One Word Film Project: "Rude"

For my latest Media Studies project, we were given a unique challenge: create a one-and-a-half-minute film that carries out a single word theme, without using dialogue or music. The word I  was given was "rude." This project focused on telling a story through visual language, utilizing various camera angles and shot types to express emotion.

Approach to Completing the Project

To bring my story to life, I focused on using facial expressions, body language, and camera techniques to show the theme of rudeness. My film tells the story of two girls—one sitting at a table, the other arriving to join her. As the scene unfolds, the girl already seated reveals her rude nature by eating messily, leaving wrappers everywhere, and even stealing the new girl’s food. Through a series of close-ups, you can see the new girl's growing frustration and discomfort. In the end, the new girl forces the bully to clean up, only for her to throw the trash back at her.

Brainstorming Process

To start, I used a piece of paper and outlined 15 scenes that I
wanted to include in my film, making a storyboard. This helped me organize my ideas and think about how each shot would look. I listed different ways to show rude behavior, focusing on things like stealing food and making a mess. 

Storyboarding and Pre-Visualization

Creating a storyboard was incredibly helpful in shaping my project. It allowed me to pre-visualize key moments in the story, such as the extreme close-ups of the new girl’s face, showing her feelings of discomfort and frustration. By laying out each shot, whether it was a medium shot of the bully’s careless eating or an over-the-shoulder shot when the food is taken. I had a clear lay out for filming. The storyboard ensured that I could focus on visual storytelling techniques like framing and pacing to convey emotion effectively.

Editing Resources

For editing, I used Imovie, which allowed me to experiment with pacing, transitions, and sequencing the shots in a way that heightened the tension. The absence of dialogue meant I had to rely on precise timing and shot composition to build the emotional arc of the film.

What Went Well & Areas for Improvement

What worked well:

Effective Use of Close-Ups: The extreme close-ups allowed me to really capture the raw emotions of the new girl and the aggressiveness of the bully, showing the tension without needing words.

Shot Variety: I incorporated medium shots, over-the-shoulder shots, and wide shots to give the film more visual interest and enhance the storytelling.

What I’d like to improve:

Smoother Transitions: Next time, I’ll work on making the transitions between shots smoother to ensure the film flows more naturally from one moment to the next.

Watch the Project Here

OWF

This project taught me the power of visual storytelling, and I’m looking forward to improving in my next film!