SHORT FILM QnA

Q n A with Yoshi

What's your ultimate dream?

Well, my ultimate dream is to be wealthy and happy, the wealthiest man in Hong Kong, never having to work for anyone and drive that big van around again, my wife never having to cook anymore because we would have personal chefs and cleaners and my children having private education, but seeing as it's too late for that to happen now, I'd have to go with owning a large removal company that does work over seas. Moving people all day gets really boring sometimes, it would be nice to see the rest of the world while I work you know? 

What's your favourite food?

Definitely sushi, its a delicacy! My wife makes the best sushi, I just don't know how she does it, my mum gets jealous sometimes and is always competing with her!

What's your most embarrassing memory?

That would have to be explaining to my friends out of work why my team and I were moving imaginary things for a crazy man. One of them, Ying, said he saw us and thought we were putting on a show! Miming! How embarrassing... 

Are you married?

Yes I am, I have a beautiful wife named Toyi, she is my best friend and very supportive. We also have 2 children, Tang and Lam, twin boys who are 7, they are so energetic, they keep me young.

What's your favourite colour?

I like orange, that's my favourite fruit but it also reminds me of the sun, I hate the cold, trying to carry heavy boxes with stiff fingers is never fun.

Are you a summer or winter person?

Well, even though working in the summer makes me all sweaty and horrible, I much prefer the sun to winter, I hate being cold and having to wear lots of layers.

Do you have any regrets?

I don't believe in regrets, although I do wish I listened more while I was in school, I could be rich now! Hence why I'd like my children to be put into private education. I don't want them taking on this family business when they have so much potential. 

What's your favourite genre of music?

I love mainstream music, it's all I really get to listen to in the van on the radio, I like hip hop and pop music, my favourite artist is Rihanna, my wife is always listening to her around the house so I know all the words to her songs, they're pretty catchy!

What is your most valued life lesson?

Money can not buy happiness, I mean I would love to be rich, who wouldn't? But I do believe if I were rich and successful without my family and friends I would be unhappy. Earning money with my friends is something I'm happy I get to do, and buy my wife nice little gifts here and there.

Describe yourself in three words.

Well, helpful of course, I help people for a living carrying their belongings, erm, also I am ambitious, I would like to do something more than just move people for a living, and finally my wife says I'm untidy, she is always complaining about how untidy my van is and that if I want to be taken seriously I need to tidy it.

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - Beat The Devil (BMW Short Film)

The lighting throughout this clip is low key, this is because it is an action thriller and low key lighting is a code and convention of this genre. It gives a gloomy atmosphere to the film making the audience feel uneasy and in danger while they're watching it. As well as this the use of dark colours such as red and black refer to the title as they resemble hell and the devil, this tells us dangerous things are coming and that we should be scared for the characters. Obviously the low key lighting symbolises darkness and foreshadows upcoming events in the film. There are many different shots all edited together quickly in order to coincide with the soundtrack at the beginning of the clip, this is done to create adrenalin and keep us entertained. Also to tell us lot's of things will be happening at once and set the pace of the film. The main colour in this film is orange, the fiery explosions and the sand as well as one of the men's suits is orange. Close to red it also resembles danger and the fire represents heat, this also matches with the idea of being in hell with the devil.

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - Goodbye

The use of black and white throughout the clip creates an unhappy atmosphere, because of this you feel quite depressed watching it and feel sorry for the main character. The character used is a young girl who gets dressed, my interpretation of this is that she is unhappy with the way she looks and feels trapped but wants to escape herself. I think this is a good story line as many girls nowadays are body conscious and can relate to this film, it enables us to see the effect society has on young girls, and the use of black and white has a powerful effect as it resembles a loss of innocence and childhood. I feel as though the use of black in her dress is done to make her seem as though she has no happiness inside of her, and also feels dissatisfied with the way she looks. The camera reverses the sequence every time she tries to go outside, this is done to symbolise her inner fear of being judged by people and society itself, I think this tells us that she feels uncomfortable and can not bring herself to be confident in herself. Also, it represents her as being trapped and wanting to escape but always being held back by something much stronger than her, this is very effective as it shows the impact society and the media have on young girls nowadays. I think the black and white emphasises emptiness and how the girls world is full of sadness. The same shots are repeated throughout the clip to resemble the girls every day routine of being sad and judged by society. It's a cycle. There are numerous close up shots of the character crying and having a sad and stressed facial expression. This allows the audience to sympathise with the girl. Also she is alone in the big house which represents her feeling lonely inside. The curtains represent her hiding herself and her image and the doors represent her desiring freedom. The piano is slow throughout the clip, but speeds up the pace in the middle which is the climax and then slows down again. This is done to mirror her emotions and adrenalin as she tries to leave the house but gives in representing the routine she is stuck in. The girls body in the black dress looks like a silhouette and a violin, which stereotypically makes you feel sad and in touch with the music/girls feelings.

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - Pink (Breast Cancer short film)

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - WHITE

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - Green - Short Film (2009)

RESEARCH INTO EXISTING FILMS - Azulado

TASK 1 - SHORT FILM APPRECIATION

The short I chose is based on the theme of love, called Marisa by Nacho Vigalondo. The short is about a couple's everyday life and follows them throughout their relationship with the boyfriend/husband doing a VoiceOver for us. His girlfriend is diagnosed with a mental disorder whereby her personality changes depending on where she stands. As their relationship continues this gradually gets worse and worse & so she changes after every individual step she takes, compared to before when it changed depending on the room she was in. Eventually the boyfriend finds his girlfriends real personality in one specific place; a park on the swings, however when he tried to move closer to the area in order to keep her, there was no work available for him and so he couldn't leave his home. He searched for years to find Marisa again and only found her once after that, but by the time this happened, she didn't know who he was. This film reflects change and possibly disliking change from the boyfriends point of view. I chose this film because it is very quirky and I haven't seen a film like it before, I like the peculiar way the shots are put together as they're the same shots but of different actors doing the same thing and then all edited together to reflect how she changes after each step and each actress resembles a different personality. I feel as though the film has a deeper meaning, as underneath it says, 'the distances we go to prevent the ones we love from changing'. I think the films shows us the boyfriends emotion in a visual way rather than the girlfriends forever changing personality, by this I mean that the different actresses representing his girlfriend are actually his way of not dealing with the fact that she may be changing in a different way, for example, growing away from him. Maybe this film is a visual representation showing us the boyfriends emotions towards the inevitable changes him and his partner are going through. The voiceover however makes us think differently as it sounds as though her boyfriend is genuinely concerned for his girlfriend and almost deceives us, this is very powerful as it allows to get inside her boyfriends head even though he is not present in most of the film, we get to see and understand his view point, allowing us to make our own interpretations of the film. The editing would have been very difficult as there is a lot of continuity throughout the whole clip, each individual actress had to do the same routine and the shots would have all had to have been put together at the right place and time. The use of many actresses gives a different and unique element to the film as it shows visual changes and so keeps the audience interested on what the next one is going to be. The actual shots are not very interesting as there is not much variety, instead they're kept simple and plain, this is done to show the boyfriend watching her, and also that it is a routine carried out everyday. It makes the film seem very realistic as it adds to us seeing from the boyfriends eyes.