Project Research: Props/Production Design/Location recce's

Location Recces
I'm currently still trying to find a shop that is willing to let me film within it. This is slightly frustrating as I feel it holds me back from sorting out my other pre-production elements. I feel once I find it then I can move on and concentrate on the more heavy stuff i.e idea's of the actual filming of it. 



Casting
I've confirmed 2 friends so far to play the two main leads (Chigurh and Llewelyn) and one that I believe looks slightly alike to Llewelyn's character which is fortunate. They're both fairly appropriate as they are aged 28 and 27. I'm using casting call pro for the shop proprietor, which i've had a few applicants for and i'm now just waiting for the right one.


Testing

    The second scene in my piece is low key lit with a silhouette side-shot of Llewelyn, sat up on the bed edge facing the door. So in the light work shop, I played around with the lights and camera trying to capture a similar shot. Obviously within the confinements of the studio, it was challenging as the vastly lit space meant that we basically couldn't achieve it. Still it was useful and gave me things to think about when i'll actually be on shoot. 

Project Research: Props/Production Design/Location recce's

Mise En Scene - Costume Design
As my film is based in the Western-Texas in the 1980's, I've been looking at the characters clothing and obviously I'm wanting to try as best as I can to capture that sense of period in my piece.

       - Josh Brolin's character is dressed in what would of been a very generic aesthetic back in that period e.g, a chequered shirt, straight cut denim pants, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat, don't forget the moustache. So I've been looking in charity stores and vintage shops for chequered shirts, and on ebay for the cowboy hat and boots, the hat being purchased already!

 Javier Bardem's character again is dressed in a similar aesthetic which you would associate with the period of the film. A denim jacket, straight cut pants and a very bizarre trim. I'm seeing how resourceful I can be with the denim jacket as even second hand they can be fairly pricey, an actor who i've spoken to may potentially own one. 

The shop proprietor as you'd expect is dressed in similar aesthetic. So I just have to be appropriate with my actors dress code and capture to some degree an essence of that era. 






Props
In the selected scenes, my two leading characters have specific items that they tend to have with them at all times, however Javier Bardem luckily doesn't have his captive bolt pistol in the shop sequence so I don't have to worry about finding a repicla. 
However Josh Brolin's character within the sequence i'm directing has a large briefcase stuffed with cash, so again i've looked on ebay and asked friends for a briefcase, being as resourceful as I can be. As for the cash I'm thinking to print out lots of fake dollar notes on to A4 pieces of paper to cut up and stack into wads. The tracking device is also something i've been thinking of, and possibly just a small black box which i can place inside the briefcase and add in sound effects on the edit/post production. 

The Coen Brothers.

The Coen Brothers - Directors Presentation

Ethan  Coen                           Joel Coen

                                                                                                   

The two combine to make the dynamic duo, named, The Coen Brothers.

 Joel Coen was born November 29th, 1954 and Ethan Coen was born September 21st, 1957, being raised in St.Louis Park, Minnesota, in the suburbs of Minneapolis. Joel Coen studied at New York University before moving into filmmaking in the early '80s whilst Ethan Coen went on to study philosophy at Princeton University. Joel and his younger brother began writing screenplays while Joel worked as an assistant editor on good friend Sam Raimi's 1983 film The Evil Dead. In 1984, they made their debut with Blood Simple. Both of them wrote and edited the film (using the name Roderick Jaynes down to the production guide rules), while Joel took the directing credit and Ethan billed himself as the producer. It earned considerable critical acclaim and established the brothers as fresh, original talent. Their next major effort (after Crimewave, a 1985 film they wrote that was directed by Raimi), 1987's Raising Arizona was a screwball comedy miles removed from their usual, violent content of their previous movie, and it won over critics and audiences alike. Their fan base growing, the Coens went on to make Miller's Crossing (1990), a stark gangster epic with a strong performance from John Turturro, whom the brothers also used to great effect in their next film, Barton Fink (1991). Fink earned Joel a Best Director award and a Golden Palm at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, as well as the festival's Best Actor award for Turturro.

