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Works By Jen

Behind the scence

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Press for music

Final Project - Believer Remake

Film Remake

Orignal Film

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Believer 2018 - Film poster

Original film - Time Stamp remake 1:30.40 – 1:35:15

Believer remake 2024 - Film poster

Film remake

Final Project Prompt : Classic 5mins remake of a Korean movie scene

The Short film clip is a remake of the Believer [2018] directed by Lee-Hae-Young, a South Korean action-crime film. Our version stars a detective deep undercover as a fellow gangster played by Sean Reddy interrogating a Drug Lord played by Nathanial Sherlock who claims to be Mr. King, the unseen boss of a vast Drug ring under investigation. I played a pivotal role during Pre-production process and filming as Producer and Art director. My responsibilities included creating production schedule, coordinating production and communicating meeting for the crew and actors.

Pre-production work began with shot-by-shot analysis of the original film, where I provided screenshots of each shot transition, alongside analysis of cinematic elements such as shot, angle, dialogues and light. The analysis created a base to build upon a more detailed plans for production casting, costumes, props, lighting and setup. I advised the director and crew on characters needed and helped casting through my friend acting as the detective for the film. I was responsible for coordinating all costumes in the film. For menswear’s I sourced clothing from friends and family. While I purchased top, apron, gloves and for the bloody assistant and splattered face paint & food colouring. In the art department I recycled my ring cases as the drug container, repainted dollar store gun and filed vials with caster sugar. Then Paper mâché over tapped cardboard pieces for desired container shape and Paper mâché the arm. Then filling both with mixed paint, food colouring wet tissues and glue, on the day for a more wet realistic effect. The set also featured wooden cabinets inverted as drug crates. I scouted and selected the filming location which fit our vision, it was an abandoned house. We started with an empty room, then the crew and I brainstormed the desired set design and every item in the filming was purposely placed through the vision.

BTS - Pre-production behind the "Bloody Assistant"

BTS - Pre-production behind the Detective & Mr.Brian

BTS - Filming production

We aimed to remake the film as accurately as possible, with small rooms for interpretations. During filming I had the original movie and shot by shot progression, providing crew with directions for next scenes this included the order of shots, actors positioning & dialogues. During the second shooting, I took the role of directing as well as balancing lighting with the help of my crewmate Yuqi, and later managed on set sound operating the zoom f3 Audio recorder. Lastly, following the teachers feedback of low lighting on the detectives on the first draft my crewmate Yuqi and I shared roles and reshot all detective scenes.

I have vastly enjoyed dedicating my all to this project and it has been so immensely rewarding to progress my creativity and practical skills in many ways. I am proud of my commitment and hand-on experience in multiple roles and have cultivated immense respect for pre-production process of filming rather than just the film. My experience has not only expanded my understanding and appreciation for film production deeply but created room for excitement in my own future aspirations in film productions.

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(1) A letter for her

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This project prompt: Still images + 1st Person Narration + 2 - 3 mins

This short digitale, represents more than a decade of relentless battles with self-image along with a constant nightmare of being perceived and captured in still images permanently. The digitale depiction serves as a conduit between the mind's internal reality and the snapshots of myself through the lens of others.

My creative process begins with searching the web. I ended up gaining inspiration when watching a Ted-talk about writing when the presenter said, “Question yourself through your writing, not to answer but explore”. Looking through the existing photo albums, I find myself connecting to my younger self, questioning the forgotten ever-so contaminating voice in my head that always burdened my mind. Never would have thought of giving this self-loathing leach any power, but for once in my life I have all the control. My digitale depicts the raw complexities of self-worth but also serves as a testament to the transformative power of resilience of love.

The works of first-person narration, serves as a bridge for an intimate view between the “glossy grinning surface” and my true mind. The images often jump back and forth between different stages of my younger self, different age, hair colours, clothing, style. This intentional dynamic aimed to emphasise the despair narrative as the only consistency. Despite the darkness, the narration subtitle persists, mimicking the nagging inside of my mind. In parallel gave the viewers time and space encouraging them to create their interpretations of “a ballerina, forced to keep up the stance”.

I’m afraid my experimentation with the narrations may have resulted in the digitale appearing broken paced, placing some parts out of rhythms and unevenly spaced in the dialogue. The slow-paced attempts, forcing the viewers to pay more attention towards the words spoken, making connections with images shown for longer periods of time. In difference the fast-paced audio paired alongside the briefly glimpsed blurred visuals depicted how I would’ve wanted the viewers to “only ever see my picture-perfect self”. Quickly gliding past the “imperfections”.

