(VERY ROUGH) Storyboards: Portrait of Place

These are the storyboards made as a guide to how the Portrait of a Place project will be filmed (shots may slightly alternate between this and the final film.

(Sorry the drawings are so ameateur and messy, hopefully the final film will look a bit better)

Portrait of Place: Script

Continuing from the last post I made on this project; my partner and I had the idea of a man stumbling round the village of Edale in a confused state. When it came to writing the script we decided that we needed something with a little more depth and meaning than what we currently had.

After some writing and discussion we decided to add a plot line involving a man who had got drunk, stumbled through the village and collapsed in the middle of a field (this would be shown through flashbacks played throughout the film) and after the man wakes up he retraces his steps to the pub in which he got drunk in the first place.



Scene 1: The field in which the man wakes up in before continuing his journey and the forest the man walks through.

















Scene 2: The outskirts of the village, the man continues his walk.












Scene 3: The Village centre where the man has flashbacks involving the pub and a phone box.











Scene 4: The church that the man passes on his journey.










Scene 5: A row of houses and a grit bin, in which the man remembers doing something rather embarrassing.








Scene 6: The pub from which the drunken walk began.








Here's the script (slightly editted from printed version):

The Hurt Locker: Thoughts

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now but haven't got round to it, so now here it is:

The Hurt Locker is a modern war film set in Iraq and focusing on a bomb disposal team, the film gained most of its fame by beating 'Avatar' to win the Oscar Best Picture at the Academy Awards in 2010.

After going into this film not knowing what to expect (I hadn't read any synopses about the film or heard any spoilers) I was pleasantly surprised by the film's characters and storyline. Rather than focusing on one of the most commonly used war film plots (the rescue mission) and having flat one dimensional marines the plot just seemed to focus on the various events that happened during the squad's tour of duty, with a time limit occasionally appearing on the screen displaying how many days they had left, this made you want the soldiers to get out alive but also made you weary that just before they were due to leave someone would die, thankfully they didn't resort to that tired cliché (completely).

The soldier's themselves had a lot more depth than is commonly seen in war movies and a lot of the movie is spent with the soldiers as they exchange banter and discuss what life's like back home. At a time where soldiers are still being killed in Afghanistan it makes you realise that all the faces you see on the news that might seem like statistics at the time are all real people with friends and family who will miss them. The soldiers are frequently seen talking about their families and one soldier says he wanted to have kids at some point but now thinks it's too late. This somewhat defies the old notion that the army is the last resort for people with nothing and nowhere else to go. Even the main character, who is depicted as slightly different from everyone else (he defuses bombs with sometimes absurd methods, including taking off his bomb suit or acting entirely on instinct) is shown as a very human character, he has a wife and even a child back home.

As I have little knowledge of the American military or the conditions of the war in Iraq the film felt real enough for the audience to believe what is going on and the human cost of the war is very well sometimes graphically depicted; children who the soldiers have interacted with are shown dead on several occasions, the bomb squad aren't always successful in what they do, several times they fail to disarm bombs and people do die as a result. In one particular scene the soldiers arrive in the aftermath of an explosion and one of them just surveys the scene for a moment in disbelief, he was there a few minutes previously and everything seemed normal, now it is anything but. Perhaps this also illustrates that no matter how many times they see this it doesn't get any easier to cope with. Other times they would be caught in the crossfire and not always hit their targets with one shot (like a lot of action movies) and basic things like a fly can break their concentration.

The explosions, what few of them were in the film were also handled with a degree of realism, the explosions are shown as very powerful and not the fireballs a hero can just walk away from as seen in a lot of Hollywood films, at the beginning a soldier is killed by being thrown away from the explosion and breaking his head open on the bomb suit that was supposed to protect him. When an explosion goes off the ground erupts around the bomb, making it literally earth shattering.

I could go on about how good this film is but when all said and done it's a refreshing, reasonably realistic and interesting war film that's definitely worth watching.

Portrait of Place: Ideas.

