Final Major Project
For our final major project, we need to create a short film based on a prompt. Our prompt this year is dystopia/utopia. We need to come up with an idea for a short film, and pitch it to some investors. Only three ideas will be chosen, and we will be put into three groups, where each group would make one of the ideas come to life.
Utopia
Dystopia
A utopia is an imagined state or society in which everything is perfect.
A dystopia is an imagined state or society where there is great suffering and injustice
Some examples of films that set in examples of utopias that I have seen are; The Truman Show, Her, Sorry to Bother You, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Some examples of films that set in examples of dystopias that I have seen are; Bladerunner 2049, WALL-E, and The Purge
In Bladerunner, the first frame we see is of a miniature that shows a city scape that is very built up and tall. This presents the audience with a sense of power, with the city itself being powerful and the people in it being inferior. This is further presented through the foreboding music that gives the audience a feeling that this city is surrounded by danger and unhappiness. The setting is dystopian, and set in the near future (2019).
The Batman (2022)
The Batman (2022) begins with a first person point of view shot from the eyes of the Riddler, who we later learn is the key antagonist in this film. Quickly, it is established that this setting is riddled with crime, as we can clearly hear police sirens in the background, and we witness a crime almost immediately, as this mysterious character brutally murders someone. We can already tell that this is a new approach to a Batman film, as it is very violent and gritty.
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We are shown the city of Gotham, which is very much like New York in the sense that it is filled with tall buildings and advertisements, showing a dystopian feel, and it is clearly overpopulated. We can see people rioting, and the oranges of fire contrast beautifully with the darkness of the rest of the scenes, which reinforces what Batman says over the top of the scene, with 'I am the darkness'.
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The music sets the scene for a dramatic, action-packed thriller movie, and we hear ballads that could represent and be a re-occuring theme when we see examples of violence, and even when Batman enters a scene, much like the theme tune used for when Darth Vader enters a scene in Star Wars.
There Will Be Blood (2007)
There Will Be Blood stars possibly the best actor to ever do it, however the beginning 15 minutes of the film features no dialogue and is completely performance led. The tone is set, not by dialogue, but by the music that plays right at the beginning on the opening shot of a mountain-scape. The tone is sinister, and fades out once we meet out main protagonist, Daniel. This gives us as an audience a hint that this movie may be a psychological thriller/drama, as the tone played is very dramatic, but also creepy and unnerving.
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The character we are introduced to goes through a lot of psychological turmoil, and we can see that he is completely alone in this vast landscape. He loses his tools, injures his leg, and then drags himself for an undisclosed, but long, amount of time to trade in what he has mined to make some money, so we can ckearly see that this man is a force to be reckoned with and our main protagonist, even without any dialogue.
The Royal Tenebaums (2001)
The Royal Tenenbaums begins by showing us an insight into each of the characters' lives to set the scene. It delves deep into parts of their origin stories to enlighten the audience to how they got to the points that they are at now. It sets an incredibly interesting narrative, however knowing Wes Anderson, he will not explore these details further, and includes them to add depth and layers to the characters and create a unique and incredibly detailed narrative.
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We can tell from the beginning of the film that this will be a comedic drama, and a very unique movie due to the narration that accompanies the introduction, which includes comedic values, and the fact that it is written and directed by Wes Anderson, as that is the genre he usually attacks with his films.
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The music seems very inqusitive and thought-provoking, which keeps the viewers focused on the narrator and what he is saying. The colours are also very vibrant and are very trademark of a Wes Anderson movie, which brings comfort and interest.
The Banshees of Inisherin (2022)
The Banshees of Inisherin begins with an establishing shot of the Irish landscape.
Mise En Scene
Mise en scene encompasses the most recognisable attributes of a film - the setting and the actors, it includes costumes and makeup, props, and all the other natural and atificial details that characterise the spaces filmed. The term is borrowed from a French theatrical expression, meaning roughly 'put into the scene'. In other words, mise en scene describes the stuff in the frame and the way it is shown and arranged.
This scene from 'The French Dispatch' shows an
Colour in Film
Colour is
Band of Brothers: Bastogne
The establishing shot from this episode of Band of Brothers, named Bastogne, is a wide angled long shot showing trees in a snowy environment, with fog hiding the background. We see a character appear from the fog, moving through the background, as the camera tracks this movement, trees and other foreground elements blocking the cameras view of this character at times. We know that this character has importance, though we can see that the setting has more power than this character.
