Old mans body Not happy with how our original drama piece turned out (Super king), we decided to reshoot with a completely new idea. Cutting it close to the deadline we opted for something we could conveniently film as soon as possible, bearing this in mind we came up with a plot using locations available to us at all times and actors with no other current obligations (ourselves). Old mans body is a tense thriller situated in a grotty, anonymous cellar. The antagonist, Parkin has kidnapped his former friend Chris, who first appears tied to a chair whilst unconscious, a black bag obscuring his face with blood trickling down to his shirt. Once awake Chris struggles to escape, but cannot move from the chair and is unable to speak as he is gagged. Enter Parkin, a revenge filled maniac wielding several sharp instruments with which he intends to mutilate and torture Chris with. His reasoning behind this isn’t clear but its obvious Chris was once a friend to Parkin and must of done something horrific to rub him the wrong way in such a manner. After beating him, shouting at him, stabbing him in the side and eventually killing him, Parkin drags Chris upstairs, drives to a quiet road and dumps his corpse at the side with in some bushes. The film ends with Parkin walking down a dark alley, lighting a cigarette and trying to cope with the whole scenario. The journey taken during the film is not only one of revenge, removing the protagonist from the antagonist’s life, but also that of a literal sense as he physically dumps the body, away from his home. As a method of showing there crippled friendship we will be using many snapped elastic bands as props, representing the broken bonds of the relationship. We decided we want to include as little dialogue or back-story as possible, we feel what has happened before this situation at this point in time is irrelevant to the viewer, we want them to focus on what’s going on the exact time of viewing, relying on the mood portrayed on screen to tell the story, allowing the viewers to add to it with there own imagination and make of it what they will, is Parkin genuinely a bad guy? Or do his motifs make his actions just of sorts? We want the audience to decide. We are going to use lighting and ambience to full effect during this piece, considering the majority of it is going to be filmed in a dingy cellar we are relying on this to provide a chilling atmosphere for us to stem other emotions from. We also plan on colour correcting the footage during post to give it a washed out, grainy effect, which should hopefully help our chocolate sauce fake blood look more realistic.

Documentary - Research and pre-production

Documentary pre-production


Research

To help with research for our documentary we have been asked to view and analyze several documentary style films.
The first two I'm going to talk about we watched as a class, these being ‘The making of dark days’ by Mark Singer and ‘Pockets’ by James Lees.

‘Pockets’ A 3 minute long piece, filmed on the streets of London, with James Lees interviewing passer’s by and quizzing them on what they keep in their pockets, from mundane day to day items to the most interesting of trinkets, revealing a portion of each individuals personality and what the object means to them.

A simple yet interesting piece in my opinion, being somewhat of a social experiment the film manages to capture little pieces of each subject’s personality, giving the viewer an insight in their day to day lives and generating presumptions for each individual.

The documentary is well rehearsed and certainly wasn’t susceptible to one shot, one take style’s of interview.
The shots flutter from that of what is in the subjects pockets, to that of them speaking, or just a shot of there face.
Each shot is gorgeously filmed, clearly making use of a high-end camera, the depth of field and unusual angles adding something extra special to what would be usually perceived as quite straight forward and plain shots.

The sound quality is also brilliant; the voices are clear and sharp and don’t get lost in the inquisitive and melodic sound track, whilst the hustle and bustle atmosphere of a market adds a warm and friendly tone, evoking the sense of realism.

To summarize, I believe the piece is a light hearted and entertaining documentary and whilst to some people’s point of views, the structured nature and artistic direction may detract from the honesty and pureness from each subject’s answers, I believe with out such order, the film would be no where near as intriguing or entertaining.

http://www.4docs.org.uk/films/view/7/Pockets






Treatment and proposal – Back up idea

Documentary pre-production

We have been tasked with producing a 5-minute long documentary with the theme of ‘Liverpool Stories’.
Obviously shooting for this piece will take place in Liverpool over the space of two days, the 5th and 6th of March.

Liverpool was crowned the European capitol of culture in 2008, we plan on taking advantage of the City with its prestigious reputation and hope to create a piece documenting the finest cultural attractions in the area, ranging from galleries, museums and theaters.

We are currently waiting on hearing from the majority of possible contributors, so far asking establishments such as – Merseyside Maritime Museum, FACT, The World Museum, The Open Eye Gallery.
The Bluecoat Display Centre is the only place so far we’ve heard back from, they have noted we have the freedom to film in the gardens and outside art center and will also be allowed 30 minutes to film inside, we pushed for longer but due to the changing of exhibitions this is all we’ve been prohibited.
The bluecoat display center is a creative hub of craft and design and has been recognized as a gallery since 1959.

