My finished Film

Origional Storyboard

This was my original storyboard for my film, it's interesting to note how much it has changed from my finished product. I chose not to include the second mystery person within my film as I felt the film would become much more ambiguous without the second person involved. It's also interesting to note how much script has been edited out and altered to fit with my new idea. Having a storyboard defiantly helped me on the day of shooting however, as it reminded me of what shots I need so i wouldn't forget about any.

Evaluation

My films follow a character called Daisy, who is trapped and a lost individual being held back by her past. With her mother being a performance artist daisy was encouraged to help her mother use her younger sister as a prop in her world famous performances, encouraging her to not take her prescribed epileptic medicine and to be exposed to strobe lighting in front of an audience.

The conventions I used from the genre were found due to research and by analysing films within this genre. Films which I gained inspiration from were ‘Revolutionary Road’ (2008 Dir. Sam Mendes), Thirteen (2002 Dir. Catherine Hardwicke), Babel and The Burning Plain (2007, Guillermo Arrigaga). From strong research, it came clear to me the conventions used I felt all needed to be included and used in my piece. My film was aimed at the specific audience who have been education within the arts therefore I felt I could make my piece as creative and abstract as possible as strong convention within Drama was the use of different/ creative styled directing, as people who are educated within the arts I felt would understand the artistic suggestions. I feel the creative and different editing which I used within my film would be understood by this specific audience and would understand how all of these effects reflect the character.

The narrative of my film is non-linear, as I filmed the equilibrium which is the beginning of a film in which is used to establish the protagonist which is the main character. I needed this scene to reflect her overall personality however give some insight into the issues she has, how the past has effected her in her coming-of-age. After the equilibrium my film would then follow on establishing her day to day life, by using documentary style, hand held camera to create realism as well as reflect the idea of Daisy being unstable. Every so often there are flash backs of Daisy’s past memory and from then onwards we begin to slowly connect with Daisy emotionally as a character due to beginning to understand about her past.

In the Mise-en-scene within my piece, one important explicit set idea I had was to place the scripts and newspapers all over the table, I did this to suggest the idea everything Daisy say and does is scripted and not real. It reflects the character as the actress which she is, and also how my influence was how the news seems more entertainment then factual whilst provoking the question: is what the public are hearing or reading entirely true? Within the piece, I felt a strong importance to explicitly inform the audience on the door being closed within the background to suggest entrapment of the character.

Within the scenes in the sitting room, I didn’t want to use any artificial lighting, I loved the lighting from the sun set, and I wanted to use this as a reflection of Daisy believes her time is nearly up, she believes there is no more time to run away from her past. I felt the darkness from the sun setting, left the room looking isolating, cold and lonely. It really reflected how Daisy feels emotionally inside which is why is was important. Also, within the sitting room, I felt it a strong idea to keep the curtains wide open, to suggest how Daisy is looking for help, she is out in the open, just waiting for someone to come to her with help.


I researched in the specific type of actress I wanted, from watching films within the same genre I was able to identify the key characteristics of which coming-of-age characters have. These characteristics included an attitude, quite harsh featured and usually had an aggressive tone and a wild personality usually within the fields of self-expressionism with fashion sex and drugs. However, after realising these character conventions, I identified how I want my character to be different, I want her to be quite repressive and harshly featured however also has a surprisingly soft and eloquent, young, girly voice as this reflected the innocence and vulnerability. Therefore I felt I cast my actress perfectly. I used the technique of ‘Hot Seating’ to really bring a strong character out of my actress, informing her of ‘what ifs’ and telling my actress about Daisy’s background. I wanted her costume to be contemporary British indie, as I felt this reflected the average British eighteen year old teenager which is what I wanted to represent as the character is materialistically and physically just an average teenage girl, by analysing the female characters from teenage dramas such as skins, this reinstated my idea of the stereotypical British teen which I wanted to use. I wanted her to have her hair down to represent her as repressive and shy personality. With my actress being an art and photography student, she was able to deliver creativity to my piece, which was extremely helpful and interesting.

