pmurphymajorone2020

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Conclusion

The proposal for this project was to create a film about the physical masks we wear and metaphorical masks. I wanted to show how these masks have affected people’s identity’s and appearances with the new normal. Initially I wanted to make a funny approach towards my film. however, after researching Gillian Wearing’s creepy lifelike masks inspired me to change my film idea to a more serious one. I was really passionate about involving my art skills into this film module and wanted to recreate this realistic synthetic face mould. I started exploring this film idea further, this idea of wearing two masks seemed so suffocating to me. I began looking into people’s mental health and isolation with corona virus. I wanted to capture this sense of isolation around London transport, Hampshire’s flat fields and open seas. 

From the beginning of this project I was prepared to use new camera equipment for a challenge and a change, I decided to use and buy equipment for an anamorphic lens for an iPhone 11-Pro. To control the camera properties on the ‘FilMic Pro’ app was most challenging as settings were constantly changing. However, this new technology is efficient and fast and I am really pleased with the overall outcome. The super wide angle was amazing to work with and would definitely work with this equipment again. 

After my first test shoot with my actor: attaching the camera around the car steering wheel was a successful shot, however after my second tutorial we concluded that my film idea was too simple and needed more meaning. There had to be more than filming everyday situations. This was the most difficult time in my project. At this point I was also struggling with the subject of my dissertation until I came up with a collaborating idea of the ‘mask’ and ‘femininity’ resulting to the topic of the ‘feminine masquerade’. My film idea came to light after this and was really set and stone on the new idea. I was very pleased and excited to film and plan about the feminine masquerade. Still keeping that similar initial thought from my proposal ‘hiding behind a mask’ I extended on this topic towards women hiding behind this mask of femininity and how women change their appearances for man’s desire. This subject is very personal and relevant in todays society. The way women are expected to conform to this certain ideal of beauty, based on the desires and fantasies of men not women. A grotesque character is defined as inspiring both “empathy and disgust” and the “mask of femininity” can also be understood in this way. I took this approach forward into my film and combined my art skills to make a grotesque creepy mask. After creating two masks out of paper mache and acrylic was a successful result. 

The challenges making this film: travelling down to countryside due to corona virus conditions. Creating large sets involved many props and transporting heavy delicate mirrors from multiple houses. Planning to have three actresses at the same time and making sure they were warm and having constant breaks with food. Managing time was a constant struggle especially using new camera equipment. I only had two chances to film during a pandemic, which put a lot of pressure on my time when filming and planning. In addition, over the Christmas break I got corona virus which was huge struggle towards my work and mental health. I became very weak for weeks after the virus, this was something I had to deal with mentally and personally at home and had to work out a mental system so it wouldn’t affect my work. 

Despite these challenges I feel I have really grown as a filmmaker especially during corona virus. Out of all my films I feel most proud from this one particularly. There was a lot of struggle throughout this module and feel I have solved each problem successfully. I feel more confident as a filmmaker, creating my main set and directing actors was most enjoyable. Looking at all my footage in my edit and putting it together was very rewarding, I am very pleased with the overall outcome. Not only this film has challenged me but I have sent a really important and personal message to my youthful audience about the feminine masquerade.

[pmurphymajorone2020]

FINAL DRAFT - MASK

[pmurphymajorone2020]

What changed before my last shoot and what didn’t work whilst editing

The day before my last shoot I decided not to film extra shots in the beautician scene. I originally planned to show Caitlin creepily sitting up from her bed in creepy slow motion way. I wanted to also show Caitlin walking from that building (old dairy) towards her house as they coincidently are opposite each other. I was planning on using a tracking shot. After repeatedly watching my first edit I noticed how much the last shot ended well as a scene and felt comfortable moving onto the next scene/ last scene. Not seeing the mask straight away in the beautician scene worked very well for the film as it created dispense, building up little glimpses of Caitlin in window reflections and creepily ending to her original wall space of cut out faces. 

In the edit I increased and de-creased sound constantly. For example, in the beautician scene I wanted to enhance the echo diegetic sounds in the marble room as well as the jarring sounds of rubber gloves touching. Next time I will bring a proper recorder so you can’t hear the muffle sounds in the background. The were some scenes were my main actress would be silently screaming when getting waxes, this is where I would have to edit sounds over and take away. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Last scene - film stills

What was hard: I wanted to capture a scene of Caitlin looking in the mirror and seeing her face without the mask to show Caitlin thinking she looks great after a makeover but actually she doesn’t, she’s just taking part of the male gaze. I wanted to indicate this (as well) to the audience, however I also think there is enough obvious information in this scene and it may have over complicated the audience if it the shot wasn’t clear enough. 

