cinematographer -- Object film, Documentary writer -- self-portrait, Genre film editor -- HL film / Open Film Open Film --- ## All Roads Lead to Nowhere I am doing Film portfolio for IB Film. Specifically I am focusing on the role of cinematographer. For general guideline, browse through portfolio checklist For cinematography things and techniques I could use, refer to cinematographer file Find 2 examples attached, specifically the cinematography part only For each film clip, four parts: Inquiry, Inspiration, and Research; Intentions; actions; and reflection From the examples you can obviously see, the important thins it to put in lots of technical terms and references to famous films or works, and be extremely specific. Now I am going to provide you context over my film The film is a documentary called All Roads Lead to Nowhere. It's a self-reflexive documentary focusing on the concept of roads. I filmed the film team going on a quest to film a documentary about roads. We films shots of roads, cars passing by, and pedestrians, etc., while the film team tried to discuss what are we making out of this film (why are we making it), and what does road mean to each one of us, and other chatter and comment on the road elements. In the end, we arrived at nowhere and sat down to reflect. The big idea behind is that in the end we didn't come to any conclusion or agreement on the concept of roads except it doesn't mean anything, and then so the documentary isn't really for anything. Thus All Roads Lead to Nowhere. For Inquiry, Inspiration, and Research try to link our film idea to other famous works can you can connect to, anything. To make this film look well-designed and full of intentions For Intentions, briefly talk about what we hope to achieve For techniques, I used iphone 16 pro as my camera with Ulanzi phone rig (justify -- maybe for flexibility and non-intrusivity for the road and team members? other ideas) I also brought a light, foldable tripod for static shots that is easy to set up and quickly take away Here's some techniques I used: 1. a panning shot from person A to B and then to C 2. 一个 shot 由虚到实的对焦 3. a first-person POV shot of the camera just moving forward on the road 4. an uncut clip of me running with the camera, the camera catching random and shaky shots 5. I mostly used tripod for scenes to present a third-person, objective, non-intrusive role, while in some scenes where the other team members refer to my existence, I use shaky-handheld shots to showcase my existence, so that the cinematographer is also an active actor and participant in this project. (I just realized this could also be explored in previous sections as well) For reflection, talk about - how I made a mistake in the final shot where I forgot to lock the auto-focus things so the camera keeps auto-focusing - How the audience laughs when watching out film at the end out of relief (we made it as if we were going to arrive at some big philosophical notion, while in fact we have gone to nowhere) - How we didn't plan it but it turned out great that in our final reflection scene, the sky gradually darkens and the street lights go up, so it looks really nice. And some other nice surprise during the shot for example we caught some epic shots and sounds of motocycles driving by Overall -- remember this should be focusing on the role of cinematographer, so use lots of technical terms for cinematography (bold them). You are allowed to make up and invent new details to make it rich, real, and live. Don't be limited to what I provide with you, explore what this film could be like based on your imagination. Most important of all, demonstrate my intentions, skills, actions, and effects as a cinematographer in this film. Follow the format and approximate length from the examples. The goal is something as similar to the examples as possible, adapted to my personal film. For now refer to imaginary screenshots -- I will add them myself later. ## When the Water Boils Over Fantastic. Next, moving on to the second clip for cinematographer -- a narrative films called "When the Water Boils Over" ### Some Context Our film "When the Water Boils Over" is based on a poem we were given in class -- "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou. The poem is a powerful declaration of resislience against oppression and calls the readers to rise against the inequality in the US in the 1970s. Instead of aiming to capture the orignal spirit of the film, we decide to interpret the poem, especially its title "still I rise" through a different lens. Based on our daily realities at school, we ultimate decide to make a poem a reflection on the academic pressure in our learning environment. "Still I rise" in this sense becomes, not a fight against a certain oppressive force, but a self-enforced slavery toward a certain imaginary goal. One imagines himself to be "rising" against every day, but unwaware that he has become his own slave by constantly putting pressure on themself without addressing their true need and true self, trapped in cycles of work. The film is inpired by *The Burnout Society* by Byung-Chul Han. A quote from the original work: > “Achievement society is the society of self-exploitation. The achievement-subject exploits itself until it burns out." As a result, this film is an effort to capture this phenomenon of self-enforced pressure & self-exploitation in an academic setting. plot = a student makes herself tea, locks in to study, repeat for days, one day fell asleep at desk, wake up late for school, and rush to school. the boiling water for tea is a visual metaphor for the pressure building up intentions - [ ] to capture the silent desperation the protagonist is trapped within - [ ] to create a sense of tension throughout the film - [ ] to use a mix of camera movements and positions to portray different phases the character experiences - [ ] contrast the still shots indoor with the volatile outdoor shots ### Techniques To illustrate the concept of "rising", we chose the staircase as a main symolism. For composition, I used of handrail as visual guiding line. For the indoor shots, I mainly used still shots on tripod. I wanted the camera to be non-intrusive and a quiet observer. As a result, most of the shots are remain distant from the character. For the outdoor shot, I used handheld camera to create a shaky effect and capture the tension of the protagonist rushing to school. For this scene, I used a wide shot and a wide-angle lens. The protagonist only occupies the left side of the screen, to the left of the pillar and almost hidden behind the fridge. This underlines the emptiness of the room by contrasting the character with her surrounding. The room is empty, yet the protagonist is fighting against herself and continue adding pressure to herself. Following that long static shot is a sudden panning short -- I panned the camera to the right, pointing at the corridor in which the protagonism walks out, as if completely opening up a new space. Another shot -- In this shot, I placed the character behind the pillar, to create the effect that the camera is sneaking behind the pillar and quietly observing. Close-up shot for the pot when the water boils, because it is the main theme of the film. ### Reflection some shots are overexposed -- one that is facing the window (detail loss outside the window) and other reflections you can think of, help me expand. --- ## Self-Portrait Great. Next, moving on to the first clip of my second role: writer. My film -- my self portrait film called "The Journey of A Bystander" Script is provided. No need to incorporate all information i provided for you in the old film report I found. -- some of them are totally idealistic and verbose, pick what is needed to demonstrate my skills as a writer of a film. refer to the writer role description doc, and the writer section from the two examples I gave you. imitate the examples, adapt to my personal context Don't forget to put in lots of techincal decisions and terminologies to demonstrate my skill, intentions, and professionalism as a writer. Just a bit more context and authorial choices I remember - Breaking down the entire film into three acts with three black slates with a quote as the main theme of this section. (I will not make any more boring art; To live as na artist is a way of perceiving; Above all, it's fun to be a bystander) -- maybe talk about how these three acts 先破后立, to achieve my narrative goal - using my own voice as consistent soundtrack for narrative - being self-aware, defying against common tropes, seeking to transcendent - the break of the narrative wall (or better way to phrase this) -- 一方面，我自己说的话都像是在 comment on 我的生活，另一方面，有时候我说的画外音会渗入画面 - 比如 for one shot, 画面里我的电脑出现了我在说的话 "on being human" - another example: "but at least I can also make this statement" = 画外音，"I will not make any more boring art" = me in the film saying this I understand that the writer aspect for this film is a bit week and I have not provided you with really a lot of detailed evidence -- but I believe in you that you can use your imagination to enrich it for me, to showcase my intentions and skills as a writer of the film. 这篇可以稍微短一些没问题，但是要有料。refer to contents from my script