Main Credits

• Blood Simple (1984)
• Raising Arizona (1987)
• Miller's Crossing (1990)
• Barton Fink (1991)
• The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
• Fargo (1996)
• The Big Lebowski (1998)
• O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000)
• The Man Who Wasn't There (2001)
• Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
• The Ladykillers (2004)
• No Country for Old Men (2007)
• Burn After Reading (2008)
• A Serious Man (2009)
• True Grit (2010)
• Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)

To me, from a directorial perspective, the Coen's have an array of stylistic features which are used so frequently throughout their films. Firstly, Camera-wise, the brothers love to mix it up, regularly employing a moving camera, longer lenses with a larger depth of field, accentuated perspective changes, and visual plays between light and darkness. Also Pre-production is the one most important part of the process for the duo; they often storyboard the film entirely, preparing meticulously, yet still allowing for some improvisation and spontaneity while on set. 

As well as this, Casting is essential to their films, which consist of very strong ensemble casts including the likes of Frances McDormand (Married to Joel Coen), Steve Buscemi, John Goodman, John Turturro, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Holly Hunter and George Clooney. They also tend to write roles for specific actors in mind.

“Frequently we are writing characters and we are thinking, ‘Wouldn’t it be interesting to see such and such play this kind of a person?’, and the character starts to grow out of that as you are writing it. It’s a combination of things that you are making up and what you know about the actor.”

'Ethan Coen'

Another feature that stands out to me is the mise en scene throughout their films, it is always so stylised and  unique. The characters within the films have such creative aesthetics and it's extremely pleasing visually to watch. This reinforces some of the characters powerful personalities created by the brothers, which are so far from the typical personality traits of your generic man/woman. What I also noticed, in two particular films are that certain characters have 'wrinkles', The Big Lebowski being one, with 'The Dude' played by Jeff Bridges, always having a White Russian in his hand whenever the opportunity arrises. Also in No Country For Old Men, a captive bolt pistol is used by Chigurh, Played by Javier Bardem. Overall the character depth portrayed throughout the entirety of their lengthy film careers is astonishingly deep and magical, which entranced me so much that I have now watched almost all of their feature lengths! Just a little something as well I picked up on, was there love for long corridors! 

Barton Fink

No Country For Old Men

A quote from the big Walter Sobchak (TBL) which will stay with me forever - " There are rules, this isn't Nam dude, this is bowling ". 

Chosen Scenes - No Country For Old Men

House Sequence

15:14m - 16:04m

This scene was chosen to just set precedent of what is going to continue throughout, it ends with Josh Brolins character inferring that his life is at danger an he might get killed. 

Shop Sequence between Chigurh and Old man

20:55 - 25:05

This scene was chosen as I felt I could play around with the steadiness of the camera, and manipulate it to create an even greater sense of intensity and fear. This sequence is already superb as it's lack of sound creates such a dreaded atmosphere between the 2 polar opposite characters. We as the audience know what unspeakable atrocities Chigurh is capable of and the innocent soul of the old man is on the edge of his blade, being played with by the principles of Chigurh.   

Hotel Sequence

56:06 - 58:08

I wanted to end on this scene as it lacks dialogue (which is frustratingly hard to find in a coen brother prod.) and I felt I could come at it from a different perspective, possibly the perspective of Chigurh instead of being blind from him in the original. I know that is how the intensity is captured but I felt there is a lot to be played with on this scene, in different aspects.

All in all just under 7 minutes! 

 

Critic Review - True Detective

True Detective – Series 1: Episode 4

Director: Cary Joji Fukunaga

Writers: Nic Pizzolatto (Creator), Nic Pizzolatoo

Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson, Michelle Monaghan

Released: 9^th February 2014

I chose this TV series for how it captivated me throughout the entirety of the series; it achieved this through the usage of its visual elements, such as mise en scene, cinematography, sound and editing. As well as this, how the tools furthered the narrative within such a compelling way, which ultimately is what made this series such a fantastic experience. The series flashes back and forth from 1995 – 2012, as the narrative dwells on a criminal who is still to be brought to justice by two, to some degree, unorthodox police detectives.  

One specific scene I have decided to choose and depict is the end sequence in episode 4 for which we see Rust (Matthew McConaughey) break out of his covert role within the biker gang and flee with Ginger (Joseph Sikora). This sequence in the episode is set back in 1995.

(Series 1:Episode 4 - Ending sequence)

Firstly, this location in comparison to the majority of season has a totally different feel about it,  after focusing on the limpid blues, greens and greys of Louisiana in the first three episodes, the director,Cary Joji Fukunaga  - assisted by cinematographer Adam Arkapaw - gradually switches them for the nocturnal, firelit griminess of east Texas's biker gangs, with the dread slowly increasing as we move closer towards the encounter in the projects. 

Clearly, the most distinctive elements used to creative such a cinematic and engaging scene are the sound, the long take and cinematography. 

