Final Idea - "We all have our moments"

This is just a quick post discussing a possible change in direction of my project.

Where before I was looking at making a short series of 5, two minute length segments featuring a developed storyline revealed in short snippets, filmed in various locations and edited together, I have been thinking about my core reasons for choosing the gangster theme and furthermore, the representation of mental illness on the whole.

I may adapt my idea somewhat to a shorter piece, aiming for 5 minutes, being an artistic montage of face to camera interviews to try and represent the fragile state of mind of a 'split personality' type illness. I want to play around with camera techniques, the lighting and various editing techniques to explore what I have already learnt and showcase my talents. I still want to incorporate humour into the piece and to try and push that mental illness doesn't make you less of a human being, and we all have our moments.

Mental Health is something that is personally very close to me, having known of people being effected by it whether personally or through association with friends and family members. My piece aims to not only raise awareness but to depict often misconstrued representations of mental illness in the media today and to combat them substantially.

Test Stills

 


 These stills were to practice with my chosen 70D Canon camera, and test out the cameras exposure and lighting functions. The clarity of the image is the high quality I would love to have within my project seeing as it will make the film aesthetically pleasing.
Looking at the light, I love the silhouetted nature of the dreamcatcher, and would love to replicate this within my project by using the main character as the silhouette. This would create a strong long lasting impression on the audience, creating connotations of mystery, confusion and a strong stylistic influence, typical of the gangster genre. I decided to take some test footage of a rotating dream-catcher which I may incorporate into my final piece due to the stylistic nature of the shot and also the 'dream' connotations as well as the silhouette.

   I used the flash setting on the camera to see how drastically the exposure changed and ruined the shadowy exterior from my university room. I love the glistening on the pane and from the rain and think it includes drama to my project. However the exposure on the window pane makes the pale blues accentuate sadness and loss. I won't be using the flash when filming as it will wash out my actors and scenes.

Looking at the stabilisation of the camera pre-editing, this blur effect was really interesting and creates a confusing atmosphere to the piece.  I especially like the blurred uncertainty that this shutter effect encourages and could have a similar effect on my target demographic. 

 Looking at not only the layering of focus,  but also the mise-en-scene, on top of the  general warm colours in my room, I  thought this luckily to be  good solid  location in which to film, due to the access  to it, the desk and chair needed for my  scenes and also the natural/dimmed  lighting which I am able to control. 

Pictured here is the aforementioned desk of which I would tidy up to suit the gangster theme and to tighten up the mise-en-scene. Obviously I don't want to depict a girls room so would remove some items which don't fit in with the genre or character I am trying to create.

The angular edges in my room are of importance due to the difficulty of filming in one room only and to enable the development of plot within my piece. Although having the idea of filming himself chatting about his job/losing his mind through short structured scenes which look like manic episodes could become integral to the plot and project if I choose to change direction.

This picture on the right was of a grim day in November 2015 where I filmed outside for a few seconds just to get the feel for provoking emotion through the weather and moreover the absence of colour within this shot. The cold hard outlines of the window frame are bold and look like prison bars which could strongly represent the characters imprisonment in his mind. Looking at exposure on my cousins face when doing some practice test stills, i quite like the dark looming nature form poor or lower exposure. The cool tones underlay the dark secrets I wish to incorporate within my project. It isn't as strong as the silhouette effect I also admire, and is less effective, so could be used for some filler with still the same high quality consistency throughout my project.

This dreamcatcher shot is one of my favourites, purely for the glimmer of hope represented from the reflection of sunlight through the pan and then through the fibres of the dream-catcher. Due to the connotations of spirits and good dreams, this is a positive feature I plan to incorporate within my project where possible, possibly with the dream-catcher turning in the sunlight.

  

Looking at the differing exposure settings on the camera, changing the ISO and shutter settings to see the effect it had on a lychee as a still life. Having a slower shutter setting made the blur obvious and created a lower quality image which I don't want to include within my project. With flash, although it gave a more detailed exposure to the image, it overexposed the subject and you lost the whole detail of the background over the foreground. Similarly, with automatic lighting settings, the lychee was significantly underexposed and therefore little to nothing was visible. Looking at these features was extremely important so that I could understand the capabilities of my camera.

Location Choices

Looking at location choices I am thinking to remodel my University house and use the various rooms to create the perfect setting. Using my existing props saves on travel expenses as well as saves on purchasing furniture or props. The fact I have a desk and chair in my room, means that I can film the early study scenes in my room.
In terms of outside the house, I plan to use the local area. The plot revolves around the inner workings of the main characters mind, and therefore I don't want to journey too far afield from the problem at hand which is his mental state. This is where my artistic license comes in to effect as I want to show a lot by not showing enough through my film, with some strange montages mixed in.

I am considering changing my plot from a contrived 5 series 2 minute shorts to a montage 5 minute piece with wider artistic licence. This would enable me to work on the editing process more and to encourage my filming style as well as be free with my filming creation. This has been born from making simpler boring locations slightly more interesting where possible through editing, effects and style in order inspire some artistic life within my piece. I feel most pieces I have created so far have been so restricted by the brief that this piece would enable me to represent mental illness, and the gangster lifestyle in a different and innovative way.

Supervisors

My two potential supervisors were Lizzie Sykes and Tamsyn Dent. I was attracted to these two as my main choices due to Lizzie's skill in making confusing concepts and stories understandable within media pieces, and Tamsyn, although being a newer member of the course, as she has an interesting theoretical knowledge as to how to include and apply theory to work. Furthermore she is extremely interested in my case study essay which looks at the representation of hierarchy in TV sitcoms, namely 'Peep Show' that I studied for it, furthermore this is a similar concept featured within my short series.

Email:

Hi Lizzie,

I know we have to email and decide who our supervisor is going to be before Christmas and so thought I would approach you as a potential supervisor. 

The outline of my project is as follows:

- A series of five 2 minute episodes portrayed in an 'online series' or 'webisode' style. 

My project is based upon the gangster theme/genre, representing mental health (through split personality), and with aspects of black comedy or 'oddball' lines. 

The plot develops through classic disequilibrium (Todorovs theory) of which gets ultimately gets resolved. 

Logline: A webisodical black comedy focusing on an infamous gangster who risks everything to open the heart of his operations, exposing paranoia, personal betrayal and an unstoppable force.

Please let me know if you are interested in being the supervisor for this short series.

Kind regards, 

Catherine 



After finding that Lizzie wasn't the best choice for my project, I wasn't sure who to approach r.e. my project, and so was happy to be allocated Mik Parsons as my supervisor.