Drama Project - Tutorial

I was pleasantly surprised with the feedback we got today mainly because we didn’t get to do our first idea and we’ve had so many ideas since then that I thought this might look a bit un-thought out or rushed. I think we made the right decision to do a simple story in the end as that way we could concentrate on making it a quality piece with a variety of shots and also try and focus on sound which is something Esther also pointed out. Because the story is quite simple and set in only one place and also due to the nature of it Esther pointed out it would be a good idea to concentrate on the sounds and expression when the two men end of having a sort of nacho showdown, where they’re each fighting over the bowl. Afterwards we decided even though we already had a few close-ups of the faces that we would go back and get more and try filming them from different angles and varying levels of closeness like mid close ups, close ups and also extreme close ups of the mouths while eating and their eyes to add to the drama and tension. We also went back and recorded more sounds, as a result of the tutorial, like the crunching of the nachos but close up so you can really hear every little sound during this tense moment. While we were paying attention to detail we also recorded atmos of the pub like the pool table balls knocking against each other and footsteps walking to the pub. It is important to think about the sound more just for the fact that this isn’t a dialogue heavy piece so you need lots of other sounds and noises to fill the void and give a good sense of atmosphere and also giving people something to focus on. Another thing Esther pointed out was the colouring as the different lighting environments made the tones not look very even throughout some of it, this is something we had realised but as it was only our rough draft we had not got round to correcting yet.

Drama Project - Character Profile

About the Character (Keith)

In my head I picture this character to be a bit zany, someone who is constantly trying to be funny and fit in but turns out he’s not funny at all and not many people like him even though he is quite harmless enough. I think he’s got to come across as a bit of a loner due to his awkward and strange personality and even though he appears simple and happy go lucky underneath he probably has a lot of problems but he always tries to laugh them off and see the brighter side of things. He always goes to this pub as he has somehow got it into his head that it’s his local and all his ‘friends’ go there but that isn’t the case at all as they would probably all know him as crazy Keith but really he’s just misunderstood and craves company whether it’s direct or indirect. He is someone also that doesn’t like to break the routine, because the pub is somewhere he goes a lot and he always has the same thing and sits in his same favourite seat so he likes his daily comforts. At the beginning and end of the film I just want to show him walking into the pub and then a shot of him walking away at the end to not only symbolise the beginning and end of this short ‘journey’ but also keep the mystery around this strange character so you don’t know where he’s come from or where he’s going and apart from this one thing you don’t really get to find out about much of his life outside this one place.

Drama Project - Another (Final) Idea

After a meeting yesterday, with me, Dan and Ed we decided that our new idea might not fit the brief as good as it could do with regards to a journey and it was hard for Dan to envisage how it would work and be a good quality 5 minute piece, we discussed many others ideas that evening but nothing was standing out to any of us, every idea we had just either didn’t fit the brief enough or would be hard to plan and execute within the amount of time we have left. Today I wanted to get everyone together as more heads are better for thinking of ideas, over night I had thought of an idea and written a rough script and so had Alex. The only people had with my idea was it was very script heavy and it would be hard for someone to learn it in such a short period of time and also find a good enough actor to carry it off as well. Alex’s idea was based on some Doughnut story apparently but he had changed it to a muffin, after we all read his rough script we decided it was a good idea as it was simple but could be interesting if done well. We thought of locations that we already have on offer to us and because of that we changed the story to fit round a pub setting which we already have permission for. Since Dan is going to play the lead role in it he has suggested writing a more final script so he knows what he’s got to say and then he’s going to send it to me later so I can make any adjustments or suggestions.

The story is basically about a man thinking that another guy is eating something that he ordered at the pub but turns out in the end he got his wires crossed and the other man was actually the one who was bemused and in a way being kind to him by letting him eat what was actually his. We’re going to use a pub lunch as the thing that the story’s centred around rather than a doughnut, which I think is from the original story, because I think it is more applicable to a target range of teenagers/young adults and maybe even adults as well and this way we can put our own spin on it and try to make it amusing as well.

