When pitching
my film concept “A Dead End” to my peers on Friday 30th of September, one main piece of feedback
I received was that perhaps having the character of an assassin was too simple –
giving me an opportunity to develop and expand my plot.
As part of
this development, I have been brainstorming some ideas which I can expand.
However,
nothing is finalised as I am struggling to find a way to convey the reasons
behind the man’s death without showing who he is or how he was killed. In other
words, I want to start in the middle of the action with the character already
dead / dying.
Signifier (Denotes) - The sign itself, visually an image or colour
Signified (Connotations) - The concept, how the sign is interpreted
When analysing signs and their meanings, it is important to consider the cultures within which they are being interpreted. For example, looking at Star Wars (Western Culture), many of us would be familiar with the conventions of good being white / light colours, and black / dark colours having evil connotations:
Good Characters - White / Light
Evil Characters - Black / Dark
However, other films may differ from this idea, such as The Matrix, which focuses its design mainly on Asian culture:
Two strangers meet after stopping to assist a
dying man at night. However, they soon discover that it isn’t just the wounded
man in danger…
Characters
Initial character design
Unidentified man, Late 20s (Secondary Character) – Discovered on the floor of a car park in the middle of the night, dying
from a gunshot/stabbing wound and bleeding from the abdomen.
Michael, 23 (Main Character) – A sharp young
man who is personable and caring of others around him. Parking his car late at
night in order to catch a flight for his sister’s wedding early the following
morning, Michael walks straight into a situation far out of his depth. With good
intentions, he stays and attempts to help however he can, hoping to save a life
- but not enough to be prepared to miss his very important flight.
Aeron (Main Character) - A young woman who arrives at the scene shortly after Michael, Aeron explains that she stayed late working in the offices above. However, it soon becomes apparent to both Michael and the audience that her role in the story is not as innocent as she claims. She soon suggests that the pair abandon the man to die, allowing to continue their own lives, but as Michael has a last minute change of heart her true role in the narrative is revealed as a hidden assassin - exposing her as a lying and dangerous individual.
Location
An empty car park, night:
An isolated setting easily accessible to both
the main characters, the car park provides a local, yet eerie and isolated space - reflective of a thriller film.
Plot
At the dead of night, a man lies dying on the
floor of a multi-storey car park. He is discovered by Michael, a young man who
parks his car in preparation for a flight to his sister’s wedding early the
following morning. As Michael panics, he attempts to phone the emergency
services, only to discover that he has no reception.
A few moments later, Aeron, a young,
business-like looking woman also arrives on the scene. Michael explains the
situation, and with no one around to call for help the pair discuss their
options. With his flight in a matter of hours, Michael is keen to get going –
despite his good intentions towards saving the man. Similarly, Aeron seemingly
wishes to help him, but has been at work late and is tired.
She soon points out that if the pair did
leave the man (who, she argues, is clearly not going to make it anyway), there
would be no repercussions for either of them as there is no one around, no
security cameras and there would be no trace of them even being there. Despite
being initially shocked and disgusted, Michael decides that his sister’s
wedding takes priority.
Just as he is about to leave the scene, Michael
spots the handle of a gun/knife poking out of Aeron’s bag. Finally putting the
pieces together, he begins to walk away, calling the police. Before he gets to
inform the authorities, he is killed by a single gunshot wound to the head.
Aeron then finishes off the dying man on the floor, calling her employer to
tell him of a “slight change of plan…”
This article formed my initial inspiration for my final narrative. When reading it, I questioned the circumstances of the man's death, including:
How did he end up in a car park?
Who killed him?
Why was he killed?
What did he last see / experience?
These questions then led me to the idea of an assassin hired to kill him, forming a meeting. However, after looking at several rules of screenwriting I decided to make things slightly more interesting and begin my narrative in media res - leaving an audience to question the scene for themselves.
I also looked
at these scenes from Channel 4’s Utopia,
and FX’s Fargo (2014) - which helped
me with the idea of a hidden assassin, and inspired me when creating the
character of Aeron. Both scenes depict a very cold, callous killer, but also
include a strong sense of dark humour which I would like to reflect in my own
piece.
