Practice Shots and Brain Storming
Here is a small practice video I made called 'The Exchange' just to flex the capacity of what I could do and how far I could push Premiere Pro in terms of adding in effects and cutting shots in such a limited time frame (the combined effort amounting to a handful of evenings at best). Although SYNTH had already been made, this piece helped me look back and evaluate what a rookie effort it was in both positive and negative ways. It was the jumping off point for a long and interesting journey that brought me to a place where I can be proud of being a video producer and for that, I can't fault it.
Initially, I started in with a cluster of ideas
Although there were definitely benefits to all of them, creativity unquestioned, the actual feasibility of creating a production as elaborate as say 'a giant omnipresent machine' or a 'nightmare realm like Dante's Inferno' just wasn't there and as such, I returned to the idea that I'd developed the most 'SYNTH'. I knew 'SYNTH' could be an effective OTS as it took the formula of a vintage horror movie thus appealing to a retro audience whilst at the same time turning those conventions on it's head in order to examine the portrayal of violence of screen, what it means and how we as audiences consume it. The titular SYNTH Killer being whispered to also spoke to that fear of being brainwashed by something, like the media, into doing certain action that you would have originally thought uncharacteristic through a shear attrition on the psyche although instead of fast food adverts and flashy logos it'd be a string of programmed numbers. As the idea started to come together, I began to understand that this project would require a certain set of visual sensibilities to convey its message as well as to stand out from the hordes of cheap slashers it was commenting on and as such I set about making a mood board.
This mood board set a tone and pallet for the film making that went on to inspire almost every other element of 'SYNTH' from the soundtrack to the shot composition all the way through to the final edit, planning of course playing a huge role in what I would create.