Drama Project - Changes

Last night Dan posted on the Drama page that the actor situation wasn’t looking good and suggested we try and do something a bit less complicated as we can’t do our intended plan without at least two actors and also our idea involves quite a lot in terms of the planning and execution and time is not available to us to find actors that would be suitable for the roles. Due to all this he said if we were all fine with it that we do something comedic and in terms of locations etc a lot more doable for us to get filmed this week. Dan himself would also feel more comfortable being in this type of drama which half solves our actor problem.

After weighing it all up I decided we opt for doing something completely different which I am quite happy with the decision now after meeting up with Dan and Ed today and seeing Ed had written most of a rough script and some extra ideas. We then spent the next couple of hours all adding in our own thoughts and shaping it, working around Ed’s script, which went well as the ideas were flowing and we were all thinking on the same wave length. When Alex arrived we filled him in on what we had come up with so far and he was happy with the idea and hopefully Tom will be as well. After having an ending for the film pretty much finalised and a good idea of how we want to arrive at that point we decided that we would meet up again tomorrow all having thought of ideas over night of things we would like to include. We will then go through possible ideas and write out a final script using the basis we already have and any new ideas.

As director I actually feel a bit more comfortable with this idea than the previous as I can see this having much more potential of working well and everyone seems quite enthusiastic about it. Doing comedy is something I’m also a lot more passionate about and in my head I can already see how things will hopefully pan out.. Finding actors is still a bit of an issue and after talking to other people, using people from uni might not be an option as one group told me they didn’t get much response back and people they have got have dropped out as I think the drama students have a lot on at the moment. Dan said as he’s the Producer he’ll be able to act in it and I think Ed will do as well if we can’t find anyone else. The only problem with this is we only have 5 people in our group which is smaller than the others so we might have to share the roles a bit i.e. Ed is doing sound so me or Tom would have to help out with this if he ends up acting in it. It’s not always going to be ideal and I would have like to of found proper actors but with time of the essence it’s one of the few options we have and I think if we plan it in as much detail as we can I think it can work providing we all communicate with each other.

Drama Project - Pitching Day

We have all decided upon the vigilante idea for our drama and pitched it today to the class and then afterwards discussed it with Esther so we could clearly state what we want to do and how we plan to do it and also to go over any problems and things to think about.

One thing I was a bit worried about from the start was the fact the story isn’t very original which is also something Esther pointed out that it’s a bit clichéd but hopefully the way we have decided to do it will tackle that problem because we wanted to use as many creative camera shots as we can along with very good sound design and the unique thing about it will be we plan to edit it all into a split screen so you can see the two characters throughout, their actions and emotional and physical reactions to everything. By doing this though we are aware that extra effort will have to go into the actual filming because we will need each shot that’s being showed simultaneously to match up exactly from each angle.

Another thing we need to think about is the use of split screen like how do we want to use it, do we want it all the way through or just when there’s action or tension building etc. At first it was decided we would use it all the way through except maybe the last scene but it may look a bit odd on its own so I thought maybe starting the film in single screen and then move on to split screen for the main part of the film and then end on a single screen again so that way we’re not using it too much just simply to highlight the important part of the film where the action takes place for both characters. I think this way it would also make it a bit easier on us because doing split screen throughout would be quite intense to film as everything needs to be planned out clearly so I think it may be better to establish the film in just one shot and when the audience gets a good idea of what’s going on that’s when it goes into split screen.

By the end of this week we need to have written a script because that way we will have something to follow and go by then, even though the script won’t be long I think once we have this written our idea will come together more hopefully and be more clear because the moment we have lots of ideas but nothing set that can link them together and make it flow.

A majority of it is going to be set during the night as all this needs to take place under the cover of darkness in the industrial state and for that reason we have opted not to use the PD170 as it is very poor in low light and darkness and we also need to take consideration over lighting so we need to do location recces of the area to see what street lighting will be available and we will need to take our own lighting like torches or lamps as I doubt we will have access to a power supply.

