Abstract
In my thesis, I examined how I worked artistically with perspectives and subjective truths in my two short films, What I Wanted to Say and TIPS. Both films are exploring the use of first-person perspective in different ways to allow the audience to experience two different opinions of the story. This exploration is the main part of my artistic research. Through my work with perspectives, I have also added the dual perspective of working as an actor-director on both films and how that method evolved through this process. This method was explored as a part of this thesis, but will not be included in this exposition. In working with perspectives, I have studied when to focus on what role, both when it comes to what character’s perspective should be in focus on the screen at what time, and when to focus on what part of the actor-director role. Searching for this balance is the focus of my artistic research, as well as looking into the possibility of allowing both roles the focus at the same time.
The first film I made, What I Wanted to Say, is a love letter to a broken relationship, a short drama that explores the difficulties of ending a relationship. For this film, I used the same visuals twice but changed the voiceovers so that the visuals of the couple being in love and then fighting with each other would be influenced by each character’s subjective thoughts. The voiceovers take the audience on a reflective journey through the couple’s thoughts as Lisa leaves her lover, Oliver at the end of the film.
The second film, TIPS, is a story about the newly hired bartender, Sarah, and a group of guys celebrating their friend’s birthday. Here, I worked on changing the perspectives visually through closeups and point-of-view shots, as Sarah builds up the courage to flirt for tips, which is misinterpreted by the guys who decide to follow her home after work in pursuit of her phone number. We move back and forth between the perspective of Sarah, who learns to stand up for herself, and the self-proclaimed leader of the friend group, Pete, who learns to apologize in the end.
Exploring the subjective truths and how to create those in the two films has been the main part of my artistic research and is what I will be looking further into with my exposition. Especially my work on What I Wanted to Say became a study into the dual perspective and how to give them authenticity. The film itself becomes an exposition of that work. The work with perspectives on TIPS, on the other hand, appears more filmic and allows the audience to experience the perspectives without being forced to experience them equally. This builds upon the exploration from What I Wanted to Say and adds new layers to the perspective work that I am exploring further in this exposition.
