Drama no.1 dad

So, the film is finished! And very happy with the result I am too. I think the whole group is. I think that it fur fills the vision that we had of it.

The process of making this film has been long but also enjoyable. As producer, when we got the final idea down I was keen to start planning as soon as possible, wanting to avoid a last minute shoot.  So I spent a lot of the Easter holidays tracking down actors so that we were able to audition them as soon as we got back to Uni. This meant that we had a lot of rehearsal time as well as plenty of time for the actual shoot.  Also sorting out the location was a slight difficulty. The original plans fell through but luckily we were able to shoot in the Bar where Katie (editor) works. Pre production was all done with in the allotted time and we were more that ready to start shooting.

The shoots, four spread over the week all went very well. The planning I think was integral, every one worked well together, to get the shot lists, story boards, props/costumes and schedules ready so that we could be as organised an efficient on the day as possible. I am very pleased with how well everything went. We got all the shots we needed and we were not panicking or in any mad rushes. We were able to be calm about the production and were able to enjoy it.

The edit also went very well. I was not as involved in this side as it was mainly the job of the editor-obviously- and the director. ‘Too many cooks...’ and all that. I went in a couple of times to see how it was going and to discuss ideas and changes that might need to be made.

So in general the process of this film’s fabrication was smooth and I feel that we have created a film that is entertaining and effective.

Our starting point of the script was a great one. It was a very strong and well written which made the whole process easier. It did almost come alive on the page and it wasn’t hard to visualise what it would become. When I saw the script I was very happy and I think that it contained everything we wanted in terms of story, mood, and theme.

The style of the film is very over stylised. For example the sound effects are very pronounced, which gives this idea of hyper reality. This is present in the dream sequences which help to reinforce that they are fantasy. The idea that things are always more amplified inside your own head is something that I think will resonate with the audience. This is one way in which we have tried to create this mood of tension with in the fantasies and to convey how Jack is feeling. The idea that everything seems amplified or worse inside his head shown by the over stylised way in which we have created the film helps to show how worried he is. The snappy editing also adds to this. It shows Jack’s thought process, each time something happens it is very quick and almost methodical, yet still ‘too much’. This shows the chaotic way in which he is thinking, reinforcing that he is scared of what the outcome is going to be. This style of editing is also comic and comes very much from the conventions that can be seen in the works of Edgar Wright. His films are probably the perfect example of over stylisation and hyper reality. However it always works because he uses them well. They have both a comic effect and an impact on the audience much like we were trying to give to our film.

The tone of the film is overall rather comic. The scenarios that Jack imagines are obviously over the top and the way in which the film is constructed lends its self to that. It is as the fantasies he is getting more and more absurd which it’s self is a comic idea. The scenes in the Gallery are also slightly comic. This is due to the relationship between Jack and George and their reactions to the situations. I think this is important or else I think the film could get a little on the dark side, being dragged down by Jack’s worry. Although this worry is completely justified and what a lot of teens would feel coming out, it’s not something that we wanted to convey in a way that was depressing or dark. I think the scenes in the gallery and the banter between the boys keeps the mood light. Again here the over stylising of things also adds to this.

The comic side of the piece I think is very important. Lucy (director) had a friend compose some music for the piece and personally I think that it really adds to the film. It works as punctuation and also helps to keep the mood light. There are a few musical ques, which I think really help to make the piece more effective and which help the audience to be drawn in. It also flows with the mood of the film ebbing and peaking with the scenarios and action on screen.

The mood of the film does have an ark. It builds as the scenarios get more and more ridiculous, building the comic element. However it then comes back down when Jack realises that he could lose his father. This helps the film to stay grounded in reality with out going too far into the realms of fantasy. It also shows that we do have a point to make with this film. That coming out is a serious issue and is not easy for some people.  However I really like that this film has a very positive out come. I would have been all to easy with this brief to come up with something that was dark and grey and depressing. Unanimously this is something that we agreed we did not want for this particular project. We wanted to do something different and fun.

