Tash Sultana Interview

Tash Sultana Interview Principles

Tash Sultana is an Australian multi-intrumentalist and singer-songwriter. She grew up in Melbourne and was gifted a guitar from her grandfather when she was three. this is when her music career started. From then on she learned to play numerous instruments, write songs, and sing. However, her life didn't come without struggle, she became addicted to drugs and partying and her career was damaged because of it. In this interview below she discusses her journey and the challenges she has overcome and the problems she has recognized to get past her faults. I wanted to write about this interview because I am hoping to do something similar to it with my Jack Life on ADD interview and needed something to base my editing and shot collection off of. Plus my Theme for this year is "Journeys" and this interview illustrates Tash Sultana's journey.

The first thing I noticed was that they did started the interview with her biggest struggle and that was dealing with drugs, so it really helped set the tone for the entire film. It is a two person interview and mine will not be like that but I love the background they use. She has lights framing her head that are blurred out and create a soft bokeh effect. And the interviewer has musical equipment in the back of his shot which shows her interests as well since she is a musician. All of this sets the tone for the viewers and visually gives an insight to who she is before she even tells us.

This is how I want my interview with jack to turn out, artistic and less tense. My previous film was fast paced with no space in between the words of the subject. In this interview there are pauses where B-roll footage just roles and soft music with her singing plays in the background. It's really moving and doesn't thrust a bunch of emotional banter in the viewers face but instead eases into the story and adds suspense. While collecting my B-roll I want it to look like this, dark color scheme, low lighting, lots of movement, different angles of the same shot, etc. I want to make a narrative almost and not just have my subject tell their story. My goal is to present their words with video that will evoke the emotions they are feeling into the audience, to support what they have to say and make it beautiful.

The B-roll is of her playing her instruments, showing segments of her youtube videos, and just illustrating a laid back, creative, and deep personality. The thumbnail for the video is a great example of the b-roll and was used a lot. It's of Tash singing and playing the guitar on a stage with a few scattered instruments but really dramatic lighting. The pointer light to the right adds the feeling of an onstage presence while also illuminating her hair and shoulder which gives an outline and distinction be tween her face/hair and the black background.

 


The editor also uses different color schemes to group shots and distinct them from one another. For example the interview part gives a warm feeling with her yellow hat, warm lighting, and orange bokeh and blur behind her. This gives comfort to the viewers and this shot is usually shown while she is speaking about harder and deeper topics. The b-roll of her on stage singing is a colder more washed out scheme and separates itself from the actual interview. It is usually accompanied by her actually singing and the sound of her voice and music. The pictures of her child hood are given a oink undertone to maybe display her innocence back then and contrast it to the woman who has made numerous mistakes and challenges she has dealt with. Then there is a black and white scheme which grouped together shows her numerous self recordings and adds a feeling of the past because thats what they are from.

Worklog:
Monday- looked at cameo effect
Tuesday- watched color correction video
Wednesday- researched lighting effects in after effects
Thursday- watched multiple interviews
Friday- watched Tash Sultana interview