Pre-Production

  As for pre-production, I haven't seen any documents from the producer, although I know that he has contacted the council to notify them that we would be filming in the city centre. 

  I have found that I have had to take on a lot of the organisation for the 10 minute project as I have had to regularly contact the actress and crew to let them know when and where we film. Ultimately, this was the producers job and I would have liked to have had some input from him - especially through the form of some kind of schedule!

Final Script

Below is a copy of the final script:

I understand that the script is still under 5 minutes in length, however, the film will include much of Lola's journey which is only briefly mentioned in the script. There have been numerous other versions of the script and I have sometimes felt disappointed when my group aren't happy with it as I have tried to include everything that I can to keep everyone happy. I have chosen to stick with this version as I feel it has good emotional tension - especially at the confrontation with the two boys.

A section that I did add went as follows:

Some members of the group liked this section but others didn't. Although I thought it would make the film a bit more dynamic, I understood that it would be difficult to find an actress for this sequence.

Three Act Structure

So that I know the exact structure of my film and to ensure it will provide the emotional journey correctly for both my protagonist and audience, I have written the three acts of the film in the form of a '3 Act Structure':

The next version includes Lola's emotional journey:

Tutorial 19/11/2012

  In the tutorial with Annie, the feedback she gave included elements such as:

• Does Lola need a better goal?
• In the park scene towards the end where Lola's eyes will be zoomed in and the sound of people will be present, maybe it would be a good effect to overlay footage of a busy park with a light opacity to look like reflections in her eyes.
• Use Autism as a basis, but define what she has in something else so that she isn't just represented by that condition - as it will be very hard to sustain.

  We wanted Lola's goal to be simple and understated, so we didn't really want to alter her goal too much. However, to give the story more depth, we have decided to go with an idea that came up in the tutorial and one that Jen has developed a bit more to fit into our piece better:

  We plan to use the idea about overlaying the footage of people on Lola's eyes. This will not only create an interesting shot for the audience but help demonstrate how she views the world.

  As for developing Lola's disability more, there is a documentary on channel 4 at 9pm on Monday:

1.

I plan to watch this to gain more of an insight into this condition-something that Lola has. It will also help me to discuss with the actress how I want her to talk and act. This disease means that there is a gradual decline in their "mental and physical development". 2.

References:

1.http://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-curious-case-of-the-clark-brothers

2.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leukodystrophy

Group Meeting 19/11/2012

Before our tutorial with Annie, we discussed the script and the ideas I had come up with for the piece. Everyone still loves the idea of the contrasting views throughout the film. It represents Lola being 'black and white' - Everything is either really good or really bad. For example, when she sees the park at the end of the film, it is full of vivid colours and bustling with people; however, when she sees the boys, they are scary and animal like.
  A great idea Jacob had to evolve the idea of the boys, was to not have them even speaking when it's her POV, but instead making animalistic noises, such as that of a hyena. This will then create a largely sinister juxtaposition between what she sees and reality. Another idea that Jacob had was that instead of seeing the park bright and vivid, we could just display an extreme close-up of Lola's eyes. They would widen as she sees it, showing her happiness and include sound over this image of a busy environment. I think that this would work incredibly well as it would demonstrate just how different her mind is to the real world when we see her sat on a swing alone, in an isolated park.
  I showed the group a copy of the script so far (at the 3 page stage), in order to gain some feedback on what they felt worked and what they thought could be improved upon. Here is a copy of the annotated script once I had met with the group:

Evolved Ideas for the piece

Since our initial meeting, I have come up with some ideas of my own that I think will help the film work well. I have since shown these to my group and they seemed to agree on the majority. Here is a copy of what I created:

I really like my idea of using a Steven Berkoff style of acting for the two teenage boys. I have experience in this area as I studied it as part of my A Level drama and performed my own version of 'Metamorphosis'. Because of this, I understand the effect it can have on an audience - and this could be enhanced much further in the style of camera work and editing.

An example of the type of shots I would like for Lola's point of view of the teenage boys would be:

1.

I like the idea of the boys having bulging eyes and prominent teeth. It will really enhance the element of fear.

References:

1. http://www.google.com/imgres?q=fisheye+lens+teeth&um=1&hl=en&client=safari&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=en&authuser=0&biw=1280&bih=680&tbm=isch&tbnid=2l3dalELSZ0eoM:&imgrefurl=http://www.istockphoto.com/stock-photo-13702349-crazy-man-with-strange-face-portrait-fisheye-lens.php&docid=J4gMnvLakj9K8M&imgurl=http://i.istockimg.com/file_thumbview_approve/13702349/2/stock-photo-13702349-crazy-man-with-strange-face-portrait-fisheye-lens.jpg&w=380&h=365&ei=6BCtUIX-Ooqq0AWpwoHgBA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=265&sig=117828630293561111691&page=1&tbnh=139&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=26&ved=1t:429,r:24,s:0,i:159&tx=74&ty=83

10 Minute Film Pitch 22/10/12

22nd October 2012

 When pitching our idea for our 10 minute film to the rest of the group, we discussed various elements, including:

• The overall concept: Based upon the idea of a journey using the title 'Facing the Shadow'(representing Lola facing the outside world, something that is dark and new to her). Lola will make her way to the park, using a map she has drawn. It will begin where we left off in the 2 minute piece with Lola in the den. She will check that her mother in the kitchen isn't looking before making her way out the front door and to the park. Obstacles in her way will include two teenage boys that take the map from her and rip it up. It will end with Lola sitting on the swing.
• The camera techniques: As demonstrated earlier on in the blog for the 2 minute film, the post was named 'mood and tone'. Because we had little P.O.V shots in the first piece, we couldn't really carry out this idea. I therefore wish to use this a lot in our 10 minute piece. I want everything she sees to be vibrant and full of smiling people, whereas in reality, it is sinister with monotone colours and lack of saturation. I would also like to use a fish-eye lens in her confrontation with the lads.
• The editing techniques: Fast paced and involving a lot of that mentioned in the previous bullet point.
• The sound: A young girl humming a tune as the voiceover of Lola, but she speaks like a woman in real life.
• The characters we will use: Lola, two teenage boys.
• The locations we will use: Her home, the street, the park.
• The overall style of the piece: I would like the piece to be dark and sinister yet be highly juxtaposed with the happy, bright world that she sees.

  The feedback we got from our classmates was promising. Everyone seemed to like the idea of the contrast between reality and her point of view. They also liked the use of having a childlike voice. 

  Problems that arose included maybe the lack of emotion. This needs to be rectified as soon as possible in order to add more depth to the piece.

A copy of the original plan: