DIRECTIONS UNIT: (Research) Additional Research into Directing 1

I decided to do some additional research into a variety of sources about directing.

Interview with Youtube Director Bertie Gilbert 

https://soundcloud.com/fillerpodcast/ep-6-bertie-gilbert

As the compulsory research side of this project all focused around TV and film directors and the direction within TV dramas, I decided to do a bit of research into a different type of director; short film directors who direct specifically for Youtube. I actually stumbled across this podcast interview conducted by Filler with Youtube Director / Writer Bertie Gilbert. I found it fascinating to find out what his views on directing were and why he chose to direct short films exclusively on Youtube. Within the interview, Bertie agreed that a good director is someone who know how to get the best performance out of the talent. This doesn't necessarily mean someone who is able to just tell people what to do, this means that they have carried out all the necessary pre production preparation as well in order for the talent, crew and everyone involved in the production to be clear on what they’re doing. A good director has done the necessary scheduling to make sure everything run smoothly. A good director has produced / helped to produce a storyboard and shot list to help visualise the piece prior to the actual production phase of the film. Bertie expressed a particular interest in auteur directors, stating that he thinks its important to be able to produce a unique piece of work, being able to put your own stamp on a film. Another interesting point Bertie made was that he is always considering the audience when directing. He treats the audience with respect, treats them as intelligent humans who do not need to be spoon fed and can work out what is happening on screen for themselves. This therefore allows him to make creative decisions with his directions which enables him to put his own stamp on his work in this way. One massive advantage that Bertie mentioned with being a Youtube Director is that the feedback is immediate. This means ideas can change and develop faster, meaning that as a director, you’re able to develop your work and your style at a faster pace than TV and film directors. Although this interview was limited in terms of advice / information about the art of directing, it was very fascinating to find out about different types of director.

The Art of Directing - Basic Blocking and Staging Techniques 

“Blocking is the relationship of the actors to the camera”. [1]

Five things need to be considered before a blocking plan can be created:

a. When, and where, were the characters last seen?

b. What is the last shot of the previous scene?

c. What is the first shot of the scene you are working on?

d. What is the last shot of the scene you are working on?

e. What is the first shot of the next scene?

The blocking plan will also be determined by:

a. Whose POV is being expressed at the time? (Is it the writer’s, the character or the director?)

b. What distance are you from the subject? (What is the size of shot: close or far?)

c. What is your relationship to the subject? (What is the angle of view – your choice of lenses?)

I found this research particularly helpful due to being concerned about how to block the whole scene. This advice helps to break up blocking into simple steps which are easy to follow.

Interview with director David Gordon Green

4 Key ways to create mood:

David Gordon Green expresses the importance of looking for actors with emotional complexity. This allows them to be natural in acting in an honest and vulnerable way - making for a better and more believable performance. Green also states that using music that amplifies or contrasts with the moment is key. Sound design can change the whole mood of a film, therefore the right sound needs to be chosen in order to bring the right mood and tone. Green also expressed that it is key to shoot to capture human expression and scenery simultaneously. You should place the camera in such a way to get enough of a perspective of where we are and also who the characters are. The last point Green makes is that editing can affect the psychology of the whole scene. The speed of the editing helps to set the pace of the film and, in turn, the pace suggests the tone. [2] For example, I plan to use slow edits after the wedding video in my first scene to highlight the awkward and uncomfortable nature.

[1] Marshall, P.D. (2013) The psychology of movement and blocking a film scene. Available at: http://www.raindance.org/the-psychology-of-movement-and-blocking-a-film-scene/ (Accessed: 4 February 2017).

[2] Berkowitz, J. (2013) 4 keys to creating A mood from director David Gordon Green. Available at: https://www.fastcocreate.com/1683546/4-keys-to-creating-a-mood-from-director-david-gordon-green (Accessed: 4 February 2017).

DIRECTIONS UNIT: (Project prep) Costume

From the beginning of this project I've known that I wanted colour to be one of the main focuses. Therefore, I conducted some research into the costume design in some popular romantic comedies, dramas and romantic scenes from TV programmes.

Blair Waldorf - Gossip Girl

In the scene above, Blair is dressed in a red dress with matching red bag and necklace. In this scene Blair is telling Chuck that he is capable of being loved as she loved him once. Although it isn't the most stereotypically romantic scene, it is still riddled with themes of love, warmth and attachment. The costume is very significant in this scene as the red of her dress symbolises her feelings of love and affection for Chuck but also symbolises her as the object of his affections.

Rose DeWitt Bukater - Titanic

The scene above shows Jack and Rose's first proper interaction. The red in her outfit is significant as it works to show her as a dangerous yet passionate character. Although she is not an overly dangerous character, she does prove to be a danger to herself in this scene as she is considering jumping over the side of the boat. It is also significant that she is wearing red at their first proper meeting as it alludes to the romance that will grow between the characters.

