Beetroots and Roses is a dialogue driven
film, with most of which being monologue, the decision making on sequencing the
images and cuts of the film, therefore, has already been mapped out in the
script. Other than the sound that
was recorded on the shooting day, no additional sound design was required. I have decided to keep the camera work
and sound simple to allow the dialogues to shine and be the sole aspect of the
sound department.
The editing part, however, is not
without its own difficulties. As
it being a student film, many takes were required to achieve the vision I
wanted from the film and as is the case with many actors, the increasing number
of takes could also reduce the quality of acting, though the camera work may be
improving. The challenge of this
edit lied in deciding which takes to use for the editing, whether a take should
be considered for the quality of the actor’s performance or the camera
work. This was the most difficult
part of the edit. In term of
“writing/the final writing stage”, one may say that this is similar to an
author having to decide whether substance and the intellectual depth of the
writing has to be compromised for its marketing and economy beneficiary. This however, may come down to the
artistic integrity of the filmmaker/author. On my part, I have decided to use a take that allowed the
performance to shine, though the image was somewhat soft, without the sharpest
focus that I would have desired.
Though after many viewings of the film, the part where the image was not
its sharpest, this also added a layer of meaning to the film, the gradual
reveal of the secret of the life and of the words which the actress relayed to
the audience. Now that the edit is
completed and I have had time to reflect on the camera direction aspect of the
film, I would have liked to include a slow focus pull to have the gradual
reveal of the actress’ face as she whispered to us a most sacred secret of
life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fKiUTObvcvk -
Jean Cocteau – the blood of the poet
I have chosen
this clip as I love how editing can really bring magic and surrealism to film
(yes, even in the days where special effects were yet available) by using the
very classical method of filmmaking, without special effects, the use of blue
screen or green screen, this maybe the truest, most authentic form of
filmmaking. Here the mediums of
liquid and glass, both capable of reflection are brought together. And in a swift cut of the pictures, the
liquid again became the glass. Anything
can truly happen in film, so long as the writer/filmmaker has the wildest
imagination. It is just as Albert
Einstein once said “imagination is more important than knowledge” or “the true
sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination”. In this clip, Jean Cocteau showed how
magic in film is being done without today technology, and with it, he showed
poetry, a profound use of symbolism and an imagination that I could only wish
for. I hope to achieve magic and
poetry in film with simplicity arises from imagination and creativity.
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