Shallow Grave

We were asked to watch a few movies and choose one we wished to produce work which would show a reflection on the film. The film I chose was Shallow Grave. The concept of the film is quite interesting although the acting skill is lacking somewhat in my opinion, which is irrelevant anyways; moving on. I initially was interesting in the angles at which the directer often chose to shoot at. Furthermore I developed some shots of trying to take photography of my subjects at weird angles. I wasn't really impressed with anything i was doing that is when i realised i was focusing too much on the angle and too little on the subject. So I turned everything around and started focusing a lot more on subject. Through out a lot of the film I feel as though the viewer is made to feel uncomfertable. We are faced with twists and turns leaving our minds filled with uncertainty. We observe the friendship of three people as it falls apart for the sake of greed. Hwoever through out the film I questioned the victims. We are faced with Alex, Juliet and David. Initially David is totally against the idea, then pressured into it by Alex, and because he pulled the short straw (literally) he had to cut up the body. This lead him to turmoil into madness, obviously, yet he is depicted as a bad man, we do catch him spying and being violent and threatening however. Alex, seems like a happy guy didnt want trouble just the money and to have a good time, but thinking of how forceful he was on the matter I question wether he brought this on himself and if so does that make him less of a victim? Juliet, possibly the most deceivng of them al. Using her femal charm on David who she knew had feelings for him how convenient even involving herself in the violent fight at the end of the film in desperation for the money, hammering down a knife into her 'friend' to keep him pinned to the ground while she escapes. However she too a victim feared by Alex and his possible capabilities.


This is where the change of mind came through, I really liked the concept of questioning the victim and wanted to produce images in which one questions whether their subject is or is not infact the victim.

This is the image I produced of Simon. What I like about the image is the expression on his face as it is pressed against the glass. Seeing somone pressed against glass with a look of distress would initially fire the thought that we are looking at a victim,  however if you look at his hand, he is holding a hand saw; a weapon. Could this be a weapon being used in self defence or have we been presented with the attacker perhaps amidst an attack?


Bowl Light and Canon 5D Mark 1

Above a lovely portrait of myself. I smeared my make up, put baby oil on my face to imitate tears, ruffled my hair and  all this together with some acting that shits on Kerry Fox's (Juliet in Shallow Grave), we have an image of distress. I used myself for this image, because I wanted the face of a woman. Furthermore when we see a woman distressed in most cases we defend the female. When you watch Shallow Grave however Juliet is no less violent and morbid then Alex and David, on the other hand she is perhaps darker in some respects. Moreover ones initial response is to see a man's hand forceful on a woman and a asume the worse on her behalf, however an image is a moment in time, we do not know the before or after. Should we not consider the idea that perhaps the subject is not the victim? perhaps she is being pushed away rather then raped. That is what I want from my viewers, to think of different responses to the images rather then to their initial thought.


The reason why I chose this image is because I like how the lighting came through and angle. I took several images to be able to have a lot to choose from, just snapping away with my arm stretched out while I moved around and got pushed around.

Bowl Light and Canon 5d Mark 1

Finally an image of a male peering through blinds. Again, I showed this to a few people in request of their response. In most cases we are looking at a pervert, a creepy Peeping Tom. However might he not be frightened in his home? hearing sounds from outside? Very plausable. Something I also find charming is how peering through blinds is recognised as perverse, yet I'm pretty sure if not everyone, then almost everyones either peered through curtains or blinds, or just watched someone knowing they don't know at some point.

Soft Box and Canon 5D Mark 1


In conclusion, just like when watching Shallow Grave, my images have been produced to question our subject. Obviously we are unable to come to any conclusions as we are unaware of any time or happenings surrounding the actions captured. However we should not jump to conclusions rather we should develop them. And finalyl, the images should leave the viewer feeling uncomfertable, uncomfertable by the situation and uncomfertable by not knowing whats going on and whether to feel sorry for the individual or not as I did in the film.