Script Influences
Italian neorealism
Background to Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism has had an influence on the creation of my short film, this is shown through some of the characteristics of this style. One of these is the fact that this technique doesn't use extras. This style will just film in the location naturally rather than artifically. It does this by shooting exclusively on location. Another characteristic is the the fact it portrays the subject matter of life among the working class, realism is usually always emphasized.
Dogme 95
Background to Dogme 95
Dogme 95 uses various rules when filmmaking, the main rule is the fact that it looks at traditional values of filmmaking when looking at plot, acting and them and excludes the use of special effects or intricate technology. When looking at the history of Dogme 95 its theory is very similar to Francois Truffaut's essay. Francois Truffaut created his films in the style of French 'new wave', an example of this that I have watched is 'Joles et Jim'. If abiding by the goals and rules of Dogme 95 then all filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in and if needed must be found on location. Extra sound should also not be entered unless it is digetic
French New Wave
Background to French New Wave
Before writing my script I have been majorly influenced by the French New Wave style of film making. I particularly like the idea of dropping sound this is because by using this technique we can project to the audience the tense atmosphere and can draw the audience into their focal point being the characters expressions rather than the dialogue. I was also influenced by the technique of using natural lighting instead of artifical lighting, I feel that this will give our film a better atmosphere. The narrative for our film deals with tackling issues and artifical lighting will give off a very different effect. This is because most artifical lighting will give a brighter effect and in my opinion brightness is usually percieved to be linked with happiness however if we use natural lighting we will give a more darker and natural effect which will hopefully in some places help to create a more tense and suitable mood to our short film. Below I will show the differences between artifical and natural lighting to demonstrate why we have chose to use natural lighting.
You Tube film clips
Kes
After creating our initial concept for our film we started looking into turning it into a proper narrative we looked at films which showed homosexuality and what sort of symbolsor activities were stereotypically associated with masculinity as the fact our charcter is gay is hidden to the audience. The main stereotypical link to masculinity was football. So we then looked at the ways in which football scenes are shot to portray the real masculinity of our character to almost enhance the fact that the audience think the character James will be gay. After watching the short football scene in Kes we liked the way it was shot. We liked the close ups of the players feet and we also liked how feeble the goalie looked which is almost the way we want James to be seen but not so obvious to the audience.
Then you can be free
We also looked at how we could end our film we all agreed from the beginning that we wanted the end of our film to almost be a suprise and also be happy that James is gay. Then after watching this short film I particularly liked the close up of the two boys hands as I felt we could use this to our advantage in our short film. I liked this because stereotypically the audience immediately assume that the hands will be a boy and a girl (James and Roxanne, his girlfriend) however instead it will be the point where we find out James is gay. After this shot we can finally reveal through the close ups of the two boys faces that we have mislead the audinece.
Waterloo Road
When creating the narrative and script for our film we also struggled choosing the location and setting of our film. Although Waterloo Road is a tv drama and not a short film I felt that this had a great influence on the choice to set our short film in a school. From watching the way the character (Josh) came out in Waterloo Road I saw that concepts like this become much more dramatic and harder to come to terms with within a school. This is because kids stick greatly to the stereotypes and anything different or unique is seen as wrong. I therefore liked the setting of a school because our film is educating young people that homosexuality should be accepted and we can display within our film how hard it can be for a teenage boy to 'come out' as it is less accepted in a school than outside and through visual images we can display this to the audience.
Italian neorealism
Background to Italian neorealism
Italian neorealism has had an influence on the creation of my short film, this is shown through some of the characteristics of this style. One of these is the fact that this technique doesn't use extras. This style will just film in the location naturally rather than artifically. It does this by shooting exclusively on location. Another characteristic is the the fact it portrays the subject matter of life among the working class, realism is usually always emphasized.
Dogme 95
Background to Dogme 95
Dogme 95 uses various rules when filmmaking, the main rule is the fact that it looks at traditional values of filmmaking when looking at plot, acting and them and excludes the use of special effects or intricate technology. When looking at the history of Dogme 95 its theory is very similar to Francois Truffaut's essay. Francois Truffaut created his films in the style of French 'new wave', an example of this that I have watched is 'Joles et Jim'. If abiding by the goals and rules of Dogme 95 then all filming must be done on location. Props and sets must not be brought in and if needed must be found on location. Extra sound should also not be entered unless it is digetic
French New Wave
Background to French New Wave
Before writing my script I have been majorly influenced by the French New Wave style of film making. I particularly like the idea of dropping sound this is because by using this technique we can project to the audience the tense atmosphere and can draw the audience into their focal point being the characters expressions rather than the dialogue. I was also influenced by the technique of using natural lighting instead of artifical lighting, I feel that this will give our film a better atmosphere. The narrative for our film deals with tackling issues and artifical lighting will give off a very different effect. This is because most artifical lighting will give a brighter effect and in my opinion brightness is usually percieved to be linked with happiness however if we use natural lighting we will give a more darker and natural effect which will hopefully in some places help to create a more tense and suitable mood to our short film. Below I will show the differences between artifical and natural lighting to demonstrate why we have chose to use natural lighting.
Kes
After creating our initial concept for our film we started looking into turning it into a proper narrative we looked at films which showed homosexuality and what sort of symbolsor activities were stereotypically associated with masculinity as the fact our charcter is gay is hidden to the audience. The main stereotypical link to masculinity was football. So we then looked at the ways in which football scenes are shot to portray the real masculinity of our character to almost enhance the fact that the audience think the character James will be gay. After watching the short football scene in Kes we liked the way it was shot. We liked the close ups of the players feet and we also liked how feeble the goalie looked which is almost the way we want James to be seen but not so obvious to the audience.
Then you can be free
Waterloo Road
When creating the narrative and script for our film we also struggled choosing the location and setting of our film. Although Waterloo Road is a tv drama and not a short film I felt that this had a great influence on the choice to set our short film in a school. From watching the way the character (Josh) came out in Waterloo Road I saw that concepts like this become much more dramatic and harder to come to terms with within a school. This is because kids stick greatly to the stereotypes and anything different or unique is seen as wrong. I therefore liked the setting of a school because our film is educating young people that homosexuality should be accepted and we can display within our film how hard it can be for a teenage boy to 'come out' as it is less accepted in a school than outside and through visual images we can display this to the audience.
This is no where detailed enough. I'm expecting all of the New French Wave material you did with Mr Croston.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me there is more, if not we need to talk.