Although I have struggled to make headway finding good academic research in my chosen area (non-linear narrative), I have found enough that I think the project is going to result in an interesting and valuable piece of research.
A key part of this involved the wording of the question. I have settled on 'what is the value of non-linear storytelling and what is it's relevance to contemporary film making?'
I believe this question is broad enough to allow me to discuss other elements of non-linear narrative that are relevant, including non-linear learning discussed independently of story, yet then allows me to take this information and apply it back to film, thereby focussing the direction of the piece and providing ideas for possible artefacts that will follow the document.
Monday, 29 November 2010
An interesting few days...
Last week I got two positive responses from script writers at shooting people, in a short space of time, which was a hugely positive result. Especially pleasing was that one script was of very high quality, and although not perfect sructurally, was tightly plotted and well written for the most part. It regarded a particular stage in the life of a man with Alzheimers, and I was impressed by it. The second script was not so impressive, being a badly written, trashy piece of writing about a night-club girl getting with and being abused by a bouncer. It was in no way engaging and didn't make much sense, which was disappointing, given the promise of the premise as it was advertised on shooting people.
Myself and Alan sorted through our favoured scripts, including these new options, and presented them to Jools as alternatives to my own. Jools ultimately agreed that the best third party option was the Alzheimers story, however, since this covered similar territory to my own plot (in terms of the characters and the decisions and situations they are going through), we agreed that our final choice of film would be to work on my script, although a lot of work is needed on it.
In searching for scripts, we also found another short film we also liked, involving the aftermath of a night out that takes place exclusively in the bathroom of a young man's apartment. We have decided to shoot this film also before work commences properly on the production phase of my script. This will serve as good practise for our core project, but I have every intention of treating this project just as seriously as it will form a core poart of my portfolio work.
Right now, all effort regarding the client project is going into proposal document. Once this is completed, I will return to the script and begin preparing for the next phase of production.
Myself and Alan sorted through our favoured scripts, including these new options, and presented them to Jools as alternatives to my own. Jools ultimately agreed that the best third party option was the Alzheimers story, however, since this covered similar territory to my own plot (in terms of the characters and the decisions and situations they are going through), we agreed that our final choice of film would be to work on my script, although a lot of work is needed on it.
In searching for scripts, we also found another short film we also liked, involving the aftermath of a night out that takes place exclusively in the bathroom of a young man's apartment. We have decided to shoot this film also before work commences properly on the production phase of my script. This will serve as good practise for our core project, but I have every intention of treating this project just as seriously as it will form a core poart of my portfolio work.
Right now, all effort regarding the client project is going into proposal document. Once this is completed, I will return to the script and begin preparing for the next phase of production.
Thursday, 25 November 2010
Client Project: Script Sources
Having read through countless scripts on sites such as simplyscripts.com and found them to be mostly terrible, myself and Alan have nonetheless uncovered a few gems that seem like genuinely exciting shooting prospects.
However, unconvinced as I am that they have the professional 'sheen' we require, I have gone back to Shooting People (http://shootingpeople.org) and paid the membership fee that allows users access to the scripts bulletin, which emails out unpublished script submissions to potential film makers.
My initial reaction was one of disappointment. The reason I was not keen to pay in the first place was because the site refuses to divulge precisely what you will have access to having taken the plunge, and the answer seems like not much - a paltry handful of scripts each week from writers who often seem ludicrously optimistic about the payment prospects for their work.
However, this pessimism subsided somewhat once I read some of the available synopses, and remembered that our zero-budget and student status was always going to count against us in some ways.
As such, I have composed a letter, explaining my status and situation, and this template has been the basis of the email I have sent out to individuals who have posted synopses that I am interested by on the bulletin.
I hope the letter shows we are committed individuals, and also makes clear to the reader what is in it for them i.e. exposure in our film festival of choice (coincidentally, the exposures film festival.
A copy of the letter follows; if feedback is unfavourable or negative, I will be able to refine the template into something that appeals more to the needs of the reader:-
From:
Duncan Leigh
Student Director / Scriptwriter / Composer
Multimedia: Audio Visual Production
Nottingham Trent University (Nottingham, UK)
Hi!
I am a student director at university currently assembling my team to work on a final year production. This will determine 50% of mine and my associate’s degrees and as such is not a task we are taking lightly.
I was advised to search shooting people for unproduced scripts by writers who wish to see their work put into production.
Our goal (both personally and as a university-given necessity) is to enter the film in the Exposures film festival in July of next year (http://www.exposuresfestival.co.uk/) - thereby gaining some 'exposure' for all concerned.