We were assigned our first practical project this week, the task: The make a silent film that we would go to Edale to film.
This is the sheet of paper that me and my partner used to brainstorm and select ideas, after coming up with several we chose the one we were going to film: A short slapstick 1920's style film in which a man would wander round the village in a bemused state wondering where he is.

(We would go on to alter this idea in the script writing process)

Whilst brainstorming we looked on Google Maps Street View to aid our creative thinking and to see what was in Edale that could be used in the film in terms of buildings or other locations.

Some of the other ideas that we conceived included: a documentary style film showing a man's day around the village, the documentation of a man waiting for his train that never comes and even the possiblity of a surrealist film was suggested.

Thoughts on Film: Kick Ass

Media involving superheros has always been popular; from the Superman comics of the 1940s to Christopher Nolan's compelling and deep 'The Dark Knight' the costumed hero has always captured the imagination of audiences and had their creators reeling in the cash.

One particular medium that's become increasingly popular in recent years is the superhero blockbuster, with almost every A list and now B list comic book hero receiving their own cinematic adaptation.

Kick Ass, like many other superhero flicks is an adaptation of a comic book of the same name; following a nerd who through his own choice decides to don a colourful outfit and fight crime as a superhero.

This film, like the comic attempts to satirise the superhero concept whilst still adding it's own creative twist, rather than shying away from superhero cliches like so many modern blockbusters or deconstruct the characters like in 'Watchmen' it makes fun of them for what they are, but towards the end of the film it seems to lovingly embrace them, and it turns into an overly produced superhero action flick, similar to how 'Hot Fuzz' took the police action film, mocked and shy-ed away from the cliches before turning into one of the film's it was paying homage to.

The characters themselves were interesting and sometimes amusing send ups of classic superhero archetypes; the main hero for instance is a nerdy loner but rather than him be inspired by a family member's murder or a forced situation (e.g being bitten by a radioactive spider) he chooses to become a superhero on his own accord simply because to his knowledge no one has done it before (he soon finds out why), this was an interesting alternative to the origin stories associated with many superheroes as it's nothing out of the ordinary everyday person wanting to try something different, he's the ultimate 'elevated fan boy'.

The other characters followed suit with their almost lampooning of superhero caricatures, such as the rich man with all the gadgets, obviously inspired by Batman and the film makes no attempt to hide this fact, the character is referred to as 'The guy who looks like Batman' on several occasions, however his morals are the complete opposite of the said hero as he repeatedly goes round shooting people and revelling in the violence and chaos he causes. The same can be said of the child hero, where as most child turned superheroes would have trouble adjusting to their new responsibilities and powers this girl was raised to be a combat trained hero, so she knows nothing different, she is also a complete psychopath and very un-childlike, constantly killing and wounding her enemies as well as swearing.

This along with all the gory and graphic violence in the film made it seem mean spirited and unnecessarily cruel and some of the violence felt as if it were unnecessary. Although the violence does make the film feel reminiscent of 'Kill Bill' with the characters using lots of weapons and complicated martial arts stunts, to me this is what Tarantino would do if he directed a superhero movie.

The film also contains a lot of pop culture references and use of modern technologies such as YouTube and Facebook. It felt like it was trying to appeal to the 'digital generation' a generation who commonly use the Internet and are aware of viral media.

Overall I enjoyed this movie, as I am a fan of the superhero genre and I liked that it was trying to do it's own thing rather than apply to the generic conventions of what is expected of this kind of movie and the homage elements were welcomed. However I did feel the violence was unnecessarily excessive and the attempt to appeal to the young and 'hip' crowd could make it seem dated in the coming years.

Salaryman 6

This short by James Knight was an interesting and sometimes thought provoking film, it centres on a man who has lost his memory of the previous day, so it doesn't happen again he carries a camera which takes pictures of what he does, after a few days he gets the photos together and realises that his life is just a continuous loop and at the end of the film the cycle begins again.

