PatriAR(T)chy

  OUFF CUPPERS 2021

Back for round two. This year's prompt words were destiny, cursed, and art.

This film was, excitingly, also an all female cast and crew. At the time of production it felt like a slight disaster – I could decide on what film I wanted to make and I'm incapable of orchestrating a plot under stress. I felt a bit like I was floating and forced to make decisions without support. There were a few different ways we could have gone with these prompt words, and I do hope that they get developed into longer more complex plots one day. We eventually decided to do a feminist piece about an artist who is a woman and feels that she is cursed by society because of her gender. After seeing too many artistic pieces by men that are either of men or objectified women, she realises her destiny as a woman and artist is to create works that empower women. I have intentionally not called her a 'female artist,' as the term separates women from men and suggests that it as abnormal for women to be artists (as if they are subcategory). Men are not called male artists – just 'artists' – and hence the same should be used to describe women in the profession.

Once our plot was settled (which was not really until the last day), things went much more smoothly. Kiran, who had never acted before, was a joy to work with and very receptive. Sarah, our choreographer, and Jigy, our director of photography, were also both easy to work with and had great ideas. I also bonded with Zoe, an art historian in the year above, who was my AD. She and I went through the Ashmolean together location scouting before the shoot. The whole thing took us just over an hour to shoot, which I think was very productive for a film. I used Kiran's iPhone 11 on the day and it felt like Christmas – working with my cracked camera lens for the past year has been increasingly more depressing as it gets worse. We also filmed a second segment the next day in Kiran's room – this took a little longer, as she actually drew a self-portrait! I honestly enjoyed getting to know the talent of this wonderful little cast and crew. 

I did the editing myself the afternoon before the deadline and struggled to cut down the footage. I think we had about five minutes worth of shots that I wanted to include, and I do think that had we had the space to do so, the plot and meaning of the film would have been communicated to the audience much better. I was certainly over ambitious, and I don't think it translated as well as I wanted it to. That said, every time I watch the film, I am surprised at how much better it is that I remember in my mind. I think I remember mostly the chaos of the process and editing and not the final result. I put black and white filter over the footage and inserted inter-titles to draw upon the style of old 1920s Soviet films. These were films made solely by men, and so I was aiming to create a juxtaposition between the two styles. It is a silent film for this reason – and also because it is much quicker to film without dialogue. When you have a week to film there needs to be no faff. I had Giles and David compose the music again; I am very happy with how it came out, and I think the dramatic tone (while perhaps a little exaggerated) is influenced by the 20s style.

Update: the process of voting was shambles. The OUFF committee shortlisted the entries to five, but then Matt (OUFF president) and I had the idea to do a public vote to determine the winner (mostly so we could enter a film but also to drive engagement to the Facebook). However, I did not realise that the posts could be voted on outside the OUFF Facebook group, so it didn't exactly work as intended. Well deserved winner though. We came fourth. 

Here is the film: