Gustave Courbet | Self Portrait

Art

Gustave Courbet

This painting by Courbet is titled "the desperate man" and it was painted in 1845.
This quote, from Courbet, is based on the painting itself and it helps create a meaning to it: "I am fifty years old and I have always lived in freedom; let me end my life free; when I am dead let this be said of me: 'He belonged to no school, to no church, to no institution, to no academy, least of all to any régime except the régime of liberty.'"
Through this quote, it makes me feel as if this painting resembles Courbet feeling trapped from his freedom, and it almost shows a sense of anxiety and stress. His facial expression shows a scared man asking for help, which may have been Courbet's intention. It may even express how he was vulnerable and scared when he was younger, as the image portrays him as youthful when he has quoted to be fifty years old.

The colours he has used create a dark tone as well as keeping it quite natural with the neutral browns and whites. This softens the possible dark under tone of the image and makes the painting enjoyable to look at. His use of colours imply that he wants to be a normal guy, and be his own person, rather than being part of a named group, which is what was said within his quotation.

This painting has giving me some inspiration in how to colour my video and what tone I should aim for. I want to create some subtle tones by using more light colours than harsh ones. In the editing process I will desaturase my shots to make the tone quite dark and show some vulnerability while also keeping it soft on the eyes, similar to this painting.

Chosen Scene | Drama Development

Season 2, Episode 12:  'Over My Dead Body'

Directed by Ron Lagomarsino

In this scene the four girls are together when they receive a 'present' from their harasser "A" who has given them all separate instructions to follow otherwise there will be a series of consequences, some that could affect them and their families.

I have chosen this scene because I feel as though I can experiment with different camera shots to create a crime, thriller effect on the scene. I also feel as though I can experiment with the sound design of the dolls and the instrumental music in the background of the scene.

This scene is quite challenging to shoot as there 4 characters that have a fair amount of dialogue to say, but also there are quite a few props that need to be within the scene to make it effective. The casting and the prop research will challenge me but it will also push my skill and help me gain more experience. This can help me in future projects and can also help me within the pre-production of my next projects.

I have also decided to re direct another scene in this episode, as it follows the same story as this scene. In this scene Emily gets her doll surprise in the back of her car and follow the directions she is given to find a missing character. I wanted to do this scene as well as It fits in with the previous scene but also I can experiment with a different location and add my own spin to it through the camera shots.

 

The scenes  I am doing are shown between 0:00 - 2:00 in the video down below. The first scene in this video doesn't include all of it, but it shows the rough summary of the scene.

 



Chosen Ideas | Self Portrait Development

I have decided to go with my third idea, which was set at a beach and there would be a variety of different camera angles and cut away shots to show my different interests.

As said before, I would like to film this at a beach - stony or sandy. I will need to go location scouting to a few different beaches or do some research in order to find the one that would suit my idea, and I need to make sure it is easy to get to.

I have decided not to cast other actors to be in the video as I didn't want it to look too artificial - I want it to be natural. I won't be in every shot as I want to have a few establishing shots, and cut away shots to show the environment. I will adjust the colour tone of the shots through the editing of the video to make it more suited to my personality and emotions. This will be done to make it more personal to me and help add a personal tone. I have also decided to add some quotes that I like and live by to add to the personal aspect of the video and make it more relaxing and interactive.

In terms of props and costumes, I will use my headphones and phone in order to show my interest in music. I will bring a book and my camera to show my interest in reading and photography. I will then wear something Disney related or Giraffe related, to show my interest in those topics. For example; I will wear a top with Mickey Mouse on the front of it, while wearing Giraffe socks. I will also interpret the colour pink into my outfit and video to show that it is my favourite colour.

I now need to plan out a storyboard and write a shot-list in order to get an idea on what the video will look like.

Scene Ideas | Drama Development

For my Drama video, I did some research on the show and started to watch the first few seasons in order to get an idea of what scenes I could re create. At first I wanted a scene that didn't have much dialogue in it, but the series is quite dialogue heavy.

