Ted Hughes

I chose to use a poem by Ted Hughes from his book 'Birthday Letters' which was written for his wife Sylvia Plath, who committed suicide in front of their two children.
I chose the poem 'The Badlands' stanza 6 which says;

'The silence, At least, 
like a cooling incinerator
Was an afterlife. As it cooled
Every clinker inched its shadow wider
and darker
Like a little door. There we camped,
The most inimical place I was ever in.
Too late to go on. I remember.'

I used this because of it's strong sense of loss and the love he had for his wife.

Ted James Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet and children's writer. He is often seen as one of the greatest British poets by many critics. 
He was British Poet Laureate from 1984 until his death.
This is a video of Richard Armitage read Ted Hughes' letter to his wife's parents after her death.

His marriage with Sylvia Plath was difficult and his part in the relationship has become controversial to some feminists and in particular, American admirers of Plath. His last poetic work, Birthday Letters (1998), explored their complex relationship, it was very deep and moving which is why I chose it.
 The poems in this book make reference to Sylvia Plath's suicide, but none of them directly address the reason or way of her death.

Beginners: 'This is what the sun looks like...'Some of the Aspects I used.

I used the idea of saying 'This is what the sun looks like' this is shown right near the beginning of the film after he has brought the dog home with him.
I liked this as it has not been used in any of the films I have seen and I found it very unusual, and interesting, as I enjoy photography.

I also used narration, like in this. In Beginners the narration is very monotone which allows the audience to interpret the information in their own way, which I could use in my piece. Although, there is a slight undertone of unhappiness in this which is perfect for my film.

I also used a similar theme to this in mine. Which is the theme of loss of someone you love. Though who Sophia Green has lost is not directly shown, it is apparent as she lets go of a red balloon. Whereas in this film, it is his father who has died.

Pictures For My Film

I Needed Good Pictures

Th script of my film requires some pictures of stars, clouds and the sun.
These are difficult to take.
Fortunately my Grandpa is a keen astronomer, so he gave me these pictures.

Now which to choose???

Audience Research

Researching the Audience

For any film researching the audience is important. In Hollywood they research not only the idea of the film, but also the ending of a film once it has been made!

The target audience is really teenagers, not just those who have experienced grief, but those who are not just interested in aliens from out of space, or car chases or rom coms.

So i asked three of my friends about the film, we did this as a group discussion.
They were all positive, but perhaps would have found it difficult to be critical. One of them did suggest the poems of Ted Hughes, which was a great help. And really through talking to them this helped develop the ideas, the red mug, the number of people on the planet , the number of cups of tea drunk during the day, so the group discussion really helped to formulate my ideas as much as test the idea.

Researching the Genre

Mike Mills: The Writer and Director

Since i really liked Beginners and this influenced my thinking on my film, i have done some research on the writer and director Mike Mills.
Mike Mills was born in 1966, Berkeley, California. He works as a filmmaker, graphic designer and artist. I think that is all reflected in Beginners, as the main character in the film plays an artist. As a filmmaker, he has completed a number of music videos, commercials, short films, documentaries, and the feature film Thumbsucker in 2005. I have not seen this film, but i wonder whether anyone reading this has?
He has made Architecture of Reassurance in 2000, which sounds like it is about someone wandering around their neighbourhood looking at other people's lives, Paperboys  in 2001, documents the daily life of six boys in rural Minnesota, a tour documentary of the French band Air and their audiences, and a short film documenting a famous jazz composer.

So all in all a wide range of different ventures - I wonder what his next one will be about.

Here is a quote from him: "That drifting thing is my life view. I do it a lot. I am intrigued by inanimate objects. They're a piece of history, someone's statement and ideas of life. If this was your room, the stuff on your table would be telling me as much about you as you. As someone who grew up in a house where there wasn't a lot of talking, I'm used to just looking at the world. And in general I often feel like I just don't understand what's happening. That everybody else does, but I don't quite get it. That camera technique I often call 'the alien that landed - and doesn't know what's important'.
Actors are pretending for you, but they're not lying. They are not putting on a guise instead of themselves. They are finding things inside that they have experienced."

