DIRECTIONS: Contextual Research [TV Drama Research - 'Lost' JJ ABRAMS]

 

XCU - CREATES IMMEDIATE CONNECTION AND EMPATHY W/ CHARACTER (JACK)

DOES NOT ESTABLISH LOCATION FIRST, CONFUSING AUDIENCES.

POV - FIRST PERSON PERSPECTIVE SUGGESTS LOCATION (ENIGMA FOR SUSPENSE), MAKES CHARACTER AND AUDIENCE APPEAR SMALL

BEV - CONTRASTING SHOT ,ISOLATES JACK AS ZOOMS OUT

HIGH PITCH MUSIC MAKES AUDIENCES UNCOMFORTABLE

JACK'S SUIT SUGGESTS HIGH SALARY JOB

CAMERA TRACKS FROM SIDE, OBSCURING CHARACTER WITH SHOOTS

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PAN STARTS ON CHARACTER AND CONTINUES TO IMPLY POV BEFORE RESETTLING ON CHAR.

VAST OCEAN INCREASES ISOLATION

SHOT SIMILAR TO TAXI DRIVER (1976, DIR: MARTIN SCORSESE)

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HAND HELD TRACK INCREASES TENSION AND PANIC. 

PURE STORYTELLING WALKS THROUGH THE CONTRAST BETWEEN ISOLATION AND PANIC WITH CHARACTER.

SHOT SIMILAR TO STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS (2015, DIR: JJ ABRAMS)

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WS TO IMPOSE DANGER

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TRACKS FOLLOWS CHARACTERS ALONG ACTION

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 CAMERA STARTS FROM BEHIND AND TRACKS ROUND, CHARACTERS STEP INTO SHOT

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SOFT EDGE GIVES DREAMLIKE FIRST IMPRESSION TO FLASHBACK SCENE

TRACKS BACK TO SHOW BEN LOOKING OUT - PLAYING WITH POV AND PERS. AGAIN

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FRANTIC PLANE CRASH CONTRASTED BY CALM OCEAN - JARS AUDIENCES

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FOCUSES ON JACK BUT LISTENS TO B/G CONVERSATION

CAMERA PANS TO FOLLOW CONV. AND ALLOWS KATE INTO SHOT 

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SHOT CONTRASTS CHAOS VS NATURE

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CAM PANS TO REVEAL PLANE

LOOKS DOWN TO IMPRESS SIZE OF PLANE AND SHRINK CHARS

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WEV REMINISCENT OF EARLIER SHOT

MUCH DARKER, TREES MORE IMPOSING

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LOST 1x01 COMMON DIRECTORIAL TRAITS: 

• Long, drawn out shots.
• Use of handheld camera.
• Panning or focus shifting to a character instead of cutting straight to them.
• Fast paced action sequences.
• Close ups.

Contextual Studies: Critical Review [Planet Earth Two ]

PLANET EARTH 2

Planet Earth 2 is the newest in a long line of expository nature documentary series produced by the BBC and presented by veteran broadcaster and naturalist, David Attenborough. The series, a follow up to 2006 series ‘Planet Earth’, explores “how animals meet the challenges of surviving in the most iconic habitats on earth.”[1] The series is the BBC’s first to be shot in 4k, mirroring its predecessor which was the first documentary series to be filmed in high definition.[2]

 Filming was conducted by six teams over the space of three years[3] and utilised many technologies usually used by dramas and high-budget movies, such as drones and better camera stabilisation. [4] [5]For the third episode, ‘Jungles’ the team had to specially adapt drones to fly through the jungles of Costa Rica – something that had never been attempted before – to give audiences a never-before-seen perspective of the jungle and one only ever before seen by the animals that live there.[6] To try and capture footage of elusive snow leopards for second episode, ‘Mountains’ the crew used sophisticated camera traps. A technology that was not available when filming ‘Planet Earth’, the crew could get footage of a snow leopard and cub coming across two other males. The animals are so rare that such a quantity of them had never been filmed in one place before.³