The cinematography played to the film's subject matter; the camera is usually stood still without much movement, observing the events. The camera angles are almost always wide angle, showing how small and insignificant the character is in this massive, sometimes seemingly endless world, with apartment complexes, office blocks, tube trains and corridors seeming to stretch on almost infinitely. Continuing the theme of a continuous loop the same shots and sequences are repeated, giving the sense that his life is so repetitive that he can't remember one day from the next.

The mise-en-scene was fitting to the repetitive theme; as the same objects are used (if there's a chair, there is only one design of chair, the shops are full of the same things with no variety, the buildings are big menacing and lifeless, the character's room is very unpersonal with no pictures or personalisations to differentiate him from anyone else. It reminds me of the office scenes in 'Fight Club' where everyone is doing the same thing and everything seems to be the same "everything's a copy, of a copy, of a copy."

I think this film is an interesting look at how people's lives can end up going and is a common concern of a lot of people, that their lives will become so mundane that they become just another cog in the machine of society.

Gasman

Lynn Ramsey's 'Gasman' is another film of the social realist genre (reality based drama, events which could happen in the real world).
Set at Christmas time the film depicts a father taking his children out, meeting another woman and taking her kids as well as his own to a Christmas party in a social club.
All the way through the film feels really cold and icy, the winter air (making the character's breath show), the character's attire combined with the cloudy sky and the lack of greenery in the vegetation the characters walk past make the viewer feel chilly, the atmosphere between the father and his kids only enforces that cold feel as it doesn't feel loving or warm like a father child relationship should be. When the second set of children join the group that doesn't improve the situation as one of the first children makes degrading comments on how the newcomers look.

When the group reach the Christmas party the atmosphere doesn't improve a great deal, and why there are tensions becomes clear when the two little girls get into a fight with each other over who's 'daddy' the father is. While some may have got the reference when the father and the woman conversed but this scene cements it: he's the father of both lots of children, just from different relationships with different women and the children didn't know this. This is why I think the film belongs in the social realism genre; this could have and probably does happen in real life, men leave women with kids and try to start a fresh with another relationship, it's when the paths cross that trouble can arise.

The whole film, along with the cold and chilly atmosphere has a very impersonal feel to it, we rarely get close ups of character's faces and in the opening sequence in particular we don't see a single face and the mother is kept in the shadows as if she doesn't matter. At the Christmas party which should be a place of happiness and celebration, aside from a few seldom smiles the overall mood is still gloomy amongst the girls, who look out of place with all the other children playing around them, the juxtoposition of the Christmas music is clever as well, showing the girls should be happy but they aren't.

I enjoyed the film in part because of it's cold atmosphere and because it kept me interested in what was happening.

High Rise

HIGHRISE from Gabrielle Russell on Vimeo.

Gabrielle Russell's short yet powerful film, possibly based in the social realism genre. The film begins with a panning/zoom shot over a British housing estate featuring a lot of high rise blocks of flats, immediately the audience can assume that the setting of this film will be in a working class area of town simply from the buildings surrounding it. In one of these high rise flats there is a mother watching the television while her baby is playing with a toy. The flat itself is reminiscent of the TV show 'Shameless' in that it is frankly disgusting; the wallpaper is peeling off and mouldy, the floor is unclean and covered in bits and the sofa is sagging and dirty. The mother herself looks unhappy, wearing scrawny clothes and curled up in a chair like she's trying to hide from something. When the baby starts making noises the mother just looks at it with a very blank emotionless face, no traces of love, affection, kindness or anything one would associate with a mother and baby relationship, perhaps implementing that this baby wasn't 'wanted' or that she regrets having it.
During the film the baby's toy hangs off the edge of the window, with the multistory drop beneath, at first the mother attempts to get the baby, but falls dropping a bottle on the floor, then she hesitates, making the audience wonder whether she's going to get the baby in time. In the end she slowly backs out of the room, she seems to be looking for a reason to get rid of the baby and this is one. After she stands in her dimly lit hallway she hears a scream and rushes back in, much of the audience are probably thinking that the baby fell, especially after we see the open window.
Ultimately the baby didn't fall and just the doll did and the scream was just on the TV. As the mother looks down the doll is smashed on the pavement, it's arm fallen off, showing what could have happened to the baby.
All through the film a gameshow has been playing on the TV and whilst to some it may seem irrelevant I saw the intentions behind it: When the doll is hanging on the window the quizmaster announces the final jackpot question, probably the most nerve racking part of a gameshow it's context is similar to the film scenario, the audience is uncertain of what will happen next and the tension builds. When the player wins the prize she screams; the catalyst for the mother returning to the room and like the player the audience is releaved with the final result.

