Meetings with the group 1

Here are some videos of our group meetings.








in these meetings we sat as a group and wrote the final treatment of the film and during this meeting we came across problems with how the story will be shown and many more things. These video highligh somekey discussions that will help determaine the outlook of our film.

Meetings with the group 2

I met up with my group to during half term to finnish off the stroyboard. before we started we discussed again the treatment and read over our script to confirm it was final and brush up on any problems. We were ready to start making it into a storyboard and began by discussing every shot one by one and noting down as a list what every shot will include, so we noted briefly for every shot the location, the main props, body language, facial expressions and basically the mise en scene of every shot. after we organised all the shots into order we decided to begin drawing it out so we can see if it visually meets our imaginations.
Our second meeting was with one of our cast members Josh, we asked him to see the group in person and to look through the storyboard we planned out to get a feel of the film and to understand his role and character in the film more deeply.
we got a shot of rebbecca who will be the casting as Delilah and Josh together to give us a little pre picture of the couple in the film and to get a feel to see if it would work out, which we all agreed it did.

Moodboard

I created my mood board essentially with the mood the film gave me, i thought about the film and noted quick words that described the film or the characters or even the props in the film that meant something to the story, i noted words describing themes in the film, clues that we plan to use in the film (such as Chinese food, which would symbol the Chinese tradition of the red strings of fate). i drew the red string to basically show how all the elements including the props tangling the red string of fate.

Storyboard

Here i selected shots that i felt would need to be visually presented, in order to understand the shot better and see if it may work visually. I picked out a couple of interesting shots where subjects will be shot through objects to symbolising certain things. i also picked out some shots that involved a contrast either between the abstract world and reality or shots with a contrast between start and finnish of the film sequence.

Since my description of the shots on the right hand side are not clear enough in the image i will write it down here. what i explained in those descriptions was the shots and what intregued me about them to pick them to draw out.

Shot 1 - the first shot i picked out because i found it interesting the way i want it to be hot. looking through another object. The way this shot is formed is to symbolise Dililahs attempt to hide what she is doing, this shot also foreshadows how she will be found out.

Shot 2 - the shot was of the moment where she closes her cupboard door and she is all dressed up, in red, her hair is all tidy and her make up is all done, and the top she wears stand out in its shocking red, the colour is used alot in this shot to symbolise the danger ahead. the idea of having her image relected shows her mindset of her looking into herself in the mirror in vain and seeing herself as flawless.

shot 3 and 4 -these shots are a switch between the abstract world and reality. i believe the beauty about these shots is that is merges the body language of delilah and the men and connects both worlds together at the same time, almost preparing us for what is soon to come, a clash between Delilahs worlds are near.

Shot 5 & 6 - The shots show a contrast of how the film starts and how it ends which is in the same way but with a slight twist at the end where after she is found out her world falls apart and she looses the people in her life. the before and after contrast is shown.

shot 7 & 8 - Similar to shot 5 & 6 it shows a change in Delilahs world. She's lost the love she recieved from the men and the relationships she had have now died (symbolically shown through the dead flowers).

Character Profile

First draft or character profile (ideas)

Name - Delilah

Job - Waitress /Modelling

Delilah is very outgoing, she enjoys clubbing, socialising, nights out with friends, and is vey active and on th go, she's done part time modelling.

she goes to the gym and likes to go bike riding at times and keep fit

she is self conscious yet very vain in her behaviour, she is always focusing on the way she looks, her hair, her make-up, her clothes.

she likes to shop and buy new shoes, clothes, accessories for herself and loves to pamper herself alot.

she's very independent, has her own place and lives on her own. she does things spontaniously whenever it suits her mood.

shes flirty and confident.

she likes to party every friday night. typical girl who likes to have fun and have a good time.

Character development

WHat are we told about the character in the extract?

these were my first initial thoughts;
- the figure may be a man
- he is untidy and maybe his lifestyle, his life as a whole is a mess, and this is symblically shown through the words mentioned 'dusty, unkept, rumpled'
- it may be about the relationship between the 'figure' and the woman in the snapshot.
- i thought it was of someone who is quite literate and educated but at some point had stumbled down, fallen into a dark lifestyle, which is suggested by the dusty, unkept frame (of the diploma) and the 'rumpled' figure and by props 'trash can', gives a dirty atmosphere towards this character.

