Seminar 5 - Directing Exercise

In this week's seminar we looked at the role of a director and how to professionally handle shoots with actors and locations. We were in the workstation for this seminar and we started out by being given a script that we had never seen before and asked to read through it in our production groups. Then we were told that the producer and director from our group would be taking the role of the actors whilst the rest of the production team would be doing the directing. This meant myself and Luke, the post-production team, could be directly involved in the pre-production side of filming a drama piece, and have more of a say and get our contributions across. This exercise was also to allow the whole group, regardless of role, to understand the importance of being clear with your ideas to the actors to get them to show exactly what you want from your script. We were told we could change the script in anyway we wanted to make it more interesting or better suited for the environment we were working in. Myself and Luke decided to change a few things in it, to make it into a more comedic and less dry script.

After editing the script, we started to explain to Ellen and Chris (who were the actors we were using) what we wanted them to do, where we wanted them to move and how they should deliver certain lines. After doing this preliminary briefing, we started doing a few run-through's so they would be comfortable reading the lines and knowing when to speak. Finally we directed the last member of our group Matt, the cinematographer, as to where we wanted him to be filming the scene and collaborated with him, seeing what he thought was best.

Set up for filming

Filming the scene

This seminar has been very useful as it as allowed me as an editor, to see what has to go into being a director as well as being clear on my own ideas whilst listening to others. The group has benefited from this as a whole as it allowed the director and producer to experience first hand what it is like to be an actor, which will hopefully reflect and make it easier for all of us to deal with actors when using them in our films.

Revised 2 Minute Character Study Script

Here is the script we will be giving potential actors to entice them to work with us on creating this film. Credit goes to Chris Kenward for writing the original and to Ellen Bounds for reviewing and editing it.

 The next stage in the process for us is to sort out actors, locations and storyboard so we can start to visualise and create this film.

Group Meeting #2 - Developing the 2 Minute Film Idea

This week, we met for the second time as a group to discuss how we could adapt Chris' idea for the main brief into the 2 minute character study film. We all agreed that the most viable part of the film to do for this character study was the flashback sequence, where we could be experimental and create a solid character portfolio in just 2 minutes, whilst also using it as a springboard for our final film. Chris once again lead the way in this as he had already written a smaller synopsis for this 2 minute idea, adapted from the larger film.

Character Study Synopsis

A man awakens in a dark empty space, the room is pitch black apart from a succession of spotlights, punctuating the darkness with pools of fluorescent light. He appears dazed and afraid as he glances nervously around his surroundings. A flickering spotlight grabs his attention and draws him in. As he approaches tentatively he realises the light is illuminating a record player. He plays the record (Elgar’s Enigma Variations) which resounds clearly with a few crackles, echoing slightly across the room. He stands listening to the record, closes his eyes and begins breathing deeply; the music is clearly soothing him. It is not long however, before the record slips jarringly causing him to jump and open his eyes. He looks down and reels slightly in shock as he sees that the record is slowly becoming entangled in black string. As he backs away the record begins to sound more and more tinny and begins skipping, creating an uncomfortable, eerie soundtrack to his surreal experience.

It is not long before a second spotlight begins flickering, forcing our protagonist to investigate. This time the light is illuminating a bedside table laying perch to a handful of teddy bears and children’s toys. As he gets closer he sees that they are already covered in a thin layer of black string. He reaches the table and picks up a teddy, it is wet and dishevelled with one eye missing. As he examines it he begins to fight back tears (captured in close up). Suddenly he hears a noise that echoes across the room forcing him to quickly turn. He sees nothing so turns back to the table which is now completely engulfed in black string. When he looks down he sees that the teddy in his hand has transformed to a pile of wool that is slipping through his fingers like water.

Forcing back tears he hears a young girls voice cry, he looks around and sees that a new spotlight has emerged, flickering more than any previous. He squints and sees in the distance a blurred outline of a little girl, causing him to begin crying as he moves closer. His footsteps begin to create the sound of splashing water, upon looking down he sees that he is walking through a puddle. Our protagonist runs towards the girl who stands vacantly, holding the teddy from before at her side with one hand. She has wet hair and looks pale and ill. He reaches her and bends down to hug here. As he wraps his arms round her she remains motionless and still. We see an extreme close up of the man’s face as he cries and holds his dead daughter.

After a while the camera cuts to a wide shot, revealing that the daughter has disappeared and the man is now holding a mass of white string in his arms which begins to slip away and fall to the floor while he cries. The film ends on a long shot of the man on his knees surrounded by white and black string. 