In terms of cinematography, the extreme close up of my characters mouths worked very well, I needed to reflect how perhaps helping someone over the phone was very limiting as they don’t gain that personal relationship as one possibly would if seen face to face. I chose to edit the extreme close ups in monochrome as it represented a realism it also physically brought the audience closer to the character and also closer and draws to you into the story. I also used extreme close ups on news paper stories to introduce my film, I wanted to reflect how the main stories within a newspaper as I was fascinated with again, this idea of the truth within global media, is what we see, hear and read the truth? It also reflects my main idea behind the product that being how easy it is to just switch off the news, or put down the newspaper and ignorantly block charity and global news out from affecting you. I used a mixture of shots of her monologue from hand help, to medium profile; to high angle medium close up. I wanted the audience to really come familiar with the character so an emotional connection could begin. I felt the various cinematography represented the idea of a documentary which created realism.

The sound within my piece I feel is really effective, I feel the song choice was a brilliant song choice as the isolating hollow piano chords I feel really reflected Daisy’s loneliness. The opening lines state ‘Cold Water surrounds me now’ which I feel was so strong to suggest how daisy sees the world, being unpleasant, confusing and cold. Apart from this certain non-diagetic piece of music, the rest I used was natural diagetic sound as Daisy spoke her monologue. This kept the piece more naturalistic and the audience where able to have all attention upon Daisy rather than a song being played in the background. I also liked the acoustics of the dining room, the echo effect I feel reflects, the idea of isolation, emptiness and the chill of coldness as echo only occurs when rooms are large, but empty inside. I also loved the colours of the stain glass; this strongly reflected the world Daisy wished to be in, away from the dark, cold rooms with echo, in a world full of colour, where she can live once again.

The editing was the creative part of the film, here; I was able to edit certain colours which would strongly reflect the character. Influenced by the confrontation scene within Jennifer Hardwicke’s 2002, Thirteen, colour was a very important element within my product as this was when I could fully suggest to my audience slight key elements about my character. Using monochrome, I felt created realism with the idea of it seeming like a interview/ documentary feel. I also loved the colours through the stain glass, this was an important part of my film as it was to suggest how she craves a colourful world past this mental prison, full of colour and life and that the idea I wanted to show explicitly to the audience, the idea of her life being dull, drained and empty where as outside the windows is this amazing fantasy world, hence the use of brightly contrasted and highly hue edited shots. I also loved the really sharp contrasted medium close up where she is stood against the wall; I felt this suggested to the audience how she has a mask of harsh features, to repress her past and her emotions. The abrupt ending I placed there, mainly due to the influence of how easy it was to turn off people begging for help on the news, this idea came about whilst watching a ‘breaking news report on Haiti earthquake,’ and halfway through my father got up of the settee and switched off the news report half way through the people of Haiti where pleading for support from other nations. The idea of it being so easy to abruptly ignore and cut something out of your life through the use of a button, whilst they are begging help from the audience at home to donate some money to help save them and their children’s life’s astounded me.

In conclusion, I felt my finished product was a success. One main problem with my piece is the sound. The speech quality is not as strong as I hoped it would be, however I love the colours within my piece I really feel they suggest the qualities in my character which I wanted them to. I wanted the abrupt ending to be a shock to the audience, and I definitely feel I have accomplished this aim with the abrupt and random ending during Daisy’s speech. If I was to do this project again, I would have used a sound booth to record the monologue again or even used a clip on microphone, as I don’t feel the sound quality is that good and I also would have maybe used a variety of different settings as perhaps there’s chance of the film becoming tedious with the same locations, perhaps I could have attempted to film outside however, I don’t think this would have given the isolated, cold and lonely feelings in which I wanted to suggest.

Analysis on an interesting scene

This is a clip from you tube from the coming of age film Thirteen.

This is a clip from you tube from the coming of age film Thirteen.

The main reason why I love this certain clip, is the colours Jessica Hardwicke has used to maximize intensity and tension. She has uses a yellow tint, leaving the hole house with long, dark shadows. I feel this represents the paranoia Tracey is suffering from as she is currently on strong drugs, the yellow is a dark horrific yellow which I feel represents the colour of sick and illness which is strongly referenced when Mariana asks Tracey 'Have you even had anything to eat today?'

Tracey is constantly moving her head, resulting is her face constantly being covered within the shadows, I feel this reflects the idea the real Tracey does not wish to be seen and has been replaced by a dark new persona.