This task is a test to see how much information we can squeee out of an extract about a character, the characters lifestyl, achievements, gender, personality, hobbies, etc. Therfore through this exercise i can understand that the character and it's elements that make the character who it is, is essential to creating this characters world with the audience, correctly.

So in my film, i will have to be aware about my characters and creating them strategicly, by creating the world of the characters so their personality and purpose in the film is more clear and obvious

Topic/Subject Matter Research

I understood what kind of character the woman was and I wanted to look into similar characters that may share some influence on our groupd or inspire us with ideas or maybe a stronger backstory.
I though of a drama series, '90210'
where one character in particular stood out to me, 'Naomi Clark'

'Naomi Clark is a West Beverly High School student on the television show "90210". She can be stereotyped as the mean girl of West Bev, who is extremely privileged. . Both her parents are absent the majority of the time - her father is an adulterous man and her mother takes off early in the series. Naomi has had realtionships with Ethan Ward and Liam Court

Naomi is often compared with the character of Kelly Taylor, from the 1990s series "Beverly Hills, 90210".
They both have absentee parents, struggle with the label of the mean girl, and come from privileged families. Although Naomi puts off a tough exterior, she has fears of being rejected and betrayed.

i realised many aspects of this character related to our character. the research on this character helps me to understand ways in which i can connect our character to her obsurd selfish behaviour.

Treatment (3rd draft)

Tag line: 'The cruelest lies are often told in silence'.
- 'Robert Louis Stevenson'

Pitch:
This 'Woman' is a 19-20 year old girl, she is romantically involved with 3 men at the same time without behind their back. She uses them like a puppeteer, to enhance her vanity and gain attention in the interest of her own selfishness. However what she doesn't realise is her lies are tampering with the red strings of fate she has made with the men, and how easily they can break.

Story:'Woman' is first seen in an abstract shot attatched to the TWO men

she begins to get dressed and pamper herself with all her beautifying products, enhancing her vanity with all the perfum and make up she wraps herself up in, hints on her superficial personality. Opens her cupboard and then closes it, mirror on the cupboard reflects her dressed into the cloths already (red clothes). we look at the photos of the men on the wall. she then starts to daydream and drift pre-occupies herself in the thoughts of being intimate with the men. we then flashback to reality with the awakening of her dreams with the sound of a door bell. she goes downstairs and set

Treatment (2rd Draft)

Tag line: 'The cruelest lies are often told in silence'.

- 'Robert Louis Stevenson'Pitch:

This 'Woman' is a 19-20 year old girl, she is romantically involved with 3 men at the same time without behind their back. She uses them like a puppeteer, to enhance her vanity and gain attention in the interest of her own selfishness. However what she doesn't realise is her lies are tampering with the red strings of fate she has made with the men, and how easily they can break.

Story:'Woman' is getting ready for a date, she applies lipstick, make-up, glamorous femine products, primping herself to perfection.We have a initial epil narration introducing her to the audience and the wrong she's doing. Around her vanity are photos and memories of her past lovers, boyfriends, some crossed out in the face, and her mother.Her phone rings and she talks into (see a montage of her talking to various people- passing on what she's doing, unashamed) while she gets ready. With a quick once over in the mirror she sets out and leaves her room.Now on the sidewalk, we have an narration introduction to the man's character. (comedic introduction, from the woman's point of view) 'Woman is joined by one of her three men, we've seen how she repeats this date with previous men, and she takes her current man to the same location. The Cafe.
She is standing in control of the red strings she has created
Inside she settles down with her date, they converse lightly and laugh, an enjoyable meal follows.
Her man then advances to her, takes her hand, rubs his thumb on it in circles, a romantic gesture. She smiles back as we hear the narration 'now this is were its gets interesting'.With the couple still holding hands in a seat by the window we see two men walk past and glance through. (introduction narration to there characters)Upon seeing 'Woman' holding hands with another, they all confront her, and learn from each other what she's done.
They argue with her while she remains still and silent.
Then when they've all had enough they leave at the same time.

FEEDBACK - 3rd Treatment Pitch

FEEDBACK (2nd pitch of treatment re-draft)

After recieving our first amount of feeback from our first pitch we had to go back and as a group meet up in our time to discuss and begin writing another improved treatment. we had to as a group go through the feedback and deliver a response to the group as to how we can overcome this issue or how can we portray certain aspects that may have not been included or emphasised enough in our film. we had to consider many potential issues or queries our audience may have and with that feedback we needed to develop.
heres the feedback.

