TV Drama/Series - SKINS

SKINS

The TV Drama/Series I decided to choose was 'Skins', as I found it most relevant to my script and narrative. 

The cast consisted of 9 main members and there names were: Kaya Scodelario, (Effy Stonem) Lisa Backwell (Pandora Moon) Merveille Lukeba (Thomas Tomone) Jack O'Connell (James Cook) Luke Pasqualino (Freddie McClair) Ollie Barbieri (JJ Jones) Lily Loveless (Naomi Campbell) Kathryn Prescott (Emily Fitch) and Megan Prescott (Katie Fitch).

The series that I chose to look into was series 3, and a specific episode was chosen which was episode 9 (Katie and Emily's). the general synopsis for this episode is that Katie won't leave the house so Emily has to pretend to be her and sit Katie's exams. Naomi tells Emily that she's going to Cyprus over the summer alone to work things out. Emily asks Naomi to go to the love ball with her but Naomi says no. Thomas finds a broken hearted Emily at the bus stop and proves to be a true friend. Back at home Emily tells her family she's gay but they pass it off as a joke, so Emily tells Katie some home truths. Naomi turns up at Katie and Emily's the next morning and their mum tells her to leave Emily alone.Katie and Emily go shopping for dress for the love ball. They bump into Freddie and JJ. Katie finds out Emily slept with JJ and decides to tell Naomi and warns her not to come to the love ball. Naomi decides to go to the love ball after all. Katie and Naomi fight which is overheard by Emily. Emily and Katie then start to fight just as Emily is about to punch Katie she stops herself and tells her and the whole ball that she loves Naomi. Emily then takes Naomi's hand and they walk away. Thomas and Pandora also decide to start a fresh.

Obviously this series felt extremely dated through it's Mise en Scene, however what I still found and made good use of was relating to my own work. It was the dialogue and character development throughout this series that engaged the audience that once used to watch this show.

So specifically in this episode what I took from it as some form of inspiration was the battle between the two sisters, one wanting to be set free and open about her sexuality, and the other wanting to hold her back from it. Which in many ways, had a similar concept to my first draft of script, Millie wanting to escape it all yet Sarah was trying to hold her back, for selfish reasons. However, changes in the script were made but still there are similar themes throughout. 

What I enjoyed though in the series was it's use of archetypes, the character development and the general youth feel it has to it. I tried to capture that in my work, with the first page or two of my script, trying to capture an essence of two characters that have love for each other yet don't ever really get it right, but when they do it's good. 

A piece of dialogue that I enjoyed was between the two sisters as they were ripping into each other. It felt natural and is really what i was going for in my script - 

          Katie

          I’m more popular than you, thats why you’re doing

          This

               Emily

          Fuck Off

              Katie

          Yeah I think so, you can’t stand it, its sad

          So you gonna stop before you hurt someone

              Emily

          Fuck off

              Katie

          Your not gay your just stupid

              Emily

          Right I’m stupid, because I don’t let anyone

          Fuck me when they love someone else

              Katie

          What?

              Emily

          You let freddy use you, and look what its

          Got you

              Emily    

           (Continued)

           That’s a normal relationship isn’t it,

           She fucked you up good didn’t she

    

This specific bit was highlighted for it's general naturalistic an authentic feel i felt it had achieved. 

In conclusion I found the series and this specific episode very useful in terms of inspiration and ideas for use of dialogue and character development. 

Embers - Final sequence for hand in

This is the final piece which has now been put on Fergus' hard drive ready for submission. There were slight changes made to the titles, and the music has changed coming towards the end of the sequence. My reasoning for that change was due to the feedback given from Simon as he felt the music in the 2nd edit suited rather than the clash of the muffled sound fading into the ambient sound. 

My overall view and feeling towards the final edit is that i've accomplished all that I could of done with the feedback that was given to me. My personal view on the finished product is that it is shot relatively well, with a clear plot and narrative which doesn't stray from it. There definitely could of been room for improvement in some technical aspects but as this is my first project i'm content with the level of standard it is. 

3rd Ember edit

With this third edit, what I tried to incorporate was the feedback that I had received from Simon which was to now look at the finer aspects of it e.g the authentic sounds of what you'd hear at the pier, like seagulls, the sea and the end scene of the flat, hearing muffled sound of conversations and music. 