Bridget Jones - Bridget Jones' Diary

Although the red in this outfit is more to do with the winter / Christmas period, I still think it is significant in conveying Bridget's desperate search for love. It helps to show her as a romantic character even though she is unsuccessful in many of her pursuits. 

Aria Montgomery - Pretty Little Liars

On Aria and Ezra's first date, Aria opts for a red dress. Throughout all the series, it becomes evident that Aria is a hopeless romantic and falls in love really easily. It is very significant that she then chooses a red dress for their first date as it enhances the idea that she is a hopeless romantic as she chooses such a stereotypically romantic outfit. She is also obsessed with film and art, this outfit corresponds with her love for these mediums as it shows that she is chasing a film-like romance. 

Cher Horowitz - Clueless

In this scene, Cher is attempting to make herself as appealing to Christian as she possibly can. Therefore, she has dressed herself in a red dress and used red lipstick. This is very significant to the scene as this is the peak of her scheme to seduce him. The red is used as a passionate, seductive colour which Cher hopes will lure him in. 

The use of red in the scene has shown me that I need to be careful with the use of red in my scenes. I wanted to use red to show Juliet as the object of Mark's affection, so I will need to be careful not to over step the line and make it seem like she is trying to entice and seduce him. Juliet is very innocent and oblivious to the fact Mark is in love with her, so I will use the red in a way that Juliet almost doesn't even realise she's wearing it. (e.g. she will wear a red coat but halfway through the scene she will just throw it off - this will show her that she is oblivious to Mark's feelings).


Juliet's Costumes:

Costume 1 - Mark's flat

For the first scene, Juliet will be wear this top and jacket combined with a pair of blue jeans. The red symbolises the love Mark has for Juliet. Halfway through the scene, Juliet will throw off the jacket, enhancing the fact that she is oblivious to Mark's feelings towards her. She will still be left wearing the white t-shirt with the red embroidery at the top. The embroidered roses still hint to the feelings Mark has towards her. Roses conventionally carry connotations love and affection, therefore, the fact that she is wearing clothing featuring roses suggests that those are the feelings Mark has towards her.

Costume 2 - Juliet's doorway

Juliet will answer the door to Mark wearing this white t shirt and jeans with a red bodysuit underneath. This symbolises that Mark is moving on from his feelings for her, he realises that he needs to let those feelings go. Therefore, red is a much less prominent part of this outfit, however, I still felt it was important to include a bit of red to show that those feelings still exist but are being buried down inside. 


Mark's Costumes:

Costume 1 - Mark's flat

I really wanted to make Mark's outfit's subtle, as I wanted the main focus to be Juliet's outfits, hence why I opted for a plain white jumper and jeans for Mark. The white helps to connote the innocence of his feelings - although he is in love with his best friend's wife, he would never pursue those feelings as he would never want to hurt his best friend. Therefore, I thought the white would help to convey the innocent nature of his thoughts whilst still keeping the costume subtle.

Costume 2 - Juliet's doorway

Again, I wanted to choose a subtle outfit for Mark. I opted for another jumper and a plain coat paired with some jeans. The main focus again for this scene is the colours Juliet is wearing, therefore I wanted to keep Mark's outfit as simple as possible.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: (Project Prep) Casting

Casting for Love Actually

In order to find actors for the roles of Mark and Juliet I decided to post a job on Casting Call Pro. Peter will just be played by an extra as he only features in the wedding video - I did post a job role for Peter but due to lack of applicants I opted to have him played by an extra as his role is only minor.

The job included detailed character descriptions for each of the characters:

Juliet:

Age range: 18 - 26
Gender: Female
Ethnicity: White British 
Height: 5'4 - 5'8
Hair Colour: Blonde

Juliet is an outgoing character who is keen to get along with everyone she meets. She is often bubbly, radiant and romantic. She is newly married to Peter, a man whom she deeply loves and will not allow anything to break them apart. She feels slightly uncomfortable around Mark, Peter's best friend (and best man at the wedding), as she feels that he does not like her. However, she still acts warm and friendly around him to try and break his seemingly hostile attitude towards her.

Mark:

Age range: 18-26
Gender: Male
Ethnicity: White British
Height: 5'6 - 6'0
Hair Colour: Brunette

Mark is a shy character who keeps his feeling buried deep. He feels awkward around Juliet due to his deep feelings for her that he can never reveal. This awkwardness has a tendency to come across as quite blunt and rude, leading him to be quite an isolated character. Deep down he is a hopeless romantic but feels he cannot express his feelings.

