Fully Dislocated

In conclusion I feel I started off very well and had a steady, well thought out film being prepared. It was in the dying minutes when it really counts that it all went a bit wrong.

I was always told that when making a student film, 'Never extend beyond your reach. Use two actors and two locations, anything more would not work.'  I used five actors and five locations.  As I was aware of the challenge I had set myself up for I think it made it a lot easier to appropriately prepare.  You just can't prepare for things you don't see coming.

Overall I really can't fault my crew.  I had a few sound people who all did their job, no more no less.  My cameraman used his camera beautifully and captured some fantastic shots.  My producer did above and beyond what she was asked and did it with a smile on her face throughout, which made my life asking her to do things so much easier.

When I am preparing for my next film I will definately use a lot of the techniques I have used on this production.  I set up and planned a detailed, challenging and fun film to work on. I will have to pay a lot more attention to after the actual shoot next time.
I think I am guilty of believing the hard work had passed after the final scene was shot on the last day of shooting when really it was only starting.

This year has taught me a lot not only about the art of putting together a successful film but also about the kind of director and writer I want to be.  Mostly I know now for sure I will do my utmost to keep the drama on the page.

Class Work

The end of year show has now been announced:

Thursday 12th of June
Odyssey Cinemas
6pm

This is exciting yet scary news.  Exciting in the way that the last two years come down to this one night.  Scary in the way that everything I have produced over my time in BMC will fairly or unfairly be judged on this one film.

As Odyssey Cinemas is where I work it will also be a strange feeling to see my own work up the screen that I have seen so many many films on before.  Only this time someone else will be cleaning up my popcorn.

Editing Attitudes

I wanted to get cracking on editing the film the day after our second day of shooting.  My trusty cameraman didn't bring the files in for me to start.  That's the first full day of potential editing lost due to me making rookie assumptions. 

On this day however my cameraman offered and agreed to help edit the final film. My second big mistake came from allowing almost a week to go by of expecting my cameraman to show up when they said they would to start editing on their lap top.  The third was assuming they would reply to any form of attempted communication. 

When a reply finally came it was flooded with yet more empty promises and assurances that reminded me ever so much of the phantom shot list that never was. Why didn't you just start the edit yourself I hear you scream? This was my fourth big mistake.  Allowing my panic to be calmed by words that are a lot easier to say than to do. "I have made a start" and "The rough cut will be done for thursday" will both now echo as a constant reminder that I cannot expect people to have the same drive and passion for my project that I do. 

The day of the deadline arrived and as agreed (again) I am waiting on my cameraman's arrival with the highly anticipated rough cut. I had decided that I would just finish off whatever he had started and hand it in that day. Phonecalls, emails, messages and a few smoke signals were not enough to make me accept the obvious, he wasn't coming. 

A few days later and having left the country and missed the deadline I gave my producer the instructions to hand in whatever he done how little or small.  I had still not got any sort of reply but my ever reliable producer managed to track a reply down that he was not actually aware that he was meant to be editing, he was doing his own film and didn't appreciate this shoddy and informal treatment. 

Well there we have it, all I had to do to get a reply was send my messages out with an official BMC letterhead. 

I can honestly put no blame for my film not being edited yet on anyone but myself.  A relaxed attitude can only take you so far and I see this a massive yet harsh learning experience.  

Trailing Behind

Having took the video files home to edit over the weekend, I discovered that my lap top just is not powerful enough to edit at home.  The file sizes are too big and the quality is too good for me to watch anything as I assemble.

My cameraman has agreed to edit with me all next week and have a rough cut done for us coming back after the weekend/May day.  I have heard similar cases from him that stunk of 'telling me what I want to hear', so I wanted to at least make a start just in case.

Even though I could not gather a full assembly I was able to put together a short trailer using some of the smaller video files.

Shooting Reserved - Day 2

My second day of shooting started off very well.  We had confirmed the cabin for shooting and we were well ahead of schedule. 

We decided to shoot the remaining scenes from yesterday first then move on to the cabin.  I felt it was important to not have actors waiting around a lot just to film one scene at the end of the day.  I therefore made my shooting schedule so that the actors with the least scenes would all be shot together at the start. 

