One Word Film Project

 

This was the One Word Film. Students were given one word (in pairs) to base a 1-1:30 video, or "film" on. No dialogue or text was allowed, so students had to rely solely on Shots/Angles/Movement/Composition and Editing Techniques to create a story based on that word.  We were first given time to work on a brainstorming sheet, allowing us to form ideas on the story as well as planned shots and editing techniques. Then we drafted a storyboard of the entire story, detailing what each shot would be composed of. Finally, we were given time to shoot the video and then edit our footage together without our partner, to show off our own editing.

The word given to me and my partner, Mackenna, was "Cruel". When first brainstorming, Mackenna and I bounced ideas off each other trying to grab a concept. The ones we both liked we would write down until we had a short list of ideas. Looking at the list, we chose our favorite idea. This idea was that of a teacher ripping a student's drawing up and then making them clean it, for no reason. For our brainstorming sheet, we came up with our entire plotline first, then built it scene by scene on the sheet to fully flesh out the story. When we moved on to the storyboard, we drew out how we wanted the shots to be composed, helping us visualize the story and the way we should position our camera. It didn't take much since we took what we wrote on the brainstorming sheet and drew it on the storyboard paper. We shot on Mackenna's phone following both papers closely. However, some shots and ideas had to be changed due to the conditions we were in, The biggest change was instead of a cruel teacher we had to do a cruel student, for the teacher that previously informed us she could act in it, was unavailable. Because said teacher was unavailable a lot of the shots had to be repositioned and the shots were more static without much of an extra hand. Once shooting was over, we went to editing. I used Adobe Premier Pro to put on the clips together easily and understandably. I picked my music and sound effects from Pixabay and also added them to the video. Once done, I submitted it with the rest of my class.

For our video, I think the story is very clear and so is the word. We were able to show off the power dynamic between the characters well through the composition of shots and how the characters were affected. To improve those compositions, I would want to try a slower pace, ensuring the shots are placed exactly how we want and shooting even more extra shots than we already had. This way the shots were exactly how we wanted and conveyed the right message. When it came to editing, I put the clips together with proper technique and kept the story alive and well, but I wish I did more like adding transitions to certain shots that would've looked extremely well done with a cross dissolve. For example, when Mackenna was sprinkling the ripped paper over my desk, a fade from her sprinkling it to me watching the paper fall would've been so cool. Overall, I do think our video was adequate, but I wish I had done more.