Choosing the cast

Finding an actress to play Juliet was definitely a lot more straight forward than finding an actor to play Mark. I had many more applications for the role of Juliet but decided to go for a model who I've worked with before.

Juliet - Played by Ellie Slater

I knew getting the casting right for Juliet's character was critically important as I needed someone who looks and acts mature enough to portray the role of Juliet as a married woman but also be able to portray the naivety of Juliet's character as she is completely oblivious to Mark's feelings towards her. I chose Ellie to play the role of Juliet as I've worked with her before and know how she behaves in front of the camera. As a model she has the confidence in front of the camera to portray Juliet's confident, bubbly character. She also has the perfect look for the role. She looks mature and sophisticated whilst also having that essence of innocence which is essential for conveying the naivety of Juliet's character.


Finding an actor to play Mark was very challenging. I only had 4 applications for the role on the job I posted on Casting Call Pro. I attempted to get in contact with the applicants but my attempts were unsuccessful as they did not respond to my messages.

After having no luck contacting the applicants for the role, I decided to search for actors individually. I used Casting Call Pro's 'actor search' and applied the necessary filters to find actors that were appropriate for the role of Mark.

After rifling through the many pages of actors, I picked out a handful that I thought would be ideal for the role and sent them a message through Casting Call Pro.

However, my attempts were again unsuccessful as I only received a small amount of responses and each of those were stating that they were unavailable for the shoot.

Due to my poor luck in finding actors through Casting Call Pro, I decided to turn to alternative methods of finding actors. I got in contact with a friend who has belonged to various theatrical groups and enquired as to whether he would be interested in the project.  Although, this fell through due to him being unavailable for the shoots dates.

After unsuccessfully racking my brain for other people who may have been interested in the shoot, I turned to the help of some 3rd years on the course to see if they could put me in contact with any actors they had previously used and enjoyed working with. I was put in contact with Dave who seemed very interested and excited to be involved in the project. Discussions have been successful with Dave and he has confirmed to be my actor for the project.

Mark - Played by Dave Chawner

In my mind I had a very specific idea of what I wanted my version of Mark to look like. I wanted them to look kind and caring so it was important for them to have a friendly face. I feel like Dave was almost made for the role! He looks friendly and his previous work shows that he is able to portray a kind hearted character with confidence. Dave has had a lot of experience with acting which I feel is vital for playing such a complex role such as the role of Mark. He needs to be able to portray the sense of unrequited love without stepping over the line into obsession, I feel Dave will do this perfectly.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: (Project Prep) Locations

Locations

Mark's flat:

Mark's flat has a very artistic studio vibe to it. The room itself is very plain, with plain walls and floors. There is a mix of furniture in a range of materials in the flat, including a metal ladder, metal TV stand, wooden shelves, cloths and drapes (+ many more furniture in many different materials). The key aspects of this location for me was the simplicity of the design of the flat (e.g. the walls and floors) and the almost chaotic look of the furniture. Therefore my location will need to have plain walls and floors, and a mix of furniture.

I thought the ideal location would be the dining room of my house. The room itself is quite large and simple with plain walls and floors. All the furniture is wooden which corresponds to the look of Mark's flat in the film. There is a side board which can be filled with art supplies and DVDS (where Juliet will find the footage from the wedding). Due to knowing the owners of the house, I am able to re arrange furniture in order to get the desired look.

Key props that will be included in the location:
- row of DVDs (where Juliet will find the footage)
- sketchbooks and pots of pens to give arty vibe
- metal ladder to convey working environment
- TV / large laptop where footage will be played
- chairs for the characters
- coat stand of art shirts and coats (arty vibe).

Floor plan for the set:

The shot list, camera positions and lighting positions are still being decided.

Juliet's door:

Juliet's doorway is very simple. It is standard looking doorway in a neighbourhood street. Although Juliet's house is not decorated, the houses opposite are decorated with Christmas trees and Christmas lights. This demonstrates to the audience that it is Christmas time, otherwise there are no other indications (in the set design) that it is Christmas.

For Juliet's doorway I was planning to use the front door to my house. Due to the friendly neighbourhood environment I live in, I will be able to put Christmas decorations in front of my neighbour's houses (with their permission) in order to convey the christmassy atmosphere. The street outside my house is also ideal for the end of the scene.

Key props that will be included in the location:
- christmas tree
- christmas lights
- Mark's stereo / iPod for music
- Mark's A3 signs

Floor plan for the set:

The shot list, camera positions and lighting positions are still being decided.

DIRECTIONS UNIT: DSLR Workshop 2

We had another session using the DSLR cameras so that we could become completely confident using them and how to set the camera to the correct settings. This time we managed to get our hands on more of the equipment to have a go with.