So I went on Youtube and found some sound clips, and played around until I felt it looked authentic and natural. I still had personal issues with the current music playing throughout the opening scene, it still didn't feel right to me nor Simon, so I kept on looking for a more fitting an evoking choice of music.

Overall with this third edit I felt it was an almost complete version but it just needed a few more things cleaning up with it, which wouldn't take long at all. 

Script feedback with Steve Coumbes - 9th November

Today I had my feedback from Steve Coumbes, and a lot of it I was expecting as I knew what I handed in was not a finished master piece, but more so a very rough draft with a concept that was pretty weak at the knees. 

So from the of point I was told that there was too much dialect involved, I was over using slang terms etc, and that needed to be shortened and if I wanted that effect then I could just use one or 2 abbreviations to denote that the character is a certain type of person. Also that the action in the story was not bringing it forward, and that it depends too much on text. I was giving away too much in the dialogue and most of it was unnecessary information, so I took that on board, leaving me thinking that if it isn't important then I may as well cut it from the dialogue. 

Then we got onto the actual story and the structure of it, to which he said it was a bit confused, mainly because I haven't really decided on whose story i'm actually telling: Millie or Sarah. He said it starts and ends from Millie's POV, but the crucial middle section is all about Sarah, which is absolutely right so I need to really think about which character I actually want to follow and develop. There isn't enough room in 10 pages to focus on both which I completely agree with. I have to prioritise one or the other an the conflict and choices that they make, and now thinking about it i'm feeling like edging towards concentrating on Millie.

We then focused on the structure, an in terms of it he felt too much happens via text or on the phone. I'm asking the audience to read, which is literally telling and not "showing".

(Example of over-usage of phone/texting)

There was a scene I was wanting to include which consists of Sarah receiving a note from a mysterious man, however Steve brought up the issue that it can't just appear explaining the backstory and just vanish, it has to earn its keep which is again extremely true! Then coming towards the end of our talk about my scripts structure we talked about the ending and that I need to decide on which event is more important. Sarah and Millie reconciled, Sarah changing her life, Millie getting another job? etc, so I have much food for thought here and a lot of progress to be made! 

Finally we then spoke about the tiny things like the layout etc, it seems pretty good however just a few mistakes on unnecessary things like adding 'fade in' or 'cut to', as they are not needed unless it is crucial to the story. 

With all of this feedback I've received and with the time I have, I'm confident on shaping the script into something that has conflict and change in abundance and which focuses on one main character rather than confusing the fundamental plot of the story with trying to find a balance between the two.  

Screenwriter Research - David Farr

Screenwriting Research

So one screenwriter that grabbed my attention was a man called David Farr, the reason for this is there was a recent series named 'The Night Manager' in which he wrote the screenplay for. This series went on to be nominated for 12 Emmy nominations, winning 2 of them which were for - Outstanding directing for a limited series, movie or a dramatic special, won by Susanne Bier. The other being - Outstanding music composition for a limited series, movie or a special (original dramatic score) won by Victor Reyes. 

David Farr was born on October 29th 1969, and lived in surrey, where eventually he went on to study at Cambridge university graduating with a double first in English Literature.

But before he had wrote the screenplay for the fantastic award winning series, he had been involved in many other productions and not only for TV but for films, e.g Hanna - Dir. Joe Wright. The synopsis for this film, to put it briefly, is about a sixteen-year-old girl who was raised by her father to be the perfect assassin, who is then dispatched on a mission across Europe, tracked by a ruthless intelligence agent and her operatives. The film didn't get massive recognition and didn't do too great in the box office but it was a film with great implications i.e empowering women, having female leads with their characters having huge strengths, going against Mulveys theory of the 'male gaze' . It also actually did receive a nomination for best screenplay at the St. Louis Film Critics Association, US.

The Night Manager - 2016

Each episode cost an estimated £3m to make, and one executive producer, the Ink Factory's Simon Cornwell, says the lavish adaptation was "a risk."

"It's a difficult book to adapt," he says, "and there have been quite a few attempts to make it into a film, it just didn't work. It needed six hours to explain the story.

"But to all intents and purposes, it's been written and shot as a film - we just hired one director, Susanne Bier, for all six episodes. I always think of it as a film - just a six-hour one."

Susanne Bier had won an Oscar in 2010 for her film 'In A Better World'. 

