I decided to base my short film around a story I had written a while ago. After some editing and refining I was happy with the idea and convinced my vision was achievable.
Original Story
The Speech by Kira Moore on Scribd
Having completed the script I started contacting theatres to see if there was a space available for me to film on-location in. I also started putting together a cast and had every part covered as well as someone to help with on-set filming and transporting all the equipment to whatever theatre facilities I could gain access to. Having been in touch with a lot of different theatre and received no reply I decided to adapt the on-location filming to more of an outdoor press conference. This way I could still have the speech and the public event as a catalyst for the Woman's punishment just without the cinematic value of a theatre.
I put together a list of everything I would require which included props, lights and cameras:
Chauffeur Cap
Roses
Car
Green Light Filter
Stand alone LED
Camera flash with burst effect
Camera capable of filming in high-quality slow motion
Incinerator
Flour/Charcoal/Paint Powder to create dust and destruction effect
Cardboard and Scrap wood to create rubble
I then went through the script and added all the shots and some editing effects I would sue so I had a plan when it came to filming.
Heavily Edited Script with Shots Listed:
Shot List for First Day of On Set Filming:
This is what I have planned so that I have plenty of footage to play around with in the later scenes as well. The clinical room and the car will be filmed another time and the way the clinical room and the 'theatre' are filmed will be directly oppositional. One showing a world full of life and constant motion the other very cold and hostile.
Initial Edit:
I put together the opening sequence from the footage taken on Sunday and for the rest of this film added filler text and music to gauge how long the finished film would be. It came to approximately four minutes twenty seconds.
Being happy with the initial edit and how the narrative was taking shape I arranged another shoot with fewer cast members planning to complete all the 'Clinical Room Scenes' and, if possible, the 'Explosion Scene'.
Equipment Needed:
Camera
SD Card
Tripod
Light
VR Headset
Syringe
Stark Room Setting
As it would be near-impossible for me to get a stark-white, windowless room to film in for a day without months advance notice I decided I would rearrange and adapt the spare-bedroom at my house. By stripping the bed down to the mattress and the frame and removing all other furnishings I could create the impression of a derelict and sterile reality. Thereby preserving the message and atmosphere of the piece. Must remember to get the voiceover segment in the same room to preserve the background ambience and minimize noise pollution.
Clinical Filming Day:
I managed to complete the clinical room scenes on one day throughout a couple of hours. The main challenge here was getting all the same shots from the same angle without there being slight movement. The whole point of this sequence is a lack of motion to compare to the sense of motion and life in the 'theatre scene'. To show how her real-life situation as static and ever-repeating. This was a very challenge piece to film because of how emotional it was but I feel I was able to preserve this as well as maintain the style I was using.
Production Photos:
Final Day of Filming:
This was arguably the most challenging day of filming simply because of the ambitious set design. I was set up to film both the flashback scene and the explosion scene. The flashback was supposed to happen before to speech takes place in the narrative. As such I filmed this at dusk rather than waiting for nightfall as with the actual speech scene. It was challenging to get the angles I wanted but I did eventually get the effect I wanted and, during the first draft edit, I found this sequence possibly the easiest to work with in terms of lack of ambience in the audio and the shots all matching up well. I only shot in from three angles to get the shot-reverse-shot effect I wanted and the shot of the schedule (for which I had to climb into the boot of the car I was using). The explosion scene was a lot more challenging. I did the makeup while we waiting for the sun to set. After reviewing the shots I think I could've spent more time considering the makeup but the overall effect was achieved. To make it more comfortable for the actors I laid down a sheet which then had to be moved out of shot. This didn't happen in a couple of takes so the choice of shots I had during the edit was narrowed down. I also had to use a step ladder to get the bird's eye angle I wanted but this worked exactly as I wanted it to. Keeping the fire going was also a task as I used cardboard as fuel so it would create a large flame quickly. I had to have someone constantly feeding the fire between shots in order to keep it going. Talcon powder was used as smoke and dust and, overall, I think the ambience and effect I wanted was achieved during the shoot. The camera I used wasn't capable of the slow-motion capture I wanted for the flower petal but this ending up working in my favour. I added a grainy filter in the edit and it made the whole piece look a lot more deliberately corrupted. As it is a traumatic memory it is feasible the file the Woman is being shown would, therefore, be corrupted somewhat.
