Christmas is a time for family and friends; a time for
peace and love, to relax and spend time together. It’s a time to remember those
we’ve lost and those we have the privilege of living with, those far away and
those less fortunate than ourselves. It is not so much about receiving than
giving; an opportunity to make someone else smile and feel loved. For some it’s about
remembering the God who loves us, and what he did for us and still does today.
(For the finished film see here: https://vimeo.com/86304357)
The purpose of this film was to capture one family’s experience of Christmas, from
morning till night, and to convey a positive and uplifting atmosphere in which the
audience can participate.
"Christmas is, of course, the time to be home - in heart as well as body" - Garry Moore.
The opening sequence of the film is compiled of pull
focus shots that fade from one to the other. This was intended to create a ‘sleepy
feeling’; the moment in which the mind is waking up, the eyes are trying to
focus and all is still and quiet before the excitement of Christmas morning
truly begins.
The film was intended to have a documentary feel to it in
that the closeness of the camera would create a space within the video for the
audience to exist. This therefore enables the viewer to personally observe and
to some extent take part in the proceedings of Christmas. There were no tripods
or grips used because to create this feeling the camera needed to be completely
handheld.
The pacing of the film follows the music (It’s Beginning
to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Michael Buble. No copyright infringement
intended), and is cut to the beat. The pacing does become faster when the
singing begins and a consistent beat can be clearly heard and followed.
Several other techniques were used such as jump cuts
(sequences like the Christmas cake and breakfast tray), and match cuts (the present
opening sequence).
The main influence for this film was the Sainsbury’s Christmas
advert of 2013.
The advert has a deliberate non-commercial feel due to the fact
that it is made up of family home videos, and is perhaps rather humble and
subdued compared with the other commercials shown at the time. Whereas the advert (which was in fact a trailer for a documentary:
‘Christmas in a Day’ directed by Kevin MacDonald) conveys every emotion from
birth to death, from comical to melancholy, this film focuses on only the
positive aspects rather than combining them with the negative.
A widescreen overlay was added to the film, and the
footage was captured on a Canon EOS 7D, then edited on Adobe Premier Elements
11.
Here is the finished film: https://vimeo.com/86304357
In conclusion, perhaps the message that this film conveys most is this:
that although some people find no purpose in Christmas at all, it is much better
to spend it with others than alone.
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