IB FILM PORTFOLIO PAGES

Done by Saina Bidshahri

Table of Contents

1. CINEMATOGRAPHER:

a) City of Sand (00:30:10) – A female warrior lost in the midst of the desert stumbles attempts to
find a way back home.
b) Riding it Out (00:01:32) – A teenage boy cycling in the park stumbles upon something which leads
to a tragic fall.
c) Youth of Syria (00:59:06) – Two brothers living amidst the war zones of Syria make the most of
their home as it gets demolished by bomber jets.

2. EDITOR

a) The Dream (00:01:04) – A young boy floating in space, above the earth, but it’s just a dream.
b) Destination (00:01:56) – A young boy stumbles upon a teleportation device. Where it takes him, he
doesn’t know.

3. DIRECTOR

a) The Perfect Crime (00:02:43) – A serial killer attempts to commit the final perfect crime and leave
her unspeakable past behind.
 ROLE 1: CINEMATOGRAPHER
My role as a cinematographer, also known as the Director of Photography, was consequential and exciting.
It allowed me to work closely with the Director- to meet his and her visions, as well as with the editor- to
ensure they meet the aimed look and style of the film through colour grading.
My intention as a cinematographer was to be able to convey a specific emotion through distinctive camera
angles, movements and shots. As my director’s intention was to be able to create diverse genres in all three
clips using the different micro-elements. Knowing this, I decided to work closely on the locations we’ll be
filming at to make the overall clips aesthetically pleasing for the audiences and so that it would meet the
intended genre or style as much as possible. I found that collaboration was a key to this project and
exceptionally effective. I also believe that organization and research was one of the key aspects that allowed
me to become more confident and useful as a learning cinematographer.
Clip 1: ‘City of Sand’
City of Sand is very distinct from ‘Youth of Syria’. My director’s aim was to create a very peculiar and fresh
style from the previous clip. I found this very challenging, because as a cinematographer, I had to set my
mind into a whole different era and attempt to establish a story through different camera techniques.
Moreover, my inspiration for this clip was the 2015 fantasy and science fiction film, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’.
Just like ‘Mad Max’, ‘City of Sand’ is set in a post-apocalyptic period and is driven by the setting of the desert.
I was inspired by their use of warm colour grading to establish a specific look. I was also inspired by their
camera shots and angles to authorize a setting, character superiority, character vulnerability, and create a
sense of danger.
Below are shots from the film ‘Mad Max’ which inspired my construction of shots in ‘City of Sand’:
The examples above present the
similarities and differences between my
shots and my inspiration. Both critical
aspects have their own reasonings.
Similarly, to ‘Youth of Syria’, I
collaborated closely with the editor to
ensure that the ‘look’ of the film was as
accurate as possible. This was created
through warm, orange colour grading to
create a sense of dryness and reinforce
on the strength of the heat to also
emphasize on the post-apocalyptic time.
To help my editor, I constructed a colour palette to guide with the colour grading of the shots (below):
Not only did I construct a color palette, but I also ensured
that I used specific shots which would reinforce on those
colours. For example, I used wider shots to focus on the browns and oranges of the desert. I used tighter
frames to reinforce on the characters contrast with her surrounding and establishing shots for the blues from
the sky.
Since the film does not include any dialogue of some sort, I wanted to ensure that I used a wide range of
shots to ensure that I tell the narrative as accurate as possible visually. The medium shots (above) used is to
make the characters tight in frame and this is to foreshadow that they are much closer to each other than
they think, as well as, foreshadowing conflict.
Clip 3: ‘Riding it Out’
Finally, the very last clip of the first sequence is a romantic comedy genre film. Our goal as a team was to
create an overall summer and young love atmosphere. I collaborated closely with the director to ensure
we filmed in settings that would meet our aims and to overall make the visual aesthetically pleasing for
viewers. I also worked closely with the editor again to establish a specific colour grading palette for this
clip. Although colour grading is often the job of the editor, I believe that my job as a cinematographer is to
control the entire ‘look’ of the film. The film that inspired this clip is the 1991 drama/comedy ‘My Girl’.
Below are examples of shots that inspired me and how I implemented those ideas into mine:
Overall, in the first figure, I used a pan to
establish both the setting and the character
moving from one point to another. Majority of
the shots are static since we didn’t have access
to the proper equipment and cycling scenes can
be quite difficult. Tracking shots and dolly shots
weren’t simple and reliable with the equipment
that we had. I used long shots and to show
more of the greenery and setting. It makes the
shots much more aesthetic and emphasizes on
the summer morning feel.

