Friday, 25 November 2011
Thursday, 24 November 2011
R.E.D. Evaluation
R.E.D. Evaluation – Gareth Taylor
In this module I have attempted to cover various areas I’m particularly interested in developing which will eventually relate to my 2012 B.A. FMP.
As you will notice in within my on-line blog (http://garethtaylorred.blogspot.com) I have actually started my FMP as a long-term research project, whereby this R.E.D module picks up the early stages of the film’s development.
Having an idea in my head is one thing, getting that onto paper so to speak into something that makes sense is something I find very difficult, and with the lack of story writing/screenplay/scriptwriting on the course I felt like a fish out of water.
So where did I start? I watched a number of films that inspire me – these were Taxi Driver, The Fighter and A History of Violence. Each of these films bring different aspects to the table.
To give a brief overview of why I’ve picked out these particular films, apart from the fact they inspire me; A history of Violence for the way it tells it’s story, The Fighter for Christian Bale’s acting of which is based on a real person whom he studied and worked with and Taxi Driver for it’s night-time cityscape scenes showing off the bright, multi-coloured lights associated with the night life of 1970’s New York. After re-watching these, it allowed my head to start the thought process of developing the story line and of course, character development – which is something very important to me within this project and is in fact what I’m concentrating on in my Contextual Studies.
Once I’d worked out a basic plot I wrote a Synopsis, which is by no means a final draft – I wrote it more for me to keep going back to so I can develop the story further. Not only that but in order to start getting other people interested for crew purposes I needed something to show them.
One of my main concerns in the past has been shooting/filming in low light conditions and the problems that come with it, so for this RED module after considering different areas to concentrate on I took the decision to research and develop this. So, inspired by Scorsese’s 1974 film Taxi Driver I put together a plan which circled around the idea of filming at night within a busy city environment, with achieving the highest visual quality being the point. I have learnt from past experience that this can be hard to get right without the right equipment .
In order to put myself in the right environment I had to consider a suitable location. After some thought I decided the banks of the Thames in the evening would be an excellent place for the testing, for it has the night-time population, plenty of street lighting and also is somewhere I’m considering the FMP to be shot.
I chose to shoot with Digital SLR, however I wasn’t sure the Canon 7D was up to the job in low-light conditions so a large part of this researching was to see how the Canon 5D performed, being it’s big brother and renowned for it’s low-light performance. I recently took out a 5D anyway, finding I could photograph hand-held in the dark with a shutter of 20th second and upto 4000 ISO and still get a good quality shot with minimal movement, so I was keen to see how this camera performed over a 7D in video mode. However, when I arrived on location the 7D was faulty and wouldn’t work – so this test was sabotaged, out of my control. Therefore the 5D MkII was used, without a rig, without a steadycam. I got a friend to operate the 5D whilst I directed and took up the role of a little acting just to give the scenes some sort of story that could string together in an edit.
Using a 35mm lens on a full frame dSLR allowed for a true 35mm angle, rather than a 1.8x crop you’d get using the same lens on the 7D body. With a wide aperture this allowed for good level of depth of field but at the same time a wide enough angle to stay close to the subject when required and to achieve a reasonably steady shot – as opposed to a longer lens, obviously, which would be a pain when attempting to follow an actor even when using a steadycam or rig of some description.
In reflection however, I do wished I’d have hired out a steadycam to smooth out the shots as a lot were very jerky, but at the same time the test was not about achieving a steady shot, it was about getting a high quality image with little or no grain – basically seeing if great optics were achievable in the environment I plan to shoot my FMP – and the answer is yes, very achievable using the 5D MkII from Canon, along with a fast, quality lens
As you can see near the start of this blog I have selected a clip from Taxi Driver, known as The Animals Come Out At Night which cleverly depicts typical night-life scenes of 1970’s NYC, what I wanted to achieve was getting similar high quality optics from a night scene, and I would say I have managed to do this which clearly has pleased me as I now know I can carry this off in my FMP.
Tuesday, 22 November 2011
Character Building and Set Design
To start getting a real feel of the tone for my FMP Film Short I have been researching into the world of drug dens and the character types who frequent them as part of my R.E.D.
