Mise-en-scène & Shooting Schedule

Locations: 

Tyrrell’s house: Convenient setting, near to school and to actors

Ordinary terraced house in suburban setting.

 Bedroom - very little furniture to remove and is relatively large. 

Gunnersbury School - Art block: This would provide the perfect 'art environment' for the final scene where the Artist is happily painting. The props found in the surrounding areas such as other artwork and art supplies will suggest this to the viewer.

Gunnersbury School - Mr Cissé's office: It is the most convenient office setting in the school, with the desk directly in front of the door, set out so that it can accommodate two people. The office will need to have an imposing desk, with the man and woman in large chairs, while the artist is kept distant.

Gunnersbury School - Hall: There is sufficient space for a crowd of people on the new stage to marvel at the painting. There is also an echo in there which can make the crowd sound louder.

Hounslow/Boston Manor – job centre, shops, post box, tube station and phone box: They're not entirely pleasant places, when compared to 'nicer' parts of London, and has a multicultural feel to it, with large Asian and Polish communities. It is relatively quiet on weekdays and you will easily find the places listed above.

 Boston Manor Station

 BM Park - green areas in which walking scenes can be filmed.

 

 Manner's Cafe - can be used as 'shop'/ hangout

Hounslow job centre - located in a very multicultural area

Phone box, near to Manner's Cafe, typically red - easily identifiable

Casting:

• Daryl – Artist
• Dressed appropriately, his 'foreignness' can be exaggerated, wearing plain clothing, generally not considered trendy. Has wild hair.
• Kate, Nathan, David – Racists 
• Are of white origin, dressed in a 'chav'-like manner - hoody/tracksuit coat; in school uniform - need to resemble typical racist youths.
• Nathan – Pusher
• Of large build. Little is seen of features - dressed quietly.
• Nathan, Mark – Hostile, foreign men
• Dressed in hoodies. Inconspicuous.
• Carolina – Woman behind desk
• She is to play a middle aged woman, dressed professionally, wearing glasses.
• Jason – Man behind desk
• He is a younger man, dressed professionally, but has a distinct style.
• Crowd
• Smartly dressed, sophisticated-looking people. To be assembled on the day from Sixth Form Students who will already be dressed in business-style suits.
  

Props:
Big bag, Shopping bag, Canvas, Easel, Application form, Newspaper, Letters, Paint, Packet food, Train ticket

Shooting Schedule:
First Shoot (12/02/10)
Location: Tyrrell’s house
Time: 4-6pm
Actors: Daryl Finch, Nathan Tyrrell, Mark Tyrrell
Props: Suitcase; Easel, with canvas and paints; Application form; Post; Newspaper with article; Food 
Aim: To film all shots to be done at Tyrrell’s house - arrival, painting, filling in/receiving application, encounter with hostile foreign men, conflict with racists outside
What happened: All shots done except those which required props as they were not yet ready. Props were ready the following day and so filmed, then. It was decided that shots of racists outside house were to be moved to the park instead.

Second Shoot (14/02/10)
Location: Boston Manor Park, Manners Cafe, Post box, Phone box
Time: 2-4pm
Actors: Daryl Finch, Kate Blythe, Nathan Tyrrell, David Tyrrell, Carolina Garcia-Ochoa
Props: A to Z; application form in envelope; newspaper with article
Aim: To complete all shots in and around Boston Manor – asking for directions, racial abuse by youths, posting application, getting knocked over by passerby, buying from shops, finding newspaper
What happened: Time slot was too small to complete all shots, and so was completed the following day at the same time.

Third Shoot (20/02/10)
Location: Hounslow, Job Centre
Time: 2-2.30pm
Actors: Daryl Finch
Props: application form
Aim: To complete all shots in Hounslow – entering Job Centre and exiting with application form
What happened: These shots were all completed


Fourth Shoot (21/02/10)
Location: Boston Manor Tube Station
Time: 2-3pm
Actors: Daryl Finch, station staff
Props: train ticket, canvas
Aim: To complete all shots in train station – barrier incident, boarding train
What happened: These shots were not feasible and so decided to cut them from the film. A single shot of a moving train was shot.

Fifth Shoot (22/02/10)
Location: Gunnersbury School – corridors, Mr Cissé’s office, hall, art department
Time: 10am-1pm
Actors: Daryl Finch, Jason Grandison, Carolina Garcia-Ochoa, members of crowd
Props: canvas with easel
Aim: To complete all shots in school – journey there, unveiling of artwork, crowd reaction, happily painting
What happened: These shots were all completed with crowd assembled based on who was available there and then.

