EVALUATION #14

I remember immediately being drawn to the Art Department. When there was first talk of this project, i originally thought that i would've put myself down for the role of a director, as i quite enjoy coming up with narrative and seeing it develop into a particular vision. However, when the google doc came out with all the different roles, the Art Department felt like a breathe of fresh air. I've always been interested in design and I've done quite a lot of miniature model making, so i saw building a life size set as an exciting challenge. I also feel like the set really brings life to the scene, tone and general feel of the film. The film wouldn't be believable if the set was created carelessly and quickly, with shitty materials. You need to create an immersive space, and for that to happen, you need to fully care for your design and fully immerse yourself in the experience of imagining it up and building it. I also felt confident in the fact that i would be able to come to this role with a fresh and creative perspective. Ideally, i wanted to be Production Designer and as our Art Dept group was rather small, i felt like it would be easy to discuss which roles we wanted to take on and why. The Art Department consisted of Myself, Annie, Mariah, and Alya was the Art Depts' producer. Even though it meant taking on more duties due to being a smaller group, i actually thought it worked in our favour. We were a really great team, we communicated clearly and actually agreed on most things. In one of our first Green Team meetings (Quickly arranged by Reagan who was a brilliant producer), i put forward the Set Designer Es Devlin as potential inspiration for the teams set. Her work came to mind when i looked at one out of the 5 photo's we had been given. The photograph depicted two children in a barn like space; one hiding in a dark corner on the interior and the other peering through a window with light pouring in. Es Devlin's set Design for the play 'Chimerica' by Lucy Kirkwood, immediately drew a connection to this photograph in my mind. I started to think about all the possibilities and how much fun the team could have creating a rather simple but thought provoking structure.  When i put forward Es Devlin's work, the team seemed to really be inspired by it so we quickly decided that we'd like to develop our idea around her set design and we moved on from there. It was really great to see a shared positive response to her work, as i would've thought that at least a couple of people would've had reservations about it. However, we all liked the direction we were heading in and came to a quick and surprisingly efficient group decision. It was a really positive start to the project and a great introduction to the Green Team. 

The Art Department's producer, Alya got straight to it which was brilliant and arranged for us to have a zoom call. We had been told at the beginning of the project that the Art Department was the only department that would need to be in conversation with the Red Team. This was because there simply wouldn't be enough time or enough resources to construct two completely different, separate sets. This made a lot of sense and we didn't imagine that it would be too tricky to head in a similar direction as the other team. We knew we needed to see what their plans were in relation to ours. I had been in conversation with our Team's 1st AD, Victoria and after all the great ideas that were discussed in our big group zoom call, together we had developed a rough narrative idea. Even though it was wonderful to have so many ideas floating around and it was clear people were passionate, it was a difficult job for Vicky to try and include everyone's thought processes in the same script. So, we decided it would be more efficient to have the both of us trying to make it more concise. As it was just a rough draft however, we accepted that we could develop it further and left it as it was for now.  So, it was time to see what the Red Team had come up with.

Alya made the Art Dept meeting so that it was just green team 2-2:30 and then the red team's art department would join the call after 2:30. This way we could hopefully compromise on a set design. We had been messaging the Red Team to get a sense of their idea and we were aware that it was very different to ours. Not only had they chosen a different photo, their idea was also very different. We had a narrative about a man looking at himself and almost entering his mind whereas there's was about an alien abduction related to anxiety. Two very strong ideas, there's no doubt about that. It was just stressful imagining how we were going to make similar sets. 

We started the zoom by discussing with Alya any ideas we'd had since the whole green team last talked. I went first and brought up my most recent blog with a lot of visual aids to help get my visions across.  I discussed with them inspiration i had gained from the 'Stranger Things' scene where Winona Ryder communicates to her son through the lights. We all agreed that this would be a visually pleasing element to the film and would also help guide the narrative as our character will be interacting with the lights. 

I then showed them what inspiration i had found for how we could execute the condensation effect on the window. The artist Nick Turpin was in the forefront of my mind as his photographs of unsuspecting people on buses are stunning. The combination of the coloured lights and the condensation make each photo look as though it's been painted; the strokes of moisture on the window let out pockets of light and create different textures on the window. Also, his photo's are an observation; we are looking into these people's lives and have no idea where they've been or where they're going. This just adds mystery and intrigue to his photography which is exactly what we want to achieve in our film. 