With regards to sound we’re going to go to our locations early and capture lots of atmos and background sounds and any other sounds we can do before the actors get there because that way it’s more efficient for everyone involved and we can spend time getting good quality sounds with the Marantz which we will be able to review and make sure they are as good as can be as a lot of the sounds can be put over the top so don’t need to be captured at the same time as the acting’s going on.

We possibly have the 2 actors already who are friends of Dan’s (Producer) and have previous acting experience which is good as we need people that will be able to portray a lot of emotional expression due to the nature of the film and the fact it won’t be heavily dialogue based. If for any reason one of them can’t do it then Dan will be our stand it actor and we may need to have someone else on standby in case both of them pull out.

Our locations we want to use are a pub, Industrial estate and then Reservoir which we need to get permission for all three if we can’t get any of these places then I don’t think it would be hard to find alternative places as there’s lots of all these things around and the location could possibly be changed if it still fitted in with somewhere quiet and out the way for the murder to be carried out. This is something we need to discuss further though because if we do need to change location we need to know all the options like where etc straightaway as we can’t be wasting time driving around trying to find other places and then not having permission. This will mean that lots of recceing needs to be done which I am happy to do as I have a car and Dan knows the area well so that shouldn’t be a problem if we plan it before next Wednesday when the filming will start.

With transport I am the only one who has a car and as there are only 5 of us in the group we might be able to all squeeze and the actors make their own way there if the live in the area. If we can’t all fit some people may need to take alternative transport as long as I can take the equipment that will make things still a lot easier or I could make two trips if it’s not too far.

Drama Project - Mystery Train (Jim Jarmusch)

After our session with Chris I decided to buy a box set of Jim Jarmusch and because our drama project is based on the idea of a ‘journey’ I decided to watch his film ‘Mystery Train’ first as it sounded like it probably involved a journey of some sort. When watching this one of my main focuses was on the editing because what stood out to me were these long takes of walking that he used throughout the film. I noticed that the camera would follow the characters for quite a while when they were walking then eventually they’d walk out of the shot and as they did it would cut to them walking in another shot. This technique gave it a really drawn out feel that they were walking and had been walking for ages even though in the reality of the film it had only been for a couple of minutes. I liked how the characters weren’t doing anything except just walking because this too really emphasised the fact they were on a journey to find something and that this was their main intent and there was also no or little dialogue to accompany these shots which meant our focus was always on them walking which made you wonder where were they going or what was going to come next.  It also made you pay extra attention to their surroundings and this was integral to the film as it linked all parts of the story together eventually as you would recognise the different places later on with each different character and what part that place played in the overall story.

Drama Project - Sign Language (Oscar Sharp)

Sign language focuses around a man’s last day doing his current job as he’s just had a promotion. What makes this story interesting though is that he doesn’t have a conventional job and usually I think many people wouldn’t even consider it a proper job as he does street advertising which just involves him standing all day in the same spot holding a sign. The guys personality is what makes the story quite charming as he tells you about his friends who also have jobs holding signs and it’s quite endearing how he has a lot of enthusiasm for such a menial job and he can see the positives of what he does.

I like the use of the handheld camera throughout as it makes it seem more personal and intimate especially coupled with the close up shots of his face throughout I think this really helps the audience identify with him. There is a lot of use of cutaways of the things he’s talking about which helps you identify with his story and there are also artistic shots of just random things around him in which different camera techniques like focus pulls are used and these I think make it look aesthetically pleasing.  I think the use of music is good as it is the same piece of music that’s used throughout so it doesn’t detract you from what’s being said but instead guides you through without you really realising until his alarm goes off to indicate the end of his last shift and with that the music also stops which brings that part of the story to a end. I think the ending is nice as it’s a happy ending but also funny because you know that it’s not realistic and ultimately you know the story is not true at all but the way it’s told so nonchalantly and simply makes it feel like it could be real.