MIND GAMES is an interesting experimental short film as it divides 3 mental illnesses into 3 minutes. The first scene consists of a man standing in an underpass and having clones of himself jump into his body. The second scene consists of a girl sitting in a kitchen playing with her food. Finally the third shot consists of a man standing in a bridge, changing his facial expression via jump cuts. These scenes are shot well in terms of the composition and colour grading. In contrast, the quality of the footage is blurry at times due to stretching the footage for framing and contains a lot of noise. Also the footage overall is jump running at 15 fps and decreases the flow of the slow-motion, Although the SFX work really well in blending several sections of footage together to create one seamless shot.
I personally worked on editing the video footage and the SFX; I also contributed to 50% of the idea building and research for this project. First we decided to use mental illness for our products' subject, and then we used the website www.mind.org.uk/ to research three mental illnesses (Schizophrenia, Bulimia and Bipolar Disorder). We then discussed what we wanted to happen in each scene. Originally we wanted to do a shot where we have the actor cloned several times shouting at himself in a chair, but we quickly discarded that idea due to the need of a green screen. We instead chose to have clones jump into the actors body, which was very difficult via the technique of masking and Rotoscoping. This technique was the same in the next scene, although the final scene was easy with just jump cuts. Overall the final film was not far off from our original idea after overcoming the green screen issue.
I have learnt from this project to think outside the box and explore ideas as sometimes being adventurous can pay off. We experimented with the technique called Rotoscoping, which involves masking round a section of footage and blending it into separate footage to make one overlaid image. This technique is similar to green screen technique but involved tweaking the mask frame by frame.
I have also learnt to take more of a back seat when working on a project, as I tend to take control of the project and do everything myself. Working with Carly and breaking down the work equally has stopped a lot of the usual stress I encounter when working on a project. Although I still tend to have strong opinion on how things should be done, I feel I am able to trust my colleagues to do well which allow me to focus on my section of the work.
In the terms of team work, I and Carly worked extremely well together by delegating the work 50:50. We divided the work based on the strength, skills and fair equal work load. I personally worked on the post-production video editing and SFX and Carly took control of the filming. We both recorded the audio and Carly edited the recordings together to create the audio piece. We both came up with the idea to use mental illness as the subject of our film and we chose an illness each to research and morphed our findings together for our research.
Click here for the document form of this evaluation.
Monday, 14 December 2015
MIND GAMES - Experimental Short Film (Final Cut)
After several peer assessments involving detailed verbal feedback, I reviewed the latest draft cut of MIND GAMES and applied the required changes to both video and audio. After fixing the exporting problem and exporting in the highest quality out footage will allow, our final cut of MIND GAMES is ready.
Click the links below to watch the final cut edit of MIND GAMES.
Click the links below to watch the final cut edit of MIND GAMES.
- Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/148929985
Thursday, 10 December 2015
MIND GAMES - Experimental Short Film (Locations and Draft Edits)
After our MIND GAMES audio drama was completed, we started production on our film adaptation. We shot at 3 location for each sections of the film on the 29th November 2015.
MIND GAMES visuals will represent a visual interpretation for each mental illness and will be different from each other but will link to the audio, which will give an audible representation. Each shot will have each actor/actress acting toward the mental illness that their characters suffer from; Schizophrenia, Bulimia and Bipolar Disorder.
The experimental approach for this short film will be structural via each shot containing the same shot. Each shot will consist of 1 continuous shot lasting 1 minute each and will be pull away/zoom out styled shot; starting with a close up of the actor's/actress' face and ending on a wide shot showing the actor/actress and the surrounding scene. This will be done to create a sense of anxiety on the audience as the shot will drag on for to long without cutting. In contrast to this, the shot will be pulling away/zooming out from the actor/actress. This will represent how the character feels enclosed and suffocated by their illness, which is represented by the close up. This will then flow into representing the character feeling alone and isolated with no one to help, which is represented by the wide shot.
The use of close up to wide shot is used to show the emotions of the character and to reveal what is happening to them in their mind by revealing the scene, which represents their mind. for example; Schizophrenia - dark underpass with several people (voices/self manifested emotions), Bulimia - Kitchen, empty with nothing but the character and food (herself vs food) and Bipolar - dark enclosed bridge filled with graffiti, urban and dark (many different emotions/people but only one person).
Location 1 - Schizophrenia: Empty Underpass
About the location:
The underpass is located next to Aldi on St Mary's Gate. The underpass is well lit, looks amazing in a composition and the lines of the lights and tiles helps drag the eyes of the audience to the centre of the scene, which is the character.
About the Scene/Shoot:
This scene consists of the main protagonist having manifested clones of himself appear and jump into his body taking over his emotions and beating him physically, emotionally and mentally.
