Critical Review (Blog)

During this process I feel that the areas I have researched on this blog have helped immensely in developing my skills as a cinematographer as well as how to construction an image. The earlier stages and tutorials proved vital in teaching me how to use a camera and without them I feel like I wouldn't have developed the skills I have. From simple things things from getting the right aperture for the situation to experimenting with shutter speeds and how that can affect the image's atmosphere, these elements were all used in a way in which I feel benefits the fifteen photo project.
 When looking into narrative theories and structure, I found both Freytag's Pyramid and especially Montage Theory (The Kuleshov Effect) helped when designing how we could express our narrative through our photos alone. When looking at Kuleshov we really had to think about the emotional intention of proceeding images and how we could construct them in such a way that conveyed the feelings of our protagonist during his depression and distancing from the holiday season. The biggest example I feel of this is going from the image of the text from the characters mother to him smiling. This not only gives a clear reaction to the situation at hand, but also is also demonstrates a basic practice within Montage Theory as the text is designed to make the main character feel happy. If that text became anything different, it emotional response from the audience would have been altered. With Freytag, we had to look at the actual structure of our story and how we could built tensions towards some form of pay off (climax) at the end. We decided to have our protagonist slowly become introverted and begin to distance himself from his surrounding when he finds out he can't go home for Christmas, only to end with a sweet message from his family and himself happy once more. This decision was mostly had to fit in within 'Christmas genre conventions of a warm, happy ending but also we feel that it is a nice resolution to see this individual, who was stuck in this downward spiral at least get some form of pleasure at the end.
 If I had to make changes within our project, one of them would be the actual inclusion of the Christmas season itself as I feel that is you were to remove a few key images and replaced them with others, it could be substituted for any time other time of year. We could have included more decorations or lighting displayed throughout the peace, however we already feel that our shot variety is a bit limited and this would have mean possibly even more wide angles and close ups. Another would be to experiment with our imagery a bit more as our shots so seem very static and don't really try anything too out there, however with our subject matter we feel as a group we couldn't be too surreal with our imagery.
 Overall I think the project was an overall success in conveying the emotional journey our main character goes on throughout the narrative through cinematography and the colour of the clothing contrasting heavily with the bright, warm colours of the season. Although we do have some issues when it comes to themes and shot variety, these are things to take on board towards the next project.