By Skye Putwain
RESEARCH
Proposal
Over the course of this year, I have acquired many new skills within the media sector. Reflecting upon all of them, my favourite projects that I have worked on are the scriptwriting and mini final major projects. My reasoning for favouring these projects is because I found I could expand upon my directing and scriptwriting skills and I liked how they were reliant on self-dependence. I find comfort in being self-dependent as it allows me to organise myself without being dependent on others.
The scriptwriting task allowed me to understand the rules to follow when writing a script and showed me how to improve on writing captivating action. I also enjoyed having to rewrite a scene from a film I like as I found it was useful to learn how to work around characters you already have watched on film, and then have to morph your own dialogue from your prior knowledge and perception in their scene. This taught me more about developing dialogue for a particular character, and giving them their own voice instead of having the same voice for all your characters. The scriptwriting project has also influenced my decision to create a short film in this project as I will have to write a script for my film. Using the skills I have developed from the scriptwriting project I can expand upon them by drafting a script in stages to improve it each time, for the short film I will create in this project.
I enjoyed the mini final major project as I was given time to plan and script my first short film that I had directed. I found I achieved the most out of this project than the others as it taught me more about filmmaking as every part of it was dependent on me. I learned how to create prosthetics using special effects makeup, which is very useful for an aspiring filmmaker like myself, having the knowledge of what goes on behind the makeup department is useful. This is because it is good to know the technicality of how long the effects you want will take to make and whether they are feasible too. This project also taught me how to create visual effects and helped me expand upon my editing skills. I learned how to use overlays in visual effects and learned how to mask frame by frame. These skills were incredibly useful as I can now know how to add visual effects into my current final major project and will be able to experiment more with After Effects as a whole. Not only are visual effects becoming more progressive within film but having this brief knowledge of how to create some helps expand upon my portfolio in terms of editing as I would like to pursue editing as part of my career.
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To conclude, the mini final project was very much influential to my final major project as I can use the skills I have gained from it into this project and feel more confident in directing a short film again because I found it an incredibly enjoyable experience that allowed for me to be creative within myself. I would like to pursue a career as a director in the future and having completed the mini final major project, it helped me reflect upon my career aspirations as I took on lots of varied roles for that project, and found that directing was where I was most passionate and comfortable. Having this reassurance, I will use it as a motivation for my final major project and use the skills I utilised from that project into this final project.
Project concept
The aims that I want my project to reach is to successfully devise a short film that shines a light on the social stigma that surrounds addiction and to research more into addiction within mental health to realistically portray it through my film. Another aim that I want my project to achieve is for me to learn more about the film industry, particularly directing as I would like to become a director in the future. The overall project will link both into the research aspects of my theme (mental health) and my future goals to become a filmmaker so that not only do I benefit in learning more about social issues within society, but also educate myself more on what I can do to progress further into directing.
The research aspect of my project will consist of a varied amount of methods and sources. I will go into depth gathering information from interviews, articles, novels, films and will attend film festival events to absorb and obtain as much knowledge as I can about both filmmaking and my theme, mental health in which my short film will evolve around. I am very interested in researching realism film as I want to depict realism within my film and know how to do so well. To capture realism for my film, I will be researching realism as a topic in film and look at examples of film that have been successful in representing this. Attending film festivals will support my research development in learning from other people's successful films and reflect upon what parts of their film were effective. This is so that I can mirror what was effective in their films but using my own ideas and style into my short film. The film festival will also include speakers from script writers and directors, this will develop my research in terms of learning technical skills and tips from professionals in the industry. One film festival that I would like to attend is the Sundance Film Festival UK. This film festival shows a variety of films from short films to feature films and interviews from directors, producers and writers. I thought this film festival would be ideal to attend as it would not only help advance my research by giving advice on filmmaking (which I can then apply to my film for this project), but it also would educate me more about the industry and how to become a director.
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Photograph of Sundance Film Festival 2019
For this project, one of the ideas I had was to create a POV shot from the perspective of the addict, to give the effect of a simulation in which the audience feels as though they are experiencing the high with the addict. To create this, I will need to add to my research what sources I will use, such as tutorials I will follow. I will have to use visual effects to create this simulation, and the software that I will use is After Effects.
As I have already previously had experience when using After Effects to make visual effects, I will be more confident and prepared for creating one for this project. To make the effect realistic I will also need to research interviews on addicts and their experiences getting high, on the drug of choice I choose for my character to be addicted in my film. This is important as I need to understand real people's experiences so that I can create a realistic depiction of the high, through the screen. My reasoning for this effect is to give my audience an insight into the mind of the addict and hide no brutality to the emotions it brings, I feel that if I force my audience to witness the high with the character, it allows for more intimacy and will hopefully reduce any glamorisation by reflecting the raw and unhealthy rush of the high.
I will collect both secondary and primary research from interviews, films and novels. The novels in which I plan to reread are two memoirs from a father (David Sheff) who wrote Beautiful Boy and a son (Nic Sheff) who wrote Tweak, these are very useful sources for my research. This is because they tell the story of addiction from both the perspectives of an addict and a parent. I will have to reread them as part of my research to recollect my memory of their personal struggles with addiction. I am inspired by their memoirs as they expose the raw emotion that addiction brings and the toll it takes upon people's lives. The books also reveal how addiction has no face and affects everyone, no matter their class, background or ethnicity. I would like to similarly write a narrative for my film, based on either the perspective of an addict or of a parental figure witnessing their addicted child. My reasoning for choosing this narrative path is that I feel it will give me a simple foundation to build upon my story and allows me to be able to truly capture my character's as people. This is very important to me as I want my film to be realistic and be able to make my audience empathise with my characters, by creating a naturalistic setting and tone.
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Two memoirs of Beautiful Boy (2008) and Tweak (2007)
The two memoirs were also adapted into a film, called Beautiful Boy (2018). As part of my research I will link the two memoirs with this film so that I can expand upon my research within addiction, following the same story. Although I have watched Beautiful Boy, rewatching it will allow me to support my idea development through its progression from the memoirs to the film. As I will be reflecting the same idea, but instead of a novel I will be using the research that I have gathered as a way for me to develop my film from writing onto a screen. Linking back to my realism topic within film that I perviously discussed, Beautiful Boy thankfully falls underneath this category as it is based upon a true story. I can use this film as not only a research source for my chosen theme, mental health but also connect it to my realism film research too.
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Film Poster - Beautiful Boy (2018)
For this project, another resource I will also use is watching documentaries on film directors as they will help give me advice on how to successfully direct and plan my film by following in their footsteps. Watching director interviews will support my role as a director for this project and my future films as it allows me to be prepared and more organised with my mindset. By knowing the best route for me to follow in terms of directing actors, scriptwriting and planning both post-production and production. One director that inspires me is Noah Baumbach, as I previously spoke about in my pitch. Baumbach is a huge inspiration for me as both a director and scriptwriter and he never fails to capture humanity at its most vulnerable and reflects emotion with such a raw and true vision. I believe if I research interviews of Baumbach, I will be able to learn from his writing and reflect upon how he forms normality within his characters but also learn his techniques in directing as I believe this will help support my development as an aspiring director.
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Noah Baumbach - Photographed below
To add to my research one of varied resources that will educate me on mental health and addiction as a subject matter, is researching interviews. Watching interviews of addicts discussing their past experiences with addiction and their journey through relapse and recovery will help give me a clear understanding of how I can portray addiction realistically. It also helps support the development of my character's story as I can use real addicts stories as a foundation and guide through building my character. This is important as I do not want to misrepresent addiction by going off my own depiction, I need to research real addicts and their stories to understand the day to day life of those who abuse substances as a coping mechanism. In order to truly capture the rawness and struggle that it brings upon people's life.
Researching films will also help me draw influence for this project as it allows me to be inspired by lighting, cinematography and narratives. Film is a huge resource for my project as I want to create my own short film that reflects the theme of my project (mental health) successfully while drawing influences from others. One of the films I will also research that is about addiction is called Heaven Knows What, released in 2014 and was directed by Josh and Benny Safdie . This film is known for being incredibly realistic in its depiction of an addiction, especially those who are homeless. My reasoning for choosing this as one of the films I will research, is because it follows a young woman through his drug addiction and captures it through the lens of the addict as the main actor in the film was actually an addict herself, in real life. This was intriguing to me as I feel seeing the perspective of the addict in a film is rare and will help give me ideas on how I can visually tell my film's narrative. I believe that if I research this film, it will help support my idea of having addiction be represented by one person (preferably the protagonist) in my own short film and will open my creative process in terms of storytelling. I will also gather inspirations and ideas for my film by watching new films and reflecting upon their style and seeing how I can intertwine my own using my inspiration, this particularly includes lighting and cinematography as for me they are a huge catalyst in when achieving a tone and atmosphere to a film and it's narrative.
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Film Poster - Heaven Knows What (2014)
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To conclude my proposal concept, I will make sure that I research a varied amount of sources about both directing/filmmaking to expand and improve upon my directing and scriptwriting skills. This is very important as I want to improve my short film for this project and learn more about the industry to further my career aspirations as a filmmaker. This is why I need to attend film festivals in order to interact with professionals and learn the tricks of the trade on how to become a successful director. I will also make sure that I research enough information about the ideas and concepts I envision for my film. By researching how I can create a realistic depiction of an addict, I need to research in depth using interviews, documentaries, novels and films in order to truly capture and reflect the realism of addiction on screen. Overall, if I gather enough research for my film it will allow me to achieve the best possible outcome as I would be confident enough to feel I can capture addiction as a topic within my theme of mental health, while expressing it through the visual collection of shots I will create.
narrative ideas
Theme - Mental Health - Addiction
Genre - Drama
Idea one
The first idea I had (once I decided on mental health as the theme of my project) was for me to create a short film that follows a couple becoming suffocated by one another and you watch their love become addictive. I wanted the plot to progress from the characters going from a healthy relationship and showing the deterioration of their love as it become toxic. I would use the theme of mental health by looking through the scope of addiction (as I previously discussed in my pitch). The purpose of this story would be to convey the unhealthiness of suffocating your loved ones and how you need to grow as your own person without morphing yourself into those around you.
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I liked this initial idea because I could develop my wiring skills by forming a narrative around my characters instead of the action that happens around them. However I felt it lacked in development and I thought the addiction of love was unoriginal as it has been shown in many films and shows before. To conclude, I will not be choosing this narrative as my final idea as it would be very hard to show on screen as I am very limited on actors I can use to perform as the couple and therefore would not be able to bring my characters to life due to this restraint and limitation.
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Idea two
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The second idea that I had was to create a short film that follows a female protagonist who suffers food addiction. I would give background reference to the character's life by having her previous trauma be from her parents as I would make them feed her as a form of neglecting her. I would have two age ranges of the character. First when she is around five years old and then have her captured at 16 to show the progression of her addiction into her adulthood. I would create scenarios of stress that show when the character binges food as it represents the triggers of her addiction.
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I liked this idea more than my first one. This is because it would be more interesting to research into as a topic and has more development in the character's progression as you follow her through important developing age of her life. However, the main issue with creating this film is that I do not have enough actors to play the character. Not only is this an issue but I would not be able to show the character ageing, this would ruin this film as I would be limiting the narrative's purpose of reflecting addiction to be rooted by trauma. To conclude, I will not be choosing this idea for my film because of my limitations on actors but also I feel the narrative also lacks in optimism, I feel that I would struggle to progress a positive ending to the storyline and therefore do not feel confident in choosing this idea for my project.
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Idea three - Chosen idea
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The third idea that I had was to create a short film that follows the perspective of a female protagonist (teenager) who suffers from painkiller addiction. Her father is pre-occupied with work and she becomes neglected as his work starts to consume him. The neglect causes her to turn to painkillers as a form of coping and the audience watch her isolation become progressively worse. I would like for my protagonist to also be becoming more reckless in her actions and become unmotivated with her school work to show the deterioration of her mental health. To give hope to the story, I wanted to have the protagonist reach out for help by having her father finally recognise his daughter's struggle. This will show the development between the two character as I would like for the protagonist to confine in her father. At the end of the film she will turn stop her dependancy of painkillers and find a healthy coping mechanism by turning to music. I wanted music to be a cyclical reference throughout the narrative by having it be the protagonist's escapism.
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I have decided to use this idea for my project as I feel I can truly bring these characters to life. This is because the narrative felt natural to me in terms of creativity. The other ideas were giving me little motivation, but the idea I felt I had a more imaginative ideas of how to portray it on screen. I also prefer choosing painkiller addicton as it is very common but is never truly given light to as an addiction issue. I feel it will be easier to represent too as I can create the symptoms of the withdrawal and effects of taking the drug by using the special effect products I already own. I also am more comfortable showing painkiller addiction as I have more knowledge in that topic of addiction than the others such as love, food etc. To conclude, I have decided to use this idea because I am more confident in its concept and feel I have enough actors to play the roles I envision for the film, which makes it more feasible and able to physically make.
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The mood-board below is a collection of still shots from films, tv shows and photography that I found express some visual ideas I have for my film and captures the dark and secretive atmosphere I want my film to capture.
Developed idea
Backstory//Narrative basis
For this project, I want to create a short film that is focused upon the topic of addiction formed by neglect, in the genre of drama. I will be creating a film that is through the perspective of my protagonist who will be suffering from painkiller addiction. My first idea was to use alcoholism as a coping mechanism or self harm. After reflecting upon my original ideas as described above, I felt painkiller dependancy was more accessible to portray addiction as I have previous research into substance abuse and could use that to develop my film.
I would like to have the theme of neglect be very provident in my narrative and to show this through my female protagonist's treatment from her father. The two characters that will feature in my film will be the protagonist and her father as I am limited on actors and thought showing a family struggle through the lens of addiction would be a realistic and accessible way for me to represent it. The protagonist will be aged around 16 as it is a prime time in brain development for young adults. This is important as I want to show the impact neglect has upon her emotional development within the youth and the auidnce will be shown how addiction can form from the lack of communication and isolation as the protgoanits will turn to painkillers in order to fill her void of human connection.
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The end of my film will conclude of the protagonist progressing into recovery from her addiction and will show her finding self-love and human connection with her father as the neglect will dilute the more concerned the father becomes of his daughter's health. This is to show the character development of both the protagonist and her father and gives a more optimistic ending to my narrative.
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I would also like my film to give hope to those who may be struggling with addiction. This is because I feel majority fo films and TV series represent addiction, but give no hope or alternative outlet to their issues. For my film I would like my protagonist to find a healthier addiction/coping mechanism by then end of the narrative, the healthier coping mechanism could be the character playing an instrument, journaling etc. I will research into types of coping mechanisms that are healthy and fit it to my protagonists personality.
Previously in my pitch, I mentioned how I want to pursue a career in directing. In my last mini final major project I created my first short film. I really enjoyed directing and want to take on the same role in this project. To do this, I want to improve upon my writing skills as well. This is because in my previous project I felt my script was very poor. To challenge myself and improve my writing, I will be writing at least five different drafts of my script to make sure it is at a high standard as it will help me tremendously in my film. As I won’t need to rely on notes (like I did in my mini final major project), but instead direct from my script.
In my previous project, I also enjoyed creating both visual and special effects, and learned different ways you could create them. For this project, I will carry those skills with me and subtly co operate them into my film. For example, I had the idea of showing the symptoms of abusing painkillers through the use of special effects. I wanted to expand upon my special effects skills even more in this project by having the protagonist vomit, have cold sweats and coughing blood as theses are symptoms of painkiller abuse to the body and when in withdrawals. I felt I could portray these effects using my previous experience with special effects and expand upon them.
I will edit my film on After Effects and explore more about coloring grading on this project as I have little knowledge of how to improve the visual colours of my film and it will be a useful skill to develop for both this project and future projects. As it will help set the atmosphere and dramatic tone of my narrative.
To conclude, for this project I want to show all the skills I have developed across this year and reflect the development of myself as a filmmaker and writer. I will be taking a newer and improved approach in my writing for this project and will also expand upon new skills, such as colour grading. I want my film to be the objective reality of addiction and therefore will research more into those topics and themes in order to successfully capture and tell the narrative of my film.
Opportunities
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The core problem that I am trying to solve is creating a short film about addiction that does not glamorise it or mis represent it. I want my film to raise awareness to the topic and feel by creating a normality within the setting and characters, allows for more of a connection between the narrative and the audience. To reflect realism and do so effectively, I will need to challenge myself as a cinematographer and director. To solve this challenge, I will have to practise capturing shots that represent relation between everyday life, this includes dialogue and colouring too. I will also need to research films that capture real life successfully and mimic their approach (e.g how they use colourings, what shot types, and their naturalistic dialogue etc) but using my own style. The opportunity that this problem brings me is it allows me to develop my skills for my pre production as I will need to do lots of blocking of shots and experiments with capturing dialogue and also helps expand my writing skills as I will need the dialogue to fit both the location characters and capture the sense of a real life setting.
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Scope
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The scope of my project will be very dependant upon the theme that I have chosen, mental health. I will be keeping my decision to create a short film as I would like to expand upon my skills as a director and writer, I also want to improve on my overall filmmaking skills and creating a short film will help this. I will keeping my decision to focus upon addiction and the effects it has upon your mental health as I have a passion in the topic and believe it is accessible for me to portray, if I do enough research into the topics.
One idea that I may not keep for my film is the second character of the monster as I may be constrained on the amount of actors I will have in my film and I do not know if the idea will fully reflect its meaning (of the monster representing the protagonist's addiction). Another issue and reason for leaving this idea out is because I feel I may confuse my audience on whether the protgaonist is suffering from schizophrenia (as only the protagonist will be able to see the monster. This idea makes me lean away form creating it as I feel it can be too easily mis representative of its meaning and may ruin the focus upon the protagonist.
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Another idea that I may leave out of this project is the form of painkiller addiction that I have chosen for my protagonist. My reasoning for questioning its purpose is that I want to explore more types of addiction to see which one I believe will fit my character best. I will only be able to judge this idea once I have completed more research into addiction and learned of different forms of substance abuse.
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An idea that I will keep in my project is the healthy coping mechanism transformation by the end of the film. This I will keep as it is an important reflection of the protagonist's development in the plot and will be a simple, yet effective way of giving hope to not only the story but to my audience.
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Target Audience
The target audience for my film will need to have an interest in the film genre of drama. This is important as my film is targeted at those who have an interest in real life social issues. My film is ideal for those who have an interest in mental health too as it is based upon addiction and my protagonist's personal struggle. My film will have a slow pace, this means that the target audience for this film will need to be projected at those who have interest in progressive narratives that develop over time, not within minutes.
The age demographic that my film will be aimed at young adults around 15 years old or above. The is due to the sensitive topics shown (addiction, substance abuse) in my film. My target audience need to be mature enough to understand the subject matter and be able to see a empathetic perspective upon it. I felt those who are older would hopefully have this maturer mindset towards the social issues raised and therefore be more interested and open the the film's subject matter. I also want my audience to empathise with my protagonist's struggle, this age range I felt would be perfect to be empathetic for the character as they themselves may have gone through/are going through a similar struggle. This will allow my film to hopefully resonate with more people from young adults to elders. As painkiller abuse is more provident in those from the ages of 18 to 35 I feel my target audience will be dominated by young adults. I also believe my audience will be more male based as painkiller addiction is more provident in males then females. However this is only from statistics and people of all ages, genders, ethnicities struggles with addiction and my audience may be very diverse as it is a global issue within society that effects many.
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Source statistics:
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https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/prescription-drug-addiction-risk#1
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/addiction/prescription-drug-addiction-risk#1
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My film will hopefully give my youth audience a sense of comfort in terms of feelings of neglect and using self-harm as an outlet. Hopefully it will not influence (or glamorise) substance abuse but make them feel less alone as they may have experience similar emotions to the protagonist. I will also be having my protagonist have a healthy coping mechanism and start recovery for addiction at the end of the film. This I hope will prevent people from abusing painkillers as they can be shown the difference between what you shouldn't turn to (painkillers) but turn to a healthier coping mechanism such as counselling, journalling, speaking to family, playing instruments, creating art, exercise etc. I want the older audience of my film to feel as sense of concern in terms of giving them an insight into the issues of substance abuse and hopefully it will motivate them to check upon their loved ones to questions whether they are mentally okay or need support. I overall want my film to have an impact on people across all ages to try and change their perspective upon the subject matter or addiction and give hope to those struggling.
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Constraints
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There are many constraints I will have with this project. The main constraint I face is with the technical equipment, the canon camera I own and would use is unreliable as the quietly is poor and when filming repeatedly cuts out. To solve this issue, I will need to film using my iPhone. Using my phone will add constraints to the quality of both the visual and audios for my film as it is not as good as filming on a regular camera and captures audio quite badly. I will also need to clear the storage on my iPhone to have enough space to capture footage of my film too, this will delay time when I am in post production as I will need to spend more time on shooting footage then editing. I would let out equipment from my college, however it is on lockdown due to a global virus outbreak.
Another constraint I have with my project is the limitation of actors. I can only use myself, my sister and my dad as actors in my film. This is because I am self-isolating and am not allowed to have physical contact with anyone other than those I am living with, due to the virus outbreak. This limits my casting for the protagonist, as I would like the protagonist of my film be a teenager.To resolve this issue, l need to act in my film as the protagonist, this will limit my abilities to be the cinematographer and manage time, as I will need to go through the shots with my sister so that she can shoot the film for me as I guide her through the shot types, positing, blocking etc. To resolve the issue of being the cinematographer, I will have to make sure I block through the shots with my sister repeatedly so that when it comes to production we can be organised and understand the plan of shots, lighting etc. for my film.
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To conclude, the last constraint I have for my film is the music I will use. To resolve the copyright issue I may face around this, I will be using copyright free and royalty free music from Youtube so that I can use music for my film legally. The virus outbreak has overall limited my filmmaking for this project, but I will not let it stop me from completing a short film. I can still shoot my film using my phone, I can use the location of my house and those living in it as actors/part of my crew to be able to successfully complete this project.
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Copyright - The exclusive and assignable legal right, given to the originator for a fixed number of years, to print, publish, perform, film, or record literary, artistic, or musical material.
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Assumptions
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My assumption for my film will that it hopefully will shine a light on the social issues surrounding addiction (particularly painkiller abuse) as it is very provident in the youth of our society. I would like my audience to feel connected to the subject matter, even if they haven't personally experienced addiction, I would like my film to able to spark a conversation around the topic and make them question the lack of truthful representation it is given in the media. I am not expecting my film to change lives or breach people across the globe, but within the small circle that I do show it to, I would like them to feel empathetic to the protagonist and hopefully put themselves in the protagonist's shoes, as it will give them a glimmer into addicts everyday reality. This will hopefully give them a new perspective upon the taboo stigma that surrounds addiction. My film will also be through the perspective of an addict and therefore give people more insight into the personal battle of addiction.
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I also assume that my film will be able to receive feedback from both my peers, teachers and public as I will be publishing it publicly online. I will also be creating a survey that I assume will be filled in by people who have an interest in my film, as it is important I receive feedback from a variety of people to understand their depiction and meaning behind my film. The survey will also tell me improvements I can make upon the film and how to help progress myself as a filmmaking through people's criticism.
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Resources
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The main/core team of this project will consist of myself as the director, scriptwriter, editor, sound mixer and actor. I gave myself these roles as I want to direct more on my projects as it is my favourite part of filmmaking and have enjoyed editing, sound-mixing and writing when making previous films. Also by having the role of director in my films, it will allow me to develop my skills in directing as I want to pursue it as a career. My sister will be of cinematographer, I will be directing her on the movement and shot types I want captured. My father will be an actor, playing as the parent of the protagonist (myself) in my film too.
I would have a much larger team, but due to the restraints (as described above) it will only consist of three people (myself, sister and father). I would have liked an extended team as this project is bigger than any other I have created before and I will need as many extra hands as I can get, but I will work hard to try and fulfil the roles I have given myself. I will be filming in different locations (within my house) and will have a larger narrative to follow than my previous major project, this is why I need to plan as much as possible due to my restraint in my team. This project will be challenging because of my lack of resources, but as this is a self-dependant project, it will allow me to be more organised and thorough about the planning of my project. I will also be able to prove to myself that I can use the resources around me as best as I can, by persevering through my film.
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I plan to be successful within my film by having a well written script that is solidified in both filming shot types and explaining narrative as I would like to use it as a guide when in production. In order to devise a good script, I will need as much feedback from my mentors as possible and will redraft it until I am satisfied with the result. Being organised is part of my scriptwriting as I need to allow myself time to improve upon it. Organisation will be the main reason for my success as I will need to follow weekly, the action plan schedule I will create. I will set targets for myself too in order to narrow down and motivate myself to be organised. A huge part of my organisation will also be dependant on the amount of research into addiction and filmmaking that I complete. This will be shown through my evidence of articles, tutorials, book etc.