I enjoyed the film as it sucessfully built up tension, made me guess what would happen next and defied my expectations.

From the Archives: This is Sheffield

This is Sheffield from Voidcomp on Vimeo.

This is a video produced in early 2010 entitled 'This is Sheffield'. Whilst working on my A Levels at High Storrs School I was asked to work on this project, presumably because of my interest in film and my developing talents in film production. Myself along with other students with film, art and business talents of the same age and younger than me were commissioned by Sheffield City Council to create a film promoting the city as a modern and prosperous centre of entertainment, education, sports, arts and environment.

Meeting during the free periods we had on Monday mornings from October through to January we brainstormed ideas for what kind of documentary we wanted to produce and watched several existing documentaries about Sheffield including 'Sheffield: City on the Move' and Creative Sheffield's showreel. We decided not to try and emulate either of the previously mentioned films as the former seemed to drone on and at twenty minutes long became rather tedious, the latter was incoherent in its layout and seemed more like an attempt to attract businesses rather than people to the city.
With the help of a filmmaker of VoidComp and a community worker the film was organised over Monday and Tuesday in February half term, during which time we were taught how to operate the filming and sound equipment and on Wednesday and Thursday was filmed on location all over Sheffield from Ringinglow to Don Valley.

The shoot itself introduced us to some interesting techniques in terms of cinematography and sound design and was some good practice for later work and our film projects for later in the year. But the shoot itself was rather grueling at times, we had to be at school for 9am during what was supposed to be half term, the weather was terrible with an onslaught of drizzle, temperatures at most 5 degrees Celsius, mist and occasionally some snow it was a chore at times. Sound equipment was sometimes faulty meaning interviews were sometimes recorded multiple times and occasionally working without tripods meant shaky cameras were sometimes seen. (I was even told to f**k off by someone because I told him to move out of the shot)
However with all these little foibles we were able to film some cohesive and decent footage as well as interviews with actors, artists, sports personalities (Jessica Ennis for example) and members of the public, which I think was the most important part of the film as anyone can say something promoting a city if they're hired to say it but these people were randomly picked off the streets and asked what they thought of Sheffield and generally the answers we received were positive.

Due to unavoidable circumstances (a weekend break to Liverpool) I wasn't present for the editing process that took place on the Friday although watching the film back it has a quirky and humorous feel that the audience is still able to take seriously as a documentary (with all the text effects and transitions etc). We were pleased with the film when we saw the final result and when the film was presented to the council it received a standing ovation.

Although I am pleased with the final film and think that it successfully portrays Sheffield as a desirable city to live in I found shooting it slightly hypocrytical. It was a promotional film for the council, who I think over the last few years have done more harm for the city than good. I don't particuarly like Sheffield as a city as it is a bit generic when it comes to cities and there is not much of great interest around town (when you've lived here all your life and seen everything it has to offer).

Lifesized Zoetrope

Lifesized Zoetrope is a short, maybe even experimental film by Mark Simon Hewis. The film tells the story of one person's life, from cradle to grave. The film is told from people standing on a funfair ride as it rotates. All of the people on the ride are holding flip books which works like a zoetrope while the ride is spinning, giving us moving image. The theme of a continuous life cycle is being presented and the story of this particular life is being told in a creative and experimental way that might have otherwise been overlooked, the continuous turn of the ride could be connected to the circle of life and its endlessness. Another thing I noticed was that some of the images repeated themselves and the same event was shown several times, this could relate to the repition of life, that people have to undergo similar events more than once. The theme of circles continous cycles are apparent to me, with the rotating fair ground ride connected to the circle of life being endless etc. I personally didn't think the film was to my particular taste, but I thought the film was interesting in it's storytelling techniques.