In today’s
camera workshop, we got to look at the basic functions of our cameras (Sony XR
and Sony PW), including essential processes such as:
Sound
White Balance
Exposure
Focus
Framing
As well as a visual tutorial, we split into groups and worked on these techniques for ourselves:
Allowing us to grasp a basic understanding of what the cameras can do for us and how we can incorporate these techniques effectively in our own storytelling.
Today’s
workshops consisted mainly of the structure of a good script, and how to
utilise screenwriting to make our film effective. Memorable yet useful pointers to remember when writing my own work
include the Golden Rules of Screenwriting:
“What can be shown cannot be said.” Highlighting the importance of action over description within an effective screenplay. During the analysis of screenplays American Beauty (1999) by Alan Ball, and Soft (2007) by Simon Ellis, I realised that I could add my own plot twist, or punch-line, to my own concept of "The Meeting". I feel as though this may make my short film more effective and gripping for an audience (as clearly demonstrated in the two works), as well as enhancing its storyline. Contextual Research In Conversation with Mike Bartlett Mike Bartlett, writer of the BBC's Doctor Foster (2015), and ITV's The Town (2012) discusses his experiences and tips for successful screenwriting in this podcast. Within the interview, Bartlett discusses several things he personally focuses on when writing, including:
When writing, plan your narrative over and over and over again. Write things down and draw things that come to you in order to link and
adapt things in different ways - eventually reaching a perfect story.
Keep things fluid (even in production), allow things to flow and don't be afraid of change.
Sometimes in order to write effectively you need to remove yourself from familiar surroundings within your own world to step inside the world of your narrative.
Inspiration often comes from one of three places - imagination, personal experiences, and the work outside. When stuck with writing, remember these points of inspiration.
In an
introduction to our contextual studies, Louis outlined our work for term 1 and
set us our presentation task (due on the 10th/17th of
November). We will soon be focusing on the key areas of moving image analysis:
Mise
en scene – The arrangement of the contents of a frame, including lighting, props, setting and costume.
Cinematography – The use of photography and camerawork within film-making.
Editing
– How the selective shots are put together within post-production, and the effect this has on the final film.
Sound
– The impact of audio within the film, whether this be dialogue, diegetic/non-diegetic sound, music or sound effects.
Documentary
– A non-fictional film prepared primarily for the purpose of education and instruction.
We also had a
brief discussion about the origin of cinema:
And how this
has been developed and documented over time into a digital age.
As part of an
introduction to our storytelling unit, in groups we completed several speed
pitching exercises, and also formed a story using two different character cards
and a random location. Allowing us to brainstorm ideas freely and practise
narrative writing, in our final task we created a developed story - free for us to adapt for our own film.
The Brief
Initial Notes
FRAMED (Final Story)
Plot / Story
Commissioned to produce
painting for a Minor Celebrity, an Artist spills paint all over a bright white rug as the Celebrity takes a phone call. To
cover this up, the Artist frames the scene to look like a burglary has taken place. However, when
he attempts to make himself look injured, he knocks himself unconscious. When the
unknowing Celebrity returns, she believes that he is dead, and in a panic attempts to hide
the body in a cupboard. Neighbours have heard this commotion (smashing window
and thrown objects) and have called the police. When police turn up to see
what’s going on, and as the Minor Celebrity attempts to cover herself, they hear a banging sound coming from inside the cupboard…
Characters
Francis (The Artist)
Francis (The Artist) – A young, slightly arrogant painter who feels as though working for a minor celebrity is beneath, him but needs the work. Despite this confident exterior, in the face of a crisis he loses all sense of rational thinking to escape blame and in turn worsens the situation immeasurably.
Ada (The Minor Celebrity)
Ada (The Minor Celebrity) – A rising commercial actress and minor celebrity, Ada commissions a
portrait for her new apartment to celebrate her successes. Liked for her seemingly down-to-earth nature both on and off screen (in contrast to Francis), the characters become inadvertently linked when Ada too crumbles in what she believes to be a crisis. This leads the audience to discover that the characters are perhaps more alike than they first appeared...
Location / Setting
A block of flats - A small and simple, yet stylish flat for a minor celebrity working her way up through the industry. The white carpet/rug is essential as it impacts the story, just as the window can be smashed, books pulled off the shelves and drawers emptied.