I will make sure that I create mood-boards, sketches and storyboards to give evidence of my progression and development. Practising is also a large part of my success as I will need to block through my scenes with my cinematographer in order to be organised and capture the perfect shots when in production. For the visual aesthetic of my film, I will need to practise colour grading using After Effects and watching tutorials online to ensure my film has a colouring that reflects the tone and mood of my film. This will be important and it will help me improve upon the success of my film in terms of atmosphered. To conclude, I will need to be organised overall with my practising, blocking and research until I feel it is at a high enough standard so that I feel confident in the final results before production.
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Success
I will measure success by my timing (in terms of hitting the deadlines in my action plan) as being organised and sufficient in completing my work, this will help me achieve success as I will be prepared for every step of the process in creating my film. I will also measure the success of my project by the views and comments I receive from my film, both from my peers, mentors and public. I will receive feedback from the public by uploading my film onto Instagram and YouTube as it will allow for my film to breach more of an audience. Uploading my film on social media will also allow me to receive more feedback and criticism on my film to know what I can improve on in my film, as well as what parts they felt went well. I am also going to devise a questionnaire/survey asking my audience on what they believe I could improve upon too. This will help me when creating films for future projects as I can take the criticism and improve upon it.
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To conclude, the success of my film won't just be measured by others but also also myself. I personally measure the success of this project by reflecting upon project and seeing how well I have developed my ideas to my research and eventually to my final cut.
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Envision
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For this project, I envision that my audience will hopefully feel exposed to the topic of addiction and feel as thought that they have been given a true insight into the disease. I envision for my audience to be moved by the film as they will hopefully be given a different and intimate perspective upon an addict's perspective on how destroying the disease, but also how you can overcome it and that it does not have to possess your life, giving hope to those who are struggling or to someone they know.
I hope to envision that my film will be successful. The questionnaire will allow me to know whether my film was successful in terms of my audience's opinion and feelings upon it. This important for me to know as it will help develop my directing skills by taking on board people's opinions and using them as a way for me to improve upon my work. Another side of my success will also be dependant upon whether filmmakers reach out to me after watching my film and if they want to collaborate with me as a director/filmmaker.
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I envision that I will be proud and content with the film that I create as I too need to like the work that I produced epically when directing as you need to trust in your vision. I also need to be able to evaluate my work, not just others, in order to improve for myself as a filmmaker. I also want to be able to feel as though I have represented addiction through an objective reality and captured it with realism, not glamorising it. To conclude, I am aware that it is a sensitive topic and is not comforting for everyone, but it is a social issue that needs to be raised as it part of society and effects millions globally.
PROJECT EVALUATION
To record and reflect upon my progress within this project. I will be evaluating every step of the way by writing a reflection page (as seen above this page). This reflection page will go into detail the tasks I have completed that day and my reasoning for the certain decision I made. The reflection I will use to document daily my way through this project until it is complete. I have also stated in my reflection what tasks I have to complete in the next lesson. This is important as it shows I am planning and being organised by thinking through the stages I need to complete daily for this project. When discussing my overall reflection I will also be documenting all the research that I will complete and give evidence to the sources using the Harvard system. This is to that I give evidence to the sources I am retrieving my information from. The documentation of my research will also include a reflection underneath each post to show that I have thoroughly thought through my decision for my research and I will also state my reasoning for its importance towards my final film. I will record all my information e.g research, sketches, blocking, storyboards etc. Using photographs, links, screenshots and written paper work. Giving evidence to how I will document my work is very necessary because it will help expand upon not only my research but also show the different processes and stages that lead up to my final film for this project. I have created a time table (shown below) that will help me reflect when evaluating my progress as I will know whether I have successfully met the deadline dates I want to hit for this project, daily.
Project Time table
To structure my time during this project, I have created a time table that outlines my plans for the next two months until my final project must be complete by. This will be very useful as it will act as a guide for me to follow and will help allow me to be realistic with my time across this project, as I must schedule every step of the way, using this table. I have structured the table by having the dates coming up until the final deadline, as well as stating what I need to complete between those days. This timetable will also help me when reflecting upon all of my production stages that lead up to my film as it will reveal the development I would made across the time I used/was given.
inspirations, influences
& filmmaking research
I have many inspirations for the film I will be creating for this project. These inspirations include both directors that inspire me as a filmmaker and films that inspire and influence my ideas for this film. I have also listed videos from directors describing their writing process, influences, techniques. I wanted to research this so that I could learn more about how professionals direct and see how they develop their idea into a film so that I could educate myself on how maybe I could do the same with project. By learning from those who have inspired me and been successful, I could improve upon myself as a director at the same time. I felt it would be a useful part of my research to reflect upon directors and I aspire to be one in the future. I also wanted to list the films that have inspired the style I will approach for making this film and writing approach as it is important for me to document all of the ways I will develop my skills and project as whole for my film.
Noah Baumbach - directing and scriptwriting
Noah Baumbach is an American filmmaker who is both a director and screenwriter. Noah Baumbach as I have spoken previously in both my pitch and above, has been a huge inspiration for me as a aspiring filmmaking as I love the way his films depict life through an objective reality, as he truly captures human connection and relation in a naturalistic style. The speech I watched below consisted of Baumbach describing films and directors that have influenced him as a director, and he also described how they have impacted his way of directing. I found this to be a very useful video to watch as he reflects upon cinema through his depiction of film and it allowed me to understand his way of writing. As I like his style of filmmaking, understanding how he writes his film and puts his ideas on paper will help me learn more about how I can improve myself as a filmmaker by following in his footsteps and testing out similar techniques he uses.
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The video below is an interview and speech of Noah Baumbach describing his influences and Writing Process - BAFTA Guru
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The video begins with Baumbach reeling film introductions from the films Goodfellas (directed by Martin Scorsese, 1990) Blue velvet (directed by David Lynch, 1986) and a few more films. However, this section of the video helped me reflect upon how I want to introduce my characters. Baumbach reflected upon how some films introduce a setting to be desiring and beautiful, but only to create a facade and illusion of reality, that behind the scenes darkness lingers.
The technique that Baumbach described above of creating an illusion when introducing a setting or character, inspired and gave me an idea of how to introduce my protagonist. The idea that came to mind was for the opening scene of the protagonist in my film to be making breakfast for her father (as a suprise). I would have the protagonist be happy, with sunshine in the setting and have the camera take short shots to reflect her excitement. Then once the breakfast is made, I have her go retrieve it to her father and then for him not to be there. She sees a note stating that he's gone to work early. The happy, upbeat scene would have a drastic change in mood. I would show this by having the protagonist become isolated and suffocated (with anxiety as she is alone). This would be shown through intense and intimate shot types I would use, enhancing the darkness of the lighting as it reveal the truth behind her mind (that she is not okay and this 'perfect setting' is nothing but a facade and she is alone). I liked how I could develop this idea and transform it into my own film, using the same technique.
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The video also concluded of Baumbach discussing how location and placement of his films was key as it felt 'grounding' to him. The location of my film will be limited, however I want the house to act as a character within itself, as I would like it to reflect the pure isolation of the protagonist by having it be daunting and suffocating in terms of making the protagonist feel even more anxious about being alone. The location for me will be 'grounding' as I plan to use it as a blueprint for my protagonist to guide through, the house will become part of her as the film progresses.
Baumbach also elaborated on how with some of the characters in his films, he names them after real people he knows in order for him to connect that character to himself and allow for them to become real in his fictionalised world of writing. I found this very useful to know as I too struggle to find form a connection when writing characters. For this project, I will test out Baumbach's technique of having a character be aimed after somebody I know in order to see whether I can find more of a relation to my characters and develop them from there.
THE SQUID AND THE WHALE - film
One film that inspired my decision to create a film showing family struggles and relationship dynamic is called The Squid and the Whale directed and written by Noah Baumbach in 2005. This film has been influencial to me since the first time I watched it. The opening scene (shown above) sets up the families dynamic by having you as the audience member you witness the mother (Joan) and younger son (Frank) play tennis against the father (Bernard) and older son (Walt). I found this decision of depicting a family through a teamwork sport be a clever way to not only introduce characters, but give a taste as to their relationships with each other. I found revealing characters in this light to be a good way for the audience to become quickly familiar with the characters on screen.
For my film, this scene (shown below) has been very useful in terms of helping me develop ideas of how to show the relationship between my two character. As I will be dealing with a neglectful father to his daughter. An idea that came to mind after reflecting upon The Squid and the Whale was to have my characters relationship be shown through the scope of modern day enjoyment, television. In particular I thought of creating a scene where the father is neglectful by not involving his daughter's decision or input on the film and instead chooses one that he admires instead. Although this is a subtle away of representing their relationship, it tells the audience that the father is selfish in his decisions and has no thought or question about what his daughter wants. My idea differs from Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale in terms of the scenario and placement of the scene, however it mirrors the same concept of revealing a family relationship's issues through a common and relatable situation.
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Opening scene from The Squid and The Whale (2005) - Movie clips
Marriage Story - film
Another film written and directed by Noah Baumbach that inspired my film was Marriage Story which was release in 2019. This film inspired me with ideas of how I will block my scenes. The video below is of Baumbach describing how he blocked an argument scene in Marriage Story. One of the ideas he had that fascinated me was to have a wall/line between the two characters be metaphorical for the narrative (their divorce) as both characters can't visually see each other, but can audible hear each other and we as the audience members can witness both sides of the characters (and metaphorically both sides in the story). His idea for this was to subtly show the issues between their communication as a whole, in this one scene. I was really inspired to take more into account about blocking for my film more after watching this video as it influenced ideas I have for my characters for a scene.
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An idea that came to mind after watching this video, was to devise a scene where the protagonist in my film witnesses her father (through the perspective of a window) leaving home to drive to work, but he is unaware of her watching. The shot will hold as you watch the father driving away. The point of this scene and the blocking behind it is to reflect the protagonist's neglect making the audience feel neglected by the father's character too. The use of the window is also meant to be symbolic as a barrier between the characters and represents the entrapment the protagonist feelings as she is held alone in her house, which will eventually make her turn towards her addiction. I have used the same concept of having blocking and physicality be a representation of the overall scenario, alike the scene in Marriage Story. However, I have used the idea evolving around my film's narrative and fitting it to my own storyline and characters.
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Breakdown of 'argument scene' from Marriage Story (2019) - Variety
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To conclude, Noah Baumbach was been very influential to the narrative of my film as his techniques allowed to me develop my ideas as a storyteller for my film (as I have described above). I have not copied or stolen Baumbach's ideas as they have only and simply influenced my narrative and allowed me to think more particular on how I will approach them. I have used similar techniques but moulded them into my own narrative and character's in order for them to be original and personal to me. As an aspiring filmmaker, Baumbach has expanded my knowledge of appreciating dialogue and blocking as throughout his films he captures the morality and essence of human life. I will carry the knowledge I have gained from watching his interviews and speeches into my scriptwriting and directing for this film and hopefully become better at filmmaking as a whole.
Charlie Kaufman - scriptwriting
Charlie Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, director and novelist. I have only recently delved into Charlie Kaufman's work, but have been familiar with some his films. One in particular that I admire is called Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind, Kaufman wrote the screenplay for this film and it was directed by Michel Goudry in 2004. After watching and reflecting upon Kaufman's work as a storyteller. I was truly inspired by his approach of writing as he captures the rough edges of life in an imperfect world, but with true vulnerability and love. I found the human connection his draws from both influence and imagination to be inspiring to me. In order to learn more about how he interprets his narratives and portraying life in the art form of a screenplay, I watched a speech/talk of his below discussing his influences in writing.
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Speech from Charlie Kaufman on Scriptwriting Advice - BAFTA Guru
The speech was very useful for me as Kaufman didn't take the typical approach of having tips or give a list of ingredients to making a successful script, like most writers do. But instead he discussed the craft of writing in terms of your own personal human perspective. I found this refreshing to come upon in my research and I felt I could see writing as not just 'creativity' but as a piece of yourself that you give to the world, whether others like it or not, you have to appreciate that it has come from only you and your experience. One of the quotes that Kaufman said that I found inspiring was "dreams are stories". Kaufman elaborated on describing dreams as a place in your mind where there are no constrictions or judgement. I found this quote particularly insightful as it made me reflect upon how I can write my script by making it more exposed and open, leaving no ideas out of mind, and letting my sub conscious guide me through my creative process, with no borders.
Another quote that Kaufman said which I found insightful too twas that "Nothing should be separate in the world you create". This quote gave me a new perspective upon how I will approach my writing process in terms of drafting. I will be redrafting my script to improve and expand upon ideas, dialogue, action etc. But in order to link and intertwine my narrative into its own world, I will need to be precise and particular on how I improve my script, whether that be through characters, objects, setting or the overall theme, it will have to be meaningful in it's purposeful to the scene or narrative as a whole.
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The last quote that stuck with me, after watching the speech was "You have to be willing to be naked". I interpreted this quote to be Kaufman's trying to say that when writing you need to be true to your internal self, with no false filters and use your vulnerability as a advantage when writing your screenplay. I found this quote very inspiring for me as when I have previously written scripts, they have only touched the surface of my internal self. I have never delved deep into my own internal struggle and used it within my writing. That is why for this project, I will be touching upon a subject matter that is close to me in terms of my interest and experience and will allow me to be 'naked' in terms of including and exploring a piece of myself within my writing.
Eternal sunshine of a spotless mind
Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind was written by Charlie Kaufman and has been both inspirational and influential to how I will write and create the script for my film. One of the ways in which I plan to take inspiration from the film is its use of reflecting time and pace. The balance between feeling contrastingly torn in either a never ending place while equally feeling as though you have no time at all I felt was very effective and gave the film authenticity. I liked how the film cut non-linearly back and forth when showing present time in a calmed steady pace to then showing the protagonist of Joel's (performed by Jim Carrey) subconscious feeling abruptly chased (as in the narrative his memories are big erased). I wanted to capture a similar aspect of playing with pace and time within my film.
An idea that sprung to mind from the time and pace influence was for me to show my protagonist's neglect and isolation to be very slow paced almost creating the effect of being in slow motion to then contrasting it with her anxiety and internal darkness by having it become overwhelmingly fast paced and having her addiction be a quick temporary release of anxiety. I felt this would not only give the audience a scope into the mental strain and timely structure of the dependency that comes with addiction but also captures my protagonist's struggle and the audience follow the pace of the film with her emotions, revealing the instability of her mind. I would write the transitions between the scenes and shots with lots of action and detail to convey precisely how I want to show the development between the time and pace shifts. It will be vey important for me to show this as the pace is a huge part of creating atmosphere for my film.
The scene from Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless mind I have inserted below is an example of how I feel the film effectively creates a contrasting overall pace and balanced it together by having the fast external pace fluctuate with the internal slow pace. Overall I feel this scene reflects and captures timing well and encapsulates the intense atmosphere of the scene by creating this imbalanced of time, it also plays with the audience's emotion too as you want to stay in the moment following the two character's yet know it is coming to an end quickly. I would like to create a similar effects of transforming pace with for my film, but have the imbalance be fitted to my narrative and characters.
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Referenced scene from Eternal Sunshine of a Spotless Mind (2004)
To conclude I found researching Charlie Kaufman to be incredibly useful to my research as I found his way of approaching writing to be insightful by letting the writer tell their own story, using both their influences, humanity, morality and experience as a person by their stories. I found Kaufman's advice to be more personal and intimate as he allows you as a listener and aspiring writer to reflect upon both your internal ideas but also the roots behind them and progressing and using yourself as a library to draw knowledge and creativity from. I will absorb and use the advice that Kaufman gave in his speech and use the influence his stories have put upon me, into my script for this project to utilise the knowledge I have obtained from him and carry it through my work.
Paul Schrader - scriptwriting
Paul Schrader is an American filmmaker, writer and film critic, I wanted to research into how he approaches scriptwriting as I find his films pace, characters and plots to be very compelling and timeless. Two critically acclaimed films he has written are Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980). The lecture shown below shows Schrader describing his writing process and the stages he takes before writing a script. I found this lecture very useful as it gave me a new and unique perspective upon how he writes and will allow me to experiment with some of his techniques and use them towards my own script.
In the beginning of the lecture, Schrader described how he approaches writing his narrative by drawing from a problem he faces in his own life and creates a metaphor for it. For instance he spoke upon his film Taxi Driver and how the protagonist, Travis Bickle was a metaphor his younger self and stated how he may have turned out like Travis if he continued his old ways. This idea of drawing from a problem made me reflect upon why I want to create a film about addiction. The first being that I am very interested in the subject matter as it is a global epidemic that is currently effecting millions in society, but also because I have witnessed addiction and wanted to not only understand more about the disease, but reflect both perspectives of someone witnessing it and suffering from it through my passion, filmmaking. The metaphor of addiction and neglect in my film is a reflection and inspiration from my own feelings of isolation and witness of addiction in my own life.
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Schrader then said how he collides both his problem and metaphor to merge a plot, gathering and forming events that could occur in the environment he is creating. He also recommended that once you have formed the foundation of your narrative, tell it to different people and watch how captivated and connected they become to your story, and watch when they become disinterest in parts. This will allow you to now where there are weak points in your narrative and will help you flesh out parts of your script and will help you create a more compelling, creative and captivating plot.
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Schrader said how once he finishes developing his plot, he creates an outline for his script. The outline lists the events in his narrative and has an estimated duration of the scene, which is timed by a minute per page in his script. Schrader emphasised how the outline should be expanded upon as you develop your ideas and that he re orders parts to fit with the overall film, to which ever event allows for a more compelling plot and fits the ending. I found this technique very useful and will be creating an outline of events for my script as I believe it will help me plan and mahout the general structure I want for my film, as I do struggle with navigating what scenes I want and keeping my ideas as one. Outlining my ideas and event in my film will help organise my plot and expand and experiment the pace of my film. Once he has completed writing his outline, Schrader starts writing his script. I found Schrader's technique helpful as I like how he slowly progresses with inspiration and connecting it to the semiotics of a storyline. I will be using his scriptwriting format as a way for me to explore my writing style and develop my film's narrative. An example of a scene that I want to include in my outline, is of the protagonist dreaming about her being invisible to her father, the semiotic behind this is meant to show her subconscious communicating her inner torment of neglect form her father. I am unsure of where to place this scene and will test Schrader's outline theory to see where it fits best in my narrative.
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Lastly, Schrader described briefly about dialogue. One of the techniques that he does with writing is read through the dialogue backwards and play with non-linear language as he believes it creates more realism and brings more life to the script. I liked this idea and will experiment with the dialogue in my film and test reading the conversations I will create backwards to see whether I can play around with the structure and create more realistic dialogue.
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To conclude, I found Paul Schrader's scriptwriting technique very useful as it gave me a new perspective upon how he as a successful writer creates his narratives. I also liked how he draws from human experience and creates films using semiotics from his own problems and issues. I believe this allows for more originality and rawness as you can write from a place of experience and depth without re creating your own life, but instead morphing influence into a fictional world.
Alfonso Cuarón - cinematography
Alfonso Cuarón is a Mexican director, screenwriter, producer, editor and cinematographer. I chose to research Cuarón because I have admired his film Roma (which he directed and was cinematographer) since it's release in 2018 and particularly was fascinated by his use of framing and lighting in the film. I wanted to know more about his technique how he captures his films with such fluidity of movement. I also find Cuarón's cinematography to be influential as it is very particular and precise with the details of lighting and objects and how he makes each shot a piece to the puzzle of the narrative. I wanted to create a similar technique for my film in terms of using lighting and framing and to do this I researched an article of Cuarón describing his cinematography process for Roma.
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ROMA
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Article of Alfonso Cuarón discussing his cinematography for Roma
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https://www.indiewire.com/2018/12/roma-emmanuel-lubezki-alfonso-cuaron-cinematography-1202028167/
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The article concluded of many useful quotes that Cuarón described about the camera and its purpose within his film. The first quote that influenced me was when he described the camera to be a "ghost of the present visiting the past". I thought this quote was beautiful as it made me more insightful in how I want to portray the visual of my film within my narrative. To elaborate, an idea that was sprung from this quote was that I now envision my camera to be a character of its own but more empathetic to the protagonist as it will be viewed through a similar perspective of hers. I would like the camera shots for my film to be held in duration when depicting my protagonist, as the audience will grow in intimacy with the protagonists internal issues as the narrative unfolds. I would like the shots of the protagonist's father to be distant and short in duration so that it keeps a distance between the audiences perception of him giving the effect he is neglecting both his own daughter and the audience.
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Another quote that Cuarón states in the article that influenced ideas for my cinematography in my film was when he said the camera is the "film itself". I found this inspiring as it made me reflect on the meanings behind the shots I want for my film. The cinematography of my film, I want it to be a reflection of the audiences relationship progression with the protagonist. The first act of my film, I envision for the shots to be wide long shots to give the effect of analysing and interpreting the protagonist as if they were a stranger, this is important and it represents the first stage of meeting someone. The second act will consist of shots that are more intimate using mid shots to show a progression within the intimacy between the audiences perspective of the protagonist as the addiction will be revealed and the audience become more drawn into the internal thoughts of the protagonist. Then the third and final act will include more close ups to show the fully vulnerability of the protagonist in the audiences eyes, reflecting their 'relationship' to be very intimate and intense as they are given full view into her mind. I thought this idea would work in terms of showing the structural stages and development of how I will use the cinematography in my film to be representative of the narrative in a unique way.
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Still shots from the film Roma (2018)
The lighting that Cuarón captures in Roma is a huge part of what gives his cinematography its authenticity. I have inserted some images above that I believe are effective in telling the narrative of Roma, but also showing his consistency with wide shots. I found the lighting in Roma to be representative of many details within the film, some reference religion, emotion or simply the scenery but either way the lighting adds to the atmosphere and narrative in some form. I find Cuarón's use of lighting in his cinematography very inspiring and has given me the idea of using shadows within my film. The main idea that was formed from this inspiration was to have a shadow subtly follow the protagonist and as the plot progress so does the intimacy and providence of the shadow. I wanted the shadow to only mainly appear when the protagonist is anxious with her compulsive thoughts to turn to painkillers, this is to show the progression of her addiction as the shadow will be a reflection of this. The shadow also acts as a master of the addiction that is gradually pulling the protagonist's strings, turning her to her addiction. I thought this would be a good way of testing lighting using the influence of Cuarón and allows me to explore telling narratives using lighting. I have inserted an image of a background shadow placement that I feel framing wise I envision (although the image itself is not the object I image, it is just an example of the shadow framing I would like to depict for my film).
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Inspirational Image - For a lighting visual idea
The still images above from Roma are also effective in terms of representing the stylised shots that Cuarón uses, which is mainly wide shots. These wide shots (when in motion) are held for long periods of time. This elongated duration and shot size allows for the audience to appreciate the action in the scene and reveal the importance of the objects and people captured in the shot as they too add to the narrative. I wanted to use a similar style of wide shots by having some scene of my protagonist in my film be elongated to capture the emotions of longing and aching as I will have the wide long curated shots be of the protagonist alone. This is to capture her isolation and longing for human connection, as the audience are not turned away from her emotion but held into it as if they too are experiencing the same emotions, allowing for more empathy and connection between my audience and characters. I liked this idea and felt the influence of Cuarón's shots types allowed for me to truly develop the meaning and style behind the delayed shot types I will capture.
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To conclude, I found researching Alfonso Curaón very useful as exploring more into the reasoning and meaning behind his shots has allowed me to understand how I can create and convey more emotion, relation and atmosphere through my own cinematography for this project. The influences of his lighting, framing and tracking use within his camera work has taught me more about technique and developing the depiction of a narrative through the lens of a camera.
Claire Mathon - cinematography
Claire Mathon is a French cinematographer, she was a cinematographer for the two critically acclaimed films, Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) and Atlantics (2019). I chose to research Mathon as she is one of my favourite cinematographers and I believe she visually captures narratives with such precision, craft and beauty. I was inspired by how she allows for the lighting and framing to be their own characters to play a part in the narrative, intertwining the tones and atmosphere into the film. I wanted to know about her camera techniques and how she uses lighting and framing to connect it to the period and style of her films. In order to do this, I found an article that included an interview about Mathon's experience with being the director of cinematography for one of my favourite films, Portrait of a Lady on Fire and her describing her collaboration with the director, Céline Sciamma.
portrait of a lady on fire
Article of Claire Mathon discussing her cinematography for Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
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This article concluded of quotes from Claire Mathon (director of cinematography) and Céline Sciamma (director), both of them spoke about their research into capturing the 18th century period setting in the film, through the lens of the camera. One quote that stood out to me was how they both 'visited galleries to study portraits by female painters of the time'. I liked how they drew influence from the period they were setting their film and thought it gave me the idea to research artwork that I believe captures the setting and aesthetic for my film, in order to develop my own style. Mathon was inspired by the paintings texture and how they were 'soft' with 'no shadows', this was captured very well in the film as there are very little shadows and the overall visuals are very light, giving the characters the illusion of smoothness, as if they are painted. For the film, Mathon created an oil painting effect by rendering the skin of the characters to be very clear and with little tone using the lighting. She also did this to enhance the colours of the costumes. I liked how Mathon used lighting to manipulate the visuals of the setting and characters, it has inspired me to research types of tones I can capture in the location of my film and to make sure I block my film using lighting in order to have it be part of the storytelling. I have shown below a still shot from the film below that I felt captured the framing and illusion of a painting that Mathon wanted for the film. I liked the image I chose as I feel it truly capures the colours they used in the film as the natural light that Mathon captured truly reflects the character's passionate and intensity in emotion through the visual.
