stanleyoram

[stanleyoram]

My A-Level film

The initial draft of my A-level short film was much vaguer in its plot. I wanted to experiment with minimal dialogue to make the audience rely on their imagination and inference - something I feel modern viewers struggle with, thanks to the flood of high-budget blockbusters that prioritise profit over art. Although having to be changed, the process made me realise how much I still want to experiment, and develop my voice. Through this course, I aim to sharpen my vision, both visually and thematically, while aiming for more polished, refined work. But I’m not fixed on one direction; I’m excited to grow and adapt, always open to new ideas and collaboration, which makes me a good fit for this course.

For everything in my portfolio, I took on every role in production and post-production, with post-production being the most enjoyable. In my editing, I wanted to create space and evoke emotion through sequencing, while also carving out my own distinct style, one Inspired by Adam Curtis, Lev Kuleshov, Gaspar Noé, and Jean-Luc Godard - using jump cuts, fast-paced editing, and meticulously arranged scenes to create an uncomfortable atmosphere. I also distorted everyday sounds, music, and media to create an overwhelming industrial vibe, which was “too much” for my teacher and classmates - exactly what I was aiming for. This was influenced by artists like Suicide, Silver Apples, and Amon Düül.

My film won best editing' at the 'Xaverian College Oscars' as voted by my teachers. As well as this, I myself was nominated for the 'uber geek' award due to references to various films and media in my film. Producing this film was one of the best things i’ve ever experienced, I enjoyed every moment of it and I'm thrilled to make more and experiment further with the facilities to offer.

70s and 80s horror, body horror, and surrealism are major inspirations and loves for me. As someone who is gender fluid, Titane resonates deeply, especially in how it uses body horror to explore themes of acceptance - the same for themes of body image, given my past struggles with anorexia. Videodrome is another favourite—its exploration of how new technology rewires us mentally has inspired my current work in progress.

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Below is initial inspiration and then planning for this short...

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I had a lot of pages of inspiration in my physical portfolio, however I’ve just chose 3 to showcase that represent the initial ideas going into my A-level film. The above are the main stylistic aesthetic inspirations that ended up being key references to the finished film.

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Again, these are just a few of the pages in my portfolio, these focusing more on technique and space.

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Here is a page each of the initial treatment, shotlist, storyboard, and checklist. There was an additional subplot in the original treatment in which I had to scrap due to being too ambitious for a 5 minute max film, which made the messages of the film massively convoluted due to these time constraints.   

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The above are some pages on ideology, theme, and character research. I’m interested in political and modern history, especially the cold war - it’s with this interest where the main idea for this film was born, with the underlying story of this being based off of MK ultra - in which I utilised to navigate Marxist ideology throughout the film.  

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My current work in progress…

My current work in progress...

With the above project I wanted to create an Adam Curtis style montage/short film, practicing editing and compilation. The idea around the film is about the new 'reality' star and how that is the everyday person, exchanging their own privacy and data via self surveillance for a shot at adoration. Videodrome by David Cronenberg inspired a lot of this thinking -  the torture show in the film gives the same catharsis to the characters as watching these stars does to the general public. It's interesting to see that people will do anything for a shot at popularity, and to see the subsequent spiral downwards, just like both Nicki and Max in the film. The music for this is from the band The Mumps, which is fronted by Lance Loud - the first reality star. Lance left his family in the 70s to follow his dreams in NYC, meeting his idol Andy Warhol along with stars of the same scene - its here where the band was formed. However, due to negativity aimed at Lance from the press due to his homosexuality, the band was denied stardom and Casablanca records signed kiss. Although the first reality show, An American family acted as a fly on the wall documentary, with a its British counterpart The Family being the same - I believe it isn't until the introduction of the internet and shows like Big Brother where  self seeking stars come in, with the majority entering shows or posting with the sole purpose of fame and traction. With poor, taboo, and relatable behavoir as well as 'crash outs' being rewarded by the masses. People are the entertainment, but at what cost?

As you can see I'm still working on this, the hardest part is acquiring archival footage for the film. My goal for this at the moment is work on the pacing, and of course, finish the film. This is definitely the hardest project I've set myself, but I'm always up for a challenge.

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Photography

The following are photography collages. Most of these photos are took in 2023 and are important to show my growth over time as well as my love for visual arts. I initially wanted to be a cinematographer, however, as you could probably tell by the portfolio, I have taken a liking to editing recently.

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Shooting film is my preference when it comes to photography, this is mainly due to the grain and the surprise of not knowing how the shots are going to turn out. Having to change aperture and iso manually whilst having a limited amount of shots is something I love too, due to feeling connected to the environment and having to adapt to it.

These were taken in Lithuania on one of my first ever rolls of film.

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these are shots I took for my mate's band Youth Archive, a splicer group from the band Bedroom Vacation. This was my first band photography gig and I continued to do more.

Photographed Aatma.

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More band photography, this time for Clovehunter. I was in the original iteration of this band when it was 'Paris Underground', until i departed and took a managerial and PR role -they ended up playing a couple gigs until all leaving and following solo careers - Amelia (left) joined a jazz bandi Ruben (middle), a long time muse of mine, focused on Youth Archive, Bedroom Vacation and their solo careerHeadheaven; and Dom (right) focused on his solo career as Dish Texas.

Photographed Stevensons Square and Aatma

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Summer 24' I travelled by train all across Europe to almost every country, for a total of 6 weeks i bathed in the sun and train hopped alone. I love travelling and It's my aim to go to every country before I die, having been to India and Thailand, and visiting Africa in a couple months, I'm getting closer to that goal. Unfortunately i forgot to buy film before i left last summer, and I was on a very very tight budget, so heres some photography I took in Rome in 2023 instead.