Evaluation
I was looking forward to this unit a lot, as I felt more comfortable this year to experiment more with my video. I took inspiration from Edgar Wright, who is an amazing director when it comes to monatge. I felt like being experimental with this unit and trying something I hadn't done before, which is montage. I felt that by doing so, it would be more interesting, and entertaining. I looked at some of his movies and saw some techniques which he used and tried my best to be nearly as successful as him.
I chose the poem 59 by Harry Baker, because I really enjoyed it when he was performing at Ted X talk. I felt that with this poem, although it is an obvious love story, that something unique and different could be done with it, especially as it is a love poem about prime numbers. I started writing down ideas on the what the poem could be, I started off thinking on what came to my head when I think of numbers and that was a fast food joint, or a Chinese/Indian restaurant where their food is numbered. Therefore, I thought about basing my video and the poem around food.
When I wrote the script, I separated it into parts and then matched the actions with the poem. My thought was that I could match certain words to make the video make sense. I began the video my introducing the main character, 59 and then had a monatge of him going to a restaurant, sitting down, getting the same burger, and eating it (but he is dissatisfied). When it came to the shot list, I decided to have basic shots, such as medium shots and close up, for the montage effect. When I was writing it, I had in my mind Edgar Wright montage scene, but I wasn't 100% sure how it would actually turn out. I followed the montage type of shots, where they have jump cuts and many close up shots.
After deciding which poem I was going to do, I researched into my poet and found that he is really successful and his poem 59 has already been adapted professionally for him. Therefore, I decided to see what was done for that. I enjoyed watching the video but the poem was taken in its literal sense. The one thing I liked with the video was how the had a label above each character which told us who they are - this is something i incorporated in my video with having the pillow covered in 59, the characters introducing themselves and the poster advertising the burgers.
Originally, I wanted to have it set in an American Diner, but unfortunately I could not get any permission to film in the local restaurants, and the set at the studios was being used for Take me Out. As I had major difficulty finding a diner location, I went to the next logical place which would sell burgers which was a cafe or bar. Eventually, 2 weeks before my shoot day I found a pub which was willing to let me use there place. Unfortunately, on the day I was shooting, my location was not answering nor was the pub open, so half an hour before I was supposed to start I was walking up and down Rochester high street trying to find a new location. Overall, shoot day went really well, and I was very happy with the result and the quality of images (thanks to Rosie). I felt more relaxed this time Directing as I was much more prepared than before, by having a complete shot list and everything stuck from schedule.
Finding actors was a major major major difficulty as I couldn't find any. I didn't want to use any one from the course or anyone who was not actually an actor, but unfortunately it was something I had to result to. I put up 2 ads on casting call pro, I had a few people apply for the role of 59 the first time but then they stop replying back to me. The second time I had no application, which is when I started searching for someone I knew, and they would be able to act a bit. I knew Jason Efstathiou was in a few of the first years videos and I believed he would have been able to act. As for the role of 61, a close friend of mine studied theatre and I knew she would be perfect for the role. Overall, when it came to my actors, I was very happy with the result as they both tried their best but it also looks natural.
When it came to editing and putting everything together it was not exactly what I had in mind. I was not disappointed in it, but I had imagined much more tighter shots, more fast paced and more monatge. Some of the ideas Helen gave me during the fine cuts and rough cut I attempted to do some of the changes but some of them I couldn't do. I think if I had much more variety of shots it would have been much better, but that is something to take into consideration for my next montage attempt. Also, a point which Helen had pointed out was to make it much more obvious as to who the characters and the burgers are. I tried doing that with the pillow, having each other introduce each other but also through the ad of the burgers to make it more obvious of the narrative.
Even though this went 90% according to plan, I am still very pleased with myself and the end result. Personally, I feel that this has been the best video I have made up until now, and my directing, editing and camera skills have improved immensely. I am proud of my idea for the adaptation, as I feel it is something unique and different, with not a stereotypical love story line, therefore it grabs the audiences attention. One thing that I still need to improve on is finding actors, maybe it is the way I phrase my ads on casting call pro that make me unsuccessful, but I don't think that not using professional actors has affected my work.
