Independent Project Pre-Production

Independent Film Project Calendar

Forrest Gump - Scene Analysis

Firstly, this was my first time watching Forrest Gump and it was probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Forrest Gump stars Tom Hanks as Forrest Gump. This romance and comedic film tells the story of a kind-hearted, caring, clueless, and courageous man named Forrest. This film follows his journey through defining moments in his life that impacted who he was. The film develops a heart warming story that leaves the audience with a life-changing lesson. Throughout the movie, the audience as well as Forrest are faced with many historic and influential figures that were present in America's history and pop culture. Some include: the Black Panthers, President JFK, Elvis Presley, John Lennon and a lot more others.

Starting off with the film's cinematography. My favorite scene is of young Forrest and Jenny going off onto their own little adventure, climbing on trees and spending time together. In this scene, the cinematographer used a variety of angles and shots. The use of different angles and shots were specifically used and helped portray a message and story beautifully.

In this snippet of the scene, when Jenny and Forrest are running to the tree, the usage of a wide and low angled shot draw emphasis to the characters as well as the tree. This shot was so distinctive and impactful because it depicted the relationship of Jenny and Forrest. It allowed the audience to understand how their friendship grew throughout the whole film, and how this one moment set and built the story up. The use of a wide and low angled shot was to allow the audience to see the setting yet still focus their attention to the characters. The tree was their safe haven, it was where Jenny felt the safest, which was when she was with Forrest. The use of the wide shot allowed the audience understand that they were always in remote and secluded areas where they could be alone together.

When Jenny and Forrest are on the tree, Jenny is reading a book while Forrest is hanging and swinging on a tree branch with the use of his legs/leg braces. In this shot, the cinematographer used both a mid shot/pan shot as well as a eye-level angle. The scene starts off with a mid shot of Jenny reading her book, soon it's a pan shot, starting with Jenny and ends off with a shot of Forrest's legs. The camera pans from Jenny to Forrest. The use of an eye-level angled allowed the audience to see them from a better angle. Instead of using a bird's eye view or a low angle, they most likely used an eye-level angle in order to draw more attention and focus onto the two characters. The use of a pan shot allowed the audience to see how different their personalities were. Jenny enjoyed reading whereas Forrest was a lot more outgoing and enjoyed playing around. This scene showed the audience that even though these two had such different personalities, they bonded and loved each other's company. As the angle changes and Forrest's legs are only in shot, Forrest's legs may have been different but Jenny accepted his flaws and found company and comfort from him. In a way, Forrest's legs was what tied/started their friendship. It could symbolize and draw emphasis that his differences and flaws are what pushed him to change everything around him. 

Carrying onto the post production process, not only was cinematography techniques precisely used, the editing was used to enhance the meaning of the story. During the tree sitting scene, some shots would go by quickly whereas some would go a lot slower. For example, in the scene of them sitting, holding each other's hand, the scene is a lot slower in order to show how time slows down once they're together. The balance between slow and fast scenes and the cuts between them showed a new day. Each cut showed a change in time or a change in day. The usage of pan starting from a lower angle to a higher angle and the editing allowed the scene to slow down which showed that Forrest would've done anything for Jenny. It showed that everything around him didn't matter so long he had Jenny. 

Sound effects as well as the soundtrack really emphasized and enhanced the theme and message of the story. The background music is soothing yet not exactly a slow tempo song. It's calming yet a bit fast paced, the background music would perfectly describe Jenny and Forrest. They can be themselves around each other, yet they can still have fun and go on adventures together. In the scene of Forrest swinging, you can hear the sound of his leg braces squeaking. The volume of the music lowers, and the sound of the squeaking is emphasized. Whereas in the scene of the sun setting, and their tiny silhouettes on the tree, the sound of crickets can be heard in the background. By using the sound of crickets, the audience is able to understand that a change in time had occurred. The audience can also understand that whenever Forrest and Jenny were together, when time passed by they continued on side by side. The soundtrack added onto the idea of time slowing down when they were together. The crickets meant that they sat there until the sun was setting, yet they still wouldn't want to leave each other's company. 