Whilst I understand this may not be of interest to those looking for a commercial outlet for their work, I can assure you that we are fully committed to any project we work on, and have a vested interest (both in terms of our degree results and our future careers) in producing work of the highest quality possible.
Though the budget for our films is zero, we have access to all equipment etc through the university, and as such can deliver a film that surpasses the amateur standards I fear may have been pictured in your head upon reading the words 'student director!'
As such, I wanted to express my interest in your script synopsis for 'XXX,' and enquire as to whether it may be possible to view a complete version of the script.
At this early stage we are still assessing all available options in order to find the highest quality project available to us that enthuses myself and my producer - something I can say your synopsis certainly does.
If you are interested, I can say that we are interested in working with our collaborators only to the extent they see fit; if you wish to offer input during production, we would welcome it, equally, if you see no benefit to yourself other than having your existing script produced, then we would graciously welcome the opportunity to film it and ask for nothing more than a copy of the script and the correct spelling of your name in order to credit you!
Either way, I can summarise this proposal as an opportunity for you to have your work produced and shown on the festival circuit.
If you have any queries (e.g. about logistics, practicalities, or to ask to see previous work) please don't hesitate to get in touch at duncan.leigh@gmail.com
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this request, and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours,
Duncan Leigh
However, unconvinced as I am that they have the professional 'sheen' we require, I have gone back to Shooting People (http://shootingpeople.org) and paid the membership fee that allows users access to the scripts bulletin, which emails out unpublished script submissions to potential film makers.
My initial reaction was one of disappointment. The reason I was not keen to pay in the first place was because the site refuses to divulge precisely what you will have access to having taken the plunge, and the answer seems like not much - a paltry handful of scripts each week from writers who often seem ludicrously optimistic about the payment prospects for their work.
However, this pessimism subsided somewhat once I read some of the available synopses, and remembered that our zero-budget and student status was always going to count against us in some ways.
As such, I have composed a letter, explaining my status and situation, and this template has been the basis of the email I have sent out to individuals who have posted synopses that I am interested by on the bulletin.
I hope the letter shows we are committed individuals, and also makes clear to the reader what is in it for them i.e. exposure in our film festival of choice (coincidentally, the exposures film festival.
A copy of the letter follows; if feedback is unfavourable or negative, I will be able to refine the template into something that appeals more to the needs of the reader:-
From:
Duncan Leigh
Student Director / Scriptwriter / Composer
Multimedia: Audio Visual Production
Nottingham Trent University (Nottingham, UK)
Hi!
I am a student director at university currently assembling my team to work on a final year production. This will determine 50% of mine and my associate’s degrees and as such is not a task we are taking lightly.
I was advised to search shooting people for unproduced scripts by writers who wish to see their work put into production.
Our goal (both personally and as a university-given necessity) is to enter the film in the Exposures film festival in July of next year (http://www.exposuresfestival.co.uk/) - thereby gaining some 'exposure' for all concerned.
Whilst I understand this may not be of interest to those looking for a commercial outlet for their work, I can assure you that we are fully committed to any project we work on, and have a vested interest (both in terms of our degree results and our future careers) in producing work of the highest quality possible.
Though the budget for our films is zero, we have access to all equipment etc through the university, and as such can deliver a film that surpasses the amateur standards I fear may have been pictured in your head upon reading the words 'student director!'
As such, I wanted to express my interest in your script synopsis for 'XXX,' and enquire as to whether it may be possible to view a complete version of the script.
At this early stage we are still assessing all available options in order to find the highest quality project available to us that enthuses myself and my producer - something I can say your synopsis certainly does.
If you are interested, I can say that we are interested in working with our collaborators only to the extent they see fit; if you wish to offer input during production, we would welcome it, equally, if you see no benefit to yourself other than having your existing script produced, then we would graciously welcome the opportunity to film it and ask for nothing more than a copy of the script and the correct spelling of your name in order to credit you!
Either way, I can summarise this proposal as an opportunity for you to have your work produced and shown on the festival circuit.
If you have any queries (e.g. about logistics, practicalities, or to ask to see previous work) please don't hesitate to get in touch at duncan.leigh@gmail.com
Thank you so much for taking the time to read this request, and I look forward to hearing back from you.
Yours,
Duncan Leigh
Client Project: Script
Earlier this week, I completed a draft of a story that has passed through several iterations in recent months, only to end up with a story that bears little or no resemblance to the original idea!
As it only to be expected from the drafting process, I took my story (what I felt was a 'hard hitting' tale about the right of the termianlly ill to die, with supporting characters) and turned in on its head and inside out, having read Ken Dancyger's 'Writing the Short Film' and deciding that
a) It covered fairly well trodden ground, and
b) It didn't adhere satisfactorily enough to the principles of short storytelling in film I have been studying over the last few weeks.