Christmas with Dad

Christmas with Dad is a short film directed by Connor McCormack that focuses on a young father in a house on a council estate at Christmas time. The film's primary theme is the relationship between the father and his children and step-children and in my opinion it's aim was to give the audience an insight into the lives of people who don't have much money at Christmas time. The father himself was the main focus of the film, with his emotions and thoughts about the kids taking centre stage, as well as various aspects of life around the estate, including his step-son's drug usage, his father's alcoholism and his own declining health.
The film's mise-en-scene was very gritty; the house the family were living in looked very dilapidated, messy and in need of repair. The family's regional and distinctive accents made the scenario feel authentic instead of forced. The camerawork was of the handheld style, which made the audience feel like observers to the events, which were often accompanied by narration with images of the events being described, in other words, Actuality. The music was one single track that played at the begining and end, with the audio during the rest of the film being background noise and dialogue from the family.

Overall I enjoyed the film and it's sucessful portrayal of a young man's attempt to stay in control of a large family that wasn't entirely his.

2001: A Space Odyssey, initial thoughts

Well, I saw Stanley Kubrick's sci-fi 'masterpiece' 2001: A Space Odyssey recently and thought I'd share my thoughts on the film. Firstly, I know the film's been out for over forty years and I should have seen it earlier, but now I've seen it I think I should publish what I think about it.

The most prominent theme of the film (at least to me) was that of evolution, represented by the Monolith, which usually prompts some sort of change to behavior or appearance to beings that near it: Such as the ape in the prehistoric section of the film, after coming into contact with the Monolith is able to make a weapon and use it to fend off it's rivals, and in the climactic scene it turns Dave Bowman into a new life form, bringing human evolution full circle; the Monolith created them and then surpassed them.

In addition the scientific depiction of space was refreshing from what Hollywood usually produces; when in space there was very little in the way of sound effects (this emphasis on detail is known as 'hard sci-fi'), the sound effects were replaced with ballet music and simple breathing sounds. This gave space a sense of grandeur and shots of it lasting minutes depict the scale and beauty of the galaxy.

The technology shown in the film was also interesting to me, as a fan of science fiction based vehicles and environments I enjoyed the intricate and creative designs of the spaceships; they had a lot of curved and circular designs with corridors looping over and repeating on themselves.


Speaking of technology, this film features one of the scariest villains of all time: The HAL 9000 computer. The reason he is so scary is because he was designed by humans to achieve the most efficient results, and from that programming he sees humans as an obstruction, so he kills them. His monotone voice also adds to his scariness, the way he keeps the voice no matter what happens or who dies. But the most scary part of HAL is that with the fast evolution of technology we may have computers that are like him; able to think for themselves and outwit humans.

One factor of this film that I thought was interesting was that it was mostly dialogue free, allowing the imagery to tell the story, giving us a much more visual experience and as Stanley Kubrick has always utilised clever cinematography and camera techniques this fits.

However the film does have some elements that in my opinion lessen its appeal:
Some of the longer shots slow the pace of the film (painfully sometimes) and leaves you wanting the film to get to the point, if all these scenes were cut down the film would be much shorter.
A lot of the characters and concepts are underdeveloped, the bare basics are presented but not much more, the film could have been more interesting if more exposition was given.
Some of the scenes were head scratching at times due to their bizarre nature or lack of explanation.

However given that the film was made in the 1960s the visual and audio effects are extremely well done and the film undeniably looks beautiful.

Overall I wouldn't say it's my favorite movie ever, but it was an interesting experience to say the least.

Beautiful yet awesome sunset

I took this photograph back in late August at about twenty past seven in the evening. The sky's colourful mixture of oranges and pinks juxtaposed with the black silhouette of the trees and houses makes this almost a perfect sunset, the way the wavy and fluffy clouds are lined with the colours makes it seem almost magical.