Here is another quote from him, "Making a movie is so hard, you'd better make movies about something you really know about".    I agree with that!

And again: "And even more, it's really good to make movies about things you need to figure out for yourself, so you're driven the whole way through. It's going to make things more crucial for you".

I got these quotes from: http://www.imdb.com/

First Day Of Filming....

The Problems of Film Making!

The day did not go specifically to plan due to rain. The early shots were to be taken outdoors, but the heavy rain prevented this, as i had borrowed the camera for the day, we could not delay the shoot.

I decided to shoot the indoor scenes first.
The indoor scenes proved a little difficult with the light. We had to make sure there was enough light on the tea making and to emphasis the red mug. So we needed to change the camera shot a little to get enough light.

The reading of the Ted Hughes poem took sometime. I realised it is difficult to read the poem out loud and get the right emotion from it. Maybe you really do need to have experienced a loss to be able to fully understand the poem.

The rain stopped so we went outside to film. By this time of day we had we had little time until it was dark. Though the darkness and dreariness of the day added to the dramatic impact of the cloudly gloomy atmosphere i was trying to create. It certainly all added to the mise-en-scene.
The problem was the balloon, Sephie was meant to look sad and let go of the balloon, and then i would take a shot of the balloon floating up into the sky - The balloon would not float up!!!

We tried it a few times, but this proved very difficult. (I even tried the next day, but the balloon would only run along the ground - until at last it rose into the air - but i missed most of it trying to film it!!!

Then came the walk down Elm Hill - I wanted a deserted road, but by this time 3.00 in the afternoon on a Saturday - this proved difficult. We almost achieved, but then a large person suddenly appeared and followed Sephie - Take 6!!!
Eventually we managed it.

Have to see what the day looks like on film now.

My Main Character

What make a good character?

The main factors for me in what makes a real character are if they are 'three dimensional' and the audience feels as if they can connect with them. If they have flaws in their character or background then so if they bring this 'baggage' with them to the film.

For example...
Ewan McGregor's character - Oliver Fields, who has to deal with the death of his mother and his father, who after many years of marriage, has come out to be gay. He also has to 'deal' with the complicated relationship with his girlfriend. As he struggles with all his emotions. Though on the outside he comes across as neutral.

He could draw, and did this for a living in the film. This was the only way in which he expressed his thoughts and emotions. For instance at one point in the film he attempts to create a lyric booklet for a band about the Evolution Of Sadness. He thinks its great, the band do not like it - too much emotion!

In the opening two minutes you can sense his unhappiness though he does not show much emotion.
The film starts with some shot still shots of a flower in a vase on a window, a shot of an empty room and then it moves to Oliver who is packing boxes of old clothes, and throwing things out - this is obviously painful for him. Clearly someone has died, but as yet we do not know who.

 I will use a similar metaphor with a red balloon in my film as it symbolises letting someone go. The girl in my film will let go of the red balloon in my opening sequence. I hope to create the same effect.


In contrast, George Valentin in The Artist, I film I saw last week and enjoyed greatly, is a less rounded character. Though his character is less realistic, his characteristics come across very strongly. He is shown admiring himself on film in the opening of The Artist illustrating that he's very proud. He is shown watching himself on screen and smiling at everyone synthetically which is really covering up or not revealing his true emotions.

As the film progresses we learn more about him, and his pride in particular and that in the end, his pride is his downfall.


Another example of a strong character is Maddy Ross in the Coen Brother's True Grit.
The film opens with her trying to find a gunman to kill the man who murdered her father. The residents of the town try to dissuade and ridicule her though she is determined to get revenge and get what she wants. The audience is intrigued as to why she is so determined, what has happened to her for her to be in the situation?

As well as will she be able to get her own way? She finds herself in a man's world, and because of this she needs to show 'masculine' characteristics to gain respect in this situation, throughout the film she holds everyone together and keeps everyone going, ultimately earning their respect and showing true grit.
 Though she is grieving but sees her life as just a journey to kill this man.





