong feelings for her. She says that they begin to cry
like a babies, that they became like a woman. Overemotional, overly attached,
crazy even. Elaine was looking for a “real man” to truly fall in love with her,
but a man in love is not what she wants.
Anna Billers blog which I will be looking into and following:
https://annabillersblog.blogspot.com/?view=snapshot
I watched many clips of interviews and commentary videos. Here are my favourite:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQqbuZIv1DA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x4awb_fS84
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD9MrwcE7o8
SHORT FILMS
Kathleen sent us this link so we watched many of the short films as research:
https://www.asff.co.uk/asff-2020-film-library/
I think the two we found most relevant were actually two dance films, one about body image issues, other about social media and it´s affect on beauty standards. We were both thinking about including these themes in our film. I think social media, technology and beauty standards are really interesting subjects to cover, we’d just have to find something unique to say about it. The pressure women feel to look a certain way is immense.
OTHER MOVIES
MIDSOMMAR
I have wanted to watch this film since I saw the trailer, but I still haven´t had time. I´ve started it but I´m still to get into it. It looks amazing to me, and it´s just the type of film I think I will like.
I’ve seen it now and it was very creepy, I don’t think I’d want to do things so gory. It’s visually very interesting to me though, and I still thought it was a great movie.
SUNSET BOULEVARD
BLACK SWAN
OTHER MOVIES I WANT TO WATCH THAT I HAVE SEEN MENTIONED IN MY RESEARCH
RUSS MEYER´s films
WICKER MAN
GERTRUD, DREYER
LEAVE HER TO HEAVEN
BLACK NARCISSUS
THE BITTER TEARS OF PETRA VAN KANT
MARNIE, HITCHCOCK
ANTHONY PERKINS, PSHYCO
PEU D´ANE
JEANNE DIELMAN
CASABLANCA
KILL BILL
MANK
BEHIND HER EYES
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