Ashif Alucin
Welcome to my blog
UAL Level 3 Creative Media
Primary Research:
Survey:
Survey results:
Focus group:
Thoughts:
Through my research, my target audience has been more categorised. The research has helped me confirm what I wrote in the "Ideas" page about my target audience. I am more confident with the narrative of my project, and to see that I am catering the film to the correct audience. The majority said that they find drug usage and violence in film entertaining. They all were teens or young adults. It is interesting that most, from the survey, would categorise themselves as introverts. It brings up questions such as: is what I wrote in the idea's page more applicable to introverts?
Secondary Research:
The Grand Budapest Hotel:
The Grand Budapest Hotel is the first movie I thought to research. The genre links, but this is not the main reason why I researched The Grand Budapest Hotel - I loved the use of colour and framing in this movie, and I wanted to try mimic it. The mis-en-scene of this movie, throughout, gave a dreamlike feel - almost like we are watching a pop-out book.
The pink colours is what was the primary gave this "we are fully watching a fictional movie, that does not deceive the fact that it is fiction" type feel. This use of colour is what I really want to integrate into the opening sequence of my shot film. But, I would like to decrease the saturation for a more gritty, washed up look. I love the way how the vivid colours of the image above, and all throughout the movie, can communicate in both a direct and unconscious level. Both even give similar messages - we are watching make believe.
The image above illustrates how Wed Anderson communicates in a defiant way with both the framing and pink tint. Just the framing alone captures an intimacy between the character and the audience. He is in the centre looking straight at us. This works well with the mis-en-scene of the previous scenes that had more of a resemblance of a post card. Wes Anderson did say he was inspired by hand-tinted post cards, and I do see that influence through the framing, the tight aspect ratio, and colours. I would like to reference this aspect ratio to make my opening scene from my film more claustrophobic. The eye-contact will be a nice touch for the added intimacy and connection towards the audience, also.
Perfect Host:
This movie is classified as a Indie, thriller. But, in the IMDb page you can also see "comedy" listed. I can guess this is mainly because of how animated the characters are. I found it hard to find a part in this movie where I laughed. This is the type of movie I want to emulate. I want my audience to acknowledge that the characters that are created are not real, but very animated. Because of this reason, it can be classified as a comedy. The way the characters act will be seen in a bizarre and outrageous way. This movie did this well, especially with the David Hyde's character. The is one character that can be seen as quite normal, but the other being completely bizarre. The is the dynamic I want. I want the character "Joe" to be somewhat normal, while The stranger being an very animated character. I will use the character's in this movie as a reference.
My other short films.
Since I do want to make references to my other films, I have looked into and researched my other films. This helped me refresh my memory on the other two films. For the first time, I was able to look at these movies from an audience's perspective. Mainly, because of how much I changed, in overall, since I made those two films. In this video I explain how I am going to integrate references.
Trainspotting:
Plot-wise, I will take a influence from Trainspotting. How they used a basic story structure and used one stimuli throughout the film, but was still was able to integrate multiple storylines, as well as introducing interesting characters. This I do want to follow. I want there to be a clear intention with my narrative, but the characters clouding this intention with their own motives. What I mean by this is, finding a strain of cannabis is the main intention of the plot of my movie, however my characters reactions and motives will be shown that can add much more to the narrative. In the end, you can see the movie is about finding this strain of cannabis, but a lot more events occur due the character's personalities. I do believe this does occur within in this movie, due Danny Boyale wanting to show more sides of heroin abuse.
Kill Bill
I wanted to also include Kill Bill as a research because this movie is on my mind when I think about my project. The film, to me, seemed very "fun". It is a movie that includes an excess of violence and gore to entertain. There is not real message, but that's fine. Movie's are a form of entertainment. What strikes out to me is the editing choice of using red tint and music to show a flashback. The red has an obvious connotation, but this over the top choice on how to show the flashback did resonate with me - it truly reminded me the purpose of film. This unconventional choice, for me, showed innovation. This encourages me to stick with the choices I made with my film such as using shaky cam to give presence to the camera, and harsh colour-grading to obnoxiously show the audience what they are watching, and what they are watching is okay. You can break the rules, if done in a way that does not hinder the watch-ability of the film.
Project X
I will be researching Project X because their stylistic choice of shooting through a camera by an actual character from the movie is what I want to emulate - life is given to the camera through it being handheld. Throughout this movie, there is one character that decides to document everything through his camera, the camera is obviously a priced possession of his. This idea is something I am going to steal. Joe will be attached to his camera. This will be the reason, he would want to document with his camera. However, The Stranger soon takes control of the camera.
The feeling we get from watching from a camera that obviously is being operated compared to the traditional still shots are very different. We feel like we are watching a more intimate documentary - we become more of a viewer. The feeling is completely different. However, the way the camera is moved looks, to me, too animated. And, this works for a comedy. However, for a drama I will have to make adjustments to make the handheld movements more subtle and dramatic.
