In trimester 3 2015, I undertook the subject ‘An Act of
Leadership” (MPM772). As a major
assessment item, we were required to write, direct and edit two versions of a
film in an attempt to demonstrate aspects of social construction leadership
theory. The basis of this theory is that
there is not one perfect way to lead and that leadership is in the eye of the
beholder or a matter of perception.
Our film portrays the plight of our struggling actress heroine
(Gemma) together with her boyfriend (Matt) and co-actor (Kris). In the first version of the film, there is a distinct lack of leadership shown by either of
the two male characters and Gemma is violently murdered by Matt in the final
scene.
In the 2nd ‘leader’ version of the film however, subtle
manipulation in the way the movie was filmed and tone of dialogue
(predominantly) alter the result of the movie with the killer becoming the
killed. A further aim of our film was
to keep the audience guessing as to which character was the murderer.
In Act 2 Scene 1, Gemma’s boyfriend Matt is introduced to her
co-actor Kris for the first time. Here
Kris delivers the line “You’re a lucky man mate”. In the leaderless version, the line is
delivered in a steady tone and pace which suggests nothing more than friendly
banter between two potential friends. In
the leadership account, the tone and the delivery of the line is more
aggressive suggesting that Kris is taking a more protective stance towards Gemma.
Another example of how we tried to influence the audience in their
perception of leadership through dialogue was in Act 3 Scene 4 when Gemma tells
Kris she is going outside to take a phone call. In version 1 Kris responds gently
almost submissively “it’s dark outside how about I come with you?” In the leadership version, whilst his
dialogue is the same, it is delivered in a more forceful tone in order to show
a more confident and assertive Kris.
This supposition of Kris as a leader is further supported with the
inclusion of an additional scene showing Kris walking out of the party
protectively to follow Gemma.
Other manipulations were planned, however due to circumstances beyond our control, were not able to be
included. For example in Act 2 Scene 1
we had planned to include some footage of our ‘leader’ Kris filmed from a lower
camera angle (on a step) with the idea of portraying him as someone to
be looked up to. Unfortunately due to
the time constraints of having only one day to film with all three actors, we
were not able to capture this additional footage.
Again in the
‘After Party’ scene, whilst the use of
lights was used to good effect to replicate a party atmosphere, we had intended
on using subtle cinematic lighting effects (such as back lighting) to make the
leader character more prominent.
Unfortunately time constraints also did not allow us to experiment with this
technique.
Other peer films, such as Robert, Scott and
Nathans ‘Prime Minister’, used these subtleties to good effect. In their film, more sophisticated
cinematography such as shooting the alien on the angle to create tension and
deliberately disconcert the viewer together with the use of the two thirds rule
having the Prime Minister larger than life in shot, clearly helped to persuade
the audience of the main characters leadership persona.
The audience response to our film The Red Carpet,
unfortunately suggested that, apart from the inclusion of the additional scene,
the cinematographic techniques used to influence the audience’s perception of
leadership were understated and did not create the desired effect. The inclusion of the planned scenes may have
further helped identify the character (Kris) as the leader. On a positive note, the viewer’s reaction to
the final scene suggested we met our goal of concealing the killer’s identity
until it was revealed.