We managed to have a go with the steadicam. Personally I found this very difficult to use so all the footage I managed to capture with it was very wobbly and juddery (which is the opposite effect that the steadicam is supposed to provide). However, it was still a good experience to have a go with it, I just think it will take more practice before I opt to use it for one of my future shoots.

We also managed to have a go with the fig rig, this was a lot more complicated to set up than the steadicam, however, using it was a lot more simple and straight forward. There were some jolts and judders in the footage, but, this was still a lot better than the steadicam footage and could most likely be stabilised. 

 
We also had the opportunity to have a go with the track and dolly. I really liked using the track and dolly, I found it very easy and simple to use and I really liked the effect it created. I was considering taking it out for my shoot, however, the space limitations in my location meant that I wouldn't have had space to set it up. However, in future I will definitely consider taking it out to use for a shoot as it is really good for capturing motion in a steady and smooth manner.

CONTEXTUAL STUDIES: Authorship and Auteurs

Production hierarchy

- Executive producer: primarily responsible for financial control but may have creative input (particularly in editing / post production stages)
- Producer: primarily supervises production logistics and budget in tandem with director. May originate project and usually hires writers and director to be involved in casting.
- Director: primarily responsible for creative vision and creative decisions in collaboration with creative team.
- Writer: responsible for authoring original script or adapting existing library material.

Changing face of creative control

Cinema:
Silent era (1900 - 1927) - the director
Studio era (1930 - 60) - the producer
New wave (1960-80) - directors and writer-directors

Television:
Golden age (1950 - 60) - producers and writers
New wave (1960-70) - producers and directors
Writers (1980s - present) - producer-writers and showrunners


Origins of the auteur theory
- Cahiers Du Cinema (radical french film journal) - in 1954, critic Francois Truffaut writer a polemic in which he coins the phrase 'la politique des auteurs'
- Reaction against bland commercial cinema where the director largely regarded as chief technician who just shot the script (metteur-en-scene)
- Truffaut and fellow critics wanted instead a cinema d'auteurs: directors and director-writers who expressed and individualistic world view and use of mise en scene.
- This auteur cinema expressed in ground breaking French New Wave films of late 50s early 60s.

Definition of auteur

The auteur theory was championed in the US by film critic Andrew Sarris in his essay 'Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962'

- technical competence of the director - ability to organise a film with clarity and coherence.
- distinguishable personality of the director - recurring signature style
- interior meaning - the cinematic art created from tension between a director's personality and his material

- there are no bad films, only bad directors

- even the worst film of an auteur director can be rescued from anonymity 

Issues with the auteur theory

- doesn't recognise collaborative nature of film and television, and in contribution of writers and technicians 

- what directors were attempting to portray was secondary to the actual visualisation on screen

- only a few rare directors have 'final cut'

- genre theory as alternative to auteur theory

Genre theory focuses on:

- generic similarities 

- how texts are determined by historical / social / political contexts

- how texts emerge as commercial products from an industry 

Auteur theory focuses on:

- individual stylistic features

- how tests are determined by the director's creativity

- how texts emerge as part of director's body of work

TV auteurs:

- Stephen Poliakoff: began writing career in theatre; award winning playwright. Commissioned by BBC and others to write several TV films, working with established producers and directors. Made directing debut with Hidden City (1988, Film4). Since 1988 has written and directed over a dozen features, TV movies and mini series mostly for BBC. Allowed to exercise control over casting and final cut.

- technical competence (framing and mise-en-scene, camera movement, editing).

- recurring visual motifs (long tracking shots, deep focus, clash between modernity and traditional, slow pace.

- interior meaning (history, memory, ghosts of past, secrets, social class, themes of control and power).

DIRECTIONS UNIT: DSLR Workshop 1

After watching a presentation from Fergus about DSLRs we were given the opportunity to have a go with them ourselves. 

We looked at the features of the camera itself and how to change settings such as the ISO, focus and zoom etc. Once we were familiar with how to adapt these settings in order to get our desired look, we were given access to more equipment and accessories to use alongside the cameras.

We focused on using this video dolly due to being interested in filming moving shots in our projects. After finally figuring out how to attach the tripod to the dolly, the equipment was very simple and easy to use. This type of dolly had both advantages and disadvantages over using the track and dolly. As this dolly doesn't need  a track, it can be used in tighter locations where space may be a bit of an issue. However, because of it having no track, the movement is not as smooth because of the wheels travelling straight over the ground (rather than on a track).

I may use this equipment in my production in the first scene where Mark and Juliet are watching the DVD from the wedding. This will help to keep the action moving rather than using a lot of static shots. The only issue with using this equipment may be the lack of space in my location (although this equipment is easier with space than a track and dolly, my location is still very tight for space).