For my planning, I read and explored this document on the art of camera movements. My goal was to gain
a stronger perspective and be able to know the theory behind some of the productions and how to make
better shots to create more meaning.
Clip 3: ‘Youth of Syria’
The film that inspired this clip is the 2017 war thriller ‘Dunkirk’. Firstly, I was inspired by the colour grading.
Although, colour grading is controlled by the editor, it is my job as the cinematographer to establish what
kind of look the film requires and ensure that I collaborate with the editor closely so that it meets my visions
and meet the director’s aims in the same time. Moreover, I was inspired by the orange and teal colour
grading. I ensured that the editor implemented this into our one-minute clip (examples below)

The camera shots and movements were also strongly inspired by Dunkirk. I believe that Dunkirk was the
right inspiration because war is the driving force in both films. The figures below are examples of shots from
‘Youth of Syria’ and ‘Dunkirk’. This is another example of a shot that inspired me (top right two images). Both
characters from my film and Dunkirk are looking up at the sky, gazing at a plane that is flying past. The
medium close-up allows the audience to witness their response to what they’re looking at and it creates a
sense of tension as these planes are the dangerous aspect of both films.
I also used a close-up shot (below) of a significant object in the film (the toy plane) to reinforce on its
importance and impact. This technique was inspired from Dunkirk as well (the shot of the propaganda from
the enemies demanding the characters to surrender). Both objects resemble the theme of war and give a
sense of danger and foreshadow. In my clip, the plane toy is foreshadowing that their imagination is going
to become a reality and later on, they actually hear a bomber jet approaching.

Overall, I believe this clip meets my intentions and the empowering theme
of war. I was able to convey sympathy, a sense of danger and youth.
Improvements that I could make are using more camera movements to help
build tension when it is most crucial. Here’s a resource (right) that I used for
the planning and research process. It allowed me to get an overall idea of all
camera angles, shot sizes and movements. I decided on what had the most
suitable effect on my audiences when used. I used this resource on ALL three
clips for my role as a cinematographer and found it exceptionally useful and
effective. Each shot size, angle and movement can create its own distinctive meaning and so I manipulated
these aspects to create a story. This was also a collaboration tool that I used for me and the director on
deciding what shots we would like to use, and it helped us in creating our storyboard.
In conclusion, I enjoyed my role as a cinematographer and absorb a profound amount of knowledge through
the practical journeys and research process. I believe that I gained a fresh insight on film and the importance
of collaboration. Overall, I’m confident with all the clips, however, there is always room for improvements
on frame composition, depth of field and camera movement.
 ROLE 2: EDITOR
My role as an editor was both challenging and intriguing. I realized the importance of the editor and the
responsibilities the role holds as they bring together the final product. I worked closely with both the
cinematographer and director to ensure that I was depicting the worlds they envisioned in the narratives
they created.
My intention as an editor was to be able to use special effects to convey unique and illusory worlds for
science-fiction genre films. Statistics show that genres which use special effects the most are science fiction
and fantasy genre films. I worked closely with the director to ensure that I know what is expected from me
and what the final product must look like. I also worked closely with the cinematographer to ensure that I
am aware of the footage and what filming techniques they will use so that I don’t struggle in implementing
the special effects. I found that communication and listening skills are one of the most significant aspects in
collaborating with others.
From this experience, I’ve also learnt that editing is very time-consuming and requires a lot of focus, as well
as, patience. It is important because my aim was to collect all the content we had and transform it into a
flawless product which conveys the director’s vision and hard work. I was able to gain confidence and
comfort through a large amount of research and with the help of tutorials- which I will be discussing into
more depth. Special effects cover a wide variety of techniques however in this reel; I showcase how I use
special effects to change backgrounds (CGI), create backgrounds, add objects (overlay) and remove objects
(teleportation). All these techniques keep audiences intrigued and on the edge of their seat.
Clip 1: ‘The Dream’
The editing for this clip was inspired by the work of Alfonso Quaron and Mark Sanger in the 2013 film,
‘Gravity’. It was my job as an editor to create the illusion that the character was in space, or in our films
case, dreaming that he was in space. One particular shot in the film that inspired me was the Earth sunrise
from space, so I attempted to re-create this through in-depth research and video tutorials from professional
editors. For this, I collaborated closely with the director to ensure that their visions and my ideas were being
agreed on or I was depicting the world that the director was envisioning. The directors’ vision was to create
an earth that looked realistic, however in the same time quite animated because in the narrative, the

character is supposedly “dreaming” about being in space, so dreams tend to be whimsical.