Initial Evaluative Response:
During the planning process I took into account what my evaluation would look like. As part of this I must make reference to at least 80 minutes of short film. Here is how I linked my creative decisions and influences to those 80 minutes.
One of the key stylistic elements, particularly at the start, of my film is blurring the lines between what is real and what isn't. This was derived from watching 'La Jetee' which uses completely still images to show an experiment where a man's consciousness is sent through time. I took particular notice of how entirely visual the narrative was and how an understanding that there was a difference between what was happening in 'real life' and in the past/future could be achieved without exposition. This is what I endeavoured to do by simply having the object of a VR Headset speak for itself. Without outright saying that the Woman is reliving her own memory over and over it is implied through the mise-en-scene and language used.
Another of the short films I took influence from was 'The Gunfighter'. I enjoyed how it blurred the lines between diegetic and non-diegetic sound and utilised this in my own piece in both a very short voiceover segment (nor quite clear it's voiceover) and for the explosion scene. Instead of having the classic, expected ringing ear sound effect I decided I would have the short sequence after the initial blast completely silent. This was to draw the audience to the emotion of the scene and also help to imply how the event isn't taking place in present day. I also took the location of a public event from this film for my own. The overall stylisation of 'The Gunfighter' was also something I pulled from. Having the start be of a mainstream stylisation before developing to have a narrative twist and a slightly different stylisation. In 'The Gunfighter' this is the voiceover becoming the driving force behind the plot and in 'The Speech' it's our initial understanding behind the reality of the scene becoming distorted. The repetitive nature of the shots within 'The Gunfighter' was also something I hoped to utilise. Where Sally was repeatedly cut back to in long-shot and the Henderson Boys in two-shot. I would use this simplistic stylisation during the 'Clinical Room' sequences to show how dull and sterile 'real life' is compared to the life and vibrancy of the theatre.
Similarly to this I would take a strong stylistic influence from 'Elephant'. This contains nearly no dialogue and is a series of sequences where many different people are murdered. I noticed that in many of these the same shot sequence was repeated (long-shot tracking of person walking, long-takes and leading up to a close-up of the dead body). This is something I took heavy influence from however to less of an extreme. I tried to utilise the stylisation while taking away the dull aspect of the repetitive nature. Therefore, there is only one sequence that literally repeats itself which is the very beginning. A series of close-ups to focus on the tummy-tingling, lip-biting, knee-shaking sensation of being one stage. In addition to this I would have the repetitive shots in the 'Clinical Room' scenes as aforementioned.
The final of the short films I took influence from was 'Stutterer'. This seemed an obvious choice as one of the key themes of my film is speech/voice and lack thereof. This is exactly the same in 'Stutterer'. One of the key things I noticed was the extreme close-ups repeated of mouths and words. This is a shot I applied to my own film both in the above mentioned opening sequence and just before the explosion where I would have a shot of the sister about to speak before cutting to black. The Sister never actually gets to speak which attests to the underlying message of communication and the struggle to find peace I am trying to convey. The context of my film is deliberately ambiguous so that it could apply to any struggle for power and peace throughout human history. Granted, I create the undertone of science-fiction but the 'alien race' could be symbolic for any number of prejudices the human race have carried in history. This message of communication is also ever-present in 'Stutterer'. It tells the story of a modern-day human connection and how, sometimes, words aren't what is needed to communicate yourself clearly. This is what I sought to do in 'The Speech'. Communication without words. That way the title is rather ironic.
First Draft Evaluative Response:
All of the above achieved.
Good Points -
I applied an adjustment layer to the 'Clinical Room' scenes as part of the first edit. I slightly increased the contrast and brightness so it reflected the harshness of her environment. This also increased the contrast I was trying to show through the costume colouring making the white the Woman is in a lot harsher and the black the Stranger is in a lot deeper. I used these more for binary opposition than to show innocence or guilt. I wanted to create morally ambiguous characters that were simply representative of concepts and two different races so the film can be read into in different ways. On one hand there's the literal interpretation of the Woman advocating for an alien race but this could also be interpreted as any kind of conflict throughout the history of the human race. In extension to this interpretation, it is then a criticism on human nature and the primitive need for violence and conflict.
