Author: jciolino

The Sound Of Drowning, is a poem performed by singer, poet and activist Amyra León, and is accompanied by beautifully strung together shots and cinematography in Harlem, New York. It’s a unique style of visual poem that is also met with reenactment, as Amyra is describing her upbringing in a very powerful and musical way.

From the start we are transported to winter in Harlem, New York. Beautiful shots with light snow falling that transition perfectly with the beat of a somewhat melancholy, quiet but powerful music track. When we meet Amyra she’s seen in two different shots that the producers use — the one where she’s down in the streets and another where she’s on a roof above the city. I think the two different versions and shots the producers use it brilliant and creative and gives the audience a sense into who she is, and where she comes from. Since it’s such a short video with limited amount of time, the two different shots showing her character are necessary.

Most of the video is narrated by Amyra, in a poem, that is met with a young girl reenacting as she goes along. Cameras follow the young Amyra and take us to the tough childhood and lifestyle she endured. Where her parents were unreliable and unavailable. Shots like this one below, to highlight disorder and a chaotic childhood:

Another beautiful and clever technique the filmmakers used was water reflection, at 0:37 Amyra begins to tell us that she has “tried 13 times to belong in homes that weren’t mine,” and there’s one initial shot of red brick buildings, that is followed up by a great shot of the building in the reflection of water, using very limited and slow pan up.

The video goes on with Amyra continuing to describe her upbringing through her musical spoken word, and the filmmakers capture an incredible shot that is framed by an arch as seen below at 0:49 – 1:02

At 1:09 to 1:15, the filmmakers transition into the latter part of the poem, which strikes with power and is hard-hitting. To start it off, the filmmakers use a sort of matched action between young Amyra, and grown Amyra, with a spin or dance move. It’s almost as if it’s a wind up for what’s to come in the following second half of the video.

Followed up is a sequence of the poem that begins each sentence with Amyra saying “my kind of poetry ain’t literary,” and that becomes the theme and pulling force for the next minute. Each time she drops “my kind of”, the scenes transition on queue, between close up, zoom-in shots of Amyra, mixed in with the reenactment shots.

At 1:17, “My kind of adoption ain’t real”

At 1:24, “My kind of body ain’t beauty”

At 1:33, “My kind of joy ain’t worth seeking”

At 1:46, “My kind of life ain’t worth saving”

The tone changes with the filmmakers focusing on Amyra raising her hands up, with her eyes closed at 1:56 to 2:02. Matched action abound here as she is “becoming, becoming, becoming” something new and intuitive. This transitions to a shot of where she is now today, on the stage, as a performer, activist, singer and poet, as pictured below:

The filmmakers end the video on a perfect, panning shot accompanied by her “dancing in the moonlight, and learning the sound of drowning,” and in the backdrop, they make sure to include what appears to be a mural depicting minorities that I am assuming is in Harlem or somewhere in New York (if any knows what this art is, please comment and let me know! I googled but couldn’t find it). Her hand motion is also matching the hand positioning seen in the mural, which was a nice touch if intentional.

Overall, for the limited amount of time the video is, Amyra and the filmmakers worked together brilliantly to pack this visual poem with a powerful punch. Using focused and matched reenactment shots, beautiful colors of the city, architecture and visuals of Amyra herself, and impressive transition techniques that flowed perfectly with Amyra’s impactful words. An inspiring and strong piece.

— Joe Ciolino

Knives Down, Bikes Up is a short, interview-style documentary, produced by Masses Collective, focusing on the youth in London, and how knife violence has been taking the region by storm and has been a grow problem for the past few years. Teens as young as 16 have been victim to knife violence and influenced by violent acts involving knives. Riders created the movement to create a sense of a new community, that swings the focus away from this violent lifestyle.

The text to begin the video coupled with the black and white shooting choice provides for a theme that could be felt as troublesome, or eerie, or as if being stuck somewhere that can be fearful. Almost as if the character(s) are trying to break out or move past that black and white lifestyle, or the potential for that violent lifestyle, and breaking into a world filled with color, and a more meaningful and fulfilling life that is founded by a small community of youth. It is used to transport the audience to this troubled community that is surrounded by the fear of being threatened with a knife, or worse yet being physically hurt. In this community, kids walking home from school are at risk and exposed to this potential violence.

The quote “I think knives is just an easy way to scare people, you know you’re going to do a damage with a knife, it’s easy to get a knife,” flows well with the black and white theme the producers used for the video and the underlying and eerie tones of the music track used.

Portraits are used throughout the video to give us a glimpse into those affected by this type of violence and humanizing the issue more for us by placing the faces right in the middle of the camera, in an attempt to put us, the audience, face to face with these kids. Furthermore, the producers use zoom-in to try and enhance this by bringing us from further out, to up close and personal.

The producers beautifully crafted together a portrait shot of an individual (at 1:18), being circled by another performing a “bikes up” wheelie, providing an artistic way to describe the movement without even having to say anything. The circling around breathes protection, community and youth coming together for one another.

The producers create a powerful sequence at 2:09-1:40, capturing the youth riding together as a community, with voice over quote “If you’re giving kids the opportunity to do what they want as long as it’s positive, then you’re keeping them away from what they could be getting drawn into.”

Slow motion of bicyclists poppin’ wheelies and super close-up shots of bicycle spokes turning seem to mesh well with the music in the background, but the producers keep it humble by not overwhelming us with too much of it.