For example Patrick had the least amount of scenes so we shot his first then moved on to Ryan.  This allowed me to be able to send actors home early without asking them to wait around all day.  This method was terrible for my mental health but fantastic for team morale. 

Due to  our battery life once again not stretching the length we needed, we perhaps rushed the final and most important scenes.
Blame can only fall on my shoulders for this as I really should have picked up the equipment myself, I kick myself even more after the same thing happening on the first day. We had one battery on day one and two batteries on day two.  I really feel like this shoot should have had a third day to get things 100% right but that would have been too much to ask from everyone involved, for free.

Overall I was happy with the days shoot.  Light constraints in the cabin made for me having to adapt the plot slightly on the set.  A lot of it was meant to be shot in total darkness and without total darkness a lot of it wouldnt have made sense.  I changed things around and although I feel it wasn't as good as the original idea, I think it should still work. 

Shooting Reserved - Day 1

All of day ones shooting took place in Hillsborough Forest Park.  The schedule that I made had us filming several more scenes and using other locations today but due to our lack of camera batteries we were only able to shoot about 25% of the total film's scenes.  

I wanted to make the first day easy and quick enough to shoot in order to ease everyone into this film gently.  I did want to shoot more than what we ended up with after day one but overall I was very happy with what we shot.  

I scheduled the first day to use only 3 of the 5 actors required.  This give me a chance to iron out any wrinkles in how we were working things before having to get really stuck into shooting the more important scenes.  The main thing I will take from today is to always have spare batteries and to personally check that things have been done with your own eyes.

A Martin Scorsese Picture

One of my main directorial influences would be Martin Scorsese.  Some of my all time favourite films have been directed by him; Cape Fear, Goodfellas, Taxi Driver, Shutter Island and more recently The Wolf of Wall Street.

I have been researching how Martin is on set and have found that unlike a lot of other directors I have read about, he likes to get right into the set with the actors and tell them face to face how he thinks a scene is going and what he would like to change.  This is how I will try to direct Dislocation, up close and personal with my actors getting involved in the acting process and letting them know exactly whether or not I feel like they are doing a good job or not.

I have always been told to 'let an actor act', which of course I will not be instructing them on how to do their job.  I will however not be standing by smiling if I think we need to do another take.  I intend to praise my actors when they do well and politely request another take with suggestions if things are going as I had visioned.  I also will be taking a lot of advice from my DOP, Conor Shearer whose opinion I trust greatly.  

If you go down to the woods today...

A lot of Dislocation will be shot within the forest. I have now got permission to shoot in Hillsborough forest park, thanks to their groundskeeper.  I have always thought there was something particularly haunting about this forest and having found Geocaches here before, I thought this was the perfect, picturesque setting for my horror film.







One of the main reasons I chose Conor Shearer for my Director of Photography was that I know he has a natural talent, as well as experience of shooting nature and capturing the soul of his surroundings.  I am confident that he will be able to get some beautiful shots with this setting as it oozes allure.






We have chosen to use an abandoned cabin on some farmland also in Hillsborough for the cabin scenes.  I feel that this broken down shabby looking house is exactly what we are looking for.

I will need to examine this building in more detail to ensure it is safe to work at and whether we would be able to get inside it.  If not, we may have to set up the studio with a stone cabin theme.

The Dislocation Club

One of my favourite movies of all time would be the 1985 John Hughes film, The Breakfast Club.  Five different stereotypes meet for the first time with nothing to say to each other, but by the end of these 97 minutes of glorious progressive conversing, they bare their soul.

I have always thought this is the kind of film I want to write.  It has a simple easy to follow plot, likable characters with pure entertaining, memorable dialogue.  

"Bender: Well, I don’t know any lepers either - but I’m not gonna run out and join one of their f****n’ clubs."

With the Breakfast Club, there is a quotable moment every 1 or 2 minutes.  Due to the nature of the plot in which it mostly contains five people sitting talking in a confined space, this is all the more impressive that the overall movie didn't come across as boring and slow.  This has really affected how I have been writing for my movie which I feel is also heavily dialogue based.  

"Bender: So it’s sorta social. Demented  and sad, but social."

Most of my short film is based within the forest with some exchanges between Josh and Dan being the height of dialogue.  I tried to make the dialogue fast paced with snappy well thought out comebacks to keep the audiences attention.  