The first scene that I thought about shooting is in Season 1, Episode 1. It's not a very long scene but it's quite dialogue heavy. In this scene Aria and Emily are talking outside Aria's house after not seeing each other for a long time.

 
The second scene that I thought about shooting is in Season 1, Episode 2. This scene is only short and has no dialogue, so I thought it would give me space to experiment with the directing of the scene. In this scene Spencer is going on a run and she sees Jenna who is says something suspicious on the phone.

The third scene that I thought about shooting is in Season 2, Episode 12. This scene is fairly long, but it fits the time duration given. This scene gives me a lot of different opportunities in which I can experiment with the sound design and the camera shots. In this scene all four girls are together when they get a 'present' from their harasser "A" who has given them instructions to follow otherwise there will be consequences.

The fourth scene that I thought about shooting is in Season 2, Episode 12. This scene follows on from the previous scene I have just talked about, but it's a little further on in the episode. In this scene Emily finally gets her 'present' from "A", in her car, who has also given her instructions to follow.

Out of all of the scenes I have looked into, I most likely going to be shooting my third idea or my fourth as they give me a lot of experimental space for the camera shots, lighting and sound design. Although the third scene is dialogue heavy, I feel confident that I will be able to pull it off, and I might add the fourth scene on the end to add to the story.

Ideas | Self Portrait Development

When thinking about ideas for my self portrait video I thought about what my interests are and what I think my personality traits are.

Interests:

• Music
• Disney
• Giraffes
• Make-Up
• Reading
• Photography

Personality:

• Happy
• Bubbly
• Quiet
• Shy
• Ambitious

Idea 1

I thought about basing the whole video on my interests and having a series of shots of myself doing an activity based on them. These activities would all take place in the same location and area and the only thing that would be different is the activity.

Music - I would be listening to music with my headphones in.
Disney - I would either be watching a Disney movie or again listening to a Disney song.
Giraffes - This would be something subtle, like my top would have a picture of a Giraffe on it.
Make-Up - I would be putting make-up on, or watching a YouTube video based on make-up.
Reading - I would be reading a book.
Photography - I would be taking a photo with my camera, or looking through photos on my laptop.

The camera shots I would use is a mid shot, and it would be one long shot but that would be an illusion. I would film individual shots and have the camera turn around me in a circle in order to create a long shot illusion. This idea would be quite difficult to complete, but it would challenge me.

Idea 2

I thought about starting the video with myself reading a book in my bedroom or in another location. Then as the camera shot zoomed into the book itself the shot would change to another scene in a different location. The next few scenes would be actors acting out a story based around myself and showing some of my interests without showing a proper beginning, middle, end story.

Idea 3

I thought about a location that I really enjoy going to and a location that makes me feel positive and happy. This location is the beach - at stony or sandy beach. In the past, whenever I visited the beach I always felt happy and relaxed which is something that makes me feel positive. I had the idea that I would film a variety of cut away shots of  the water and the stones/sand to set the location, while also having shots of myself on the beach.

To make it a self portrait I would follow through with some of my interests like having some shots of me listening to music through my headphones [I could experiment with the sound design for this], reading a book in the peaceful area and taking photos with my camera. To intertwine some of my other interests I would think about what I would wear in order to get my love of Disney or Giraffes across.


I want a video that shows I feel relaxed in the location I am at, and I want the audience to feel peaceful and relaxed as well.

Glamorous | Group Project

To start off this new unit and to help us gain some ideas for our own videos, we were given a group self-portrait task. We were told to direct a group self-portrait video showing what we're like as people and what we are interested in.

 

I was in a group with Nisserin, Troy and Sam, and we decided that we wanted to film something with a humorous tone. We started with the idea of showing off our different talents separately, but we decided that it wouldn't work with the lack of props we had available to us. We then moved onto the idea of a music video type thing. Everyone would have a song each and we would focus on the editing of the video by having a mixture of shots where everyone is in different seats in the car and the song changes based on who is sat at the front.