-more clearer but you need to show more about her world
- how will you show she lost something (valueble to her, i.e. the guys)
- needs to be a more major moment in the film, character needs to progress something needs to change her after this moment
- need to set her up more as a cheat, a player
- include different scenarious of characters

First Treatment Pitch - FEEDBACK

After giving our first pitch to the teacher, we then gathered a lot of feedback to work with to progess onto a new or improved treatment. here is the feedback we was given;




- What is th idea behind the story
- cheating - a good concept. like the way it's chinese originated, the red string of fate idea, being tied to your soul mate
- where did the idea come from
what is the characters actual motive, whats her backstory for her behaviour
- i like the theme though, could visually show more of it, more of the string
- focus more on red string idea, make it more interesting, set the message in an interesting way
- and the message needs to be more clearer, more tighter
- initial thought of what its about is that 'pride comes before fall'
- but you need to show more of her character, why is she the way she is, whats her backstory/motive, who is she and why?
- quite a few character, 4 in total, realisticlly possible?
- maybe you can suggest she is seeing 3 different guys without actually featuring them in the film? (through gifts, phone calls, cards etc)
- how can you show the guys commitment towards the woman more effectively, that they are in love with her or falling in love
- make more of the chinese idea the USP
- need a moment, a turning point, moment of shock, to really establish something big happening
- sotry may be to long, is it possible to portray all this effectively in the given time limits

Treatment 1 - redraft

The redraft for our treatment went well but we felt our story and characters was self motivated.
The main character the 'Woman' is seeing three men at once. we thought of building an establishing scene that focuses on the world of this character, the woman, introducing the audience the this character and allowing the audience to gain some familularity with who this person is. Applying make-up ,and a basic morning routine, however we've brainstormed idea's of prop use to convey her personality, using the props in an exaggerated way to emphasise her vanity, an we brainstormed ideas of the story, such as photos of her various boyfriends in the shot and with friends and many people to convey her live/busy social life
Plot points -
Establishing the 3 relationships.
They want commitment.
When she can not commit, they break up.
She's left alone.
The message was based off of my idea of White Lies, and how they return to haunt you .By cheating purely because she wanted attention, she couldn't commit and return the feelings of her men, this way she doomed herself to becoming what she fears the most. Alone.
Overall this how we visualise our film so far.
Beginning with shots of the Woman, close up, almost snap shots of her different features and movements, so we get a sense of her character and the The world around her, without revealing all, easing the audience in. (considering using a phone to introduce soundtrack music.)
We then see a abstract scene, the woman standing in the centre of a room, red strings tied to her fingers leading to three male figures.
For the scene of introducing the three men, we imagine a spilt screen into thirds, similar to that in 500 Days OF Summer, this would be a great way to show the simultaneous relationships, with the Woman with a different man in each screen, doing to same actions.Presenting how she's using them, rather than each man being individual to her.This would also have a comfortable, story telling feel to the scene.
As the couples in the three screens reach there destination (a date setting - a cafe?) the screens merge into one, an overlaying image of all the mens hands opening a door.
We have action, reaction shots of each man sitting in the date setting, talking to the woman, with each transition back and forth, its a different boyfriend.
The men start to reach forward, asking for more commitment.
We return to the abstract scene, the woman is now tangled in the string, while the men are pulling it tighter.
We return to the date scene, using a circular pan around the cafe, each time it returns to the couple, she's arguing with a different man of the three
Once again we have simultaneous shots of the men leaving.
The woman is left alone.
She's left alone, with the strings broken around her

Opening titles research

We looked at opening titles that we thought would be interesting to use or to adapt cerain aspects of it into our film

Dexter


Thease opening titles have the theme of the colour red, this is important as it prepares the audience for the theme of the film and the atmosphere of it, it hints the genre as horror or thriller. This is successfull as it pre-creates the atmosphere of the film before it starts, so i plan to follow this style in my film as it shows continuity.

B.o.B - Nothin' On You [feat. Bruno Mars]


This music video is interesting and the type of collage effect works well in the video, it seems different and this style is quite unique, the purpose of having unique styles is so that style becomes memorable and impresses the audience, so we can match the style to the film.