I am aware that on the “9th birthday” I used minimal images from the same event, each shot was like one another. This may seem bland and repetitive but was purposely placed to reinforce the motif of birthdays throughout the digitale. The repetition highlights the experience where traditional celebrations of joy are instead squashed by the internal struggle of self-control in front of others. The last “20th Birthday” serves as a contrast and growth to the seemingly constant internal tension. Audio effects of the beach waves, winds and seagulls are woven into the piece to invite the audience into a sense of newfound peace and tranquillity.

The final moments of the digitale are jam packed, bringing together a vibrant collection of all different captures of myself, symbolising the end of my journey and celebrating self-acceptance.

Credits

Photographs from Jennifers' family and friends
Music credits: Cry by Cigarettes After Sex

(1) Mind Jump

This project prompt: Flashback + 1HR filming limit

When thinking of flashbacks, in the brainstorming process, we thought about objects and the sentimental values they bring, sometimes transporting us back to old memories. The team decided to create a character who discovered her "powers" to view other memories by touching their belongings. The scene begins with a stranger passerby dropping their ring, which the character attempts to pick up. However, within the first touch, she is overwhelmed by flashbacks of the stranger's emotions and memories. This flashback is inspired by "Everything Everywhere all at once". The character quickly returns the ring, but her expression quickly uncovers the facade and shows her confusion. As she lingers on her necklace at the end, this gives space for the audience in the end for their imagination. What is her connection with the stranger? What were the character's emotions? Why did she not attempt to tell the stranger what she saw?

The original storyboarding process plan was to begin in the middle of the flashbacks and then return to the moment, allowing the audience to realise that the character was touching the stranger's ring and transports her to the stranger's memories. The main character's powers will be further reiterated as she receives flashbacks of touching another stranger's watch. Storyboarding was quick and efficient planning through simple stick figures; this left 45 minutes for filming; the team selected the black magic pocket camera. There were technical difficulties as the camera continuously shut down as we started filming. There was an attempt to troubleshoot, but we ultimately decided it would be most efficient to film with the Sony camcorder device. With 30 minutes left to film, the story is cut short to two characters. Therefore, the story might not be as coherent for the audience as it was. I struggled with acting as it was my first time, and the communication felt rushed due to time constraints. As a result, I believe my performance could be improved. Learning from this film, I aim to prioritise the setup to allow more time for filming and make a more connective storyline. for the editing process, i was quite please with the beggin and the color grading in efforts to show the transformation more clearer between the flashbacks

Original

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Edited

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(2) Brain-Storm

Project prompt: Artwork Inspiration + Transformation + 10-12 Shots

The transformation prompt sparked a very creative brainstorming session within the team. However, given our limited time and resources, the team focused on depicting a character's internal transformation. I struggled with storyboarding in the brainstorming process, as narrowing down and drawing out precisely what needed to be filmed was challenging. I felt this would result in less creativity and freedom before even filming. However, I discovered that Storyboarding played an essential role and became very helpful in this project as the number of shots was limited; this allowed the team to prioritise displaying important shots that would only add value to the Story. In addition, this saved much time during filming, as all the planning was completed, resulting in a well-planned guideline to follow.

The scene begins with medium-wide shots as the character walks, drawn inexplicably "drawn" toward a book. This initial framing is crucial, as it establishes the setting, and the greyish colour grading builds a sense of mystique. As the character begins reading, the shots become increasingly intimate, using point-of-view angles to immerse the audience in her experience. The rapid flipping of pages and fast-forwarding aim to depict how the book captivates the character, intensifying her transformation and the audience's anticipation. Within the film, Extreme close-up shots play a pivotal role in this sequence, especially those focusing on the character's eyes. These shots fill the entire frame with just the character's eye, emphasizing the profound change she undergoes. The 'Fallen Angel' painting inspired the Extreme eyes closeup shots. Where the Fallen angel’s hidden face can still convey complex emotions through his eyes, the team aims to use this technique to suggest a profound internal shift. The repeated close-ups of the character’s eyes reflect her gradual transformation, drawing the audience into the evolving emotional state as the reading finishes. The change in colour grading to a warm golden brown signifies the completion of her transformation, as the character hazes out the window, quietly absorbing the changes within herself.

Credits: @YuqiFiliming completed this week's filming & editing. This week, I learned a lot from my teammates, especially how to operate Adobe Premiere Pro's techniques. This will be particularly useful for future projects.

Artwork Inspiration