Some images I've come across which portray the set design I have in mind for the main scenes:
It's important not to confuse the set design with that of stereotypicalised student living, which is easily done. Yet here there will be no items of value, or evidence of. There will be no empty Domino's boxes, fashionable clothing, or any personal possessions as such simply because anything of any value will of been sold off to fund the habbit.
To help build up character influences I've researched the 'end user' and have come up with these images as references:
Some images I've come across which portray the set design I have in mind for the main scenes:
To help build up character influences I've researched the 'end user' and have come up with these images as references:
Research/Development in Studio
As a group, we experimented with working in set-design within a studio environment.
With one actor in tow, the idea was to create a futuristic Sc-Fi scene where by the character would effectively be looking out of a spaceship window into the universe.
So, what props were required for this scene?
- 1x Large sheet of perspex to act as a spaceship window
- Lighting + various coloured gels
- 1x Camera
- Water to add speckles to the window for effect
- Twinkly red+green lights to give that 'space/universe/star' feel
We used a crew of upto 10 people, which included roles such as camera operator, prop management etc.
This is an overview shot of us in the studio:
Above you can see the perspex screen directly in front of the actor complete with water speckles which in turn are lit up by the multitude of red and green lights.
Bob and Joe concentrated on directing the actor, I worked with the camera operator in composition and lighting
With one actor in tow, the idea was to create a futuristic Sc-Fi scene where by the character would effectively be looking out of a spaceship window into the universe.
So, what props were required for this scene?
- 1x Large sheet of perspex to act as a spaceship window
- Lighting + various coloured gels
- 1x Camera
- Water to add speckles to the window for effect
- Twinkly red+green lights to give that 'space/universe/star' feel
We used a crew of upto 10 people, which included roles such as camera operator, prop management etc.
This is an overview shot of us in the studio:
Patrick made up a rig which essentially was a piece of cardboard on a stick, this defeclted light which made it look like objects where moving around the actor...
Sunday, 6 November 2011
PRELUDE SYNOPSIS (1st draft)
Synopsis: P R E L U D E
Kelvin Jackson, hits the streets after serving a 5 year custodial sentance for a vicious attack and attempted rape on a young woman in 2006, Darla. During the trial the woman was said to be hugely traumatized, so much so she could not face the court room. It was also brought to the jury's attention the victim was now suffering from drug adiction in an attempt to cope with life.
Now a free man, Jackson sets about setting the record straight. Mindful not to get mixed up with the law he goes in search of Darla, believing that if he can just talk to her she'll realise a mistake has been made and finally he can start to clear his name. We watch as Kelvin removes the dust sheets from his stored car then goes in search of her wafting in and around the colourful brightly lit but highly dangerous streets of London at night, eventually discovering Darla selling her body in the dark side streets of Soho. But getting to her is simply not as easy as driving up to her, for one thing Leroy doesn't want to be picked up as a Curb Crawler with the possibility of ending up back beihind bars and then there's the second problem - her boyfriend come pimp, Danny Lee.
As Jackson clocks Lee, It's at this point the viewer is treated to scenes from the 2006 attack, which identify's Lee as the real attacker and Jackson, just a party goer in the wrong place at the wrong time running to the young woman's aid.
Switching back to current day, we watch as Jackson follows them back to local property, a drug den. It's at this point we leave Kelvin, and enter into the world of Danny and Darla.
It's in a state, decoration was last seen in the 80's, ex-fast-food packaging and empty Rizzler wrappers litter the sticky threadbare carpets, there's little in the way of furniture except for the odd mankey matteress lying skewed on the floors of various rooms. Oh, and the used Hypodermic Needles, teaspoons and half empty rainbow of semi-opaque lighters.
Having worked a couple of punters Darla can now afford a hit, which Danny Lee is more than happy to supply. She's been the breadwinner so Lee can join in the fun off her earnings. We watch as a Heroin feast is cooked up and as she prepares then take's her medicine - Darla is then sparked out on the floor [Note: Donnovan track], Danny Lee is wrapping the belt around his arm when there's a thudding from the front door.
It's Jackson. With the door still locked, the two men get into a deep exchange. (This needs more thought as to the conversation).
Jackson is now inside the property, slowley exploring in the hope to find Darla. He discovers her on a floor-bound matteress, still out of it but now curled up. Her brow is sweaty and she's got the shakes. Kelvin, not knowing what to do lightly put's his hand on her shoulder in an effort to bring her back to some normality.
