Final Draft of Screen Play including sound track choice etc.

First Day of Filming Evalutation

December 31st 2011

On the first day of filming I used a small hand-held camera. This is due to the fact that I was filming one of the POV shot's which appears in Scene 3 and also will appear in shots towards the end of the title sequence as  a montage of events.
I filmed the full gang having a party inside a garage. Character activities include chatting to the camera (Tristy), dancing, drinking, playing pool, interacting with each other in ways such as flirting and just generally a small gathering of young people.
I recorded approx. 30 mins. of footage, all of which was one continuous shot of Tristy walking around a party. I found problems with filming the footage as the party I was recording was actually a real new year's celebration party and those who were drinking were actually drinking alcohol and find it hard to remember they are acting as characters in a film and therefore actors are seen, instead of looking into the camera as if looking at a real person, they are looking at my face whilst I hold the camera (despite instruction to look into the camera lense when interacting with the camera) so what the audience will see on screen will be non of the characters looking directly at Tristy but instead are looking over her shoulder. This makes the POV less authentic and believable.
However there are some positives about filming an authentic party as actors are acting as natural as possible with a camera in presence as they are in a comfortable setting in which they have been in most weekends. Throughout the shots I filmed the characters get progressively more drunk which means that activities I wanted film, such as kissing and dancing, are much more realistic and authentic as opposed to setting up the camera and telling my actors to dance and act natural if they weren't actually at a party and where sober. I know this as I had to cut much of the initial footage of the beginning of party as most actors where sober and were camera-shy so when I asked people to act drunk, it was either too exaggerated to be believable or the actors were not willing to participate in acting the party effectively.

Non-diegetic sound track for Title Sequence

Portishead - Machine Gun

This is my initial idea of the soundtrack for my film. Portishead is a British band from Bristol and the song Machine Gun is used in various British Drama's such as 'Skins' the British series based around a group of teen's in college/6th form. Soundtracks from British films tend to be written/performed by British bands making Machine Gun a suitable soundtrack for my British Realty Drama. The sad repetitive beat and solemn and haunting voice of Beth Gibbons allows a dramatic title sequence and make's the audience feel differently to if the soundtrack was a trashy punk track or even a 80's disco dance track.
However, on one hand the soundtrack may not actually fit to the pace of the sequence as I am using quick shot's and most of these shots will show a group of young people enjoying themselves but, on the other hand the solemn slow pace of the song may contrast perfectly with the sequence showing that although something upbeat and fast paced is being shown, by using a slow repetitive and solemn sound track this could translate that something's are not as how they appear.

The lyrics of the soundtrack portray how the antagonist feels throughout the title sequence and the song would be a theme throughout the film also if the feature film was to be created. The lyrics go at follows:

"I saw a saviour
a saviour come my way
I thought I'd see it
in the cold light of day
but now I realise that I'm
Only for me

if only I could see
You turn myself to me
and recognise the poison in my heart
there is no other place
no one else I face
remedy, we'll agree, is how I feel
here in my reflecting
What more can I say?
for I am guilty
for the voice that I obey
too scared to sacrifice a choice
chosen for me

if only I could see
You turn myself to me
recognise the poison in my heart
there is no other place
no one else I face
The remedy, to agree, is how I feel"

The lyrics portray a realisation of loneliness and that only one final option is left (to take her own life). The reference of a saviour in the first verse represents the gang of misfits that take Tristy in as their own and as part of their group and when the line 'I’m only for me' shows that she has realised who they are.

After selecting this sound track I have come to find that ideas of edits are coming to mind when listening to the sound track and when I'm selecting different edits to try translate to the audience using only cinematography and certain video effects that 'something isn't quite right' in my sequence and that what the audience is being shown is not exactly what it may appear to be. One edit I am keen about using in the final cut of my film is multiple uses of a 'judder' in the video footage, only used in the flashback footage (which will also be saturated of most colour), so that the audience know that they are watch a film when a flashback is played. Also I hope this will show to the audience that something strange is happening to the main character and that her memory is distorted or damaged and 'juddering'. The sound track gave me this idea due to its harsh computerized drum/bass beats which makes up what would be a melody in the track, which sound like a judder, similar to a broken record or a CD skipping when it is unclear or damaged, which gives a really fantastic effect when the flashback footage is added to the sound track.
Generally, although I have my doubts about how the soundtrack will actually fit to the sequence and what messaged I would like an audience to gain from watching the sequence, general feedback from those who have watched the footage with the sound track so far seem to put across that the song is an ideal soundtrack for the title sequence.

Here is an example of the Soundtrack been used in the British Realist Drama. The editing, character and mise-en-scene are very similar to what I will be using in the film which gives be reassurance that Machine Gun will work well in my sequence.

Final Draft of Screen Play - Scenes 1 to 4

This is the final draft of my screen play, scenes 1 to 4 complete. I find them easy to follow, simple and quick to understand and they can be edited and changed without confusion. This allows me to move on with completing the rest of my production.

Factory Girl Texual Analysis

Feature Trailer of Factory Girl

Factory Girl is a feature length film based on real life accounts on the last years of a young woman's (Edie Sedgwick) life in the 60's who was closely associated with Andy Warhol. Although the setting, dates and basic themes of the film does not resemble the themes, settings and dates of my own film, some parts of the narrative in the film are extremely similar. The main narrative follows a girl who sets out on the New York art scene hoping to make something of herself and after being introduced to Andy Warhol, her life becomes successful and becomes Warhols new 'Superstar'. Her life seemingly couldn't get any better until Andy refuses to pay her for her contributions to his work and her life of partying, drug taking and thoughtless spending makes her homeless, funding her drug addiction from what she can scrape from her father and accountant and eventually causes the end of her life. Edie's life is very similar to my main character's, Tristy's, life. Tristy goes through events through the narrative of my film which are alike to Edie Sedgewick's, for example 'The Gang' is parallel to Andy Warhol as the anagonist and eventually the source that causes the end of the protagonists life (Tristy and Edie).

Here is a diagram to show the comparisons of narrative from the two films:

New and Improved screen play

Here is an example of the improved and simpler copy of my screen play. I find that it will be easier to follow and due to not having a complicated colour co-ordinated key to follow, I can easily read through the new screen play in detail with no time wasting on what colour means what. Another reason the screen play is improved is that when writing and planning my film is that it is simple to scan through the screen play, as it reads similarly to a script, and I can edit it with no complications of colour co-ordination and a disorganised layout. I will be using this new template to write the rest of my screen play.

A draft of story board

Here is a draft of half of the story board for my film sequence, drawn in pencil with little details to do with mise-en-scene, it has been created in order for me to be able to faguely see what my sequence could potentially look like. I need to add more scenes to the sequence and create more cinematics within my film to create an effective title sequence which will impact the audience within the first 3-4 minutes of the film if the audience were to watch the full feature length version of my film.