Sequencing Images – Process and Behind the Scenes

CONCEPTUALIZATION

The friend whose life we looked into was an ex with an ill temper. We thought about what life he could be living now, whether he has a new girlfriend, what job or school did he end up going to, and what he could be doing.

We decided upon a dramatic short where we slowly discover that he is now a successful businessman although through a crooked way.

The conceptualization began with splitting 13 frames into the various parts (because the other 7 were planned for opening and closing)- the fight, the abuse and the arrest, followed by arching out the scenes. We began looking for the dramatic peak of the story and finding ways to increase the tension between the two characters – in both the subtle and the apparent ways through framing.

After much thought, this was the final paperwork for the short.

Synopsis: Joel, a successful businessman was formerly a criminal who ended up in prison for his crimes. Throughout the whole film, there were many places and things that reminded him of the past. He was determined to win his girlfriend back, with his current success to impress her. However, on the day he was supposed to meet his girlfriend for the very first time ever since his released, he was stuck in a sticky situation. It was revealed that his success came about dealing with drugs, and he had to forgo his meet up with her to carry out a deal.

To see shotlist click here
To see storyboard click here

EXECUTION

Before the shoot Charissa got to experiment with make up to show her bruise to further emphasize on the abuse of the boyfriend. Thus, we see the make up in action in two scenes.

The majority of scenes were shot in a car, this was because through a confined private space we see the characters in their truest/honest form. We considered wardrobe as well through the two scenes to differentiate the two times – in the present scenes he is wearing a suit, to show his wealth and his , however in the past scenes he is wearing a leather jacket (the stereotypically douchebag-iest outfit of the Grease era).

After editing we realized our storylines in the edit were going different direction so we reshot various scenes depending on our edit – we shot their ‘pre-dating’ scenes, their ‘reconnecting’ scene and a ‘prison’ scene.

POST-PRODUCTION

I studied match cuts from various films and one example was that from Psycho, which is the murder scene in the shower. The drainage is matched to the eye. In Forrest Gump, matching expressions are match cut against each other.

So, conveniently there’s youtube video detailing some great examples of match cuts.

The post-production process was straightforward as the shots were selected from those that best conveyed the emotion and mood of the moment – the color treatment was cool tones to evoke coldness of the moment but brighter to show how his mind is a little clearer, juxtaposed against the darker shadows in the ‘night’ scenes to evoke the emotional/mental state of the character.