The script now revolves around a series of events at a 'crunch point' in the main characters life - the main character being the daughter of our terminally ill patient, facing some tough decisions in her young life. It is strangely satiusfying to know that despite having stuck more closely to a 'formula' if it can so be called, I think the script has more openness, more depth and less insistence on its themes, and so is a marked improvement.
This script however, is not the one we will necessarily shoot.
Once it has been assessed by our 'client,' Julius Ayodeji (both mine and Alan my producers tutor for the project, and whose group I joined once myself and Alan joined forces), we will be able to determine if the script contains a solid enough core in order to be further drafted into a real filming prospect, or if we should look elsewhere for a higher quality script that will lead to a higher quality product.
This is not simply a question of script quality either; the problem with a self penned script is that the accepted wisdom dictates it is harder to distance yourself from in order to make the combined practical and artistic decisions that make up the directors job.
As such, we await feedback before myself and Alan find out if we are allowed to shoot the script, if we choose too, and have been exploring other avenues for scripts in the mean time.
As it only to be expected from the drafting process, I took my story (what I felt was a 'hard hitting' tale about the right of the termianlly ill to die, with supporting characters) and turned in on its head and inside out, having read Ken Dancyger's 'Writing the Short Film' and deciding that
a) It covered fairly well trodden ground, and
b) It didn't adhere satisfactorily enough to the principles of short storytelling in film I have been studying over the last few weeks.
The script now revolves around a series of events at a 'crunch point' in the main characters life - the main character being the daughter of our terminally ill patient, facing some tough decisions in her young life. It is strangely satiusfying to know that despite having stuck more closely to a 'formula' if it can so be called, I think the script has more openness, more depth and less insistence on its themes, and so is a marked improvement.
This script however, is not the one we will necessarily shoot.
Once it has been assessed by our 'client,' Julius Ayodeji (both mine and Alan my producers tutor for the project, and whose group I joined once myself and Alan joined forces), we will be able to determine if the script contains a solid enough core in order to be further drafted into a real filming prospect, or if we should look elsewhere for a higher quality script that will lead to a higher quality product.
This is not simply a question of script quality either; the problem with a self penned script is that the accepted wisdom dictates it is harder to distance yourself from in order to make the combined practical and artistic decisions that make up the directors job.
As such, we await feedback before myself and Alan find out if we are allowed to shoot the script, if we choose too, and have been exploring other avenues for scripts in the mean time.
Monday, 8 November 2010
Film Competitions (Client Project)
Finding an appropriate film competition is proving tricky.
The issue is primarily that of length; we are looking for a competition that will allow films of up to six minutes. This is partly because the script I have in mind should come to somewhere over five minutes, but more importantly, because we want to produce something that allows us to really test/prove ourselves in all departments.
One suggestion from my producer is that we aim to enter a short film competition of, for example, three minutes, then produce a longer 'director's cut.' It is certainly an option, however I worry that the two would be conflicting priorities, leading to dis-satisfactory versions of both.
I am having my first face to face meeting with my producer tomorrow; hopefully he will have located some more competition options for us by then.
The issue is primarily that of length; we are looking for a competition that will allow films of up to six minutes. This is partly because the script I have in mind should come to somewhere over five minutes, but more importantly, because we want to produce something that allows us to really test/prove ourselves in all departments.
One suggestion from my producer is that we aim to enter a short film competition of, for example, three minutes, then produce a longer 'director's cut.' It is certainly an option, however I worry that the two would be conflicting priorities, leading to dis-satisfactory versions of both.
I am having my first face to face meeting with my producer tomorrow; hopefully he will have located some more competition options for us by then.
Friday, 5 November 2010
Client Project - Producer confirmed / Script work continues
After some uncertainty as to how I might proceed with a producer outside of the course/uni,
my knight in shining armour has come in the form of Alan Vickerstaff, who has agreed to work with me on a fictional film for our client project.
This is great news as we have worked together before as a director/producer team and things went very well - I hope that this time around we can both improve on all areas of production.
The script is coming along and I hope to be at a stage where I can show it to my pseudo-client Deborah, and Jools (who is Alan's project lead).
I am under no illusions about insistently using my script; myself and Alan have already agreed that we will seek out alternative shooting material if the script is considered too weak by our respective tutors.
I do however love writing and am focussed on improving my skills as a writer and director to the extent that I can pursue a career as both. As long as we have some time to play with, I will continue to work on the script as I think shooting something I have written from scratch will be more engaging and rewarding in some ways than the alternative.