A technique I really admired was that the producers didn’t use any talking head video footage of the interviewee. There’s one shot of (who I believe is the one speaking) seen below:

(cont.) and this is the only instance where we see him. He does start the video off by giving us a brief account of a particularly frightening experience he had, bringing us with him into the severity of the issue in London. However, it’s brilliant because the character isn’t just one person but rather this community of youth banding together. He doesn’t take over the video and the message. A talking head would have taken away from the beautiful style and character.

The use of zoom-in, the voice flowing with the tones and music, portraits, close-up and slow-motion shots are beautifully crafted together to make a short, but very moving and enjoyable piece to deliver an important message.

– Joe Ciolino

 

A short, fun piece about pounding Mochi with the fastest Mochi Maker in Japan

“Pounding Mochi With The Fastest Mochi Maker in Japan”

Produced by: Great Big Story

The producers took an interview approach to let Mitsuo Nakatani tell his story and explain the intricacies of Mochi making.

Techniques and tools that proved to be key:

Interview

I appreciate how the producers set up interview shot(s) with Nakatani. I personally like the standing shot introduction because it feels more artistic, interesting and natural in my opinion (this is, however, not true in every situation). I think it particularly works for Nakatani because the work requires him to be on his feet constantly. It’s physically demanding and requires constant moving around, standing for long periods of time, tossing Mochi and swinging a mallet repeatedly. Thus, the initial standing shot and standing interview makes sense.

Close-ups

When Nakatani is describing what Mochi is, he teaches us about sticky rice, or “mochigome”. While he is describing it, the filmmakers cut to a scene of a close-up shot of the mochigome itself, with a hand going across it to show the viewers how sticky it really is. We can see the rice stick to the hand because the shot is so close.

A good amount of slow-motion is used in the video, particularly with the tossing of the Mochi and then the subsequent pounding of it. It makes for an interesting shot for the viewer and shows how the process works. By using slow-motion, we can see how the Mochi is manipulated and changed by the mallets and how it works its way towards its final form.

There are some shots of this in real time, which is necessary for part of the narrative. This includes Nakatani telling us that their style of Mochi making is a high-speed process.

Matched-action. At :50 in the video, a man is tossing the mochi into the barrel, and then there’s a great over the shoulder view of the pounders immediately beginning the process by pounding away at it, and it cuts to a close up shot of the mallets and the mochi, matching the action from the shot before. They could have kept the initial scene in there, but by showing us a closer shot of the Mochi gives us a better/more interesting view of the process of Mochi pounding.

Again, at 1:24, there is more matched action with Nakatani putting on his chef hat. There’s a great wide portrait shot of his face. I appreciate this shot as a viewer because it’s an intimate shot. Centered, extremely close, and we can see how serious he is about his work. It makes the audience feel like we’re right there with the producers really getting to know Nakatani. This is proceeded by a side shot of his face, to a close up of the back side, then back to the front of his face, showing him finishing the perfect placement of his hat above his brow. I think this sequence is important because it’s showing how serious he takes his work, and the hat placement is just one element that he takes seriously.

There are some amazing close-up shots of hands as well. Hands grasping the handle of the mallets while Nakatani is explaining that Mochi making is all about timing and trusting the person next to you. The close-up of the hands firmly grasping the mallet brings us into the process and shows us that this is not an easy technique and requires strength and precision.

Action and reaction. The Mochi making process: the shots of the Mochi makers pounding, we can see the expression on their faces as they yell and pound away at the Mochi. At 1:50, Nakatani is describing how it is “like a battle”, and the filmmakers matched that quote with the shot of the faces, showing their determination and vigor, and how it causes them to react in a way that would be similar to swinging a sword or staff in a battle. It’s actually quite beautiful and poetic.

Again, at the 1:59 mark, the shot of the faces, we can see how it is a rigorous activity, and the subsequent reaction is the public showing their appreciation and excitement for it.

Which is a great transition into Nakatani talking about how people react differently to eating the Mochi. It goes from a wide shot of the crowd watching the the process, to close up shots of the Mochi, and faces, and reactions of the people taking bites. Nakatani tells us that he lives to see those faces. The filmmakers decided to couple this quote with close-up, slow-motion shots of the faces the people are making as they bite into the Mochi.

Pacing

“Quick Hands, High Stakes”: The pacing starts off quick in the beginning, to match the title of the video, showing the danger that goes into this sort of work. It makes us think “how do their hands not get smashed?”

The pace slows down with slow motion a few more times, particularly at the 1:45 mark, as mentioned before, when Nakatani is talking about how they use their shouting to coordinate and create a rhythm. The slow pace of the shot brings us into that process as if we’re there next to them experiencing the intensity of the process, but at the same time we can see the sheer determination and concentration that goes into it.

Detail

Again more close-up detail shots of Nakatani dawning his hat, showing his seriousness and that this is what he lives for, to see those happy faces of people eating Mochi. The detail, close up shots of the customers biting into the Mochi, using slow motion to show us the Mochi tearing apart, matching how we saw it it the barrel being pounded to form — to being torn apart by the customers which lead to those detailed shots of happy faces. Then again, more detailed, close up shots of the Mochi makers working together, pounding away with mallets and their hands, and giving us insight into how intense and difficult this work really is.

– Joe Ciolino