By Daryl Finch

Script

INT. ARTIST’S ROOM. DAY

ARTIST arrives in his new room. He puts his bag on the floor and sits on his bed. He looks around and looks pleased with himself.

INT. KITCHEN OF ARTIST’S HOUSE. DAY

ARTIST walks through the door, there are 2 hostile ‘foreign’ men who look up then return to their conversation.

ARTIST: Heylo

He smiles, awaiting response which does not come, then turns and heads towards the front door.

EXT. STREET. DAY

ARTIST: Excuse me?

Points at map. Passerby continues walking.

EXT. PARADE OF SHOPS. EVE

ARTIST enters shop, exits with shopping bag.

INT. ARTIST’S ROOM. NIGHT

ARTIST sits alone, eating what packeted food he has. He sets up his easel and puts a canvas onto it. Gazes down towards paints.

EXT. OUTSIDE JOBCENTRE. DAY

ARTIST exits with an application form.

INT. ARTIST’S ROOM. DAY

ARTIST fills in application form and starts painting, pleased with himself.

EXT. POST BOX. DAY

ARTIST posts application form.

INT. ARTIST’S ROOM. DAY

ARTIST continues painting, happy.

EXT. STREET. EVE

ARTIST drops bag on the floor and contents spill out onto the pavement. Pedestrians walk past; one knocking into him. None stop to help.

INT. ARTIST’S ROOM. DAY

ARTIST continues painting, emotionless.

EXT. ARTIST’S HOUSE. DAY

ARTIST gets abuse from a small group of youths as he leaves the house.

YOUTH 1: Haha! Fresh off the boat!

YOUTH 2: I bet he don’t even know what we’re saying!

YOUTH 3: It’s for people like you that we’re paying taxes!

YOUTH 1: Get back where you belong!

YOUTH 3: Yeah!

He walks towards the train station, visibly upset. He has trouble at the train station using his ticket.

STATION STAFF walks over.

STATION STAFF: What the hell are you doing? Are you stupid or something?!

ARTIST runs away.

STATION STAFF: That’s right! Go back to where you came from!

INT. ARTIST’S HOUSE. DAY

ARTIST continues painting, upset and annoyed.

INT. ARTIST’S HOUSE. MORN

ARTIST sifts through post eagerly. Finds letter. Takes it to his room, opens it. It is a rejection letter.

ARTIST continues painting with a look of anger on his face.

EXT. PHONE BOX. DAY

ARTIST enters phone box. Picks up the phone and dials a number.

ARTIST: Maman?

ARTIST continues on the phone, then leaves the phone box when the money runs out. He is tearful.

INT. ARTIST’S HOUSE. DAY

ARTIST continues painting. He is tearful.

EXT. PARADE OF SHOPS. DAY

ARTIST is looking in newspaper. He sees something interesting.

INT. ARTIST’S HOUSE. DAY

ARTIST puts the newspaper on the side. It is an advert for an art competition.

EXT. TUBE STATION. DAY

ARTIST boards train with no difficulty. He is carrying his artwork with him.

INT. OFFICE. DAY

ARTIST arrives outside office. He looks at sign, knocks, and enters.

A MAN and a WOMAN are sat behind the desk.

WOMAN: Come in.

ARTIST stands, blankly.

MAN: So what have you got for us?

ARTIST unveils his painting

INT. ART GALLERY. DAY

ARTIST unveils painting. Crowd applaud. Members of the press mob him. Audience members take photos on their mobile phones.

INT. ART ENVIRONMENT. DAY

ARTIST is painting, happy.

FIN.

Commentary:

We anticipate that there should be few difficulties with acting out this script apart from perhaps the train station scene. We may have problems with arranging this with regard to getting co-operative station staff while not upsetting members of the public! With this in mind, we may instead decide to cut this scene as the scenes already in place are expected to be more than enough for the 5 minute brief.

By Daryl Finch

Film Synopsis

An aspirational artist, moves to Britain to pursue his dream career. After just a week, he is disheartened by his struggle for recognition in his new environment. A recent overseas arrival, the language barrier is tough enough for him, but what affects him most is the lack of community he now experiences. He tries hard to integrate, but is bemused when he finds himself being constantly ignored and overlooked. His latest art project becomes more complex, more symbolic of his repressive and reclusive lifestyle, but his talent continues to be undiscovered. In a final attempt to resurrect his dream, he enters an art competition for a presitigious college - will this be the break he's been craving for so long?

Commentary:
In terms of theme, our film will be exploring ideas of identity within a multicultural society. The idea that you're not fully recognised as British until you win something is explored here, in that there is a contrast between his treatment as a new arrival where no-one wants to talk to him to when he is the focus of attention following his win.