It also allows us tighter control over the elements of production (cast, locations etc) from an earlier point in the pre-production process, although this is a comparatively minor advantage as any script we work on will require a good deal of work to tailor it to a level where it stretches our abilities but does not go beyond the scope of our available time, resources and equipment.
my knight in shining armour has come in the form of Alan Vickerstaff, who has agreed to work with me on a fictional film for our client project.
This is great news as we have worked together before as a director/producer team and things went very well - I hope that this time around we can both improve on all areas of production.
The script is coming along and I hope to be at a stage where I can show it to my pseudo-client Deborah, and Jools (who is Alan's project lead).
I am under no illusions about insistently using my script; myself and Alan have already agreed that we will seek out alternative shooting material if the script is considered too weak by our respective tutors.
I do however love writing and am focussed on improving my skills as a writer and director to the extent that I can pursue a career as both. As long as we have some time to play with, I will continue to work on the script as I think shooting something I have written from scratch will be more engaging and rewarding in some ways than the alternative.
It also allows us tighter control over the elements of production (cast, locations etc) from an earlier point in the pre-production process, although this is a comparatively minor advantage as any script we work on will require a good deal of work to tailor it to a level where it stretches our abilities but does not go beyond the scope of our available time, resources and equipment.
Tuesday, 2 November 2010
Client project / Research project
After discussion with all the relevant tutors, I have established and got underway with the most important part of my year - my two main projects.
My client project will be a short fictional film directed by myself, with the client being a hybrid of Deborah Tuck (my tutor for this module) and a short film competition I endeavour to enter the film in. The rules of the competition will essentially form my 'client brief,' with additional input/requirements coming from Deborah.
My main priorty is working on my script, as I hope to direct something I have written myself, however, this is not essential, but merely a personal preference. I am working on polishing up a script now, and with feedback from Jools (a multimedia tutor with script-writing experience) and Deborah, I will determine whether it is more prudent to use my own script, or one from a third party.
Once this decision is made, I will be able to move forward to choosing a competition and tailoring my script of choice to its requirements
For my research project, I will be doing a study of chronology in film story-telling, and how it affects all areas of audeince reception, e.g. perception of character.
I am immensely excited about this as it will overlap in a higely beneficial fashion with my ongoing reading about the art of writing and directing, but also because it should set me up to make some interesting, entertaining and thought provoking artefacts in term 2.
One early idea is to make a short film containing a set of scenes, that the viewer chooses to watch in any order they wish using a DVD selection menu, and then get feedback from test viewings to see if viewers found this to be a more engaging, enjoyable or interesting viewing experience than traditional linear films.
My client project will be a short fictional film directed by myself, with the client being a hybrid of Deborah Tuck (my tutor for this module) and a short film competition I endeavour to enter the film in. The rules of the competition will essentially form my 'client brief,' with additional input/requirements coming from Deborah.
My main priorty is working on my script, as I hope to direct something I have written myself, however, this is not essential, but merely a personal preference. I am working on polishing up a script now, and with feedback from Jools (a multimedia tutor with script-writing experience) and Deborah, I will determine whether it is more prudent to use my own script, or one from a third party.
Once this decision is made, I will be able to move forward to choosing a competition and tailoring my script of choice to its requirements
For my research project, I will be doing a study of chronology in film story-telling, and how it affects all areas of audeince reception, e.g. perception of character.
I am immensely excited about this as it will overlap in a higely beneficial fashion with my ongoing reading about the art of writing and directing, but also because it should set me up to make some interesting, entertaining and thought provoking artefacts in term 2.
One early idea is to make a short film containing a set of scenes, that the viewer chooses to watch in any order they wish using a DVD selection menu, and then get feedback from test viewings to see if viewers found this to be a more engaging, enjoyable or interesting viewing experience than traditional linear films.
Simulated Client Project / Quit my Job
My simulated client project, handed in three days ago, was a mixture of success and failure.
My interviews all went very well, and I was pleased with both the responses and my own interview technique. I covered so much interesting ground with my two main interviewees that I only wish the project could have been longer!
It wasn't all success though. A combination of excessive shifts at work and domestic situations pushed me back on schedule, leading to a less than polished final product.
Whilst I was very pleased with the structure and most of the content, visually, it could have used more work, and the mini-DV cams I used to film the 'at risk' (i.e. on the streets) interviews did not perform to the standard I was promised, to the extent that I deliberately crippled the resolution to disguise the low picture quality. A poor decision, in hindsight, and were the project of greater import (and more time available) the only viable solution would have been to re-shoot.
This was a valuable lesson and one I will bear in mind in future.
