One Word Film
The One Word Film. OWF for short. It was a daunting task at first. Given a single word, we were to create a short film representing that word. The word given to my partner and I was regret. We immediately got to planning.
Going in, we knew the planning phase would be the most important part of the project. We started by creating a story that would best represent the word regret. Jack (my partner) and I decided on a story about a boy who regrets not spending enough time with his mom before her death. Grieving his late mother at her site of resting, the boy starts remembering the times he could have spent with his mother, and feels a deep regret.
Our first real challenge was to create a set of shots that would visually represent this story. One of the restrictions imposed on us for this assignment was that no dialogue was allowed. This means that our story had to be conveyed mostly through visuals. After some brainstorming and some initial iterations, this is shot list we settled on.
The actual shooting process was quick and only took a couple of hours, which was mostly spent traveling between the shooting locations and waiting for our other actor to arrive. For the most part, the shooting process went well and had no major hiccups.
The editing process was also efficient as I have experience with Adobe Premiere Pro. It was a great help that I did not have to learn how to use the software as I was able to get straight to editing in class the day after shooting, which was completed within two class periods.
Overall, I am satisfied with the film my partner and I produced. I believe my rendition of the project fulfilled my original vision for what I had set out for it to be. The strong points of our film was the cinematography and editing. The shot choice was highly effective in conveying the story being told and was cinematic, which is what we were aiming for. Also, a struggle I was expecting to encounter was having good shot pacing, which is something I have struggled with before. However, while it can be improved on future projects, I am happy with my pacing created through editing. Two things that could have been improved upon was shot stability and sound design. A major mistake on my part was forgetting to bring my tripod on the day of shooting. You can see camera shake in a couple of the shots taking place in the park, which takes away from the professional look we were aiming for. Also, the beginning of the film lacked any sound, save for a soft wind that I added in the background. This is something I would want to redo if given the chance, as with my knowledge now of what makes up a soundscape, I feel I could accurately represent a serene field on a sunny and windy day.
-jd
So yeah, that was the One Word Film project.. You can watch it down here.