My main character will be more like Oliver in Beginners.

The Script

THE SCRIPT


Scene 1.  

Opens with Sophia Green letting go of a red balloon. Sophia Green looks sad. (This scene will be in slow motion) 
Voice over of girl speaking:
Earth to earth, Ashes to ashes
Dust to dust;
In sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life.

Scene 2: Sophia Green is walking down a quiet street on her down, she looks thoughtful. She is on her own. (This scene will be in slow motion) 

Voice over of Sophia Green speaking: 

My name is Sophia Green,
I am seventeen years old,
I live here.
This is the sun,
The clouds,
The moon,
And the stars.

There are estimated 7 billion people on the earth,
I am the 5,676,854,910th person
My average life expectancy is 81.7 years.

Scene 3:
Sophia Green is making a cup of tea. She concentrates on the tea, as though her thoughts are elsewhere:
   Voice over of Sophie Green speaking: The average person drinks 74802 cups of tea a lifetime.
According to legend, tea was first discovered by the Chinese emperor and inventor in 2737 BC
    

Sophia Green is drinking her tea, again she is reflective, again looking distracted by something on her mind  
Voice over of Sophia Green speaking:  
The silence, at least,  
Like a cooling incinerator was an afterlife.  
As it cooled every clinker inched it's shadow wider and darker  
like a little door.  
There we camped.
The most inimical place I ever was in.  
Too late to go on. I remember – Ted Hughes  


Scene 4:  
Sophia Green stares out of the window 

Voice over of Sophia Green speaking    earth to earth,  
ashes to ashes,  
dust to dust;  
in sure and certain hope of the Resurrection unto eternal life.
THE END

Props List

My film is quite simple in terms of props, atmosphere is very important and i want to create this through the types of shoot used, voice over and editing.

But the props that are needed are:

Red balloon ( more than one in case of problems)
Dark dress for the girl
Teapot
Red mug
hot water.

Plus to make the film
vise camera
Camera
Stand
Script for me and Sephie
Storyboard for me


That's it, so that should be easy to remember!

My Chosen Genre Is...

The Genre I Have Chosen

Domestic Tragedy

The conventions of this genre are..

1. - this genre illustrates a Western 'everyday life' culture
2. - It is where people come to difficult life dilemmas and situations.
3. - Because it is tragedy we know that it is destined for a dark ending.
4. - There can also some comedy within this so it will reflect real-life.

An example of this genre is Mike Leigh's "Another Year" which reflects the life of a middle-aged couple (Tom and Gerry) and some of their friends. Life has turned out well for Tom and Gerry, but their friend's lives aren't as positive, as Jerry states at one point in the film 'life isn't always kind to people'

The scenes in the film are of everyday life hence "Another Year" and the main characters in the film face daily dilemmas. One character played by Lesley Manville's for example had many problems with her life; she struggles to find love, and her car keeps breaking down, and she gets lost, she's disorganised and constantly late.She is shown to be continuously dealing with these problems, and at times not coping at all well.


As this film concentrates on people's flaws which are often hidden in the more 'Hollywood' films like Superhero films and the such like, we suspect that the ending is not going to be a happy one for all of the characters. But as all of the characters' problems mount up, they are seen as to have cheerful and funny moments, sometimes dark comedy, which makes all of the characters very three dimensional.

Watch a trailer for this film below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilv0aVRJPps

This will be the genre for my film.

First Day Of Filming Plan:

Preparing for the Big Day

I shall begin filming at around 11:30 on the 14th January 2012

Cast:
My chosen actress is my friend Sephie Rogers:
She is studying Drama A-level and has taken many LAMDA exams.
She is the right age for the character, an older teenager, so she seemed perfect.

Costume
Sephie will be wearing a long black coat to represent her grieving. I have checked with her to ensure that she has one!

Props:
Th main prop is the balloon, so i have purchased a few of these.
Also i have made sure that Sephie has some tea making equipment in her house, as she has to make and drink the tea in the final scene.

Camera:
I have arranged to use the school camera, so have it booked!