Lastly, in my opinion the narrative and the acting was crucial and probably the strongest aspect to the whole scene. Not only in this scene specifically, but in the whole film as well, Tom Hanks does an excellent job in portraying his character and his personality. Specifically in this scene, the narration enhanced the emotion and relationship between the two of them. Tom Hanks more specifically Forrest Gump, narrates the story in a way that builds and tells the audience how their childhood friendship wasn't complicated. "She helped me learn how to read, and I showed her how to swing." This quote, or part of the narration showed how easy their life was together back then, and definitely  depicted that they were young children. The usage of different terms and phrases showed the change in time and age. The acting of the female and male actors who played as young Jenny and Forrest showed the friendship and connection between both characters. The relationship, emotion, as well as connection between the two of them applied to when they both grew up. It showed that their relationship grew even stronger (even though there were a couple ups and downs) once they grew up together. As young Jenny says, "Come on Forrest, you can do it!" it shows that no matter how old they were, Jenny continued to encourage Forrest. Whether it was to run from the bullies, or during the war in Vietnam, Jenny encouraged Forrest to be true to himself and to continue "running." Jenny's words were what continued to drive Forrest even if it was just pushing him to climb up that tree. 

Music Video

1. Over the 3 weeks we dedicated to this project, you did screenwriting, cinematography, editing, and directing. Which skills did you feel played the biggest role during creating your music video? Which portion of the filmmaking process went the smoothest for you? Which was the most difficult?

The skills that I felt played the biggest role during the creation of my music video was the screen writing and editing. I think that screenwriting was a major part of the creation of my music video because it made the rest of the process even easier. It allowed me to know which shots and which scenes I needed to shoot on the day of filming. I think that the editing was another big role in the creation of my music video because the editing of the clips as well as how long the clips go for are really important to the meaning and story of the video. I think that though these areas had the biggest role on my music video, it was also probably the most difficult parts. For the screenwriting, once I was done writing the whole screenplay and finished filming most of my clips I realised that my storyline didn’t really makes sense so I decided to re-arrange all the scenes. For editing, it was difficult due to the fact that I realised that I was missing a minute worth of film, therefore having to re-use clips from the video itself. I think that what went pretty smooth for me was the directing since I didn’t have to work with other directors I was able to decide on which angles I wanted to use.

2. Reflect back on how you worked on this project; what did you do well and what could you have been better at? What advice would you give future Digital Film students about working on this project?

Something I did well was making sure that the clips were straightforward, and made sure that the clips didn’t go on for too long. I think that another thing that I did well on in this project was using a variety of angles and applying the lessons I learnt in class with my actual film. I think that something that I could’ve done better was filming a lot more extra clips so I wouldn’t run out of clips, and I could’ve made sure that I had three minutes worth of film to apply to the music. I think that another thing I could’ve done better was with my time management, I definitely should’ve planned my time a lot better and filmed over a course of two weekends instead of filming everything in one weekend. Some advice that I would give to future Digital FIlm students about working on this project is to take risks. If you think some of your clips looks odd or different compared to others, take that risk because sometimes in a music video, taking a risk is better than playing it safe. Also another piece of advice that I would give to the future Digital Film students would be to plan your time and story out before you begin to film, screenplays may seem like a hassle at times but it definitely enhances the process of creating your film. Last thing I would say to the Digital Film students would be to pick a song that not many people know, sometimes the more less-known a song is, the more interested the audience will be.   

3. What was your overall opinion about the Music Video project? What did Mrs. Gach do well or what could she do better/change?