In the process of creating the Earth sunrise effect, I referred to a YouTube tutorial by Caleb Ward which also
helped me understand the complex elements of the software (Adobe After Effects) even more. Tutorial Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl8wE7wjFVA . When creating the Earth sunrise effect, the 3 most
significant elements were these (below):
I used these elements in After Effects and turned them into circular 3D effects. The tutorial taught me all the
elements I needed to now. After creating the Earth Sunrise special effect, I went on to use what I learnt from
the tutorial and created my own versions of the Earth using the above elements.
For these shots, I had to work closely with the cinematographer to ensure
what their intention was. A green screen was used to film the protagonist
floating in space and it was my job to create a background most suitable.
During the editing process I also played around with the character
placement and which side of the frame they would be positioned and
even their scale or size. I attempted to make the earth look animated to
convey a child’s ebullient and energetic dream. For character placement and size, I referred to the digital
storyboard we created, as guidance.
For this film, I also had to implement parallel editing to give audiences the
sense that he was dream and all this was happening in the same time in his
‘sleep’. I had to cut to the protagonist sleeping every now and then. The
parallel editing was also reinforced on with sound, I only implemented the
sci-fi soundtrack in the shots where the protagonist is in space, however,
there was no soundtrack added in the shots of the protagonist sleeping. The
parallel editing was inspired by ‘The Godfather’, however this film was
unique as it’s a parallel editing consists of moving between a protagonist’s
mind and his external self. Usually in parallel editing, the characters aren’t
aware of what happening in the ‘other side’, however, in our case it’s the
opposite.
Improvements that I believe I could have made is making a better-quality Earth sunrise. However, it was my
first time creating one, so it is understandable. I believe it would be more aesthetically pleasing if the quality
was better and higher in resolution. This could have been resolved through spending more time editing and
working with the export settings.
Clip 1: Destination:
This film and its editing were inspired by the concept of teleportation which is found often in science fiction
and fantasy genre films. We decided to take a more eccentric approach and shot the film in a ‘silent film’
style. We believed that the lack of dialogue leads to a lack of guidance and this reflects how the protagonist
is confused when he is teleporting to all these distinct places, therefore showing he also has a lack of
guidance and understanding. This will cause the audience to be on the edge of their seats and unable to
actually anticipate what will happen next, creating a sense of mystery. The audience is as out of place and
clueless as the protagonist himself. For sound, I incorporated sound effects such as birds chirping for the
scenes in the garden and the beeping sound effect for the teleporting device.
Moreover, on special effects, I was inspired by the editing in the
2008 film ‘Jumper’ which was edited by Saar Klein, Don
Zimmerman and Dean Zimmerman. The power of their editing
revolved around the cuts and the timing because the cuts create
the sense that the subject who is teleporting is jumping from one
setting to another- and then, the special effects is added. In my
case, I used the night crawler effect to make it seem like the
protagonist is disappearing into smoke or appearing from
smoke. The special effect is both unique and makes the scenes
more engaging, otherwise it would just look like the protagonist
is appearing in the screen out of the blue- which isn’t as
aesthetically pleasing to look at. I had to ensure that the action
of the protagonist was matching in both shots. In the first shot,
the protagonist jumps in the air (night crawler effect added),
and in the second shot the protagonist must land on the ground
(night crawler added).

The purple content represents

the night crawler effect, and the
blue content represents the
footage. In this case, it is the shot
where the protagonist is
“jumping out” of the frame. The
blue vertical line in the time line
represents a point in the film.
Moreover, the screen shot shows
that at the point when the
protagonist jumps, the night
crawler effect is added to make a
smooth and realistic transition.
Timing is vital.