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Still images from Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)
The article also revealed that the framing Mathon used was very import in capturing the style of the film, which was mainly focused on depicting a painting effect that I previously spoke of. Mathon stated how the framed glances and expression of the characters were replications of a painter's style at the time and she also had the camera linger in scenes to enhance the emotions of desire and thought. I felt this Mathon's technique of framing to reflect the film's narrative was very creative and authentic. I want to use a similar technique by having my framing be representative of my protagonist's emotions, e.g when she experiences isolation, have long wide shots to enhance the visual of isolation. I will also be holding shots alike Mathon, in order for me to have my audience be revealed to the protagonist's experiences, whether bad or good they won't be able to look away as they will be faced with the emotion my protagonist will feel.
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Mathon also spoke about how she created 'rhythm in shots', I found this to be very reflective in the film as she consistently uses the same style of mid close ups and allows for the long gazes to be held, this allowed for me as an audience member to feel the tension and desire between the two characters as you felt immerse and captivated by being held in the moment.
The article also stated how in the image I have shown of the evening warm toned mid close up, that they used many candles and had them not in shot but were evidently present. I liked how they used a mixture of lights, including natural, fire and candles, throughout the film. It has inspired me to experiment with the lighting for my film. Watching the film, I also liked how they had a frequent visual of the character Héloïse wearing a wedding dress fade into darkness, this was to be reference of what the her lover Marianne can't have, which is to be her wife. I wanted to have a similar visual reference with mine, but for it to be of a object, in this case, I chose a glass of water. I wanted for my film to repeatedly frame a mid close up of the glass of water that protagonist drinks from this after self-medicating, but I want to have the water to be shot in bright natural light and for the water to slowly decrease in amount, the more times it is shown. The natural lighting is suppose to reflect the healthiness of my protagonist as there is no falseness in it's presence. The water's purpose is to be a semiotic for her health, the water decreasing in amount refers to the the protagonist's emotions of emptiness as she plummets into her addiction. I felt this use of lighting and framing that was inspired by Mohan's techniques, would allow me to depict a similar style of storytelling through the visuals of my film.
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To conclude, I found this article a very useful part of my research as it taught me more about the cinematography decisions and technique that Claire Mathon went through and allowed me to be inspired by her creative and authentic approach of lighting, meaning and framing. It also allowed me to learn more about how I can convey emotions and atmosphere using aesthetics, setting and the period in which I will have my film set, which is present day and how to portray them through the duration and expression of the shot types.
filmmaking & testing research
For my film, I want to be organised in knowing how to colour grade, perfect writing my scriptwriting, storyboarding and music. In order to do so, I need to research more practically into these parts that come when creating a film. I have very little knowledge in colour grading and want to make sure my film has shades that fit the atmosphere and mood, so I will be researching how to create different colourings and will practise using footage online that is not coloured and add my own unique colouring that fits the tone of my film. In order to do this, I will be using a software known as After Effects that will allow me to colour my footage, both practising and when I am in post production. My scriptwriting practise will conclude of my researching more into the technicality and rules that come with showing shot types, writing dialogue and improving on my action description as I feel that I lack in abbreviating my context. I will be researching this using youtube tutorials and watch tips and advice on how to write a script practically, although I have researched scriptwriters advice which is shown above, I believe these tutorials will help me improves upon my actual writing skills, whereas those lectures were giving advice in the stages of developing a story and forming a narrative. With my storyboarding research, I will just be watching a few tutorials on how professionals create their storyboards and look at the varied types to see which technique I believe will help me put my ideas and shot types on paper. Lastly, I will be researching sound/music for my film, this includes both making foley sounds, finding music to fit the atmosphere of my film and looking at professionals who create sound for films in the industry. I believe researching into sound will allow me to create a more impactful film as music is a huge part of filmmaking as it helps give more life and ambience to the film.
Colour grading
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To learn more about how colour grading is used in films and the effect it has upon the audience, I researched the different emotions that colours can convey psychologically and found a diagram shown below that expressed the colours meaning and connotation behind an emotion. Although I knew blue was linked to sadness and purple with mystery and wealth etc. I wanted to see the full spectrum of colours to see which ones I can link to my storyline and characters in my film and be able to reflect in my colour grading the emotions and atmospheres that will occur, through the use of colour. The ones that appeal to me most are blue and purple due to their meanings as my film will deal with the emotional themes of loneliness, sadness, addiction and growth.
I also watched the video below. This video is from a youtube channel called StudioBinder, I found it very useful as it described the meaning of hue, saturation and brightness. I learned that the hue is the colour your tint your film, the saturation is the depth and intensity of the hue and the brightness is how light or dark you adjust your scene. I found this information very informative as I was unaware of what each role these parts of colour grading had. This will help me when dissecting my colouring as I will know what types of effects I can create using these three visual developers. The video also gave examples of how colours can be changed depending on how what you want them to convey. For instance, in Batman he is a hero and the colourings both edited and around him are black, the film. This shows how black is used as a symbol of power and not evil. This shows how you can dominate the meaning of the colour depending where you choose to use it. I have decided for my film, after looking at some inspirations, that I will be using blue and purplish tones to create a heavy and sad atmosphere around the scenes in my film and then for the uplifting moments to be lightened with a sky blue to lessen the saturation of the colour grade.
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Colour Theory in Film - Studiobinder
A film that inspired me with its use of colour grading was the film A Ghost Story, directed by David Lowery in 2017. This film has a similarly melancholic emotion that runs throughout and truly captures it using the cold and faded blue tints in it's colour grading. I was very much inspired but this for my won film and will use it as an inspiration to draw from when I am creating my own colour grade for my film.
I have put two shots from the film below, that I feel capture the colouring very well and give evidence to the emotion and tone that is expressed in the narrative. I also loved how the colours in the production of the film contrast with the colour grading, I found this to be very effective and will try to imitate this same style as I believe it helps enhance the atmosphere in the film and allows for more texture and depth to the visual colours shown. Both my film and A Ghost Story challenge the theme of loneliness and the cold, faded visual colouring of their film I feel reflect this emotion intensely and I want to create a similar colouring like this as I feel it was profoundly effective in enhance the atmosphere of isolation.
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Colour Grading inspiration - A Ghost Story (2017)
The image below is of my colour palette that I have created for my film, I will use this as a source of shades when I am in post production and editing my colour grading, I will also be using it when I am practising my colour grading so that I can see which shades compliment each other and the different tones I can create.
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The meaning behind the light blues to reflect the positive and happiness that is seen in the film as I want the ending to be some what optimistic and capture the protagonist's growth in mindset and positivity. The deep blues and purples are suppose to reflect the weighted emotions that the addiction brings upon the characters. I will have these colours almost linger in the background to try and create a looming sense that the addiction and desire is always there. I also want these darker colours to reflect the loneliness and isolation of the protagonist, and for them to increase the more lonely and neglected she feels.
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To conclude, I created this colour wheel/palette using Adobe Illustrator and used the preset colour wheel to find colours which I felt suited each other and had similar representations in emotions, e.g power of addiciton through the purple, sadness and loneliness through the deep blue and enlightenment and happiness though the sky blue.
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To practise my colour grading techniques and editing, I have listed videos and tutorials that have helped me know how to creates different styles and tones using colouring. This will b helpful for setting the tone and mood of my film's footage, I will be editing the colour grading in post production. To create the colouring for my film, I have used After Effects and have practised colouring using a scene from one of my favourite films, Call Me By Your Name and a scene I shot from a field. However, I alerted the colouring to fit the tone of my film in both scenes. Practising colour grading will also allow me to expand upon my editing skills in this project and in the future.
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The video below is the tutorial I followed to practise my colour grading.
The video above is a tutorial from a youtube account called GenZEN learning and showed it how to colour grade footage on After Effects. I had to first create an adjustment layer to parent with my footage. The video begun with importing a tint to your footage, this allowed me to choose a colour that would fit the mood of my film, e.g blue sets a melancholic mood, red represents a mood of tension and anger etc. I chose blue as I want my film's colouring to reflect the depressive mood and atmosphere of my protagonist and I chose a sad scene from Call me by Your Name so that I could create a colouring that matches the atmosphere in that film too. Once I applied tint and chose my colour, I needed to reduce the amount of tint in order to create a less intense colouring. Once I reduced my tint, the tutorial then said to add an effect called 'curves'. These curves allowed me to enhance and decrease shadows and the depth of the lighting in the scene. I eventually finished creating my colouring by adding the finishing adjustments to my curve and tint which helped me create a blue and harsh toned colouring that fitted the sad setting and atmosphere I want to create in my film.
The video above is a before and after showing my colour grading practise, I edited this video on After Effects and created the colour grading using the tutorial I have previously shown. I felt my colour grading for this scene was very subtle but did enhance the sorrowful atmosphere in the scene and felt I could use this same colouring for my film as it has the same melancholic mood and tone that will be present throughout my film, as it follows my protagonist through her suffering of addiction. I also created my own tutorial above too, I screenshotted images step by step of how I created the colouring. This tutorial will allow me to reflect upon how I created my colour grading in post production fo my film and help me speed up my editing process and allow me to improve as I will have practised colour grading already.
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I wanted to research more than one colour grading tutorial as I was intrigued to see the difference ways I can colour grade/correct. The tutorial I have linked below describes another way I can approach colour grading using the same software After Effects. This tutorial used an effect called 'Lumetri Scope' that allowed me to develop more layers and depth to my colouring as I could adjust the highlights, exposure, shadows, whites, blacks and HDR spectacular which I could not do in the previous tutorial. I found this tutorial very useful as it has helped me expand upon my editing skills and will allow me to improve upon my colour grading practise for when I am in post production of my film.
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This is the second tutorial I followed which showed me another technique of how to colour grade.
This tutorial is from a youtube channel called Sonduck film and it showed me how to colour grade footage using After Effects. The video begun with me importing footage, for this second practise of colour grading I shot the clip used myself to try practise both my framing techniques and editing in one. Once I imported my footage, I the tutorial said to add an effect called 'Lumetri colour'. This effects allowed me to adjust the lighting of my scene and help improve the shadows and depths I shot, this is important as the quality of the visuals needs to also reflect the atmosphere too. For instance I wanted to have more shadow enhanced in my shot to capture a more ominous and depressive tone, to do so I enhanced them using this effect. The the tutorial said to select the 'creative' tab on the effect, this also has set presets of colour grade which I can use, and also allowed me to transform the faded film, sharpen, vibrance and saturation of my scene too. These are important as they will allow me to adjust the quality and focus of my footage which is key to making my scene look more professional.
I then had to create an adjustment layer, then add 'Lumetri colour' to that layer and select the 'High Dynamic Range'. Then it said to change the bps to 32bps in order for the colouring to work on the adjustment layer. Then go back to the effect and change the tone settings to fit my scene, for this I enhanced the contrast, highlights, whites and blacks to allow for my scene to look more focused and sharp. Once I finished that, the tutorial said to open the curves tab and choose colour wheel on the effect. This allowed me to tint the shadows, mid tones, highlights and HDR specular on my footage. For this again, I chose a blueish tint to create a more sorrowful visual and to capture the melancholic mood. Then lastly I need to open up 'key' on the effect and adjust my colouring tone with the varied colours. For this one, again I used a blueish tone and gave it a slightly faded effect to capture the overall sad mood of the scene. This also links back to my inspiration fo A Ghost Story as I was heavily inspired by the use of coldness in colour for their film and wanted to capture the same in mine as it reflects the motions of isolation and sadness very well.
Overall, I found this tutorial very useful as I believe it allows me to have more control over the layers and depth of my colour grading and I will be using this technique when in post production of my film.
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I again have created another tutorial on how I colour graded my scene, following this tutorials advice. I have created this tutorial for myself so that I can refresh my memory when in post production and remember how I colour graded to capture the right tone for my film. The video above too is a before and after of the colouring grading that I created using After Effects. To conclude, I preferred the look of this colour grading and will be using it in when I am in the post production of my film because I feel it captures the atmosphere and tone more than the previous colouring I created did.
SCRIPTWRITING
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To research more into how I can approach my writing and the overall effective techniques used thoughout film, I read through an article by StudioBinder. This articles when through steps on how I can achieve and portray certain personalities and relationships of my characters, both through my writing and framing. It also showed me scenes that were good examples of this and gave me tips of developing characters and how to express my narrative through dialogue and action. I found this article very useful as it has helped me reflect upon my storyline and how I will portray it in my script.
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The link to the article is shown below - StudioBinder
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https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/6-essential-screenwriting-tips-for-writing-better-movie-dialogue/
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I have listed some useful advice from the article and have described how it has helped me develop my scriptwriting ideas. The first point that the article made was how action in your script should be used as a way for the characters to communicate, without always needing dialogue. It also said how you should 'read between the lines' and hint or reveal something without literally capturing it. I found this point interesting as I personally will be using this idea with my film by having the protagonist keep her supply of drugs in a box or jar of medicine cream, this is to disguise the fact that her drugs are in there and reveals to the audience through action, that she has a dependancy upon these drugs as she has to be secretive about it and consistently keeps returning to them, without the use of dialogue to show this.
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Another point that the article made was how when writing your script, the framing is very important in showing a connection or disconnection between characters. It stated how OTS (over the shoulder) shots tell the audience that there is a connection between the characters, but a singe shot disconnects them. I will be using this technique in my film to portray the relationship between the father and daughter in my film. One of the ways I will do this is to have the single shot used to capture the isolation of both characters and how the daughter feels neglected by her father. The shot will only frame here, even when she is with another presence, in order to enhance her feelings of loneliness. Nearer the end of my film, I would like the two characters to converse and confine in one another, using the OTS shot. This will allow me to reveal the relationship development in my film and show how the characters have become more connected to one another, using framing.
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The next point that the article made was how you have to develop characters by capturing them in their daily lives and show the nature of them with deeds. I liked this technique and will be using it in my film when looking at my protagonist as the opening scene is of her in her natural environment, of being at home and you see her eventually become lonely as her father is not present. This will capture her daily life as the audience will understand that she is repeatedly let down and neglected from her father. The article also mentioned how you need to give your characters a unique voice and tempo. As I am currently developing my narrative with storyboards and am writing my script, this point helped me question how I will give my characters their own voice. After reflecting upon it, I have chosen for my protagonist to be quite hyper and intense with her emotions. I thought this would fit her character arc quite well and give her more originality. For the father, I would lie him to be cold and stern, but then for him to slowly be revealed as quite humorous when in a good mood, this will give him more depth and allow for the audience to gather the varied layers of his personality. As I did not want to stereotype him as the 'bad father', because he is pre occupied with work and is neglectful fo his daughter, but it does not mean his is bad intentionally, he is only unaware.
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The article also spoke upon how you should give your characters a bit of backstory through dialogue, one of the the ways I thought I could do this for my film was to have a scene between the protagonist and her father. I would have this be the first conversation you witness between them where the father is present mentally, however I would have backstory of the protagonist past be shown through their discussion of a shared old memory. The protagonist would recall the memory and try to have the father remember, however he does not and becomes agitated as she persists on recalling it. Although this is only the first glimpse of the scene and I will need to build more texture to it, I felt having a recall of a memory they shared would be a way for me to introduce backstory but also to show how deep rooted the neglect she feels is.
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Lastly, the article stated how you should have logical conflict in your film and only have it be necessary for the scene. I want to have conflict in my film be peaked half way through, this would consist of the protagonist having an argument with her father and their true emotions are revealed to one another, show would confront him about his neglect and I would have him confront her about the shift in her behaviour (as she will be becoming progressively worse in her addiction).
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To conclude I found this article very useful in helping me be more prepared for whiting my script as it has helped me reflect upon how I will create my characters personalities and show relaitonship dynamics using action. It has also taught me more about how to structure my film and that not everything needs to be established in the beginning. Overall it was profoundly informaitve on tips and advice for a beginner writer like myself and I will use it as a foundation to help improve my script.
The video below is a guide to making a short film - Tyler Mowery
To learn more about writing a short film, I watched the video above. This video was from a youtube channel called Tyler Mowery and went through an example of a successful short film and ways that you can structure your own short using a technique called the story circle. I found this technique incredibly useful and it has helped me understand how I will structure and develop my narrative. This technique has been the most useful out of all that I have researched, this is because I feel it is clear and simple in is vague stages, but allows you to apply any story into the stages and create your own world. I liked how accessible this technique and it has truly allowed me to flesh out my storyline for my film.
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The story circle goes through eight stages, the first step showing the 'comfort zone' in your film. Which in my film will be shown when I introduce the characters in their natural environment, being their home. It will establish the loneliness that the protagonist feels as her father is being neglectful as his work is consuming him. This reveals the relationship dynamics and the characters normality.
The second step is showing the need or desire in the protagonist, for my film this will be the protagonist's addiction and need to escape reality. Her addiction will be revealed early on in the film and will challenge her moral compass as the plot progresses.
The third step being an 'unfamiliar situation' and in my film this will be shown through the protagonist's struggle to find money to purchase drugs as she has been fired from her job; which cuts any money flowing to feed her addiction.
The fourth step is adaptation, in my film the adaptation will come from her stealing from her father. However a huge amount of guilt and shame comes from this and leads her deeper into her addiction as the reality of guilt becomes unbearable. She will steal from her father only once though as he will be giving her money to spend on food.
The fifth step, is 'get what you wanted' which is both her drugs to feed her addiction, and her father's mood has become more optimistic and caring as his work is paying off finically which leads her to feel even more shame as he is starting to connect with her more but she feels unworthy because of the moral challenges (stealing) that her addiction has brought her.
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The sixth step is 'pay the price' which in my film refers to the protagonist's father finding her secret stash of her drugs and it will be revealed this is a relapse and not the first time she has been through addiction.
The seventh step is return to comfort, in this case I wanted the father to create breakfast for his daughter, this reverts back to the beginning of the film where I will have the protagonist try make breakfast for him but he is not home. I wanted to have a link to the beginning to show the development and shift in characters and allow for the audience to witness the father more caring than he seemed. As the protagonist tried to give him love, but he was not there to witness it, not without realising he is returning it.
The eighth step is change. The father in my film will show this as he will wait to confront her about her relapse, but does so not with a firm tone, instead he just asks for understanding and honesty as guilt is brought upon him because he feels shameful that she did not tell him she relapsed. The protagonist opens about about how she has been feeling isolated and tells him she used his money for drugs and not food. Both characters are finally connected and we witness them change as the connection they both needed form one another concludes the film.
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To conclude, I found this narrative structure/circle very useful as it has helped me breakdown my film's plot so that I can draw from it as a guide and begin to write my script. This story circle also allowed me to breakdown and reinforce themes in my film, such as guilt, shame, connection etc. and I will be able to reflect upon them when wiring as it has allowed me to achieve a more solidified narrative for my short film. These eight steps work both in feature and short films and I found it the most useful writing tool yet.
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Storyboarding
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To research more into developing a storyboarding for my film, I wanted to look at an article and a video that covered how to sketch storyboards properly with clear points on how to capture narrative through framing. An article that I looked at which helped me understand the different parts I need to intertwine and include from my narrative into my storyboard was from the article below.
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The link to the storyboard article - https://www.creativebloq.com/advice/master-the-art-of-storyboarding
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I found this article very useful as it broke down storyboarding in 10 stages. The first stage was 'get your ideas on paper'. For my storyboard, I will make sure I do this by creating a list of scene ideas, shot types etc and reflect upon them when creating my storyboard, this will allow me to keep my ideas together and visually portray them in my storyboard. The next stage is 'cut and shuffle ideas into panels'. With my storyboard, I will do this by having three shot types per page, this will enable me to see the collective of shots I captured in my scene and that way I can see how they flow together. I also will be listing the scenes in order so that I can organise my collection of shots.
The next stage was 'don't linger on the opening scene', for my film I will try and avoid 'lingering' by having the shots be short but meaningful. The opening shot of my film will be of my protagonist making breakfast for her father, the audience and the protagonist are soon revealed that he is not present and has left for work. The meaning behind this scene is to capture the loneliness and neglect the protagonist feels currently form her father. I want the shots to be quite short to reflect the fast pace of the protagonist's intense and hyper personality, but also to avoid elongating the opening scene and making it drag. The next stage the article stated was 'keep thing flexible' by saying this they meant you should try and include wiring in your storyboards instead of just having the shot type. In my storyboard, I will be adding a brief statement on the action within the shot and describe a little but about the scene. However, the will only be very brief in note form. Doing this also allows me to remember the important details of both the dialogue and action in the shots too. The fifth stage said to 'embrace random ideas', I will try and absorb as much useful and creative ideas that I collect along the way. However, I do not want to add in pointless visuals that have no input or use in reflecting the narrative or characters. The next step was too 'explore character narratives', I will be mainly developing my characters thorough out my scriptwriting but will have the visuals and shot types reflect the characters arcs.
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The next stage said to 'make every frame count'. For my film, I will be using a range of shot types to express either the characters emotions or relationship, or to just give context to the scene. For example, in the beginning of my film I want my protagonist and her father to have single framed shots when conversing, this is to reflect their disconnected relationship. By the end of the film, I want the characters to have them framed in the same shot together, preferably as mid close up, this would show their progression in connection and how they are no in tune with one another, not separated. The next stage the article recommends is to 'define your characters'. in my film, I will be defining my characters by establishing them in their natural environment and daily cycle of life, this will reveal the surfaces of my characters and you will slowly see them unravel and be more exposed to who they truly are. My film's plot is character driven, therefore I will be defining my characters throughout the film.
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The next stage the article stated was 'think beyond what's on the page', in my storyboard, I am aware when it comes to filming in production some shots will be different and the lighting will be varied. However, I am going to also adapt to my surrounding my production and will establish more of my storyboard ideas when blocking as this will allow me to 'think beyond' my sketches and allow me to be in the moment and present in my film's location. The last stage that there article stated was that I need to 'embrace feedback'. I will do this by retaining feedback from my father and sister who are both huge collaborators on my project as my father will be acting and my sister will be the cinematographer. It will be useful to receive feedback from them as I create my storyboard because they are aware of my storyline and will help me develop ideas that relate to my plot and characters.
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To conclude, I found this article a useful part of my research as it has prepared for when I create my storyboard by allowing me to reflect upon what I need to take into account and the meanings behind my framing and camera angles. My film will be roughly 10-15 minutes and I will sketch my storyboard in a stick man style as I am not focused on perfecting my drawing, but instead want to have the action and framing be the more important part of my storyboard.
I also watched the video above of 'How to make a storyboard' by Studio binder. I found this fairly helpful although it covered a lot of points that I already know. Such as types of sketching, using boxes etc. The main point that I found useful was when it stated how you should use arrows, both to show panning and angles. For my storyboard, I want to write pan in or out and have the framing be of the start of the shot. This will help me know where to begin panning from. I will use arrows when writing details to my framing too to establish important add ons in the scene.
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camera techniques
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To look more into camera work, angles and shot types. I researched into shooting film on an iPhone. As for this project, I am restricted on resources to shoot with, so I wanted to look at how other phone filmmakers capture film and the tips and advice they recommend to beginners. The video I have shown below is from a YouTube channel by Ryan Camp who discussed filmmaking on an iPhone and spoke about what apps create a similar effect of VSLR cameras and how to obtain their same effect.
In the video above, the first piece of advice they gave was to shoot horizontally on your iPhone as it will capture a more professional look and will allow you to obtain the correct aspect ratio later on. The next tip it gave was to purchase or download a video camera app, the one it recommended is called FiLMiC Pro, they said how this video app allows you to change the aspect ratio, resolution and white balance of your iPhone camera. I found this very useful as I was unaware that I could use an app to create and mirror the same settings and effects of a VSLR. If I download the app, it will help me immensely as I will be able to have more control over my film's cinematography. The video also recommenced that you change your camera's aspect ration, using the video app, to 16:9 or 23:9 as they will give you a cinematic look. The video also said how you should use 24 frames per second, again using the video app. It also stated that you should plan out your shots before shooting them, this I already knew to do as I am going to create a shot list and storyboard for my film, however this YouTube video emphasised my reasoning for planning them. The video lately stated that I should adjust my settings when in post production. Thankfully, I am fortunate enough to have access to Adobe After Effects, and will be able to adjust the quality of my film to 1080p if I capture it in HD using the video app, and I will also be Abel to adjust the aspect ratio of my editing software in order to capture the cinematic look and definition fo my film.