"Bender: I wanna be just like you. I figure all I need is a lobotomy and some tights. 

      Brian: (to Andrew) - You wear tights? 

      Andrew: No, I don’t wear tights. I wear the required uniform. 

      Brian: Tights."

The ending scene of this movie is not only iconic but brilliantly worked.  While the movie is essentially ending and there is no possible room for more of the genius dialogue we have been supplied with, a voice over blasts out the film's swan song.  

Bender is walking towards a final freeze frame air punch to wrap up the movie, serenaded by an 80's classic and galvanising dialogue.  Nothing is actually said here by the character in shot, but the audience still go away feeling fullfilled, I feel I can try to adapt this technique with my end scene in Dislocation.  

In short, this film makes me want to make films.  

Propping up a Film

Props

Binoculars
Backpacks (x2)
Mobile Phone
Images/Videos for mobile phone:

• Geocache available: Dislocation
• Compass, 100 metres away South point
• Compass, 100 metres away North point
• Video: Compass, 15 - 9 metres away North point
• Compass, 7 metres away North point, Geocache hint
• Geocache hint: Closet
• Compass, 0 metres away, North point
• New Spoiler image added
• Bloody head image to be taken on the day of the shoot
• Dislocation, found it option
• Congratulations, you've found it!

Metal Box
Cigar (x2)
Boxes
Gun
Lighter
Make up/prosthetic attachments
Cabinet for body to hide in
Car
Shovel

Costumes

Dead Girl: 
White pumps
White dress
White tights

Groundskeeper:
Dirty dungarees
White t-shirt
Brown boots

Old Man:
Dusty Brown cardigan/jumper
Black/Brown trousers
Black/Brown shoes

Dan Groves (Alive):
Plain (colour TBD) t-shirt
Walking boots
Dark jeans
Army Green coat

Dan Groves (Dead):
Grey t-shirt
Grey shoes
Grey or light coloured jeans

Josh Sugar:
Plain (colour TBD) t-shirt
Walking boots
Dark jeans
Army Green coat

Josh Sugar (End):
White shirt
Black tie
Black blazer
Black trousers

Cheeky Pitch

On Thursday the 27th of March my producer Victoria Wilson and I gave our pitch in a meeting room in BMC, Springvale.  I decided it would be better to use a unique technique to pitch instead of just reading from a page.  

I took the role of presenter and Victoria was my contestant on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire'.  Every question I asked Victoria was something to do with our film.  Every correct answer (sound effects included) told you something new about what you could expect from our new short film, Dislocation.  

After we did the Who Wants to be a Millionaire skit we gave the spectators a hand out which included the information we went on to describe, only in more detail.  I feel that this allowed them to read into topics they wanted to know more about at their own discretion while giving us the opportunity to talk about everything evenly in our pitch.  Some of the topics we discussed can be shown below. 

Title: Dislocation

Genre: Comedy Horror, Magic Realism

Time/Setting: Set in present day in Northern Ireland

Theme: Satire battles redemption.  Two Geocaching friends search for an evasive cache deep in the forest.  Will they find their surreptitious reward, or will it find them?

Actors:

Josh Sugar: Richard Andrews

Dan Groves: Ryan Sloan

Groundskeeper: Dave McCaughey

Chelsea: Hannah Gallagher

Old Man: Patrick Allen

Locations:

Car: Andy’s Car

Road cutaways: Hillsborough

Forest scene: Hillsborough forest park

Graveyard: Blaris cemetery

Open field: Hillsborough

Cabin int: Studio BMC
Cabin ext: Hillsborough

Props:

Binoculars, backpacks, costumes, fake wounds, blood pellets, make up, fake gun, metal box, cigar, shovel,

Provisional Shooting Date: 7^th and 8^th of April

Intended Audience:

Young adults over the age of 15 that enjoy comedies such as the Inbetweeners and How not to live your life. 

How does it fit into Dislocation:

Set in the middle of nowhere, Dan is a hero; he is cool, slick and adventurous.  Josh is a lesser version, always in the shadow of his best friend.  He tries to be like him so much but always ends up getting it wrong.  When Dan is killed, the spotlight is thrust onto Josh, he is being forced to become the hero that the audience expected Dan to be.  Josh is in uncharted territory in this front and centre role, scared, determined, dislocated.  