In the background Danny Lee is pacing around the room, clucking. Shouting obscenities and hitting the walls, bouncing around them like a ping-pong ball. He doesn't give a rats ass about the girl, he wants Jackson out, he wants his fix.
Jackson get's distracted by Lee's antics and so gets up off the floor in an effort to calm him down. When he goes back to Darla, she's dead.
Lee has also realised the situation, and runs for it.
Jackson turn's to tears, on the bug ridden matteress and look's around the room. It's at this point we hear the sierens, as does Jackson..... once again he's in the wrong place, and the wrong time.
End.
Kelvin Jackson, hits the streets after serving a 5 year custodial sentance for a vicious attack and attempted rape on a young woman in 2006, Darla. During the trial the woman was said to be hugely traumatized, so much so she could not face the court room. It was also brought to the jury's attention the victim was now suffering from drug adiction in an attempt to cope with life.
Now a free man, Jackson sets about setting the record straight. Mindful not to get mixed up with the law he goes in search of Darla, believing that if he can just talk to her she'll realise a mistake has been made and finally he can start to clear his name. We watch as Kelvin removes the dust sheets from his stored car then goes in search of her wafting in and around the colourful brightly lit but highly dangerous streets of London at night, eventually discovering Darla selling her body in the dark side streets of Soho. But getting to her is simply not as easy as driving up to her, for one thing Leroy doesn't want to be picked up as a Curb Crawler with the possibility of ending up back beihind bars and then there's the second problem - her boyfriend come pimp, Danny Lee.
As Jackson clocks Lee, It's at this point the viewer is treated to scenes from the 2006 attack, which identify's Lee as the real attacker and Jackson, just a party goer in the wrong place at the wrong time running to the young woman's aid.
Switching back to current day, we watch as Jackson follows them back to local property, a drug den. It's at this point we leave Kelvin, and enter into the world of Danny and Darla.
It's in a state, decoration was last seen in the 80's, ex-fast-food packaging and empty Rizzler wrappers litter the sticky threadbare carpets, there's little in the way of furniture except for the odd mankey matteress lying skewed on the floors of various rooms. Oh, and the used Hypodermic Needles, teaspoons and half empty rainbow of semi-opaque lighters.
Having worked a couple of punters Darla can now afford a hit, which Danny Lee is more than happy to supply. She's been the breadwinner so Lee can join in the fun off her earnings. We watch as a Heroin feast is cooked up and as she prepares then take's her medicine - Darla is then sparked out on the floor [Note: Donnovan track], Danny Lee is wrapping the belt around his arm when there's a thudding from the front door.
It's Jackson. With the door still locked, the two men get into a deep exchange. (This needs more thought as to the conversation).
Jackson is now inside the property, slowley exploring in the hope to find Darla. He discovers her on a floor-bound matteress, still out of it but now curled up. Her brow is sweaty and she's got the shakes. Kelvin, not knowing what to do lightly put's his hand on her shoulder in an effort to bring her back to some normality.
In the background Danny Lee is pacing around the room, clucking. Shouting obscenities and hitting the walls, bouncing around them like a ping-pong ball. He doesn't give a rats ass about the girl, he wants Jackson out, he wants his fix.
Jackson get's distracted by Lee's antics and so gets up off the floor in an effort to calm him down. When he goes back to Darla, she's dead.
Lee has also realised the situation, and runs for it.
Jackson turn's to tears, on the bug ridden matteress and look's around the room. It's at this point we hear the sierens, as does Jackson..... once again he's in the wrong place, and the wrong time.
End.
Key Character castings:
During my research into lighting set-up's/effects I came across these two photographs, which amazingly fit the vision I have of both the key characters!
Main Character:
Male
Black
40-50
__________
2nd Main Character:
Female
White
Probably late 20's
And here they are!......
Pure drama.
These images will really help when it comes to casting.
Main Character:
Male
Black
40-50
__________
2nd Main Character:
Female
White
Probably late 20's
And here they are!......
Pure drama.
These images will really help when it comes to casting.