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To conclude, I believe this video was very useful as I now know that I should purchase the video app it recommenced because it will help me capture a high quality and wide screen visual that I want for my film. I will need to purchase this app, but I believe it will be worth it as it will benefit my film's production process and improve the professionalism of my film.
The image above also depicts a guide that I will use when thinking about the shot types I want to use in my film, as I liked how it stated both the shots, angles and movement which I will take into account when writing my script, listing shot types and creating my storyboard. I found this image to be clear and straightforward in briefly covering the types and styles of shooting I can use within my film and hope to use this small part of my research in my film's cinematography.
sound
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For this project, as I creating a film, I want to include sound and music. I personally love music, especially when scores and soundtracks in film help intensify the atmosphere and ambience in the narrative. For my film, I will be researching into foley sounds and see how you can create them yourself, as I would love to experiment with making my own sounds for my film, as I believe it will allow me to expand upon my creative skills and give me full freedom to transform them into my film. I will also be researching music from film inspirations of mine and see how they used music in their film and how it impacted the moment, scene or storyline. I feel it is important I find music for my film that is quite subtle and not too intense as I feel it may overpower the emotions in my films scenes. However, I will only decide on my music in post production as I do not want to limit myself to a sound until I have watched my film, that way I can truly explore the different style of music and see which fits best with my film. To state what sound effects and foley sound are, I have stated their definitions below:
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Sound effect - A sound other than speech or music made artificially for use in a play, film, or other broadcast production.
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Foley sound - Relating too or concerned with the addition of recorded sound effects after the shooting of a film.
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Foley sounds used in 'A Quiet Place' Film - Movie Insider
The video I watched above helped me understand how the sound engineers for the film 'A Quiet Place' (2018), created the foley sounds for the film. One of the things that I found interesting from this video, was how experimental the sound engineers were. For instance, to create the sound of the monster breathing in this film, they electrically shocked a grape. Once they slowed the audio down in post production, it created the ideal gargled breath that was very fitting for the monster. This foley sound helped intensify the atmosphere of the film, as it allowed for the monster to have its own unique voice and sounded quite mechanical, making very uncomfortable for the listener, which effectively worked as the film was a horror.
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Another part of the video that I found intriguing was how they created the different types of footsteps for the film. For instance, when the characters in the film walked on sand, the sound engineers would walk on a sand, in time with the characters footsteps. They also used varied types of materials to walk on, depending on the scene's location. I found it useful to know that they record in time with the scenes and edit them in post production as I was unaware of how hands on and practical the foley sounds are to create. This video has inspired me to try and created my own sounds for my film. An example of where I can create a foley sound in my film would be doors closing or opening, footsteps. I will test creating these by recording the sound on my phone, then layering them in post production over a scene.
Overall, I found this video to be very informative on foley sounds as it showed me how they created particular sounds for characters and also how they created a group of sounds by editing them in post production. This video has taught me more about the practicality of foley sounds and has given me inspiration to try and create my own.
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A Theory of Film Music - Dan Golding
The video essay describes the ways in which film music has been recycled and how the transformation of digital sound has impacted film in today's society. I watched this video as I thought it will help give me more insight into the impact music has upon film and educate me more on the history of film music too. The beginning of the video discusses how the music in the original Star Wars film were recycled from old westerns and that the melody was transformed and was not original. The video also described how during that period in film (late 70s), music was very expensive to make for films as composers would need to hire the musicians and would've had to record practically, not digitally as music had not progressed that far in technology yet. One of the composers the video spoke on was Hans Zimmer and how he has changed music in film forever. For instance, Zimmer is one of the first composers to digitally create the scores for films himself and then synth mixers, sound mixers would do the finishing touches in post production. This digitalised way of making music is not only cheaper, but quicker to make and is now one of the main ways composers create music today.
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I found this information on music's transformation very insightful as I was unaware of how music developed overtime as technology progresses. However, this video did not cover much about how music impacts the audience member, besides it briefly discussing how a melody and harmony stay in your memory more. To learn about how film music impacts our brains and how I can find a connection of music for my film, I will be doing so more research into film music's effect in film.
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How film scores play with our brains - Now You See It
The video I watched above was more informative on how sound is used to intensify or enhance emotion. It covered both a contextual and historical views on how music forms a psychological impact upon our and how that plays a part in a film's emotion and plot. The video described the difference between a soundtrack and a score. I have listed the definitions of both below so that I can remember and familiarise myself with these terms:
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Soundtrack - A recording of the musical accompaniment of a film.
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Score - A film score is the music composed specifically for the movie to serve and enhance the story.
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To clarify, I will be creating a small soundtrack for my film and may test out some piano chords and guitar riffs on GarageBand to see whether I can create a score for my film. I will only practise creating music in pre production and then if I felt confident enough to create a small score for my film, I will do so in post production, but I will try and test out making some sombre music that would fit the melancholic atmosphere of my film before I settle on anything.
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The video also discussed the varied ways music is used in film. For instance, it stated how old films created the foundations of psychological impacts in film. Such as heroes in films are seen to be captured with uplifting anthems, sad scenes have sombre and low music and chase/action scenes tend to have a fast tempo. These basic uses of music in film have created an underlying statement and have been repeatedly used throughout film's existence and are still used today, due to their successful impact on film's atmospheres. I found this video to be very informative as I now have more of an insight into how these styles of sounds and music collide to form human emotion and psychologically are imbedded in our mind, when we hear these different ranges of music. An example of how music can work in a scene, is with classic film, Psycho (1960). The video stated that in Psycho the composer, Bernard Herrmann created an alarm sound in the iconic murder scene, this was specific as it has been proven that alarms create feelings of anxiety. Herrmann uses the alarm sound to amplify the intense scene and adds to the audience's anxiety which successfully achieves the horror scene.
This video has taught me more about how music can dominate and impact audiences emotion, through music. I will take into account the tones and styles that I could create for my film, whether that be me creating the music or making my own soundtrack and will use the knowledge I have gained from the video, into my film. For instance, I want my film to have an weighing melancholic atmosphere that lingers, as if it is a reflection of how addiction is a disease and hangs above those who suffer from it. A way in which I can portray this is through music. I am personally inspired by harmonic piano melodies, seen in Hans Zimmer's song called 'Cornfield Chase' for the film Interstellar (2014) which capture the essence of hope and life and Michael Giacchino's song 'Married Life' in the animated film Up (2009) which captures the heartbreak of loosing a loved one and the nostalgia of shared memories. I want to use these songs as inspiration and will find music that I feel will fit with my film's narrative and ambience, through listing to different songs and soundtracks. As well as this, I will try and attempt to create my own song for my film too, as I believe it will challenge me but also give me experience in delving deeper into my filmmaking process and creativity.
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My practise of creating my own music - using GarageBand
The video above is my first attempt at trying to create a score for my film. Overall I enjoyed experimenting with the different instruments on GarageBand. However, the music I created I felt lacked in subtleness and if used in my film would be too overpowering. I also believe my music sounded too Sci-Fi. To conclude my practise attempt, I believe I could improve for next time by adding a more melodic and raw sound, this I believe will allow my music to sync into the background of my film and be a small enhancer of emotion. The image above is a screenshot of my GarageBand layout and shows the different layers and instruments I used to create my music. I found GarageBand a very useful app for creating music and it's simple structure is easy to navigate the varied instruments and sounds.
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Foley sound test and practise
To practise creating foley sounds and editing them, I devised a small scene where someone runs up a flight of stairs and slams a door. The foley sounds I created for this scene were the footsteps, sigh exhale and the door opening and closing. I thought these simple sounds would be good to practise as my film will be in a naturalsitic setting and will not involve artificial sounds. I recorded the sounds using my phone and Macbook. To record them, I muted my footage and watched the scene, then mimicked the original sounds separately. I recorded on my phone the footstep sound by lightly running on the spot, on my carpet, this mimicked the sound of me running up the steps and I thought it was the best sounding foley I created out of all three. The next foley sound I created was the door opening and closing, for this I recorded it on my MacBook voice memos and simply recorded me opening and closing a door. However, had to watch the footage as I did this in order for it to be in time with the scene. I then lastly, created the sigh foley sound. To do this I recorded my voice sighing on my MacBook memos and layered onto the door slamming foley to create a more impactful and forceful scene.
I have put a screenshot above of my foley sounds edited on top of my footage. I used After Effects to edit my scenes together and layer my sounds. Overall I found this test to be quite successful, however I do believe my foley sounds were not loud enough, although I increased the sound of my audios they still were not loud enough. To improve for next time, I will record closer to the mic and make sure that I am in a enclosed location so that the sound can echo and be more intense. The atmos track I used in this short clip was from YouTube, I did not create myself. However I would like to attempt to create my own atmos track to expand upon my sound engineering skills. To conclude, I found testing these foley sounds to be very useful as part fo my research because it has taught me more about accuracy and how I can improve and experiment with the resources around me to capture a more impactful or subtle sound.
short films
As I will be creating a short film for this project, I thought it would be useful to research and watch some, in order for me to understand them structurally and for them to hopefully give me inspiration. Also, I will be watching varied types of short films to evaluate how the genre's and styles change the film's outcome. I thought it would be a good idea to watch at least one on addiction, as that is my subject matter of choice and will show me how other media creators represent addiction, in a short film project. I also wanted to focus on my theme of mental health and find short films that referenced or represented this theme too, as it will help me see how other filmmakers portray sensitive topics and I can learn form them and put my knowledge of this into my film. Overall, my short film research is key to me understanding how they are devised and will allow me to progress my ideas for this project and might help me learn as an aspiring filmmaker.
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Addicted Short Film by Michael Scarnati on Youtube.
The short film above I watched because it covered the topic of addiction, I wanted to watch a film that addressed the same subject matter my film will as I felt it was important to see how other filmmakers approach and represent addiction. The cinematography of the film was very well executed and creative, their use of experimental angles has inspired me to test different shot types for my film and be more creative with my visuals. I also liked the film's little use of dialogue as many shots gave enough meaning without needing words. For instance, when the father was searching for his son, he drove past many parents with their children, I liked this use of imagery as it reflected the worry the father felt for his son. I also thought the film's subtle details were clever and insightful to the narrative, I also thought the storyline was unique when showing addiction as it represented addiction through two perspectives, one being the fathers struggle with alcoholism and then the slow reveal of the son's heroin addiction. I thought the filmmaker's decision to have the disease be shown by both characters was interesting, but it also worked well contextually as it showed how addiction can be hereditary.
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However, my main issues with the film was it's lack of optimism or hope, this may have been purposeful, but I felt it lacked in showing the connection between the characters or showing some guide to recovering or reflection. There is a scene nearer the end of the film where the son is talking to a woman and it is revealed he is struggling from addiction and the woman gives him a 12 step program leaflet, which he then crumples up. We witness all this action happen through the father's perspective, as he follows his son. I felt this scene was poor and could be improved by having the father find out his son is trying to get into recovery and then this motivates the father to recover too. As he is then given a motivation to better himself and try overcome his disease. I believe this would be give the film more hope and optimism. However, this is not the case and shortly after the father returns home, he find his son has died from an overdose on heroin. Again, I felt the ending of the film lacked in representing the chances of recovery and instead the film follows the repeated representation of how addiction is seen as always ending in death. The issue with this short film for me was the ending, although it represented addiction well in terms of showing suffering, I believe it lacked in also giving hope to those who may be suffering or know someone battling with the disease.
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I also felt the film could have done with more heart as it only showed the depressive states of the characters and made them quite two dimensional because they were given no layers. I felt there was a lack of personality in both characters and I as an audience member was never truly shown who they were as people, besides their addiction.
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To conclude, I feel this film was useful as it gave me a new insight into how addiction can be represented and I feel the actual visuals of the film were inspiring and have given me some ideas of how I could experiment with my cinematography. I also felt the structure had a good pace and ran smoothly. But overall, I felt it lacked in many places and was missing the personality in this character driven story.
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Entre Deux - Short Film by Myriam Doumenq - Vimeo
The short film above, I found through social media as the protagonist who features in the film is an actress called Pauline Chalamet and I have admired some of the short films she has previously acted in and wanted to watch her latest short that she had been apart of, by including it into my short film research. The film links to my mental health theme as well because it covers how stress and pressure can effect a person and also represents addiction, as the protagonist is addicted to nicotine and uses it as a coping mechanism to deal with the pressure she is faces.
The narrative and cinematography were my favourite part about this film, as the storyline was simple but layered and I felt I got to know the protagonist's personality well. I also liked how the shot types were used to reference an object of importance or establish the setting. The use of repeated mid frames of the protagonist created intimacy and captured the emotion clearly, this allowed for me to empathise with the character as you see her struggle with her parents and the pressures she is put under, by them, as we were shown her emotional through the framing of her expression. The film also repeatedly referenced the protagonist's nicotine addiction to cigarettes, as her coping mechanism of dealing with the stress she is under. I thought the way they captured her stress, by having both the emotional representation and showing her ways of dealing with it was clever and created a more real tone as it allowed for the humanity of the character to be revealed, through the mirrored imagery of her weakness.
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I also admired how the film was very realistic through its simplicity, as we follow the protagonist's daily life and become hopeful for her to achieve her aspirations as we establish her desires early on in the narrative. This made the film's pace steady and structurally worked as it made a compelling, by allowing the audience to understand the protagonist's current struggle be balanced with the unfolding of her aspirations as see them come true. I also felt the structure of the film was very strong and worked effectively as we follow the protagonist and are only told something once she finds out. This style of structure I felt worked organically, as by the end of the film, it is revealed the protagonist achieves her aspirations, as she is accepted into her desired college. I found the film's reflection of the protagonist's needs to be very inspiring, for my film, I would like to have my character's desires to be established early on, as I feel it sets the introduction of the characters clearly and gives them personality. I also liked how the film had a conclusive ending in terms of showing the protagonist achieving her wants and I also thought the steady pace the film had was very effective in telling the narrative, by allowing the audience to appreciate and witness the world of the protagonist.
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The only issue I had with the film was the lack of presence of the protagonist's parents, although we see her communication between them on the phone, I feel having a scene with the protagonist and her parents conversion face to face, would have allowed for the pressure she is under, by them to be more provident and I feel would have emphasised how straining and controlling they truly were.
Overall, I believe this short was very good and thought it was a useful part of my short film research as it taught me lots about character development and I will use it as an inspirations to learn how to represent characters in a realistic setting and create a structure that fits my narrative.
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The Neighbours' Window - Short Film by Marshall Curry - Youtube
The short film above, I found through my Youtube recommendations and thought the cover for the film looked intriguing. After watching this short, I learned that it was focused upon two main themes, one being age and two being loneliness, which all luckily link into my theme of mental health. The basis of the film, reveals how perception and observation does not always reveal the truth and that we as people can find connection and relation with one other emotionally, if we look across a room or down a street. For me, I found it expressed how that even though you may feel like your the only person feeling a certain emotion, remind yourself someone else it too and that your not alone.
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My favourite part about the film was the characters, although some were dislikable, I found their portrayal to be very real and honest. The structure and slow pace allowed me to be familiar with the characters personalities and desires. I have found that with the short films I find most enjoyable and capture the strongest characters, are ones that establish the characters wants and needs within the opening act, as this allows for a progression of the storyline and allows for the pace to become steady. I want to do the same in order to create a good pace for my film and this character development will hopefully form a compelling beginning to my film.
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To continue my point about the films positives, I also found the emphasis on time being shown through the main characters (middle aged couple) fears of growing older, was very clever as later on in the plot, their neighbours, who are a youthful couple they desired and were envious of, had very little time left with each other as the male in that relationship passed away from cancer. The use of reflecting time in this film, to be something we should appreciate as people and accept ageing as an experience of life, for me was very insightful and I thought it intertwined perfectly with both the second theme of loneliness. Theses two themes in this film were tied well together because the feelings of loneliness and longing for time or to reverse time, were mirrored between the two female characters (one being the middle aged woman, the other being the youthful neighbour).
The structure helps show this again, as the middle aged woman finds out at the end, when meeting her neighbour that she too was observing their family and watched with her husband (before he passed away) the couple play with their children. This cyclical visual of desire and observation from both characters I thought was very emotive as you witnessed how in the beginning the middle couple wanted to reverse time after watching their neighbours, because they were jealous of their youthfulness and passionate love and then by the end it is hinted that the youthful couple wanted children in the future after they observed the middle aged couple with their family. I was really inspired by the film's layered representation of these themes and found it to be very inspiring, and for my film it has made me realise I would like to combine the themes of connection and mental health in my short, in order to create a realistic depiction of my subject matter and create a depth and development with my characters, alike this film.
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The cinematography and lighting in the film was very clear and crisp as the quality was immaculate. The warm toned lighting also emphasises the illusion of the character's environment, as they may seem 'warm' and 'happy', but deep down they are struggling. I also really liked the films use of experimental shots with the perspective of looking through binoculars (as the character does) and the use of extreme wide shots of the window to give the audience a POV of the characters observation. I thought the tracking and smoothness of shots worked well too as it created a realistic feel and allowed for the space of the setting to be crammed, to imitate the hectic mess children can create, which puts the audience in a more intimate viewing of the characters and allows for my empathy as we are exposed to their personal lives and home.
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The negatives I found in this film to be very minimal, overall I thoroughly enjoyed it as I found the underlying message to be expressive and important. However, I felt there was a lack of moments that captured the main characters with their children. I thought the ending of the film would be more wholesome if there had previously been more shots of the family enjoying time together with their children as it only represented parenthood to be a drag and draining. At the end of the film, the neighbour states how she admires the family and their connections with their children, I believe this would have had more meaning if we as the audience were given a glimpse into the connection she discusses. Although, I am aware this was probably an artistic choice because we mainly focused upon the perspective of the parents and were given a window sight into their lives as parents, which is realistically captured as exhausting. However, I do feel it would have been nice to witness the neighbours perspective too.
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To conclude, I thoroughly enjoyed this film and found it to be the best short film out of all three that I have seen so far. I found it's narrative to be inspiring as it raised themes of life that are real and apply to current society. I also liked the visuals and how they amplified the audience's perspective into the characters lives. Overall, this short was very useful towards my research and has helped me reflect upon my film ideas as I will use inspiration from it's fluid structure and theme representation, by establishing and being more aware of my film's flow and development.
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The Fall - Short Film by Jonathan Glazer - BBC iPlayer
The image above (when clicked) will take you to BBC iPlayer, where you can watch the short film for free.
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The short film above, I found through social media posted by the production company, A24 as they recommend this film because the director Jonathan Grazer has previously worked with the production company on some of his films. After watching the short, I was captivated and curious as to its meaning, this is because the two issues the films raise, being mob violence and betrayal, are hugely relevant to current society and throughout history. I will discuss later an article I read that covered Grazer's inspiration for his film, that helped give me insight and historical context to the film's meaning.
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One of the creative decisions I liked about this film was that it has no dialogue, I felt this allowed for more anxiety as the anticipation fills the air, I also believe this idea was purposeful and is a reflection of how those who that suffer from such horrific crimes are silenced in real life. The cinematography also allows for no need of dialogue as it guides the narrative and acts like a narrator, as the camera becomes the main window into the action that goes on. The visuals enhance the tense and worrisome emotions the audience are exposed to, as the slow paced wide shots are held and we witness the gang members rival and attempt to hang one of their members. The pace in shots fluctuates as they are short and cut quickly when the mob are grabbing and photographing their 'prey', who is a member of theirs. Then the shots are held when we wait to see the noose be pulled, this indifference in pace allows the film to play with the audiences emotions and I found worked very effectively with increasing empathy and concern for the main characters life.
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I also really liked how Grazer used props to express the storyline meaning. I believe the mask props the mob members wore as a disguise, allowed for the basis of the violence to be representative as something anyone can commit, making the audience have no say on the specification or type of people that would represent the mob; as no ethnicity, gender or race is revealed. This I felt was clever and effective as it shows that violence should not be stereotyped and how anyone can commit acts of hate and murder, allowing for the audience to be fearful of how people can join to inflict harm upon one another, whether it be from their fear or an act caused by indoctrination. The other prop that I felt worked successfully was the rope (noose) as we capture it being pulled vigorously down a tunnel, the shot is held and slowly pans in, which I found was effective as it creates anticipation by not knowing when it will stop and whether it means the main character is dead. The meaning I drew from the rope was that it symbolises the betrayal in the film, as the main character is part of the mob, but is to be murdered by his own members. As rope knots have connection with trust and control, I felt it fitted well with the visuals and how the mob members have power of the main characters life.
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The last shot of the film for me was very creative and meaningful as we saw how the main character survived. The shot captured a high angle wide shot of him crawling his way our of a small tunnel in the ground that moved upwards towards the sky, with vast distance to go. The angle used created the effect that we as the audience were down in the tunnel with him as if we were experiencing his struggle. I thought this was effective as it reflects how anyone can experience violence and puts the audience in the perspective of those who experience suffering, such as violence and how they still fight for freedom and survival.
The lighting in the last shot was also effective as the only bit of light that came from the tiny sky view above him created meaning by being shot above him in centre frame, as if forms references of good vs evil using a light and dark imagery. The small view of the sky light also mirrors the little hope he has to escaping, but shows how it is not impossible.
The film ends as he is still crawling up the tunnel and as the credits roll we hear his feet gripping the walls. I liked how the film ended on a cliffhanger as it allows the audience to make their own meaning behind the light, whether it be a reference to religious connotations of heaven, if he does not escape, or if it be symbolism for his freedom. Either way I found this idea to be very inspiring and wanted to do the same in my film by having my ending be unsure of what happens to the character, however it leaves you hopeful.
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To conclude, this short has given me little inspiration in terms of its execution, as it is very stylised and my film will be more realism based, I do believe it was an excellent film that covered a wide range of issues and has philosophical and historical meanings that draw issues from the real world, creating an important message for the public. Which similarly I want to do with my film.
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Link to an article about Grazer discussing his inspirations for his short film, 'The Fall'.
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https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/oct/27/jonathan-glazer-the-fall-nazism
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After watching this film, I wanted to understand more about the meaning behind it. To do so, I found this article above, it stated how Grazer drew inspiration from many sources that vary both historically and contextually. One of the most recent events that inspired Grazer to have the mob members photograph their victim, was after he witnessed a photograph of Donald trump Jr and Eric Trump with a leopard they murdered while trophy hunting. Grazer spoke upon how "the masks mix early man and modern social protest – half Neanderthal, half Vendetta". I found it to be very interesting that Grazer drew off current issues and that his inspiration of trophy hunting slaughters by people, are almost a reflection and raise awareness to how murders of people are equal in that they should not be praised for these violent acts and the pride that seems to come with those who commit these horrific events should be stopped, not encouraged, or seen as a 'right', especially when a life is taken.
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Grazer also spoke about how he was influenced by a Bertolt Brecht poem and the following lines stuck with him, “In the dark times / Will there also be singing? Yes, there will also be singing / About the dark times.” The article stated very little about why he was inspired by these lines, but after reflecting upon them, I felt that they related to his short film because the idea that dark events have memories and imprint onto society, whether they are currently happening or have been, hope and freedom is something that people will fight for and hold onto it, even in the most dark of times, like the main character does in Grazer's film, as he continues to climb up the tunnel, reaching for survival.
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Lastly the article stated that Grazer was also inspired by a Goya self-portrait called The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters. Again, the article spoke little of why Grazer was inspired, however, I analysed the artwork and saw the mirrored similarities between his film and the drawing as both had swarms of objects (being the mob in the film, being birds in the drawing) surrounding the centre figure. Also the two centre figures, being the main characters in these two art forms are very much vulnerable in their physical and mental states are surrounded by darkness. I believe that Grazer was inspired by the drawing's heavy tone of wickedness and exposure to human fragility. It also shows how the 'group mob' or in the case of Goya's portrait being a 'flock' of monsters are seen to be weighing the protagonists and those signed out and targeted feel suffocation and terrified.
MENTAL HEALTH (ADDICtion) -RESEARCH
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Previously I have described in both my pitch and developed ideas, I have chosen my theme for this project to be mental health. I will be looking at the subject matter of painkiller addiction, neglect and anxiety within mental health as I want to represent it in my film, through the protagonist. The anxiety and neglect will be a the main reasoning for my protagonist's dependancy on painkillers. I am very passionate about raising awareness for addiction and felt it would be a good topic to research from my theme. As addiction is a sensitive topic, it can be easily glamorised and mis represented. In order for me to successfully capture addiction, neglect and anxiety in my film without failing to represent it, I have to gather and obtain as much knowledge as possible on the subjects, in order to portray them with justice. One of the ways in which I will research into addiction is by watching films that have depicted it realistically and I will also be watching documentaries and reading novels/memoirs too of people who actually struggle with addiction, to learn and develop a deeper scope into the perspective of an addict. I will be reading articles and watching documentaries on anxiety and neglect to portray it with realism too and can link them to my research of addiction too.
