I wanted to do some short videos looking at different perspectives while I knitted on the knitting machine. It's nice to see what's actually happening up close and taking it's size out of context. This is a intimate and abstract look at my knitting machine, and how things often go wrong (sorry about the swearing). The videos are very short, I was just trying to work out what works so that I could maybe do a longer version for my final video project.
1. Trying out a direct perspective of what I see when I look down.
2. Me trying to then fix the knitting with a close-up of my hands while I do it.
3. Quickly panning over the needles in a close-up
4. From the perspective of the far-end of the knitting machine going forward. I like the extreme size of the end needles. I might try to do this one again but do it for longer.
5. From a lower perspective focusing on the knitting and the oncoming carriage.
6. This is my favourite. A long inside the carriage as it knits. Sadly my boyfriend who was filming while I knitted (which is a two-hand job) dropped the camera. I like this perspective, I will try it again.
Thursday, 31 October 2013
Saturday, 26 October 2013
Kill Bill Cinematography
Kill Bill is one of my favourite films, partly due to the amazing cinematography and interesting camera work and shorts. Lots of extremes are used to convey the story in an anime style. Part of the film is anime, and it doesn't seem out of place in a film that has taken it's odd angles and poignant subject placement.
The most emotional parts of the film are all filmed at least partly from two extreme angles: cinematic birds-eye view with extreme barrel-distortion, and extremely low down at floor level with no effects.
The cinematic birds-eye view with extreme barrel-distortion creates a beautiful image that tells a lot of story very quickly. This top-down scene allows for some interesting placement and easy symbolism, with the bodies looking in mid-movement, their shadows and bloodsplatters like wings. The bride, with her white dress seems especially angelic. It is like the painting of heaven in the ceiling of a church with angels, only instead everyone has been murdered.
The wide-angle lense used adds to this as it gives the scene a dreamlike unreal quality, as does the use of the birds-eye angle as the distortion is not how we see things naturally, and the birds-eye view, when inside is reminiscent of how we see in dreams, and the idea that when we die we float up and look down.
This contrasts with the foot-level shots of the scene as the policemen walk around the bodies. While this is also a rare shot to see in a film, it is shot simply and has a quiet realism to it. You can only see a very small amount, it is not gratuitous like the shot about, nor cinematic. It is a frank shot of what these policemen have to see and the crimes that have been done.
However, once the bridge is awake and fighting the camera angles change, she is always at the same level and angle as her peers, never looking up at anyone. There are also wide-angle theatre-like scenes used as the stage for her murdering sprees
The low shots angled to look up at the characters who are stronger than you are reversed as the film goes on, the bride is now looked upon by her victims as she once looked upon them.
The way cinematography is used to tell the story of the Bride in Kill Bill is fantastic, it elevates the film completely. Tarantino is one of my favourite directors because he uses cinematography and interesting unusual shots to tell the story in a dynamic way. Obviously I cannot do anything like what he does in my short films but I would like to try to be as creative and think of different effective ways to tell a story.
The cinematic birds-eye view with extreme barrel-distortion creates a beautiful image that tells a lot of story very quickly. This top-down scene allows for some interesting placement and easy symbolism, with the bodies looking in mid-movement, their shadows and bloodsplatters like wings. The bride, with her white dress seems especially angelic. It is like the painting of heaven in the ceiling of a church with angels, only instead everyone has been murdered.
The wide-angle lense used adds to this as it gives the scene a dreamlike unreal quality, as does the use of the birds-eye angle as the distortion is not how we see things naturally, and the birds-eye view, when inside is reminiscent of how we see in dreams, and the idea that when we die we float up and look down.
This contrasts with the foot-level shots of the scene as the policemen walk around the bodies. While this is also a rare shot to see in a film, it is shot simply and has a quiet realism to it. You can only see a very small amount, it is not gratuitous like the shot about, nor cinematic. It is a frank shot of what these policemen have to see and the crimes that have been done.
When the bride is incapacitated throughout the film this is signified by the use of low shots angled to look up at the characters, as though you are the bride.
However, once the bridge is awake and fighting the camera angles change, she is always at the same level and angle as her peers, never looking up at anyone. There are also wide-angle theatre-like scenes used as the stage for her murdering sprees
The low shots angled to look up at the characters who are stronger than you are reversed as the film goes on, the bride is now looked upon by her victims as she once looked upon them.
The way cinematography is used to tell the story of the Bride in Kill Bill is fantastic, it elevates the film completely. Tarantino is one of my favourite directors because he uses cinematography and interesting unusual shots to tell the story in a dynamic way. Obviously I cannot do anything like what he does in my short films but I would like to try to be as creative and think of different effective ways to tell a story.
First Film - My Ceiling
I wanted to start making films and liked the perspective of just looking up, so I walked around my house with the camera held up. I'm not used to making experimental videos like this so I wanted to get my first one out of the way so I'm not anxious about it.
Sorry about the creepy breathing I am ill :(
Sorry about the creepy breathing I am ill :(
Friday, 18 October 2013
Experimental Film Class
My tops class is film, where we make interesting experimental films and try to look at things from different perspectives and angles. For this class I have made this blog. It's a bit late cause I've been really ill (sorry!!). In this blog I'm going to post up some of my favourite experimental camera work in films and tv that I love and try to make a few short ones of my own.
During the first class I attended we made "rigs" which were essentially bits of metal where you attached a camera to part of it and waved it about or put it somewhere where you can't get to so you can see thing from another angle. My group attached ours to another person's motorbike and they rode around for a minute. I don't think it was as interesting as it could be, it would have been better to do something a bit more experimental.
Over this course we have to make more films, I'd like to try to take some underwater somehow, or record the way I work on the knitting machines in an interesting way. I'm not quite sure how yet though!
During the first class I attended we made "rigs" which were essentially bits of metal where you attached a camera to part of it and waved it about or put it somewhere where you can't get to so you can see thing from another angle. My group attached ours to another person's motorbike and they rode around for a minute. I don't think it was as interesting as it could be, it would have been better to do something a bit more experimental.
Over this course we have to make more films, I'd like to try to take some underwater somehow, or record the way I work on the knitting machines in an interesting way. I'm not quite sure how yet though!
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