After the protagonist jumps, a

shot of the same setting is added,
however without the protagonist
(empty shot). This gives a sense
that the protagonist
“disappeared” from the “same”
frame (figure 4). During the
production process, I had to
work closely with the
Figure 3: Protagonist jumping ‘out of setting’. cinematographer to ensure that
the shots were just right and had
the capability to be successfully
edited.
 Shot Number Shot Type Duration Sound Editing

(EDITORS NOTES) (EDITORS NOTES)

1 Establishing shot of the home 3 seconds Sound effects of birds chirping. Colour grading
from outside
Normal cut

10 Medium Longshot of protagonist 5 seconds Subtle sci-fi soundtrack. Cut on action

standing, looking at the beeping
device. All of a sudden, he Sound effect of beeping. Night crawler special effect (x2)
teleports and disappears from the
frame.

11 High angle of the staircase. 5 seconds Subtle sci-fi soundtrack. Night crawler special effect (x2)
Protagonist teleports and appears
on staircase.

12 Low angle, long shot of the 5 seconds Subtle sci-fi soundtrack, Night crawler special effect (x2)
protagonist on the staircase. He
presses the button on the device Sound effect of beeping.
again and disappears.

Figure 4: Empty shot of the same frame in figure 3, after the protagonist teleported.
The most effective and useful method in my pre-production journey was creating an edit decision list which
is similar to a shooting script. The decision list allowed me to organize what the edits would be for each shot
and for me to ensure that I don’t forget a specific aspect in the editing process. For this, I worked closely
with the director to ensure that his ideas were being met. The edit decision list allows me to plan what cuts
I will be using, transitions, special effects, sound tracks, sound effects and the duration of each shot.
Overall, I am satisfied with the final product that I have produced; however, I do believe that there are room
for improvements. Although I learnt a wide range of editing techniques such as cuts, blending modes, etc, I
feel that the timing of my cuts could have been more accurate for more realistic and smooth transitions.
Overall, I collaborated well with the director, as well as the cinematographer to ensure all our ideas were
being shared and considered.
My role as an editor expanded my mindset in cinema and filmmaking. It also allowed me to gain a better
understanding of the role itself and the significance it holds. I realized that my collaboration in this film was
much better due to the fact that I did a cinematographer role before this and it allowed me to connect and
adapt even more. I was able to collaborate with the cinematographer even better as I understand what I
feels like to fill that role. Moreover, my role as an editor, I had improved my skills exceptionally throughout
the reel and learnt new, distinctive techniques. Being an editor also made me realize how much time and
focus must be spent when creating a film, as well as, how vital it is to depict the directors hard work and
vision accurately.
 ROLE 3: DIRECTOR

My role as a director was exceptionally enlightening and collaborative. I came to realize how vital it is to
have the creative mindset, as well as, the strategic mindset to manage my responsibilities and bring the
three-minute short film together successfully. Overall, the other significant factors as the collaboration with
the editor and sound engineer from pre-production to post-production. My intention as a director is to use
distinct and symmetrical cinematic angles to develop the protagonist’s character or persona.
Firstly, becoming a successful director in this short film began with thorough and in-depth research. The
structure and cinematic elements in “The Perfect Crime” is inspired by the works of David Fincher, specifically
his 2007 film “Zodiac”. Similarly, to the genre of our reel, Zodiac is a crime thriller following the mystery of a
serial killer. I learnt that the cinematography in the film was precisely used to develop the personalities of
the characters by using the art of perspective and symmetry. I decided to implement some of these
techniques into our reel and use the power of editing, as well as, sound by collaborating with my fellow
filmmakers to emphasise on the representations.

