When the description for this assignment was given to us last week I found it a bit confusing to understand the task at hand. I felt that, yes, the pieces we viewed that were medium specific did portray specific characteristics of their relative medium, however, I also felt that many characteristics were also applicable to other mediums. This presented a challenge to me: I needed to dig deeper in order to find a certain aspect of a medium that didn’t apply to any other medium. Considering Scott McCloud’s “Understanding Comics”, I was better able to understand how to approach this assignment. McCloud helped the viewer (me) grasp the concept of medium specificity by finding a more creative way to tell the history of comics. Rather than resorting to a boring written history of the art, he actually creates a comic to complete do the teaching.
Initially I wanted to focus on one defining trait of photography. My mind shifted from aperture to shutter speed to playing with lighting until finally I realized how photography is able to snapshot a single moment in time. But wait. The more I thought about it the more I realized that film does this as well. Except film is able to take it one step further and adds the motion and sound of a specific moment.
As I pondered how I could create a commentary or explanation of how I see film in an actual film, I knew I had to play with or manipulate certain tools in order to successfully represent the classical characteristics of this certain medium. As mentioned above, I knew for certain I wanted to focus on how film captures a moment, whether that be a fraction of a second or a few minutes long. My approach to my creation was to base my work off the classic three-act structure of film, yet present it more abstractly.
My subject for the short film were dancers that participated in a BYU Dance production a few weeks ago. I was able to shoot from backstage which presented some challenges yet also provided unconventional angles that I wouldn’t have if I were anywhere else. I decided to show the exposition by using shots of the performers backstage and also in the wings of the stage as they prepared to perform. I also decided to only use shots that were poorly lit in order to add to the contrast of later shots in the second and third acts. This created a change of pace as I moved into other parts of the film.
To represent the inciting incident and climax I decided to increase the speed of the clips I used. This represented conflicts and suspense we experience as we go through these parts of the films we view. I particularly enjoy the chaos that this creates. This chaos is resolved in the last few clips as a solo dancer uses more flowing and graceful moves.
I enjoyed the challenge of this assignment and honestly want to explore it more in my later works. Not only with film, but in other mediums as well.
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