 The editing of ‘Planet Earth Two’, like many BBC nature documentaries, follows the conventions of typical western editing, especially during it’s more fast paced moments. This is evident through scenes such as in the first episode, ‘Islands’ where baby marine iguanas are being chased by hordes of hidden racer snakes, moments after hatching[7]. The sequence begins with slow cuts: a close-up, highlighting the small size of the hatchling before cutting to a wide, slowed down shot of the small iguana slowly walking across the pebbles - it’s small size and isolation intensified. The slow editing draws out the tension as slowly the first snake slowly sneaks into frame behind the iguana, quickly followed by more. Suddenly the iguana begins running and the quick edits begin. Although the first iguana is safe, more hatchlings emerge under the hungry eyes of the racer snakes. The overwhelming numbers against the newly hatched iguana is intensified to the audience by isolating it within its own shot and contrasting this with shots of tens of snakes at once. Again, fast cuts are used to highlight the urgency and danger as one by one more baby iguanas are killed.

 Despite the many new technologies that ‘Planet Earth Two’ had access to, limited microphone ranges meant that certain animal noises were obtainable; to compensate for which, the show’s sound designers added sound effects in post-production. However, because of this audiences began questioning the show’s realism with many viewers taking to social media to complain and tabloid newspaper ‘The Sun’ lashing out at the programme.[8]
 Although some audiences may not have been convinced by the show’s diagetic sound-effects, much praise was given to the score composed by multi-award winning Hans Zimmer[9] who is also known for his scores to cinematic pieces such as ‘The Lion King’, ‘Inception’ and Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight trilogy’. The music beautifully matches the visual wonder onscreen, rounding off ‘Planet Earth 2’ as one of the BBC’s most compelling and captivating nature documentaries to date – definitely one of its most ambitious.

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[1] BBC (2016) Planet earth II - BBC One. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02544td (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[2] Radley, R. (2016) Planet earth 2: News, release date and trailer for the BBC’s new nature show. Available at: http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/planet-earth-2-uk-release-date-trailer-bbc-4k-david-attenborough (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[3] Mathews, J. (2016) Will the BBC’s planet earth 2 be even bigger (and more expensive) than planet earth? Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/11/05/will-the-bbcs-planet-earth-2-be-even-bigger---and-more-expensive/ (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[4] BBC (no date) Sir David Attenborough to present brand new landmark natural history series for BBC One - media centre. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2016/planet-earth-two (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[5] Knapton, S. (2016) Planet earth II: BBC gives natural world Hollywood blockbuster treatment. Available at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/2016/10/28/planet-earth-ii-bbc-gives-natural-world-hollywood-blockbuster-tr/ (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[6] BBC (2016) Planet earth II - drones in the jungle - BBC One. Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3P6MX7bbl0Y5SSnvJWPM4PP/drones-in-the-jungle (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[7] ‘Planet Earth ||’ Islands (2016) Produced by Vanessa Berlowitz, Mike Gunton, James Brickell, Tom Hugh-Jones [TV PROGRAMME]. LONDON: BBC.

[8] JONES, L. and Reporter, B.T. (2016) Planet earth 2 viewers blast BBC over fake sound effects. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/2251451/planet-earth-ii-viewers-blast-bbc-over-fake-sound-effects-including-millipede-footsteps-and-bizarre-creaking-mushrooms/?CMP=AFF-Sun_traffic_gen-Awin-19_10_2016-1403-0-0-0&awc=7715_1479986150_dfab5c216093b2d1f02d3e201eaed8d4&CMP=AFF-Sun_traffic_gen-Awin-19_10_2016-1403-0-0-0&awc=7715_1481252330_58f123ac9f9d3cbc67fc24ceb7fbdbc5 (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