With regard to technical conventions, it follows a circular narrative and there is the motif of the artwork used as a reflection of his feelings of frustration.

By Daryl Finch

Audiences and Purpose (Film Magazines)

A magazine film review generally acts as an third party endorsement for a film. Magazine reviews are a clever way of advertising films through their use of synergy as well as cross promoting products that may interest certain audiences. They recommend viewing to readers and introduce new types genres, exposing readers to material they may or may not have viewed before. The main distinction to be made between a film review and an advert is that film reviews are not always favourable. Currently, the main film magazines in the UK are:

Prevue (In house)

Empire

Total Film

                                                                                                                 

Sight And Sound

Screen International (trade magazine)

Uncut (Consumer - film and music)

Little White Lies (consumer - independent )

Vertigo (consumer - independent cinema )

Movie Scope (film industry)         

Depending on the institution which has produced the film magazine, it may be biased in favour of all films, while others may analyse in an academic and critical way. In the majority of film reviews, there is a synopsis on the film as well as opinion and analysis. The level of analysis and opinion varies depending on the institution producing it. They often make assumptions about its readers. The audiences for these various film magazines can vary to a large extent.

Empire and Total Film are the most popular film magazines in the UK. They differ, however, to Sight and Sound which is a British Film Institute publication which approaches reviews in a more serious and academic manner. It is much more formal and is much more in depth, with noticeably smaller writing, and more columns. Its aim isn't to try to sell cinema tickets, but simply to review all films released during the month. This is unlike Prevue which aims to promote film sales rather than give any substantial viewpoint. It will be viewed only by people who are visiting a Vue cinema. It's less academic than Sight and Sound, as signified by the lack of byline and the small amount of writing used.

Though Total Film and Empire are independent, they are more similar to Prevue in style, as they are broken up into boxes, have less writing, but their sole purpose isn't to attract viewers. Instead, they are recommending for a very precise audience that reads their publication. Their choice of film and the style which they adopt shows they are for a mainstream audience which will have knowledge on Hollywood films and actors, rather than on the French nouvelle vague which writers at Sight and Sound will assume their readers have knowledge of.

By Jason Grandison

Conventions (Magazine Review)

When analysing existing magazine reviews, there are certain textual conventions which consistently appear throughout. These are:

• a section title
• a headline
• a byline
• a strapline
• columns
• graphics and logos
• pictures (with image sublines)
• pull-out paragraphs/boxes
• a call to action
• and issue information.

Font and typography is also something that needs to be considered; generally varied according to which body of text it is applied to. Certain magazines may have a 'house style,' in which the font and typography will be consistantly the same from issue to issue.

(Click on image for full-size)

Taken from Prevue, the above magazine review meets the majority of conventions, apart from a tagline. There is a section title, issue information and a call to action, but these have been cropped out. As an in-house publication, it wants to promote film sales, rather than give any particular, individual viewpoint. This review hasn't tried to be clever in any way; being very formulaic. The fact that there isn't a byline shows that it isn't an academic review; probably being from a combination of writers/press releases.

(Click on image for full-size)

Sight and Sound gives a much more academic viewpoint on film, and this more serious approach is reflected in the number of columns and amount of writing. This review contains all of the expected conventions as it doesn't have a direct promotional aim, unlike Prevue. The level of detail reflects on the expected target audience and the fact that there is a piece from the director shows the credibility that the magazine has.

(Click on image for full-size)

This review from Empire also complies to all of the technical codes of a magazine review. However, something important to notice is the inclusion of a star rating, and the humourous image subheading which gives an indication as to the audience. There is less text than Sight and Sound, and it is broken up by boxes which contain simple, concise information.

By Daryl Finch

Research (Film Posters)

A film poster is essentially an advert, designed to encourage its target audience to view a film. They aim to indicate the genre of the film and attract audiences in doing so. An example of this is Elizabeth (1998) which was portrayed as a thriller in the UK, whereas it was advertised as a passionate romance film in the US.

Another example of a variation in film poster, targetting different audiences, is Romeo + Juliet (1999). As shown below, the poster on the left portrays the film as a much more romantic tale, compared to the gangster story on the right.

Film posters are also supposed to give an indication towards themes and plot/events. Alerting audiences to stars, especially genre specific stars, is a crucial element of a film poster which will attract audiences. However, what is important to note is the fact that these posters most frequently appear on bus stops, the sides of buses, in tube stations, on billboards and in magazines/newspapers. This means that a lot of the information given by these posters needs to be visual. The semiotics involved need to ensure that the information given out can be easily taken in within the few seconds people spend looking at film posters.