Beautiful boy - film
The image below is a still shot from the film Beautiful Boy. The two actor featured are Steve Carell performing as David Sheff on the right and Timotheé Chalamet performing as Nic Sheff on the left.
Beautiful boy is a film that was released in 2018 and was directed by Phoenix Van Groeningen. The film is based upon two memoirs; Beautiful Boy written by David Sheff, performed by Steve Carell and Nic Sheff's Tweak, acted by Timothee Chalamet. I have read both of these memoirs and will discuss their importance to my research later on. I wanted to re watch Beautiful Boy for my research as I found it was successful in depicting a scoped view of both witnessing an addict and being one. The film's focuses more on the father's narrative but gives glimpses into the son's personal perspective too. I found this balance very insightful as you could empathise with both characters and learn how addiction is a disease that harms those who suffer from it and those who witness it. The film is very effective in portraying its subject matter as it does not glamourise addiction. The film reflects the horror of addiction by using no filter to the protagonist's moral struggle and downward spiral of his crystal meth dependancy.
The film covers both the relapses and recovery stages of Nic Sheff's addiction, I felt this was important to show, as many films just reveal a recovery stage, when in reality, relapse is apart of recovery and it can take someones whole life to finally be clean. I found this also inspiring for my film as I thought that I should include both slip ups and relapses of my protagonist falling back into her addiction to give my film more realism and representation of the truth within addiction.
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Looking more into the spectrum of addiction that is shown in this film, I learned more about the recovery stages of this disease and how some addicts who are fortunate enough, will have sponsors. Theses sponsors will act as a guide and support system for them, although you have to be willing to recover in order for the process to be successful. For my film I will not be having a sponsor for the protagonist, but I wanted to find a similar support system by either having her go to a counsellor at the end of the film, or for her to confide in some form expression or art to be an outlet of her emotions. I will develop these ideas once I have progressed in my research. As I need expand upon my knowledge of addiction before solidifying my narrative for my protagonist.
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The film also includes flashbacks to represent the character development of Nic Sheff and you witness him age from a child to young adult, this age development helps show the progression of his isolation and you watch how their relationship become more distant; the deeper Nic's dependancy goes. The flashbacks also reveal Nic Sheff's dependancy on drugs and you witness his addiction become stronger. I found the character progression of Nic's past and how he became addicted to crystal meth very effective in portraying his addiction. I felt me as an audience member I grew with Nic in terms of experiencing his story and the intimacy shared, as it allowed for me to become more empathetic to his both his and his father's story.
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David Sheff's character is hugely important in representing addiction in this film as he captures the anguish that comes to those who witness a loved ones deterioration to the disease. The film gives more scope into David's perception of his son's addiction as it allows for the audience to see the impact it has upon his shoulders as a helpless parent. I found this very important when watching the film as it made you be faced with the hopelessness that David felt through his son's journey of his addiction. For my film, this idea of hopelessness I will be exploring through with neglect as the protagonist will be crying out for help, but feel as though no one is truly there for her.
The interview below is of Felix Van Groeningen on directing and adapting Beautiful Boy onto the screen - Kinowetter
The interview above is of Felix Van Groeningen discussing the challenges he faced when representing addiction in the film and also what he learned from it. One of the statements that Groeningen spoke was how he realised after reading Nic Sheff's memoir Tweak, how hard it is to break from the cycle of addiction once you're in it and that the shame and guilt brought from using forces you to spiral deeper into your addiction as you don't want to face reality.
This cycle is something that is reflected in the film through the repeated relapses of Nic and the struggle him and his father face when trying to draw him away from relapsing. I found this to be a very useful statement as it made me reflect upon it how I will represent my protagonist's addiction. I now know that where I place within my narrative the increased dependancy of my characters drug use. I will need to show a change and shift within her mentality too and reflect the shame that her drug use puts upon her as she alike Nic is living with loved ones. This will allow me to show the reality of the dark cycle of guilt that addiction brings upon addicts and will let me reveal the internal fight they face, to my audience.
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To conclude, this film was very useful for my addiction research as it gave me a wide spectrum of how the disease harms not just the addict but those around them. The film will be also be a very useful part of my research that I can draw influence and reflect from when creating my own film due to its realistic depiction of addition as it gives justice to the subject matter by capturing the genuine and raw emotions that come with this disease.
Tweak- memoir
The image below is of my personal copy of Tweak.
Tweak is a memoir written by Nic Sheff in 2007. After I watched the film Beautiful Boy that I have previously described above. I was very intrigued after researching more about the film, that it was based upon two memoirs; Tweak by Nic Sheff and Beautiful Boy by David Sheff, who is Nic Sheff's father. Tweak is in the perspective of Nic Sheff's personal struggle with crystal meth addiction and Beautiful Boy is the perspective of Nic's father David witnessing his son's battle with this disease. I wanted to re read both these memoirs because they will refresh my memory upon the subject matter of addiction and give me a true insight into the horror of it's reality. I can also use it as a guide and inspiration when representing addiction in my own film.
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Tweak is written in a chronological form as you follow Nic's most memorable experiences day by day. However, the book also dabbles into his past memories that are brought up from the nostalgia he feels in the current moment. I found the structure of the narrative to be very fast paced when reading the present days of his life as they are through the perspective of his addiction and then when reflecting on his past, the pace was slowed as if life paused for a moment. I found this balance a very good way of capturing the juggle between being his mentality of being torn between two worlds, one of a adrenaline drug dependancy underworld crossed with recovery and survival of the being sober. For my film, I was inspired by the memoir's diversions in perspective and wanted to represent addiction in a similar way by having my protagonist's life become more dependant upon feeling that high and straying from reality as it becomes more unbearable. I felt this would be a good way to reflect addiction, especially as it is very much real for addicts in today's society, Nic being an example.
One of the ways the film differs from the memoir is it only touches the surface of Nic's dependancy. In the memoir it goes into more detail about his personal experience with the more grousesome side of addiction, as you see the physical pain that he suffers through with having an infected abscess, collapsed veins and cold sweats in recovery. I found this was is very important to show when representing drug dependancy as it is part of the horror addiction brings upon addicts physically. For my film, I want to show this gruesome side of drug abuse by having my protagonist suffer from vomiting, cold sweats, exhaustion as they are all symptoms of painkiller abuse. I feel it is necessary for me to show this side of addiction as it is part of addicts reality and will allow for my film to have more of an impact upon my audience by giving them a raw perspective upon the physical issues substance abuse has upon addicts.
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Tweak is a very good memoir to read for my research as it gave me an in-depth exposure to Nic's personal addiction, although he is addicted to crystal meth and my protagonist is addicted to painkillers, the same foundations apply as both are dependant upon drugs to cope with reality and fuel the void of their underlying mental health issues that they face. Nic's mental health issues were bipolar and depression and my protagonist's are emotional neglect and anxiety. The memoir is good in revealing the reason behind why Nic turns to addiction, it is not just a spontaneous decision, but is mainly pushed by his mental issues. I want my film to have the same motivation when revealing the protagonist's reasoning for her coping mechanism to be painkillers as they are only a temporary escapism to her underlying mental issues.
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The video below is of Nic Sheff describing the 'Lure of Addition' - ABP Speakers
The speech above is of Nic Sheff describing the 'Lure of Addiction' and his experience with how this disease changed his life for the worst; he goes into detail about how his tolerance level increased, the more he abused drugs . This ultimately lead to his need and crave for that same relief and euphoria he experienced from the high, which became his addiction. This reveals the science behind someone who abuses drugs as their intolerance increases the more they intake the drug. I will use this fact and portray it within my film. This will be shown through my protagonist's by having her abuse of painkiller become more ineffective and eventually lead her to intake more.
One of the statements that Nic spoke which stuck with me was how he felt like an 'outsider' before he even started using and that this was one of the reasons he turned to drugs. This reveals the underlying mental health issues that Nic faced before his addiction began, and gives more reasoning as to why he started abusing drugs. For my film, I will be reflecting mental illness within addiction as it is a huge catalyst to why people turn to substance abuse. I will show the mental issues in my film through my protagonist as she will be faced with neglect and alike Nic will feel like an 'outsider' as she is shown no affection or love. This will lead her to turn to painkillers as a way of coping, and will hopefully reflect how mental illness is a hidden reason for why people become addicts.
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To conclude, I feel it is important to raise awareness to mental illness in my film as it will allow for my audience to be given more insight into why people turn to substance abuse. Nic's story allowed me to learn that addiction is not a choice but its a way of coping with issues we repress. Hopefully I can convey this same message my film, to help spread awareness about addiction and the truth behind the disease. I will also be researching more into painkiller addiction, anxiety and neglect within mental illness in order to portray it with realism and justice for my film.
BEAUTIFUL BOY - MEMOIR
The image below is of my personal copy of Beautiful Boy.
Beautiful boy is a memoir written by David Sheff in 2008. The book is written from the perspective of David Sheff witnessing his son, Nic fall further and further into his crystal meth addiction. This memoir truly captures the excessive amount of worry and helplessness that David feels for his son's life. The introduction page is listed with a quote by Thomas Lynch that Sheff uses which states "It hurts so bad that I cannot save him, protect him, keep him out of harm's way, shield him from pain. What good are fathers if not for these things?". This quote perfectly summarises the emotions of duty and hopelessness that the memoir tells of David's experience as a father witnessing his son fall into deeper into his drug dependancy. David Sheff is very open with how his son's addiction impacted his own mental health and we as the reader are exposed to the anxiety that he feels. This anxiety makes him become obsessive in trying to find ways of understanding Nic's addiction.
David's attempts to help his son recover and become sober included in-depth research of rehab centres and scientists that could help give him knowledge about crystal meth and the horrific effects it has upon its users. My film will differ from the perspective of the father, but will use pieces of David's anxiety and concern from this memoir into my protagonist's father character to show the impact it has upon those witnessing a loved one become addicted to drugs.
The anxiousness that David feels for his son is something I wanted to challenge in my film's narrative through the protagonist's father in my own film. However, the father in my film will differ from David as he will only become concerned and anxious for his daughter's mental health towards the end of the film, as I want to capture his neglect in the beginning. David and Nic's relationship was a huge inspiration for my film's narrative as it is also is about a parent relationship with their child and how that bond is impacted by the addiction. Although the characters in my film will be very different from David and Nic; portraying the anxiety around their relationship will truly capture how addiction can crumble and fracture relationships with loved ones.
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The book also goes into depth with the science behind being a crystal meth addict, as Sheff researches into the impact the drug has upon an addicts mind. One of the facts it states is how crystal meth fries the neurones in the users brain. The neutrons take two years to fully recover and become healthy again. In the memoir, Sheff describes how Nic becomes sober for two years and falls back into his addiction as the cycle of recovery, particularly with crystal meth users is vicious and causes the neutrons of the addict to be repeatedly damaged. Although in my film I will not be having my protagonist be addicted to crystal meth, I will research, alike David into how my protagonist's drug of choice of painkillers such as paracetamol, ibuprofen impact the brain and what damage it causes. This is important for me to research as in order to portray my protagonist's painkiller addiction realistically, I will need to gather as much information on the effects as possible.
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The film Beautiful boy is very much based upon this memoir by David other than Nic's memoir of Tweak. I do believe this works in the film's favour as the audience are given more scope into the impact addiction has upon loved ones. My film will differ from this perspective as I want to shine more of a light on how addiction impacts the addict both physically and mentally, including the way the disease has control over the addicts relationship with their family and themselves. However, I will use the influence of David's experiences with his son's addiction, into my own narrative of my protagonist's father.
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The interview below is of Nic Sheff discussing the making of Beautiful boy and how his own life was portrayed through the film - Flick Channel
To extend my research on Beautiful boy, I watched an interview shown above, with Nic Sheff discussing his personal experience with addiction and how they portrayed it in the film. One point that Sheff spoke upon, was how they chose to have universal perspective upon his character (himself). The memoir Tweak discusses how Nic nearly lost his arm due to an abscess. In the film they do not show this, this relates back to the universal perspective and how they didn't want to show too much of Nic's personal addiction in the film and instead have it be related to anyone suffering from the disease in general. I liked the creators approached the film with this broad relatability to an audience, this is another way of how the film has inspired me as I too would like to have my film be relatable for not only those who suffer from painkiller addiction, but also for people who have witnessed or experienced any addiction themselves. This will allow for my audience to be more varied and give more of a connection to a wider set of viewers.
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To conclude, this memoir has been very useful in allowing me to understand the impact addiction has upon those who witness it and shown me a new persecutive into the disease as it is frequently portrayed in the media through the addicts eyes and not someone witnessing an addict. It also has inspired me to expand upon my scientific research into addiction and taught me that I should learn more about the side effects that my protagonist will go through in her painkiller addiction.
heaven knows what - film
The image below is of Arielle Holmes portraying herself as Harley alongside Caleb Landry Jones portraying Ilya in the film, Heaven knows What.
Heaven Knows What is a film directed in 2014 by the Safdie Brothers, Benny and Josh Safdie. The film is based upon a memoir by Arielle Holmes called 'Mad Love in New York'. I wanted to research this film for my project as I was recommenced it to me as it reflects addiction realistically by not shying away from any horror that the disease brings and will help influence my approach when representing addiction in my own film.
Heaven Knows What features Arielle Holmes portraying herself in the film, but under the name of Harley. I found the Safdie brothers decision to have Holmes perform as herself interesting and unique as very little film's that are based off memoirs, use the real people. The film is very gripping and fast paced, this is both because of the context as we as the audience follow Harley's adrenaline filled lifestyle, and witness her toxic relationships with both lovers and drugs become unbearable. But the fast pace is also due to the directing style of the Safdie brothers as their repeated wide shots and close ups play with the audience's perception by creating an intense visual. I will practise and test their stylised shots for my own film to experiment whether it will help create a more realistic lens of reality for my film's narrative.
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This film captures raw honesty by revealing how unhealthy addicts lives are on the street as we are given insight into how Harley's lifestyle and living situation impacts her treatment and abuse from others around her. The addicts featured in the film, including Harley become selfish as their morals are overpowered by their dependancy and need to feed their addiction. The film is successful in portraying the toxicity between addicts; Harley's relationship with her on and off boyfriend Ilya (Caleb Landry Jones), which was based off Holmes real relationship, depicts the possession and jealousy that comes from their addictive lifestyles. For my film, I will not be showing the toxic relationship between lovers or addicts, but I will be using inspiration from Holmes personal relationships by showing the impact addiction has upon relationships in general, especially parental. I found the story of Holmes very inspiring in terms of her mentality, I want a piece of Holmes to be reflected into my protagonist when representing her dependancy upon the painkillers as I feel the portrayal of herself in the film was very honest and expressive, these are traits I would like to capture in my own protagonist for my film.
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The film also highlights the addictiveness between Harley and Ilya's relationship and how as lovers they become addicted to one another. One scene in the film shows Ilya pressuring Harley to kill herself by slashing her wrist; in order for her to be given forgiveness. This scene is incredibly hard hitting and exposes the toxicity between the two lovers as Harley eventually harms herself for him. I found this scenario to be very realistic, as it happened in Holmes real life, but also the way it was portrayed on screen. The addiction representation of not just the drug abuse but also the people that Harley is surrounded by was inspiring for me as I felt the focus upon Harley's addictive personality was influential to my protagonist. This is because I wanted to have my protagonist have addictive traits, alike Harley to explore how the drug abuse is only a part of the issue. In my film I want to explore the longing and addictiveness of needing attention, as my protagonist will be neglected, I feel representing her desire for attention and care be shown through her struggle and fight to connect with her father. By representing the addictiveness of needing love and substance abuse to fill their internal issues, shown in both Harley and my protagonist, allows the audience to be shown the true nature that is rooted within addiction.
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The link below leads you to the Vice Article about the making of Heaven Knows What - Vice.
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The article above is published by Vice and is an interview of the Safdie brothers and Arielle Holmes discussing the film and how it was made. I found this article to be a useful part of my research as learning more about how they made the film gave me more insight as to how they represented addiction. A statement that Holmes said that I found to be very useful was "You use the term addict as a label because you don't really understand your problem yet. So you call yourself an addict. But in reality, there's many different issues". This quote reiterated my inspiration for having neglect be a main reasoning for my protagonist's turn to painkillers as a coping mechanism. Holmes statement gave me more faith in using neglect as an'issue' that influences my protagonists decision for becoming an addict.
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The article also describes how the Safdie brothers used some of Holmes real friends, who are addicts in the film and real life, to be featured in the film. This gave it more authenticity as the film truly immerses the audience in the world of an addict. For my film, I want to create a similar depiction but using an illusion as my actor will not be an addict herself.
The interview below is of Ben and Josh Safdie discussing how they made 'Heaven Knows What' - The Seventh Art
The video above is an interview of the Safdie Brothers (Ben and Josh Safdie) describing their experience with making 'Heaven Knows What'. I found this interview partly useful, this was due to the fact that they did not discuss addiction particularly but they discussed the filmmaking aspect of creating the film and talked about shooting with the actors. One point they made was that they used a wide lens to capture distasted shots, this was in order for them to diverse from a documentary style of filming and instead create the opposite to capture the narrative from an observer's perspective. Majority of the actors were portraying parts of themselves in the film as many themselves were or are addicts on the street. The Safdie Brothers wanted to do the oppose styling the film as a documentary as the actors were already reflecting the real life side of themselves within the film. I found this interesting and it has helped me appreciate their experimentation when depicting a semi-real life film. As I will be filming in a setting that is family to my (my own home) and be acting myself, I want to experiment with shot types and styles and believe the Safdie Brothers style will influence my own.
Another point the brothers made was how the score for the film was abstract from the scenes and gave almost a sci-fi element to the film. The brothers felt the score was needed to mirror the pace of an addicts life and how you count the 'hours' when living on the streets, not the days or months as every moment is unexpected and you are always chasing that next high. This was intriguing for me and has helped me reflect upon the type of music I should research, once I have created my film so the sounds I use help captures both my pace and style.
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An idea that came to mind when watching the interview was to have my protagonist show her struggling and fight against her addiction by counting the days she has stayed clean. I was inspired by this as the Safdie Brothers discussed how the act of witnessing someone trying creates connection and humanity. I thought I want to create this impact in my own film by having my protagonist attempt to get sober and you watch her progress, until she relapses. This will not only help enhance the human connection in my film, but will also allow me to explore the act of relapse and reflect the reality that many addicts face.
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To conclude, Heaven Knows What was an excellent source of research for me as it inspired and influenced my approach of representing addiction as it gave me more insight into the real and brutal world of an addict. I will gather the information the film gave me and intertwine the rawness and vulnerability the film captures, into my own film to show justice of what horror the disease brings to addicts.
the souvenir - film
The image below features the two main characters Julie played by Honor Swinton Byrne and Anthony played by Tom Burke
The Souvenir is a film written and directed by Joanna Hogg in 2019. This film is a semi- autobiographical drama that focuses upon a aspiring filmmaker Julie (Honor Swinton Byrne) who falls into a relationship with a deceptive heroin addict called Anthony (Tom Burke). The film depicts how addiction forms hopelessness and distrust to those who are both who suffer from the disease and those witnessing it.
I researched this film because it captures addiction through the lens of a middle-class setting, I found this emphasises the point that addiction has no face and can effect everyone whether they are from a wealthy backgrounds or not. I also was intrigued that the film revealed addiction through a romantic relationship, as you can see the toxic impact it puts upon their relationship. This film will help influence how I will structure my film in terms of the reveal of my protagonist's addiction.
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The Souvenir reveals Anthony's heroin addiction in stages and you as an audience member are slightly ahead of Julie, this use of dramatic irony I found very effective when showing the deception of addiction and how it can be dismissed or mis interpreted. This technique gave the film more realism, as many people in real life want to ignore the clear red flags in front of them, like Julie does with Anothony's heroin use. I too in my film want to use a similar technique but through my protagonist's father. In my film, I want the father to be dismissive of his daughter's behaviour in the beginning; until she reaches the deepest point in her addiction, by then he will only realise the depth of her addiction and will reach out to her for confinement. I similarly liked how The Souvenir portrayed the disguise of addiction and wanted to capture it too, but using my own character dynamic.
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The Souvenir also highlights the naivety and dismissive behaviour that Julie has towards Anthony's addiction. In the beginning she is naive in not speculating or question in his alarming actions (stealing, syringe scars), but as the film progresses she becomes dismissive after knowing the truth (he is a heroin addict). I thought this character development captured how people can become blind to the truth if they pretend their problems don't exist. I thought this creative decision within the characters allowed for the humanity and emotion to be very realistic and true to life. One of the ways I found myself inspired by this was because I too am creating a protagonist that is youthful and wanted to mirror the innocence Julie possesses in my protagonist. I would do this by having my protagonist be unaware she is addicted until she starts upping the dosage of her pills and has to start stealing in order to fill her addiction. I thought this would be a good way of portraying my protagonist's mental development, within her addiction. It also captures how this disease can be invisible to those suffering from it, until it starts making them question their own morality. This therefore shows my audience the truth that addiction brings to addicts and the naivety that masks the disease to both those suffering from it and others who are observers too.
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The film also shows the manipulation that the addiction can have upon people. One example of this is when Anthony repeatedly asks Julie for ten pounds notes. I liked how Joanna Hogg shows Anthony's addiction subtly, by having Julie be the repeated source of money for Anthony to drain from. This not only reveals how the drug possesses Anthony by him needing to depend upon his partner's parents money, as Julie borrows the money from her mother, but it also captures the corruption he faces and that his facade of wealth is a cover up for his drug use. I found the use of money as a repetition for Anthony's addiction was a very clever way of visually narrating to audience the how addiction can possess those who are controlled by it. I was inspired by this structural repetition and wanted to use it for my own film and I would like to depict my own way of narrating addiction's possession, but using my protagonist.
An idea that came to mind from this was to have my protagonist steal and sell items from her own home, in order to purchase painkillers. I would have the father be unaware of the missing items, as they would be quite unnoticeable if you weren't looking. However, I would make it obvious for the audience as they would be items that the audience will see the protagonist use. I felt this idea would be effective in creating a similar depiction of how addiction controls people to the point where their morals become tested, alike with Anthony and his drainage of Julie's money.
The interview below is of Joanna Hogg, Honor Byrne Swinton and Tilda Swinton on making The Souvenir - The Lincoln Centre
The interview (shown above) between the director Joanna Hogg, the main actress in the Souvenir, Honor Swinton Byrne and her co-star Tilda Swinton (and mother in real life) was not very useful in terms of learning more about how they portrayed addiction but it did give me more insight on how they shot the film. I learned that Joanna Hogg's directing is unique as she doesn't follow scripts but tends to have a brief plan and continues to film her ideas from the film on the spot. I also learned that this film was semi-autobiographical from Joanna Hogg's own personal experience with one of her previous relationship's and the character Julie is based off herself. I found this to more insightful as it helped me understand why the film was chosen to have the perspective be of someone witnessing an addict, rather than having the film be from an addict's perspective themselves. Overall, the interview was interesting but useless when reflecting upon how they approached representing addiction.
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To conclude, I found this film very useful as part of my research because it has given me a new perspective upon how I can narrate addiction in my film both using structure through my character's development. It has also helped me develop ideas on how I will portray my protagonist's addiction, as it allowed me to see both an observer's depiction of addiction and the addict themselves, this gives me an insight into how I will formulate my protagonist's naivety that can be brought upon by youthful people that suffer from the disease.
requiem for a dream - film
The image below features two of the main characters in 'Requiem for a Dream', being Harry performed by Jared Leto and Marion performed by Jennifer Connelly.
Requiem for a Dream is a very unique and raw film directed by Darren Aronofsky. The film is an adaptation from the fictional novel, under the same name, written by the author Hubert Selby Jr. The film focuses upon four main characters and depicts their struggle with chasing their dreams, and how those aspirations lead them to not only very dark places but we also witness them become evident catalysts to the characters addictions.
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I found this film by searching 'the most realistic films about addiction'. After reflecting upon that statement I believe this film was very realistic in terms of it's representation for how addiction can destroy lives but it surprisingly also captures the humanity in life and how easily people can become overpowered by their desires and can risk too much, leading them to become selfish and careless. This is predominately shown in each character.
I also liked how the director, Aronofsky used unique shot styles and visuals as a way to portray certain emotions and feelings. For instance, every time the characters intoxicate themselves, he used short snappy close ups. I found this technique to be very clever and helped captured how 'easy' it is for people to abuse substances routinely and for this to progress into a dependancy, like drug addiction. These shots worked fluidly throughout the film and I found it to be very inspiring in terms of its representation and I would like create similarly create a visual that portrays the same meaning and gives light to the same issue, people face when being overcome with desire, in real life.
