Treatment, Initial storyboards and Production Log

Treatment

The song 'Zwerk' by Bitbin, Mathew Hodson, has inspired a project combining audio and visuals producing a music video. The music itself could be described as experimental, ambient and thought provoking. The initial drone produced from a synthesiser, gives a sense of an epic atmosphere, which slowly forms into note patters that begin to repeat, accompanied by electro drum beats that almost slide over each other in layers. 'Plonky' beats form the basis of the backing, while a zappy mechanic space-gun sound effect stirs the soundscape. The song is quite progressive in a sense that it builds and loops over itself, all notes are quite whole sounding, often uncertain, but not uneasy or distressing. The piece gives off feelings such as a sense of hope, rhythmic almost walking, pacing, even akin to heartbeats, which makes the song seem personified. The song also gives feelings of an alien or extra terrestrial element in beats and overall style which gives feelings of uncertainty, the unknown and confusion.

Following research it could be interesting to produce a contrapuntal effect, also known as using parallel sound, in order to contradict the auditory experience; when we are presented by juxtaposing videos our brain is being sent two different messages which can create some interesting effects. This could be implemented by showing a laugh when the music is unnerving or dramatic. The song produces euphoric ambience, with the technologic beats along and the pacing gives a sense of nature vs technology, which then stimulated ideas of using water to symbolise feelings of a warped reality or a dream like state. In order to capture this, the perception of time would be distorted and reversed which could also represent confusion, disillusionment and a detachment from reality. Another adjustment which would be effective is when the action is filmed really fast and then in editing the motion is slowed down, also when the camera zooms out at the same time as moving away creates unusual effects. The film will be non linear, unpredictable and down to audience to interpret individually. Mental disturbance was intriguing as it is a completely personal experience

Artists which are similar in style are Aphex Twin, Portishead, Massive Attack, The pixies - Where is my mind and The Postal Service, these fall into the genre Trip Hop, playful yet solemn in nature. Videos which influenced this project include Roni Size - Brown paper Bag, Portishead - Only you, Aphex Twin - Rubber LoverThe pixies - Where is my mind, Everything is everything - Lauryn Hill. The character of Sheila in Shameless inspired the main role as she has a personal bubble existence where she's living in her own world. Also the Grandma from Requiem For A Dream, through the clever use of time distortion where section are sped up to highlight her internal stress. 

       

The first day of shooting was the 22nd May, a beautiful sunny Saturday, after driving down to Bognor, to find a more secluded pool, we managed to capture some good footage.
A downfall of this shoot was actually getting under the water long enough to get some effective shots. A good point was the amount of filming we actually managed to capture, a total of 200 seconds, and some beautiful shots.


Then i edited the footage on sunday night i edited the footage, followed by some extra filming on Monday 24th May, where i acted in the first scene - the girl is having a bath and slips into her dream like state, then she observes the outside world, separated by the window. A good point of this shoot was the time of day it was shot produced a beautiful twilight effect at dusk. A bad point was that we over filmed, however it's always better to have too much than too little to work with. 


I then met with Cecille the next day, who helped me cut down on the unneeded shots, and now it begins to flow much more fluidly, it's not good to change the amount and speed of frames as it confuses the viewer when it doesn't fit with the music. 


Then on Saturday 29th May, i went to Hollingbury Park to shoot some more scenic shot which would compliment the swimming shots. A good part of this was the roundabout shot that i plan to overlay with a shot of the eyes to give the illusion that it the state in the character's head. A negative point was that it was hard to plan exactly what footage to shoot before i got there, however when in the location it was easy to place actions and content to the scene. 


From then on i edited the footage together, changing and mixing up the footage to make the piece more seemless. I met with Cecille again on the 2nd June, who helped me by advising me of shots that weren't working.


For a full write up and evaluation see sketchbook...