Our final script follows the story of
Shaun, a 21 year old that works in a call centre following the same routine day
after day. He walks past a homeless man everyday on his way to work ignoring
each time he asks for money to stay in the shelter for a night. The next
morning Shaun finds the homeless man collapsed on the floor. From then on the
narrative follows Shaun trying to overcome his guilt through firstly trying to
save a man from being mugged to finally volunteering at a local charity that
supports the homeless community.
The 5-10 minute piece was created through
the expansion of our 2 minute piece that we wanted to use as the first section
of the film. We wanted the main emotion we produced in the piece of ‘guilt’ to
be the turning point of the film where it made the character want to change his
life. However our original plan was
changed because our main actor went on holiday without informing us so we had
to recast our character to fit in with the shooting schedule. This set back
though meant that we could reshoot the scenes we were not completely pleased
such as the living room scene, in the two minute piece, that I felt was
unsuccessful due to the location we were using and the lighting that was
broken. We reshot this scene with the new actor in a different location with
better lighting.
In the brief we were instructed that we
needed a three-way conversation between characters. Originally our plan was to
have two paramedics in a scene after Shaun finds the homeless man dead but this
scene ended up being cut last minute due to actors dropping out on the morning
of the shoot. This meant that we extended the scene where Shaun talks to his
mum and step-dad so that it was a three-way conversation. This meant that the
mum was almost an add-on which can be seen in the scene as she leaves early on
to make a cup of tea. If we were to reshoot we would make sure to have actors
who were available so that we would be able to capture that scene which would
really add to the plot and push the story and the guilt that Shaun feels along.
Another problem that occurred with the mum and dad scene was that due to the
change in main actor the son and father did not look like they could be related
as Sid was Indian and Declan has natural blonde hair. This meant that we had to
re-write the script so that the dad was now a step-dad. This was done by using
words such as “mate” rather than “son”.
While guilt is the main driving force
throughout the film, that we show through how Shaun tries to better himself by
trying to save a guy getting mugged or by volunteering at a charity, I feel we
also portray many emotions linked to modern day life. Shaun seems almost
emotionless at the beginning of the film as he is unmoved by the sad stories
appearing on the news like he has just become accustomed to stories like this.
We also wanted to capture the idea of him being lonely which we did through his
inability to communicate with the people around him such as the girl in the
lift and even when he is at work he does not call anyone on the phone. With the
guilt I feel the main scene that perceives how he is feeling is that of the
scene where he talks it through with his step-dad. The actor’s performance in
the scene really helps to show how Shaun is feeling about the death of the
homeless man. This is backed up through the use of camera angles especially the
close up on his face that really captures the anger and guilt that he is
feeling.
Even with all these sad emotions running
through the film we did not want to end with Shaun not coming through to the
other side. To do this we used the charity shop scene to show that Shaun has
found a way to get over his guilt without the chance of being hurt again. By
ending the film like this Shaun has successfully changed his life for what can
be perceived as the better.
During the production of the piece it has
helped me gained new insight into the job of a producer. The producer is in
charge of the whole running of the piece from shooting days to budget to
locations making it a very important aspect to the film.
As producer I had to work closely with all
members of the team in different ways; with TS it was orgainsing the post
production schedule and then discussing with Danayet in the very baby stages of
the piece the idea and message we wanted to portray. This gave me an insight on every part of the
project so I was really able to see the piece change from being an idea into a
full piece. This helped to teach me the best ways in which to communicate with
the group where I would pass message on and organise meetings showing me how
much of a key role the producer is.
My first main role was to help with the
casting of the main actor, which was a new role for me as I had never held a
proper audition process before. As I was the person who had to ring the actors
and tell them whether they were successful or not made me feel very close to
the project due to my decisions being the ones that could make or break the
project.
Most of my role consisted of problem
solving due to problems with actor changes and availability of some locations.
I made these easier by constructing a timetable of when everyone was free meaning
we could be flexible with when we could shoot and know which members of the
group were available. This came in useful as halfway through shooting the film
our main actor got a part time job so we had to change the days in which we
were shooting as I had made a timetable I knew exactly whenever was free and
could move the days too. However we did struggle with all of us being available
due to all members of the group being in different modules but we all tried to
make sure we turned up to the shoots we could.
Throughout the film I felt like I took on
my role successfully and completed all that was expected of me. For example
contacting the charity to enquire about using their premises as well as asking
if a member of their team could be used as the sales assistant to give the
whole film a more authentic feel. When we arrived at the shop I took on the
role as producer through sorting the agreement forms with both the charity shop
and the role of sales assistant before helping out with the sound. As Tyrese
was not present on most of the shoots I took on the role of boom operator to
assist T.S. who now had to take on the role of sound recordist as well as
editor. Even though Tyrese’s unavailability throughout the film of the piece
could have set us back we made sure that we worked hard to overcome this
obstacle. T.S. took on the role of sound recordist and I took on the role of
boom operator sometimes assisted by Emily if we needed another boom in the
scene. We all wanted the piece to turn out the way we wanted so made sure we
put in the extra work when needed.
On the rare occasion I was unable to attend
a shooting day I made sure that all my tasks were completed before such as
during the call centre scene in the 2 minute piece I made sure that the library
was well informed of our arrival and had been granted permission by Karl
Townsend, the campus manager, beforehand.
The workshop that I felt was most helpful
was the one that took place in Workstation 102 that helped us block out a scene
that we were given. This helped us learn how a scene can be considered in
different ways such as how the actor could react to the dialogue or what angle
the camera could be set up to view the scene the best way. This also supported
us through working with our actors with how to direct them into the right
positions and how to talk scenes through with them. This made us gain an
understanding on how difficult it can be to direct a scene using actors, as we
needed to explain the exact image we had in our heads for them to be able to
act out.
Other seminars that I found really
instructive was that of the one to one tutorial group sessions where Chris
would watch the rushes we had so far and help to point us in the right direction
of where to go to next or what he felt needed to be changed with a certain
scene. This also helped us with knowing what tasks needed to be completed for
each role such as mine with planning meetings, preparing call sheets and
sorting schedules. We all put in to practice what we learnt from these
tutorials which I hope shows in the film.
For most of the filming I constructed my
own research for my inspirations. My first came from the film Fight Club. The film follows the
character of ‘Jack’ who lives a mundane boring life that only consists of going
to work and going home similar to our character of Shaun. They both have change
happen in their life that moves their lives around, in the case of ‘Jack’ it’s Fight Club and with Shaun it’s the death
of the homeless man. While they both change for differently with ‘Jack’ turning
towards a more violent way of life and Shaun to helping in a homeless charity
shop they both alter their life due to other circumstances.
The Pursuit
of Happyness was another influence of mine; this film tackles head on the
message that we also want to show. Chris Gardener is made homeless after a bad
investment deal leaving him and his son on the street. They take shelter in a
church that offers help to the homeless. Throughout the film I wanted to
capture a similar idea to help being available to the homeless, which we did
through Shaun offering to volunteer while trying to get over his guilt.
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