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:

Presentation of 2 Minute Film

  Before the presentation of our film, I suggested that we met to check that it had all burnt to the disc ok - as I know that some problems can occur, such as the quality getting worse.
  This was a good idea as we found out that the picture of the film had stretched dramatically, cutting off the sides of most of the footage. We asked Chris to help us with this as we were unsure of how to fix it - after multiple tries of changing the aspect ratio. I'm not sure why the problem occurred but we managed to fix it by making the 'image+wireframe' visible on final cut, and dragging the picture size to fit into the viewer. I had to do this for most of the shots. After exporting it we still had a similar problem, however Chris assured us that 'Toast' would sort it out - which it did.

  After the viewing of our film, we gained some good feedback from our classmates. They specifically liked the warm tone to the piece and someone also mentioned that they liked the music (something that the tutors did not).
  Something that Chris picked up on was that he did not realise it was a woman  in the piece - but thought it was a child. I am glad that this was put across as it was our aim. After watching it so many tines throughout the process, you begin to doubt yourself as to whether it worked, so I am therefore very happy that it did. However, Chris also said that it was not to his taste at all, and to bare this in mind throughout his feedback. The main thing he did not like was the music, as it was far too predictable and stereotypical for this type of film - However I have mentioned the reason why we did this in a previous post. Annie however thought that it did work to a certain extent as it enhanced the character's repetitive mannerisms.
  Another thing that Annie thought worked was the use of silhouettes, and read into the fact that the opening image could represent Lola's changing maturity, as it goes from big to small when she wafts the sheet. Although this was not our intention, I liked this idea a lot and plan to make everything in our 10 minute piece have a reason - Something that each interesting shot symbolises.
  After watching other people's films, I became to understand the effects silence can have on a film. I think that this is something that we can experiment with in our 10 minute film - especially because I want it to be more sinister and dark in comparison to the 2 minute character study.

  Overall, I think that our 2 minute character study could have been better, through adding more interesting sound and more symbolic shots, however, I am happy with the end product we had despite the problems with last-minute filming due to an unreliable actress. I think that having a tutorial with Annie, prior to editing would have helped dramatically as it would have helped us to evolve our piece more.