Contextual Studies: Critical Review

UTOPIA (2013-14)
Critical Review

UTOPIA, created by Dennis Kelly is a British thriller, first aired on Channel 4 in 2013. The story follows a small group of people who find themselves in possession of the manuscript sequel of a graphic novel called The Utopia Experiment - rumoured to have predicted the worst disasters of the last century.

Examples of cinematography from the series

One of the initial aspects of the series that stood out to me its cinematography. The colour palette used is extremely saturated, replicating a bold aesthetic used by the graphic novel the series is based on. In order to achieve this, director Marc Munden referred to the Technicoulor of 1950’s Hollywood, explaining; "We chose certain colours like yellow and turquoise and painted them into the shots afterwards. The skies that we shot weren't always blue, they were mostly grey British skies. The same goes for making grass greener, eyes brighter, or turning a blue van yellow." (Wired, 2014) This is an interesting stylistic decision for the series, as the narrative’s themes of the series itself are extremely dark, with the protagonists combatting hyper-violence, sterilisation and mass murder. However, “UTOPIA” discusses ideas of creating a new Utopian society, and the individuals within The Network’s dedication to this moral ideology. Perhaps this links to the idea of modernism, and the rejection of traditional convention to create the “new” - using expressionism to conceive a bright future. Therefore, this dedication to a unique colour palette not only reflects the series’ central theme, but also suggests a reinvention of society by going against traditional convention in Western media (in this case, colour in Television).

Similarly to the cinematography, UTOPIA’s sound design is also very unique. Its non-diegetic soundtrack combines sounds from the show (for example sound effects such as breathing, or lines of dialogue) with exotic instruments and dissonant tones to create the perfect atmosphere of unease and dislocation:

Rob Smedley describes the soundtrack itself as “resulting in an experience that’s unique to TV composition, like a gallery of modern art it bypasses your logic centres and goes straight for a gut reaction.” (Cultbox, 2013) Despite using extracts from the series itself, the music rejects all conventional musical structures such as key or time signatures, creating a lucid, dream-like feel - distorting what the audience conceives to be real within the series. When accompanying a scene, therefore, the soundtrack creates a sense of surrealism, creating a juxtaposition between the real (visual) and the distorted (aural) - again adhering to the narrative itself, which focuses around a vision of the future coming into reality.

In conclusion, UTOPIA (2013-14) is a Series unique from many airing currently, setting itself aside from others of its genre as it utilises the basic elements of narrative depiction through moving image (i.e. camera, sound, mise-en-scene and editing) to create its own unique aesthetic style; and comment on modern society as it stands today, focusing on current themes and applying a sense of realism to the story – forcing an audience to engage and wonder about their own future.

Word Count: 500

Bibliography:

Wired. (2014) http://www.wired.co.uk/article/utopia-channel-4 

BBC iPlayer. (2005) http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p003k9fz

Fiegel, Lara. (2011) https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/sep/11/british-architecture-modernism 

Smedley, Rob. (2013) http://www.cultbox.co.uk/reviews/soundtracks/utopia-series-1-soundtrack-album-review

Tapia de Veer, Christopal. (2013) https://soundcloud.com/cristobal-tapia-de-veer/utopia-1?in=cristobal-tapia-de-veer/sets/utopia-1 

Story-Telling Unit: Critical Evaluation

CRITICAL EVALUATION

(Thursday 1st December)

"A film is - or should be - more like music than like fiction. It should be a progression of moods and feelings. The theme, what's behind the emotion, the meaning, all that comes later."

Stanley Kubrick

Looking back over what I have achieved in the past few months, I realise that I am proud of my final product. I look at my initial idea, and how that evolved and developed over time; and despite the work being quite a step-up from what I did last year, I have managed challenges well. For example, my problems with actors and locations were eventually rectified, and despite filming several weeks after schedule, everything has been completed. My final location worked out very well, and despite not getting all of the coverage I might have needed on, I coped without in post-production.

Similarly in my script, I have now adapted my story and characters profusely from my original idea, and I have come up with too many different ideas to count, but with the assistance from my script tutorials I have a final, completed narrative that I am satisfied with. I have learnt plenty about the art of screenwriting and scripts themselves, but I also hope to learn more through future units, as it is this aspect of my work that I have enjoyed the most.

Having said all of this, there are several things I would have, in hindsight, done differently. 

Before even filming began, I would’ve like to have been more organised / managed my time better especially with regard to locations, so I wouldn’t have had to mess about and get permission for one not ideally suited to my film – only to push back my shooting for another week. Even when I found a more ideal location, I will in the future remember to check the weather before any shooting happens. 

Furthermore, if filming at night, or in a dark place, I would have liked to use sufficient lighting. Although this issue can potentially be amended in post-production, extra lighting would assist the process. Or alternatively, film in the day and darken the footage in post-production. This was a pretty big issue in my film, as it meant that certain important plot details could have potentially been obscured to the audience.

As well as this, I would’ve liked to have been more prepared on shoot with regards to shot-lists / storyboards. I did have my storyboard on set, and I followed it very closely, but I think in hindsight I would have had a shot-list as well – to ensure I had plenty of coverage and didn’t miss anything out. I’m pretty happy with all of my shots individually, though I would maybe think about smoothing out my opening shot – as even using warp stabiliser there is still a bit of shake in the footage.

Regarding my script, I would now have worked harder on it, completing more drafts and asking for more feedback. I am satisfied with my final piece and how much it has evolved, but I would’ve potentially liked to develop it more, for example, looking more into dialogue and giving it more of a dark-humoured twist.

To conclude, I am very happy with the way my final film and script have turned out, I just hope to be more prepared in my future projects in order to reach the highest possible standard.