Racism and Identity

I watched a three-part documentary that explored racism on a global scale instead of focusing on big nations like America. It discussed how slavery emerged through the idea of civilizing the black Negro and how this was the early form of capitalism. I learnt of how atrocities were committed on a global scale where white settlers found new land inhabited by the native people. As the documentary progressed it went into the idea of eugenics and the science of racism that was a popular topic during the 18^th century. Since it came into creation, racism is the belief system that each race possess certain abilities or tropes that are specific to that race and this brings forth the idea that certain races are inferior or superior compared to each other.

Since the abolition of slavery, there has been to this day, racist attitudes towards Blacks, Indians and Asians in America mixed with hate.

During the time eugenics and scientific racism was popular, Robert Knox, a physician from Edinburgh, Charles Darwin and Thomas Henry were people who believed that Blacks were an inferior race incapable of being ‘civilised’. Scientists and evolutionists at the time were pushing forward this idea, it became the internalized thoughts among the white population who ridiculed the black people and treated them as beneath them.

In the media and its relation to my topic, this ties in with how black people viewed themselves, since they were attacked physically and verbally, thus allowing white people to portray them with their own opinions on TV and Film, this led to multiple stereotypes linked with the black race.

Darwin explained that the hierarchy of the most criminalised races had blacks deemed the most violent even though history clearly shows white people as the oppressors and real criminals.

The talk by Panashe Chigumadzi helped influence the topic of my dissertation. She talks about how post colonialism and the media contributed to the way Africans perceive themselves in society. She makes points about stereotypical ideas that are still alive today in society and the struggles that she faces avoiding similar thoughts.






Panashe Chigumadzi is a writer , born in Zimbabwe, who is passionate about her country of origin Africa and the untold stories about Africa in popular entertainment.

28TH Leeds International Film Festival

No One’s Child

I watched this film at Hyde Park Picture House, directed by Vuk Rsumovic from Serbia. This film was based on a true story, which made it even more interesting.

The opening scene begins with a group of men hunting and in the woods they find a small boy, looks to be age nine or ten.

They take him to an orphanage where he is cleaned, shaven and dressed. The boy is silent and non-responding, only to growl or bite when someone leans closer to him.

The audience is not given much information to the boy’s background as the orphanage provide him with a new name and is listed as no known parents.

He joins the orphanage where he is trained in civilian lifestyle, I found the boy’s acting very good, he had very few lines throughout the film but his facial expressions definitely conveyed his thoughts.

The pace of the film is not rushed; it builds up slowly and is able to give a little background to the main characters allowing a better understanding of the story.

The ending is unexpected but after obvious, ‘’ It takes a pack of wolves to raise the young protagonist of “No One’s Child,” and the dogs of of war to drop him back into the abyss’’, this is Guy Lodge’s opening line of the review of No One’s Child.

The style the film was shot aids in showing how the boy Harris’s mind is expanding with the new communication skills he learns at the orphanage. His behaviour gradually improves according to civilian standards and before he joins a group men fighting in the war, he passes the first year of elementary school.

The House at the End of Time

The Venezuelan film produced by Alejandro Hidalgo, was a unique horror film that I watched.

It had the main jumps and scares but with continual shocking twists and turns I found it very interesting and puzzling through the film, until the end when all loose ends were tied together.

The story opens with a woman lying on the floor, injured, she wakes up and in a panic rushes looking for her son Leopoldo, who is being chased by the father.

Then the scene switches to the woman being charged thirty years in jail for the murder of her family. She is then released and the government grants her re-entry to her house, though she is reluctant to return to the place that haunts her.

As days go by, guarded by police in her house, a priest visits her frequently to restore her faith in God while simultaneously solving the mystery, as he does not believe the woman committed the crime.

 The rest is worth watching. The way it has been film definitely keeps the audience on their toes, it does a really good job of weaving through past and present without confusion. Each time it jumps from past to present or present to past, it only reveals subtle details that need to be taken into account to understand the whole story at the end. The visual storytelling techniques were interestingly done. The camera angles were sharp when they needed to be in places and the sound majorly emphasised scary or tense moments. The lighting of the film was dark, this helped emphasise how the characters were feeling, the scenes where the children were playing was always bright conveying the happiness and fun they were experiencing.

I learnt through that only focusing on films released by Hollywood or major movie companies does not always guarantee entertainment. I wish I was able to book more films to watch but the three that I watched were very interesting and the stories told in a unique way by the director.

The quality of the production for these independent films were high and it did not depend on special effects to keep the viewer interested which some movies today I feel do not accomplish, and depend highly on special effects.

Aesthetic Film Festival

I attended a timetabled networking session at Aesthetica Film Festival on Saturday in York.

This was to help practice my networking skills, understand how artists network in the industry. The venue was small but it did not affect the event because it allowed easy manoeuvring around and made it easier to talk to the different companies and people there. In the early afternoon session I attended, five stations were set up.

I honestly was not as prepared as I should have been, even though I took my show reel with my details on it, I did not feel that I met any person to give it to confidently, that was probably down to my nerves. I am happy I went to the session, because attending a local event will prepare me for future events, local and national.

My next task after attending is to decide on a look for my business card and get it printed, even if it is a temporary look it will prepare me for any impromptu network sessions that pop up.

Beforehand, I researched the companies announced to be present, this helped to prepare for the questions I had for them beforehand.

