Characters & Spaces

Here are some examples of how directors use spaces, and the characters within those spaces, to create interesting mise-en-scenes.

The spaces we are definitely going to use are office ones, and they will contrast each other, with one being cluttered and busy, whilst the other one is calm and extremely spacious. One thing we've noticed is how important framing is in creating an efficient mise-en-scene. Most characters are centrally framed, or seen within real life frames such as doorways, and this creates a harmonic, neat, almost 'feng shui' image. Framing characters in unorthodox ways can have an important part to play in some films, but in our office scenes, we are going to create a neat, tight mise-en-scene to try and emulate a real office space.

The best example I can think of a film that uses office settings and spaces incredibly well is Terry Gilliam's Brazil.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088846/

















Other good examples of the use of cramped office conditions feature in Mike Judge's Office Space.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151804/















There are also very tight working spaces in Being John Malkovich.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120601/


The Matrix Reloaded features this room, and it creates a striking image of omnipotence and power, and I think that we should aim to create a similar effect in our piece, although obviously scaled down and without the monitors.

Research - Interview piece

The most obvious influence for this piece would seem to be Slumdog Millionaire, which also contains interviews and flashbacks.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/

The main problem with this idea, is that the unique selling point is the twist. The whole film relies on the twist being delivered effectively, and therefore, a lot of other elements will take a backseat. For example, I don't think there will be much, if any, use of non-diegetic sound. The motifs and plot devices we are probably going to use are not exactly original - flashbacks are a cinematic staple; the use of colour to dictate mood is commonly done - therefore we must take extra care to ensure that the familiar ground covered is done in original and exciting ways.

I feel that the key factors that we can use to our advantage are colours and space, so therefore a lot of of research will be done on that. First though, I have been conducting some research on the use of limbo in media, and to be honest have not found anywhere near as much as I expected to, especially not in film.

The main films that deal with limbo, or some kind of place of process after death:

After Life
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0806013/

Beetlejuice
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/

In Between
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102105/

Matrix Revolutions
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0242653/

A Matter of Life & Death
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0038733/

Monkeybone
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166276/

Wristcutters: A Love Story
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0477139/

In terms of other media, the idea of limbo is used relatively frequently in TV shows, generally comedies, as it seems to be an idea which people feel they can have plenty of creative freedom with. Good examples include The Mighty Boosh episode 'Bollo', where limbo is shown as a minicab headquarters, the American Dad episode 'The Most Adequate Christmas Ever', where its shown as a law court and the main protagonist must convince a judge to let him go back to Earth to save his family.

Limbo also features as a mythical realm in both Marvel comics and the role playing game Dungeons and Dragons, and this link with fantasy is something we can potentially exploit in our piece. Even when used in film, it is generally shown as a fantastical place, and rarely is it handled seriously. Even in Beetlejuice, where it is portrayed as a governmental office, it is deliberately stylised and far-fetched. This will hopefully give our film something of a unique edge.

There is also this video game, which has a stark monochromatic style. It's not particularly relevant but it looks nice.
http://www.limbogame.org/

Research - Money Idea

We had just a few initial ideas of influences for this piece.

Obviously the film Twenty Bucks:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108410/

For its clever use of constantly changing protagonists and the associated camerawork, we thought that Slacker would be a good reference point.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0102943/

Although this is meant to be a joke, it is an attempt at the same kind of thing we would be trying to achieve. It is a short clip from the American version of The Office, and it is Michael Scott's (Steve Carell) attempt at a television advert.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4GZcS4HuwZM&feature=related

The Pitching Process

After careful consideration, the group decided that although all the ideas had their merits and could make for interesting pieces, the two strongest were mine (Scott) and Theo's. I say mine, but the original genesis of the idea came from some of Tom's previous work.

Despite being given very little time to prepare our pitch, we were ready. Originally I envisioned this as a one-on-one pitching session, where I, as project manager would talk to one or two tutors. I felt very comfortable with this - although pitching isn't exactly a great deal of fun, I've done it enough times to know its not worth getting stressed over - but on the day there was a change of plan.

We would be pitching to both the tutors and the class, in a move supposedly designed to 'add more pressure'. I actually feel that this idea was flawed, for a couple of reasons:

1. The tutors were trying to emulate a real pitch, but to my knowledge it is not common practice to pitch to that many people, although I'm sure there are instances when it does happen.

2. The main reason why I disagree with the way the pitching session took place was the fact that I felt the strongest part of my idea was the twist, something which obviously you would want to tell to the people hearing your pitch. Telling it to the whole class - the intended, and probably only, audience of the piece - however, diminished the effect the ending will have. Essentially that twist is now void as everyone knows it is happening. This has inadvertently added pressure to the film, as now I feel I will have to seek out a wider audience to know if the twist has been effective.