Lighting:
Outdoors shooting will not be a problem.
Indoors i have checked Sepie's kitchen, it is light, but we can also use th spot lights in her kitchen.Location:
We will film the kitchen scene in her house and capture the other scenes on Elm Hill and in Elm Hill Gardens in Norwich.
The scene of her releasing the balloon will take place in the gardens near to Elm Hill. In needs to be outside, yet quite a claustrophobic area to represent the tension of the emotional moment.

Elm Hill be be used, when the girl is walking towards the camera. This will start as a long shot, and the girl will walk down hill towards us. This will give her time to state some things about herself (in voice over).
Elm Hill will be good, as it is narrow and traditional. I will get her walk up the edge of the street, rather than the middle to illustrate her need to be close to something. Here is shot of Elm Hill.

The final location will be inside Sephie's house. Her kitchen is small but light, so it should add atmosphere to the film as she makes her tea.

Narrative
The story of the whole film will be told in flashback, after the opening scene. In a sense the film starts with the ending, then the whole film will show the lead up to the emotional moment of letting go at the start of the film. This will follow the example of Beginners and the similar to Bird Song, recently shown on television.

Narration/Voice over
I shall record Sephie's voice reading the script first. And when I edit this will be the only sound heard.
So there will be no direct dialogue in the film. This is to highlight her letting go, and hence she is not speaking to anyone, but the audience hear her inner most thoughts.
This technique is used in a lot of films, Beginners, The Shawshank Redemption (one of my favourite films) and Ratatouille.

Editing
This will be crucial to gain the effect i wish to make. The genre of the film is domestic tragedy, and so there will need to be some continuity editing to ensure the story gets told, but very importantly here, some cross editing and montage will be important. This is because with these effects engage the audience. I will use cross editing to show pictures of what the girl is actually talking ( and to help illustrate hoe she is feeling - her emotions) about in the voice over, cross editing with her live action in the film. Hence the contrast of her thoughts and her actions will be made.
Montage will be used to show pictures of representations of death (pictures of dead leaves, a dead bird, old rusting metal etc.) to create pictures in the audience's mind.

My Mood Board

Every film long or short should have a mood board.

Here are some images that have helped me with my thoughts.

I always liked people reading to me, and i listen to alot of audio books. I have not read a lot of poetry, but my mum suggests some to me, and the ones i have read really create a feeling within me. I want to try to re-create this feeling within the audience.

This poster by Banksy got me thinking about the significance of a red balloon, but also the use of colour, where the balloon stands out from the other grey images, it is the focus of attention.

The picture of sadness of a girl with her balloons, there is a sense of something is over here, something has happened.

Cemeteries are sad places, so i have chosen a couple of pictures from cemeteries to represent sadness and loss.
This is central to my film, i need to get this across as much as i can.

 Finally a picture of Elm Hill deserted, a street with no-one in it a lonely place. The girl will walk down a lonely street like this.

Here is my storyboard for my film.

This is my film storyboard.

Scene 1

Frame1:

Low angle shot shows girl letting go of the balloon. This is symbolic of her loss and letting go of her grief and despair.

Slow motion used to represent the impact of losing someone or something and the long time everything seems to take when she is in this mood.

Voice over this frame and frame 2 is the "earth to earth " etc. This emphasises her loss but also some form of ending.

Frame 2: Balloon floating off into the sky.

Low angle shot to represent the distance from the girl.

Slow motion again to represent her feelings and time going slowly during her loss. Motionless camera to hold the effect of this loss.

Frame3: Girl walking into camera, down a street -

Motionless camera shot to enhance the impact of the on-coming girl and the future that is in store for her.

Shot starts as wide angle, then through to mid-shot, then close up.

She will slowly walk towards the camera with a voice over of the girl introducing herself to us and the camera.

Frame 4: Still picture of the earth, to show she is an ordinary person like the rest of us watching her. She exists as we do on this planet.

Voice over of "I live here" to emphasise this fact.

