https://dtc-wsuv.org/sbarclay23/project/

I have two ideas that I am working on for my final. For the first idea, I want to go on a small road trip and document the journey while experimenting with cinematic compositions. Taking all of the techniques learned in class and trying to apply them to the video. The style of the video would most likely be montage/continuity.

The second idea would be a small series with one of my friends who is invested in the fitness/gym culture to show the perfect workout split. Each video would represent a single day in the weekly routine. The style would be close to an interview that provides an insightful and engaging experience.

After watching Bandersnatch I think that it is safe to say that it was a very ambitious project with a clear artistic vision. It is clear how the interactive film achieved a lot of success. It makes it feel as if there is a real outcome to your decision, this weight makes the audience stop and think about the choices they have to make in fear of making the wrong call.

Letting the audience have partial influence over the outcomes in the story is a good way to engage the viewer to keep them hooked in the moment. This is something that many video games- more specifically, story games do to keep the player entertained. The more entertainment the media offers will directly impact the amount of time the player base spends. Games such as Red Dead Redemption, Skyrim, Fallout, and especially Telltale games like The Walking Dead have their audience in the palm of their hand, clocking in countless hours in each play session.

As for interactive cinema or the Bandersnatch style of film, I do not think that it is the future of film. I think there is a separate industry away from traditional cinema and video games where it resides as its own genre of media. I do, however, believe that interactive cinema will continue to evolve in the future.

The first loop that I chose was one that I saved a long time ago. This is a massive compilation of photos that all have a spherical focal point that changes size but not position as the photos change. The way the post was edited distorts time in a way and also disrupts any form of continuity that isn’t at the center of attention. There is a lot to unpack for this edit so I will let it speak for itself.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL1veQ61/

The next one is from someone named Caled Wielhouwer on TikTok, I am a huge fan of his camerawork and artistic vision. In this post, he created a montage that loops at the end with a slight matchcut. Each shot is in a different location, time, angle, frame, etc. There is a lot of discontinuity but Caled uses this to his advantage to really capture what he does as a creator.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL1vbs3m/

The last loop is an infinite loop that uses smooth transitions to restart the sequence flawlessly. This loop makes it feel like no time is passing and is easy to watch multiple times without realizing that it is edited.

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTL1v7vsJ/

I think that the art of cinema already uses many varying comic techniques that alter the passing of time in films. I think that the aspects of what McCloud talks about are already used in cinema. This specific shot from Everything Everywhere All at Once and its framing convey the idea of time passing with no dialogue similarly to McCloud’s techniques, no acting, just rocks and incredible camerawork. Of course, context is required to understand that time is passing but the idea still remains. With these methods, all you really need is the use of cinematography.

Not to downplay the film Brumes d’automne but, this film can be simplified as a series of cuts. To me personally, the shots of the surrounding scenery don’t exactly portray what the character is thinking or feeling emotionally. It feels like it is less about the metaphorical values but more about her perspective. This is most notable when the character leans against the tree and is disoriented, the shots start blurring and she begins to appear distressed. After this passes, she begins to continue walking to her destination. The shots are now clearer and there is a parallel between her walking and the leaf being carried by the flow of the water. Throughout the short film, she seems to be thinking about someone, given the context clues given at the beginning of the film.

P.S. I know this is a bit late. I missed a lot of the blogs that were not video assignments.

loop video

sam b

miryssa c

The movie uses many different strategies to keep the story coherent. One of the many things that the director chose to do to keep this film from falling apart was repetition. It is crucial to pay attention to the order of events used to pace all three timelines. It is made apparent that everything that happens will happen again. But, each shot is slightly altered to keep the story fresh but also to make each outcome or conclusion to the story different. Looking back at some of the shots they share the same framing techniques used for the other iterations of the story. A prime example of this is when Lola runs past the old lady with the baby stroller, all three shots of that incident utilize the same camera work. I think that these small things make the film digestible and easy to understand regardless of its abstract creative vision.

Hi, my name is Sam and I am a DTC major. I took DTC 208 last semester and that gave me a lot of motivation to keep exploring the world of video production and cinematography. I look forward to future projects and learning more about the art.