Writing Exercise:

When I first met him, he stood by my high school's front gate, tapping at his phone, barely glancing up when I approached. By lunch, I realised he had completely forgotten about showing me around my new school as my peer support guy; I found myself wandering the halls alone, navigating a maze I wasn’t prepared for. Yet, as weeks passed, I started noticing the way he’d come when someone needed help, how his laugh would break open a room full of tension, and how, on a random Tuesday, he showed up with snacks for everyone like it was no big deal. The day he pulled me into a road trip, grinning with that wild spark in his eye, I knew I was in for the long haul. His loyalty wasn’t loud—it was the kind that wrapped around you like an arm over your shoulder.

Exegesis and Reflection:

Purpose and Technical Learning:

The task aimed to explore key aspects of cinematography, such as frame rate, aperture, shutter speed, ISO, picture style, and program modes, to build technical proficiency. These foundational elements informed how we crafted the flashback sequence to enhance its narrative and visual impact.

Reflection:

Time management was one of the biggest hurdles during this project. I found myself caught up in experimenting with settings and techniques, which left less time than expected for other crucial steps like shooting and editing. This made the process feel rushed at times, and I realized how much smoother things could have gone with better pre-planning.

Looking back, I understand the importance of organizing each step, from storyboarding to post-production, before even picking up the camera. This experience taught me that while creativity thrives on experimentation, it also needs structure. Despite the time crunch, I’m proud of the final product and what I learned along the way. In future projects, I plan to balance exploration with preparation to make the most of the time available.

Conclusion:

This exercise solidified my understanding of how technical decisions directly impact storytelling. It also taught me the importance of pre-planning and experimentation to ensure cohesive visual narratives. The collaborative process of brainstorming and testing ideas pushed creative boundaries, leading to a flashback scene that not only served its narrative purpose but also showcased our evolving technical and artistic skills.

Week 2

Writing Exercise:

The street market was always loud and busy, a blur of sounds and smells. As a kid, sitting on grandpa’s bike in the early morning, I struggled to keep my eyes open. Everything felt too close, too noisy. The air was thick with the smell of steamed buns and spices, and I held tight to the bike as we pushed through the crowd, feeling small and lost in the chaos.

Now, after spending time overseas, I returned to the same market—alone this time. It was still noisy and crowded, but it didn’t overwhelm me anymore. Instead, I felt connected to it. The colours of fresh vegetables popped in the early light, and the voices seemed friendly, familiar. The sharp clang of metal pans and the buzz of conversations no longer felt like noise, but like music. Walking through the market, I felt a sense of home in the chaos, a comfort in the way life pulsed through the streets. This place, once tiring and confusing, had become something I could finally appreciate.

Exegesis:

Purpose and Approach:

This exercise aimed to reinterpret the visual elements of a painting, colouring, composition, and tone, while detaching from their original meanings. The challenge was to analyse these elements, understand their impact, and transform them into a cinematic narrative that reflected our own creative intentions.

Process and Experimentation:

Learning from Historical Paintings:

Colouring: We studied the tonal palettes of paintings, noting how colour choices evoked specific emotions or atmospheres. For example, muted tones conveyed melancholy, while vibrant contrasts suggested energy and tension.

Composition: The spatial arrangement of subjects and objects in the paintings offered insights into balance, focus, and storytelling. We analysed how symmetry, layering, and leading lines guided the viewer's gaze.

Tone: The emotional undertones in the artworks informed our approach to mood creation, whether through lighting, shadows, or subject placement.

We began with a still image influenced by the composition of a chosen painting. Through subtle movements, such as shifting light, a subject’s glance, or environmental interactions, we brought the image to life.

Experimenting with motion also allowed us to play with tension and rhythm, echoing the static intensity of a painting while exploring the possibilities of dynamic storytelling.

Challenges and Reflections:

Adapting the depth and intricacy of a painting into a modern, cinematic format was both inspiring and daunting. The biggest challenge was ensuring that our reinterpretations felt authentic and original, rather than imitative. It required a careful balance of learning from the paintings while infusing them with our personal vision.

This exercise was a lesson in the fluidity of visual language. I discovered how universal elements like composition and colour transcend time and medium, offering endless opportunities for reinterpretation. It also taught me to see beyond the surface of art, understanding how each visual choice contributes to storytelling. Going forward, I’m eager to continue exploring how art history can inform and elevate modern filmmaking.

Week 3

Writing Exercise:

There’s a photo of me, small and determined, climbing on one of the old trees in my grandparents’ village. It was a place frozen in time—dirt roads, brick houses, wooden doors that creaked with age. The beds were made of bricks too, the kind that has a fireplace inside to make the bed warm in the winter. It was all so different from the city, where life moved fast and things were always changing. But in the village, time seemed to slow down.