[9] America, B. (2016) Academy award-winning composer Hans Zimmer scores ‘planet earth II’. Available at: http://www.bbcamerica.com/blog/2016/09/academy-award-winning-composer-hans-zimmer-scores-planet-earth-ii (Accessed: 8 December 2016).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/38169368/why-planet-earth-ii-is-helping-us-cope-with-2016

https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/1952059/planet-earth-series-2-david-attenborough/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/365zWpz7HypS4MxYmd0sS36/planet-earth-ii-in-360

https://www.youtube.com/user/BBCEarth

http://www.trustedreviews.com/news/planet-earth-2-uk-release-date-trailer-bbc-4k-david-attenborough

http://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-feature/950692/bbc-admit-planet-earth-2-sound-fake

http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/planet-earth-2-bbc-sound-effects-fake-a7438336.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02544td

http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/playlists/zzznnf

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2016/06/02/hans-zimmer-jasha-klebe-jacob-shea-scoring-bbcs-planet-earth-ii/

http://www.bbcamerica.com/blog/2016/09/academy-award-winning-composer-hans-zimmer-scores-planet-earth-ii

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02544td/episodes/player

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p048sflc

Story Telling: Contextual Research [Short Film Review: Invaders]

 Invaders (2014 Dir: Jason Kupfer) is a dark comedy that parodies the horror genre convention of seasonal home invasions. The short uses sudden pace changes to confuse audiences, sometimes slowing down shots to establish a feeling of peace within audiences before immediately contrasting it with quick cuts and manic action. This sudden change jolts audiences and forces them out of the passiveness of genre conventions. Incorporating this idea into my piece will give my piece an unpredictability that reflects Will’s sense of restlessness with university.

 Images are also contrasted within Invaders to further more shock audiences to the point of absurdity. As the character of the driver is stabbed with a carving knife, the action pauses and audiences are gifted a moment of calm before his face erupts with blood. This break defies typical filmmaking convention and the lack of an immediate response makes audiences more aware. The unrealistic amount and longevity of blood then further this effect whilst attacking another trope of horror movies. The pre-existing contrast in my script of drugs and university can be further explored to achieve a similar effect from my film.

 One of the reasons I chose this short was it's ultimately bizarre behaviour. It made a point to abandon every cliché it faced and this intensity makes it seem highly unpredictable. By abandoning many "set rules" of genre, the piece seems to gain an unruly freedom that will be easily incorporated into my script.

Story Telling: Contextual Research [The art of comedy screenwriting]

Jerry Seinfeld – How to Write a Joke

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itWxXyCfW5s 

What do you find funny?

Start the laughs immediately. The first line should be funny.

It’s like songwriting. Focus on beats and rhythm.

The biggest laugh for a long joke must always come at the end.

“The wronger something feels, the righter it is.”

Ricky Gervais – How I learned to write 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTJyDe7a2bo

Write about what you know.

Big, grand stories may be exciting but they’re not honest.

“trying to make the ordinary extraordinary is so much better than starting with the extraordinary.”

What’s real and relatable to one person will be relatable to many more.

Try to make the audience as excited as you are.

SAM BAIN AND JESSE ARMSTRONG COMEDY WRITING MASTERCLASS

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-01rh4yNb5U

If you’ve got something that works – make it longer

It doesn’t matter if you fail 9 times if you succeed once

Don’t sacrifice character integrity for a joke

In episodic pieces Start with episode 3

Casting IS key

If your character is written correctly, any dramatic situation can also be comedic

Plots don’t need to be funny, characters and dialogue do

If you don’t believe or care, change!

Know the tone of whatever you’re writing

Make sure the story is always the focus

Story Telling: Contextual Research [Short Film Review: Boogaloo and Graham]

 Boogaloo and Graham (2014, Dir: Michael Lennox) is an Irish film written by Ronan Blaney about two young brothers who are bestowed a pair of chicks by their father. Set in Belfast during the time of ‘the troubles’, the film beautifully contrasts a loving story of two brothers learning responsibility and independence with an uneasy and violent backdrop. I wanted to look at this film because I found the relationship of the two brothers both humorous and touching; the film won the Best Short Film BAFTA award for 2015.