The Red Team then joined the call. We each shared our ideas and we put forward our vision of how the set would look. In our team, we had decided to have it as a similar shape to Es Devlin's design, although more rectangular than square and have a gap for the camera crew. There was no way we could make a 360 degree set. Ours was going to be a basic U shape with an extra flat on the front for a window to go on. This flat would be removable so that the Red Team wouldn't need to use it if they didn't want it. When we put this to them they seemed happy with also using this layout for their set. Although it was a very brief zoom call, we were happy that a shape had been confirmed. We still weren't sure however, if they were going to use wallpaper which we weren't too keen on. We just asked them to let us know when they'd decided.

Towards the end of the call, Alya mentioned that Reagan has decided to designate the script writing and story development to Vicky, Rodrigo and I. I would be working alongside the two directors, as the initial set design was inspired by an artist that i presented to the team, so Reagan felt that i have a clearer idea in my mind of where the story should go. I was very grateful that I had been asked to assist with the narrative, as story telling to me is extremely important and i have a lot of fun doing it. I knew i would have to make sure to keep the Art Department updated on any developments as i'm sure there would be quite a few.

As i live with Victoria, i told her immediately that we had been asked to start developing initial ideas for a script. We were both very excited and also a little daunted, but we got straight to it. We first created a 'script writing' google doc and began to brainstorm ideas. I relayed inspiration that the art department had come up with, such as certain objects to have within the room. We got onto discussing the nervous system. So far, the narrative is a man looking in on himself. We started talking about different parts of the brain and how our mind is compartmentalised; the left side of the brain is the logical and analytical side, whereas the right side is more creative. There's also a part of the brain called the Amygdala, which controls fear. This was all really interesting and exciting to research, as we started envisioning it having an impact on the narrative. We wanted our protagonist to react to objects in the room but we weren't sure exactly what objects we should have to show some meaning. Mariah, Annie, Alya and I (the art department) had been discussing really interesting objects we could include but there still wasn't a specific motive behind each one. Vicky and I thought about how interesting it would be to make the room a metaphor for his mind. We can have the left side of the room signify the left side of the brain (and therefore hold logical objects) and the right side signify the right side of the brain (hold more creative objects). We kept thinking about how we could really show the audience that he was basically in his own brain, as we didn't think just having themed objects on either side would be enough.  I came up with the idea that, when the sounds of each object he touches gets too chaotic and he gets fearful, the room can blackout and we can be in complete silence; he will be silent within his own mind. This would give the audience time to breath as well. I then thought that there could be a pulsating glow appear in the background, on the walls, that resembles the nervous system. We could use white LED's to show this. So, in that moment, he is completely surrounded by his own network. I feel like, visually, that would give the audience an indication about where he is. Vicky contacted Rodrigo to arrange a zoom call together. We sent him the docs we had created so that he could go over it prior to the call. Vicky, Rodrigo and I then had the meeting. He really liked the ideas we had come up with so we all started bouncing ideas off one another immediately which was extremely helpful. We realised that we all had very similar ideas as to where the narrative could develop so it was definitely a positive first script meeting! 

As we had more and more meetings with the rest of the team however, we started to realise that a lot of people were rather confused about where the idea was going and how fees-able our rather extravagant plan would be. We heard their concerns and went back to the script to try and simplify it, hoping that by doing this, we would gain a clearer idea of what kind of lighting to use etc. There was confusion about certain roles, as, while writing the narrative, naturally, we were thinking about the lighting and things that weren't necessarily our roles. As a group, we did spend the majority of our time discussing the lighting and how it could be problematic. People weren't sure about the LED's as it could easily look a bit unprofessional and messy. People also mentioned how there were a lot of conflicting lighting ideas. We had lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling but then we also had an LED nervous system and red and blue lighting. I could see how this was becoming more and more confused and a bigger problem. 