The colour represents the illness and sickness involved within this house, reflecting the relationship between family and also Tracey's mental and physical state, I feel using this colour is uneasy and unpleasant on the eye and the darkness creates the idea that there are skeletons within the closet, reflects Tracey's paranoia and also the idea this is a sick and dark household. I also feel the idea of the colour of dark Yellow is reinstated by the way the house is also painted with a dark green pallet which is also a colour which can connote sick and illness.

Besides the colours within this sequence, I also feel the editing and cinematography is strongly put together as well. The majority of the cinematography is hand held; creating an uneasy, rocky and realistic approach to the sequence, also the majority of the sequence sees Tracey in close up, creating a sympathetic and personal relationship to the main character that is obviously going through a tough time. By seeing her constantly in close up, we automatically connect with her, rather than the rest of her family who within this scene we see most of the time, through a medium close up. By doing this I feel it represents a distance between Tracey and the rest of her family and creates a sense of isolation and loneliness which is a key theme within my piece. It is only once Tracey walks away from the confrontation we begin to see her mother, Mariana in close up as the camera follows her rather than Tracey, for the audience to view how a mother mentally deals with this aggressive confrontation with her daughter.

The use of extreme close ups not only establish a connection between the audience and the characters, but it draws the audience physically into the film it places the audience in the middle of the aggressive confrontation which can be quite controversial and uncomfortable for the audience to view however it is an extremely personal moment as we are spectating on a strong personal family confrontation.

When the camera switches to the long shot of the action, we see the screen tilt lower depending on which side of the room Tracey is on. I feel this strongly resembles the weight of troubles Tracey has inside. I also feel it represents the idea of the house being a very un-easy territory, and a very sickly place to be, as it visually looks like they are on a boat swinging side to side, this reinstates the sickly feeling which is apparent within this scene.

I also feel it shows how dominant Tracey is within this scene with how she weighs the house and the overall mood, it's stating how she is dominant on the mood of the house therefore she is making the house sway from side to side

This is the type of editing I love, the interesting type which can mean many things, it's ambiguity which I strive to use as the main theme within my drama, however I am not filming an explicit scene as this one I’ve just highlighted a few pointes about, however it's the idea of independent, creative directing which is what I hope mine will look like. My scene is a strongly softer scene however if I was to film the whole film, this is the type of editing I would hope to create; I also love the colour pallet which has been used within this scene. I feel colour is also a strongly important theme within my product to as I feel colour can reflect anything, from the characters emotion, it can reflect the emotion of the future of the film, it can reflect the genre.

Health and safety pre-production

There were a number of health and safety problems which I overcame whilst filming, health and safety is such a key element within the production stage basically because it's easier, safer and overall a more pleasant experience to work within a clean and safe area. There were a number of factors which unless dealt with, could have been a safety hazard.

Having drinks on the set:
There are many reasons why I personally banned drinks from the set whilst I was filming, one being, it wouldn't have made sense for one to be on the set. As Daisy is speaking her monologue, I didn't want her to reach over and have a sip of tea half way through the scene as this is not what I instructed my actress to do.

Other reason where, it was just dangerous for the equipment to have liquids near electrical equipment, if a drink was spilt onto the camera it could have possibly ruined my footage. Therefore, all drinks off the set were a safe and good rule to have.

Having Food On The Set:
I felt this was just as important as having drinks on the set, it would be very unsafe for the actors to bring in a liquidated food such as soup for the same reasons above and also just food in general as it would mean there would be a lot more clutter on the set and also it would just make the set messy, in particular if there are crumbs crumbling off from this food. Also the problem with food is you sometimes need a drink to accompany the food which is bringing in more problems and also when an actor has food in their mouth they are not able to speak as properly and their articulation skills suffer if there is still food in their mouth, even if they have just swallowed their food.

I feel hygiene wise, it is also unsafe to eat food with your hands, touch the equipment, then eat food using your hands again and repeating the cycle again and again as any bacteria on the equipment which other people have handled are going straight into your mouth and it is not safe.

Electrical Leads:
Electrical leads could have been a problem on the set, with the lead connecting the camera to the main electrical socket could have proven a big safety problem, people could have tripped over them and even worse if they had liquid in their hands, they could have ruined the entire project by breaking the lead which transfers electricity to the camera, for the camera to work.

