Week 4: Penumbra - a Game of Light and Shadow

It is week four and we have successfully completed our latest project - a remake of Ingmar Bergman's Personna 1966.
It is quite a peculiar fact that we were given a task that is very closely related to our name- Penumbra. Penumbra literally means dim light, more specifically a partial shadow between regions of complete shadow and  complete illumination. What I consider the hardest part of this week's task was recreating Bergman's use of Chiaroscuro and Back Lighting.In order to achieve the highly contrasted signature of Personna we spent a great deal of our  time on set in carefully positioning and directing the lights. This was not an easy task to do given the amount of space we had on set. However, despite the fact that this is the first time we used lights we managed to think creatively of lighting and the way it the affected the image . The lighting we applied was not 100% direct ,we used reflectors and made a good use of the white wall we had which additionally played the role of a second reflector.
As a director my ambition for this piece was to make it as simple and sterile as I can so that the focus is only set on the characters, like in Bergman's Personna. This is why I chose a room with plain white walls which were also perfect for creating a highly contrasted image.Another aspect I wanted to emphasize on was to try to replicate Bergman's psychedelic tone. This is why, I consider the pace of our film,the timing of dialogue and the precise framing and transition of every shot to be very important. Actors movement was also very crucial and had to be staged in a very precise way so that the actors' faces were correctly illuminated and there were not unnecessary shadows, which would have distracted the simplicity of image we aimed to achieve.
One of the things I would change is the pace of the Nurse's actions in such a way that they do not look intimidating to the audience. Although I visually like a lot our production I think that if we had enhanced the brightness and contrast of our footage during the post production it would have been even a closer replica of Personna.*Nevertheless, I am quite happy with the achieved and I consider our latest to be one of our best given the fact that this was the first time we used lights.

*

Week 4: 'Persona' Cinematography

OK I agree that cinematography isn't the best thing what I can do. But anyway I was trying to do my best. Of course we could have better result if I was more prepared for using the camera. The most difficult thing for me was to find the same angle as in the original video. The thing that we could actually see the original video through the big TV while we were filming helped a lot.
In very truth this week's task wasn't that difficult for me as those before. Because we had everything - script, camera's shots and etc. The most difficult thing was to prepare for that. I made notes of all the shots in the video.

I didn't actually use that notes while we were filming because of the TV.

In my opinion it's a very interesting and alternative way to learn how to film and use technique. I think that it would be really useful if students could actually choose a module where they would be re-filming video clips.

And a conclusion would be that I really need to improve my knowledge how to use a camera correctly. And also - patience is a very important thing if you're working in a group. And anyway I am happy what we have done.

Week 4: 'Persona' - 'not nurse' character's view

Meme of this week:

I even quite enjoyed my part of the passive character of the scene. No talking = more attention paid to what I was doing and so I could get better from shot to shot. What helped me was a director (Petar) giving advice on how to act, what to do, all inspired by the extract of 'Persona' being played on a computer as we went on. Freddie (the 'nurse') was great, especially concerning voice, however not everyone during the debrief was convinced by his acting. We managed to 'translate' (as this was the task) around 1:20 minutes of the over-three-minute clip which, given the time restrictions and initial problems with lights (the problem solved and the lights operated by Ang), was not bad at all.

However, these were my thoughts on location. My initial impression was quite torn down by what I saw in the editing suite. To put it short: if I had been the cinematographer, I'd have done it quite differently and according to the director's vision so far as framing, white balance (and so on) are concerned. Nevertheless, post-production worked its magic and so the outcome of our production isn't that disturbing. All in all, week 4 showed us what not to do and what to pay attention to during the week 5 production.

Week 4: 'Persona'

Enjoy! More comments from the authors are soon to come!

Thoughts on Week 3 Production : The Clock

Penumbra pictures is up with its latest production The Clock - written and directed by Georgi Georgiev.
From my observations so far I believe that we are already used to the time restraints of filming and we are establishing a custom of making  quality footage every week. This, however, does not mean that there is no space for improvement in our short films.
What I liked about The Clock's screenplay was its simplicity for it gave us a chance to concentrate more on building the main character and delve deeply into her emotions. In terms of screenplay there is only one element I would have changed- if the cheating husband was presented as a loving caring lover before his confession to his wife - the emotional response of the viewer would have been different. This is because the audience would start to sympathize with the husband after it is given the information that his wife is cheating on him and thus the effect of the dramatic twist would have been stronger.
With regards to directing I loved the director's choices of profile and frontal shots which are shot with a handheld camera. In my view the choice of close ups boosted the visual expressiveness of our film and the camera shake is in perfect union with the narrative for it is a symbol of the main character's emotional instability and provokes the audience to enter even deeper into her troubled world.
What I think I would have changed if I was a director is light and color saturation. The way I envision the script is a combination of a low saturated grays, black and blues contrasted by a low key lighting, this in my opinion, would have been in a better relation to the overall cheerless tone of The Clock.

Being responsible for sound I also composed the minute score of The Clock with a digital music making software (which unfortunately is rather limited ), I also recorded two more tracks but we did not find them suitable in the editing process. My aim was to compose something simplistic with hollow minor tones that would accentuate on the leading character's sadness and internal chaos.
All in all I am very happy with the achieved,the wonderful directorial decisions and good acting and I hope our work together is going to get even better in the future.

The Clock OST

Week 3: 'The Clock' - playing Husband

This image reflects my state of mind at the moment when we assigned week 3 production roles. Also the moment I saw the piece in which I was acting for the first time on the screen. I'm just not able to reproduce or mimic any kind of behaviour without ending up laughing at my inborn acting disability. And when I stop laughing, I just look ridiculous on the screen. This is why I usually choose to stand behind the camera. Unfortunately, this module wants us to take part in literally each stage of the media production and there's nothing we can do about it. Fortunately, everybody else did their best (not that I wasn't trying but simply I can't act, even as an amateur). And it resulted in a great film. And it's not only my opinion. During the debrief on Friday, the tutors' comments were really encouraging to keep on working in this direction. Because of good cinematography by Ang. Because of good use of space and mise-en-scène by Georgi. Because of Egle's great acting skills. Because of well-done sound by Petar. And I only hope that we'll keep on getting better and better as the module progresses, just as we've been doing for the last 3 weeks.

THE CLOCK making of

Week 3: 'The Clock'

Enjoy! More comments from the authors of the film are soon to come.

Directing an emotional drama like The Clock wasn't easy at all. Creating a certain relationship between the characters and the audience was crucial for this piece and I think we have done quite well at the end. Interesting choice of location this time, which I find creative and interesting in terms of mise-en-scene, setting and props as you will be able to see soon.

Making of 'And That's How a Cookie Crumbles'