A Film Introduction
For my 4 shot short film I wanted to focus on the cinematography of the piece and the way that the shots looked and were composed. I also wanted to create a narrative that the audience could relate their own meaning and story to. I used some fake blood that I found, and made use of some creative thinking and problem solving to create my shots and make them as interesting as possible whilst also keeping grounded, as I had only my iPhone to film it on. I used my iPhone, a tripod, and a ziplock bag to create my shots. I didn't use any audio as I felt that the silence created more mystery and suspense, but did add a police siren towards the end of the final shot that carried on after the video cuts out.
For the first scene I placed my phone on a tripod at the top of my stairs, having the stirs in the foregroun, and a perspective shot looking down the staircase. I adjusted the lighting so that the downstairs was dark, and I appeared out of the shadows. I put fake blood on my tshirt and hands, and walked up the stairs, trying to portray the character being hurt. I took multiple takes, but the last one was the one that I used. I am no actor, but I purposefuly didnt show my face, in an attempt to hide the fact that I cannot act.
This shot was to show that the character was washing blood off of his hands in the sink. I placed my phone in a ziploc bag and placed it in the sink, facing upwards. I then put fake blood on my hands and allowed the water and blood to fall onto the camera, as I knew that it was protected from the water, but could also capture the action without being clouded.
This scene was an abstract, dramatic depiction of the characters' hand in the shower, visibly washing off the blood. I thought about the framing and where the water was coming off of my hand, how the blood was dripping down, and how the hot water formed mist in the shower before filming the shot.
The final scene was filmed in my garden. I waited for the perfect time, when it was dark enough to highligh the fir that would be present in the scene.
GOOD TIME (2017) credits
Some film roles that I am interested in working in are: Director, Editor, Cinematographer, VFX artist, and Art Director to name a few. For the 2017 movie, 'Good Time', these job roles were carried out by people completely unfamiliar to me at the time of first watching. The directors for this A24 movie were the Safdie brothers, Josh and Benny Safdie (Benny Safdie was also the supporting actor in the movie, playing Nick Nikas alongside his brother in the film, Robert Pattinson
Wes Anderson inspired cupcake recipe (40 second short film)
For this second small project, a 40 second short film, I wanted to create something fun and refreshing. I am a fan of how Wes Anderson chooses to shoot his films, and the satisfying, surreal feeling that this creates. I thought of the cooking scenes that he sometimes includes, such as in the French dispatch or The Grand Budapest Hotel. I wanted to use these as inspiration to make my one version of these recipes that he shows. I decided that I would bake cupcakes, and film it in the style of Wes Anderson.
Developing a character
Name: Undecided
Theme: Drama, Satirical Comedy, Dystopian
Personality: Depressed, lonely, bored, feels as though he plays no important role in the world. He is generally a boring person, as his personality reflects his life that he lives.
Background: he has a dream of becoming a music producer, though he is gettting on in age and sees no way that this will happen, though he feels sadenned that th epeople around m want him to give up on this dream.
Setting: a near-future dystopia much like our world, though the issues are heightened. Not a typical dystopia, but a twisted, semi-futuristc world, very similar to the kind of world in Atlanta, the TV show.
Developing an Idea
For this movie idea, I wanted to take inspiration from the work of Donald Glover, with his work Atlanta. I like how the characters in the show feel real despite the crazy things that unfold in every episode. I had an idea that I needed ti include something to do with loneliness and depression. This is because I see a lot of loneliness in the world today, and I feel that this could only get worse in the future, even as we are becoming even more connected technologically. . I also wanted to include an element of a metaohir, that would serve as a message that would be hidden in the narrative of the story. After much thinking, I came up with the idea of a drug that changes the users perception of the world to become a utopia in their mind, their idea of a perfect world. This opened up so many doors of what could unfold in this story, and I began invisioning scenes that could take place, and visualising this character and what they would look like and be like. The character would have to be a man, because I see a lot of male loneliness and depression, and many suicidal issues that surround the male population of today. Also, I am a male, so I feel like I can create a more authentic male protagonist rather than a female protagonist. I thought about things such as people nowadays giving up on their dreams to pursue a boring office job just to make enough money to survive until they eventaually die, and leave their money to someone else for them to do the exact same thing. I was very happy with this rough idea and my inspirations for it, and I was ready to further explore this idea.