Abstract scene preparation (Blog Post 8)
A blog post by: Kelsey Reid
One of the scenes in our experimental dance film is an 'abstract' scene to convey the sense of internal struggle and conflict the character 'Leonardo' is facing, which is going to be done through the use of food colouring in water. They type of look we are aiming for can be seen in the 'preparation' blog post.
One of the scenes in our experimental dance film is an 'abstract' scene to convey the sense of internal struggle and conflict the character 'Leonardo' is facing, which is going to be done through the use of food colouring in water. They type of look we are aiming for can be seen in the 'preparation' blog post.
Now we had an idea of what kind of look we wanted to achieve - the next thing to do was carry out some research to discover methods and different camera set ups to use in order to achieve such:
Colour drop photography - Though he’s focusing on photography, the effect of this colour drop method would look amazing if we are able to replicate and capture the same thing on film but in in slow motion as a way to show the internal struggle of the protagonist.
Macro lens set up – This video was interesting in the way it’s food colouring & water method was combined with oil, which created an ink-like blotted effect. Moreover, the lighting set up and the use of a macro lens created a 3-dimensional look which if employed in our film would add another layer to the abstract scene as a way to convey a sense of struggle and conflict.
Water drop - In this video we liked how the set up really allowed for different colours to be used in the water drop photography. If used in our film, we could specifically select colours to create a certain meaning or feeling, thus giving our film more symbolic depth.
Though this clip doesn't show a specific camera set up, what stood out to us here was the montage edit of multiple different food colouring photographs. The rapid editing used here could be implemented in our film when we build up to the climatic section of the internal struggle scenes. It’s stated that screen dance films, as with any film can be “dramatically heightened through the use of rapid editing” (Dodds, 2001). Therefore, the editing seen in this video would be useful to use in our climatic scene as we want to be able to give off a feeling of 'heightened' internal struggle and an increase desperation to break free from the entrapment the protagonist is experiencing.
After watching these videos, it became apparent that it might be useful to do some tester shots first in order to get an idea if these different set ups could be replicated and used in our film.
Here are some photographs/clips of behind the scene footage of our camera and food colouring tests:
Here we are using a layer of oil above the water to ensure that when the food colouring drops into the water, it is heavy enough to make its way all the down the vase instead of just dispersing into the water straight away. We also found that due to the thickness of the oil, it holds the food colouring for a short while before then releasing the food colouring droplets into the water as they become too heavy for the oil to hold. Therefore, using the oil as a layer above the water will allow us to have more control on our filming day when capturing the food colouring as it enters the water.
This image evidences our trialing of different lighting set ups for our abstract scene. What was particularly apparent in the research clips discussed above is the importance of lighting when carrying out colour drop photography/filming. Therefore, we felt it was essential to test this out. The lighting set up seen in this photo is probably going to be the one we use during our filming day as we felt the hard, white light best complimented the the colour in the water, making it appear more crisp and sharp, thus emphasising it's movement in the water which is what we wanted.
This clip captures the black food colouring as it makes its way down the vase and as it disperses into the water. This all happens fairly quickly and so in order to really emphasise the movement of the food colouring in the water, the footage we capture will be slowed down in post-production.
In this clip we used a macro lens as suggested in the second youtube tutorial and we were pleased with the results and so is definitely going to be something we will be using during our filming day.
During this tester day we chose to use black food colouring as this colour will be important for our abstract scene due to its connotations of entrapment, confusion and struggle, which are key themes in the film. Furthermore, we only used black food colouring during our tester day because we weren't 100% sure if the food colouring in water methods were going to work or look right. However, as we were pleased with the results we started to think about what other colours could be used in this scene. Specific research led us to the idea of complementary colours.
These colours are on opposite sides of the colour wheel e.g. red and green (as can be seen in the above diagram). When placed next to each other they create the strongest contrast for those two particular colours. Therefore, as the focus of our film is about conflict and struggle, perhaps using complimentary colours would achieve that kind of feeling.
Additional references
Dodds, S. 2001. Dance on Screen: Genres and Media from Hollywood to Experimental Art.UK: Palgrave Macmillan
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