A Reflection on "In Blind Sight"

Gabe Stine
ROTMI

A Reflection on “In Blind Sight”

“In Blind Sight” was a film I’ve wanted to put together for a long time, so when I heard that we were making our own movies, I was very excited. Naturally, my friends (Spencer, Steven, and Daniel), wanted to make a funny movie, well because, we’re teenagers and that’s what we do. Funny movies are always enjoyable to make, but I could have easily made one before taking ROTMI. I wanted to apply the skills I learned in class to this film, and I think “In Blind Sight” does a great job at demonstrating the skills that the four of us have learned.
Originally, I was just supposed to be the screenwriter of the film. The storyline was my idea so it only made sense. Writing the story, and the rest of pre-production went very smoothly. Everyone in the group liked my screenplay, and we were all excited to get filming. I did end up playing Alex’s (the main character) father in the film. I had never acted before so it was a new experience. Filming to my surprise went smoothly as well. We did have some schedule issues with some group members, but we got it done. Now the story starts to get interesting with post-production. At first everything was looking awesome, until Premiere Pro (the program Spencer was using to edit) had crashed with one scene left to edit. After plenty of hair being ripped out and a couple of head bashes to the wall, I decided to download Premiere Pro to my computer and start editing. The entire editing process had to be restarted, and basically finished within one night, but it eventually got done. I think it is fair to say that I was a vital contributor to this film, having major roles in all three production phases. However, I feel narcissistic calling myself an MVP.
“In Blind Sight” is a film about Alex, a blind highschool boy who finally gets to see for the first time after having surgery. Alex doesn’t necessarily like what he sees. The single most important thing to me while making this film is to incorporate a message, or at least something that is below the surface of the storyline. I refuse to share this message with anyone before they have seen the film, so ask me after class. Creating a serious and almost bitter film with a message, was extremely difficult to do, while keeping it five minutes in length. Many things setback my goal. Acting is such a crucial aspect of film, and without professional actors, I believe that some of the seriousness is lost. Also, since we were pretty much limited to having teenage actors, having characters that realistically look like one’s father or doctor was impractical. After all the setbacks though, I think the film’s message is still retained.
There is one scene in the movie that I am especially proud of. Alex’s first time seeing is when he wakes up from surgery. Seeing was something he wanted, but never expected to do his entire life, and I love the way the four of us captured this moment. The combination of acting, narration, lighting, and music make this scene in a way, beautiful. It had to be beautiful. This scene made Alex’s ultimate downfall that much worse, and I think the film would have definitely been negatively affected if this scene were to be shot in any other way.
Many cinematic aspects were used in our film. In the scene explained above (when Alex wakes up from surgery), the scene is shot in extremely soft focus when Alex opens his eyes. This had the effect of making everything blurry to the point where nothing other than shapes can be distinguished. The use of soft focus in this scene is purposely very ironic. The first time Alex gets to see the world clearly, the audience sees it as a blur. Irony was a way of foreshadowing in this scene.
Low key and high key lighting were used on the priest in a strategic manner as well. Alex is blind in the confessional scene and therefore cannot see his priest; well neither can the audience. The film purposely does not put religion in the greatest light (no pun intended), and low key lighting infers that something is being hidden. When Alex can see at the end, the priest is shown in high key lighting. Whatever was being hidden is now wide out in the open, and Alex rejects and ignores his priest in this scene.
The close-up was also used effectively in the film. The close-up shot allowed us to fully embrace Alex’s emotion when he looked at the destroyed and closed down park. A medium or long shot would not do this emotional moment justice.
My final cinematic aspect also has to do with foreshadowing. As Alex decides to run out of the hospital in the hope of finally seeing the park he loved as a little kid, a canted angle is used to film him running in the hallway towards the door. Naturally, the scene is uplifting but as Alex started heading for the real world, he is shown with a canted angle, which looks like anything but uplifting. The canted angle foreshadows what’s to come when Alex does finally see the real world for the first time.
Through all the bumps, setbacks, and missing hair, creating “In Blind Sight” was a great experience and has possibly opened my eyes to a career path I would have never thought of going into before this film and this class. I look forward to making more films and to continue applying what I had learned in ROTMI to every creative work I do.