The Reality of Magic

After showing one of my short stories to a few people I received an interesting piece of feedback that my style has elements of 'Magic Realism' to it. Although I am challenging a genre I have not worked on before (horror), I intend to drench the dialogue with satire and my own unique style.  Therefore I will not shy away from magic realism if that's the route my script goes down.  

Magic Realism is a genre where magic elements are a natural part in an otherwise ordinary, realistic environment.  What I take from this would be my stories tend to have a basic well known setting such as a bar, but they contain a magical element to it, in this case a magic ring that gives you wishes.  

Gabriel Garcia Marquez's name repeatedly came up as I was researching Magic Realism.  He appears to be the father of the genre, with several successful books to his name. E.g. 100 Years of Solitude and No one writes to the Colonel. 

"His works have achieved significant critical acclaim and widespread commercial success, most notably for popularizing a literary style labeled as magic realism, which uses magical elements and events in otherwise ordinary and realistic situations."  Source: Wikipedia.com

A book/film favourite of mine that carries this genre would be 'The Green Mile'.  This story is set around a realistic death row prison of characters and what they do in their last few weeks.  The magical element is then added with the character 'John Coffey' who can add and remove people's illnesses.  

Woody Allen's movies also tend to have a magical realism feel to them.  His latest film, Midnight in Paris involves an artist in Paris who starts off the story is a seemingly normal way doing normal things, then while carrying out these normal things the story shifts and he is transported back in time .  
By using realism within your fantasy I feel it allows people's mind to accept what is going on.  It draws the curtains over that voice that usually tells you, "this could never happen."

He's behind you!

The jump scare has been done time and time again.  The same idea, done in a different way each time.

• In 1975 audiences were screaming while watching Martin Brody harmlessly talking on the edge on his fishing boat.  When he takes his eyes off the water the audience does too, unsuspectingly unleashing the behemoth shark from the murky great blue ocean.  

• In 1960 a surprise was revealed when Norman Bates' deceased mother was spun into the audiences faces, providing many a scream to the delight of Alfred Hitchcock. 

• In 1995 the movie Se7en lures us into a false sense of security making the audience believe they are looking a seemingly dead person lying on a bed, the faux corpse then miraculously eludes the hereafter one last time to grant audiences permission for an underwear check.  

Fire face Scene - Insidious

Fire face - Insidious

A recent example of this jump scare technique would be the movie 'Insidious'.  A truly scary horror film which tends to mix creepy looking figures into their jump scares to make it all the more terrifying.  

While watching a particular scene I was trying to figure out just why the jump scene was scary and how I adapt it for my own.  The scene can be shown below via YouTube link.

The woman is telling a story in one shot, and the story can be seen in another shot which is building up in our minds as the setting for the scary outcome. 

We keep looking back to the woman in the kitchen as a point of refuge, then going back to the story scene with the tension ever mounting.  The twist in the jump scare lies with it appearing in the kitchen, outside of where the horror has been built up.




This is scary because the audience has been tricked into a false sense of security.  In their heads the kitchen is the audiences kitchen, it is safe.  Bringing the inevitable jump scare from uncharted territory to an everyday surrounding is what makes this scene work so well.

Jack in the box jump scare scene - The Conjuring

The viewer will know something is coming, what I need to do is make them think it's coming from one angle, then hit them from another.

Writing by Barry Sonnenfeld

While watching 'The Addams Family' recently I noticed that I particularly liked the font used in the opening sequence.  After researching this I discovered that the director, 'Barry Sonnenfield' tends to use this font throughout his movies.  

The Addams Family was merely the start of his crusade for using this unique and quirky looking text. I feel it is very eye catching and doesn't conform to the norm, using different fonts and sizes for each word in the title.  



He has also used this font similarly for the 'Men in Black' franchise.

On a black background this font looks great. It stands out and gives a very eerie horror look.  This is exactly what I'm going for with my potential horror film year film.

Casting Sugar

I held a casting in BMC's TV studio for all roles in the film.  This ranged from doing a read through of the script, to monologues I had prepared for them, to having an informal chat about the character and how they seen them in their own head.

For the main characters Josh Sugar and Dan Groves, I decided it would be better to use a scene that was heavy in dialogue.  This helped me discover whether the actors really 'got' what it was I was going for in my writing.