I also added an adjustment layer to the explosion scene to make it purposefully grainy to, once again, hint at the difference between what is real and what is the forced memory she is experiencing. As this is such an obviously traumatic event the memory is likely to be corrupted (grainy) and jumpy. I included an out of focus shot of the flower petal to hint at the fact that this was where the bomb was hidden before it is actually revealed in the following memory sequence.
To further this blurring between the lines of what is real and what is memory I used the repeated sequences and shots. This, I think, was completed effective and worked almost exactly as I had hoped it would. I edited the original clips and then took the sequences that I needed to repeat and inserted them where I needed them in the later edits. The very opening sequence is repeated twice and the piece where the Woman receives the flowers is repeated. What really then blurred the lines between what is real and what isn't is that I changed certain shots the second time for the Woman receiving the flowers. Bringing the friend into focus and adding in a shot of the bomb/light in the flowers to give this big reveal. This, again, feeds into the possibility for the alternative readings. On the one hand, often when we return to memories we notice something we didn't the first time, on the other the memory could've been altered by the Stranger. Take this in addition to lengthening and slowing some detail the Woman would remember more clearly and the skips for the bits she wouldn't remember properly and I believe my intention was clearly conveyed.
The final sequence is perhaps the most important in conveying this intention clearly. It what is presumed to be real life I insert pieces of the memory we've already seen but then I added a shot that I hadn't previously been used. This shot is of the sister mouthing "wouldn't have missed it for the worlds" as the Woman later says. This is a very important phrase but by placing the shot here it creates the ambiguity. Is it the woman imagining it as she places her head in her hands? Or is she losing her grip on her own reality? Or is everything she's experiences part of a further simulation?
In the edit, for the 'Clinical Room' scenes I also added an ambient engine humming sound effect to add to this superficial reading of the sci-fi elements along with the line "wouldn't have missed it for the worlds."
Bad Points -
There is a singular shot during the penultimate 'Clinical Room' scene where boxes and equipment can be seen in the background. This is the only take I did of that particular shot and I moved all the boxes for all of the others. Hence, using this shot was unavoidable but, as it is in the background, it doesn't distract from the action taking place. This happened in the same sort of way when filming the explosion scene. The sheet I had the actors lie down on is visible in a singular shot however, as the lighting is so low-key, it too doesn't distract from the action.
The actual equipment I had access to also limited me somewhat. The camera I used didn't have the capacity to pick up the slow-motion shot of the petal in the dark or effectively pick up the camera flash as part of the photography. This reduced the cinematic effect I was trying to achieve as it is less clear that this Woman is important as the flash of the Press' camera isn't clear.
Another point surrounding the overall cinematic quality is that there are a few point where an actor in the background or mid-action breaks the fourth wall. During filming I failed to notice these so some made it into the cut. One was left in deliberately but there are two other occasions where the shot was necessary so it couldn't be avoided. Again, while these take away from the sense of verisimilitude they don't affect the narrative or the actual shot technique I was trying to demonstrate so they're no great loss.
During editing there were several points at which the ambience or audio volume changed between takes. As such I had to isolate the audio of certain points and place them over the pieces of film where the audio was corrupted. While this was mostly effective I think, during the very opening segment, it is noticeable that the audio has been altered. At several point I had to cut it completely and at others edit separate audio onto shots. It isn't distracting but it isn't perfect.
The final thing I wasn't completely happy with was the cut from the Woman opening her mouth to speak to the applause. I would've liked to cut to black for a second first to show a clearer gap in the memory and that the speech has taken place and time passed. However, due to time constraints I was unable to do this. All the other cuts to black were completely essential to the narrative so the cut after the extreme close-up was cut. Another aspect that was cut was showing the title again at the end to imply the audience may also be experiencing the simulations the Woman is. Again, this wasn't essential to the narrative and added too much time to the length so wasn't included.
First Draft:
Evaluation in Full:
Finished Product (edited to my preference):
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