Another way Aronofsky manipulated shots to put the audience in the characters perspective was through using a close up shot that is rigged to the face of the character(s), while the exterior background surrounding them moves; purposely creating a disorientating visual. To physically capture this stylised shot, the cinematographer will attach a Snorricam to the actors body, creating a body mount. Overall, I found this technique to be very effective as it enhance the anxiety and distortion in the shot, allowing for the audience to be put in the psychological state of the characters, which also increases the empathy you feel for the characters as we are shown an intimate visual of their emotion or experience.
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An example where this is used in the film, is when the character, Marion is faced with anxiety and trauma after she had to perform unwanted sexual acts on herself and others, in order to retrieve money for heroin. We capture her fleeting the building and while doing so we also witness her experiencing physical suffering of withdrawal. The shot in this scene I believe worked very well as it not only allowed me as an audience member to be faced with her struggle but also being given a close up perspective gave a haunting visual as to what emotion she faced, as I saw the sweat and anxiousness that filled her expression. The disorientating motion around Marion also peaked the worrisome and desperation for escape the scene captured. I also feel this shot was a clever way to portray someone suffering from withdrawal as we as the audience got to physically see the symptoms Marion experiences. To summarise, I found this shot very effective in many ways and thought it was successful in enhancing the tone and atmosphere in the scenes, achieving and giving more emotional impact to the audience.
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The video and image below are from the scene I discussed above, where a SnorriCam was used to capture a stylised shot:
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Requiem for a Dream elevator scene/Bodycam (Facing Actor) - Camera Techniques
One of the elements of the film that I believe made it authentic, was how they captured the deterioration addiction can have upon the addicts brain, whether they be addicted to drugs, sex, media, the film captured the varied range of different addiction. I found this to be very insightful as I was exposed to more than one type of dependancy and it showed how 'too much' of anything isn't healthy. This is predominantly shown in the most mature character, Sara Goldfarb, portrayed by Ellen Burstyn. Sara is show in the beginning is very lonely and when given the chance to 'be on television', however we as the audience are unaware whether this is a delusion she has formed from trauma and isolation or is true, sadly leads her to insanity. First, Sara becomes obsessed with the determination to loose weight by 'fitting into her red dress', and hallucinations of her fridge tormenting her, formed form her diet restriction, lead her to turning to take prescribed weight loss pills form the doctor. This is the catalyst that spirals her mental health, she stops eating meals and replaces them with pills. We as the audience watch her mental state become more and more unstable, until she eventually ends up in a psychiatric hospital, being pumped with more drugs and is put under electric shock therapy.
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Although the character of Sara's story is quite exaggerated and terribly tragic, alike all the characters, it emphasises the dangers that dreams can have upon people and also reminds us of how isolation and lack of human connection and love can imminently lead a person to turn to abusive substances as comfort and in some cases, drive them to insanity.
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To conclude, I found this film to be a very usual part of my research as the portrayal of addiction and experimental cinematography helped create a very original and refreshing perspective on such a hard subject, being addiction. I also admired that the director captured addiction through the lens of desire and yearning for human interrelation. I found it to be inspiring in terms of visually and believe the narrative was very well balanced in exposing each characters trauma, suffering and dependancies.
Never enough - memoir
Never Enough is a memoir written by Judith Grisel in 2019. This memoir goes through Grisel's own experience with drugs as she is a recovering addict, as well as describes in-depth research behind the neuroscience of addiction. I was recommenced to read this book because it is very truthful and factual in the subject matter of addiction as Grisel has a PhD in psychology and is recognised as a behavioural neuroscientist, this is was how I knew that I could trust this memoir as a source of my research.The research I will gain from this book will allow me to have a clearer scope of the disease and represent it better as I will see both the personal side of being an addict and the scientific perspective and experiments behind it too.
I have documented and will continue to, in updating the new knowledge, facts and statistics I have learned from this memoir. I have decided to document it by going through each of the eleven chapters and describing a little bit about of what I have learned from each one and how they have helped me understand addiction better, and will eventually help me represent in my film better too.
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Chapter one - Brain Food
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In chapter one, Grisel discusses how the Central Nervous System (CNS) is key to understanding addiction and drug use as it is responsible for how out brains adapt to the environment. Grisel also touched upon how homeostasis is effected when we abuse drugs as the homeostasis plays a part in maintaining our brains stability baseline. An example she gave for showing how addiction works was through an experiment conducted in the 1950's by two Canadian scientists. The experiment was on rats, the scientists tested on them by stimulating them with electrodes. They wanted to see whether the rats would become dependant and prioritise the feelings of pleasure produced by the electrodes, over daily needs of water and food. The scientists experiment worked well in capturing an addict as the rats did eventually prioritise pleasure over their daily needs. This experiment mirrors the effects of addiction as the release and stimulation of mesembolic dopamine that addicts receive from their drug use, not only adapts to their environment but becomes their priority, leaving them to choose that 'high' over daily needs, alike with the rats.
To conclude, I found this chapter very insightful in teaching me more about the science behind addicts dependancy to their drugs and will help me develop my protagonist for my film in terms of capturing the frequent need for that high and will help me capture a more realistic depiction of what addiction does to an addicts brain.
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Chapter two - Adaptation
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In chapter two, Grisel discusses the biological states of the mind. An example she gives in of a Ancient Greek philosopher called Plato who wrote a book called Phaedo. The reference Grisel makes from Phaedo is the link Plato states between pleasure and pain. Grisel connects this idea to addictions as she discusses how when an addict wants that 'pleasure' from their drug of choice, will only lead to the opposite, meaning once the addicts state of high wares off, they'll only achieve the opposite effect (pain). Grisel quotes this as "our feelings will elicit a response by the brain that is exactly the opposite to the effect of the stimulus".
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Another example Grisel gives to show the link between 'pleasure' and 'pain' in addiction is shown through two scientists called Soloman and Corbit. Their theory was that there are two main states, when the brain reacts to an environment or scenario, State A and State B. Grisel gives an example of how addiction fits into their theory, she describes how State A would be the reflection of the stimulus, in this case it would be the addicts drug use (what it does to the brain) and State B would be the lasting effects of the drug. Grisel shows how State B will give the opposite effect of the initial stimulus (pain) as State A was of pleasure. Both states create a cycle that the addict becomes hooked upon as the effects from the stimulus (State A) eventually give the addict more the opposite feelings of pleasure and turn them into pain (State B), which creates more need for release and escapism, this then repeats the cycle as the addict abuses their drug of choice again as their feelings are never fully satisfied.
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To conclude, both theories from Plato and Soloman and Corbit that are referenced in this memoir are examples of how addiction forms a cycle of opposing emotions and therefore gives evidence to how damaging drug use can be to those start to become addicted to drugs. I found this chapter to be very weighted in information but equally useful as I now have a deeper understanding how the 'hook' and horrific dependancy of an addicts state can be controlled by the disease. I will intertwine this research into my protagonist's narrative, by effectively representing this pattern of opposing emotions through the lens of addiction.
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Chapter three - One salient example THC
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In this chapter Grisel discusses how the cannabinoid system works and the effects cannabis has upon those who abuse it. Although this will not be useful to my own research on addiction as it is a very specific with the drug of choice discussed (cannabis). I aware not all the information in this memoir will link to my project directly but it allows me to learn more about addictions as a whole, both showing specific addictions and general effects the disease has upon those who abuse substances. I will talk briefly about what I learned from this chapter, however it is not a useful part of my research as my protagonist will be struggling with painkiller addiction, not cannabis.
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Grisel describes how the primary cannabinoid (chemical in cannabis) when abbreviated is called 2-AG. This 2-AG cannabinoid is important when discussing the effects of cannabis as it is part of how the chemical travel across the brain. To expand upon this, Grisel said that 2-AG works with a natural chemical called anandamide (influences psychological systems of pain, reward, pleasure). Both these chemicals communicate in opposite directions across the synapse, from the receiving cell to the sending cell. Grisel spoke about this to show how the endogenous cannabinoids react with the natural chemicals in our brain.
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Another point that Grisel made was how "the cannabinoid system helps sort out experiences, indicating which are the most salient or meaningful". This is important as it shows the effects cannabis has upon the user over time. An example of this is called 'down-regulation', this term is used to describe how cannabis can make the user desensitised and become less uninspired as it dilutes the importance the user feels for life.
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To conclude, I found this chapter very interesting as I now know a little bit more on how the cannabinoid system works and the effects it has upon those who become addicted. I especially found the 'down-regulation' term insightful as it explains why those addicted become more dependant as their need to feel satisfied and pleasured, only comes from the high the cannabis gives them. Although, it hasn't taught me much about addiction as a whole I found the chapter informative.
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Chapter four - Dream weavers: Opiates
In this chapter Grisel discusses the social issues with opiates and the statistics that are increasing globally within the opioid epidemic. Although I am using painkiller addiction in my film, some of the facts and issues Grisel raises are useful towards my knowledge of addiction and will help me know how to represent it better, as Grisel discusses people's experiences from painkillers to opioids.
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Grisel states in this chapter how in the 21st century there has been a 400% increase in lethal overdoses due to opiates, this includes both people who have been prescribed the opiods and those using illegally. She also speaks about the pharmaceutical companies and how they are the only people that gain benefit from the opioid crisis. I found this to be very useful as it has given me a more broad spectrum upon how those connected to infiltrating the drugs are responsible. Another statistic that Grisel raised which was relevant to my film was how "about 4 out fo 5 heroin users start missing prescription painkillers, then they turn to the streets for narcotics as they become cheaper and easier to get hold of". I thought this static was staggering and gave me more insight into how I could portray addiction for my film as my protagonist will be abusing painkillers, as I now know she would be at a high risk to becoming a heroin addict. I may use this quote in my film to raise awareness to the issue and intertwine it into my character development by having the father research into painkiller addiction, the more his concern grows for his daughter.
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Grisel also spoke upon natural opiates that are in the body and how they play a part in survival. An example Grisel gave was if you were to be stabbed then your natural opiates in your CNS would block the pain transmissions to allow for you to escape and survive.I found this very insightful as I did not now the body had natural opioids, although this is not relevant to addiction in my film, it is still useful information I am learning about the brain.
Another point that Grisel spoke upon was how when opioid addicts tolerance increases so do their anti-opiates. Anti-opiates reverse the effects of drugs, one particular drug that is used to revere opioid overdoses is called Narcan, also know as Naloxone. However, Narcan is not a natural anti-opioid. The issue with natural anti-opiates is that a regular opioid user will suffer more as their anti-opiate system will increase in pain and this will eventually become their 'normal' state.
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To conclude, some parts of this chapter have been useful in giving me information on the link between opiates and painkillers, however majority of it focused upon opiates and I will not be repressing opioid addiction in my film. But I have found this chapter very informative and has taught me more about the global issues with the opioid epidemic.
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Chapter five - The Sledgehammer: Alcohol
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In this chapter, Grisel discusses the effects of alcoholism and the shows the statistics that surround those who are likely to use and already use alcohol. Although this chapter had little relevance to my film, it still taught me more about the subject matter of addiction and gave me useful informative facts that will help expand my research and knowledge in the subject.
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Grisel states in this chapter how they are two types of 'reinforcement' when talking of addiction. Theses consist of positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. This is important to take into account with addiction, as it can reveal clear evidence as to when and what reason an addict turns to their substance of choice. An example that Grisel gives is with alcoholism, she states how positive reinforcement, could be shown as a person drinks to enhance positive effects. Whereas negative reinforcement is when someone intakes alcohol to reduce unwanted emotions. Grisel states how reinforcement applies particularly when looking at alcoholism, as alcohol consumption reduces the feelings of anxiety, and therefore it is good evidence to show how alcohol is more reinforcing to those who suffer from anxiety. I found this part of the chapter very informative as it has helped me understand the science behind my protagonist and taught me that she will be abusing painkillers as a way to reduce unwanted emotions and therefore be negatively reinforcing her addiction.
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Grisel spoke upon punishment in terms of addiction. She stated how positive and negative reinforcement is balanced out by 'punishment' aspects of drug use. An example she gave to show positive punishment was when a person experiences a hangover or vomiting from intoxication, the unpleasant consequences of drinking may reduce their regular use of alcohol and end in a positive punishment. However with negative punishment, someone may loose a job, self-respect and may experience finical issues because of their alcohol addiction, this results in negative punishment as they have pleasurable things taken away from them due to their behaviour. Grisel summarises how addicts tend to have high tolerance for punishment and this then causes their suffering and balance between reinforcement and punishment to extend with time.
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Grisel also listed many facts and statistics that surround alcoholism. Two statistics she mentioned were from a researcher called Christina Gianoulakis who researched into beta-endorphins and looked at those who are in a high and low risks of having alcoholism. Gianoulakis found that 50-60% of alcoholism risk came from inherited factors and the second statistic being that those with a positive family history of alcoholism are 3-5 times more likely to develop the disease. Gianoulakis also found that beta-endorphins contributes to a sense of well-being by soothing stress and therefore those with natural low levels may experience less sense of safety or connection which means they are more prone to developing an addiction to alcohol due to their lack of pain resistance and stress. I found this very interesting as I did not know that the statistics and risks were so high for those who's families are effected by the disease, and nor did I know what beta-endorphins were or how they played into addiction. Although alcoholism does not feature in my film, this book gives me an overall scope fo the disease.
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Lastly, Grisel spoke about the A and B processes with alcoholism and how the A processes are shown in naive users of alcohol and the main symptom are lack of concentration, slurred speech, loss of co-ordination and emotional volatility. The B processes are the stages of adaption and show that when an addict is chronically exposed to alcohol their brain adapts to maintain 'physiological equilibrium'. I founds this connection between repeated A and B stages/processes in the memoir to be very insightful on how the brain adapts to it's environment and it has taught me a lot about the different ways substance abuse effects the brains development. This part of the chapter was slightly useful and it allowed me to understand that repeated use of a drug can form a tolerance which will play into my protagonist's storyline as I want her tolerance for painkillers to increase so that I can show my audience this side of addiction and the issues addicts usage face.
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Chapter six - The Downer Class: Tranquillisers
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In this chapter, Grisel discusses how prescription drugs, Benzodiazepines (benzos) and Barbiturates become addictive and the misuse and abuse of them in society that has been present in both recent years and decades before. I found this chapter incredibly useful towards my addiction research for my film, as it specified in sedative-hypnotic drugs that I will be basing my protagonist's addiction on, I called my character's addiction 'painkiller addiction' as they are a form of tranquilliser that numbs pain and emotion.
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Grisel described how prescription drugs sedative-hypntoic drugs are prescribed to those who suffer from anxiety, stress and insomnia. However, people misuse this who do not suffer from an illness but instead use the drug as a way of numbing unwanted emotions. The issue with chronic abuse of these drugs is like with any addiction, the more you escalate in use the more your tolerance increases. An excessive use and tolerance also increases your chance of an overdose if you are taking benzodiazepines. I will be using this fact in my film by having my protagonist's addiction increase in tolerance and she will up her 'dose' of pills as it becomes less effective with her regular amount. This will reveal to my audience the harsh reality of addiction as the drug amount adapts in the mind and body, therefore causing her to use more.
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Grisel also discussed how Benzodiazepines act with GABA receptors. She stated that the structure of GABA receptors are different to each person as the structure of them attributes to your tolerance, anxiety and autism levels. The structure of GABA receptors also depends upon your inheritance and they also change as we age and develop. Going back to the B process I have discussed throughout my documentation of this book, the B process of sedative-hypnotics involves the modification of the GADA receptors as your mind becomes tolerant to the substance. I found this interesting how the receptors have their own A and B processes that link to sedative-hypnotics. This will help me understand my protagonist's addiction through a more scientific lens as I will be reflecting the chemical reactions on screen but through her gradual tolerance of her drug abuse.
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Another point that Grisel discussed was how it is 'virtually impossible' to overdose on barbiturates. However if taken in high doses can be toxic as the barbiturates mimic the GABA receptors which increases excitation and inhibits neurotransmitter release which can stop brain activity. Benzodiazepines can be addictive if used chronically as you can experience the same cravings as an addict.
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To conclude, this chapter was very usual in developing my knowledge about prescriptions drugs and their connections with tolerance and anxiety through GADA receptors. I will be using this new information into my film by expressing this through my protagonist's struggling and increase with tolerance to her pills, which I have decided to be oxycodone. my reasoning for this is because it is a commonly abused drug and I can help raise awareness to painkiller addiction by choosing it. I will reflect my knowledge on painkiller addiction through my film by representing truthfully and factually, using the knowledge I have gained about opiates and minor tranquillisers.
Chapter seven - Pick-me-ups: Stimulants
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In this chapter, Grisel describes the impact the stimulants have upon the brain and why they are addictive. In particular, she discusses caffeine, nicotine, cocaine and meth. Although this chapter is specified in stimulants and I will not be showing stimulant addiction in my film, it still gives me a broader idea of what addiction can do to the brain and the patterns that come with the varied types of the disease.
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The first point Grisel discussed was the term 'sensitisation', this word is used when describing the physical and cognitive changes an addict goes through when taking stimulants. Another word for this is 'tweaking' or 'punding'. Grisel's reasoning for discussing this term is because a consequence of using stimulants is that it can cause psychosis; which can be formed from sensitisation.This includes hallucinations and paranoia. I found it interesting how the stimulants can create mental issues that were not previously there and I realised how they can mentally rewire your cognitive state. Grisel also stated that "The more exposure someone has of the stimulants, the larger the conflict grows". This refers back to the state a and b and how the cycle of using repeats itself and becomes stronger as time goes on.
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Another point that Grisel spoke upon was how motivational states are changed when people use stimulants, she states how the states becomes "A ambient mix of wanting and not wanting" and how anxiety disorders also emerge from frequent abusers of stimulants. I found this all very insightful as I can use the mental challenge of being divided into my own character. Although they will not struggle from stimulant abuse, this idea is revenant to all drug addictions as the battle between 'wanting' and ' needing' dissolves.
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When Grisel spoke about caffeine addiction, she spoke about how it is an antagonist to adenosine receptors and the state of drowsiness that forms from caffeine withdrawal happens when an accumulation in synapses binds to its receptors. Once caffeine renters the system, the adenosine signalling is blocked and temporarily relieves and prevents the drowsiness by keeping your brain in an altered state. I found this to be very insightful as it taught me more about the scientific aspect of how caffeine effects the system and how it can be easily addictive due to the tolerance of needing more energy. Although this is irrelevant from my own research on painkiller addiction, it still was insightful to learn how the chemical reactions work when a drug such as caffeine is induced.
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When Grisel discussed nicotine addiction, she stated how nicotine is a stimulant due to its rapid tolerance. She explained how nicotine stimulates acetylcholine receptors and they become insensitive which leads to 'bidirectional effects' from the drug. The three states that occur with nicotine addiction are open, closed and desensitised. The desensitised state produces the calm effects.
I found this interesting as I was unaware there were different states within each addiction, this taught me more about the cognitive changes that occur with addiction. Grisel also spoke about the nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in our brains and how the structure of this can count towards a persons nicotine dependancy. This repetition of receptor structures and their connection to drug dependancy has helped me understand more about the patterns that occur with drug addiction and how the receptors play a huge part in someone's drug use. Another pattern that occurs in drug addiction that this chapter taught me was how the b processes in chronic drug users tend to repeatedly experience anxiety and depression. With chronic nicotine users, cravings of irritability, anxiety and attention deficit. I found this pattern useful as I can use my knowledge of how b processes work when showing my protagonist's addiction as I will have an understanding of what withdrawal and tolerance symptoms will form from her increased drug use.
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When Grisel discussed cocaine, the amphetamines (including methamphetamine) and ecstasy, she said how all have similar in ''mechanisms' as they all interfere with the recycling mechanism of monoamine, which is a neurotransmitter that transfers dopamine. This is important as monoamine plays a role in a persons sleep and mood. She also stated how cocaine, speed and ecstasy all act by blocking transporters, these are proteins that are embedded in the neural cell membrane and recycle released neurotransmitters back into the presynaptic neutrons. When discussing methamphetamine, Grisel said how overstimulation can lead to acute tolerance as the synapse get depleted of monoamines. She also stated how after a meth addict binges they will be overcome with emptiness and depression. I found this interesting as it shines a light on the emotional effects that meth has upon its chronic users. When describing ecstasy, Grisel stated how it is both a hallucinogenic and stimulant, she also said how the b process of chronic users will leads to depression and anxiety. Grisel also said how there was research into ecstasy and that it if it is repeatedly abused in high doses it will damage the nerve terminals and serotonin genetic neurons. I found this informative as I have learned that depression and anxiety are frequently mental illnesses that occur in process b of stimulants. Although it is not part of my painkiller addiction, it has helped me know more about stimulant addiction, which still includes to my eternal research on the subject matter.
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To summarise how the addiction is formed for cocaine, methamphetamine and escstay stimulants, she said how when either of these drugs occupy a transporter, it prevents monoamine and prevents them from making use of their mechanism and concludes to prolongs effects. The prolonged effects cause an endless cycle of unsatisfied levels of dopamine, both natural or synthetic and end in a horrible cycle of using. I found this summary very useful as I know understand more about how stimulants cause addictions and how they damage the brain's chemical balance. Although this part of the chapter was not relevant to my painkiller addiction, I still believe it was usual for me to know when looking at the full spectrum of the disease.
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Chapter eight - Seeing clearly now: Psychedelics
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In this chapter, Grisel discusses psychedelics and how the hallucinations are formed from them. She briefly described the term 'addiction' and how it is not suitable when discussing psychedelics. Although this chapter did not cover any informative facts about painkiller addiction, I will document what I learned form it as it is part of my research into the subject matter of substance abuse.
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The beginning of the chapter concluded of Grisel discussing how the psychedelic drug LSD has been used throughout history in communities and tribes worldwide and this was safely conducted and was used in rituals to enhance the spiritual atmosphere and enhance the 'trip'. However, in recent years the younger generations have abused LSD as a 'party drug' and use it as a way to find escapism. The issue with the youth abusing LSD is that they misuse it and abuse its function, therefore resulting in worse and experiences using the drug.
To break down how LSD creates hallucinations is from the alkaloid mescaline. Mescaline is a natural chemical found in the peyote cacti. The main point that Grisel spoke upon was how herself and other scientists believe psychedelics should not be classified as 'addictive', their reasoning for this is because psychedelics do not lead to the release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbent. Also there is no evidence shown that psychedelics form dependance, this is due to their fast tolerance and therefore they cannot be taken compulsively. I found this very interesting as it is the first drug in this memoir to not have a repeated pattern, as I have now learned that psychedelics have a different b process to stimulants, opiates, alcohol, and tranquillisers, which all give symptoms of depression and anxiety and can lead to addiction, but psychedelics do not and infect can create the opposite effect. An example that Grisel gives is from a researcher Called Professor Peter Hendrick from the University of Alabama, he tested in 2002 and 2014 the effects of psychedelics on half a million inmates and found that there was a 25 percent decrease likelihood of them committing theft or property crime, after using the psychedelics. In comparison to other drugs such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana and MDMA, they created an opposite effect and the research showed an increase in crime from the inmates who consumed them.
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To conclude, I found this chapter very informative on psychedelics as I was unaware of their difference between other drugs. I found the comparison between their effects on the brain fascinating as I was surprised that their chemical reaction differ and how the effects from psychedelics do not increase dopamine but act with certain receptors. I am aware this chapter had no use in informing me on painkiller addiction for my film, but it still taught me more about the varied drugs and substances that surround addiction.
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Chapter nine - A will and a way: Other drugs
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In this chapter, Grisel discussed other types of stimulants, inhalers and salvia psychedelics. Although this chapter did not discuss painkiller addiction that I am representing in my film. It still covered the general subject matter of the disease and how varied the types of addictions are formed, as well as their scientific impact upon the brain. I found this chapter very informative on new drugs that I did not now exist and it also gave me insight on how they impact communities and people across the globe.
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The chapter started with Grisel describing 'bath salt' addiction and what it is chemically made from. She stated how it is a synthetic version of cathinone, which is a amphetamine like compound that's retrieved from a flower plant called khat. Grisel also spoke about a compound found in bath salts called MOPV or methylenedioxypyrovalerone which is found in the Cathie class, MOPVproduces similar effects to amphetamine and blocks monoamine transporters, alike methamphetamine. Cathonine produces behavioural effects such as excitement, cognitive arousal, euphoria and loss of appetite. I found these points to be very interesting as I was unaware of what bath salts were made of, this research has given me a clearer insight as to how synthetic drugs can be partly formed from natural chemicals in plants and taught me about how much impact compounds in bath salts, have upon the mental and physical state of the user.
