CUKOO FOR CACA

 

I'm scared of judgement. I'm too egotistical to share in the community of others. My obscure fascinations are too alienating to be shared. All I want is community. All I want is dedication. All I need is me.

 

This project was created for the creative coursework unit of my Film Studies A2 course and focused on a protagonist with an addiction to scat and his innate fear, of his fascination, affecting his socialization with others until it drives him to the point of insanity. This film was an experiment in trying to execute an absurd concept while trying to maintain a core message, conveyed through surrealist imagery (much in the vein of I Hate Celine Dion). The film was edited, colour corrected mixed and mastered on Premiere Pro.

​

The shooting of the film was completed in one day and took advantage of the resources and locations we had to film in. The original intention was to secure lighting gels for the shoot but I wasn't able to order any in time, so I improvised with using cardboard 3D glasses and celetaping the lenses to small lights to achieve the desired effect. Some of the locations were unavailable on the day of shooting so the last section of the film (The Shower Elevator) was conceived and filmed on the day of shooting.

 

The editing process took a lot of hours due to the amount of visual effects shots I needed to create in order to capture the look I wanted for the film.

'Digital Sets' were created through excessive masking layers (In scenes such as the 'Exiting the Garage', 'The Shower Elevator' and 'Toilet Head' sequences) that took separate clips and masked out certain areas to create a completely new location. These shots often required frame by frame masking when an actor was in motion during a scene which took a lot of careful editing. One of the biggest effects shots of the film is the 'Cult Church' sequence, which featured several different shots of one actor sitting in different places and then utilizing masking effects to give the effect of a group of people in one place.

​

The film also had an original score that was recorded simply on an iPhone; then compiled mixed and mastered on the editing software.

​

At the end of this project, I felt a lot more experienced in Premiere Pro in attempting more ambitious visual imagery; as well as feeling more confident in my abilities to craft required lighting, props etc. when shooting within a strict time limit.

 

This video was re-purposed as a music video: here