I made it fully clear to my actor there was a lead within the room, and I even used cello tape to stick it to the floor as best as I could so it weakened the possibility of somebody tripping over a loose lead. After all, I did not want the camera breaking, even more importantly I did not want my actor getting hurt.

Just General Common Sense:
I informed my actor simply not to act stupid on set, such as standing on the chairs or on the table etc, these seem very straight forward needs, which would only need to be said to young children however, just a note of these safety hazards needed to be said as I did not want my actor becoming hurt at all in any way.

Conventions of Coming-Of-Age Drama

Coming of age is a sub-genre from Drama. Coming of age dramas are targeted at a teenage audience however usually they include explicit and controversial themes therefore many receive a strong age certification, however less strong content dramas including 2006, Now and Then Dir. Lesli Linka Glatter only gained a 12 certificate. This is possibly because it's a light humorous coming of age, which deals with the same conventional themes however very lightly. However, a coming of age such as Thirteen gained an 18 certificate due to the strong explicit scenes in which are seen throughout the film which are delivered a lot more explicitly to the audience.

A convention of coming of age is the main character being a teenager approaching sixteen or eighteen. Within all of these films the main character is reaching an important age, these seem whether they are reaching sixteen, eighteen or twenty-one determines on the issues and themes featured within the drama, hence why it's called 'coming of age.'

Another convention is the reoccurring themes within these specific dramas. These include virginity, pregnancy, drugs, home life, relationships and friendships. The films are all about encouragement and informing of experimenting as these are supposed to be the years of experimenting and learning therefore these are what these dramas reflect upon the audience, again how explicitly shown depends on the age certificate of the film. Within the film thirteen you see Tracey inhaling aerosols and asking her friend to repeatedly hit her as hard as she could across the face as she was convinced she couldn't physically feel it, hence why the film gained an eighteen as this could be seen as encouraging drug using however it is just explicitly reflecting teen culture upon itself.

Meanwhile, An Education, 2009 deals with the issues of virginity, schooling and relationships as she turns sixteen. The film is very implicit and deals on character performance rather than action, however this is perhaps what a younger audience crave to see, is a strong and raw performance whereas the older audience just crave to see explicit action.

Another convention is the large marketing audience are female. Many of coming of age dramas feature a female as their main character, perhaps this is due to the myth of 'girls maturing earlier than boys' therefore females have mature feeling at a younger age, then perhaps males do therefore females can identify and connect more with characters which reflect them.

However, the coming-of-age drama, Kids (1996) Dir. Larry Clarke main character is male and is sexually driven. This has used the male teenage stereotype of 'guys only wanting one thing' and done exactly what an aged eighteen coming of age drama does, which is explicitly reflect it upon its audience, however this is an extremely informing drama, with AIDS being a very strong theme and part of this film, with the use of mise-en-scene to signify which character has the infection, by wearing white socks.

Another convention of the drama is, it is clear to see the characters personal home life has affected them and see the link of cause and effect. Within the 1996 coming of age drama Kids, Telly's family are seen as uncaring as his single mother has all of her attention on her baby, Telly also sees to have no respect for his mother as we are able to see him stealing money for him and his friend, Casper out of her purse.

Another example of this is in the drama, An Education where we see Jenny come from a strongly repressed family, which is kept that way because of her father. Every so often we see her mother want to stand up for her daughter’s rights of having a life and wanting a life for herself however often cowards away due to the repressive aggressive tone of her father.

Within these two dramas, they're in contrast over their main characters home lives as one mother has no control over her child, whereas in the other drama her father has too much control over his daughter therefore coming of age dramas vary so much which is why they are always guaranteed to be a different story each time. It's clear they all feature the same themes which reflects teen drama, these themes are even seen within teen television drama, such as Shameless and Skins therefore the themes are globally known to attract that certain teen audience, however there is still that loose grip which makes you able to change something about the story, which entitles you to make your coming of age original and one of a kind.

Looking at these list of conventions, I hope to deal with these issues within my film however, not as explicitly within my three to five minute monologue, I want a monologue to provoke interest, as I am aiming to film the equilibrium, the opening to a film therefore I cannot just use all conventions within three to five minutes as I need to establish who the character is, I need to make the audience connect with the character. However, these are still important themes which I would include if I was filming the whole feature film as they are globally known and used within this specific genre.