In visual studies class we were shown a clip from the film “Don’t Look Now” which we also discussed in some detail showing how concepts and ideas were portrayed in the clip through effects such as colour use, reflections, different settings and symbolism. The clip was of a girl drowning in water, with the use of the colour red used in clothes to symbolise blood and danger. The setting was both macabre and beautiful, sad and mysterious. We were all set an assignment to create a one and a half minute film on a theme of our choice, that should use colour and other effects to convey any ideas that we wished to include, using ideas developed from watching the clip and discussing it in class.
After I got back home I started thinking about what basic theme I would wish to use for my film, before I could do further research to develop my basic idea. I remembered the “Here is Always Somewhere Else” project I did at the start of university, based on the documentary about the mysterious disappearance and probable drowning of Jan Bas Alder at sea and although I could only see the trailer and a clip from the documentary online I did like what I saw, it was strangely beautiful and the sea was vast and beautiful, while also being wild and dangerous. The clip from “Don’t Look Now” was also about drowning in water. This made me think that maybe it would be a good idea to make this a theme for my short film, of someone having disappeared in water, probably drowned, which would combine the beauty of the water with the sadness of death.
In the film “Don’t Look Now” it’s a little girl that drowns to death in a lake while wearing red as seen in the image below, which I found very moving and sad yet the image is colourful and the setting is beautiful.
In the documentary “Here is Always Somewhere Else”, the imagery in the film is described as being very evocative. I love imagery of the sea. I couldn’t find images from the film, only clips but I found an image that reminds me of it and which appealed to me because the sea is so wild, with crashing white foam, looking stunning and deadly. I also like the sky, with the dark blue tones and the yellow light shining through which I find looks mysterious and threatening.
I was glad to decide to set the film in water as I have always loved water, since I was a young child. I love the sound and feel and look of it. I love seeing reflections in water, especially light being reflected. I especially love wild water, to see the water frothing white. In Clydach there is a river and a canal and lots of waterfalls which I love seeing, especially the waterfalls. It has also been raining heavily which means the water would be wilder and faster flowing.
I then tried to decide what exactly I wanted the scene to be and realised that if it was about a young girl it would be much more impactful especially since people are so protective of children and children can drown. The idea of a young girl drowning should be more moving.
I didn’t have any props that would suit this theme so I went out for an hour or two going around charity shops trying to find things to help represent the theme for this project. i tried to get a small red coat because red can suggest blood and is also bright and colourful and would stand out in the scene. Unfortunately I couldn’t find one but I did get a pink little girls coat which I felt would work because it’s pretty, it’s bright, it’s a colour that immediately would make you think of little girls. I thought this would work well for the scene. I also got a small pretty white bear as white can represent purity/innocence and the prettiness should add sadness to the scene given what had happened. I also got a child’s red fluffy heart shaped bag as it quite symbolic, since red is the colour of blood and the heart shape makes us think of how loved the child is and how heartbroken the parents would be. I got red bath paint, for young children, that fades away in water so it doesn’t harm the environment, to represent blood. I also got string to secure the coat so it didn’t get swept away by the unrelenting force of the water and damage the environment. Lastly I got some blue girls jeans as this would make it look more natural.
I now needed to narrow down the options available in terms of watery setting for the film as there are rivers, canals and waterfalls nearby, and I wanted to choose the best for the film. I went out to different locations in Clydach to see what might work for my project. I decided one of the waterfalls would be perfect as the water there was amazingly violent, wild and frothy but also looked beautiful. The waterfall was practically bursting with water due to the amount of rain recently.
I looked at the waterfall from different angles to see which suited best and liked two perspectives especially. One location was the top of the waterfall looking down upon it cascading beneath me as I could have the red paint go down the waterfall, within the wild froth which I thought would combine beautiful colour in the water with the suggestion of blood flowing and some disaster, flowing down and slowly away in the stream below. The second location was at the base of the waterfall angled upwards towards its top, filming the froth flowing towards me and the blood flowing down towards me. However the path down to there wasn’t safe due to all the rain and no railing and also I could capture the scale of the waterfall better from above and it would look more unusual and dramatic, and I liked the waterfall flowing down into a stream leading away from the scene of the disaster. I decided to use the top perspective looking down on the waterfall so now it was time to decide how best to film.
I hung the girl’s coat on a tree stump with the back facing me as this would give the outline of a girls shape standing there looking over the waterfall, hood up, but instead of it being a girl it’s just a coat. This would add a sense of mystery about what has happened to the girl and sadness because something is wrong, but would be bright and cheerful in colour which would stand out and it would add irony to have such a cheerful colour suggesting loss and death.
I carefully placed the toys just below it to make it look like the girl was playing there when something happened to her. The setting of the toys also make you think of a memorial set after people get killed in accidents, though I realised this after starting filming. I liked this added symbolism so kept it like this.
