Film Studies

Film is a powerful and stimulating art form and practice.

The DP film course aims to develop students as proficient interpreters and makers of film texts. Through the study and analysis of film texts, and through practical exercises in film production, the film course develops students’ critical abilities and their appreciation of artistic, cultural, historical, and global perspectives in film. Students examine film concepts, theories, practices, and ideas from multiple perspectives, challenging their own viewpoints and biases in order to understand and value those of others.

DP film students experiment with film and multimedia technology, acquiring the skills and creative competencies required to successfully communicate through the language of the medium. They develop an artistic voice and learn how to express personal perspectives through film. The May 2022 cohort completed three major assessments for their course: the textual analysis, a recorded comparative study, and the production portfolio.

Below you will find the reels the production portfolio. The HL students each complete three reels, each focusing on a specific film production role, such as directing, editing, cinematography, sound design, screenwriting, and more. Each candidate also completes a three-page write up on their experience within the role. Our SL students complete One reel in one of these roles.

We hope you enjoy these films.

IBDP Film HL

CHUAH_Boon_Cong.mp4

Boon Cong Chuah

I really enjoyed every single part of the process of making them whether it is editing, filming, planning, preparing. Even though these reels took me a very long time to complete and I do not regret any part of them. My reels are different from the others because I am focusing on the editing and the cinematography which is the 2 out of 3 roles I had chosen because I am trying to show that you don’t need music to catch the audience's attention and it can be done through film techniques and camera movements. I hope you enjoy them as well. Thank you for watching

HA_Minseo_FINAL_FP_2022.mp4

Minseo Ha

I concentrated on wide angles, panning shots, and push-in shots. Due to the pandemic, people were unable to go outside. As a result, it was difficult for me to film out. Fortunately, the condominium where I reside has a beautiful green landscape, which can be used as one of the advantages of rising to different angles to get a greater sense of nature from my vantage point. The three reels had overlapping themes and similar color schemes, so all three reels had a sequence to the message that I wanted to convey (to some extent): Relaxing your minds by "Look for something green," but the "Covid situation" created a great juxtaposition that eventually led to my separation from my friend, "I miss you as always," where I personalized my own experience of losing and being separated from a friend.

RYBERG_Elsa_compressedNEW.mp4

Elsa Ryberg

My focus for my films was to share my experience and culture with people outside my immediate family and friends, therefore I focused on being Swedish in two of my clips. I think that I was able to step out of my comfort zone and explore new film skills. What I found most challenging was also the thing I found most interesting and that was focusing on a new role, because I had just learnt one role when I finished my film and then I had to switch it all up to look at a new role. When coming into film I thought that all the reels would be similar to each other in the way that they were done but because of the different roles and specific skills they were all really unique and I really enjoyed that even though it was hard sometimes.

NOTARAS_Giorgio_FP2022.mp4

Giorgio Notaras

While making these reels, my intention wasn’t just to display my capabilities as a filmmaker, but as an entertainer. I attempted to create my films with the specific roles in mind, but I also believe that I needed to make them somewhat entertaining. I mixed elements of humour and film elements to show how sometimes not everything needs to be serious. Humour is a good tool to get people engaged, as well as challenge myself. As it's easier to keep a monotone film when attempting to display one area of filmmaking, but to add an element of humour and combine that with the specific areas was especially difficult. To find a point of equilibrium, in which both elements can be perceived, but none overshadow the other, was one of the greatest challenges. Each of the 3 films are loosely based upon myself however, there are some where I twisted the stories for entertainment value, such as the third and second one.

IBDP Film SL

HO_Seongwan.mp4

Seonghwan Mo

The main intention of this reel was to highlight the prevalent issue of school bullying, and how it may lead to further consequences such as school shootings for instance. The reel further highlights the change in the mental state of the victim, as he goes through a traumatic experience. Anyhow, the story revolves around an average student getting bullied in school and trying to get his revenge, while having a change in his mental state, from an innocent student to a complete maniac. The lighting plays a huge role in this reel, as the blue and red lighting was highly utilized throughout the reel to depict the change in the mental state of the student as well as implicitly showing his emotional change as well.

NOMOTO_Daniel.mp4

Daniel Nomoto

I’ve always been interested in the role sound and music can play in a film. The goal was to explore and show the never ending cycle of mental struggles through an audio-visual medium. This was accomplished through various techniques in both sound design and music theory. The most notable one is the piano progression that slowly builds up in complexity. This was accomplished through the use of heavy processing such as reverb, stereo imaging and granular synthesis to create the chaotic effect. Another example was the intro and outro play a single gritty bass note, D# in the intro and F in the outro. The F in the outro is an irresolute note that is only resolved by a note such as D#. When the video is replayed with the intro D# playing again, one cycle is completed before it repeats itself again, symbolizing how resolution to mental health struggles are only temporary.

HUM_George.mp4

George Hum

The main aim of this film reel was to take a very simple story line and dramatise it by solely exploiting heavy cinematography. The plot of the film involves a teenage boy being stuck in an online maths class, as he tries to hold his pee in. A variety of shot types were used - from wide establishing shots to close-up shots. Each shot was thoroughly chosen with the main target of clearly depicting the boy’s struggles. Additionally, there was the challenge of being stuck at home - so I had to try to make do with what I had at home. It’s simply a short comedic film for all to enjoy.

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