I chose the poem 59 by Harry Baker, because I really enjoyed it when he was performing at Ted X talk. I felt that with this poem, although it is an obvious love story, that something unique and different could be done with it, especially as it is a love poem about prime numbers. I started writing down ideas on the what the poem could be, I started off thinking on what came to my head when I think of numbers and that was a fast food joint, or a Chinese/Indian restaurant where their food is numbered. Therefore, I thought about basing my video and the poem around food.
When I wrote the script, I separated it into parts and then matched the actions with the poem. My thought was that I could match certain words to make the video make sense. I began the video my introducing the main character, 59 and then had a monatge of him going to a restaurant, sitting down, getting the same burger, and eating it (but he is dissatisfied). When it came to the shot list, I decided to have basic shots, such as medium shots and close up, for the montage effect. When I was writing it, I had in my mind Edgar Wright montage scene, but I wasn't 100% sure how it would actually turn out. I followed the montage type of shots, where they have jump cuts and many close up shots.
After deciding which poem I was going to do, I researched into my poet and found that he is really successful and his poem 59 has already been adapted professionally for him. Therefore, I decided to see what was done for that. I enjoyed watching the video but the poem was taken in its literal sense. The one thing I liked with the video was how the had a label above each character which told us who they are - this is something i incorporated in my video with having the pillow covered in 59, the characters introducing themselves and the poster advertising the burgers.
Originally, I wanted to have it set in an American Diner, but unfortunately I could not get any permission to film in the local restaurants, and the set at the studios was being used for Take me Out. As I had major difficulty finding a diner location, I went to the next logical place which would sell burgers which was a cafe or bar. Eventually, 2 weeks before my shoot day I found a pub which was willing to let me use there place. Unfortunately, on the day I was shooting, my location was not answering nor was the pub open, so half an hour before I was supposed to start I was walking up and down Rochester high street trying to find a new location. Overall, shoot day went really well, and I was very happy with the result and the quality of images (thanks to Rosie). I felt more relaxed this time Directing as I was much more prepared than before, by having a complete shot list and everything stuck from schedule.
Finding actors was a major major major difficulty as I couldn't find any. I didn't want to use any one from the course or anyone who was not actually an actor, but unfortunately it was something I had to result to. I put up 2 ads on casting call pro, I had a few people apply for the role of 59 the first time but then they stop replying back to me. The second time I had no application, which is when I started searching for someone I knew, and they would be able to act a bit. I knew Jason Efstathiou was in a few of the first years videos and I believed he would have been able to act. As for the role of 61, a close friend of mine studied theatre and I knew she would be perfect for the role. Overall, when it came to my actors, I was very happy with the result as they both tried their best but it also looks natural.
When it came to editing and putting everything together it was not exactly what I had in mind. I was not disappointed in it, but I had imagined much more tighter shots, more fast paced and more monatge. Some of the ideas Helen gave me during the fine cuts and rough cut I attempted to do some of the changes but some of them I couldn't do. I think if I had much more variety of shots it would have been much better, but that is something to take into consideration for my next montage attempt. Also, a point which Helen had pointed out was to make it much more obvious as to who the characters and the burgers are. I tried doing that with the pillow, having each other introduce each other but also through the ad of the burgers to make it more obvious of the narrative.
Even though this went 90% according to plan, I am still very pleased with myself and the end result. Personally, I feel that this has been the best video I have made up until now, and my directing, editing and camera skills have improved immensely. I am proud of my idea for the adaptation, as I feel it is something unique and different, with not a stereotypical love story line, therefore it grabs the audiences attention. One thing that I still need to improve on is finding actors, maybe it is the way I phrase my ads on casting call pro that make me unsuccessful, but I don't think that not using professional actors has affected my work.
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