Month: November 2023

Visual Metaphor Proposal

 

 

1.   Project Title: The Road Not Taken　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
2. Team Members: Lizzie & Cicci

III.  Concept | Storyline: 

       1). What is the piece (article, poem, story) for the narrative voice over?  Or who are you going to interview? 

      Poem: The Road Not Taken By Robert Frost 

      Voice over: A boy & a girl (Dialogue)

       2). What’s the story about?  

      It’s about life choices. The main character is walking in the forest and there are two paths in front of him. Both of the roads are equally beautiful but he has to choose one to continue his journey. He/she is torn between the two options. In the end, he/she chooses the one less traveled by and moves on. 

      In general, the story expresses an idea that facing hundreds and thousands of life choices, we can only experience one path in life and if you choose the path less traveled by, something unexpected may appear and give you a nice surprise.

       3). Which part of the story are you going to focus on? 

     The part he/she is torn. We’ll use many different shots to symbolize the difficulty of making such a decision.

       4). What kind of style/aesthetics are you going to pursue?

      We want it to be implicit, profound and thought-provoking because what we are going to express is kind of philosophical. We also want it to be beautiful and pleasant to match with the artistic conception created by the poem itself.

1. Execution Plan: 

       1). What equipment are you going to use when shooting the movie? (cell phone, DSLR camera, sound recorder, stabilizer..)

      Phone, DSLR camera, sound recorder, stabilizer.

       2). Which locations will it be shot at? When is it? Day time/night/unknown? Why?

       A place with lots of trees. Either a botanical garden or a forest park. Daytime. 

      Two escalators. One is crowded and the other is less crowded. Daytime probably.

      Two bowls of noodles. One has an egg on it and the other has nothing but a lot of treasures buried under it. Daytime.

      An Fu road. Nighttime.

    

       3). What are some challenges you might encounter and how will you prepare?

      We need to shoot a set of different materials and it’s a lot of work. So we are going to start early and collect them in advance. 

      We can’t get the shot we want. We’ll take our time and try more times

       4). How will you collaborate? How will you divide work? (Gantt Chart below*)

      See the Chart below.

   

1.   Storyboard Draft
2. Schedule

 

Task	Owner	Start Date	Due Date	Duration	Task Complete Percentage
Planning	Lizzie & Cicci	11/20	11/21	2 days	1%
Material 1: An Fu Road+ Escalator	Lizzie & Cicci	12/23	12/23	1 day	15%
Material 2: Botanical Garden or Forest Park	Lizzie & Cicci	12/24	12/24	1 day	30%
Audio recording	Lizzie & Cicci	11/27	11/29	2 days	40%
Material 3: noodles	Lizzie & Cicci	11/29	11/29	1 day	55%
Material 4: Others	Lizzie & Cicci	12/1	12/1	1 day	70%
Editing	Lizzie & Cicci	12/4	12/5	2 days	100%

https://www.123kan.cc/play/11467-1-1.html

01:47:50-01:49:37

1.concept

The memory I want to pick as my subject is a period in my high school. I used to have the habit of cycling after the Friday courses ended,which is a great chance for me to enjoy the sound of the breeze and the sunset with a relaxed mind. I loved the sunlight and the shadows, the shadow of which changes rather quickly at dusk，which always makes me think of the glinting sea, so besides the normal sound I heard when cycling, I will also use the sound of water to describe the change of light to create a holistic picture.

 

2.process-problem-solution

I collected the sounds in urban area of shanghai. i asked my mom to take me on the electric power cart and I just held the tascam.We went through many streets in Shanghai, where enables me to collect the sound on the road.

As for the sound representing the lights,I got the temple bell sound from the calm corner and I got the water sound by filling a tub with water.

One problem I met with was that the sound of the wind is too noisy and harsh, so I tried to use FFT at first,however, I found that it doesn’t work.Then I came up with the idea of blowing the mic,fortunatly it works.