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Grisel also spoke about the stimulant ketamine and how it is used legally and illegally. She stated that ketamine is used legally in paediatric and geriatric surgeries for anaesthetic, it can also be used in veterinaries too. The sedation from ketamine is created as the drug produces a state of separation between sensation and 'self', this then catalysts the amnesia and the brain looses conscious memory. Ketamine is abused illegally, particularly by the youth as a 'party drug' as it creates effects of hallucinations, dissociation and euphoria, to clarify, ketamine is a stimulant but has psychedelic effects. Grisel also said how chronic ketamine users may experience cognitive deficits, gross abnormalities in Brian structure and deficits dopamine signalling and glutamate synapses. I found this informative as I had little knowledge of the side effects and chemical compound of ketamine, although I know it is a popular drug within today's society. Although this had very little to do with my painkiller addiction, it gave me a broader scope on my knowledge fo stimulants that are a huge part of the global epidemic that is addiction.
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This chapter covered lots of different drugs, one of them being Phencyclidine also known as PCP , I had no knowledge of this drug until I read this chapter. Grisel spoke about how PCP is anaesthetic that creates hallucinations, distorts perception go shapes and sizes. She also spoke about how the drug works chemically in the brain; concluding that the drug blocks the flow of ions through the glutamate receptors, known as NMDA receptors, these are important as they are crucial towards memory and cognitive coordination. Grisel also stated how there is now evidence with research that PCP partially stimulates mesolimbic dopamine neurons, which can lead to a dependancy and form an addiction.
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Grisel also described saliva, this is a drug that is formed from natural plants and is found in Asia and Central and South America. It is used in religious rituals by the Mazatec people as a form of medicine for diarrhoea and headaches. It can be used in teas, chewed or smoked. Salvia gives effects of hallucinations, however it is different from a hallucinogen due to its unique compound salivation A. Salivation A is the most natural hallucinogenic discovered by scientists yet and is a selective kappa opioid antagonist. Kappa receptors are canonical opioid receptors. Salivation A increases the dopamine levels and accumben nucleus, this information was found from scientists testing on rats, they believe this may be evidence to show how the drug saliva could be addictive. Although this part of the chapter did not discuss addiction, I still wanted to document the new information I learned about drugs and the impacts they have across the globe and felt salvia was a prime and unique example of this.
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Another drug that Grisel spoke about is called spice. I have watched documentaries about this drug before and found this part of the chapter more informative as it covered the scientific evidence to show how it impacts the brain and gave reasoning as to why it is so harmful for the users. Grisel explained how spice is a 'shredded plant material combined with synthetic cannabinoids, mimicking THC'. She also stated how its effects are incredibly toxic to their cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological and renal system. She also stated the effects spice, describing how the user will experience anxiety, hallucinations, paranoia and even psychosis. The psychosis can lead to violence and paranoia. The high for the user will be more intensified than normal marijuana as it is a potent synthetic version. I found this very informative as I knew spice was harmful but I was unaware that it may cause mental illness, this goes back to my recollection of patterns in addiction and gives evidence as to how the b process of drugs is the hugely responsible for the addiction as it put the effects the addicts mental state, creating a cycle as they want more high in order to find escapism for the damage the drug caused in the first place.
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Lastly, Grisel spoke about GHB and inhalants, I had very little knowledge of these drugs before reading this chapter and found them educating to learn about, especially as I am researching substance abuse. Grisel stated that GHB is marked as Xyrem and acts as a CNS depressant, she also said how it is a metabolite of inhibitory of the neurotransmitter GABA. This psychoactive drug is taken orally and the effects from the drug are depends upon the dosage amount. The 'positive' effects conclude of an increase in stamina, sensuality, euphoria, arousal, the negative effects are experiencing a loss of musicale coordination, dizziness, amnesia, vomiting and can lead to seizures. The dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine levels are effected by the behavioural changes that are produced from the drug, these behavioural effects are due to the GABAb receptors in the brain. The tolerance and dependancy for the drug can be formed when the drug is taken frequently. The withdrawals that comes this drug include of anxiety, irregular heartbeat, hyper tension and confusion. Grisel said how GHB addiction can be treated with benzodiazepines or barbiturates. The only people legally allowed to take GHB are people who suffer from a sleep disorder called narcolepsy as it helps with sleep. To conclude on my GHB research, I found Grisel's points and facts about this drug to be informative as I had no knowledge it existed and thought its use for narcolepsy was interesting due to its harmful effects.
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Grisel spoke briefly on inhalants and clearly stated how they conclude of nail polish, solvent glue, inks, gasoline etc. These are inclusive in inhalants as someone can get high through inhaling them. She also stated how they all can created euphoric effects and are providently used globally in the impoverished youth. Grisel stated how the danger with the youth abusing inhalants is that they can become addictive and lead them to progress onto more harmful drugs in the future.
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To conclude, this chapter was incredibly informative on varied drug types and their unique, harmful and abusive nature to people globally. Although this chapter was not very relevant to my painkiller addiction research for my film, it did added to my overall research on substance abuse and educated me on drugs I had no knowledge existed and the different age groups and locations that these drugs are both grown, used in and the science behind their behavioural, physical and cognitive effects that can lead to addiction.
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Chapter ten - Why me?
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In this chapter, Grisel discussed the broad reasonings as to why people may become addicts and also spoke upon her own experience in trying to find her own reason for being an addict herself. I found this chapter quite useful towards my film as it covered addiction generally, revealing the most likely people to become addicted to drugs and environments that influence it. This was helpful to my protagonist's addiction as I can learn the likelihood of her developing the disease and expand her addictions the depth and beginning, using this research. This will also allow for my film to be more accurate in representation of those who are at high risk of addiction.
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In the beginning of the chapter, Grisel stated how the 'classic symptom' of addiction is denial. This quote gave me an idea for my film, as I want to show my protagonist's own denial with her addiction by having her father confront her addiction. I wanted to capture the reality that addicts face, through my character in order to represent it with justice. Throughout my research in the subject matter of addiction; denial has been a huge theme and to portray this through my characters family dynamic and confrontation, I believe it will reflect this emotion well and show how addicts hide their inner shame of their substance abuse by denying their problems, as this is another way for them to suppress and neglect their inner torment.
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Grisel expressed how the following three things she believes are the reasoning for her personal addiction, and many others. The first is inherited biological deposition, the second is copious drug exposure and finally the third being catalysing environment. I found these three points to be very insightful and were helpful to my films addiction reflection of the subject matter as I will take into account theses reasonings and intertwine them into my protagonist's addiction to give more realism and representation to my film.
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Grisel stressed the point of drug exposure and how much it can impact upon one's chance of addiction. This is because, she said how they can develop a tolerance, dependance and a craving for the drug as they are more exposed to it in their environment. Grisel also spoke about genetics link to addiction and how the more DNA you share with someone who is an addict, the higher your chances are of becoming one. An example she gave was of a experiment done on rats, it was specified in THC and concluded that if your parents used THC before you were conceived, you may be at an increased risk of developing a mood disorder or addiction. She also stated how if marijuana is exposure to embryos, children and adolescence, it can cause cognitive and behavioural deficits. Exposure of drugs from parents or guardians disposes to drug use and Grisel said how it 'effectively is the b process across generations'.
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Another point that Grisel spoke on which I found interesting was how older someone becomes an addict, the less addictive they become, she also said how the prefrontal cortex (the from of the brain) is the region of where your brain maturers. If an adolescent is howling reckless behaviour, it can be due to their underdeveloped prefrontal cortex. Grisel also said how this part of the brain is most affected by substances disorders. I found this very informative as I was unaware that this region of the brain has such an impact on development and maturity, this will be useful to know for the protagonist's character development in my film as I am now aware, this region of 'her' brain will be impacted by her substance use.
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Grisel also said that 'Natural variation in dopamine signalling contributes to differences in the way people respond to things they encounter in their environment'. I found this intriguing how dopamine levels are unique for each person. She also said how 'Addicts are thought to have altered activity in their mesolimbic dopamine system, making it hypersensitive to possibility'. I researched more the hypersensitivity that addiction experience and found that addicts have a decrease in rewards system and therefore feel less satisfied with their normal dopamine levels. Grisel also stated how those who suffer with stressful or unstable family environments, neglect or childhood abuse will be at risk of addiction. She also stated how women are most likely to self-medicate in order to escape physical or sexual abuse.
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To conclude, Grisel said that scientists who research into addiction are not able to 'label' or give diagnosis to people's cause of addiciont but instead give them their likely hood of having the disease and show evidence as to where they were at risk of having the disease. Grisel said how there are just as many reasons for being an addict as there are addicts, therefore researchers will continue to study addiction and bring try retain more evidence and knowledge on the subject.
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Chapter eleven - Solving Addiction
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In the final chapter of the book, Grisel concluded her knowledge, experience and research on the epidemic of addiction. She stated how poorly addiction has been attempted to be treated or deal with, giving examples of the Philippines where thousands of addicts were killed and there war on drugs. She also spoke upon the USA and how they were offering brain surgery as a way to 'cure' addicts. With all my research upon addiction, the same word keeps repeating, 'connection'. All the researchers that I have referred from, including Grisel conclude that addicion can only be truly solved with compassion and giving social connection to addicts, in order to give them a healthy role model and safe place to be open about their internal suffering. Grisel said how if addicts are given 'attractive healthy alternative and social support, they will choose life'. I found this touching and very true as addiction is formed from a need for escapism from reality, addicts need to stop being alienated or neglected by society, as the root of the issue is their lack of connection and isolating them only encourages their use.
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To conclude the book, Grisel explained how we are all to blame for the epidemic of addiction, this is due to the need of escapism that is formed for people's isolation, specially in this day and age as people connect more through screens than in real life. Another fault that which has increased our blame for this epidemic is the alienation we as a society have upon those who are addicts and also the consumption of self-medication that is influenced by companies and overall the media.
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To summarise my experience with reading this book, I now feel incredibly informed and educated on the subject matter of addiction. I found it profoundly detailed and in-depth, giving me both new knowledge of the science behind the disease, as it taught me about new drugs I was unaware even existed, allowed me to understand those who are more risk of the disease and gave an impeccable overview both of addicts journeys, scientists research and experiments and society's part in both failing to deal with addiction, and what we can do more of to help fight this epidemic. This book has helped me immensely with my research and I will carry this new knowledge that I have gained from it, into my film's representation of the disease.
MY CHOICE OF DRUG ADDICTION FOR MY PROTAGONIST
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After reflecting on the varied addictions my protagonist can suffer from in my research, I have decided on opiate addiction instead of pain killer addiction. I believe this will be the easiest to represent in terms of filming as I can use pills as there are a wide range of opioids, such as oxycodone, which can be taken in pill form. Although I am not stating it is easier to act out and represent in my film. To research a little bit more into how oxycodone addiction effects the addict and the physical and emotions symptoms they will experience, I found an article from a website called Drug Rehab and it stated useful facts about oxycodone addiction that I will have reflected in my film using the protagonist. The images below are the facts for the website.
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Link to website I used for my research - https://www.drugrehab.com/addiction/prescription-drugs/oxycodone/
neglect linked to addiction
The narrative of my film focuses upon the emotional neglect my protagonist experiences from her father. I wanted to choose neglect as I thought there were many ways I could approach it within my film and thought it was an accessible emotion to portray if I research it well enough. As addiction is my subject matter, I will be linking the protagonist's childhood neglect to her addiction and show the relation between the two. To research more into learning about the relation between neglect and addiction, I have listed articles and videos below and have described their importance within my research.
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The link below leads you to an article by Foundations Recovery Network on how neglect in children links to their chances of becoming an addict.
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https://dualdiagnosis.org/unfortunate-connection-childhood-trauma-addiction-adulthood/
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The article above discusses how neglect in children from their family or loved ones increases their chance of abusing alcohol or drugs when they are adults. I found this piece of information useful for my research as it helped me understand the factual side of addiction that I will be representing in my film, as I want to portray addiction realistically in my film. I have also screen-shotted below a description that is stated in the article which summarises one of the reasons for why protagonist starts abusing drugs, which is that she has no one to turn to as her father, who is her only family, is the person neglecting her. Therefore she feels more isolated and lonely and develops an addiction that is formed from self-medication in order to fill the childhood trauma she is faced with.
pre production of my short film
For this section of my 'research' I will be documenting my redrafted script, my storyboard, legal sheets, blocking, costume and lastly music. This part of my project is very much a collective of all my research in terms of me gathering and using the information I have studied and applying it into my pre production. My production page will consist of my documentation of me filming and being on set and will also include my post production stage too. I will be also adding a summary below to this page, of my film's narrative to state the full storyline and plot of my short film, for this project.
The description below gives the title of my film, the characters, cast and a synopsis of the plot. I thought I should state each section as they combine to create my film and have allowed me to both will feasibly and effectively have allowed me to create this film, and I am very fortunate to have been lucky enough to have family members co operate and collaborate with my on this project in such stressful times (during a global virus outbreak).
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To give a brief statement about why I chose to name my film 'Under the Tongue', I chose it because I felt it was a subtle way fo revealing to the audience the film's plot as it is mainly follows the story of Kat's benzodiazepines addiction. The reference of tongue links to how Kat's consumes her drugs, which is by swallowing them. I thought this title would be quite intriguing to my viewers and that only until the film has been, the viewer finally understand the meaning behind it.
Film Title:
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Under the Tongue
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Production team:
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Director/Screenwriter/Editor/Actor: Skye Putwain
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Cinematographer: Adrienne Dempsey
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Actor: Paul Putwain
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Cast and Characters:
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Kat Clementine performed by Skye Putwain
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David Clementine performed by Paul Putwain
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Synopsis:
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After Kat Clementine loses her only source of income, her existing tranquilliser addiction worsens and causes her to question her own moral compass and we witness the guilt eat away at her mind. Alongside this, David, Kat's father, has a workaholic lifestyle which becomes the catalyst for the disconnection between him and his daughter; resulting in Kat's addiction to spiral out of control. When David accidentally finds out Kat has relapsed, he questions his actions and attempts to reconcile with his daughter.
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Narrative:
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Set in England, 'Under the Tongue' is a story about a teenage girl called Kat Clementine. In the beginning of the film, we are introduced to Kat's feelings of isolation and neglect, this is mainly because of her father, David Clementine, who is quite absent in her life; due to the pressures of his work. The opening scene features Kat preparing a breakfast for him, however she soon finds out that he is not home. Kat feels disappointed and lonely, these unwanted emotions cause Kat to turn to her secret stash of benzodiazepines, as comfort and a way to escape reality. We are shown that her pills are located in a hidden box, in the medicine cupboard of her kitchen. This scene establishes the disconnection between the characters as we as the audience empathise with Kat's loneliness and have been revealed to her dependancy of pills, all within the opening scene.
We then see Kat later in the evening, playing her piano. This shows how she is a creative individual and adds layers to her character by showing her hobby. The first time we are introduced to David he is cold and stern towards Kat, as his stressful day at work seems to have providently effected his mood. Kat and David share little dialogue but it is discovered that Kat has lost her summer job. The film continues follows Kat later that night and we witness her desire for more pills, this is shown through her online communication with her dealer. Kat who has no income because she is now unemployed, asks to be left off and will 'repay' her dealer once she finds the money. They decline her offer. This scenario causes Kat to become frustrated and panicked as she is unable to find money for her fix. This scene exposes the need and mental dependancy she has for her drugs.
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We next see Kat two days later, in the morning. David is featured in the scene, his tone is less cold but he is very blunt. He tells Kat that he is off to meet a client and leaves her money which is meant for food and then goes to work. Kat is shown to be suffering from withdrawal, she experiences flu like symptoms. This scene reveals the physical dependancy she has upon her benzodiazepines. She hesitantly takes the money, which is shortly followed up by her phoning her dealer. We as the audience are shown the bag of pills she purchases, but not shown the dealer.
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Later that day, Kat is seen in her garden, now she has had her 'fix' she looks physically better. Although mentally her emotions become visible and we see the anxiety and guilt she feels from her immoral actions, which were caused by her addiction. Next we see David enter, he bumps his head as he exits the back door. It is evident he is in a good mood, both David and Kat share dialogue, David mentions how the client he met with teaches piano lessons and asks whether she would be interested. This scene captures David to be less harsh and distant to Kat as he finally shows an interest in her. This scene also reveals how much impact his work effects how he treats those around him. David's change in tone adds to Kat's feelings of guilt as she becomes more shameful of her actions.
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Later that night, David goes to look for paracetamol (as he has a headache after bumping his head earlier that day). David looks through the medicine cabinet and accidentally knocks Kat's disguised box of pills onto the floor. David picks them up and realises they are Kat's. He mutters to himself 'not again...'. This line reveals to the audience that this is not Kat's first time being addicted to benzodiazepines and reveals that her father is aware she has relapsed. His reaction is surprisingly calm, although guilt and sadness fill his expression.
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The last scene of the film is set as the next morning and captures David entering Kat's bedroom, carrying a tray of food. This links back to the beginning of the film, and gives reference to the progression of connection within their relationship. David and Kat share a small monologue and open up to one another about Kat's relapse. She admits that she used his money for drugs and was going to tell him. Both characters are finally seen to be connecting and are now honest with each other, although her addiction is not solved or cured. The last scene reflects how compassion and human connection allow for addicts to feel less lonely and will become more open when given the chance.
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The film ends.
First drafted script
My first drafted script is shown below. I believe this script could be improved as I feel it lacks in character and has some poorly written action and description that I could adjust, but I will improve this in my next draft once I receive feedback.
Overall, as my first draft I do believe it capture most of my vision for my film and captures the scenes flow between the scenes well as I added them in using transitions. I did this is because I tend to be more visual in my ideas and I imagined the scenes with transitions, this helped me break up the time in my script and allowed me to form a pace.
I will also be using the final drafted script as a guide for myself as an actor to follow in order for me to learn lines from but also be a guide on set as when I am directing it remind me on what action and emotion I want to include in the scenes. I will also be using it on set for me to use a line prompter incase myself as an actor and my father as my fellow actor forget some of our lines.
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For this first draft, I wanted to receive feedback and asked my father to help me improve my script as he has written scripts before and understands the basics of devising action, dialogue etc.
The feedback I received from him was to rearrange the opening line, he also said to edit some of the action as it is not grammatically correct. He also stated that I should adjust the line spoken by David from 'Just accept it to', 'Don't worry' as it sounds more realistic, which is the approach I am taking with my my dialogue.
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To conclude, I will reflect upon all my notes and review my script and add on my recommendations and improvements from my feedback. If I believe my second drafted script is good enough to use and is at a satisfactory standard then it will be my final draft. Once I have completed my final draft I will go on to create a storyboard and then start blocking through my scenes.
Second drafted script
My second drafted script is below, overall I believe this script is much better than my first draft as I have added adjustments and improvements that flesh out and detail more of the scenes. I have also re arranged some dialogue in the scene where Kat uses David's money for drugs, I rearranged it so that Kat asks for the money, instead of being given it. I believe this decision allows for the audience to see how addiction tests addicts morals and in this case, shows how it breaks them. I also believe it creates more anticipation as to what she is going to spend the money on, as she is contemplating, until it is soon revealed she uses it for drugs.
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I also believe this script is more tight and sharp in its action, although I did not change lots of action I did adjust some parts. For instance, when we hear the sounds of music or a door closing, I have now ordered them correctly so that I can shoot the scene with more logic and continuity.
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The transitions I spoke of in my first draft, I have not changed as I believe they fit well with the scenes fluidity and are important for me to include as when I am editing they will help me refresh my memory on what I envisioned and how I can experiment with the fades and cuts between scenes in my film.
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To conclude, I estimate my film's duration to be roughly 10 to 12 minutes, including credits, as the page count per minute for my script gives evidence it to be 10 minutes long. On set, in production I will have a better understanding of the duration. Once I have received feedback from my teacher/supervisor, I will adjust my final third draft of my script.
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feedback - supervisor
After getting feedback from my supervisor, I was told that they wanted me to reimagine my scene four, as they believed it lacked in emotion and that I could create a better representation of my character's mental dependancy. Scene four in the first and second drafted scripts are the part where Kat messages her dealer, Gage. After reflecting upon how I could recreate scene four, I chose to represent my protagonist's mental dependancy to her drugs by revealing she is low on pills and ends up having an argument between her father, David. To expand upon my idea, I wanted to reveal Kat's pills and have her stash be low, as this will reveal the anxiety she feels when she is running out. I also wanted this scene to have David be part of it and for him to enter the scene when Kat realises she's running out of pills. I thought this would create more anxiety and tension in the scene as Kat is anxious because she doesn't want David finding her drugs.
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Once David questions what she is doing, Kat becomes more anxious and an argument arises as David says a rude comment about pushing Kat to cook dinner. This triggers her anger and her and David have a short bursted argument about how each other feel suffocated by one another. The scene ends with Kat exiting the kitchen in a furious mood. I wanted this scene to both intertwine and represent Kat's troubled relationship with her father and Kat's mental dependancy through her increased anxiety and internal anger, that is taken out on her father, because of his rude language and her not having enough pills to feed her addiction.
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Overall, I felt the feedback I received was useful as it has helped me improve my script writing skills as I have devised a scene where their is more dialogue shared between my characters and it also allowed me to challenge myself by thinking about how I will show and represent my protagonist's mental dependancy.
Third drafted script
My third drafted script below is the final draft. After receiving feedback from my supervisor, I reimagined scene four and adjusted little details of my script to give it more emotion and to write in my protagonist's narrative about her mental dependancy, as well as expanding upon my character's developments. I found that reimagining scene four was very helpful as it made me challenge myself as a writer because I created a small argument scene. I personally want to improve upon my dialogue writing skills and thought that I could do so, by adding conflict to this scene.
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The representation of my protagonist's mental dependancy is shown through the anxiety she feels once she realises her supply of drugs is low. I wanted to have some kind of reveal of her drug amount being reduced that eventually leads her to withdrawal as I felt it would represent addiction well as many addicts face this issue. Overall, I thought adding conflict as we reveal her mental dependancy, creates more tension and gives a clearer insight into the anxiousness and stress that can form from addiction.
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The third drafted script also has seem adjustments to the last scene of dialogue as I thought it could have been improved upon. I mainly changed the last line, to give more emphasis on how recovery is only possible when the addict wants to recover for themselves and no one else. As I reflected on my research into addiction, I wanted to re write this line of dialogue as I thought its message was important in context and reveals that this is a disease only the sufferer can overcome, no one can do it for you, but they can support you.
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To conclude, I believe this is the best drafted script out of all three, the dialogue is more sharp and fits more tot he context of the scene. Scene four is more emotionally captivating and gives an insight into the truth of fear and anxiousness that addicts face from their dependancy. I also believe scene four helps develop the characters relationship better as you can clearly see their communication is strained and they are distant from one another, emotionally.
STORYBOARD
After devising and finishing my script, I started on my storyboard. I found sketching my storyboard in scenes to be very useful as it helped me establish what shots go with which scene and allowed me to be organised and transparent in my shot types and placement of characters and items. I have also included new techniques, from my research, such as using arrows to show panning in shots. I also chose certain shot types for certain scenarios, in order to show the characters emotion or to emphasis an important object or item in the scene. An example of this is in scene five where Kat, the protagonist, uses the money for drugs, I chose for there to be a close up of the money to emphasis the objects importance as Kat eventually uses it for drugs, but at first contemplates.
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I have also added a paragraph for each scene to describe the importance of the shot types, blocking and transitions. This I felt was important to show as it gives a clear insight into my creative process and how I depict scenes in my mind and the different ways I wan to manipulate the camera to reflect either a characters emotion, a relationship dynamic or generally establish a location, but either way all the shots are need reasoning as to why they are chosen to form a storyline and adapt it onto the screen. I also labelled each scene to represent the basis of the events that happen in the shots. This has helped remind me which scene contains which events.
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To conclude, this storyboard will be very useful for me when I am in the production process as I will refer back to my shot types and see my initial visual ideas and attempt to re create them when shooting, however, I am aware that when filming not all shots will go as planned and the shots will not look exactly the same as the storyboard, but it is useful to have it act as guide for me when directing and filming on set.
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My Shot List will be shown below my storyboard to clearly states the shot types I have chosen, for each scene.
Scene one is very important as it established Kat Clementine as the protagonist, her feelings of loneliness and the general setting in the film, being Kat's home. I envisioned this scene from the beginning of research, as after watching how Noah Baumbach described how some films use the appeal of a setting and create an illusion of attraction, which is then shortly followed by reveal of it's dark reality.
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In my case, I drew this as influence and created my own style of this technique and fitted it to my narrative. For example, the opening shots in this scene are seen to be happy and bright in the morning with lots of natural light, this is to emphasis the 'attraction' of the setting. Then nearer the end of the scene, it is revealed that Kat is not living in a wonderful home with family and food, which are many peoples desires. But instead she is very lonely and longs for company. This follows onto scene two where we see her fill her unwanted emotions with pills to escape her thoughts, which reveals her dark reality, her addiction.