Lighting Ideas
I am particuarly keen to keep a constant trend of high contrast between light and dark (Black and white for the de-saturated scenes, and a multitude of overly saturated colours set against dark, shiney wet pavements/roads within the night time scenes.
I've picked out this image below to show how certian parts of the man's body have been highlighed in an effort to really exagerate the muscle tone.
This B&W image below could be set in almost any era of modern times, I love the huge contrast between the dark, victorian station and the massive flood of light blasting in from the outside world.
Adapting the image, I would love to see a light from behind him protruding a huge shadow of his figure across the tracks, in a similar way to the cat photo below it.....
I particuarly like the way a layered set up of lighing has the effect of highlighting the very most forward parts of the woman's face - for example I love the way the skin area around her eye's are lit, yet her eyes themselves are huge dark holes....
This shot below, really shows off the Rembreandt Chiaroscuro effect beautifuly....
I've picked out this image below to show how certian parts of the man's body have been highlighed in an effort to really exagerate the muscle tone.
This B&W image below could be set in almost any era of modern times, I love the huge contrast between the dark, victorian station and the massive flood of light blasting in from the outside world.
Adapting the image, I would love to see a light from behind him protruding a huge shadow of his figure across the tracks, in a similar way to the cat photo below it.....
I particuarly like the way a layered set up of lighing has the effect of highlighting the very most forward parts of the woman's face - for example I love the way the skin area around her eye's are lit, yet her eyes themselves are huge dark holes....
This shot below, really shows off the Rembreandt Chiaroscuro effect beautifuly....
Friday, 4 November 2011
P R E L U D E by Gareth Taylor
Welcome to my on-line Blog for my film short, entiltled; Prelude.
Current Stage: Research / Experiment / Development
Firstly, an introduction to my Film Short - Prelude;
Inspired by a number of films spanning from the early-70's to even one as recent as 2005 I am still in the early stages of development, which is where the Research, Experimental and Development module can come in particuarly useful.
I am using 3-Key films in my research of which one in particular I wish to pay homage too. All are American, and use 3 different directors. They are;
- Duel (Dir: Spielberg, 1971)
- A History of Violence (Dir: Cronenberg. 2005)
- Taxi Driver (Dir: Scorsese. 1976)
The reasoning behind chosing these to study are as such:
With Duel Being Spielberg's debut directorial makes it all the more interesting to study, for me - With it also being a very low-budget production. Watching and paying close attention to the directors talk-though version has given me an insight into many aspects of how the film was shot, which infact was extreamly simple using camera rigs/supports attached to vehicles and using the same stretch of highway over and over again but from different angles, yet convincing the viewer hundereds of miles of desert and mountain road had been covered - something that is very simple yet also canningly clever.
I first watch this film in the mid-late 80's, making me around 7-10 years old which I accept may not of been the film's target audiance but non the less had the effect of either keeping my eyes glued to the screen, or hiding behind the sofa in fear!
The main areas that interest me are the positioning of cameras', their supports and the use of "pause and slide" movement when not attached to a moving vehicle. Something that is apparent to me is the similarity of some some shots/movement also found in Scorsese's Taxi Driver, produced some 5years later. What they do, is take away from an established scene causing the viewer to spit their mind out of the current flow of the film in an effort to re-calculate what is actually happening, or what could be happening, but infact the movement has left the actor behind in a sense, almost as if the film has moved on to a new scene and is waiting for the actor to catch up. I think this is a really interesting style of directing and something I'd like to expand upon myself.
Cronenburg's 'A History of Violence' is, in my opinion a very interesting film to study and my reasoning for chosing to study is mainly for the way in which the viewer is completely mis-led with the main Character (Viggo Mortensen). So essentially, I am using the storyline of this flm as a guid for my own storyline/script. As I have never scripted before I feel it importent to find inspriation from somewhere - this film is it.
As I said before, In my film short I wish to pay homage to Scorsese. In the film Taxi Driver I fell in love with the night-time driving scenes, the way the lights of the city have such an impact reflecting on the rain drenched streets, almost as if it's an attempt to show th streets being cleaned. Together with the way the camera is rigged to the Taxi providing the oh so perfect framing, depicting the NYC night life ambiance. Bernard Herrmann composed the sound track which dramatised the scenes to such a high level that the viewer cannot ignore the danger the 1970's streets of New York present though the dark hours.