Strawberry Swing video

Our Story Requirements

To find a story for our film, we should;

- Use minimal or no dialogue

- Based on the theme of the fall

- Informs and educates an audience of our message

- simple story, not to complex

-With Depth

Journal Entry 3

Today in our groups we had to dicuss ways in which we can develop our treatments. we done this by analysing 3 short clips
'The first time it hits' writeen & directed by Jaon Budge
'Hard Labour' directed by Oliver Krimpas
and 'Ice cream dream' directed by Ekta Walia

We considered some points to observe

• Motivated & Believable actions of characters
• simple idea executed well
• plot points
• rounded characters (inner/outer/world of)
• pithy dialogue

we understoond these points were well demonstrated in these short films and we discussed how we understood the personality of certain characters. we were reminded that characters need to be given motives and there actions should explain themselves, the world of the characters should be understood. to keep it simple, there shouldn't be too many plot points, only a couple, however, they should be effective.

during the group discussion i noted a few brief points;

• remember to show the backstory of characters
• essential that mise en scene should be used effectively and it should conform to the backstoy of the characters
• analyse how different characters are built (this i plan to do for my own personal research, by looking at shows, drama's, films to analyse characters and how they are portrayed through mise en scene and their backstory's)
• think about suttle plot points (2 or 3)
• neatley tie the plot points together

Treatment 2

The edge of a dying romance

A Mans best friend

this story revolves around the world of a man 'FRANK' and a dog 'LACY'. there is a strong bond between an slightly aged male and his very old dog as they have been together for longer then he can remember. LACY is everything to FRANK, thought to be inseperable. the dog is his only and most trusted, reliable and affectionate companion who looks after him in his frail condition as FRANK is blind. however, LACY soon falls ill and it's mind begins to deteriorate, an accident triggers the dogs condition into a huge turn of events. LACY becomes too ill and suffers with a mental conditon, she becomes weak and cannot lead FRANK to places. in it's state of health LACYS' personality dies and it becomes vicious and too violent and ill to live with and look after. the heartbreaking moment comes where FRANK has to let go of his one and only lifetime companion and part from it forever, as LACY is too old and frail too live, he has to leave his best friend to it's death.

Treatment 1

Today we met as a whole group and came up picked the two best drafter ideas to make a treatment out of.

Here is the first draft of what we thought our story to be.



And from that i made the treatment;

A woman caught up in her own vanity and selfishness strings a number of men along in her multiple love affairs, in secret, they develop strong feelings for her and desire a life to commit to with her which she cannot accept but however cannot give reasons why. This confusion as to why she cannot, for each man becomes the drive which leads them to find out what has been going on, that they are not the only one. it leads to all three of them breaking up with her. the link between the bonds of the men and the woman is shown through a red thread to show there linked thorugh the start but become tangled and broken at the end.

My treatment (1)

As a group, before meeting up on the weekend and comming up with only two treatments together, we decided to write our own one or two treatments on any quote and then present it to the group on the weeking so we can decide on the best one and make a two solid treatments out the best two drafts or sketches of the group.

my first treatment draft:

The edge of a dying romance

A Mans best friend

this story revolves around the world of a man 'FRANK' and a dog 'LACY'. there is a strong bond between an slightly aged male and his very old dog as they have been together for longer then he can remember. LACY is everything to FRANK. the dog is his only and most trusted, reliable and affectionate companion who looks after him in his frail condition as FRANK is blind.
however, LACY soon falls ill and it's mind begins to deteriorate, an accident triggers the dogs condition into a huge turn of events. LACY becomes too ill and suffers with a mental conditon, she becomes weak and cannot lead FRANK to places. in it's state of health LACYS' personality dies and it becomes vicious and not the same. the heartbreaking moment comes where FRANK has to let go of his one and only lifetime companion and part from it forever, as LACY is too old and frail too live.