The second problem is that the sound of the chain of the bike is too quiet to record, so I intended to replace that with the sound of pushing the button of an art knife. It really works but not so successful.

3. to improve

If I had much time, I think I will double-check  my work and simplify it. Because as long as I have heard it playing loud once, I will find out that it was a little bit too noisy, even though I left that noise on purpose.

I think the problem lies in the number of the tracks, maybe using only 3~4 tracks to create the metropolis vibe with be better.

4.reflect on feed back

 

Firstly,the professional suggestions are really helpful and innovative. I will try to think from a more artistic perspective, like adding more “myself” into my memory. I will add the sound of heart beat or breath into my work next time.

 

Secondly,I learned much from peer review. 

1.It can be more organized and specialized, as it sounds a little bit noisy and messy. It also sounds like a restaurant, so maybe I can add more sounds peculiar to city life and cycling.(Dana,Irene,CC)

2.Control the volume.(Natalya)

3.Add more sound effects(Joy)

4.Contribute more to emotions.(CJ)

• What are the precise rules of each of the obstructions?

#Obstruction1

1.No single edit may be longer than 12 frames.

2.Questions that ”What is this human doing?Why has the music?” should be   answered.

3.The film should be shot in Cuba

4.The film should be shot without any set.

#Obstruction2

1.Go to one of the most miserable places.

2.Go close to really harrow things and scenes close to real life.

3.Jorgen plays character Claus Nissen.

4.The meal should be there.

#Obstrution3(a punishment)

1.completely free of remake the second film back to Bombay

#Obstruction4

1.cartoon

#Obstruction5

1.Bring things full circle

2.Jorgen does nothing expect dircting

3.Jorgen should read a designated script Lars Von Trier wrote for him

4.can only use materials filmed in former 4 flims

 

• How does Jorgen cope with the obstructions?

1.repetition/reverse left and right

2.putting a half-transparent broad between the miserable and the perfect

3.(free from obstructions)

4.looking for a man who is expert in making cartoon

5.Restricting the color to only black and white

 

 

• What is the effect on the movies he produces? 

1.an interesting old leth film, the worst limitation become the one that makes the film interesting.

2.A film contrasting the rich, perfect and the miserable, however, the delicate thought of putting a half-transparent broad between made the film against the rules.

3.guessing what different people is thinking

4.He managed to make a cartoon.

5.The black and white expression of the scenes in previous flims with the narration background music greatly summarzies the whole flim and also serves as an end of the whole flim.

 

• My own thought: The trial is really interesting and it is the first time that  I have seen films made out of obstructions instead of plots. The artistic expression methods are worthing learning and reflecting, which may help broaden my thought when filming my own “5 Obstructions”.

• Steyerl talks about how the “unbroken belief” of the documentary form is challenged. What does Steyerl mean by this? Certain movies and films are based on a true story.  How does truth inform fiction? How might fiction inform the truth?

 

• Steyerl suggested us that we should still think about the authenticity of the documentary even if it is a sort of “unbroken belief”,as it could still be changed as for military or political purpose in digital era.
• things in fiction is not true, the context of the fiction is always the truth, so in this way the truth informs the fiction. The fiction was created according to the background and what’s going on in reality.
• Fiction is created by human, who are subjective, so teh fiction may be created out of certain purpose, so it may inform truth purposefully,which may arouse some anxiety,or maybe dipict the hope for future and inform truth in a positive way.

 

• What is the significance of the authenticity and representation of the truth in the media that you consume on a daily basis? What is the role of a live broadcast?

 

• Authenticity is really necessary, without which may lead to massive misunderstanding of the reality. Representation of the truth in the mediais what we are currently struggle with, especially on social media, which is an vital part that can lead to a peaceful, positive media environment.
• Live broadcastplays the role of a official announcer. Different from social media where everyone can post something, live broadcast requires strict check, so it’s authenticitiy is highly ensured(but still not 100%).Live broadcast is far more eligible than any other media.