Author: c.ng7

https://claireeng15.wixsite.com/portfolio 

https://vimeo.com/401004995

I used my own audio and tested with myself both with the lav mic and without and just used my dog as the subject.

I’d like to focus my documentary on the effects the coronavirus has on Asian Americans. As an Asian American myself, I’ve experienced and witnessed both subtle and very blunt racially charged harassment and abuse since the rise of the panic and misinformation of the coronavirus. I’d like to use several of my peers as subjects as well as my parents who are older, both 65 and 68. This is to show the hidden and also upfront discomfort some people in New York City have against Asians and Chinese people specifically since the start of the coronavirus.

In the short documentary “Extremis,” the videographer carefully used a lot of close-up shots to invoke a tone of anxiety and sadness. While the documentary followed one main doctor, it was interesting to see how the film-maker chose to use a similar angle from either below or on a tilt to show the different patients, family members, and doctors. One scene that stuck out to me the most was the beginning scene in which the presumed son stated “What if you die if I take it out,” before cutting to the title screen. This editor’s choice of cutting was extremely well done. I also enjoyed the editor’s choice of comparing two different families and their decisions of what to do with their elderly family members. This gave the viewer a sense of the difficulties that play into the decision making process of how to handle a dying person’s life.

I also enjoyed the very minimal use of music in this documentary. Because this piece was very intense and almost as if the viewer was there in real-time, the use of no music jumping scene to scene to each patient gave a bigger sense of stress and seriousness of the story. The only music that stuck in my mind was the ending when the families decided what they were ultimately going to do with the dying family member before cutting to the credit titles. The producers of this film must have stayed with these subjects for weeks in order to show the progression of the families and their loved ones, but this also shows the trust and how little of their presence was in times of caring for these family members.

 

In my visual poem, I plan to shoot the strength and vigor that goes into dancing, specifically ballet and jazz. I’ll be able to get access since I lead a dance team within CUNY and meet up with dancers every Friday and Saturday. In terms of structure, I’d like to show how the different muscles stretch, some warmups, some tricks and routines.

I’ll be focusing more on close-ups to show how the body moves and the amount of work that goes into it when dancing. Some music I can use is classical piano or intense music to build up the dramatic aspect of the piece. Other sounds I can use are the natural sounds of feet brushing on the floor or labored breaths from the working dancers. I can find the music on several of the websites that were provided in the blog. I plan to use this piece as a way to show the athleticism within dancing and convey a feeling of drama and strength.

In this short film titled “Locker Room,” I really enjoyed the use of angles. The director utilized angles in a way that the viewer is able to see up-close shots to escalate the emotion in the scenes. I also appreciated the use of colors in certain scenes, mainly the scene in which the girl is in her room contemplating her own insecurities as well as her worry about what to do regarding the situation with the boys on the rugby team. There were some scenes, particularly the scene in the boy’s bedroom that really captured the tense aura surrounding the characters by having silence and a still shot.