Frame 5: Still picture of the sun, since she is talking about and painting a picture of the world around her to show how tragic events can happen to ordinary people living an ordinary life.

Voice over "this is the sun" to again illustrate her engagement with us as members of this planet.

Frame 6: Still picture of clouds. To show that sometimes the brightness of the sun can be covered by clouds, representing her dark mood and gloomy story she has to tell.

Voice over "the clouds.."

Frame 7: Still picture of the moon to illustrate that even in darkness there is some light.

Voice over - this is the moon..

Frame 8. Still picture of stars to illustrate the far off distance of brightness as she sees it at the moment and distance she has to travel to reach this point.

Voice over  and the stars...

 Frame 9: Shot of girl making tea in a red mug.

High angle stationary shot to illustarte her dependence on the everyday taks she performs.

Using a red mug to match the balloon. She is only making one to show she is lonely - the work top is completely clear to illustrate her current state of mind.

This shot is in slow motion to show how slowly time is passing when you are alone. She is drinking tea because it is comfort drink, to warm her insides where she feels cold.

Voice over " average person drinks ...cups of tea in a lifetime" to show how long people should live if nothing unforeseen happens to them in their early years.

Frame 10: Girl siting in armchair reading a Ted Hughes book "Birthday letters". This poem is about losing someone, a modern poem to show she is a young person, but a knowledgeable one. The book itself is red with poppies on the front. Poppies are symbolic of the loss of life generally and the red has a resonance to her in particular.

Voice over is of the girl reading the poem, a dark one to reflect her mood, but an intellectual one to show she has some optimism about the future,her past studying will help her deal with this loss.

Frame 11: Title Frame at the end after impact of the sadness portrayed in the opening.

Looking at Opening Scenes For Ideas : Se7en

This is the opening scene from Se7en, have a look at this and see if you agree with me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=689ieBn4t2U&feature=fvst

Mise En Scene:

There is eerie music in the background (Nine Inch Nails) . This is full of screeching noises which almost sound like screaming, as the opening goes on, the music picks up speed and increases the tension of the piece.

What we can see is a man creating a book. Many of these images are extremely disturbing for example a photograph of what appears to be a man with a thin metal pole through his skull. There are many other photographs of people crying, screaming or in pain. All these shots are in close up, which makes the audience is there or almost like they intruding or like that of a voyeur. This then makes them feel very uncomfortable.

We can only see this man's hands, which makes us instantly want to know more about the character, which draws us in. As we never see his face, he almost doesn't appear human or to have human sympathy or any other emotions.

The entire piece is filmed in a grey/blue/grungy tint which makes it feel more edgy and tense. These aren't natural colours which makes it very scary as we are not used to this colour scheme in everyday life.

He seems evil or criminal as he cuts off his finger pads with a razor. This image is very shocking and makes us believe that if it is easy for him to cause such pain to himself, that it could be just as easy to cause pain or misery to other people. And also shows that he does not want to be recognised. 

The overall opening is very effective as, though it is not enjoyable, it is very luring.
Do you agree?

I learnt from this that we do not need dialogue or lots of characters to draw people into a film and to interest. Because there are so many questions we feel we want to ask, this causes us to be engaged into the film.

The Style for My Film Introduction

Beginners

My style that I shall use in my film is similar to that which is used in 'Beginners'.  This is a really enjoyable film although did not seem to be a big hit at the box office.

Take a look at this trailer on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1DU_W9y-kI&feature=fvwp&NR=1

Ewan McGregor plays Oliver who meets a girl friend just after his father dies.
The whole film is "an uplifting comedy about how uplifting and transformative life can be" to quote the DVD cover.

He is struggling to come to terms with his father's death throughout the film. The film is shot partly in flash back, but this is inter-cut with the present day, and Oliver and his girl friend's developing relationship.

Oliver's father, played by Christopher Plummer, after being married for many years, and on the death of his wife, announces that he is gay. This Oliver is finding it difficult to come to terms with during the last few year's of his father's life. The final year's with his father is shown in flash back.
I particularly liked this film because I found the way it dealt with grief and the emotion of really missing someone you loved was very engaging.
It used flash back scenes, where present day scenes were inter cut with scenes of Oliver and his father. It also used montage and and relationship editing where associations of ideas were made about grief and joy.