 One of the major, obvious themes of this film is the bond the two brothers share. I specifically wanted to look at this because I want the relationship of Jack and Will to resemble the relationship of two brothers. This is because of the relationship I have with my brother and how I think that has affected the relationships I have made at university, myself. One key way the relationship between brothers Malachy (Aaron Lynch) and Jamesy (Riley Hamilton) is written so convincingly is in the way they argue. When the two brothers argue about whose chicken smells worst or the correct way to break out of a house it’s not a serious argument, instead a petty squabble that usually only arises between two people as close as brothers. This is easily incorporated into my script by having Jack and Will debating something serious to them, that when viewed by an external audience may seem benign such as who rolls the better spliff.

 Boogaloo and Graham is very much a film of two moods. The main story of the brothers is comedic and heart-warming whereas the setting of war-torn Ireland presents a bleak world that these small children are growing up in. One of the film’s more comedic moments that is within itself underscored by the threat of possible later upset is then contrasted (and the threats overshadowed) by the film’s most pinnacle, shocking moment where the two young boys fall very close to an experience with death. This reminded me of what Steve Coombes told us about writing villains: “If you want to make your monster seem relatable, put a bigger monster next door.” In this case the monster is the idea of the chickens being taken away and when the two boys run away to try and solve this, the bigger monster points a gun at them. I will use this idea to better emphasise the university as a villainous ideal of my piece.

Story Telling: Contextual Research [Short Film Review: The Karmen Line]

 ‘The Karmen Line’ (2015, Dir: Oscar Sharpe) was probably the most different of the three short movies that I have watched to researched my own screenplay but it has been one of the most fruitful ones. ‘The Karmen Line’ was written by female screenwriter, Dawn King and tells the touching the touching story of Sarah (Olivia Coleman), a mother and wife who begins slowly lifting off the ground from a fixed point, unable to get down. The film gained international acclaim - being shown at more than 18 film festivals, and being nominated for a BAFTA.

 I always think that the first line of non-conventional dialogue (EG. ‘Hi’ etc) in any production is one of the most important. The first line of ‘The Karmen Line’ is between Sarah and her daughter: “No to pineapple, then?”. The line comes as Sarah looks through her daughter’s school bag, examining her lunchbox and a graded mock exam from school and I believe the interaction provides audiences with an abundance of information about the relationship between the characters. This one small piece of dialogue also gives indications and hints to a lot about the character’s personalities, for example Sarah’s invasion of privacy. This then gives more of an unspoken importance later on when Sarah begins floating through her daughter’s bedroom.

 One of the most interesting things I picked up that King did very effectively was show the relationship of the characters through their actions. This is like what Steve Coombes mentioned in one of our lectures: using what we see rather than what we hear to establish an understanding of characters. For example, the opening sequence shows Sarah dancing and humming as she does house work and her daughter comes home from school. The pair say nothing immediately but Sarah has already prepared her dinner, giving a sense of routine. She also makes a mug of hot Ribena, a drink that says more about the mother daughter relationship than an average cup of tea. I think it is small considerations like this that make the relationships in The Karmen Line so realistic and believable. In my script re-writes I plan to focus on this idea of two characters establishing their primary relationship through a comfortable, wordless routine. I think this would be most effectively shown by starting my script in an earlier place, showing the characters walking up to and sitting on a bench and using their non-verbal communication and script directions to establish their relationship to the audience.

 A key aspect of The Karmen line I found especially effective was the lack of visual indicators of time jumps. As time progresses throughout the story, King uses a variety of methods to indicate this but sometimes makes no indicator at all, instead using Sarah’s progress upwards to show time’s progression – a very story specific method that eliminates the need for disinteresting text inserts. I could reflect this in my script through a variety of ways, for example showing early on that Will has rolled a set amount of joints for his day and then using the tin to highlight key movements in time. 

Story Telling: Production Notes [Pre-Production Paperwork]

CALL SHEET:

RISK ASSESSMENT:

Story Telling: Production Notes [Shot/location research.]

