The Moving Man

This week we have been studying formalism and realism. We started off by coming up with definitions:

FORMALISM

Analyzing the structure, form and artistic  techniques, rather then the contents. The idea is to create a very random, completely illogical piece of 'art' that is driven by the structure of the art, rather then the content, and encourages the audience to deconstruct the meaning.

REALISM

The representation in art or literature of objects, actions or social conditions as they actually are, without idealization or presentation in abstract form.

We were then told to create a short (30 second) film so we could experience the genre  further. we were given a choice out of the two to make our film in the style of. We chose formalist, and called our production 'The Moving Man.'

To highlight the difference between formalist and realist more blatantly, we decided that we would make the plot very realist - a man walking a dog - but every other aspect completely formalist.

We were then delegated different roles within the film, such as lighting, camerawork, editing etc.. I chose to take mise-en-scene along with Rebecca and Olivia. Our job was to decide what the man looked like. Our first thought was to have him as a mannequin so it would be very surreal, but we couldn't get hold of one. We then decided just to bring in a range of masks and other items (Such as cloaks) and see what worked best. We ended up with myself in a monster mask from rebecca, a sparkly cloak from me and monster feet from rebecca.

For the dog we used a range of props. firstly, a large chess piece, a small hand made doll and a flipper. the effect was fairly amusing and created the sort of random atmosphere we were going for.

i was very pleased with the rough cuts, although it did drift away from the main idea, because I didn't do very much moving!

Homework: 3 key ways the 'sony bravia' advert will influence my production.

1. COLOUR
The bouncy balls were very colorful, which made them incredibly eye-catching. This resulted in the balls being the complete focus of the adverts, making the background appear dull. I want to include this element of the advert in my production because my story is about the ball (or penny or ballbearing . . i haven't decided yet!) so it needs to be the center of attention at all times.

2. SLO-MO SHOTS
During the advert, they slowed several shots down, creating more of an effect and giving the audience time to understand properly what the advert was about (the balls move so fast its hard to see fully at normal speed shots). This will influence my production greatly, because not only does it create a diversity of shot types, it makes a very dramatic and timeless atmosphere.

3. SOUND
I really liked the soundtrack of the advert, because its simplicity and gentleness created a very happy and laid back atmosphere. I definitely want my production to have this feeling at the beginning, because i feel it will relax and attract the audience, which will make them enjoy my production more (hopefully!).