 I honestly believe that we have achieved this. The film is funny and snappy and it still carries a message and has a strong story behind it. For these reasons I am incredibly happy with the result.

Pudding Bowl

Pudding Bowl is gorgeous little story about a little girl and her hair. The character of Ivy the little girl was a really interesting protagonist even though she only spoke about three words. Her Character was well established. The opening shots of her cutting and pasting pictures of glamorous Hollywood stars into a scrap book. Her environment is easily recognisable a typical British 1950s home. Therefore the first conclusions we can draw about her character is that she has a fascination for the far off, exotic glamour of movie land. What it can also mean is that she is looking to escape from the dreariness of her surroundings. The beige hue of the set helps to reinforce this point. The colours here are very drab, lending themselves t let the viewer draw similar conclusions about Ivy’s daily life. That it is dull, surrounded by the grey mizzle that seemed to permeate 1950s England. So we can draw the conclusion from this that she sees the glamour of Hollywood as an escapism from the rather monotone reality of her daily life as she sees it.

The character of her brother is typical mischievous school boy. And the Mother a stereotypical Buxom 50s house wife. There close up of the meat grinder, reinforces this idea of the dull tedium, the daily grind, the relentless turning of the cogs, symbolises the repetitive nature of the life portrayed in the film. The one thing for the character f Ivy is her hair, decked out in a pretty red bow she is obviously very proud of it. Therefore when her brother tips glue over it and her mother cuts it all off into an awful bowl cut she is obviously devastated. This is reinforced by the fact that age actually speaks on this art of the film, the only words that she utters through the whole film. Therefore it is obvious how much it moves her, therefore how much her hair means to her.

When she sees what has happened t her hair and puts the stocking on her head and applies the red lipstick, it is another nod to the idea of escapism. Which it is pretty clear by now is the film’s main theme. This is made explicit when after Ivy rides down the road on a bike chases by her brother and his friends she Begins to day cream about being older, an attractive young woman with long black hair being chased by a bunch of besotted boys. What this does is cement the idea of escapism as she has obviously gone into a fantast. This is made clear by the soft focus which is widely accepted as showing it to be a dream sequence. The glowing slightly unearthly effect it gives is invocative of a dream.

Another point to make in the way Ivy seems to stick out is her red dress that for some part of the film is hidden by a beige cardigan. So with the ideas of a beige and colour that have already been established the idea of Ivy throwing off this cardigan symbolises that she is throwing off the drudgery of her life and going into her fantast world which she does.

I really enjoyed this film, like Sign Language it is light hearted and leave the audience with a nice feeling.

Once again I would say what we would take from it as a group would be the idea of having a light hearted piece. One that engages the audience through a heart warming  story rather that a hard hitting one. 

 <iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/cUJWZYOxMEg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edagr Wright and No.1 Dad

Edgar Wright.

From a stylistic point of view, one of the influences for out film is the work of Edgar Wright. In the fantast scenes where Jack is imagining his dad’s reactions we want the snappy hyper realism that is so recognisable in Wright’s work. The over stylised, rhythmic comedy that Wright is famous for is something that we all enjoy.

One sequence we kept referring to was in Shaun where Shaun is planning how they are going t survive and get to the Winchester. In this sequence there is the repetition of the same scenario played out each time with little differences. This is what we are aiming for when we have the fantasy scenes where Jack is imaging how hid Dad will react to his coming out. This is comedic yet very effective. We want to have this quick snappy editing as it will ‘lift’ the piece, the short cuts will grab the audiences attention and make them interested in the film. One thing that maybe a little difficult is making sure the cuts are not too short that they turn into flash cuts. This I think would alienate the audience more that enthuse them. Flash cuts are an effective editing technique but I feel in the context of this film it would not work. I think that there will be some trial and error in the editing process in order to make sure the quick cuts are effective but not too short to a point where they are distracting.