Overall this series really did enthral me and have me engaged the whole way through because of the character development and the narrative as a whole. The my main focus was on Tom Hiddlestone's character 'Johnathan Pine' as he is an ex-militant whose days in war have been over for some years now however due to current affairs within the series he puts his working gloves back on, so to speak, and we see such a change within him that I find fascinating. It just makes me think about my script and the development that all scripts need for their characters to work, to have conflict happen, which then brings about change, which results then in even more potential conflict. 

   

3 Short films - Frankie

Short Film Review - Frankie 

In this short film 'Frankie' Dir. Mike Pappa - brings to life such a creative screenplay in such a very ideal and attractive way. It reminds me very much so of a Wes Anderson type film. It does this through it's use of the camera and the aesthetics, quite a visually rich sense of depth. 

Synopsis - "When a watch repair man acquires an antique pocket watch that can control time, he decides to use it to achieve his dreams. His plans soon become sinister when he learns he isn't the only one with the knowledge of the pocket watch." 

With this concept having not much to do with my own narrative, I chose it because when i first viewed it, I was intrigued with a lot of the aspects of this short film. Through the use of its cinematography, it's sound and the lack of dialogue, the mise en scene and editing. It may be the one furthest away from my concept of narrative, however it is pretty influential in terms of the way it has been developed and created. 

What I appreciated about the short film was its lack of dialogue, as dialogue wasn't needed to move forward this story at all. I found particularly interesting as with mine I really did struggle to shorten the usage of dialogue as my narrative wouldn't really allow it, however with feedback from Steve, I was able to actually take out a character and shorten the entirety of the first 2 pages of dialogue. 

The camerawork and lighting was key to this film, as it adds to the dark themes and forebodes notions of insecurity and quite menacing undertones.

(Screenshot of 'Frankie')

The lighting is very suggestive, it is low key, amber lighting from the street lights outside, indicating somewhat that he is very isolated and it is reinforced by the mise en scene i.e he has his large alarm clock sat by the side of him. Also emphasises his senile dysfunctional life habits and that he has a strict routine to be kept to. 

What I also got much pleasure out of was the ironic twist at the end, as throughout the entirety of this short film, we are made to believe that the protagonist is such a methodical man and is extremely meticulous with time and how he spends it. However (spoiler alert) at the end of this short we see that he makes one huge error, he rushes into something without the foresight to think that there may potentially be something else interrupting the flow of time that he had not took into consideration, which ultimately leads to his demise in this short film. 

Dramatic irony is something that I recognise to be very useful and often needed in films for them to be rich and entertaining, one of the major things that I found useful from Steve Coumbes lectures. 

In conclusion this Short film influenced on both aspects of my script and my film opening. This was achieved through looking at the films lack of dialogue, and trying to put that into my own work, similarly to my other short film I reviewed 'Alone Time'. As well as this, on the filming side aspect of it, through its smooth edits, transitions and the beautiful framing that was used throughout it I have tried to adapt to my own work.     

    

3 Short films - Gift

Short Film Review - Gift 

With this short film 'Gift' Dir. Daniel Yam, I enjoyed the simplicity of it, and it's manipulation of perception, playing with the audiences conception of the film. 

Synopsis - 'This Boy Never Saw His Dad As An Inspiration. Until He Found Out His Big Secret
A son confronts the resentment towards his father only to realise his true intentions.'
Throughout the film, it's stylistic value isn't as packed as the other two I have chosen but that is down to this films context and narrative, it is the relationship within the short film that I have taken influence from, and not necessarily the visual aspect of it. I appreciated how we saw the growth of the characters and the complete change of the narrative in the end. 

We as the audience are made to feel empathy towards the young child, and see it through the eyes of the boy and feel as if he has been neglected throughout his upbringing. Clearly this isn't true as the big twist in the narrative at the end is that the dad has been so selfless with his life helping many others but himself, creating a sense of regret in us the audience and the boy who is now a man. 

Since my short film/script is about the relationship of 2 girls, and how it develops, I've been interested in how other short films have spun this concept and let it grow through conflict and change. This film obviously has a completely different narrative path however it still plays with the same notion. 

It did have an influence on my work in terms of playing with the perception of the audience and manipulating them into believing where my story is going to end up. I liked that idea of a complete change of emotions, and where our loyalties lie within a film, as these short films usually are the more evoking ones that make us question, think and are poignant. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DUYlHZsZfc&t=3s
(Gift - Short film. Dir. Daniel Yam)

Overall my view of the film wasn't fantastic, I felt it lacked certain visual aspects and came across a bit poor. However it was the narrative and its message that really made this short film.