R.E.D 2
Challenging my current practice
When I looked at the assignment brief I knew exactly what RED 1 would be straight away and I knew
that If there was any certain way to
ensure that RED2 does what it needed to do and that is to be everything
that RED 1 isn't. I knew that I had to create something that so far removed from what RED 1 was that you
may wonder if I had made the film at all. This meant I had to go from conceiving
a story with a beginning middle and end, working in locations and using actors
to construct a film with no actors , no
locations and no sense of a conventional story.
Essentially looking back at my work, I haven't really
"said" anything, there's something of a directorial identity to be
seen but I there's nothing about my work that really makes a statement or
comments on anything, My films may give the audience the impression that I like
comedy, which I do, but there is nothing in my work which gives a portrayal of
my world view. I decided to go for the darkest, bleakest subject matter I
possibly could and use this film as a way of creating a mood, a feeling, a
tone. I wanted this film to be anything but about a story or a conventional
outcome.
Maybe I had chosen to try and hide behind absurdist humour
and not reveal my ideas, in fear that
they may upset or disgust others, My intention is never to purposefully upset
people, I don't think that should ever be a goal with art, but I almost wanted
to present something that would almost be an amplifier for my darkest,
bleakest, most nihilistic thoughts. I literally wanted to show something that was
said something about me and how I see
the world when I see it at its worst. As far as I was concerned it needed to be
the inversion of RED 1, that was how I understood the brief. I had to actually
challenge myself and my practices and as dramatic as it sounds, I had to
challenge myself If I was ever to come
out the other end as a better film-maker.
I would have to primarily rely on editing equipment for me
to make my film and I knew that If I was going to make the film that I had in
my head I needed to sit in the edit suite for as long as it took to create the
images that I wanted. I almost need to push myself in situations where there is
no other outcome, otherwise I would just back away. Although I did capture some
footage from a car passenger window the exact same day as when I shot the
footage for RED 1, Most of my media would be from other sources, mostly from the internet, and from films that
I had seen before, where the dialogue or images struck me as being important. I
decided to re-appropriate the footage that I picked and the audio and that I would mix them together and
against each other in such a way that the audience would be trapped and almost
oppressed by it. I knew to do this successfully that I would need to learn how
to edit correctly and precisely, every cut should be important and intentional,
because that's where the message , the heart of the film resides, If I failed
to cut , even a frame , the way I wanted to, I would feel like I had failed.