Journal Entry 2

In the second meeting with my group we all presented our finding together.
we all looked up quotes and picked our favourite ones that inspired us the most.

from that the quotes we got was;

• the prettiest people do the ugliest things
• the people highest up have the lowest self esteem
• the universe is your oyster - child runs away, young person wanted to discover the outside world. he looses himself and finds himself in trouble as he is all by himself
• even though yout heart is left it is always right - family fudes, drama related, falling pregnent, making tough decisions
• let your dreams become reality - protests/rights, society, goverment
• i am the greatest, i said that even before i knew i was - reality shock, non linear, powerfull then falls, could fall into disability/illness or tough circumstances..something tht prevents him from achieving or attaining his/her goal. something that creates a struggle or stops the power of this person. (the rise & fall of an individual), drama genre?
• the edge of a dying romance (this was quoted off a song lyric) - growing distance between, friends/family/couple...father & son, mother & daughter, broken families. however we thought these typical 'romance' interpretations were too common. i came up with the dying romance between a mans best friend, a dog.

After our group shared ideas on the quotes we found, we then decided to go back and pick one or two quotes and make a treatment out of them or any ideas inspired by them.

Quotes to inspire us with ideas

Keeping in mind that we wanted to make our film something personal and something with moral i decided to look up quotes, as did the rest of my group.
I personally think Muhammad Ali, a famous figure in society is quite an inspirational character, many quotes of his I found interesting and so I made note of them.
I will then present my finding to my quote and select my favourite quote and from then on sketch out ideas and inspirations i get from the quotes in order to come up with a unique, interesting treatment.


Muhammad Ali

•Wars of nations are fought to change maps. But wars of poverty are fought to map change.
•We have one life; it soon will be past; what we do for God is all that will last.
•I hated every minute of training, but I said, ''Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.''
•Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.
•Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.
•He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.
•I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.
•I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.

Journal Entry One

The first meeting with my group was interesting and i was delighted to have them as my group as i feel i can share openly any ideas and opinions and that they will give me honest feedback. i feel that my group members communicated very well with each other and myself. my group is me, Rebecca, Edward and Norianne, and i am happy that i am working with them as they are open to new ideas from everyone and share there own too.

In our first meeting we came up with;

Ideas -

• Graphic matching
• rise & fall (crime genre)
• love
• falling ill (disability, becomming mentally or physically disadvantaged)
• filiming in the rain (fall of rain symbolising them of the fall)
• contrast of unreal and reality, imagination vs reality, (camera style - showing half of both worlds in one shot)
• single parents
• current affairs
• our city/lifestyle/society

however, we all felt that our ideas were too basic and that as a group we wanted to do our own extra research and look into anything that may inspire us and trigger new ideas

we decided to look at songs and lyrics related to 'the fall'

we also were very much interested in the idea of looking up quotes and sayings that could inspire us with a moral, a storyline or something to offer an inspiration for us.

Poster 3

Poster 2

Poster 1

Character Assessment - My sister's keeper

This character assessment assesses important characters in the film through an interview i conducted, this helps us see the world of the character, thoughts, motives, attitude and behaviour. With this assessment i hope to apply this to my own characters and imagine the thoughts of my character and create the character in that way.



'Anna Fitzgerald looks to earn medical emancipation from her parents who until now have relied on their youngest child to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate remain alive.'

Anna fitzgerald, What was your situation?
once my sister kate got cancer, she gradually got worse and worse. she would eventually die without someone to give her genetically matching donar's. i was born for this reason to become a donar for my sister to keep her alive. I Refuse to be a living donar however, and the problems begin. what they do not know is that i would do anything for my sister to live but what kate knows is that she cannot overcome this cancer and she asks me to do one thing, to let her die this way.




how bad is this affecting your mother?
she struggles so much, she's tried everything. she wont let go of her children and kate is her number one prioroty. she's given her life to look after her and do everything she can. her marriage begins to deteriorate and so does the relations betwewen me and her, the family goes through so many falls together. its hard, family is everything to her.

Character Assessment - Seven Pounds

Interview with 'Tim' (Will Smith)

why are you giving donars to people and helping them?
I had the perfect life, i was in love with the woman i wanted to spend my whole life with. it was me that killed her. too wraped up in my own world that i killed 7 other worlds, i killed 7 lives in a car crash, i did not mean to, i should have concentrated on the road and not my phone. but this has changed everything. now all that matters is not my life, not myself, but all that i want to do is change 7 lives.



What are your feelings towards Emily?
Emily is a beautiful lady she is caring and compassionate. when i met her again and again i felt more then just wanting to change another life. i felt feelings for her, she was the one i wanted to give my heart too, she deserved it, she was the one i wanted to give my life too. she reminded me of my wife, i would have done anything to save her life.