The groundskeeper only has one line and therefore to get a better idea of how intense the actors could play Dirk Nixon I prepared a monologue for them to read in the style of our evil groundskeeper.  This worked well and really showed who could and couldn't get into the head of Dirk when performing.


After the casting I narrowed it down to several actors for each role.  After many production meetings, using the following casting video I made, we decided on roles for each.

Josh Sugar: Richard Andrews

Dan Groves: Ryan Sloan

Groundskeeper: Dave McCaughey

Chelsea: Hannah Gallagher

Old Man: Patrick Allen

One of the guys who auditioned for the groundskeeper we felt really deserved a role in the film and therefore we have changed the old woman character to an old man.  Ryan who initially auditioned for the role of Josh, I felt was much better suited to Dan, as he just had a better look.  I feel that Richard really understand the role of Josh and I am looking forward to seeing what he can bring to this character.

Crew, Assemble!

I have hand picked my crew purely on their ability on their respective fields.  Each person brings something unique to their role and it certainly makes things a lot easier as a director knowing you have a strong crew standing beside you.

Producer, Victoria Wilson.

Sound, Pearse McKeown

Director of Photography, Conor Shearer

Make up Artist, Anya Patton

.....and finally not forgetting,

Writer, Director, Andy McComb

Reading the Signs

Horror is not a genre that I would normally spend a lot of time watching as I have previously mentioned.  I have therefore been trying to force myself to watch many of these repetitive, plot-less stains to the film industry.
I have found that I have enjoyed these horror films much more in the cinema or a dark room at night.  This seems to give the mind a chance to completely focus in on the subject and in turn, makes it a lot easier to be shocked when something jumps out at you.

One of the first films I remember jumping out of my seat at in the cinema was the film 'Signs', starring Mel Gibson.
Throughout the film it makes the audience wonder whether there are aliens invading or not, giving you quick glances at what could or might not be visitors from another world.  This false sense of security works well towards causing shock when an alien is flashed onto the screen.

In this scene Mel Gibson is watching the television, a task that the audience will have done a thousand times before and will therefore will relate it to nothing particularly scary.  Just to solidify the 'nothing is going to happen' atmosphere, a child's birthday party is taking place on the screen.
Just when we are at our maximum amount of tension as to what could possibly happen, we are looking down the side of a building unsure of what we are actually looking for, an alien struts across the screen.


With the still I have provided this seems like it shouldn't cause too much panic but with the added shock horror music chords blasting over the top of a quick 2 second preview of our 'villain', this scene got a scream from many a grown man.   This kind of scene, building up tension through using an everyday scenario is something I will definitely try to include within my own script.

The opportunity to show my work in a dark, quiet cinema may not be something I have at my fingertips in this early stage of my career and I think I should grasp this chance with both hands.  I want to leave a lasting impression on my final year film's audience.  Applause will come whether deserved or not, screams and laughter will take a little more work.

Mr and Mrs Dislocation

I can now see the characters in my head and who I want them to be/look like.  Below you can see some character descriptions.  I will set up a casting for a week's time.  Adding actors will interject life into this story, that so easily takes it away.

Character Descriptions

Josh Sugar:  20 - 25 years old. His features consist of his shaggy hair, bearded face and open mouthed smile that is constantly waiting on a round of applause for the latest 'hilarious' thing he has said.  Checked shirt and grubby looking jeans drown his skinny frame.  He tries so hard to be smart but everything he does always ends up making a fool out of him.  Hero is certainly something he would consider himself to be, but deep down he believes this as much as anyone else would.  

Dan Groves: 20 - 25 years old. He's slick and smooth, neat shirt and trousers with tidy gelled back hair.  Even the tone in which he speaks oozes 'hero'.  Always quick with a witty reply even in the hottest of potential burns.  The only thing sharper than his comebacks is the knife used to end his life.  The hero that never got to be a hero. 

Dirk Nixon - Groundskeeper:  30 - 50 years old.  Silent with a deadly stare.  Christmas comes more often than a blink does for this man.  Dressed in dungarees and a tattered, dirty white t-shirt holding his trusty shovel when outdoors.  When inside his weapon of choice is a narrow evil gaze.  All his teeth show when he speaks.  

