Studio shoot ideas and allocation of roles

For the studio shoot we had to choose and image to create a five minute max film. Minimal dialogue is allowed. This is the image we chose in the end: 

Studio shoot initial roles: 

During our lesson with Rosie on Friday the 6th we decided on more specific roles. Kaitlan is DOP, Flora the DIT, Ieva is gaffer, Laura camera operator and I assistant camera operator. We also talked about storyboarding as that is something that I love doing. Andreea wanted to do it too so we decided we would do it together. I´m so excited for this project. 

For this we also had to complete the online training for covid safety measures whilst on a shoot. Heres my certificate:

This was the image that first caught my eye. Laura and I talked about it immediately after our briefing and we both had similar ideas for it. We thought it looked like a kind of thriller and that it would be cool if that photo was the ending, where the person at the window is the same as the one inside the house/our set. 

Afterwards Reagan created a link to a google doc for us all to write down our ideas. She sent it to us via email, as well as a link for a google hangouts for Thursday. We were all so amazed about how professional and thorough her email was. 

The google doc for our original ideas ended up being 8 pages long so I wont copy everything here, I will just share what Laura and I wrote down:

(Lili and Laura) 

Ralph Eugene Meatyard – Untitled 1962

Laura and I had talked about the Meatyard photo after the lesson and we both had a similar idea to go with it. We thought it would be cool to have a similar setting with the window, and otherwise dim colours. The photo gives off thriller vibes so we thought about playing with that and having maybe scary noises coming from outside the house. In the end the person doing the “haunting” would appear at the window (like in the Meatyard photo), and they would be the same person as the one inside. (would also save us getting multiple actors as only one is needed). The idea I guess was being afraid of oneself/pressuring oneself to be a certain way society is telling us to be like. In a sense we are our worst enemy, we think all these negative things about ourselves that others do not see.

Here we could also play a lot with lighting and colour to give it an eerie or simulation like feel. 

Reading everybody else's ideas, this could be linked to the Truman show or the idea of being in a simulation. Just instead of the person being watched by others he is being watched by himself. Reagan's idea would be perfect if we need to film outside.

Or the person outside is reality/ all the people watching our character like a show or the person outside is the real character and the person inside is a simulation. 

That reminds me of the episode of black mirror where the main characters realised they were just simulation, “Hang the DJ” 

I really love all the ideas so far and they all seem to be quite similar in some ways.

Ellie had talked about the set design, which was very cool and also worked with mine and Laura´s idea. She had looked at the artist Es Devlin.

Annie had a couple of ideas on three different images. She talked about black and white, mirrors and using a green screen outdoors.

Leah´s idea was based on the Hannah Starkey image. She talked about using mirrors a way of seeing between worlds. She had a cool idea of people living in a simulation and trying to break free. She also wanted to play around with camera angles which was interesting. 

Reagans idea was inspired by the photo by Sarah Moon.

Hers was the perfect idea if we have to film outside. The story was based on a mother and a wife in the middle of hectic family life, isolation, chaos. The set of a living room would be built outdoors with just a simple backdrop and living room furniture. In the end we would see its all in the middle of a forest. This idea also gives a lot of scope for audio experimentation and visuals. Lighting could be an interesting issue.

Alyas idea was also inspired by the Meatyard photo. She wanted also to experiment witch black and white but with added colour accents. She mentioned paint which everyone thought was interesting. WE could still experiment with this. 

We met on google call to talk about our ideas and create the synopsis and treatment Rosie wanted us to have for Friday.

We quite soon decided we would go for the Ellie, Annie and our idea combo. Here are some random notes I made during our discussion:

Him knowing that he is being watched

Creating a strange outside with lighting, possible ptojections

 80´s aesthetic? Strange things esque lighting

Idea of you watching yourself, self reflection, outside vs inside self

Coloured lights in black and white setting? 

 We should create polls so everyone has a say

 tilted and jagged, for Leahs idea, doesnt work for this one

 Ellie´s and Annie´s idea into one synopsis, Leahs into another, Reagans

Children would be hard to work with so they could be built with sound instead, Mother could also act as rest of family (Reagans idea)

Painting idea? We could have character building the set, moving things around etc maybe 

breaking things

Why does he go in? He could be following a sound, a memory, a piece of himself

 Possible mid life crisis, he is forgetful and confused, labels things?, Breaking things then trying to fix them, he becomes more and more frustrated, descent into madness, holding onto past

We could create shadows like Boltanski

 

 

 

In the end this is the treatment we came up with: A man forced to look inside the cubicle of his own mind struggles with processing his existence, he descends into a state of madness, trying to shatter,repair and crush his ego,who gazes right back at him. There seems to be someone else, a shadow, haunting him. His various selfs surface, observing each other and grasping for control and stillness.

I think it was Rodrigo who actually wrote it down. 

Our treatment was harder to write we ended up just with: A person walks near the room aware of a familiar sound. He follows the sound and enters the room. He analyzes room for the sound, but can’t find it immediately. He gets confused.

But then Ellie and Kaitlan wrote down bullet points:

• An unspoken dialogue between a mysterious figure and his house. The two are part of one another; the house reflects his mind. The interior is a metaphor for the inside of his mind and the exterior is him looking in.

• We begin with a figure looking curiously into the window.

• Shadows are dancing around the interior of the house, reflecting different aspects of his mind.

• A recurring sound played throughout, but loudness differs, but should have some meaning in terms of what the actual sound is and how it relates to him and the story. 

I think we decided that the object he is looking for is a small mirror.

During our discussion on Friday we talked about Eternal Sunshine of the spotless mind, Psycho, Rear Window, Shutter Island, Mother! and the Truman show. We also talked about what the mood should be like, the colours, how cluttered to make the room. We thought it would be cool to hang lots of light bulbs the way Brodie talked about. It would be cool to have them flickering like synapsis. We also began to think about how we should convey to the viewer that the set is his mind. How do we find a way for the set to mimic a brain? We thought about: Veins on house, condensation, flickering lights, obvious memories (memorable objects? older and newer). Annie and Ellie also suggested a patchwork rug which seems like a very cool idea. This way even the flooring would be mixed and matched and confused. 

During our lessons and us talking I drew some very quick sketches of how I imagined our idea:

I talked to the directors on Friday about storyboarding and they were happy to have me help. I took a photo of the shot list they had made so I could start working on some drawings. I think this is going to be very interesting. I will be doing some more research and drawings soon.

Next week Moday we will have a call first just with the camera crew and then we will have one with the directors. It is hard for us to properly move on before we know what their vision really is.