Studio Company Name: Sweet Smoke Productions

Film Name: A Hit At The Movies

Director: Josh Linden

Writer: Josh linden

Cinematographer: Alex Matheson

Editor: Joshua du Val

Sound design: Alex Matheson and Joshua du Val

Rory Lambert: Sound

Dan Butt: Cinematography

Kacper Bojarski: Writer

We will be sharing editing and directing between us as equally as possible.

Film Idea:

Our short film will be focused around a middle aged man who is stressed in life, there will be very minimal dialogue if any. We will start the film off with a simple montage of his day and show subtle things that aggravate him to create a theme. There will be a conflict between the man and someone on the phone (possibly a son/wife) which tips him over the edge in a fit of rage which will be the turning point. After this call the film will then focus on the mans attempt to heal his stress through therapy/yoga which will ease the tension in the film. A main scene of the film will be some skipping shots between the man swimming peacefully in a pool and him arguing on the phone in a kind of flashback, This contrast between relaxation and stress will be shown through the man going under the water and then coming up for air which is symbolizing his mental state. The end of the film will show the man staring at the edge of the pool and then all of a sudden he smashes his head against the edge consequently leading to his “supposed” suicide. we would like to leave the viewer with the question of whether hes dead or not.

Themes: psychosis/stress/suicide

Id like for the film to be focused on the contrast between a healthy lifestyle and an unhealthy mind so i think the film should be shot in a nice clean house and use mise en scene of having lots of healthy foods and objects. We will have very minimal dialogue in the film and use lots of long distance shots to symbolize the mans isolation and anxieties.

No Dialogue in this short film

shots need to be uncomfortable, audience can’t get the resolution it wants by seeing what it wants, i aim to keep interest by making them wait for that resolution, but it needs to be subtle so that it is a subconscious reaction.

starts with 1 sitting on end of bed,

shot idea – upper chest in the bottom of the frame and upper nose top of frame, eyes are not in view and lips are the focus which makes it uncomfortable for the viewer, as if they are this close to a strangers face.

Camera following protagonist at high angle, establishing the protagonist as a victim

additionally birds eye view helps to establish the protagonist as a victim however is difficult to set up true birds eye view.

The money shot – set up with the camera fixed to a bicycle wheel, the shot is of a person in the bath, it is a very flat, 2D shot, the lip of the bath lines up with the middle of the shot so you cannot see inside the bath at all (although this will depend on the height of the bath and wheel and whether or not i can get the camera low enough without the wheel touching the ground) the person falls back into the bath and camera follows trying to keep person in focus, once it rotates 180 degrees from the top to the bottom, the shot will be cut, the person will move to the other end of the bath and rise up with the camera, as if they had fully rotated in the bath with the camera in the new shot, i’m hoping that the blur during the middle of the spin will mask the transition and make it smooth.

I’m using this shot to show what the world is like from the character’s view, it will be less focused on Mise-En-Scene and more on how his mental illness’s are distorting his mind, visually i will represent this with uncomfortable camera techniques such as dutch angles (canted angles) close up shot lengths, bringing the audience very close to a character that they haven’t had time to empathise or connect with and contrast between low and high angles.

For example, at the start of the scene, i don’t want to show the full character in shot so as to not let the audience recognise or associate the character at all, its still a mystery to them, so close ups will make up most of the first few shots. Additionally the shots will be quite flat angles to start off with, for example – eye level. This helps keep the mood a little more neutral, therefore leaving me space to build discomfort. later on in the scene i will slowly start to pan out further from the character when following it, this is like giving the audience a break from the presence of this unknown character, so that when i bring my turning point in the scene, it will be abrupt and uncomfortable. I could also use angles like a birds eye view if possible or high angles to establish the character as a victim of his own mind. The character seems far less intimidating when the audience is above it.

Finally, in the turning point of my scene, the shot i discussed before is used and now the camera is brought right back up to the characters face / body, the angles are low, the audience feels discomfort since this character that seemed mysterious yet docile is suddenly in their face. Dutch angles will reflect the confusion that the character is experiencing, and the idea of how nauseating it is to be in their mind.

Since there is no diegetic dialogue in the scene, i am going to use non-diegetic voices to represent the voices in the characters head, for example – a multitude of people arguing.

ROLE	PLANNING	SHOOTING	EDITING
EDITING	Done	Done	Done (Could be improved)
SOUND	In Progress	Not Started	Not Started
CINEMATOGRAPHY	Done	In Progress	Not Started

Role	Planning	Shooting	Editing
Editing	Done	Done	Done
Cinematography	Done	Done	Done
Sound	Done	In progress

I am currently in the process of reviewing and developing my list of film clips. I have posted several clips i will use from you tube to avoid hand-braking the whole film, and adding a POINT paragraph to explain and evaluate the significance of the clips and how i will use them

I have also included a range of secondary material such as sources from books and online websites to support my ideas for the study. I have also included several theorists to either support or challenge the points i have made.

I am currently writing and reviewing my script to ensure that it is written to the best of my ability. The reason why i have not yet submitted it, is because i want to utilize my only opportunity for feedback by submitting the best version of my script i can