[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/215199668[/vimeo]

 

The main skill I acquired during this project was colour grading in post-production. I initially had a very complex and challenging idea for my cineroman as I wanted to portray the struggles of different mental health problems, my photoshoot was successful and I was really happy with the images I had captured but the editing process was not as easy. I could not find a sequence in which the narrative for my story came across and I further could not find a soundtrack to support the narrative. I contemplated creating my own soundtrack but even then, I was unsure whether I could make the narrative work. As a result of this, I decided to slightly change the narrative and use the software I had available to create a similar story but in a more creative and ambiguous way.

To do this, Magic Bullet was used to add effects and change the colour and feel of the images to present the two varying states my character is in and imply the conflict she feels in her life, between her inner persona and what she shows to other people. When first shown Magic Bullet, I was apprehensive to use it as I didn’t want the images to look too contrived and edited. However, when I decided to change the narrative I felt I could use it to my advantage. To connote the ‘high’ state the character was feeling I tried to change the colours and add some blur in order to show the loss of attachment to society or herself. The images I had captured to present this were naturally brighter and less in focus as I purposely used fairy lights over the camera lens and raised the aperture to present a delusional and brighter than reality feel. Whereas as the states of confusion I wanted to present as natural and almost darker so I left the overall colour and tone of the images but made them look more confusing by contouring and moving the points of focus. The camera settings used to create a sense of distortion and confusion show the imbalance in her mind; to do this I changed the shutter speed so it captured the motions of her shaking her head and had varied results which I have used in the sequence. The soundtrack I chose I used to connote tragedy and the sadness of this person’s feelings and her struggles.

Throughout the shoot, I had to be mindful of the sensitive subject’s I was trying to present and therefore did a lot of research into how they have previously been presented and showcased in a sensitive manner.  The camera techniques I used were demonstrated by the technicians in a tutorial and then further researched. They accurately helped me to display what I was trying to represent.

Stephen Williams Photography (no date) Theory of Photography: Shutter Speed [Internet]. Available from http://www.stephenwilliamsphotography.com/shutter-speed.html [Accessed 4th November 2016].