Location 2 - Bulimia: Empty Kitchen
About the location:
The kitchen is located at the Derwent Students / Sheffield Hallam Accommodation, The Trigon on Shoreham Street. We used this kitchen as it was easily accessible but also because the kitchen has a large area, which made the pull away/zoom out technique possible. The lighting in the kitchen also creates a good look as it darkens the background but keep the actress lit, which makes the audience focus more on the actress.
About the Scene/Shoot:
Location 3 - Bipolar Disorder: Enclosed Railway Bridge
About the location:
About the Scene/Shoot:
Equipment List:
The underpass is located next to Aldi on St Mary's Gate. The underpass is well lit, looks amazing in a composition and the lines of the lights and tiles helps drag the eyes of the audience to the centre of the scene, which is the character.
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| Camera position in the underpass for the first scene: Schizophrenia |
This scene consists of the main protagonist having manifested clones of himself appear and jump into his body taking over his emotions and beating him physically, emotionally and mentally.
The kitchen is located at the Derwent Students / Sheffield Hallam Accommodation, The Trigon on Shoreham Street. We used this kitchen as it was easily accessible but also because the kitchen has a large area, which made the pull away/zoom out technique possible. The lighting in the kitchen also creates a good look as it darkens the background but keep the actress lit, which makes the audience focus more on the actress.
 |
| Camera position on the kitchen for the second scene: Bulimia |
This scene consists of a girl with Bulimia trying to eat a bowl of pasta and is trying to fight the struggle that is surfacing.
The bridge that leads over the railway is located to the right of the train station. This location fits the scene well as it works will with composition and forcing the line of focus onto the actor and looks very dark, urban and gritty. With the use of an open ceiling, natural light flows through the bridge and has a long range of depth, which creates a nice depth of field.
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| Camera position on the railway bridge for the third scene: Bipolar Disorder |
- Canon XF100
- Standard Film Tripod
6 Inspirational Images
For visual inspiration for the film interpretation of 'MIND GAMES', me and my partner created 6 images to inspire and help create visual ideas for our film. We created two images per section/mental illness based on ideas we want to use in the film or images to represent the subject of the film.
Between me and my partner, we took 3 images each and I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 to manipulate the images to fit the tone and themes of our film.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that cause a person to have hallucinations, delusions, changes in behaviour and confusion on what is real due to the intense hallucinations and delusions. Schizophrenia is described as a psychotic illness and affects on average 1 in 100 people, it affects men and women equally and is normally diagnosed between the ages of 15 to 35.
Schizophrenia can cause split personality disorder and give a person a very violent behaviour. It is unknown what exactly causes Schizophrenia but it can be treated with medication and therapy, both professional or talking to someone who can understand.
(Schizophrenia, NHS, 2014)
More Information can be found on the NHS website: Click Here
Images:
This image represents the hallucinations that a person with schizophrenia can experience; from seeing different versions of themselves or imaginations and with the feeling of self hatred and depression can drive the person to feel like they aren't worth anything and can lead to suicidal thoughts.
This image is an idea that we wanted to use for our film; the shot will consist of a mid-shot with insults such as fat, ugly, munter etc. The words will appear and disappear as smoke fading in and out the shot. They represent the words that the bullies and the person with Bulimia will use to hurt that person and make then feel bad.
Between me and my partner, we took 3 images each and I used Adobe Photoshop CS6 to manipulate the images to fit the tone and themes of our film.
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental illness that cause a person to have hallucinations, delusions, changes in behaviour and confusion on what is real due to the intense hallucinations and delusions. Schizophrenia is described as a psychotic illness and affects on average 1 in 100 people, it affects men and women equally and is normally diagnosed between the ages of 15 to 35.
Schizophrenia can cause split personality disorder and give a person a very violent behaviour. It is unknown what exactly causes Schizophrenia but it can be treated with medication and therapy, both professional or talking to someone who can understand.
(Schizophrenia, NHS, 2014)
More Information can be found on the NHS website: Click Here
Images:
 |
| Photographed by Liam Atkinson |
This image represents the hallucinations that a person with schizophrenia can experience; from seeing different versions of themselves or imaginations and with the feeling of self hatred and depression can drive the person to feel like they aren't worth anything and can lead to suicidal thoughts.
 |
| Photographed by Liam Atkinson |
This image represents the many voices and emotions some with schizophrenia can experience; from laughter, anger, sadness, fear and madness etc. The many emotions can overwhelm the person and can lead to a form of depression.
Bulimia
Bulimia is an eating disorder that is classed as a mental health condition. Someone with Bulimia as an issue with their weight that becomes obsessive and creates a very low self-esteem. This can also lead to depression and self-harm and the desire to vomit. The obsession with weight can cause someone with Bulimia to starve themselves to a dangerous extent, then binge eat for nutrients. After binge eating, the person will purge their bodies of food by making themselves vomit or take laxatives.