The sound and cinematography go hand-in-hand with each other as Cary Joji Fukunaga has struck the perfect balance between the visuals and diegetic sound, to put it simply, 'show and not tell' . I'd say from the get go in this scene, sound is pivotal and as we get inside the house, the sound plays an increasingly more important role as we are unable to witness what is going on out there, however we are not blind from it. Through the use of diegetic sound from outside, we are clearly able to create a picture in our own minds of what is building, the realisation that these 'cops' are not real, we overhear as Rust looks through the blinds "They ain't five-o man" - "Get everybody" (0:40 - 0:50), it also captures the sound and imagery's intentions beautifully, the innocence of the child, yet the sheer chaos which is mounting. Instantly everyone, the characters and audience, know that this is going very, very south, rapidly. However, as the audience knows that Rust cannot die, as he is living in the present (2012), this will be a scene where inevitably speaking, the audience shouldn't really feel any anxiety towards the potential loss of him, on the contrary, with the director knowing this, he plays on it and creates this amazingly long take which doesn't let you leave Rust's side. We're trapped with Rust just like he is trapped in this maze of a project, fleeing for his life, bullets zooming past him and Ginger. This one long take creates such an authenticity to the scene, almost bringing it to life, you feel absolutely everything and you completely forget that he actually makes it out of this alive. We're meant to be stuck to Rust's side as we the audience are meant to feel every movement he does. There doesn't need to be an edit because there isn't anything more we need to see other than the perspective of Rust's, we can hear what he hears, we can see what he sees, and currently we go no further ahead with the narrative until he does. This all emphasising and encapsulating the vast intensity and havoc reigning over the project. 

Overall I think this sequence was meticulously planned to perfection, to have it emit the authenticity that it did, to really let yourself be emerged within it as I truly did was only able through it's usage of those key elements. That this character Rust, was running to survive through houses, over fences and for it all to be unbroken created such a sense of reality and authenticity that you felt you were running by his side, as if you were the camera. Everything was so purposeful and precise, even though we only saw the helicopter for literally one second, it was only meant to be seen for one second, as it captures perfectly what the instinctive human would do who is trying to escape for his life, run and get out of sight as soon as possible. This scene all together encapsulates brilliantly, a man's struggle to persevere and survive. 

Screenwriter Research - Jesse Armstrong

As my research continues I decide to pick Jesse Armstrong as my other screenwriter to do some digging up on. I decide to choose him as he may not have a major relevance to my work as it's mainly comedy he does however I've watched a variety of his work and love his screenwriting so I thought i'd like to get to know and understand it all a bit more.

(Jesse Armstrong)

Jesse Armstrong is a British comedy writer, best known for Peep Show and the BBC political satire The Thick of it. He's from Oswestry in Shropshire, and attended comprehensive school there before reading American Studies at Manchester University, where he met his writing partner Sam Bain. Before Jesse actually went into comedy writing in the late 1990s, Armstrong worked as a researcher for the Labour MP Doug Henderson. 

Jesse Armstrong has also written films such as Four Lions and The Magicians, these were collaborations with the writer Sam Bain. 

KEY WORK

Peep Show  - 9 Wins & 34 Nominations, 1 Win for best writer from Royal Television Society, UK in 2006.

Another win for Writers' Guid of Great Britain. obviously both written by Jesse Armstrong in collaboration with Sam Bain in 2006.

Some of Jesse Armstrong's work within Peep Show had been based on real life events, obviously changed ever so slightly but here in a quote we see -

"Taking other people's pain, juicing it and using it verbatim in your script is even better. We're very lucky to have had a boss at Channel 4 who led an interesting life and had a wealth of terrible experiences which we put in the show. Like the time he did a shit into a McDonald's bag because he was on the telephone and couldn't get to the toilet. He tried to flush the bag down the loo but it got blocked and for the next three weeks he had to go to the pub every time he needed the toilet. We put something very similar in series three."

To see where the concepts and ideas come from is extremely interesting, to know that these events have occurred in real life with real people with only slight changes happening once put on screen is intriguing to say the least. It is also probably why the show gets such a popular following as well though, as some scenes clearly more can relate to than others and as we have here for example, it's something that has actually happened. 

We also get to hear what Jesse Armstrong and Sam Bain have to say about the way Peep Show is shot, quote - "We like the point of view filming style and internal monologues in Peep Show but very occasionally we wonder what it would be like if we shot the whole thing normally. Perhaps it would have more mainstream appeal and be considered less of a cult. The style makes the show appear edgy even when we're writing quite traditional comedy. We could probably write a scene in which a vicar was coming round for tea and a character was struggling to get his trousers on but still retain a sense of reality to the situation because of the camerawork!"

