Presence (Graduate Thesis)
May 2021
Artist Statement
Presence is an experimental film which tries to capture the essence of the concept of hometown with the juxtaposition of various medium, stories and narrative styles. It is an attempt of reconstructing a vast and complex idea with intimate and simple pieces. Fractured images, sounds, and senses build up the intimate feelings I have with Tainan, like stars scattered in night sky compose into constellations. One links to another, and each one connects, sharing a common theme. Puzzled together, the pieces create a mosaic of life, an impressionist illustration of home, a sincere hymn of Tainan.
Being an international student in the university means having to stay far away from my hometown constantly. Homesick occurs, and every returning seems to be something that I look forward to. However, the place I went back became more and more unfamiliar. It has been desynchronized with the image in my memories. Relationships have changed, people separated, sceneries altered, and I was absent for too long. Where I once felt warm and safe alienates me, leaving me behind. Now, I can only search for what I was familiar with in my own mind, creating it myself.
ORIGINAL INSPIRATIONS
The original inspiration of PRESENCE are mainly from two sources; one inspired the form of the work I wanted to experiment with, another inspired the theme I want to make.
- Daido Moriyama: Terayama
A Photobook created by photographer Daido Moriyama and writer Shuji Terayama. The book is a combination of previous made photographs of Moriyama and previous written short stories by Terayama. However, the combination enables the reader to create a bigger theme themselves, taking them into a trip of imagination and feast of art. I wanted to try making a film like it, attempting to create a montage of different stories and mediums for conveying a overall theme which is hard to express.
- Days
A slow pace film created by Tsai Ming Liang. It documented the life of Lee Kang Sheng. The film moved me by its concept of land and people, as well as the beautiful shots that captured them. In four years of studying abroad, I decided it's time for me to go back to my root, Tainan, and document it in my own words and images.
GT PROPOSAL
Jan 2021
Four separated parts were designed to be edited together in Presence: Moving Images, Text, Photographs, Sound. Each of them represent a part of Tainan: Places, memories, shapes, relationships.
I. Text
A short text was written before other parts had started, taking a dive into the memories of love ones. Seven versions were created from Jan 16 to Mar 4, changing with the consideration about the use of words and details of meaning.
- Text ver. 1.0
- Text ver. 1.6
II. Moving Images
Moving images was planned the backbone of the whole film, setting up a rhythm and hold up the structure of the film.
- Script
The script was designed to envision the moving images as a minimalist story that illustrates loneliness and alienation of home, when there is only the location, without other elements to support it. Creation process of the script started in January, and the final version was settled on Jan 30.
- Preparation
The date of shooting of the moving image part was set on Feb 5 to Feb 7. For the preparation, a film crew was assembled and two online meetings were held.
Before shooting, storyboards, scene arrangement and information forms were uploaded, in order to complete smoothly.
In addition, scene location has to be decided. Therefore, several scouting arrangements were made. On Jan19, Jan 20, Jan 25, Jan 26, I went to various locations in Tainan to choose the perfect background for each scene. The green dots on the map were the once considered locations.
- Shooting
On Feb 5 to Feb 7, the moving image part was shot within the schedule. Luckily, only minor problems occurred and were solved swiftly.
III. Sounds
Sounds were recorded when going out with my friend. I wanted to capture something natural. Conversations with a natural flow.
IV. Photographs
Photographs were designed to be overexposed, leaving only the shape of a person, without any facial features. I experimented with the flashlight. In order to have the pictures overexposed at the right level.
Draft Editing I
I started the editing on Mar 3. However, the experimentation of juxtaposition was not successfully done. Several major and minor problems occurred and needed to be fixed.
I. Photographs
Photographs did not have the expected effect. The original intend was to put still images over ten second. This resulted in damaging the flow of the video, since still images have no movement at all, it make the whole film seemed like a slideshow. Instead of achieving the alienating effect, it bores the audience. I do not want to add computer effects and movements to the photographs, therefore, I decided to replace them all with B-roll shots, which I have to plan and shoot again.
I shot the B-rolls in various location of Tainan in order to present the overall landscape sense of Tainan, since the moving image part only have few illustration of landscape. Most of the shots were captured at night, and only eight of them were taken under daylight.
II. Sounds
The original natural conversation recordings were later found too chaotic. There were not a clear theme or context for the audience to follow. Hence, I had to come out with something more clear to fill the void in sounds at the moment. I moved the conversation recordings to support the flow of leading character riding the bike. Then, I arranged recording sessions with different people, telling them to record telephone dialogues in the role of calling someone who's not in Tainan.
I put the dialogue in pair with the daytime scene, for the chapter-like section feeling and a brighter pause from loneliness for the audience.
- Music
I managed to find a friend who is in the band to cooperate with me for music production. During March, several version of the songs were produced. Improvements were made after every discussion, and will be made in the future.
III. Text
After consulting with the advisor and view by several people, texts were found to scattered and not connecting to the theme well. For this problem, texts were planned to be rearranged. However, the improvement was insignificant. Therefore, texts were re-written and will be edited in again in the future.
IV. Pace and Theme
Besides text, the pace was found to slow, and the theme was found too vague to be understood. As the result, the whole film was re-edited into a faster version, and four independent stories will be added to support the theme in a clear way so the audience can know the theme better.
V. Fixing the image
Minor problems were found that needed to be fix after shooting the moving image part. Shots were then transported into After Effects to fix the issues.
- Boom Mic in the Frame
- Stabilization, Fixing speed and shutter angle
Some shots were later found too slow. while fixing the speed, shutter angle was also changed in post to avoid jitter image. Also, for a smoother motion, stabilizer was fine tuned and added in.
- Color Correction
The original files were shot in ProRes Raw in Slog. Color Correction is needed for the image to be displayed in right colors.
Draft Editing II
After the Final Draft submission, several things still have to be done, including the trials in editing.
I. 4 Stories
Since the audience were not able to fully get the theme and expression solely through the protagonist, 4 independent stories which assist the original structure was planned to be added into the film.
- Script
The 4 stories were written in different styles, illustrating the connections in places, people, religion and foods.
- Shoot and Record
After the script and storyboards had been completed, the footages were shot in multiple places using the shutter speed of 1/12, for applying 360° shutter angle on 12fps. In addition, recording was done in midnight where all the noises gone quiet. I put my self really close to the recorder in order to capture the feeling of whispering, which recreates the feeling of inner monologue.
II. Text
In several test screening, audience reported that the text interrupts the flow of the film. After adding the 4 stories into the film, the chapter structure became obvious, making the text no longer essential. Hence, the texts were removed and replaced. Only the title text remained.
Draft Editing III
In draft II, the overall structure was decided. However, there were still some minor issues to fix. Moreover, color-grading and sound mixing had to be done.
I. Editing
- Pace issues
In the middle of the film, the momentum is not enough to keep the audience interested. Therefore, the arrangement of the third chapter was changed in order to improve the pace.
- Credit
Credit of the people who participate in the film has to be added at the end.
- Subtitles
Subtitles have to be translated into English.
II. Color-grading
Color-grading was done in Da Vinci Resolve. With the noise removed, the footage was later colorized into different tone, depended on the chapter and part.
- film grain
The film grain makes the original smooth images more rough, texturing it as well as keeping the same sense of framerate.
III. Sound
Sound was managed in Pro Tools. Not only the volume had to be adjust, but also the work of de-noise, EQ adjusting and panning.
Export
Finally, the work is done. After several checking, it is exported and uploaded.
Theoretical Text