I tied the jeans to a log nearby using the string and let it get carried away a bit by the waterfall, to add drama and suggest the girl was swept away and creating mystery as why some clothes were left behind, but no body inside them, to hint at maybe something otherworldly having happened. When it was time to start the recording I had a friend pour the red paint into the waterfall to make it look like blood on the water, flowing away, and flicking some to look like blood on the side (which would wash away the second it rained.)
I took two clips of this scene. One clip was the professional one which calmly showed the scene with the camera moving very slowly to show different perspectives, starting on a close up of the coat then panning down to the toys before focusing down on the jeans in the water, then following the trail of fake blood flowing into the water and through the froth down to the base of the waterfall, with the blood slowly fading away and disappearing, ending with a long shot on the waterfall . This was to set the scene, more like a documentary like “Here Is Always somewhere Else”. This should look sad and beautiful and evocative, but is distant, showing the scene rather than feeling involved in the scene personally.
The second clip was made to look like as if someone had happened to be filming as they walked along a beautiful setting and came across the scene. It is supposed to suggest shock on the part of the filmmaker to what is seen, to make it more personal and make it seem more real, as if it actually occurred. As if someone just noticed the coat and toys and was looking around frantically for the girl, moving the film camera all around the area rapidly, in all directions, as if panicked and searching desperately. The clip starts by looking down at the ground-as if the person is just walking around, looking down, then it flashes to the coat, pans down to the toys, then looks around at the water in all directions, focusing on the blood spatter on the ground and panning down the waterfall and down the stream into the distance. I think I preferred this film clip because it felt more involved and had more emotional impact. The waterfall was stunning in both film clips, wild and dramatic but the suggestion of the death of a child added sadness to the scene.
After doing the films I decided to also take some photographs of the scene and of the waterfall from a different angles since I liked the imagery and I have always loved the waterfall. I include those here.
I also then went wandering around the area to just take other photographs for my personal pleasure, focusing on images by the other water areas in Clydach. I just wanted to continue photographing water for a while in different locations. To my surprise, as I was walking alongside the river I came across something I found ridiculously amusing and ironic. I found a red child’s coat lying on the ground right next to the river. It was amusing because I went to the trouble of setting up an artificial scene and then came across a naturally occurring scene that resembled my film! And it was especially ironic that the coat was bright red since I hadn’t been able to find one that colour anywhere, and I found it just laying there. I took a photograph of course and have included it below.
Once I got home I looked at everything I had done. I definitely preferred the second video clip. I took both to university and it was suggested that I take another film based on the same scene, but finesse it further, paying more attention to the water itself, and the colours and shapes that can be found in water. I created this extra video today on both my i pad and camera and there were slight differences to the earlier clips.
I kept the coat hanging on the tree as I liked the brightness, the way it seemed like a young girl looking down on the waterfall from the distance, and the shape formed. I kept the heart and white bear where they were, to look like toys the girl had left behind and also to make the viewer think of toys left behind at memorials. I started the clip by focusing on the water flowing calmly to the waterfall and looking down the waterfall before turning the camera on the coat, as if spotting it while exploring.
I panned the camera down the coat to the toys underneath and closed in on them then frantically and jerkily turned the camera in all directions, as if panicked and searching for signs of a body. I closed the camera view on droplets of blood on a tree branch then followed the trunk of the tree down, seeing more redness along it’s base to suggest blood. There were red paint droplets on the bank to suggest some disaster. As I focused the camera in the water I followed a red toy dragon swept away in the water, maybe another toy, but also red for blood and danger, and a dragon as I love fantasy and because it makes us think maybe something fantastical happened to the girl, and also to hint that the film clip was taken in Wales. I close my focus on the toy when it comes to rest on some rocks. Red paint was also seen flowing in the water, fading as it flowed, to suggest blood in the water, and the camera follows the path of the paint.
I then clamber over rocks to get closer to the waterfall itself, focusing on the water flowing over the rocks. In the distance can be seen a pink top washed up on some rocks, which I turn my camera towards, to suggest something terrible has happened but also as the pink colour stands out vividly in the middle of the white froth of the waterfall, adding interest and contrast to the view of the waterfall. It ends with the camera looking along the peaceful stream stretching into the distance.
I found the ipad easier to use, with the film being smoother and more focused, but I couldn’t use it to close in on the pink top in the water or to take close up images of the waterfall itself. The film camera was more adaptable. I hope to include the film camera video clip, though haven’t been able to work out how to add it to the blog yet.
UPDATE
I have now managed to upload the initial video and this is included now. Unfortunately, the second video was too long to be updated this week so will add it to the blog next week.
UPDATE
The video is now available for watching, so view at your leisure
gwilymphotography 