 

We booked out the camera, the tripod and the go-pro in order to get the shots we wanted. Due to a few problems we decided to use my phone to film inside the car and we would use the camera in order to get some close-up shots of each person. We started filming but eventually decided that the idea wasn't working, and we needed to think of a new idea.

 

Finally, we came up with the idea of everyone making their way towards Nisserin and her car, and during the walk there we would show everyone in a different light while sharing some of our personalities.

 

For Troy we filmed him with his headphones in a put a song over the top. In order of making the video humorous, we chose a song that people wouldn't really think Troy would listen to and we made sure to only add it whenever Troy was in the shot.

For Sam we filmed him talking to his friends, via his phone, and doing a football trick with a piece of gum. Over the top of this footage we added a football stadium atmosphere sound effect and a ball kick sound effect. We did this to show Sam's interest in football.

For me we filmed myself on my phone, scrolling through my Instagram timeline, and taking a photo. In order for it to be clear that a photo was being taken we used a photo sound effect.

Nisserin was stood by her car on her phone, which you can see in some of the shots, but we didn't actually film a lot of her. This is something that we would have done differently as we felt it focused on the three of us and not so much Nisserin.

 

Another aspect of the video that we would have done differently is the exposure and the aperture of the footage. Some of the clips are too exposed and others aren't exposed enough. Due to the time frame in which we had to create the video, and due to the amount of time we had left after changing our ideas, we didn't have time to make sure the white balance and aperture was natural.

 

My favourite thing about this video is the humour within the sound design and the effective camera shot of the car driving away just before the credits start to roll. We also added some extra footage at  the end of us in the car, singing to some songs which added to the humour of the video.

I'm very happy with the outcome of this video, considering the time limit and the limit of location and props.

 

Garry Marshall | Director

Garry Marshall is an American actor, director, writer and producer. He is best known for creating 'Happy Days' and it's various spin-offs, turning Neil Simon's 1965 play 'The Odd Couple' into a television sitcom, and for directing films such as 'Pretty Woman', 'Valentine's Day', 'New Years Eve', 'Princess Diaries' and the sequel 'Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagements'.

Pretty Woman

This film is a 1990 American romantic comedy film set in LA. The story is based on a Hollywood hooker who is hired by a wealthy businessman to be his escort for several business and social functions. The main focus  is the developing relationship between the two characters over the course of her week-long stay with him.

It was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture (Comedy or Musical) and it was nominated or a Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film.

Valentine's Day

This film is a 2010 American romantic comedy film. The film follows a group of related characters and their struggles with love on Valentine's Day. All 19 characters have a story and most of the are intertwined making the story more interesting for the audience.

It was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Romantic Comedy and a People's Choice Award for Favourite Comedy Movie.

New Years Eve

This film is a 2011 American romantic comedy film and is similar to 'Valentine's Day' as it shows the state of several romance stories and it features large ensemble. The film follows a group of related characters and their struggles with love and family on New Years Eve.

Princess Diaries & Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagements

The first film is a 2001 American comedy film and is based on Meg Cabot's 2000 novel of the same name. The film is about a young teenager who discovers that she is the heir to the throne of the  fictional Kingdom of Genovia, which is ruled by her grandmother.

The second film is a 2004 American romantic comedy film and it's the sequel to the first film. The film is set five years after the first film and it's about the young teenager now young adult becoming the Queen of the fictional Kingdom of Genovia and finding a husband to become King along side her.

It was nominated for a BFCA Award for Best Family Film - Live Action, a Golden Trailer Award for Best Animation/Family, a Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie: Comedy,  and a Young Artist Award for Best Family Features Film - Comedy.

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I am particularly interested in Marshall's directing work in 'Valentine's Day', 'New Years Eve' and both of the 'Princess Diaries' films. I like the way, in some of his movies, that the characters are all related in some way and it's gradually revealed within the movie. This is similar to 'Pretty Little Liars (PLL)' as every character is related to the missing teenager in multiple ways. I'm going to make sure that I show the foreshadowing in the series and make it quite clear throughout my directing. I'm going to do this through different camera angles and creating a few POV type shots.