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The opening shot of this scene hints towards the topic of addiction as it captures a pill falling, then the scene cuts to an egg sizzling on a frying pan. This transition foreshadows to the audience Kat's benzodiazepine addiction by giving them a glimpse into the visual occurrence of pills.
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The next shot of the setting, being the kitchen, introduces the audience to the protagonist and depicts her preparing a breakfast. A detail I added to this scene was for the ketchup to be squeezed into a smiley face. This is a small touch I wanted to add to the scene as it will be reflecting Kat's emotions.
For example the opening shots capture her to be be in a good mood and she is smiling, we see her add a smiley face using ketchup onto the food she has prepared for her father, that emphasis it mirroring her emotions. When she travels to his bedroom, in the next few shots, she places the tray of food outside his doorway, in order to turn his bedroom light switch on. The action in this scene is important as once she finds out he is not home, she exits the bedroom and slips on the food tray. Then the scene ends on a close up of the smudged smiley face, this idea was to mirror the shift in the atmosphere of the scene and capture Kat's transition of feelings of happiness to feeling disappointed and lonely, both this being shown through a shot of her expression and through the smudged ketchup.
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I chose to have a tracking shot when Kat is walking to her father's bedroom, this was to try and create anticipation and excitement as if we as the audience are waiting to see who she is giving the food too and to see their reaction. This allows for more anti-climax once we find out Kat father is not home to appreciate Kat's breakfast and allows for the audience to empathise with her more.
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Overall, I felt this scene established Kat as the protagonist well and introduced the audience to her personality and her struggle with feeling isolated and alone. I also believe it creates a smooth transition to the next scene where we are revealed that Kat turns to pills as a way of coping with these emotions.
Scene two reveals Kat's benzodiazepine addiction. I wanted Kat's feelings of loneliness, shown in scene one, to trigger her turn towards taking her pills in scene two, as this establishes her need for escapism from reality. The first three shots reveals that the cupboard (that holds her pills) is in the kitchen, I also chose to have the pills be hidden in a disguised box or medicine packet to emphasis how secretive Kat is of her drugs. I will decide when looking for props and costumes to decide on a medicine packet to use as a container for the drugs. Just too clarify I will not be using real benzodiazepines, but instead use penicillin to pretend to be the drugs as they have a similar exterior to benzodiazepines like klonopin.
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An important aspect of shot seven is that it does not visually show Kat taking her pills, but hints it through her drinking the cup of water, in order for her to swallow them. I chose to have my audience never to see Kat consuming her pills but instead show her usage of them through glasses of water. As every time she takes her pills, the glass of water is emptied. My reasoning behind this is for it to reflect her emotions as she become mentally more empty, the more she uses. As if the water and pills wash away her troubles and guilt. I also wanted to have each time we see the glass for it to be captured with less water inside, as this too I felt is a subtle way of narrating Kat's emotions as her tolerance increases, her need to rinse the taste and swallow the pills with water decreases.
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The last shot pans over to the window as I felt this would be a good transition to show that time had pasted as the next scene opens with a shot of the same window in the evening. I want to experiment with shot types and transitions in this films as I believe it will teach more about filmmaking in terms of finding techniques I like and shot styles I feel capture the pace of my film.
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To conclude, the main point of having scene two is to reveal Kat's addiction as I wanted to establish her problem with drugs in the first part of my film, this is because I have little time to show my theme of addiction due to this being a short film. Also by showing her addiction early on, it creates action and gives the film more pace as the audience become aware of the film's focus and plot both by being introduced to the protagonist and mainly being shown her battle with addiction and loneliness.
Scene three introduces the second character in the film, being Kat's father, David Clementine. This scene also establishes Kat's relationship with him and shows their family dynamic. The scene also reveals that Kat has been fired form her summer job, this is important for later on in the plot. For this scene, I chose the opening to be of Kat playing her piano, I felt this would be a good way to show the audience one of her passions and gives more layers to her as a character because as I did not want to stereotype her to be only an addict, but instead show her as a person struggling with addiction. I also myself enjoy playing piano and thought it would be fun to give my protagonist a passion that I personally share, as I will be playing her. I also thought it was necessary to give my character a desire because this allow for more realism in her storyline as people in real life have desires and needs.
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For this scene, I was particular on my shot choices as they have relevancy to the emotions being portrayed on screen. Looking back and using my research on storyboards and cinematography. They stated how it over the shoulder shots create character connection, in my case I wanted to play with this idea by having the camera be in an over the shoulder framing when Kat's father enters through the room, this reflects Kat's longing for connection as he will be very blunt and rude to her, as if he cuts off any chance of her connection with him. This enhances the isolation she feels and allows for the audience to see the gap between their relationship. As I want it to be evident in the scene that David is struggling with his work and stress, which prevents him from spending time with his daughter. Again using my research, I found that single shots reflect disconnection and used that to my abilities by having the characters be framed in single shots when sharing dialogue in this scene, to capture the distance between both characters.
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The last shot of Kat entering the kitchen is significant as her movement in the scene indicates her actions, which are of her walking towards the medicine cupboard, this hints to the audience that Kat is going to retrieve her pills, and allows for them to question her intentions but also reveals the subtle deception that can be seen from addiction. In this last shot, I also chose to have the framing be from the POV of the cupboard, I felt this would help emphasis Kat's intentions and create more tension in the scene by having her walk towards the camera's view. I thought that if she walks into the camera's view it would also create a nice transition from this scene to the next.
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To conclude, this scene's cinematography was heavily inspired by my research into camera techniques. The main purpose of this scene is to represent the family dynamic between these two main characters. This scene is also meant for the audience to be introduced to David Clementine and show him on a 'bad day' to capture how our first impression of people is not always who they truly are, this is an idea that I have develops throughout the film and will discuss more about it in later scenes.
Scene four introduces Kat's mental dependence upon her drugs and also delves deeper into her troubled relationship with her father, David. The opening shot is a mid wide shot to capture Kat entering the kitchen, as the previous scene captured her small bicker with her father, she is in the centre frame which captures her emotions as she calms herself. I wanted to capture a small part of her body language, but mainly show her expression as the shot holds on Kat's emotion as she conceals her inner feelings.
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​The next shot is of Kat opening her disguised pill box and removing her stash to find there is only one pill left. I wanted to shoot this reveal from a high angle as I wanted it to capture the little power and control that Kat feels as she realises she cannot feed her addiction with only one pill and is in need of money. This to me was important to establish as I wanted the reveal of her mental dependence to be shown through her lack of pills and urge for more.
​The next shot then captures a close up of Kat's face as we hold on her expression, this shot reveals the anxiety she feels from not having enough pills and again enhances the tension in the scene by having it show her mental dependence. I also wanted to increase the anxiety in the scene by having Kat's father walk in.
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​The next shot captures David entering the kitchen to retrieve a glass of water, while Kat quickly hides her disguised drug container. David in this scene questions Kat's actions then resides on pushing her to make dinner. This line of dialogue links to the previous scene and triggers Kat to fight back a little.
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​I wanted two next shots to capture a back and forth cut from David and Kat as they share dialogue, I was inspired by Noah Baumbach' s (a filmmaker I spoke of in my inspirations) use of intense mid close ups to close ups in argument scenes to enhance emotions. I liked this technique and wanted to use it in my film by cutting from a mid close up to a close up from both Kat and David's expressions to create more tension and enhance the anger in the scene.
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​Lastly, I chose to have a wide shot of Kat exiting the kitchen, having David in the background, I wanted to use this framing as I felt it helped capture how Kat feels undermined by her father and also reflects her relationship with him as she leaves and isolates herself as a way to escape conflict and stress from his presence. I felt this shot captures that well as Kat leaves the room and we capture David unbothered by their argument.
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To conclude, I thought the shots in this scene were very important as they not only enhance the emotions in the scene, but also reveal and symbolise the narrative as both characters framing and angles capture a new truth about the story. I mainly, overall wanted this scene to reflect the strained relationship between Kat and David and wanted it also to give more insight into the emotional and mental anxiety that comes from Kat’s mental dependence, to her drug.
Scene five shows that time has passed across the span of two days, since we have last seen Kat and David. This span of two days is important as it shows the physical impact Kat's addiction has upon her as she has not been able to get high since two nights ago because she has no money, as she has no job, and being an addict, she experiences withdrawal because of this. I wanted the scene to use many close ups as they highlight objects and emotion. For instance, in shots four, five and six. I have used repeated close ups to highlight Kat's craving of the money as she desires it; knowing she can use it to buy drugs But most importantly the fifth close up is used to show Kat's physical state as I want her to be suffering from withdrawal and want the audience to be exposed to the harsh physical dependancy drugs can have upon an addicts.
In shot six I thought it would be important to have Kat hesitate taking the money as guilt and shame overcome her because of the control her addiction has upon her, as it makes Kat go against her morals, because she is stealing and lying from her father.
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I also used a close up in shot eight to capture the anxiety Kat feels as she is impatiently waiting for her 'fix'. I wanted to use the close up to enhance the tension in the scene and for it to transport the audience into the mindset of Kat so that they can have a clearer view of what emotional dominance addiction can have upon addicts.
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The ninth shot captures Kat holding the bag of drugs in her palm, I wanted for this shot to be held as a close up in order for it to reflect the questioning and regret Kat feels, but once she closes her palm it shows that she has decided to take them. Although the audience are aware that she will get her 'fix' and consume the drugs, I wanted this shot held in order for the audience feel Kat's regret and guilt and for them to understand the mindset of an addict and how not matter how hard they may try, sometime the urge to escape is higher than fighting it, alongside this they are fighting their physical dependancy too.
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The final shot, captures another glass of water, as this hints again to Kat's consumption of her drugs, however this time the water is less filled less than the last glass in scene two, as this detail reflects the more empty Kat is becoming to her emotions, and mirrors her increase in tolerance as she needs less water to consume more pills. The shot also features Kat in the background as she is in a euphoric state, after getting her 'fix'.
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To conclude, I hope this scene allows for my audience to be given a deeper insight into how addiction is a disease and not a choice, as I want Kat to be a representation of how addiction causes addicts to fight between their internal beliefs and how it effects them physically too.
Scene six shows more about the relationship David and Kat share as father and daughter, while also revealing the hidden guilt that comes from Kat's addiction. The opening shot I felt would work nicely by being faded in as it gives almost reference to how Kat felt as she was previously high in the last scene, e.g the sun is shining is showing a picturesque setting alongside her feelings of euphoria from her escapism. However, this is soon shifted once we get to shot three. From shot two, we captured the exterior of the house and then in shot three we capture Kat exiting her back door, into her patio. I wanted the third shot to capture Kat perceptively looking small and in a narrow framing, this is to enhance the fact that she is alone.
In shot five, I wanted to use a single frame to capture Kat's isolation and emotion as the guilt and shame from getting high and stealing form her father weighs on her emotionally. I want the audience in this scene to empathise with Kat as her disease of addiction has caused her to feel this way. The next shot captures David arriving back from work, this is the first time we see him in a good mood. I thought this was important to show as the audience will see the kinder more warmer side to him as a character. I also specifically want David to bump his head against the back door as he enters the scene, as this will have a crucial part to play in the plot.
In shot seven, I chose for Kat and David to be in a double frame as I felt this enhances the connection between the two and shows how David allows for more connection with his daughter, when he has had a good day at work.This establishes the dynamic of the relationship between the two to be very much reliant on the father's mood as his work puts a strain on their communication and bonding.
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Then lastly, after their dialogue ends on a bad note, we cut to Kat sitting alone in the double frame as this emphasises her feelings of loneliness and the space where David was is metaphorical for the void and emptiness she feels in her life, as she longs for some form of lifeline and connection to bring her joy.
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The final shot cuts back to the exterior setting in the garden and allows for a cyclical end to the scene as we previously saw the garden in the beginning. I also chose to use this shot in the scene as I felt it would be a nice transition from this scene to the next as I can show how time has passed, due to the next scene being in the evening and this current scene being in the day.
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To conclude, scene six is mainly to draw away from being enclosed in the interior of the house and to capture a new setting, as well as this, I want the scene to mainly be for the audience to become intimate with Kat's emotions and they can see the toll her addiction her upon her mentally. The scene also reveals David to be a more positive and present father as to captures him sharing dialogue with Kat about her passions, however it ends on a bad note. But it overall shows David allowing for more connection between the two.
Scene seven is very crucial to the plot as it links back to scene six when David bumped his head. To elaborate, in this scene, David goes to retrieve paracetamol to try ease his headache, which was caused by his head being bumped shown in scene six. I wanted this shot to be a wide as it allows for the audience to know that David is located in the living room and that it it is the evening. This shows that time has passed and it is later that day.
Once we establish the setting, David then goes to the medicine cupboard in the kitchen to retrieve the paracetamol. For the shot where David enters the kitchen, I want it to be again from the POV of the cupboard as it creates tension by having the audience question whether he will find Kat's pills or not, as they are aware he is heading towards the medicine cupboard.
David then opens the cupboard and accidentally knocks over Kat's stash of drugs and after analysing them, realises they are her's and that she has relapsed. I wanted the shot of the pills exposed not the floor to be a close up in order to show their importance as they shift the storyline because Kat's relapse is now
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For this scene's cinematography, I wanted to use close ups to enhance the tension, as the audience do not know whether David will find Kat's drugs in the cupboard or not. When he does, I wanted a single frame close up to capture David's emotions of guilt and sorrow as it is revealed he realises she has relapsed.
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To conclude, this scene is very much significant in the storyline of my film as it creates a shift in David's character, we see him most vulnerable after he finds the pills and this truly unveils his private and cold exterior. I chose for David to be quite distant towards Kat in the begging as I want him to come across as if he is protecting himself from getting hurt by her, as they have had previous experience with her addiction. But his work also plays a part in his time and occupation too. This scene is also suppose to highlight David's worry for Kat and allow for the audience to know that this is her relapse and he is aware of her previous addiction history.
The last scene of my film, being this one, I felt I needed to be ended on a short note as I did not want to cover a whole narrative that spans across the road of recovery, due to my limits of time. But instead, I wanted to capture the connection and compassion shared between the David and Kat. As after looking at my research in addiction, compassion is see as one of the influences to help addicts recover, more so than some treatment centres. As connection lies at the core of addiction, a longing for care, self-love and acceptance. My reasoning for having disconnection be provident in most scenes with these two main characters is for the end scene to finally have them connect and communicate to one another, honestly, by showing the impact honesty and compassion can have upon a relationship.
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For this scene, I wanted to link back to the opening scene by having the father bring breakfast for Kat. To do this, I wanted it to be framed so that the camera's view is entering Kat's bedroom. My reasoning for this is to act like a metaphor for him entering her mind and understanding she has relapsed, without her knowing, yet. I also wanted to reference the opening scene to show how he is now reaching for connection and that it is no longer one sided on Kat's part.
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The last shot will probably include some OTS shots as I have added more dialogue to my script since creating this storyboard. As both characters become open with one another and discuss Kat's relapse, I wanted mainly double framing as it shows to the audience that the characters are open with one another, emotionally and are finally connecting.
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To conclude, I wanted the last scene to have relevance to the overall narrative of the film as we see the progression in the characters relationship with one another. I also didn't want to end the film with a conclusive ending as to what will happen with these characters as I felt that gave it more realism because overcoming addiction comes in stages and it is never truly gone, only conquered.
shot list
The shot list below clarifies the shot type, movement, Int/Ext, time of day and shot description of every shot in my film.This will be very useful when in production as I can read the chronological order of the shots in each scene. It will also help me remember the cinematography style I wanted to use alongside the notes that I have given myself to test how I move my shots and what lighting I want to capture. I find creating shot lists very useful as it acts as a guide for my cinematographer and myself as the director. Alongside my shot list I will also have my script on set as both will help me in the production process because they list out the body and visuals of my film.
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To conclude, I am aware that my shot list is very large as it concludes of 52 shots in total, however, I have prepared for my film to be on the larger end of the scale in terms of duration, so that if need be I can cut it down. I did not want to plan to have a small amount of shots as I would limit myself as then wouldn't be able to reduce my amount of scenes. Overall, I do believe my shot list covers all the shots I want as I have used my storyboard to create this. I will also document in production how my transfer of these shots from paper onto screen have turned out when filming on set.
costume and props
A huge part of my pre production is deciding on what props I will use and what costumes I want my characters to wear. The props in my film are very important as they act like a character themselves. For instance, the pills are a huge character themselves as they are the source of the Kat's addiction. The briefcase that holds David's MacBook acts as a character as it is what David is preoccupied with as it is what he works from home on, spending his time responding to emails with his clients. Lastly, money is the third prop that acts a character in the film as it is the only way Kat can retrieve her drugs as it is the object that feeds her addiction. Overall, I wanted the props to be able have an impact and significance to the film, instead of just being in the film for there sake of it, I wanted them to play a part in the narrative.
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The costumes in my film are important as I like to have my characters costumes to use colour tones as a reflect an emotion they are feeling or for their costume to represent their age or occupation. In this film's case, I wanted to use bland and dark colours for Kat's costume in order for them to be a reflection of her inner emotions of numbness, emptiness and depressed mind as she is severely struggling with her addiction. I wanted David's costume to reflect his age range and be reference to his profession as he will wear business attire as I felt it was important to have his costumes to always be related to work as it emphasises what he spends his time doing.
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To conclude, I wanted both props and costume for my film to be reference to the characters and the plot as I believe it is important to use materials as a way to communicate to my audience more about my film's storyline and to give more context to the atmosphere, characters and emotions.
Legal and location forms
For my film I will need to fill in a location recce sheet, risks and hazards form and a legal and ethical form. These forms are important as they allow me to show evidence that I have access to locations; that I am aware of the hazards but will state how I will avoid these risks and create a safe filming environment. I also have to give evidence as to how the legal and ethical issues of my film will either be solved or justified, in order for my to show my film to the public.
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The legal and ethical form is shown below, I have also stated how the issues raised in my film will be justified or solved. The main issue with my film is the ethical representation as there is a lot of lack in representation due to my circumstances. At this current moment in time, there is a global virus outbreak and the UK is on lockdown, which highly restricts me from collaborating with peers, creators and actors. However, I am fortunate enough to have my family help me create my film during this stressful time.
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Legal and Ethical
The risks and hazard form below state the health and safety risks that my filming locations have and how I will prevent them. It is important I create this sheet in order to keep myself, my cast and crew's safety first before anything else, by listing the risks it allows me to evaluate the hazards that could occur and be able to prevent them before filming. My film is being shot both outside and inside my house. My house is also very old, because of this it bring more risk to my set as the interior is more fragile and on top of this am filming in more than one location. However, I will not let these hazards prevent me from filming and will take high precaution and planning to ensure safety if first on set.
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Risk and Hazards - safety
The second risks and hazards sheet that I have shown below covers the copyright, intellectual property, offensive language and rights of material to my film. It is important for me to list the issues I may face when creating my film, both in pre production, production and post production. The copyright issues I will be able to solve in post production by either using my own music or royalty free music. The intellectual property issues are solved in post production when I am editing my films credits. The offensive language warning disclosure I will create in post production in the editing process and the rights and materials I will sort out in pre production by asking my father if I can use our home as a filming location and the materials inside it.
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Risks and hazards - copyright etc.
Location recce
The location recce for my pre production is important and it establishes the locations that my film will have. It also states the contact details and location details of the where the film will take place, this is necessary for legal reasons as if there are any health and safety issues that may occur, these details need to be accessible. I have given images of the locations and also stated the emergency contact details incase any issues occur. Lastly, I stated how the electrical, lighting and window risks that may occur and how I will prevent or solve them.
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To conclude, I devised a location recce as it is a crucial part of my legal forms for the production of my set and requires risks, contacts and details that need to be accessed or be aware of incase of any emergencies or issues, so that I can make sure my film is safe for both my cast and crew.
blocking
Blocking for my film is very important, especially as it will be around 10 -12 minutes long in duration, I needed to allow myself as a director and actor, my other actor and my cinematographer, to become familiar with the film's movement, shot styles, dialogue and basically all the production side of my project. Also, after I finish blocking I will be able to get feedback from my crew and supervisor on what I can improve on. To block through my scenes, I created a schedule (shown below) of all the dates that myself and my crew were going to be blocking through. Once I started getting through the scenes, I learned it will take me much longer than a few days to go block and rehearse them while filming them too. In order to allow myself more time and less hassle and stress, I created 'break days', these days concluded of my crew having two days off after blocking and before actual filming for production, this was mainly for my crew as it is unfair of me to squeeze production and blocking across two weeks without a break.
schedule editing blocking scenes
However, these break days were also for me to add to this blog my documentation of my blocking process. Now to discuss the process, I firstly read through my script with my cinemaotgrapher and actor. Once we finished rehearsing the lines and prepping the shot types, using my storyboard, we started to shoot. When filming, I experimented with shot angles and types that I felt worked better than my initial envision on my storyboard. This has helped me a lot because I will be more prepared when in production as I will know visually what framings work best for my scenes. After each day, I imported my blocked scenes into After Effects and matched them in order chronologically to the storyline.
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Once I finished blocking and editing some foley sounds onto the scenes, I exported the video into an mp4 and uploaded it onto Youtube, the video is show above. In editing, I experimented with using foley sounds and created them myself using Voice Memos on my phone, I also added in copyright free music, in scene six, to see if it worked by enhancing the emotions on screen.
To conclude, I found the process of blocking to be very helpful as I will be more prepared for the real production, it also let me go through scenes with my crew and for them to understand more about the ideas I had and movements I wanted, both with the acting and camera work. I also will be submitting my video to my supervisor, so that I can receive their feedback on how I should improve my film as a whole, because the blocking gives them a good scope into what the final film will look and feel like.
blocking feedback
After I finished editing my blocking scenes, I needed feedback from my supervisor to know how to improve my film, I did this by emailing and conversing with them and they believed there was little connection between the characters on screen, and that I should maybe try create more scenes with them featured together to expand upon their father daughter relationship. My supervisor also thought the film needed more visuals of the protagonist's struggle and give reasoning as to why she turned to her drugs for escapism, besides her addiction, what is she primarily struggling with? e.g mental illness, loneliness, abandonment etc. Lastly, they thought the film needed more build up to the argument scene, as it felt a little uneven to go from little tension to a full blown conflict.
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Overall, I found my feedback useful as it helped me see a new perspective upon how my film could be improved and will give me a guide to how I can improve my storytelling skills, through the lens of film. I also very much agreed with my feedback as I was unsatisfied with how the storyline of my film turned out, although I am aware this was only blocking it still gave me a blueprint of what my film would look like in terms of structure.
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To conclude, I will be improving my film using my feedback by reflecting upon my scenes, rewatching my film and making notes. I will also be reimagining scenes 1 - 3 and shall be editing my script's dialogue and I believed it was poor and could be redone.
re drafted script
I have linked a PDF of my re drafted script to the button shown below. I chose to do this because it is an easier way for the reader to read my script as they can scroll through the pages in chronological order. This redrafted script took me the longest to write, as I played around with non linear structure and tried to used more creativity and form more of a narrative that the previous scripts lacked in. I much prefer this script as it also gives layers to the characters, by exploring the protagonist, Kat's addiction, in terms of how she become addicted to oxycodone and most importantly how she helps herself begin on the road of recovery. I also chose to use similar scenes from my other scripts and combine them into this screenplay by adding different dialogue to fit the scenario.
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The main change I added to this storyline, in comparison to my previous scripts is that I evolved two counselling session between Kat and her counsellor, and used it as a vessel to cut back and forth from flashbacks, non linearly. I found this was most useful as it allowed me experiment with the order of scenes and time.
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I also added more small scenes with just the David alone, for instance, one scene he is reflect upon past memories by looking at old photographs, I chose to add this scene in as I felt it showed the longing the character of David feels and how he wants to relive the past as he struggles to deal with his daughter's addiction. I thought by having scenes that involved or reference previous events, helps capture the humanity in the story and allows for the audience to be more empathetic as they can relate to the feeling of nostalgia.
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To conclude, I prefer this script and style of structure and shall be sending it to my supervisor to receive their feedback on how I can improve it before I begin the production process.
feedback - supervisor
The feedback I received from my supervisor was mainly to sharpen up my form in terms of writing as some grammar and spelling is off. I was also given annotation on my script and added improvements they gave me, which stated that I should not include transitions and camera movements as it is distracting and is not professional. However, they understood my reasoning for doing so as I will be editing and shooting this film myself. For future purposes it is a bad habit to include these additional notes on a script. I was also told that the narrative from my previous script is improved and was given approval to start production. The button below will lead you to the final draft of my script, as it has been edited using my feedback.
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To conclude, I believe my feedback was fair and will use it as a way to improve my writing technique for future projects and want to advance my writing as much as possible in order to write good screenplays worth creating.