Experimental, Fantasy, Psychological Thriller
First year of university - 'Introduction to Experimental Film' module
'Whirlwind' centres around the life of a character living a dull, unhappy life with an increasingly fragile mental health. Through her dreams, her wants and fears are exposed. As her inner feelings of joy and hopelessness surface, she finds her dreams becoming increasingly manic, flowing into and disrupting her real life.
I had originally intended to create a film exploring the dark and light sides of nature and the urban world; to contrast them. However, I also played around with the idea of incorporating mental health themed elements. I shot numerous amounts of footage but, along my development, ultimately decided to stick with the mental health theme.
I directed, edited and acted in 'Whirlwind' independently with the entire film being shot using both a DSLR camera (Nikon D3300) and my phone (Samsung) and two tripods, big and small. For certain insert shots (i.e., outdoor shots) I opted not to use a tripod to add a handheld effect commonly seen in experimental films.
To edit the film I used Adobe Premiere Pro. 'Whirlwind' was my first time experimenting with flash transitions and manually synching footage to a beat, and I think it paid off pretty well.
