archived-videos Beautiful Sketches

Ernest Worthing

Ernest Worthing

Attachments

  • Sketches03jpeg (1).jpg
    Sketches03jpeg (1).jpg
    204.3 KB · Views: 166
  • Sketches07800.jpg
    Sketches07800.jpg
    142 KB · Views: 116
  • Sketches08800.jpg
    Sketches08800.jpg
    179 KB · Views: 116
  • Sketches03jpeg (2).jpg
    Sketches03jpeg (2).jpg
    30.2 KB · Views: 156
  • Sketches06800.jpg
    Sketches06800.jpg
    68.7 KB · Views: 115
Upvote 0
Okay, on my first viewing, a couple days ago, I got that she was reliving memories (or at least imagining places she wishes she were), through the sketches. The way that you matched up some of the b/w sketch shots to the color shots made that pretty clear that everything in color is what she is sketching.

Beyond that, it was a little too abstract for me to get any definite ideas as to what it is about. Though, that's your intent, right?

If I were to just comment on initial reaction, I'd say she was reminiscing about a relationship from her younger days.
 
Would I be looking at things too simply if I said that she's just expressing her frustration at being injured?

Almost all the images are of either vast open spaces (symbolic of freedom, expression and movement) or of activities that, in her current state, she can't perform (ice-skating). The sketching is just a form of release from that frustration...?

This is a fun guessing game :)
 
ThatGuyFromThatPlace said:
Shot Comparisons - the left hand side are the ones I thought were bad, and the right hand side are the ones I think were good. I don't have the time right now to list all of the shots (the last time I did that for a short it took me a good couple of hours or so), but really the vast majority of the film is fantastically done.

The more I look back at it I don't think there was really that much wrong, just the narrative style change (?) threw me off a lot (the majority of the video is pretty abstract but in the black and white sections it's mainly character focused). Saying that, the "off" feeling that I had was probably directed at shots like the second on the left in that picture. You'll notice that the wide depth of field (?) has managed to catch the entirety of the background (car, etc.), whereas shots like the one on the top-right haven't - this draws the attention from the main subject and makes the thing feel flatter. The shot in the top right is one of my favourite shots of the entire film, along with the one towards the end where she spins (but my delayed reactions right now just won't let me stop it on the frame I liked the best - the last one), because they keep the attention solely on the woman.

One of the things I always successful short films and films do is they always have the scenes written and shot as if from a single character's perspective. Occasionally that might change for some reason, but really it has to be a fantastic reason otherwise it just doesn't feel right at all, especially for narrative pieces. One of the main things that is really putting me off about that shot where you can see the car in the background, and I think the whole scene, is that the girl is clearly focused on her sketching, and yet you have the car in focus and are keeping things like the man as main shots. Imagine the whole first part as one scene - you have the girl, sitting on the bench, sketching, and the guy comes along and sits next to her. It feels off that the audience is introduced to the man before the girl has even taken notice of him - we see him walking well before the girl takes her eyes off her sketchbook.

Really though I think this may be a subjective thing, and anyone here can feel free to say I'm wrong.

It was really a fantastic piece though, and to make a video that fits so perfectly around such a unique musical piece is truly something to be proud of!

Edit:
And I've just realised that it was probably a technical limitation with your camera's depth of field (?) that caused the problems I thought were there, which is totally understandable.

Edit:
Watching it for the fourth time now, is that guy that sits next to her the same guy that she's been drawing and is in the shots? I have the feeling that she was someone close to him and something happened to change her perspective of him. From a couple of the shots (like the fact that she's dressed in teenager-esque clothing and he's very formal and business-like) I have the feeling that he's the father, and if he was the one she was drawing then perhaps she didn't like the way her father had strayed from his younger life of being a lot more free and instead chose profit over enjoying life? Or perhaps she just didn't like her father at all and was drawing the way she wanted him to be.

See, this shot in particular got me thinking about that.

Is that someone there in the background? Because if it is, and they were meant to be there, then I think it's a pretty important point that you don't see them again in the ice rink shots and from that point on she seems very lonely and isolated. It lends to my theory that someone close to her changed into someone she didn't like anymore, at least.

If that ends up being a sign in the middle of the arena, I'm going to feel like an idiot.

Edit:
And now I've just read your reply to the other guy and I've realised I'm completely wrong. You know, I don't mind, because this short film is still amazing.
Click to expand...