They cleverly used still images inter-cut with action and some montage scenes to develop  an emotional response in the audience. As the website movies.nytimes.com states in its review: " the beautiful soft palette that seems to caress the characters, occasionally interrupting the moving images with illustrations and still photographs that jump off the screen like pop-ups"

I want to use some of these techniques in my film.

A Glossary of Technical Terms: Editing

Editing:

Continuity Editing is editing most commonly used in films, a series of shots which gives a sense of time chronologically.
I will use this in my film to build the story.
Cross-cut - this is where shots from two or more scenes are inter cut with each other so the the viewer's attention is grabbed by seeing fragments of each scene alternately.
I will use this in my film to grab the viwers' attention in a way that will make them think more deeply about the character.

Jump cut - This is where a cut is made that breaks the continuity of time by jumping forward in time from one part of an action to another. This is often used to build suspense as the viewer want to know what is happening, and looks for explanations in the coming storyline.
I will use this as an opening scene in my film as the character is reflecting on what has happened in the past, and the viewer will be curious to find out why the main character is behaving in this way.

Montage - This is where a number of seemingly unrelated shots or scenes are shown in quick succession which when combined, give meaning to the viewer.
I will use this in my film as a series of static shots to establish an emotional response in the audience.

A Glossary Of Technical Terms: Camera Angles

Glossary of technical terms

Camera angles:

Here are some examples of camera shots and angles.




Very wide angle shot: This shot is a distance shot and very often used to establish a scene or atmosphere.
I will use this to open one of my scenes.

Mid shot: This shows some detail of the character, but also gives the impression of the whole character.
I will use this to focus in on the main character's at the opening of the film.









Close up: This is where the main character or subject takes up the entire frame.
I will use this to help the audience identify with the main character and her feelings.






Camera Angles:
High angled Shot, this makes the person look vulnerable or small.
I may not use this as i do not want to create this emotion.

Low Angle Shot, gives the feeling power from the person...
I will use a variation on this shot in my film, not to show power but so show respect for the character's feelings.






Editing:

Continuity Editing is editing most commonly used in films, a series of shots which gives a sense of time chronologically.
I will use this in my film to build the story.

Cross-cut - this is where shots from two or more scenes are inter cut with each other so the the viewer's attention is grabbed by seeing fragments of each scene alternately.
I will use this in my film to grab the viwers' attention in a way that will make them think more deeply about the character.

Jump cut - This is where a cut is made that breaks the continuity of time by jumping forward in time from one part of an action to another. This is often used to build suspense as the viewer want to know what is happening, and looks for explanations in the coming storyline.
I will use this as an opening scene in my film as the character is reflecting on what has happened in the past, and the viewer will be curious to find out why the main character is behaving in this way.

Montage - This is where a number of seemingly unrelated shots or scenes are shown in quick succession which when combined, give meaning to the viewer.
I will use this in my film as a series of static shots to establish an emotional response in the audience.

Developing My Idea

Here is another idea for my project.


Below is the exercise we carried out in class that assembled my thoughts.
The exercise began with an opening about a character called Ross, and his age, and we were given an opening sentence and then we all started a story as to where Ross was.

Then we passed it to the next person in the class who added the dialogue, and then onto to another person who added in an object.


The next person added another character, then lastly it was finished off by the final pupil.

Here is a copy of the exercise:


This helped us all generate ideas for a film opening.

In my case I used the theme of having a single colour running though the film. I decided here that i could use a red balloon though the film to signify hope.

This also reminded me a Schindler's List where Spielberg used black and white photography throughout the film, but a girl was depicted in red, and the audience were drawn to her as a thread throughout the film. She is seem hiding from the Nazis in the ghettos but later is seen on a pile of bodies in a concentration camp.

This was a very powerful image, and made a big impact on me.

This started me thinking about the red theme throughout the opening sequence.