Vertical Cinema

Induction Project

To start our time at Brit FMP for post 16 we were given the task to capture the essence of a film from the top 250 films list on IMDB. We had many options (Joker, 500 Days of Summer, The Shawshank Redemption) but we eventually settled on the 1999 film 'The Matrix.' The catch was that the 30 second film had to be shot and edited vertically. A heavy inspiration to this was the story of 'be kind, rewind' by Michel Gondry. While attempting to sabotage the local power plant, freeloader Jerry accidentally becomes magnetised and wipes all of the videos at the Be Kind Rewind rental store. The store owner, Mr Fletcher, is already facing closure and now the few customers he has have nothing to watch. When one regular asks for `Ghostbusters', acting manager Mike and Jerry cobble together a 20-minute remake using an old camcorder.

Having not watched The Matrix i wasn't sure but after having a look at the trailer i saw it as a great option. We cherry picked a few scenes and made them more applicable for the resources we had. Being in school and without access to complicated far future technological equipment we had to be smart about how we planned to film and edit this. Although it only being 30 seconds it wasn't too much of a challenge. The scenes we picked were...

IMG_6940.mov


  • The scene where Neo is ambushed at work

  • The obvious red pill/blue pill scene

  • The initial waking in the real world

  • Returning to the Matrix

  • Being ambushed by Agents

The filming process was made slightly complicated by several things. The main problem was the fact that half our group was off sick (NOT with Covid) and couldn't come in, meaning Coco and I were left to working out shots and asking favours from other people. The recording was a two-day process, starting on Tuesday morning and ending on Wednesday night. We shot almost entirely chronologically, barring one scene where I had to drown myself. This had to be done in a bathtub which I obviously didn't have access to in-school meaning I'd have to do it that night. I had been soaked in water by another person earlier that day which was child's play compared to having to actually drown oneself, but I digress.

The editing process was fairly simple, although having not used Premiere in a few months my skills and muscle memory were rather rusty but nothing that a few hours of editing didn't fix right away! The whole editing process took no more than two hours and by the end of it, I was left with a satisfactory verticle film.



If I were to change anything about the project, I suppose I might've chosen a film that wouldn't include me waterboarding myself (see image to the right). But apart from that, I've very satisfied with the outcome. We did have to use a purple skittle in place of a blue bill and the continuity left some inaccuracies however it was a fun project to stay with. Furthermore, It could have used a bit of extra planning or more time filming to get the right angles and perspectives but it's a minor thing considered we've got two years to make up for it!