The Music Video project was probably one of my favorite projects this semester. Since the music video project is done individually, it allowed me to learn a lot more about my work ethic as well as apply the cinematography and editing skills myself instead of relying on others. I think that the music video project was by far one of my favorites because we’re constantly looking at new music videos being released by our favorite singers and artists, but we were finally able to take our favorite songs and create a story line for it. I know for me, I’ve seen a few music videos and after I felt as if the story they portrayed didn’t match the lyrics and the meaning of the song. I think that with the music video project it allows us student to be able to show off our skills independently. Mrs. Gach did really well with giving us a lot of freedom with a few rules. I think that this freedom allowed us to explore our own creativity and our own skills. Overall, I really enjoyed this project.

My Favourite Music Videos

The music video for Jet Black Heart is a mixture of narrative and performance. As you can see in the music video, 5 Seconds of Summer had asked their fans to film themselves lip syncing to their songs in order to tell a story. It's not a very clear storyline but it may tell a story where all these different people all are hurting and they all have different stories but they pour out their hardships together through the song. Besides the fact that I've been a fan of 5 Seconds of Summer for a while, I think that one thing that really made this one of my favorites was the cinematography. Some of the shots and clips of the scenery really made the whole music video aesthetically pleasing. Especially the clip of Ashton and the LA skyline behind him, while he's in focus whereas the city lights are sort of a blur behind him. I think that another thing that made this really interesting is how well both the music and the imagery set the mood and emotion really well. Both set such a touching and deep emotion for the audience to feel different after watching. 

The music video for Carousel is mainly a narrative, it tells the story about a relationship. Something that I really enjoy about this music video is the creepy vibe it gives off. The music perfectly matches the imagery and leaves the audience with chills. I also really enjoy how the setting and how the colors as well as the rides really gave off that playful vibe as well. I also really liked the different shots, they didn't just stick to one type of angle or scenery. The different rides in motion, the close ups, etc. made the video a lot more interesting and the repetition really pulls the attention of the audience in. 

Movie Poster

Character Reflection

1. Think about the main characters in a film, television show, or video game you’ve enjoyed. Who are they?
One of my favorite main characters in a television show is Emily Thorne from the tv showed call "Revenge."

2. Where were their individual objectives? In others, what did they want more than anything? Her individual objective also known as what she wanted more than anything was to get revenge on those who had taken her father away from her as well as those who had wronged her and her father. Mainly wanting to get revenge on Victoria Grayson, one of her father's lovers who betrayed him. Her goal was to destroy the lives of every individual who played a role in ruining her father's life/imprisonment. A little backstory or basic knowledge on the show is: Revenge is a tv show about a woman named Emily Thorne. The story takes place at the Hamptons and rents a beach house which was her childhood home. When she was younger, her father was framed by her neighbours, the Graysons family, for treason.The show continues to talk about how her father was soon imprisoned for the "crime" and was soon murdered in prison by associates of those who had framed him. During this time, she was separated from her father and spent time in juvie. Hiding her childhood identity, she created a new identity and moved back to the Hamptons as an adult.

3. What were their obstacles? What kinds of things were standing in their way of meeting their objectives? Over the course of the show, Emily had faced many obstacles. At times when executing stages of her revenge plan, she found it difficult to be emotionally detached from what she was doing. At times she also struggled to identify her true motivations and had times where she examined how her actions changed her sense of how she saw herself as well as her identity. Through her journey, she begins to meet people who she could trust but worried how their involvement would change their lives and how she would proceed after she enacts her revenge. Another obstacle was that she began to become quite emotionally attached or somewhat felt a personal connection when she found her childhood friend, hiding her childhood identity and living a new life with an unknown identity. One last obstacle she would constantly faced was that her life was constantly in danger. There were also many times where her plans nearly fell apart, causing her to rethink her actions, but she still continued to work to achieve her objective.