Besides meeting companies, it was a good way to meet other filmmakers, students and people working and producing work. They shared their experiences, downfalls and successes that I found helpful for when I face similar situations, good or bad.

Lighting Induction

I had a lighting induction with Matt Burton who helped explain the basics of lighting a set, object or person.

For general knowledge about setting up, you should think of a square surrounding the object depending where the camera is placed.
Starting with your right hand side is the 1/3 of the square, then 2/3. 3/3 and 4/4 diagonally across the 2/3.

The backlight is placed diagonal to the key light, the backlight is the brightest compared to the other two lights. For safety reasons, check the wattage on lights and make sure any extension leads that are used should be extended because a coiled wire generates heat and supplies lower energy when plugged in. This shall prevent fires and fuse breaks.

In high ceiling areas, sunrise lighting can be effective and in low ceiling, sunset is more appropriate because the lights are more likely to be lit from below.

I was advised to think about what mood and message I want to convey to my audience. This is a topic that is serious and needs to be addressed in the industry for improvements to be made. The image of the subject lit with a 2/3 backlight can be used if the subject wants to be kept anonymous. I have not thought about how I want to light the interview besides a standard lighting such as the image below with all the lights on. Though after today, I have decided that depending on how whether the subject wants to be known or not known I shall light the scene according to that. I don't want the mood to be sad and depressing but instead expressing confidence and powerful because this it needs to provoke people in the industry to listen and at the same time create apathy.

Though I am filming in a studio based location than at the subject's own personal space, I am conveying the theme through the backdrop which is going to be a printed African fabric.

Backlight

Key Light and Backlight

All Lights on

Practical Artefact Idea

My idea for COP 3 practical is to conduct a series of interviews with people of society with an Afro- ethnicity. I am being specific with the race of people I interview mainly because I want more voices of black people heard than what is shown on movies or TV. I want this to be a collective series that just features them, I am not going to be specific of the country in Africa that they originate or travelled from. In the future if I carry on with the series, I should definitely add the opinions of Caucasian people, creating a more rounded view of the issues the media industry create.

Currently, I have only met one willing participant who is comfortable with answering the questions that I propose. I will be extending my search not just of university students but now adults of any age.

Filming Interviews

At first I was trying to decide between an outdoor or indoor location, though after weighing the positives and negatives I decided to choose an indoor location.

Outdoor location will require constant altering to the equipment set up, a crew would be needed to supervise the equipment.

Indoor studio means that I can keep track of equipment, does not require a large crew to help and there is more control over the whole process.

I will be using the lecture studio hall in my university as my location because it is enough space to play with the set up for the interview.

Lighting

For my practical, I am conducting a series of interviews featuring individuals who are African and of the diaspora. I want to make sure I have researched the basic lighting techniques used for interviews or documentaries before I edit it to suit the style of interview.

The three-point lighting seems the most used, though I shall be making slight tweaks when I experiment with it.

The first light is Key Light, used to light the subject, is the brightest and important light. The Fill Light helps compliment the Key Light, it lights up the shadows created by the Key Light. The Back Light separates the subject from the background. Other tips I learnt from tutorial videos on YouTube, was to make sure the subject is not close to the background. This keeps the lights for the background from interrupting the lights used for the subject.

I went for a Lighting Induction by Matt Burton, and he explained the principles of lighting. I shall be experimenting with different light setups to figure out what works best for my interviews.

Besides the Lighting to think about, Framing, Audio and Backdrop need to be considered.

Backdrop

I am deciding between having a plain background or an African Print background.

If I chose to have an African Print Material as my backdrop, it would be eye-catching but it might take the focus off the subject, whereas I want it to enhance the visual presence of the subject. My lighting technique would be more complicated because African prints are colourful and vibrant meaning consideration of how the multiple colours will affect the overall look. If I had a plain background, this means less complication with the lighting and the subject. The audience will be more focused on the subject.

Framing is important because I want to use at least two cameras during the filming, and considering the space to allow the subject to move around and make gestures has to be thought about for the composition.

I will be revising the rule of thirds, but the tips that were given on framing the subject on camera was not to have too close either sides of the frame, have the subject’s eye focus facing the camera but leave room for them to look elsewhere on the frame. I know that I want to have a full body frame shot, which is not used much for interviews but I know regarding the theme for my practical, having a full body shot helps to give the audience a complete view of the subject. I shall have extreme close ups and close ups which as advised will be used when the subject is answering personal questions.

The plan is to have one camera filming a full body shot; it will be static throughout filming. The second camera will be switching from close ups to extreme close ups and I can control this when the subject is answering personal questions. I will group the personal questions together allowing for smoother transitions of the multiple shots.

Strolling produced by Cecil Emeke

http://cecileemeke.com/

Strolling Series

The ‘Strolling’ series produced by Cecil Emeke, by which I came across through Tumblr sites, I found very informative and specific.

It brought to the surface very important issues that young black people face from different upbringings. It has the interviewee walking through their city or neighbourhood area discussing their opinions; I think the visual composition of the way the topics are presented to the audience makes it more personal.

The interview series I think aims at youth audiences of all races to encourage a discussion or participation with the current issues they face such as identity, gentrification and sexual topics.  This is similar to how I want to carry out my interview and documentary about how Africans are presented in the media. The theme is Representation so I was happy to find these series while researching, as it does highlight similar topics.

I shall be taking a different approach when considering the composition of the interview.