Bulimia affects men and women, although Bulimia is mostly common with woman. Studies show that and estimated 1.6 million Britons suffer from a form of eating disorder and an estimate of 25% of them may be male. In conjunction 8% of woman have had or will experience an eating disorder at some point in their lives. This can occur at any point in their lives, but on most commonly between the ages of 16 to 40 and can start on average at the ages of 18 or 19. Bulimia can be treated by support, monitored care and therapy.
(Bulimia, NHS, 2015)
More information on Bulimia can be found on the NHS website: Click Here
Images:
 |
| Photographed by Carly Curwen |
This image is an idea that we wanted to use for our film; the shot will consist of a mid-shot with insults such as fat, ugly, munter etc. The words will appear and disappear as smoke fading in and out the shot. They represent the words that the bullies and the person with Bulimia will use to hurt that person and make then feel bad.
 |
| Photographed by Carly Curwen |
This image represents the main stereotype of Bulimia, which is a person making themselves sick to lose wait or just to get ride of what is in their stomach. Also this is an idea for a potential shot we could use in our film.
Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar Disorder is known as manic depression that affects the moods of a person causing them to have extreme mood swings. A person with Bipolar will randomly and uncontrollably switch between depression (sadness) to Mania (Happy/Overactive).
When a person with Bipolar experiences depression, they can feel extreme feelings of worthless, loneliness and even strong thoughts of suicide. In contrast to this they can also experience Mania, which is when you feel very strong feelings of happiness and motivation for plans and ideas. This can lead to not feeling the need to eat or sleep, talking really fast and annoyingly hyperactive. Alternative with Mania, a person with Bipolar an enter a form of psychosis. This means they can see and here things that aren't there and depending on how the person feels can extremely violent or unaware of their real surroundings.
Bipolar can occur between the ages of 18 to 24 to both men and women and can affect 1 in 100 adults. The type of mood swings, the intensity of the mood swing and how long the mood swings last is completely random and depends on that person specifically. Bipolar Disorder can be treated by medication to control depression, mania or both and therapy.
Bipolar can occur between the ages of 18 to 24 to both men and women and can affect 1 in 100 adults. The type of mood swings, the intensity of the mood swing and how long the mood swings last is completely random and depends on that person specifically. Bipolar Disorder can be treated by medication to control depression, mania or both and therapy.
(Bipolar Disorder, NHS, 2014)
More information on Bipolar Disorder can be found on the NHS website: Click Here
Images:
 |
| Photographed by Carly Curwen |
This image represents how someone with Bipolar Disorder could feel that the world is a grey and dark place that they don't blend into and how it can make them feel depressed. Also how someone with Bipolar can feel isolated and alone.
 |
| Photographed by Liam Atkinson |
This image represents the polar sides of humans emotions; someone can be colourful and happy and the next minute be dark and angry and/or sad. The same person with two emotions, two personalities hidden inside both fighting to the surface like Jekyll and Hyde.
Bibliography:
- Anon, (2014). Schizophrenia - NHS [Online]. [Date Last Accessed: 10/12/2015]. URL: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Schizophrenia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
- Anon, (2015). Bulimia - NHS [Online]. [Date Last Accessed: 10/12/2015]. URL: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/bulimia/Pages/Introduction.aspx
- Anon, (2014). Bipolar Disorder - NHS [Online]. [Date Last Accessed: 10/12/2015]. URL: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Bipolar-disorder/Pages/Introduction.aspx
*UPDATE* MIND GAMES - Experimental Audio Drama
Due to one-to-ones and peer assessments, MIND GAMES Audio has been updated. This audio drama now consists of all 3 mental health illnesses and as a running duration of 3 minutes.
Click Here to listen to the first draft of 'MIND GAMES'
Click Here to listen to the final cut of 'MIND GAMES'
Click Here to listen to the first draft of 'MIND GAMES'
Click Here to listen to the final cut of 'MIND GAMES'
MIND GAMES - Experimental Audio Drama
MIND GAMES is a 3 minute Audio Drama based on 3 mental illness'. The audio piece is split into 3 one minute sections; Schizophrenia, Bulimia and Bipolar Disorder. This Audio piece has been created to give the listener the sense of what it would be like to have that mental disorder by using sounds to create an emotional anxiety. The first draft for this product has a running duration of 1:58 minutes.
For the pre-production, we created a sound log and a call sheet. Documents and be found in the links below:
Click Here to listen to the first draft of 'MIND GAMES' [Edited: 28/10/2015]
Equipment List:
For the pre-production, we created a sound log and a call sheet. Documents and be found in the links below:
Click Here to listen to the first draft of 'MIND GAMES' [Edited: 28/10/2015]
Equipment List:
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