This is not a major complaint though, and there is no reason why this added pressure will not make us all work harder to create something we are truly proud of.

Because of the change in pitching style, I thought it was more appropriate for the whole group to portray a unified front and pitch together, and in hindsight I feel this benefited the group.

I think that the group are glad that the limbo idea was chosen. The day before the pitch, during a production meeting, we were all swaying towards Theo's money idea, but the more we looked at them, the more we realised the possibilities that the limbo piece offered. In the end I'm glad the tutors agreed, and despite an influx of relatively similar ideas, they chose the right one for our group.

One last point about the pitch, and something I wish I had talked about on the day:

Whilst giving feedback about the money idea, Chris said something along the lines of 'I liked the idea but you spoilt it a bit by mentioning that there is a similar film' (Not a direct quote by any means)

Again this links back to the idea of emulating a professional pitching session. If I was pitching a film to studio executives, I would automatically assume they know more about film than me. Therefore, it is much better for me to be honest and state that there is a similar film than not mention it and perhaps get called up on it. It is better to at least show I have a knowledge of film and have done my research.

Anyway, minor quibbles. We now look forward to the challenge! The group seem happy with the idea and seem to be really up for it, so hopefully in two months time we shall have a piece of high calibre.

NB: The above piece is purely MY views and opinions, and does not necessarily represent those of the whole group. Whilst I am almost positive they feel the same way it is better to be safe than sorry.

Idea 5 - Theo Piper-Griffiths

Treatment – Money Journeys

My idea is the journey of money and the different situations and scenarios it leads to and connects with. Each time money is passed on it will lead to a new ‘mini’ sequence. I think it will be interesting to see the different effects that an object like this causes.

The basic narrative of this piece is structured like a cycle, showing how money goes around and back to where it started. My intention for this piece is that it has several ‘mini’ sequences that in some way involve money. I intend to show the light and the dark sides of money and what role it plays in different situations with different people. Please note the structure I have given is only the basic narrative and could include more cut-aways to other situations as the project planning goes into more detail.

The first sequence would be a group of teenage boys or girls wanting to buy some drugs, there will be a shot of one of them withdrawing money from an ATM (every time the money changes hands it will be important to show a close up) When the teenagers buy the drugs off a dealer, the focus will be switched to him/her and therefore a new ‘mini’ sequence will take place. The new sequence will involve the drug dealers sorting out their money and weighing up the drugs etc, the money will then be passed to another dealer who will have a call to drop off some drugs to another set of teens. The teenagers who buy the drugs from the dealer will then be involved in the last sequence showing them getting high etc and using money to buy food etc.

I think the use of colour in this piece will play an important role, in particular what the characters are wearing and certain props that are involved. For example, the dealers will all be wearing black to represent the darker side to money. Whereas the teenagers will be wearing light colours, perhaps the lead member of that group wearing an obviously different colour to the rest.

The colour temperature in the different ‘mini’ sequences will play a vital role to what mood is being portrayed to the viewer, the shot of a group of teenagers could show vivid colour and high saturation to show their innocence and to keep it light hearted. Whereas the shots of the drug dealers could involve a much colder colour temperature like blue and also low key lighting to show that it is a more serious matter.

My perceived audience for this piece would be for anyone of any age, money is a universal subject, but the fact that there are teenagers and drug dealers involved may make it appeal more towards a younger audience of 18-30, but I would like to say it is universal. I could envisage this piece of work being used for a number of things, an example would be on television as a Channel 4 type ‘3 minute wonder’. It could also be seen at a short film festival or even be used as an advert.

Idea 4 - Jake Owen

Treatment

For this project I would like to take my audience on the greatest journey we, as humans, can experience; the journey of life. We would portray childbirth through to death, and all of the key experiences that would happen along the way. For instance, first day at school, first date or any other memorable scenarios that occur throughout life. This will be shot entirely in the first-person to get the film more in touch with the human experience. In terms of audio we would record sound sound that reflects the various emotions that occur throughout our lifetime; this would be mixed with other sounds of life such as babies crying, crowds of people, nature etc.