I believe that making cinematic symmetry and perspective the driving force
of our narrative is essential because it allowed me to create shots which
reflected the protagonist’s straightforward, strategic and organized
mindset, as it is clear that she has done this before and knows exactly what
she’s doing. The symmetry also gives audiences a sense of uneasiness
because it’s a contrast of her dysfunctional and psychotic behaviour
combined with a well-ordered shot and setting. Moreover, we can see two
distinct close ups used for the same purpose; to emphasize on small, yet
vital clues. This encourages viewers to focus on them even more. The close
up in our reel allows viewers to gain a better understanding of the victim.
Since the short film is being told from the perspective of the criminal, we
want to be able to implement some background of the victim as well. This
close-up also emphasizes on the fact that the victim` has a family, which makes the audiences sympathize
for her more and get more terrified by the protagonist un-resistance to kill, as she doesn’t care. Overall,
focusing on symmetry and perspective allows me as a director to control how the viewers will respond or
feel towards what they are watching.
Above are two shots which showcase more symmetry. As a director, I wanted to put the significant elements
of the narrative in the centre of some of the shots, this technique is called the rule of thirds. When working
with the rule of thirds, we considered three significant points; placement, eye line and rack focus. For
instance, we have a close up of the protagonist’s face, centred in the middle and a photograph of the victim,
centred in the middle. I collaborated with the editor and sound engineer to give these shots more
atmosphere and meaning through dim and cold color grading, combined with intense instrumental
soundtracks. Through this, my attention is to drown the audiences in the world of the protagonist and what
she sees. Using the rule of thirds and centring the victim’s photograph in the middle as she’s looking at it
shows the protagonists last and only desire. Overall, using the technique helped dramatically increase the
look of our short film.
I discovered that the most important responsibility of being a director is
not only holding the creative vision, but also being exceptionally
prepared through a lot of planning. I constructed a storyboard that I
could use to not only bring my ideas together but also use it as a
document where I can give the editor and sound engineer a base to work
on their responsibilities. In the storyboard, I made it clear that I wanted
the “dip to black” transition in majority of the cuts (editor), as well as,
which shots will have voice overs (sound engineer). Overall, the
storyboard I created was an outline of what we created.
One main lesson I learnt from storyboarding as a director is that some
ideas and visions change in the production process and that it’s
completely natural and acceptable to do so. I found myself discovering better ideas at the moment of filming
the reel, which was very insightful and beneficial.
Moreover, on in-depth planning, another resource that came in very
useful was the script. I also constructed a script for “The Perfect Crime”
and used it as a document for the protagonist’s voice-over. I believe that
the voice-over helped add more meaning and emotion to the
symmetrical and perceptive shots I took. I also thought that it would be
more effective and aesthetically pleasing if the shots matched the voice-over. This consisted of back and
forth collaboration with both the sound engineer and editor in post-production, ensuring that the cuts and
sound were perfectly in match. I not only wanted symmetry in my cinematography, but also in sound and
editing to add more emphasise.
The vision of having a voice-over of the protagonist was inspired
from the television series called “Dexter” which follows a similar
serial killing narrative, where the narrative is shown from the
perspective of the criminal itself.
Although I used a wide range of symmetry, camera movements
and other camera techniques. I do believe that there are still
areas of growth and improvements I could make to make the
overall reel more successful and aesthetically pleasing.
Firstly, I believe that the camera movements could have been smoother because those shots were handheld
as we didn’t have equipment’s such as a dolly tripod or tracking tripod. The camera movements turned out
better than I thought, however they aren’t perfect. A smooth camera movement helps refines a symmetrical
shot. Secondly, I believe that another improvement we could have made is lighting, I wanted some of my
indoor scenes to be brighter so that the shots were more vivid. Brighter shots also give us the opportunity
to experiment with different colour gradings, and also improves the quality of the shots as dimmer settings
being filmed with DSLR’s can end up being slightly pixelated.
In conclusion, my role as a director taught me the importance of collaboration and organization in
filmmaking. It allowed me to think systematically and creatively, both in the same time. I improved my skills
in cinematography exceptionally, through the art of symmetry and perception. Being a director encouraged
me to create new things in film and take risks. In this reel, I also learnt that listening to your classmates to
hold other roles and responsibilities is one of the most significant responsibilities you could have. Their ideas
and thoughts can be beneficial in creating something more successful, and also beneficial in making the
professional relationship with them stronger. As a director, I not only wanted to push the editor and sound
engineer towards my vision alone, but to merge their ideas with mine.
 SOURCES

FILMS:
1. Dunkirk (2017), Christopher Nolan
2. Mad Max: Fury Road (2015), George Miller
3. My Girl (1991), Howard Zieff
4. Jumper (2008), Doug Liman
5. Zodiac (2007), David Fincher
TELEVISON SERIES:
1. Dexter (2006-2013), Jeff Lindsey & Scott Buck
STUDIES:
1. A Cinema of Loneliness, 1980, Robert Phillip Kolker
2. Colour Correction Handbook, 2010, Alexis Van Hurkman
3. Camera Movement in Narrative Cinema, 2007, Jacob Isak Nielson