 

We all agreed that this was a solid idea and would let us experiment with both sound, camera techniques, editing styles and set design to create an original and powerful film. We went away from the meeting with Chris going to write a script for the short film, with help from Ellen formatting it.

Group Meeting #1 - Discussing Ideas

After the seminar today, we discussed how we would approach the brief through our own different roles and who needed to do what. This mainly focused on the director, producer and cinematographer as they had a lot to plan in terms of filming. However we also discussed with the director what the idea was for the overall film that he had already planned and how we were going to bring this in to the 2 minute brief. We began by discussing the whole film and we were given a synopsis and a brief explanation of what it was about:

Cemetery Road Synopsis

The film opens with credits (a white font against a black background) complemented by a dull underwater sound effect. The titles are interspersed by sudden bursts of dark footage of a man, seemingly drowning, gasping for air. The flashes increase in frequency until the image and sound cut out completely leaving just the title ‘Cemetery Road’.

Soft piano music begins to play as the film fades into a shot of the protagonist, dazed walking down a street. He is wearing an incongruous bright red coat which draws glances from passers-by. As he wanders he bumps into a stranger who looks subdued and traumatised. The final shot lingers on a street sign that reads Cemetery Road.

After a short sequence of the character walking around, he checks his pockets and finds a business card. The card bears his name and a cryptic message. On the reverse he finds an address and in his other pocket he finds a key. He seeks out the address and lets himself in. Dangling from the ceiling at the door is a second business card. This time it reads ‘welcome home’ followed by a second strange message.

He determines that this must be his home and begins to search for clues and at this point we realise he has lost his memory. After an implied passing of time he is no closer to retaining his memory or figuring out his identity. He begins to study the two business cards intensely and realises that the cryptic messages are in fact anagrams that take him back to cemetery road. He returns to the street and begins to walk down it. In the background on the opposite side of the street we see the confused stranger from the opening sequence walking away from the cemetery wearing the same red coat and dazed expression as the protagonist was when he is first introduced.

In the cemetery at the end of the street he finds a mysterious box with a similar business card to the ones from before. He reads it and opens the box. Inside he finds a record which he decides to take back to the house to play.

Back home he plays the record (classical music) and sinks into a chair. As he listens to it he suddenly seizes up and jarring flashes of a painful memory begin to appear. The memory enfolds in short flashing segments to the song that he is playing.

After reliving the traumatising event and after an implied period of grieving, the character begins to search for way to erase his memory. He comes across a company that claims to be able to completely erase your memory and seeks them out.

He finds the company in an office and pays the receptionist to undergo the procedure. She walks him through to the room where the process takes place; on the way there is a row of red coats. He is placed in a chair and strapped in so that he has no way out. He looks reflectively around the room as sad piano music begins to play. He suddenly realises he does not want to go through with the process but it is too late and he is forced into it with a jarring edit. The same shots of him drowning that were playing in the opening credits flash up. He struggles and tries to fight the process and the screen cuts to black.

The film then fades into the final shot of the film; a repeat of the opening scene. He bumps into the same person from the opening scene looking grief stricken again and the film ends, implying a never ending circularity.

I personally really like the films narrative and the themes it deals with, as well as the attention to detail that is already forming in this first synopsis. The way we tell the story in this film is key to the audiences engagement and understanding of the narrative, and we will have to really bare in mind if what we want to show and connote is actually comprehendable for the audience as well. After discussing this synopsis, we all decided to go our separate ways and think of a way we could use this synopsis to morph it to fit the 2 minute brief we were given. I think the strongest aspect we could use to fit this smaller brief would be around the flashback/dream sequence as it would allow us to bypass any sync sound and implement a creative use of voice over.

The Brief and My Role

This week we were also given the brief for the first film we had to make. This was:

2-minute character study to be made in your groups.

You should create a 2-minute character-based study.

Your character must have a clear emotional need and you must convey this as the main focus.

Your story might have two characters in it, but there must be a main one, whose emotional condition is clear.

Your film should be an exploratory exercise for your main group piece, so the emotion portrayed should be evidenced in your longer piece.

These technical elements need to be considered:

1).        No sync dialogue. Although you can use inner voice or voiceover to help tell the story of the character.

2).        The world of your character. Consider all aspects of mis-en-scene to establish the story   world.

3).        The use of filmic motifs and key shots might be considered.

These dates are related:

Friday 21^st February               Look at development of exercise in groups.

Friday 7^th March                     Looking at rushes - you must have shot something by this date.

Thursday 13^th March              Present your finished film.

Please ensure that you are making notes and doing relevant research for this brief. This will help in your 2000 word evaluation.