The film would begin with the miracle of childbirth; a first person view of a baby being born. In the background would be various doctors and nurses, taking the baby and wrapping it up. This would be accompanied by screams of agony and baby cries, with doctors encouragment in the background. We would then fade into a shot of an encouraging parent, trying to teach her child how to walk. The scene would then cut to a playground full of playing childen, the child is playing playground games. Here we would hear the hustle and bustle of the playground, childeren laughing etc. Then we would see the first day of middle school, and our character having a run in with the head teacher. We would then cut to our characters first date, and the awkwardness and embarressment that goes along with it. This is when our character would begin to develop into adolescence, and we would see him taking his driving test and making a complete mess of it. the audience would then see scenes of the character getting robbed, getting drunk for the first time, his first sexual encounter and playing computer games. A fade would then occur, and we would see our character turing to his new bride. We would then see our character at a job interview, going through the nerves and other emotions that follow. Our piece will then come to one of its pivitol scenes; our character looking upon his new born baby. This scene will reveal the circle of life aspect of the piece. We would then see scene two from the other side of the camera; the parent goading his child towards him. We then see our character attempt to cope with death, and place him at a funeral. Cracks in our characters marrage begin to show, and the two are engaged in argument. Our character throws out his wife, tossing her clothes and belongings out of the door. The transition from middle to old age begins and our character is visited by his son and his girlfriend. The lonliness of old age is then shown as our character is doing boring, mundane activities. He is then moved into a home, and we see nurses comforting him. The camera then staggers, and hits the floor. This represents our character suffering a heart attack. We see feet running around, then a sudden flash. We will then show our entire film from start to finish again, but speeded up to represent flashbacks of our characters life. The sound in this scene will be of particular importance, as we plan to have many different voices saying random phrases from throughout our characters life, until it climaxes into silence. The camera then slowly fades out to white.

Our piece will (hopefully) take the audience on our characters journey through life. We would like to show our audience that life itself is the greatest journey of all. It can take us through unbelieveable highs and unbelieveable lows. We plan to portray this idea by showing the audience key events in his life that helped to shape his character, and to show the various highs and lows of life.

This piece would be shot entirely in the first person. This would create the effect of the human experience as seen through a humans eyes. This will play a key part in the overall meaning of the piece as we see the film unfold through the eyes of a human being, rather than in third person which would just be a depiction of events, and we as the audience would be the observer. Rather than have a vast array of different actors, we would use group members to act as various different characters. Costume would play a key part in this, as a character would be identified through his or her clothing. I dont think that in doing this we will confuse the audience or break the illusion that we are trying to create. Aurally our piece will literally be full of life, as throughout our piece the audience will hear sounds of life (and death). We will try to create each of the different tones of the piece through our use of sound. For each different scene we would be attempting to create the different moods through our use of sound. For example, during the opening scenes, and the birth of our character, our ears would be flooded with various sounds of life and activity. This would progress throughout the piece, until finally at the end, when our character passes away, we hear nothing but silence. Some say our idea is over-ambitous, but I believe that it is percieveable to achieve all of the goals we have set ourselves for this project.

We want the tone and mood throughout the piece to change as the film progresses. During the openening scenes we would try to create a sense of joy and happiness with the birth of the new baby. Then as the film develops into our characters school days we would set a humerous tone as we see our character getting into mischief at school and being a typical teenager. As our character becomes a young adult and gets married we would set a serious tone, that our character now has responsabilities and has to provide for his family. The mood would still remain joyful as these are happy times during our characters life. As our character grows into old age the mood and tone would take a sudden shift. Our character goes through divorce and throws his wife out onto the streets. This scene would set a very bitter mood, and we would then see our character moved into a home and eventually die of a heart attrack. During these final scenes the audience will get a sense of lonliness, and be left with a very bitter taste in their mouth. The message that we will hopefully be getting across will tell the audience that the journey of life is a great one, and we must appreciate what we have before our jouney ends, as it could end at any time.I think that our audience for this film would be a very broad one. This is because of the nature of the story, as many can relate to the events that happen throughout our characters life. Overall I think that our piece would be suitable to be viewed by anyone, as we all experience the jouney of life and therefore should all be able to relate to the message we are trying to portray.