The quick snappy editing is definitely something we want to draw on. It will juxtapose the scenes between Jack and George. These scenes will belong and more relaxed in terms if how they are cut. The shots will be longer and the pace will be a lot slower. In the imagination sequences however, it will be deliberately over stylised in order to heighten the sense that these sequences are not reality. It is the product of an over active imagination. Everything seems amplified inside your head when you are imagining what could go wrong. This is an idea that we ant to convey with in the film.

Elements of sound design are also something that we want to draw on. In Wright’s work he seems to amplify sounds again reinforcing this idea of hyper realism. One example of this is on hot fuzz where Angel takes his coat off the hook. It makes a great swoosh sound that is obviously created through Foley but it gives the scene s a heightened sense of comedic action. He is almost satirising how an action film takes every thing to extremes in order to excite the audience. Although we do not want to be making a film that satirise a particular Genre we do want this idea of over doing things. Again in order to create a sense of the imagination.

So one of our main stylistic influences in Edgar Wright. The sense of hyper Realism in his films is definitely something that we want to draw on for our ‘imagination sequences’.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeJzHSxRq40&feature=related

Sign Language

'Sign Language' Oscar Sharp (2010)

I really enjoyed this film, it was something a little different and it brought a fresh spark of humour. It was also sweet and touching.

The genre, is sort of ‘mockumentary’. It follows the conventions of a short documentary. The protagonist talking to the camera in a way which is conveying their story and 'factual' information. Although here it is obviously a fictional premise. I like this style as I find that it is a window to so many other genres, they mostly cross over with comedy but they can be more than that, they can be satirical or romantic or even action. There have been fictional films made in the style of documentary that don’t necessarily fall into the ‘mockumentary’ category. I think ‘Sign language’ is very close t the boundary of mockumentary. They usually aim to poke fun, where as I don’t think that was the filmmakers aim here. The film tells a nice story, of one man and him moving from one place in his life to another. Of him moving up in the world. But also it tells a love story, al be it one that happens off screen but it is obviously there none the less. This film encompasses a lot with in five minutes.

In terms of the characters, the main character, Ben is a very likable guy. The filmmaker has introduced him very effectively and quickly. From his dialogue it is clear how enthusiastic he is about his job. Clothing can also tell us a lot about a character. It’s human nature to draw conclusions about a character from the clothing, so Ben’s costume is important. His gloves are the part of his costume in shot most often, the multi coloured wool gives the impression that he is maybe a ‘hippy’ type character, according to the stereotype people dressed in his style of dress are seen as ‘hippy types’, probably vegetarian, part of green peace e.t.c. This is not the truth but still, looking at films in a critical light one should no ignore when a character is conforming to a stereotype, weather it reflects reality or not. Also it matches the dress of the love interest; this according to codes tells the viewer that they are well matched. Their colourful dress also helps them to stick out from the rather drab grey streets of London in the rain. It helps to reinforce the idea of this character being a very happy individual. Again this reinforces the how real the character feels to the audience. In a short film there is not a lot of time to establish a character, so every detail is important when creating a believable, three dimensional character that the audience can relate to or sympathise with.

A lot of the framing is very close, there are a lot of shots of Ben that are very tight on his face, where as the other characters are seen in the wide from Ben’s point of view.  This conveys that he is possibly lonely as the other people are only observed from afar. What it also does in reinforce the idea that we are seeing the world from his point of view. The camera never moves from him or where he is stood while he is Oxford Street. This does give a feeling of isolation, but when at the end of the film where his fellow sign guys show that they do care and he should talk to the girl he walk out of frame. This signifies moving on, he’s been stuck in this same place for year but now the promotion has given him this push he has needed. The walking out of frame is important as though out the film the tight framing has enhanced this idea of being in one place and cut off and then walking out of the frame is a visual signal that this is over for him, that he is moving on.