Chelsea - Young Dead Girl: 15 - 20 year old.  Bedraggled and pale, features drowned in hair with scratches and cuts littering her face.  Expressionless until speaking when she screams every word.  

Old Woman: 50 - 80 year old woman dressed in a long coat no matter what the weather.  Her grumpy attitude and lingering point is matched only by her gaunt, judging expression.  

Cruella De Vil

I will always remember the scene in 101 Dalmations when Roger is writing 'Cruella De Vil', his wife asks him why he hasn't got any words for the song and is merely humming a tune.  Roger replies, "Melody comes first, then come the words."

I feel that this method can work well when writing a script.  If you have found a piece of music that you feel works perfectly for a certain theme then I don't see the harm in letting the words fall into place later.

I have found a song called 'Hate or Glory' by Gesaffelstein that I feel will work well with the idea I have for my horror piece.  I can easily see a scary chase scene and a strobe effect light flashing on a close up of someones face when I listen to this music.

Hate or Glory - Gesaffelstein

It is in the next scene that his imposed inspiration arrives and the words famously fall into place for Roger.  Let's hope it's not too long before my own Cruella De Vil walks through my door.  

Proposal

Proposal - Dislocation

A short horror film with a magic realism theme involving two young men following the massive treasure hunting style online phenomenon known as 'Geo-caching'.  When they finally find a cache that no one has ever been able to locate before, they stumble upon some lost treasure they wish they had never set loose.

Synopsis: This comedy horror short film sees best friends, Josh Geller and Dan Groves, drenched in sarcasm,  'Geo-caching' (an international GPS treasure hunting community) for a rare, mysterious cache, 'Dislocation'. 

Dan Groves is the hero this story never gets, he oozes slick, witty charisma.  His best friend, Josh Geller is quite content catching the rays Dan's shadow provides.  When the pair disband to try to increase their chances of finding the cache, Josh meets an inconceivable figure that is desperate for him not to reiterate his mistake and increase his chance of living.

Friendship brings them geocaching.  GPS brings them into the forest but as their target draws closer, redemption brings them to the cache.  The classic Geocaching terminology 'Find or did not find' brutally re-establishes itself as live or die. 

1) PURPOSE – What’s your goal?
Overall I want to entertain people, whether people find it funny or scary, as long as they were entertained for five minutes that's all that really matters.

2) AUDIENCE – Who will be watching?
My colleagues, friends, family and teachers will all be attending my end of year show to see this film however after when it is available online the general public will be able to see it.

3) CONTENT – What do you want to say?
Satire battles redemption.  Two Geocaching friends search for an evasive cache deep in the forest.  Will they find their surreptitious reward, or will it find them?  The overall message in this film will be that everyone and anyone can be the hero, even when you feel out of place.  

4) VOICE – How do you want to say it?
This is going to be a fictional magic realism piece in the horror comedy genre.  Dialogue will be delivered heavily with satire and dry wit.

5) IMAGERY – What do you want to show?
People, places, projects, activities, case studies, stats, logos, urls.

6) STYLE – How do you want to show it?
Most of the film will be tight, slick high definition shots through the forest.  However when we get to the cabin scenes it will turn into more of a handheld style to allow the audience to feel as though they are really there.

7) TONE – How do you want your audience to feel?
I want the audience to laugh more than anything with a few cries of fear thrown in for good measure.

8) PLATFORM – Where will it be viewed?
Our final year show will be held in the Odeon so our final film will initially be shown on a big screen in the cinema.  After this Youtube will be the primary method of viewing.

9) PROMOTION – How will it be shared?
Facebook and Twitter will of course be a massive media outlet for us when sharing our end product and even when casting for actors.  We can also send it around various media websites in the UK and Ireland such as Panic Dots and Following the Nerd.

10) BUDGET – What can you afford?
We will have little or no budget with this film.  Locations will have to be local to cut down travel costs and the majority of props will have to be borrowed from friends and family.

I could do that.

An idea that I have stumbled across for my final film has originated from a friend of mine making me watch several horror films over the summer.  I am of the opinion that there has not been a good horror film made in the last ten years at least, yet horror films are still incredibly popular.  