Idea 3 - Tom Maughan

‘Journey’ Pitch
The premise of the film I am pitching is a film about failing filmmakers. I would take a mockumentary, fly on the wall approach to filming our fictional filmmakers, while, filming their film with the intention of making it very unprofessional, to the extent that it would make an audience cringe, but, most importantly; laugh.
The narrative of the film follows our protagonist, a young, up and coming director or at least he thinks so. Having just finished his A-Levels, and proudly having gained a high B grade, our protagonist decides it’s time that he makes his first feature length film. The plot unravels with the plot of protagonist’s ‘epic’ debut being described, entailing a warrior from the past being frozen by a magical shaman, ready for when he will be needed to save the world in the distant future (turning out that the world is endangered by an alien, giant, telepathic space-dog). From here the narrative becomes about the complications of our characters when making their film, this is where a lot of humour can be created in the incompetence of our fictional filmmakers. The conclusion of the film will be the protagonist reading a kind rejection letter from a big film studio and the protagonist pitching his next film.
As I mentioned before, this would be filmed in two parts, the real film and the fictional film. The real film would be like a fly on the wall documentary, following the characters in their struggle to create their own film. The fictional film would be shot very unprofessional, giving a definitive difference between what we have filmed and what our characters have filmed. In terms of props and costumes for the fictional film, the worse they are, the more humorous the scenes can become.
The aim is to make the fictional film as over the top as possible, so when it is contrasted with scenes with our protagonist talking to his crew as if he is already a top director we create a great deal of irony. A great influence for the protagonist would be the character of David Brent from Ricky Gervais’ and Stephen Merchant’s ‘The Office’. I don’t want the character to be unlikeable, I want him to be mocked but also sympathised due his extreme disillusions about himself.
In terms of style for the films, a lot of influence can be taken from Michel Gondry’s ‘Be Kind Rewind’ and the ‘Sweded films’ within it, the use of everyday items to create very ambitious sequences is something that I would look to do, also. However, this would be with the loss of the style that Gondry so creatively produces, so the fictional film will become even more laughable.
I feel the fact that this idea opens for two different styles of comedy, and it is really two films rather than one, it means that is accessible to an array of audiences. I think the idea of a film going completely wrong can be quite refreshing, and the realism of the characters and their disillusions will work because people can relate to people they know.

Idea 2 - Scott Marshall

A man heads into an office to have an interview for a mysteriously vague job. The interviewer takes him into a brilliantly white room, and begins the process. As he asks questions to the potential employee we see his answers and life pan in out in a series of flashbacks.

At the start of the piece, the unnamed protagonist finds a mysterious advert for a job in the local paper. We then see a note has been left for him in his flat confirming the interview. The next shot takes place inside the office, where he is shown to a smaller office by a rather bland and dour woman. There is nothing at all extraordinary about the office, with its Grey colour palette and symmetrically lined desks. The smaller office is a stark contrast, as it is blindingly white, only broken up by a small black desk and a man sitting behind it. The man is bald, but has a white beard, and is wearing the traditional black suit and white shirt combination.

After a quick formal greeting the man prepares to start the interview, but makes the potential employee swear to be as honest as he can. He starts by asking the question “Can you think of a time when you helped someone in need?” The film then proceeds to show us, via flashback, his answer to the question. The film continues the pattern of the question being asked in real time and the answer given back via a flashback several times, until it seems that the interviewer has made up his mind. The interview was not actually for a job, and this is no normal interviewer. It is actually St. Peter trying to work out whether or not this man should be allowed to enter heaven.

In terms of style, as noted before the main office will symmetrically aligned with a very subdued use of colour. St. Peter's office is blindingly white (he actually refers to the colour's proper name as 'Pearly') with a contrast between the black desk and the walls. The style of the dreams will change depending on the question and the response. For example, when the answer is positive, like a scene of him being helpful, the colours and mise-en-scene will be bright and bold to signify the positive. Conversely, if the answer is negative, it will be shot to look very grainy and grim, with drab colours.

The theme of the film is morality, and it deals with some quite complex and mature ideas, for example some of the answers would see the character put into a position where it can be hard to tell which is the right thing to do. Because of this, it would definitely be intended for a mature audience; it is not a family film. It would also probably not be considered a mainstream film, so it would be designed for a more arty audience, who understand and care about the themes explored within the film.

Idea 1 - Kathryn Broughton

Treatment – Journey film

A Journey Through the Mind.

A short film to show the thought processes happening in our brain through everyday lives. As the camera enters the mind the sound and images make the viewer feel like they are twirling along the lines of a thought which is being recognised and processed in the brain.
This would mainly be a sound piece, with very distinctive noises which can clearly represent a process occurring. The sounds would be slightly electronic, representing the electrical impulses travelling along the neurones.
It starts with a character viewing something which they want to purchase; the camera looks through the eyes of the character and sees this item. The camera then does a 360 turn and zooms into the eye of the character. Then turning and spinning travels through the mind as music takes over.
When this is over and the music has reached a grinding electronical peak the camera will seem to leave the mind of the character and return to viewing the item through their eyes. To show the thought process that’s occurred, the character will then go and purchase the item. All the time the camera will show the P.O.V shot.

Update

Well its been two weeks since we updated this blog due to numerous technical difficulties (damn privacy settings) and the fact that we were awaiting confirmation from Malcolm on the blog, which never came. In fact we have been told that we haven't sent our blog details to the tutors but I have an email addressed to Malcolm in my sent mails folder sent on the very day this blog was created, 26th February 2009.

We will have details of all our ideas and the pitching and preproduction processes very shortly.