The group couldn't seem to come to an immediate conclusion as different lighting brought out different narratives. We had to collectively decide which we would prefer. It was also difficult because only when Vicky and I had finalised the script could everyone start working on their roles. Without a narrative, the lighting and camera crew couldn't start doing shot lists, the Art Department couldn't start imagining the space and the directors had nothing to direct. Vicky and I didn't want to keep changing the narrative but we just weren't sure what everyone wanted. Reagan made a poll regarding lighting and people voted. It was decided that we'd scrap blue and red lighting and focus on the lightbulbs instead. This was needed, however, it was also difficult as we would need to adjust the script again to mould around the lighting. I feel like the whole process should've come about differently. This is because, eventually it was decided that Vicky would be Director instead as it was mainly her idea we were creating. I think we should've began the project by having all people in the director team come up with a separate script which the rest of the team then vote on to decide the best idea. Even though i really enjoyed assisting Vicky in writing the script, to a certain extent i think it complicated things more. We should've just stuck with one person writing the script and developed whatever vision they had. Granted, it's important for the whole team to have an input but i almost feel like we should've come up with two scripts even before anyone decided which team they were going to be on. I think it would've worked well to see two scripts laid out in front of you and decide from that which team you'd like to go on and which story you'd enjoy working on. The whole team allocation seemed a bit random. Despite this however, I was really glad to be on the Green Team as i feel like we all worked really well together. It's natural to have questions, reservations and be honest with the rest of the team. And, although i really enjoyed writing the script with Vicky, I feel like i should've stuck solely to my role as Production Designer. It was good in a way because i would be able to tell the Art Department almost immediately after a meeting with the directors what the narrative was and where we were developing, so that we could get to designing straight away. However, the narrative was forever changing so the things i would relay to our art dept would be forever changing too. Annie would come up with amazing mood boards that really helped us all to visualise the narrative at the time and even though ideas changed a lot, our art team were really amazing at adapting quickly and always coming out with beautiful designs and concepts. Mariah drew up some brilliantly detailed sketches of the set which again, were so useful in being able to imagine the space when we couldn't actually be in the studio to see it. Alya was a great art producer, as she's always keep us on track, arrange meetings and bring her own ideas to the table. 

After simplifying the script, our art dept were able to simplify the set a lot. The idea of covering furniture with white sheets came about in one of our art department meetings which was perfect. It was not only a metaphor for covering and uncovering memories, but it was simple and would look really intriguing and eerie. It would also allow for a good portion of space to be filled. The rest of the team really liked this idea which was a positive. We still weren't sure about the Red Team's wallpaper. We had decided to keep our walls rather plain and simple as we were going to hang pictures and picture frames up on them. So, ideally, we didn't want bold, flashy wallpaper. We finally met with the Red Team and called for the directors of both teams to join the call as well. So we had Vicky with us and Red Team had Izzy. This was really helpful as both of them knew their vision and knew exactly what they wanted. This way, we were able to get answers and compromise a lot quicker. They let us know that they would be having wallpaper but i would be very simplistic like how we wanted and it would only be on one wall. A big problem however, is that their recent design didn't include and overhang (which was alright as we were planning to make ours removable anyway). The issue was the fact that they had a huge window covering one of the flats at the side of the set. This wasn't going to work with out design as our window was a lot smaller and was going to be built into the overhang. They also had a door which we weren't planning on having. However, Vicky and I compromised by changing the narrative to be able to include a door. We put our compromised design to them (An overhang with a door and a smaller window on it). We would also keep the window they wanted on the side as we thought about it and could potentially use it in our favour. They reassured us that the window they were having on the side was no going to be a lot smaller so that was definitely a positive as the huge window did seem a bit obvious and daunting. They liked our compromise and we all agreed on the design very quickly. It was a really positive meeting and we achieved a lot in a very short amount of time. 

When we found out that we wouldn't be able to actually go through with the studio shoot i don't think it was a big surprise to many people, however, actually accepting that all the work we'd put in would be put on pause for a long time was quite disappointing. Especially as the last few weeks of developing the idea did become quite jumbled and stressful. In a way, It's a good thing because it gives us more time to develop the idea with a fresh perspective when we do finally come to shooting. All in all, I think despite a lot of changes being made through out the process and a lot of confusion, it just showed how adaptable the Green Team was. We took on challenges really confidently when faced with them, made sure to up our communication and in the end, i feel like we had a strong idea. It was stronger because of the changes we all made and the problems we discussed and overcame. It was a big learning curve in working with a range of people and it was definitely an interesting experience working with such a big group. I feel like as a group we got closer and learnt a lot about each other and who we'd want to work with, potentially in third year. You really saw people's strengths come through it was really inspiring. 

I'm really glad that i chose to work on the Art Department. It was great to visualise a space that we would eventually come to build. The idea of bringing our whole story to life through this construction was really exciting. Our team worked really well and i honestly can't fault it. I learnt a lot about communication and researched several production designers to try and do my job to the best of my ability. Production designers are meant to work closely with the directors and the script which i definitely did. It was great to have an insight into the story and relay it back to the Art Team. Despite the difficulties, it was a good experience and everyone did the best they could've done in our situation.