4. How did the protagonist/antagonist relate to each other? How did they support each other? How did they fight against each other?
Though this character was sort of a mix of the protagonist and the antagonist due to the fact that she did plan revenge on those who had treated her and her father wrong. She had times where the audience were able to see her soft side. Whereas there were many times where her plans of revenge were quite cruel, ruining the lives of those who had a part of her father's death. The main antagonist or the woman who was Emily's main target, Mrs.Grayson, had times where they supported each other yet it was mainly them fighting against each other. For example, Emily began to get closer with Victoria Grayson's son in order to find more details about the family. During that season, Emily and Victoria had an on and off battle, fighting with each other verbally or Emily had planned minor things that would build up to ruin Victoria.

Here is one of my favorite scenes from the tv show where Emily shows a change in character. Especially since she had just recovered from a serious accident leaving her to forget everything.

Silent Film Reflection

What elements of silent film did you see in the first part of Wall-E? 
By watching the first part of Wall-E, you could see many different elements of silent film being put together in order to tell a meaningful and interesting story and character development. One element would be the soundtrack. Seeing that the characters are robots and the there isn't any human life on the planet, the sound effects, soundtrack, and background music really help enhance the story as well as help set the emotion and mood of the movie. Soundtrack was used throughout the first scene, with Wall-E's video/music, even with the little sounds of the cockroach. The soundtrack of this movie really helped engage the audience. Another element of silent film that was included in the movie was they used quite simple and basic camera shots. You could see that if they used quite complex camera shots the meaning of the video as well as the subject would have been very different. With basic camera angles, the audience was able to connect to the character more and see the setting a lot better. Exaggerated acting and movement was another element of silent film that was used in this film. Without dialogue, it's quite difficult for the message to be seen, but with exaggerated movements and gestures the audience was able to comprehend everything. Through facial expressions, hand gestures, and little sound effects, emotion and the story was instantly seen. Relating back to the camera shots, a lot of the shots were at a eye-level angle, but a lot of the angles were quite different which really helped make it more interesting.

Even without dialogue, how does Wall-E's personality come forth in silent portion of the movie? 
With every action that Wall-E makes, his personality shines through. Even without dialogue the audience are aware of Wall-E's personality because of his actions. From picking up trash everyday, and keeping the little things that may not be appreciated in life to listening to love songs and falling in love with another robot. Throughout the silent portion, you could tell that he appreciates the little things in life, and that he's very hard working as well as very dedicated to his job. He'll do anything to make use of little objects that he finds, as well as finish his job.

Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin are both silent movie actors to whom Wall-E could be compared. Compare their method of comedic acting to Wall-E's. 
Wall-E compares to Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin due to the fact that they both turn to using exaggerated facial expressions and movements in order to portray their character. Not only are they all portraying a comedic character, they're not afraid to show their goofy sides. Wall-E is often clueless and clumsy which usually makes the audience laugh. When I was in fourth grade, we would regularly watch Charlie Chaplin films, and I remember watching him constantly falling or acting in a way that made him seem different and unique. Chaplin, Keaton and Wall-E all have their own unique way of acting as well as in a humorous way.

What do you think the lack of dialogue contributed to the portion of the film? Be specific using scenes examples. 
The lack of dialogue really helped enhance the emotion of the characters in the film also the character development. Through the silent section of the film, Wall-E is seen as quite a quirky and energetic character who finds happiness in the littlest of things. For example, when Wall-E found the ring in a box, he took a look at the ring and threw it away. Instead, he decided to keep the box that held it. This scene showed that through his small action, his character and personality shined through. Usually, humans would be drawn to the ring, seeing that it's most likely worth a lot. Wall-E's lack of dialogue helped the audience understand and begin to think about a new message/theme. The lack of dialogue also showed that Wall-E was perfectly fine on his own, but when watching his movie of the couple falling in love, he couldn't help but want his own little lover. The lack of dialogue really helped the character development because it showed that before he met Eva, he was missing something in his life. Once he met her, he began to fall in love and began to show bigger and happier emotions and facial expressions.

First Day Shoot

My Badminton Video!

This is my video of me playing badminton, we had to show our PE teacher the movement of when we went to hit the birdie. Here's the video!