What went wrong: Furthermore, I attempted to create one shot of Caitlin walking over to the car to see her reflection. As she bends down I simultaneously grab the mask off her face (without the car trying to see my reflection). So, the audience can then view Caitlin looking her face without the mask. Showing how Caitlin thinks she looks like this. We tried this attempt many times until we came to the best of our ability with it. However, in the edit viewing this shot on a bigger screen I noticed you could see a quick glimpse of my shadow on the car, which wasn’t good enough for the film. I didn’t want to take any risks fro the film looking bad or even more budget. (This shot is shown below in youtube link)

What went well: Filming this scene was much quicker than I thought. Luckily there were lots of strangers cars around the premises which meant I could capture a range of window reflections to find the best ones. I successfully captured a very good reflection of Caitlin from a black out van which was pleased about. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Camera settings - iPhone anamorphic lens

Working with this new camera has a lot more properties and tools i’m use to. Firstly buying the app ‘FilMic Pro’ and buying an anamorphic lens and filters etc, was hassle to begin with. Learning what settings and trying to control everything on an app on an iPhone is very challenging and frustrating. Sometimes the app refreshes and i’ll have to redo the settings and may already be filming. This was a new challenge I had to deal with through out, although there were faults I really enjoyed using an anamorphic lens and believe these are the future in the film industry. As iPhone’s themselves are becoming so advance. I believe this wide angle has achieved significantly with this film and would use this camera lens again. Next time I would like to buy and use a tripod for iPhone’s as there were some shots which could have been better completely still. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

New Mask

ingredients: paper mache and acrylic. I’m happy with the result as it looks creepy and grotesque. I prefer the skin tones in this mask better compared to my first creation. I expanded on these lips too, creating a sort of smirk in the face as well as a pout as if they were lip fillers. Really enjoyed making this mask, hope to make more props in my next film. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

On successful completion of the module the student will be able to: 

1. Develop a written project proposal that clearly and effectively communicates its intentions (LO1); 

2. Demonstrate a coherent conceptual framework for moving image practice citing historical and theoretical references as appropriate (LO2); 

3. Present supporting evidence of an effective context for moving image practice acknowledging working processes and visual references (LO3); 

4. Show aesthetic consideration in the development of an individual approach to moving image practice (LO4); 

5. Evidence appropriate technical skill in the production of a moving image project (LO5); M

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Storyboard

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Theorists who have been inspiring to my work (Dissertation and film)

John Berger part 2 “ways of seeing” “how they should look” - women looking at their own glances. This episode has been an inspiration to my method and structure of my film. The way John Berger states in order from “women dream of themselves being dreamt of” “women look at other women” (Caitlin looking at models in magazines) ... “women constantly meet glance” in the mirror and their reflection, this part related to Caitlin looking at herself through shop windows, car windows and her obsession with the mirror and the way she looks. 

Laura Mulvey has expressed the sexual differences between men and women: men are not sexualised, and women are. She says in her Visual Pleasure and Narrative cinema essay: “In a world ordered by sexual imbalance pleasure in looking has been split between active/male and passive/ female” This hugely affected my film and essay as well. The whole concept of the male gaze and desire initiated form her essay and not only inspired my film but has changed my view on cinema. Separating myself from the camera and seeing from a female perspective and revealing voyeuristic eye in cinema. 

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Here is my first approach making my grotesque mask. First I ordered a paper mache mask-base then I added layers of paper mache strips to areas around the face to enhance and enlarge certain features. I wanted to create huge lips to correlate to the new modern day women. Most women get lip fillers and plastic surgery to achieve this ideal of beauty, spending thousands of pounds and young girls are always pouting their lips in photographs and selfies. This important feature is good example of the grotesque: enlarging features on the face is a basic feature of a grotesque character too. In Bakhtin Bakhan book Rabelais, he refers these enlargements as an “exaggeration” and states them as “fantastic dimensions”.

Although this mask was a good result it is not perfect. I plan to make another mask, this time I am going to make sure the paper mache is extra wet to smooth out the holes. As you can see above the there are many dented holes in the face, I do not want this visible when filming. The colour scheme could be improved too as I think the colours may be a bit too bright here. 

