Investigation Post 2/6

 Work Log:

Monday: Reviewing footage

Tuesday: Researching blog post

Wednesday: Researching for blog post

Thursday: Note taking

Friday: Note taking

Notes on Writing a Film About Loneliness:

While originally my film for this marking period was going to be a music video that focuses on the high school experience of the unforgettable memories and bonds that teenagers make together, I have to postpone that until next marking period due to the wishes of the band who I was going to do it with. Until then, I'll be saving my notes and ideas for the future while I now shift my attention to a new film I'm making: a film on loneliness and isolation. While my last one had elements of isolation, it dealt more with how one deals with the loss of someone important. This film is now putting the spotlight fully on ideas of loneliness. Here is what I've learned from researching portrayals of isolation in film and what I've learned from making one focused on loneliness myself.

I used this article as a place to get information on how to approach this type of film.

Notes:

• Silence is good, it leaves you with less to distract from an emptiness
• Use shots that linger on
• You can use big spaces that are empty
• You can also use small spaces that are confined, restricting, and/or cluttered
• With that, you can also zoom in on characters to restrict them within the actual frame of the shot, or use a framing-technique where most of the shot is cut off with almost only the character being visible.
• Obviously, have your character(s) do things alone, like eating, watching TV, or other day-to-day activities
• Things usually should be slowly paced
• You can have shots that contrast with the loneliness that a character is experiencing. They could witness a family walking their dog, or (quite on the nose) watch Friends on the TV by themselves.
• Having someone repeat the same lonely actions to show a passage of time reinforces that idea of indefinite loneliness, not just a temporary feeling of isolation
• Darker shots have things more blurry and shroud the shot 
• In terms of wardrobe, it's good to have bland and/or darker clothes
• It's hard to get interesting shots because rapid and cool movements are tough with a slow-paced film, composition and angles have to become the interesting part of shots.
• The idea of what you're trying to do is invite the viewer into the mind of the subject. You need to be able to have the viewers feel or at least empathize with those feelings of loneliness.
• Colors should be more muted and having a tint of blue isn't a bad idea.