My initial thoughts on the brief were that it could be very challenging to create an emotional attachment as well as an emotional want that are easily conveyed through the use of no sync dialogue in only two minutes. However, our Director, Chris Kenward, had already come up with an idea for a film before we were given this brief, so when presented with it, we all just had to discuss what we could do to make a sequence from the film he is imagining, so it fits the brief given. With the brief and already knowing the synopsis for Chris' idea, I think we can make a really interesting and experimental piece of film that can really engage the audience with our character and want to know the context behind the rest of the wider film.
My role as editor is a tricky one to begin with on this project, as in the industry, it is standard for the editor to not be a major part, if a part at all, in the creating of the film (in terms of actually physically filming it and planning for it) as to not warp or cloud their creative input in post-production. However, as this is only a small 2 minute film with a 5 man crew, it is necessary for me to be involved and help out my peers as much as I can. I hope that helping with the preliminary creative process will not change my outlook and influence when coming to the edit, as I could potentially not be viewing the film with a fresh set of eyes like an editor is meant to do. However, involvement now will help me visualise the directors image, as well as familiarising myself with what is expected of me and what the whole team want to achieve with the film.

Character Mood Board Exercise

At the end of this week’s seminar, we were given a task to develop the characters we had come up with the week before, by collecting a random assortment of images that we could bring to next week’s seminar that we would use to create a narrative around that character. Here is the selection of images I have collected:

We were asked to get at least one image of a person that could be a main character/a person of significance to the narrative that we made. My person was the girl in the middle of the group of images who I thought could be the wife of Bernard Price's son, who helps look after Bernard and all the other selection of images are things that she keeps suggesting he do or try, as she is trying to be positive and supportive of him. However, Bernard dislikes her, for no real reason other than he doesn't like his son being happy with his wife as it reminds him of how much his misses his own. This builds on the spite and self-destruction that Bernard's character has, as well as adding in another important character that has relevance to Bernard's life.

Production Roles

In the second seminar we also had a brief look near the end on the different jobs and responsibilities that each member of a production team would have.

Director

·                     Tells people what to do.  If you don't know the answer, who does? 

·                     Needs to be clear about what you want to happen, but not take over everyone's own creative opinions.

·                     Clear vision of the film.

·                     Creative overview.

·                     Works with actors - directs them.

·                     Keeps control of the set. Normally Assistant Directors role.

·                     Artist, not a fascist.

·                     Needs to be there all the time.

Producer

(Makes sure the film gets made.)

·                     Make sure everyone's doing what they should be doing.

·                     Scout locations. Gets agreement.

·                     Gets actors.

·                     Risk assessments.

·                     Foster a creative environment.

·                     Schedule.

·                     Funding/Budget.

·                     Collaborate creatively with Director. Good to ask creative questions but mostly keep  opinions limited on actual set.

·                     Makes sure set runs smoothly. Testing and checking technical equipment.

·                     Boring paperwork.

·                     Storyboards. Check with technical eye.

·                     Get the rights to music.

·                      

Cinematographer

(Normally have a D.O.P and a Camera Operator.) 

·                     Storyboards.

·                     Filming with camera.

·                     Set up shots.

·                     Collaborate with actors.

·                     Lighting.

·                     Technical equipment.

Sound

·                     Recording sound on set.

·                     Mics.

·                     Audio recorder and Boom poles.

·                     Foley.

·                     Collaborate with Director for sound design.

·                     Music.

·                     Post. Sound Design.

Art Director

·                     Need to see storyboards.

·                     Sketches/Costumes/Props ideas.

·                     Set design.

·                     Mood boards.

·                     Work with Editor/colourgrading and Cinematographer/lighting and colour.

·                     Needs to be on set.

·                     Have a budget to buy/borrow.

·                     Mise-en-scene.

·                     Help with location scouting.

Picture Editor

(Like the Writer.)

·                     Brings all the footage together.

·                     Helps with a fresh eye with narrative and character.

·                     Sound matches dialogue.

·                     Colourist/grader.

·                     Logs all the footage.

We were also asked to start forming these production groups amongst ourselves according to what roles we had done or were doing in our skills modules so we were confident and competent enough to carry out the role with professionalism. Here is my group:

Director: Chris Kenward

Producer: Ellen Bounds

Cinematographer: Matt Brunton

Sound: Luke Finch

Art Director: Ellen Bounds

Visual Editor: Nathan Harkin

As my role in this project is the visual editor, there isn't much preliminary practical work that I can do before we have started filming so I intend to get involved with the process as much as possible so when it comes to the edit, I will know exactly what has gone into the project and know what needs to go where and how I can best tell the story in the way the rest of the group wants it to be told.