In many respects the way it's shot completely cuts itself off from being able to be compared to any other Comedy series in the UK, it makes the show more intimate, at times uncomfortable but always a sense of reality to the situation which I find extremely captivating.

FRESH MEAT -  4 Wins & 16 Nominations - Won RTS Television Award for Best Writer in 2012, Also won British Comedy Award for Best New Comedy in 2011 - Again collaboration work with Sam Bain.

Once again, the same story with Peep Show really, is that this series is also based on life events, and events which took place in the writers life, for this show is based in Manchester where Jesse Armstrong studied and also met writing partner Sam Bain, quote - ' It's quite simply a time when people leave home and start a new life and often don't know what the hell they are doing. That fundamental time of transition is a brilliant area for comedy. Also, Manchester was a great place for us to set it because you find an interesting mix of people; a great clash of backgrounds. For instance I went to public school in London and Jesse went to a comprehensive in Shropshire so we had our own stories to tell."

Says Jesse: "It's that classic scenario when people who may be very different are trapped together. You can get that in the work place, in flat shares like Peep Show and you get that in colleges and universities where people who wouldn't normally even say hello to each other are forced into close proximity."

This gives the comedy series already a much more richer feel to it as it's loosely based on the lives on the writers and  their experiences. Not only this but that the writers can empathise with the characters, they can at any moment associate themselves with a character, Quote - "I think it's fair to say I could associate with all of the characters; the fun of writing anything is you can put bits of yourself in everyone. I went to public school so I knew a lot of JPs, there is probably quite a bit of JP in me in a way. But I was also a sensitive, anxious guy so that's Kingsley, and I was desperate to be cool and make a mark and impress people Oregon style. There was probably a bit of wanting to be a rebel like Vod, same as Josie I wanted to get involved and do everything, be positive, and like Howard sometimes I wanted to sit in my room and avoid talking to people. To me the joy of writing is that you can be all the characters; you don't have to just pick one." - Sam Bain. 

I found this interesting as i'm sure the very skilled screenwriters can do this with everything they write, to be able to see some part of them-self within a character, to make  the character come to life. 

In some ways thinking about it now, screenwriting is all relative and relevant as a lot of it is based on life experiences and manipulating it, creating out of it new drama, comedy, thrilling TV to entertain the masses. 

I look forward to hearing on whether Fresh Meat gets the green light for making a 5th series! 

Critical Evaluation of Unit

As my 2 minute sequence and script have finally came to completion, I now look back at all the hard work and effort I put into creating them both.

So lets start on my short 2 minute sequence! I was extremely happy with the way things worked out from beginning to end with this. At first I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with certain things as getting hold of my actresses was becoming a bit of a scare, and waiting to hear back from KFO (Kent Film Office) was a worry as well but everything fell into place. But my shoot went well and I got full coverage of what I needed to tell the story. 

However, if I were to look back on my shoot day, and ask myself would I get anymore shots and a few variations of more shots, I'd say yeah I would as when I came to the editing suite, I felt I could of had more to manipulate and play around with to have more of a creative stance. E.g A close up of Millie handing Sarah the letter. But not only would it help me creatively, it'd make me feel more confident to think ' Right i've got several of these shots, why not try this and see how it comes out ', which to be fair to myself I did, but not enough.

What I found that I struggled with on the video was finding the right music, it took me until my fourth and final edit to find something that captured the scene and what i was looking for, but even now I still feel that the music doesn't make me feel how I really wanted it to, and in that respect it won't have the desired effect I want on the audience watching it. 

What I can take away and gain from all of this is that I found pre-production really helped me focus and concentrate with the task at hand, and for my next project, I know that if I put time and effort into that then when it comes to my days of shooting etc, i'll be able to do things with confidence and efficiency. As well, being on shoots with the cameras now, moving with them and shooting a whole sequence is something i'm quite proud of, now I can go into my next project with not as much apprehension and doubt, but with more self belief now. Finally my abilities with the software have seemingly improved which is also pleasing.

I'd say out of the two pieces for this module, I struggled with the script the most. I just don't think I have the creative writing mind, but I did try and commit to the script to the best of my abilities. 