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Researching colour scheme for my mask

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FIRST EDIT - MASK

HOW MY FILM IDEA CHANGED

Looking back at my my proposal essay from last year: “I acknowledged a new appreciation of cinema and an awareness of the voyeuristic eye. When researching Laura Mulvey’s film, Riddle of The Sphinx, Mulvey helped me to perceive film from a woman’s true perspective, rather than being overshadowed by the often masculine perspective eye of the viewer.” Relating this thought with my practice, project 9: I want to explore women who hide behind this mask of femininity, who change their appearance for man’s desire. Further investigating the feminine masquerade looking into the element of desire, the way women participate for man’s desire.

In our patriarchy society women are made to wear a mask: they are expected to conform to certain ideal of beauty, based on the desires and fantasies of men not women. A grotesque character is defined as inspiring both “empathy and disgust” and the “mask of feminity” can also be understood in this way. As a woman I am empathetic to the stereotypical representation of women on screen because I understand the pressure to make yourself attractive by male standards, I am also disgusted by this representation as it is false. It binds women to men, imprisoning them behind this mask, which is put on for the male gaze. As a woman, when I’m observing the screen from this voyeuristic perspective I keenly feel the pressure to perpetuate this representation.

My film is about an untidy girl (Caitlin actress) who looks through magazines, cutting up faces of models and sticking them on her bedroom wall, showing her obsession and concentration on the models expression and poses. Then will show her weird obsession with the mirror, watching her mimic these faces we see in (advertisement) magazines and on screen. But like most girls we do tend to stare at ourselves in the mirror and any reflection we can find, practicing our face for the world, of man’s desire. Then will show her in shops, walking through the big isles of makeup, to capture the ridiculous amounts of products we are told to use for man’s desire. Second part: creepy transition of Caitlin getting a makeover in a horror like sinario, she will get all the classic treatment, waxing legs, face masks and makeup. Then the finishing product will show Caitlin with a gross, grotesquely looking mask and the metaphor for the feminine masquerade. I plan to make this mask out of papier-mâché and paint gloomy scary colours.

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Behind the scenes and continuity shots

Below shows some products I bought for the shoot as prop use and for show incase in shot. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

IMPORTANT NOTE and CHANGE when I was FILMING:

When filming I didn’t end up using the church scene as I didn’t want to overcomplicate the narrative. In the grotesque scene I decided to use female beauticians rather then males; I was unable to find enough males present and I felt that my film was going my own direction rather than following quotes from John Berger’s ways of seeing. I feel comfortable with these changes and happy with the outcome of my other female actresses. The ‘covid protection masks’ didn’t arrive in time so I ended up using the usual covid masks, which turned out to be just as affective. As an alternative I bought blue rubber doctor gloves for them to wear and to dress the part.

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Film Stills

‘Superdrug makeup isle’ 

Reflection shot, girl looking at herself. 

Relationship with mirrors. I set up this scene borrowing mirrors from aunties and sisters and parents who live close by. It took me about a full day transporting everything to this location safely. 

Here are two other actresses who are played as creepy beauticians, I purposely filmed this scene in the dark/at night to add to the gloominess of the ‘grotesque transition scene’. I displayed makeup and beauty products around the room to suggest this is a beauty scene. This scene is very important as it is Caitlin’s (actress) transition scene. I wanted to show a different approach to girls getting their hair and makeup done as it is advertised and known to be a glamorous, luxurious activity to do but I want to send a message saying this is not right. This should not be known as a glamorous activity to do because it supports towards the male gaze desire. Making it a characteristic of a grotesque character. 

[pmurphymajorone2020]

Film Stills

Here shows Caitlin looking at a range of feminine magazines which I bought in as props. I wanted to visually show and remind people how often and easily we absorb these faces and appearances which we have to live up to. Caitlin is shown with a still expression. Giving a sense that she’s not enjoying what she’s seeing but feels the need to absorb all these images. 

This is also an important shot. The activity of cutting up a face and removing it from the magazine and her body seemed powerful a in a sense. It shows how often these faces are only used for their looks rather than who they are as a person. 

Here shows an important and sort of terrifying, unusual shot of magazine cut out of faces. This is known to be a general activity when young girls place cut outs of their role models on their bedroom walls. However I wanted to show a slight different approach. Revealing how creepy and weird it actually is to have these faces on your walls and how sad it is that girls love up to these faces wanting to look like these faces. Girls will be constantly changing their faces by getting plastic surgery, face lifts and lip fillers, layering cakes of makeup, hair dye and hair extensions. This shot represents all this. I purposely shot this at a low angle showing how she looks up to these faces. 

Here shows the beginning of her transition, when she starts to recognise herself in the mirror as not the ones we see in adverts and screens. We see how she starts to mimic the faces and positions of model girls.