Semester Assignment: The Life and Death of a Projectionist

During the semester, a module of our degree was focused on developing our skill in cinematography. We were eventually tasked to make a short three minute film utilizing the techniques and approaches we had developed of the course of the semester:

A Fiction or Documentary Film Project. This small group project focuses on lighting and camera will involve the effective planning and acquisition of film. Students will be required to demonstrate an understanding of technical and aesthetic considerations in image acquisition and visual story telling appropriate to level.

We wanted to showcase a number of cinematic styles, including the visual contrast between formats, connected by an overarching theme. Our film is based upon the changing landscape of cinema; the movement, the mechanics and even the interests of the audience, all as they are perceived through the view point of a projectionist. Take a look: 

[Here is a YouTube Link as the embedding image quality is less than desirable.] 

Just some points of information:

• The bulk of the footage was shot on a Sony Z5. For the second 'internal feature' we used a Braun Nizo S80 Super 8 Camera. 
• Our primary locations were Belfast City Centre, The Queen's Film Theatre and Malham Cove. 
• It was edited on Avid Media Composer 6.0 with the Magic Bullet editing suite. 
• Our male actor is reading his own poem, you can find a link to his stuff here. 
• We made substantial changes from our initial draft which was centred around a different theme and included other internal features (including a Twitter based horror titled 'Trender') the change was mainly due to time restrictions. 
• Our key influences when writing, directing and editing Goddard, Malick and Fellini. 

Hope you enjoy, as always feedback is welcomed.