Crew & Equipment:
I have and am, seeking support/crew externally and I have actually had people ask to be involved in my project - which is nice. As of 1st Nov 2011 I have 2 persons within my crew in addition to myself, both of whom will fill creative roles.
__________________________
Innitial experiement:
I plan to create a model of a city street within a shoebox/box type set up, utilising transparent coloured plastic to provide the explosive, bright lights of a busling city at night. I'm still planning this, so will update soon.
I recently spent some time working with Joe, Bob and Rob creating a scene trying out various staged ideas to create a space-age time travel look. We used a sheet of perspex, flicked water on it and utilised lighting to create a star-trek futuristic feel. I found this very useful and it has given me ideas for my own project in how to create my own scenes that will be difficult to create on-location. I will update this blog with photos soon.
Current Stage: Research / Experiment / Development
Firstly, an introduction to my Film Short - Prelude;
Inspired by a number of films spanning from the early-70's to even one as recent as 2005 I am still in the early stages of development, which is where the Research, Experimental and Development module can come in particuarly useful.
I am using 3-Key films in my research of which one in particular I wish to pay homage too. All are American, and use 3 different directors. They are;
- Duel (Dir: Spielberg, 1971)
- A History of Violence (Dir: Cronenberg. 2005)
- Taxi Driver (Dir: Scorsese. 1976)
The reasoning behind chosing these to study are as such:
With Duel Being Spielberg's debut directorial makes it all the more interesting to study, for me - With it also being a very low-budget production. Watching and paying close attention to the directors talk-though version has given me an insight into many aspects of how the film was shot, which infact was extreamly simple using camera rigs/supports attached to vehicles and using the same stretch of highway over and over again but from different angles, yet convincing the viewer hundereds of miles of desert and mountain road had been covered - something that is very simple yet also canningly clever.
I first watch this film in the mid-late 80's, making me around 7-10 years old which I accept may not of been the film's target audiance but non the less had the effect of either keeping my eyes glued to the screen, or hiding behind the sofa in fear!
The main areas that interest me are the positioning of cameras', their supports and the use of "pause and slide" movement when not attached to a moving vehicle. Something that is apparent to me is the similarity of some some shots/movement also found in Scorsese's Taxi Driver, produced some 5years later. What they do, is take away from an established scene causing the viewer to spit their mind out of the current flow of the film in an effort to re-calculate what is actually happening, or what could be happening, but infact the movement has left the actor behind in a sense, almost as if the film has moved on to a new scene and is waiting for the actor to catch up. I think this is a really interesting style of directing and something I'd like to expand upon myself.
Cronenburg's 'A History of Violence' is, in my opinion a very interesting film to study and my reasoning for chosing to study is mainly for the way in which the viewer is completely mis-led with the main Character (Viggo Mortensen). So essentially, I am using the storyline of this flm as a guid for my own storyline/script. As I have never scripted before I feel it importent to find inspriation from somewhere - this film is it.
As I said before, In my film short I wish to pay homage to Scorsese. In the film Taxi Driver I fell in love with the night-time driving scenes, the way the lights of the city have such an impact reflecting on the rain drenched streets, almost as if it's an attempt to show th streets being cleaned. Together with the way the camera is rigged to the Taxi providing the oh so perfect framing, depicting the NYC night life ambiance. Bernard Herrmann composed the sound track which dramatised the scenes to such a high level that the viewer cannot ignore the danger the 1970's streets of New York present though the dark hours.
Crew & Equipment:
I have and am, seeking support/crew externally and I have actually had people ask to be involved in my project - which is nice. As of 1st Nov 2011 I have 2 persons within my crew in addition to myself, both of whom will fill creative roles.
__________________________
Innitial experiement:
I plan to create a model of a city street within a shoebox/box type set up, utilising transparent coloured plastic to provide the explosive, bright lights of a busling city at night. I'm still planning this, so will update soon.
I recently spent some time working with Joe, Bob and Rob creating a scene trying out various staged ideas to create a space-age time travel look. We used a sheet of perspex, flicked water on it and utilised lighting to create a star-trek futuristic feel. I found this very useful and it has given me ideas for my own project in how to create my own scenes that will be difficult to create on-location. I will update this blog with photos soon.
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