Character profiles:
Joe:
Joe is college student that identifies with the label - loner. He, in his spare time, sells drugs. He is an introvert that spends his time smoking cannabis himself, contemplating life. He does display quirky behaviour at times.
References for Joe:
Ricky Fitts from American Beauty
Ricky Fitts is a character that is, almost, identical to my character profile. But, he is a much more serious character that is also an individual. Joe is not. That is an important difference.
This video shows a clear example on the similarities and the differences of Ricky Fitts and Joe. He shows a clear indication of individuality and ego while selling weed.
The Stranger:
The Stranger, is a paranoid being, that is the same age group as Joe. He likes to see himself as an outgoing extrovert, but he is not one. His misdirection allows him to be passively consumed by negativity, which, therefore makes him in overall an obnoxious, unattractive character.
References for The Stranger:
AJ from The Place Beyond the Pines
AJ, is a character that would be a influence to "The Stranger". AJ is a much more nuanced character that is created for very different reasons, but also similar reasons to The Stranger. AJ is almost like a distant counter-part to "Baby Jason" like The Stranger is to Joe, but AJ is created to show the life he had; the difference in the life he had. The Stranger is not created to show a difference in the life he had - he is not a being.
In this scene you are able to see the control AJ have over Joe. This power dynamic is something I am going to include in my short.
Costume:
Joe:
The Stranger:
The main thinking about the costumes were to find one piece of clothing that is very common for the mainstream to wear and to find another piece of clothing that has more thought behind it - something an individual may wear. I thought a hoodie would be what Joe can wear because it's fairly common. The Stranger could wear a oversized denim jacket. I did not want to go too weird and find a piece of clothing that would be bizarre for The Stranger. I want him to be seen as fairly normal. I must add, we never see The Strangers face, we only see his clothing. This makes The Stranger more of a shadow rather than a being.
Representation.
This short film will involve two young characters. What they wear, mis-en-scene, music and the use of props will all work together to show this. Although a lot of movies, do break the stereotype that only teens and young adults smoke cannabis for comedic effect, the stereotype remains. I will be using this stereotype for comfort for the target audience and to, overall, remind and amplify the denotation of the two young adults in the film.
Some gender stereotypes will be shown through a power dynamic between the two characters. However, Joe will not contest, but, ultimately, submit to The Stranger. Not showing resistance should be an attractive to choice to more of the free thinkers, if i'm to add politics, and to the left. I'd imagine the conservatives will have more of a confused impression, rather than a challenged one because this is something minor. Why Joe does not show resistance and be a male would be a question. If it's not to God, submission is a feminine trait.
Music selection:
Regarding music selection, I had many tracks in my head to reference. I had the scenes in my head and music playing in the background. However, I did acknowledge that my imagination and reality is quite different. Tracks such as Street Sects - And I Grew into Ribbons and Flying Lotus - Rickshaw was in my head. I had sent an email to warp records to discuss the use of Rickshaw. To my surprise, I received a response. However, the process seemed too tedious because there were also "Just Isn't Music/ Ninja Tune" I had to contract. They owned the publishing rights. I had to measure how much I want the song and if I'm willing to go to lengths to obtain the rights to use the song. Not having Rickshaw in the film was not a big deal; it did not make a scene or add anything much.
I decided to look into independent artists.
I looked through youtube and found some free music. I contacted the artists that created them and they gave me the green light to use their music.
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Hallucinogenic drugs research:
Currently, hallucinogenic drugs are trendy topics because of the recent changes that made cannabis legal in certain states in America. The main reason being medical use. This opened up talks regarding the medical use of more extreme drugs such as psilocybin mushroom's, ketamine, ecstasy, LSD. As much as I like more talk and research, I do appreciate full transparency, which means to remind us about the danger of the drugs when talking about the good. This applies to cannabis too.
Through the legal changes, It is hard to see if there is a difference between misuse from prior to the changed to now because to change was very recent. However, there are countries to look at where drug use is a lot more lenient such as Portugal, where drugs are decriminalised. Amsterdam, the capital of Netherlands, is lenient too. I believe reducing the taboo element of drugs is the reason why this choice is being successful in these countries.
There are still help and resources offered to people that misuse, which is very important. They are not looked at lesser than.
One of the biggest issues I find with Hallucinogenic drugs is the refusal or the lack of knowledge a person under the age of 25 has that their brain is still developing, and these substances can permanently alter your brain. This can cause long-term effects for an individual. Other issues depend on the individual for example cannabis can be a gateway drug. It can cause anxiety, anxiety that can lead to or awake other problems an individual has. A young mind may not be used to these feelings.
Lighting
I have decided that I will use a combination of lighting to evoke feelings and directly show if we are watching "fantasy" or "reality". For shots that are real, I will use low-key soft lighting, while for the fantasy scenes I will use high-key hard lighting. As the film develope, I will integrate into more hard lighting as a substitute for a close-up - convey that it's a moment that the audience needs to pay attention to.