What I found in myself is that when I coined the idea, just a general flow began to emerge as I was writing and it felt fantastic, however I'd then hit a wall. And then bad forced idea's would come about and i'd stick them into my script e.g. Sarah meets a mysterious old man whom had known her deceased mother. There were many things that I feel I could of done better with my script, but then there are things I felt that I achieved on my script that were pretty good.

Things that went well with it were I'd say the the final version of the start of the script, I liked the idea of a video going viral on social media, as that is quite topical and relevant as we live in a world where everyone has access to these things so easily, that it is quite frightening to think about, that it could happen to anyone, anywhere, anytime. 

I'm glad my concept changed, because it really would not of worked at all, or it might of but it just would of been an extremely boring screenplay which isn't good for anyone. 

What i'd say about the experience of writing a script is that it really does take time and patience, hours spent with wandering thoughts, reading many random articles hoping for something to inspire you. I was naive to think something would just come to you like that and bing, bang, bosh it's done. I know for next time though that I definitely need to be more persistent, to sit down for longer an read more and really get my cognition's going.  

In conclusion I am happy with the overall completion of my work, there are certain things that I look back on now and think to myself maybe I could of done that with more accuracy and skill, but these are things to look at the future to and be prepared for next time. 

  

Script Development

So redrafting my script was fairly straight forward, I had done many changes regarding the first 3-4 pages over and over again because of the feedback I had received from Steve. 

This was the first draft, it lacked creativity and had a poor narrative as the 2 main leads were meeting up with no real reason for actually meeting up. So Steve suggested there to be a real motive for Millie to meet her at the pier, instead of just going there and telling Sarah that she wants to escape. So eventually coining the concept of the viral video. 

 So then when I figured out that the reason they're meeting is because Millie is furious that this video has been published and shared all across the social media, I could move forward with the entirety of the script. As well as this, cutting out one of the girls was a necessity as she was not forwarding the story in any way, more doing the opposite and prolonging unnecessary action. 

So then after the first two pages on the 2nd draft I decided to focus on Sarah, and take the story a different way, focusing on her and how she meets a man to which then Sarah realises is an old friend of her mums. However this really took focus off of Millie who having already spoke to Steve about my first draft, and how I should really be focusing on one, I decided to change on my 3rd draft. What I did was shortened the scene, and instead of a man, it'd be a woman who Sarah already knew and making it a less prolific scene. To which then I could spin back to Millie, having lost her job, experiencing even more turmoil.

In the 2nd draft what i decided to do was have Millie in a state of despair, so she has just lost her job and now is bed bound unwilling to try and reevaluate her life. However at the end of page 2, on my 3rd draft I decided to add that she receives a letter in the post. A letter regarding something, but at the time it took me a while to think of what may the contain of that letter actually be, an ex boyfriend coming back? something regarding an influx of money? it would of been something positive. But in the end I decided to suggest that it was another job prospect. 

This was down to Steve wanting more conflict and change, so i'm setting Millie up to fall again, and for her character to develop. With that as well I had Sarah, who in my 1st draft had a weird significant middle section to my script - 

(Sarah meets mysterious old man, turns out to be dead mothers past friend)

But then she had nothing really at the end, no change from being a bum, so in my 2nd I tried to incorporate somehow that she ends up with a job of some sort but it just wasn't working as I still hadn't really managed to chop down the middle scene of Sarah's. Until I managed to think of a way in which Sarah can actually turn things around between her relationship with Millie and her job prospect. I managed to coin a concept and it eventually lead me to hit two birds with one stone. 

The ending was always an issue in my 1st and 2nd draft as I'd look back at the notes from Steve on my 1st, and still could not really think of a way to end it which left the audience feeling satisfied. In the end, hoping I made the right decision on my 3rd draft I thought to end it with both Millie and Sarah working within the same environment, after Sarah has managed to get Millie her old job back. As last time in my previous couple drafts it had ended very cliche, and very dull. in my 1st and 2nd draft they would both end up fulfilling their goals/targets and not much conflict had happened throughout the script, and to end on such a note really made it a boring read. So I decided to end in my 3rd and potential final draft that I'd have Sarah reconcile with Millie, through getting Millie back her job and through that act of kindness, being rewarded with a job herself.

Overall the development and change of my script has been drastic, possibly changing entirely as it's not as much about escapism anymore, more just how Millie's life has been catastrophically ruined by this online social video and how through that the story transpires and becomes what it is. I'm quite happy with the script and it's format and layout, the narrative has always gave me slight worries but i've stuck with it and made it into something that i'm quite keen on now.