My friend loved these films and can't get enough of the awful repetitive and predictable plots.  I noticed that the film itself could have little or no plot, structure or point to it and my friend would still be happy as long as they supplied him with appropriate amount of scares.  

Paranormal Activity is of course a terrible movie, yet it was made with a budget of $450,000 bringing in an amazing $89,748,343 in profit.  People like to be scared and by the time they calm down the movie has moved on ten minutes without them missing anything getting them ready for the next pulse racing out from the darkness fright.  

I have never wrote a horror film or even felt the urge to, but I couldn't help but look at these films and think, "I could do that".  Therefore I have decided that for my final year film I will attempt to write a short horror film with plenty of jump scares, perhaps with a little plot thrown in for good measure.  

Hotel Crap-alier

For inspiration in making my final film I watched Wes Anderson's 13 minute short, 'Hotel Chevalier'.

"Hotel Chevalier is a short film written and directed by Wes Anderson and released in 2007. Starring Jason Schwartzman and Natalie Portman as former lovers who reunite in a Paris hotel room"

I found watching this film to be very worthwhile indeed.  It was worthwhile in the sense that I have now solidified my thinking that this is exactly the kind of film I do not want to make.

Arty, holier than thou and quite frankly boring sum up films like these for me quite well.  If the words on the tip of your tongue right now are, "You just don't get it.", then not only would the description I gave the short apply to you, you would also be right.  I didn't get it.  At all.

Give me a lens worth a few grand and a few shots of Paris and I could probably make a beautiful looking short film where nothing actually happens too.

When I say I didn't get it, I don't mean I didn't understand it.  To truly dislike something I believe you first have to understand it.  I understand that Natlie Portman's character has some sort of psycho-sexual hold on Jack that he either refuses to acknowledge or refuses to accept.  I understand that the bruises on her body tell the story (that the director can't be bothered to tell with words) of the abusive lover she's running away from to reoccupy her preferred role as the dominating partner.  I just don't get why I am supposed to enjoy a film not having any sort of plot or ending.


To bring this short back to my theme, 'Dislocation', I think it mainly comes down to the colour scheme speaking on the actors behalf.  Throughout the short the colour pallet is all yellows which makes for very nice (arty) looking shots.  Jack is comfortable in the yellow and this to me sets the basis for 'normality'.  When he knows Natalie is coming to his hotel he changes into a dark suit which was inharmonious to say the least.  The contrast in colours here represents his discomfort for the situation and dislocation from his previously subdued evening.

Finally, I am a firm believer that you can't try to be pretentious with your work and still use product placement throughout it.  Being set in a beautiful timeless looking French hotel room allows the film to really be set anytime that the audience's mind allows.  Then the Apple infected source of the emotion dispensing music is unnecessarily revealed like dropping a Lamborghini into Ben-Hur.

I don't know if Wes Anderson made this short for himself, for Apple or simply to plug his upcoming feature length film continuation, but he certainly didn't make it for the audience.

Introduction to the Conclusion

For my 'bundle every technique I have been taught in 2 years together and tick as many boxes as possible', or end of year film as it may also be known, I have been given some restrictions to abide by.  

The Product - a short film, 5 minutes long

The Theme - DISLOCATION

Film Classification - 15

In the majority of the short films I have produced over my two years on an HND Creative Media course the biggest constraint has always been duration.  I like to think all my scripts have been ambitious and that I never let locations or cast affect my writing or become problems for producing a short film.  I do however suspect having to stick to 5 minutes will be my biggest challenge of this entire course.  When I write a script I don't have a time limit in mind, I get to the place I want to go to in whatever time that may take.  I am the first to admit I feel like cutting out things I have shot to maintain a time limit is like cutting away a tiny piece of my ego every time.  Having previously been marked down by a lecturer for going against their advice and not cutting out a scene that I felt was good and they thought was unnecessary, I have since learnt that when making a short film, feed the audience, not your ego.  Something I will keep at the back of my mind throughout this project.   In this case however it would be more of a case of feed the ego of the person marking your film. 

I look forward to researching, 'Dislocation' and finding out exactly what is meant by it in terms of film.  Instantly I get the feeling it means out of place and a bit lawless.  With a theme being entirely subjective I take comfort in the fact that I may have a restriction on my creativity but as long as I can justify what I do produce it should be well within the lines.