Reflection on Lumiere

Lumiere Films
My favorite Lumiere film that we watched in class was by far Beauty and the Creep. It was funny, entertaining, and well shot. The low angle camera drove the voyeuristic theme, which is inherent to a Lumiere film. The rule of thirds was followed almost religiously, which made it very visually pleasing. The situation may have been slightly exaggerated which added to the entertainment but ultimately detracted from the Lumiere esq intentions. One part that particularly stood out was when the main subjects head went off screen slightly adding the voyeuristic feel of the camera.
Making this short film was interesting to me because there was very little “making” involved. I simply set my camera on a chair to give it a lower and slightly skewed angle, and began filming. The most difficult part of production was convincing myself to hit my head against a steel bar…
After the footage was imported all I did was desaturate clip adjust the levels, contrast, and curves to get the tonal values I wanted, and add music. Though adding music detracted from the Lumiere style, I thought it greatly added to the piece and helped set a sense of pace and purpose. Also keeping the audio allows the viewer to hear the “clunk” of my head hitting the bar, which adds to the sensory experience and the impact of the moment. In hindsight I wish that better lit the roof of the bunk so that it would be more visually obvious what I am hitting. Watching the video in class did not bother me though I wish we had more time to turn the viewings into critiques and get feedback from our peers. (Though that’s probably the art class talking…)