 In order to best prepare for shooting and to start thinking practically about shots I visited my proposed filming location on the Medway riverside. I brought my two actors along in order to take some photographs and try to build up a mental image of how my shots will look, ready for when I begin storyboarding.

 The aim of this shot was to be able to include both characters in frame with the university looking down on them from the background. Unfortunately, I don't think this shot conveys the importance of the university building as it is nowhere near prominent enough in the shot. I also think shooting from lower may help give the university the visual importance it needs.

 Whilst I prefer the framing of the characters in this shot, I still do not think the university building is as imposing as I would like it to be. Perhaps by coming closer, into a mid-shot and bringing the university into the top-left of the shot I might be able to achieve this.

 

 I am very happy with this shot - especially the framing and lighting. This is identical to how I want my one-shots of Will to look in my production.
 However, this shot has made me aware that whilst I don't think I'll need any major lighting, I will need a key light to give the actor's eyes some life on screen.

 This was by far my favourite two-shot I got. The naturalistic lighting is how I imagine it for my production and the framing captures both characters nicely in the frame.









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 Two hours later I repeated this exercise specifically focusing on how to frame the university in shot.

 Whilst I really like how this shot looks, I think the fact that Will's eye line looks over the top of the building means that the University does not appear important enough within the shot.









 By raising the university to be in line with Will's eye line in this shot I think it sets it up nicely to appear to look down on the scene.

Story Telling: Production Notes [RECCE]

 I returned to Jackson's field today closer to my actual planned shooting time to double check the lighting. As feared the tree remains to be in a shadowed area despite the earlier time. This means that to ensure the actors are well lit, the background becomes very washed out. I am considering still using this location and combining the washed out background with the tree setting to convey that the characters sit in the tree to be disconnected from regular life.

                     

 However, should I not follow this idea I decided to try and find a suitable replacement location. I ended up finding a bench near to halls that is also overlooked by the university. I think this could be a powerful feature as the university would be a constant onlooker in the background, appearing inevitable as the characters plan to avoid it.

Story Telling: Development [Inspiration & writing notes]

 My main source of inspiration for 'The Other Side' came from my friends. The characters of Will and Jack are also very closely based on my friends of the same name.
 I was particular during writing to try and capture realistic dialogue for the two characters and also based this on my friends. I paid close attention to small phrases and specific pieces of slang each friend used and tried to apply it to my script where appropriate. 
 The ending that appears in my draft script was not the original ending - the original ending involving Will and Jack tricking Will's lecturer and escaping. However, I felt this ending did not seem natural enough to the plot or pacing of the script and decided for something less dramatic and unnecessary.

Story Telling: Devlopment [Production Blog Update and Location Recce]

Pre-Production has begun. My shoot is planned for Wednesday 16th November, the cast is aware of the date but I must quickly decide on my crew. The cast is being given the first draft of the script to begin going through later today.

I went up to Jackson's field earlier today to get an idea of how easy filming would be. One major concern is of lighting - the tree is in a heavily shaded area. However, I did not perform my recce at the same time that I plan to be shooting so I shall return tomorrow so see if this is still a problem. If it is then I shall alternative filming locations.

Story Telling: Development [The Other Side PITCH]

On The Other Side 

Comedy

Will needs a way to get his bag and skip the rest of his lecture.

Too tired for lectures, Will and Jack decides to blow off the rest of the day for relaxing in bed. However, Will’s left his bag in the lecture he’s trying to skive and can’t go home without it. 

Will (20) Laid back, friendly and taking life as it comes. Will tries not to plan too far ahead and take any opportunity for an "adventure" if it means he's busy. Unchallenged by his first year of university, Will skips a lot of lectures to work in the comfort of his own room.

Jack (19) Always too tired for his own existence. Whether he's been studying, partying or wasting hours smoking and talking to friends, he's always up past his bed time. Always tries to try but finds himself walking home during a break.

Setting: 
Tree / Park / University.