FINAL PIECE: The Constituent Features of Tension + Final Piece Evaluation

'The Constituent Features of Tension'
Rhys Connolly
Run time: 10 minutes and 10 seconds
Level Vocals:  Rhys Connolly
Accompaniment:  Rhys Connolly, Marina Diamandis, Beethoven and Nitin Sawnhey

I feel that this film successfully amalgamates all of the aspects I have explored and developed over the course of the project in a dynamic and engaging way.  I believe that in each section I have portrayed each level through thought provoking imagery and symbolic concepts.

I chose to mostly use classical/orchestral accompaniments in this film as they are well known for provoking emotion.  I also decided to include a voice over to introduce each section for two reasons; one to ensure the viewer knew that they were moving onto the next section and the second was to regain their focus after the previous section.

Section One (Begins at 0:43):  This section was the hardest to edit as I had to try and make videos with no motion interesting.  to solve this issue I made the pace of the editing faster so the section would be roughly a minute long so the viewer would not lose interest. I filmed myself on a white floor as the colour white reminds me of stillness and calmness.

Section Two (Begins at 1:43):   This section was shot on a public footpath (images of myself) and at the beach (over-layed image of waves).   I chose to include waves in this section as it is the polar opposite to fire (a natural element that appears in section 6 and 7).  To shoot myself walking I placed my camera on a tripod (tripod added stability) and asked my friend to walk in front of me with it.  In the section I play the video from the start and then when it reaches the end it reverses. I did this to correlate with to motion of the waves coming in and out.  I chose this location to film in particular due to the trees as most people find trees to be relaxing.

Section Three (Begins at 3:51):  This was the easiest section to film and edit.  I once again filmed the waves and cropped the video to a 2.35:1 aspect ratio (Cinema Widescreen) to give this section a cinematic feel. I cropped the fire into a circle a edited it directly over the middle of the ocean footage. This was to show the to extremes neutralising each other. I slowed the tempo of the accompaniment down to make it sound passive.  I deliberately did this so it would enhance the power of the next section.

Section Four (Begins at 5:00):  This section is my personal favourite out of my final piece.  I feel that I have achieved a balance between the accompaniment and visuals to the point where they end up enhancing each other.  Visually I wanted to have yellow and blue be quite dominant as I see them as colour that make me feel alert.  I also feel that the fast paced visuals complement the strobe-ing circle. I chose to have the strobe be a circle to aid continuity from the previous section.  I think that the accompaniment in this section is extremely fitting with the visuals presented.

Section Five (Begins at 6:23):     Please refer to 'Final piece proposal' and 'Film: The Lamp' pages for more information on the section.

Section Six (Begins at 6:56):   This level of tension is 'the event' moment in the tension scale, therefore needed a lot more going on. This section technically was the most challenging as there was four layers of green screen effects. I decided last minute to film a match being lit for inclusion in the final piece as I wanted to tribute my earlier films that inspired me to use fire in the first place.  I also used complex cropping methods to make my face appear to be chopped up (I chose that shape as I wanted something that looked stable and strong).  I believe that the accompaniment I chose for this section adds a lot of power and creates a feeling of urgency in the viewer. I also green screened three different fire visuals along the bottom of the frame and also the match into the gap my face screen. The transition from the multi-screen (in section 4) to the numerous green screen effects adds to the continuity of the piece along with the face screen strobing at moments in time with the music.

Section Seven (Begins at 8:39):  The final section is driven by the accompaniment and the use of overlayed imagery.   By overlaying the videos I was able to create a smooth flowing ending to conclude my piece. I thing that it is a good way to end the film as section 6 was very erratic so section 7 brings the viewer back to normality and reality.  I put seven videos of myself into this section (one for each level) and green screened very faint ocean and fire videos. I feel that by doing this I successfully wrapped up the film.

Overall, I am extremely please with the outcome of this film as it fully portrays everything that I had set out to achieve at the beginning of the project (Exploring different forms of tension, what causes it, how to create it, how to sustain it, and how they are relevant to everyone).