As to the home situation, I have received my loan after much waiting and finished working the excessive number of shifts I had to sign up to as a stop gap. Furthermore, I have now quit my main job, freeing me as much time as I can afford to to focus on this final and most important year of my degree.
My interviews all went very well, and I was pleased with both the responses and my own interview technique. I covered so much interesting ground with my two main interviewees that I only wish the project could have been longer!
It wasn't all success though. A combination of excessive shifts at work and domestic situations pushed me back on schedule, leading to a less than polished final product.
Whilst I was very pleased with the structure and most of the content, visually, it could have used more work, and the mini-DV cams I used to film the 'at risk' (i.e. on the streets) interviews did not perform to the standard I was promised, to the extent that I deliberately crippled the resolution to disguise the low picture quality. A poor decision, in hindsight, and were the project of greater import (and more time available) the only viable solution would have been to re-shoot.
This was a valuable lesson and one I will bear in mind in future.
As to the home situation, I have received my loan after much waiting and finished working the excessive number of shifts I had to sign up to as a stop gap. Furthermore, I have now quit my main job, freeing me as much time as I can afford to to focus on this final and most important year of my degree.
Freelance film maker for hire!
As a result of the Firefly tenth birthday video I filmed and edited (see previous post) I have gained two further paid jobs!
The first is a video again for Firefly, only this time, the video will be a much shorter, high impact promo, designed for advertising on dance websites such as resident advisor (http://www.residentadvisor.net/)
The video will be posted here as soon as it is done!
Secondly, the owners of On Site, a Dj and engineering collective who run free and licensed events up and down the country, have hired me to produce a promo for their company, featuring footage from their forthcoming showcase event in Nottingham on the 6th of November.
Whilst neither job offers me a chance to develop my potential as a director, it is phenomenal how much more time-effective I have become in my editing and SFX skills - and given that speed of work is the primary concern of employers with regards to editors/post-production workers, this can only be a good thing.
I have recently been getting my teeth into Trapcode Particular, and have started using these skills to composite into real footage, and not just in graphics-only effects shots.
This is largely thanks to a new book I am working through, After Effects CS5 Studio Techniques, a new edition of a book that is highly recommended by professionals (including Andrew Kramer from videocopilot.net)
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Effects-Visual-Compositing-Studio-Techniques/dp/032171962X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288701890&sr=8-1]
Once I have got my head rounbd the mind-numbing depth of trapcode from tutorial work I will be including it in future projects without doubt, not as a forced inclusion but because its application is so wide that there is seemingly no project it cannot add an extra layer of depth or polish to.
The first is a video again for Firefly, only this time, the video will be a much shorter, high impact promo, designed for advertising on dance websites such as resident advisor (http://www.residentadvisor.net/)
The video will be posted here as soon as it is done!
Secondly, the owners of On Site, a Dj and engineering collective who run free and licensed events up and down the country, have hired me to produce a promo for their company, featuring footage from their forthcoming showcase event in Nottingham on the 6th of November.
Whilst neither job offers me a chance to develop my potential as a director, it is phenomenal how much more time-effective I have become in my editing and SFX skills - and given that speed of work is the primary concern of employers with regards to editors/post-production workers, this can only be a good thing.
I have recently been getting my teeth into Trapcode Particular, and have started using these skills to composite into real footage, and not just in graphics-only effects shots.
This is largely thanks to a new book I am working through, After Effects CS5 Studio Techniques, a new edition of a book that is highly recommended by professionals (including Andrew Kramer from videocopilot.net)
[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Effects-Visual-Compositing-Studio-Techniques/dp/032171962X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1288701890&sr=8-1]
Once I have got my head rounbd the mind-numbing depth of trapcode from tutorial work I will be including it in future projects without doubt, not as a forced inclusion but because its application is so wide that there is seemingly no project it cannot add an extra layer of depth or polish to.
Summer Work
Over the summer holidays, I worked on a project for record label Firefly; a video montage of their tenth birthday, running to an unprecedented 13 minutes in order to allow the music (sliced from live sets from the night), to gain some momentum.
The video is rather long for a promo, however, a separate, shorter version was produced for this purpose.
The longer version is a celebration of the the clubnight, the birthday night, and ten years of great acts, and is aimed purely at the faithful partygoers who have supported the night over the years.
You can view the full version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJQ37qAxK8
and the promo version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09X9T37pTjI
The video is rather long for a promo, however, a separate, shorter version was produced for this purpose.
The longer version is a celebration of the the clubnight, the birthday night, and ten years of great acts, and is aimed purely at the faithful partygoers who have supported the night over the years.
You can view the full version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUJQ37qAxK8
and the promo version here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09X9T37pTjI
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