Every time I visited, I would find myself wandering through the yard, where an old date tree stood, its roots deep and steady. I was told Grandpa had planted it long ago. I’d climb up, hands reaching for the dates, only to tumble down in a clumsy attempt one day, my head colliding with a branch. That was the last time I climbed those trees.

Now, that village is gone, replaced by new buildings, the trees and the memories wrapped around them lost with the land. When I look at the photos, it feels like unlocking a part of my childhood that I can never return to. The village may be gone, but the moments live on, tucked away in the branches of my memories.

Exegesis on the Point-of-View Exercise:

Purpose and Concept:

This exercise focused on exploring the concept of stalking through the lens of point of view. The goal was to examine how shifting perspectives could influence the audience's emotional engagement and understanding of the narrative. By alternating between the stalker’s and the victim’s viewpoints, we aimed to create tension, ambiguity, and a layered experience.

Experimentation and Process:

Stalker’s Point of View:

Camera Techniques: We used handheld shots, zooms, and obstructed views (e.g., shooting through fences or blinds) to mimic the stalker’s gaze. These techniques created a sense of intrusion and unease.

Sound Design: Amplifying environmental sounds, like footsteps or rustling leaves, heightened the sense of hyper-awareness and obsession from the stalker’s perspective.

Victim’s Point of View:

Framing and Movement: Wider shots and erratic camera movements conveyed the victim’s vulnerability and growing paranoia. The framing often left negative space, implying an unseen presence.

Lighting and Tone: Harsh lighting contrasts and shadows emphasised isolation and fear, making the victim’s world feel claustrophobic and unsafe.

Neutral or Omniscient Perspective:

To balance the narrative, we incorporated a few objective shots that neither aligned with the stalker nor the victim. These moments offered clarity or misdirection, keeping the audience questioning the reliability of what they were seeing.

Transitions Between Perspectives:

We experimented with visual and auditory cues, like abrupt cuts or overlapping sounds, to signify a shift in point of view. These transitions helped maintain the tension and disorient the audience, mirroring the characters’ experiences.

Challenges and Reflections:

Capturing the psychology of stalking through point of view was challenging, particularly in maintaining the balance between creating suspense and respecting the seriousness of the subject. It was essential to handle the theme responsibly, ensuring that the narrative provoked thought without glorifying the act.

This project reinforced the power of perspective in storytelling. I learned how camera techniques, sound design, and editing can immerse the audience in a character’s experience. It also highlighted how point of view can manipulate emotions, making the same scene feel invasive or terrifying, depending on whose eyes we see it through. Moving forward, I’m keen to explore how shifting perspectives can deepen narrative complexity and audience engagement.

Week 4

Exegesis:

Purpose and Focus:

This exercise explored the unique challenges of capturing and editing a phone call dialogue scene. The goal was to find creative ways to visually and aurally represent the exchange, maintaining engagement and clarity while navigating the limitations of remote communication in storytelling.

Experimentation and Process:

Editing Techniques:

Split-Screen: We experimented with a split-screen format to show both characters simultaneously, highlighting their reactions in real-time. This helped maintain visual interest and emphasized the emotional connection between the two.

Alternating Cuts: In some parts, we used alternating cuts between the two characters, focusing on their facial expressions and environments to contrast their separate realities while connected by the conversation.

L-Cuts and J-Cuts: Overlapping audio from one character while showing the other’s reaction allowed us to build rhythm and continuity in the exchange.

Sound Design:

The phone’s audio quality was slightly degraded for one side of the conversation to reflect the technological mediation, adding authenticity to the scene.

Background sounds were used sparingly to provide subtle hints about each character’s environment, enriching the narrative without overshadowing the dialogue.

Visual Representation:

Close-Ups: Tight shots on the characters’ faces emphasised their emotions, drawing the audience into the intimacy of the phone call.

Environmental Cues: Including elements from each character’s surroundings (e.g., a clock, an empty room) added context and texture, anchoring the characters in their respective spaces.

Challenges and Reflections:

The biggest challenge was maintaining dynamic pacing and emotional engagement without the characters sharing the same physical space. It required careful planning in both filming and editing to ensure that the conversation felt natural and compelling.

This exercise was a valuable lesson in creative problem-solving. I learned how to use editing, sound, and visual storytelling to bridge physical separation, creating a scene that felt cohesive and emotionally resonant. It also highlighted the importance of subtle details—like timing and sound quality—in making a phone call sequence believable and engaging. This experience has deepened my appreciation for the nuances of dialogue-driven storytelling.