I see what you mean about the black and white shots compared to the other ones. I tried to have a larger dof in all the wider "bench" shots unless it was a closeup of the girls face. If you notice, even when the background is blurred in the wider shots, its very little and you can make out the background quite clearly as opposed to the shallow dof in virutally all of the ice skating shots. However, when we return to the bench at the end, the guy is experiencing shallow dof as opposed to the girl experiencing it during her closeups in the bench shots at the beginning. She has vacated the bench by now, left her sketchbook behind and the focus is now on him and the sketchbook instead of her on the sketchbook.
The second shot on the left in ur picture (thanks for doing that btw, made ur explanation clear for me to follow), i should have blurred the bg just a tiny bit in retrospect. I think that wouldve been a better choice even though i wanted all the wider bench shots to be in perspective of their urban environment.

I dont know if i can say more abt the guy right now but yes, you've hit it on the head that it is him in her sketches! And ur already tying it in with what others and theo said! It is not her father. And she may never have seen him till he sat down next to her.

Btw, there is no feeling like an idiot here. The b&w is what it is and it leads to my interpretation of the abstract scenes. But the abstract part is up for grabs to any interpretation u like. Just figuring out mine is question here. In fact, im the one who may feel like an idiot with all the wonderful interpretations ur minds r coming up with.


Cracker Funk said:
Okay, on my first viewing, a couple days ago, I got that she was reliving memories (or at least imagining places she wishes she were), through the sketches. The way that you matched up some of the b/w sketch shots to the color shots made that pretty clear that everything in color is what she is sketching.

Beyond that, it was a little too abstract for me to get any definite ideas as to what it is about. Though, that's your intent, right?

If I were to just comment on initial reaction, I'd say she was reminiscing about a relationship from her younger days.
Click to expand...

You're right about the sketches matching the timelapses. Im glad thats clear and coming out. And you're on the right track with imagination but there is more. The imagination seems to be too exact... and clear. Wouldnt it be blurry?


NickClapper said:
Would I be looking at things too simply if I said that she's just expressing her frustration at being injured?

Almost all the images are of either vast open spaces (symbolic of freedom, expression and movement) or of activities that, in her current state, she can't perform (ice-skating). The sketching is just a form of release from that frustration...?

This is a fun guessing game :)
Click to expand...

She is anything but frustrated. Her smiling and laughing near the end suggests she's happy.
The sketching may not be a release from the frustration but you've pretty much nailed the symbolism from my personal perspective! Kudos to you. A little creepy actually...
Glad you're enjoying this! I couldnt be happier and more thankful.
 
Well Done Ernest!


I love the contrast between the B/W "real life" and the color "drawing" and how you incorproated it.

Editing was nice and tight, the B/W look worked really well

I like the "visual sketch book" theme of it.

Very nicely compacted and put together-some great closeups, a bang on impressive job! Well done!
 
Tinalera said:
Well Done Ernest!


I love the contrast between the B/W "real life" and the color "drawing" and how you incorproated it.

Editing was nice and tight, the B/W look worked really well

I like the "visual sketch book" theme of it.

Very nicely compacted and put together-some great closeups, a bang on impressive job! Well done!
Click to expand...

Thanks for checking it out and the lovely words, Tina! Your support is always appreciated!
 
NickClapper said:
I wrote a short article about Ernest's film for my website, so if you fancy checking it out you can find it by clicking here...

I still think the film is beautiful and I'm very impressed with how tight lipped you're staying on the subject of its true meaning ;)
Click to expand...

I read it on Facebook, Nick. Nice job!

Ernest is the man. One of the great things about this forum is the ability to share successes with other members, and there have been a lot of successes lately. :yes:
 
NickClapper said:
I wrote a short article about Ernest's film for my website, so if you fancy checking it out you can find it by clicking here...

I still think the film is beautiful and I'm very impressed with how tight lipped you're staying on the subject of its true meaning ;)
Click to expand...

Thanks, Nick! You were entirely too kind in your review!

Sometimes it's hard but i want people to take their own meaning and not view it through mine, so ill try and stay shut as long as i can :)

CamVader said:
I read it on Facebook, Nick. Nice job!

Ernest is the man. One of the great things about this forum is the ability to share successes with other members, and there have been a lot of successes lately. :yes:
Click to expand...

Thanks! That's one of the reasons i like this place, hanging out with cool and talented ppl like u!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top