The music, a gentle acoustic guitar track serves two purposes as far as I’m concerned. It help to create the mood of the film, it punctuates the emotional moments of the film. It is slightly melancholic, reflecting that Ben is a little sad at it being his last day before he moves on. It is odd because it does have a slightly sad edge but at the dame time the rhythm is slightly more chipper and the chord progression are in a major tone, giving it a happier feel. In general the sound design is quite normal. There is a layer of atmos which gives context to the scenes, shows where the characters are and makes it seem more real. Then there is the dialogue which is a monologue. Then there is the music which helps to establish a mood quickly in a short piece of work.

In terms of how this will influence our piece. I don’t think that its style is something that we will draw on as we have a very clear idea of what styles we want, which have been discussed in our production meetings.  However we did like the tone of this piece. There is a tendency with British drama, coming from the social realist traditions, to be rather depressing. This piece is light hearted and does not take itself too seriously. In our production meeting it was unanimous that we did not want to make a film that left the audience feeling sad o with a slightly more pessimistic view on life than they started with. There is an abundance of ‘hard hitting’ short dramas out there, and we want to do something with comic elements and that leaves the audience felling a little more optimistic. In my view this is what sign Language does and I think that is something we will definitely take from it.

Sign language is a film that I really enjoyed and I think it has a broader message. The Character who has an all be it ‘lousy’ job, is incredibly passionate about what he does and is happy. I think that the film conveys a great message about life that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you enjoy it and it makes you happy.

my insiration

My inspirations

In light of the drama project coming up I thought, I’d talk about my personal visions and inspirations for this genre of filmmaking.

Throughout my life I have been exposed to traditional British culture. From the dancing to the songs, to the stories and myths. This has had a profound effect on both my life and filmmaking. The films that I made before coming to university, may have been a little shoddy and basic, but they did draw heavily from the traditional stories and songs that I have listened to my whole life. For me, at it’s heart, filmmaking is storytelling. At the basis of any good film is a strong story weather it be a 2 minute or two hour piece of work.

There is something about the story telling culture of Britain’s past that I find enriching and gives me a starting point when ever I think about writing a story. For years I have been writing short stories and I think they are a lot like short films. In my opinion a short story or a short film tells the story of one moment, not necessarily giving all the background knowledge. Where as a novel would tell a whole story over a long period of time, a short is a burst of narrative that doesn’t always have a conclusion.

From when I was smaller I have always enjoyed the Celtic stories that have been passed down through the generations and I think that I have always drawn from them.

Living in Scotland for the past 9 years has only increased my knowledge and passion for traditional culture. The Island where I’m from still had a reasonably strong Gaelic culture, the music and the stories are still a strong part of the way of life. Therefore throughout my life I have heard the old poems and sagas from the lords of the Isles. Much like the Viking Sagas, they tell epic stories and are full of inspiring characters.

Another major inspiration for me is the environment. Where are I grew up is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. Opposite an ancient burial ground and an old settlement, where there are the remains of an old Chapel and a mill along with the scant foundations of a few houses. Walking the dog over in those fields, it doesn’t take much to imagine the people that used to live there and what their daily lives involved. From this I imagined many different characters, then from that built up their personalities. For me this has left me a bank of characters that I can draw on now.

Another big aspect of inspiration in my life in terms of the land is the beaches, walking along the long stretches of sand and sea. The legends of Selkies and mermaids seem to be a little closer to reality.

In terms of my work from this point, I truly believe that where I’ve come from in terms of story telling and the influences on me as a person and filmmaker has been invaluable. It had given me a great creative footing in terms of story telling. 

 Ruins of a chapel. The history of this place is incredible and it is impossible to ignore it and not take something from it.

 The beauty of a winter surise over the hills and Loch, the scenery is so stunning one can't help but want to capture it on film.

 Seals in the bay. It's easy to see where the ancient legends of the selkies came from.

 One of teh beaches, know that there is nothing else until you hit Canada is jsut the most incredible feeling but also there is the feeling of isolation which make you imagine how the ancient people would have felt with out the convenience of fast ferry travel or air travel.