Saturday 21st November
DEVELOPMENT FOR STORY
Victoria and I had been given the weekend to develop the story. We spent a lot of time trying to think of different situations we could place our character in. It was difficult to locate the specific problems with our narrative so we instead decided to start from a clean slate and see what we could come up with. We managed to develop an entirely new concept that included a completely different set design, but after some consideration, we decided that bringing a new idea to the table probably wasn't the most logical route to take. I think that because we'd spent so much time on our previous idea, we started to believe that the entire narrative was the issue. Kaitlan, our DOP came in to help us and insisted that we just needed to give more time to our original idea. We agreed and started to pick apart what we already had. At least we had gone on that journey to realise that a new idea is not what we needed; we just needed to really refine and get to the root of the narrative for our original idea. Kaitlan drew up important themes and moments in the narrative so far and lay them across the floor so we could try and visualise it. We then began to bounce ideas off one another. Here are our thought processes:
Protagonist: Man in his late 30’s early 40’s
Possible problems in man’s life:
Divorced and has a child he doesn’t see
Homeless and no job
Lost - has no purpose in life
Alcoholic / substance abuse
Lonely - has no family or friends
A widower
On his deathbed / he has a certain amount of time to live
Dementia
Crisis:
The man could be the bad guy?
He could be guilty?
Someone could ‘break’ in and it’s clear their not welcome there
The person banging at the window would be the person whose mind it is
A physical visualisation of amnesia, so like amnesia personified.
Break-in: a figure comes into the set and steals as much as possible - we see from
Starts off the same but when he looks through the window there’s a figure in the room
Things we don't have with our current story:
- Backstory
- Ending
- Conflict / plot twist
Themes:
- Losing memories - amnesia?
- Remember something?
- Trying to heal
- Lost
Man on bench, maybe he's lost?
- Amnesia / lost memories
How can we show this?
- Hospital band around wrist (could be too obvious)
- Wearing slippers
- Wearing pyjama pants
- Perhaps holding a coffee cup or something that you would only have indoors
BEGINNING:
INSIDE THE SET: Low angle shot from the box of a figure rifling through and taking things.
OUTSIDE THE SET: From the bench the man could have a mini break down to show he is lost or doesn't know where to go - maybe he could look left and right. He puts his hands in his head to show he's panicking.
INSIDE THE SET: Figure spreads white sheet out in the air and drapes it over a piece of furniture. (this would be a really quick action shot).
OUTSIDE THE SET: The festoon lights will then turn on and lead into the distance where the room is. The man will then get up and curiously follow them. He will reach the window, it's got condensation on it he wipes it with his sleeve and sees the shadow of the figure taking things and making a mess. He bangs angrily on the window and the shadow scatters across the room and disappears.
(FOR NOW WE'RE NOT SURE HOW THE MAN ENTERS THE ROOM BUT WE'LL DO SOME EXPERIMENTS TO FIND THE BEST WAY)
INSIDE THE SET: The man enters the room and looks on the floor where post-it notes and pieces of paper are scattered where the figure has broken in. He sees a photo frame facing upside down on the floor and bends to pick it up. As he does, the back comes off and the photo falls out which he then picks up. The man turns it around and sees a family picture of a woman, man, two little girls and a dog - the man's face has light going through it (if we can do this - EXPERIMENT - pin hole photos look at Amy Friend).
Man turns to take in the rest of the set, he notices the draped over furniture and slides the photo he is holding into his pocket. He tries to uncover the blanket, struggles and fails. He tries again with more gusto (here the shot changes from behind him, to him facing the camera and we can see the window in the background). At the window the same figure from before stands watching him, waiting for him to leave so he can recover the 'memories'. After struggling and uncovering an arm chair he decides to sit on it and almost gives up, but he then starts looking at the rest of the room in front of him. He notices the box slightly ajar and gets up putting both his hands on the side of the armchair and walks over it. He finds the key, goes to the door, locks it and leaves the key in it. The man turns around.
ENDING:
The man tests the key on the door from the inside and locks it. Then satisfied that it works, he unlocks it and exits the room. He shuts the door behind him, holding the keys in his hand as if he's about to lock it. He pauses for a second before slipping the key into his pocket. He begins to follow the festoon lights back to the bench. In the background we see the figure move from the window and enter the room through the door. When this happens the man still walking away, pauses for a second, frowns like a thought has crossed his mind, then brushes it off and continues walking.
HOW WE SHOW THE SET ISN'T REALITY:
There could be the same slippers the man is wearing in the corner of the room and the robe or jacket he's wearing hung up on a coat rack. This would show that the room is personal to the man (as it's his mind) but also that it's not real.
POST-IT NOTES:
What could they say?
- Remember Sarah coming round at 4
- Dinner in the fridge
- Doctor's appointment at 1
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