For this task which was in groups, we had to practice film language using a random set of rules. My group got a pretty hard set: Romance, theatrical mise en scène, sandals as our main object, and, in my opinion the hardest part, no sound at all!!!

No sound issues

The biggest problem for us was the sound. We weren't allowed to use any voices or sound effects, and we couldn't even add background music. It felt like a huge obstacle we couldn't get over at first. Usually, in a romantic movie, the music does all the work to make you feel the love atmosphere, so trying to do that with no sound at all was very challenging. 

Lighting corrections

Apart from the sound issues, one essential correction from our professor was the light work. To create that theatrical mise en scène and the romantic sense,  we opted for dim lighting and candles as the source of light. Since we used a phone to record, it couldn't capture the light very well. Like most phones, it struggled with the low light and we lost a lot of the details in the shadows; it was really hard to get the shot right. 

Reflection

Even though at the start it was a very tough task, we learnt how to, without the help of sound or a very good lighting, show the story through the actors' faces and most importantly create an atmosphere taking into account the mise en scène.

Click here to watch the shortfilm!