Consequently, there are many conventions associated with the film poster. There are very few film posters which are exceptions to the norm as it has always proved a successful formula. Typically, film posters need to include the name(s) of the key star(s), a pictures of star or iconic image of the film, the film title, a tagline, background images, and the billing block.

With regard to taglines, there are trends which frequently appear. Literary techniques such as alliteration, repetition, rhyme and the rule of three often go hand in hand in certain taglines whereas others might carefully select a balance of clauses, use contrast, or pose rhetorical questions.

A good example of the first kind that I outlined comes from Terminator 2 (1991): "Same make. Same model. New mission." The rule of 3 is not only catchy, but it is visually pleasing. The repetition of 'same' also makes it more memorable.

"What if someone you never met, someone you never knew, was the only someone for you?" (Sleepless in Seattle [1993]) also utilises the rule of 3, but also poses a rhetorical question, designed to provoke thought from the reader.

An example of balance and contrast comes from Schindler's List (1993): "Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world." While this is thought provoking, the way it is structured is likely to make it remain on the mind.

Changes over time:

Wizard of Oz (1939) - Here, there is no tagline, and the billing block comprises of hardly anything. All of the actors who play a main character get a mention, rather than there being a focus solely on the main star. The images are a montage of all of the main characters, with the main setting in the background. From this you get a good idea of the genre.

Bedknobs and Broomsticks (1971) - Here, there are two taglines, both of which are rather long winded. Again, all of the main characters are shown, this time in a scene from the film. Star actors are all mentioned, but here there is a emphasis on their status/importance. There is a billing block, though it is unsubstantial.

 

Nine to Five (1980) - This poster is different in that the actors have posed for the image, but it still has close relation to the film. All three females are relatively big stars so they get recognition, but the male character doesn't. The film poster has developed here in that there is a shorter tagline, a more substantial billing block, and fewer actors recognised.

 

Vantage Point (2008) - This is a much more sophisticated and carefully crafted visual image, incorporating the actors into the main image. The billing block is more substantial, in the typeface we are accustomed to seeing, and actors are recognised recognised. The tagline also takes on a typical form by today's standards, in that it is not original; following standard conventions - being short and to the point.

By Daryl Finch

A few examples of existing film posters:

I, Robot (2004) - This poster features a large image of the star of the film (Will Smith) with his name printed next to it, suggesting that he will be the biggest attraction to view the film. The star is dressed in black and looks serious which implies its an adventurous and perhaps sad film. The tagline "one man saw it coming" gives an ominous undertone. The fact that it is Will Smith playing the role would suggest to viewers familiar with his works that there will be an element of action in the film. The background image, full of robots, implies the the film also has elements of sci-fi which could suggest an invasion of robots onto earth.

Platoon (1989) - There are creative technical codes used in the title. The title is in bold, all in uppercase, in white, with red outlines. Two letters are replaced with dog tags which immediately has war connotations, but the fact that they are attached to a peace symbol perhaps suggests a personal, inner conflict. As dog tags are generally associated with war, the attached peace sign suggests the soldiers were conscripted and are there against their own will. The foreground image of the man is picked out, set against the background of destruction. He appears to be dying in great pain, perhaps praying to God. The background of palm trees, normally associated with paradise, are alight. This suggests a napalm attack, immediately associating the film with the Vietnam war. The image in itself suggests a paradise lost... hell on earth.

Shaun of the Dead (2004) - The prodominant colour of the poster is red; perhaps signifying death or the blood associated with a zombie film. However, what the poster shows is a 'normalisation' of these zombies. They are on a London train, in a normal, everyday situation. This links to the poster tagline "ever felt like you were surrounded by zombies?" - a humourous comparison to commuters. The genre of the film is easily identified as spoof horror. The fact that there are zombies represent the horror element, but the flowers represent the romantic aspect described in the second tagline: "a romantic comedy with zombies." The main character is picked out by the use of colour contrasted the zombies' washed out grey colour. The white font is bold with chapped edges which could represent gravestones, in a sense linking to the zombies.

By Jason Grandison

Purpose (Short Film)

There are many possible purposes of a short film but the primary ones are to educate, promote awareness and to experiment with new techniques etc.

They could also be used to showcase talent through film festivals, hoping to attract the attention of film companies/directors.

Another purpose is to raise awareness of issues in society, exposing the audience to them. They can often be public information videos which are screened to audiences such as schools or youth groups. Short films generally aim to make a point about something, highlighting issues or themes such as racism or gun crime.

The difference between short films and full length feature films is that short films are made to inform and educate the audience while feature length Hollywood mainstream films are purely there to entertain and to make a profit.

By Jason Grandison