This specific piece’s target audience will be quite broad, ranging from young teenagers to the elderly, being a point of interest for anyone in to general culture to learning about the going’s on in Liverpool and any where in between.
The piece will aim to cover key points in the city’s cultural hot spots, highlighting the history of the place? What’s going on at the moment? How does it benefit the city and its community? What do the general public think? Etc.

The style the film will be shot like will be that of a conventional short documentary, using interviews, voice-overs, vox pops and interesting shots and angles to keep the viewer attentive.

The soundtrack will be made up of spot effects and an ambient, background track created in garage band with the use of a midi keyboard.
Nothing too heavy, a mellow and melodic track to guide the viewer through the piece.

Cast and crew

Zach Atherton Collins - Camera operator

Chris Slater – Director

James Mellors – Producer

Jord Jones – Sound production

Robbie Troth - Editor

Crew



Contact sheet

Name: Robbie Troth

Role: Director

Contact No. 07805430353

E-mail: robbietroth@hotmail.com


Name: James Mellors

Role: Producer

Contact No. 07960466322

E-mail: james_mellors@hotmail.co.uk


Name: Christian Slater

Role: Editor

Contact No. 07518177464

E-Mail: chrisslater92@live.co.uk


Name: Jordan Jones

Role: Director Of Photography

Contact No. 07557733802

E-Mail: jonesy0550@msn.com


Name: Zach Atherton-Collins

Role: Sound Recorder/Designer

Contact No. 07780008150

E-mail: zach1993@live.co.uk


Staff
Name: Esther Johnson

Contact No. 0114 225 2676

E-mail: esther.johnson@shu.ac.uk


Name: Deborah Ballin

Contact No. 0114 225 2673

E-mail: d.ballin@shu.ac.uk


Name: Dominic Green

Contact No. 07769 845 826

E-mail: dominic.green@shu.ac.uk


Name: Neil Webb

Contact No. 0114 225 3965

E-mail: n.webb@shu.ac.uk





Documentary Questions


Questions for Maureen

Hello, could you please tell your name, your job title and role, and tell us exactly where we are today?

Could you tell us what kind of exhibitions and content you tend to display here?

Could you tell us a brief history of the Gallery?

Could you tell us about how the gallery is linked to charity?

How do you feel the gallery benefits Liverpool as a city and the community?


Vox pop Questions

Are you aware of the bluecoat display centre?

Have you/ do visit it regularly or recently?

Do you feel it benefits the community and the city?


Time line





Charitable Aims

The Bluecoat Display Centre is a registered charity within Arts and Culture.
The objectives are:
1. Raising the public’s aesthetic appreciation in applied art and design; and
2. The provision of educational lectures, workshops and exhibitions at the Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool or at such other premises as the charity may from time to time occupy.
The Bluecoat Display Centre’s mission is to promote excellence in design and workmanship within the contemporary applied arts both nationally and internationally. We aim to increase the publics awareness and appreciation for the work of leading and emerging artists through exhibition, education, display and sale, and consequently to support the contemporary craft infrastructure.
Bluecoat Display Centre welcomes enquiries from organisations regarding charitable giving who empathise with these objects, and has many sponsorship opportunities connected to the exhibition and workshop programme.

History

The Bluecoat Display Centre originated as one of this country's earliest craft galleries in 1959. The founder of the Display Centre; Robert Gardner-Medwin, Professor of Architecture at Liverpool University, aimed to promote and display the work of leading designers of the time from a large studio in the Bluecoat Chambers. His ethos continues today, as a non profit distributing organisation promoting the finest contemporary craftwork by leading designer/makers.
Gardner-Medwin intended the work shown at the Display Centre to enhance good architecture and interior design and today we find we are still the place that leading professionals involved in Liverpool’s renaissance visit to achieve this.

What they do

The Bluecoat Display Centre is Liverpool’s only independent contemporary craft gallery. Since it was established in 1959, the Display Centre has been recognised nationally and internationally as one of the UK’s leading galleries specialising in contemporary applied arts, showing and selling some of the finest work made by professional craftspeople from the North West, across the British Isles and beyond.
Display Centre Director, Maureen Bampton and her team, continually endeavour to present new and challenging work and an annual series of changing exhibitions in a setting that is welcoming and inspiring. The creative programme is supported by a series of artist-led workshop and talks, often by artists and makers who exhibit in the gallery.

Location

The Bluecoat Display Centre is situated in the heart of Liverpool City Centre, neighbouring the newly regenerated Liverpool One area. We are surrounded by a wealth of galleries and shops, restaurants and cafes, as well as convenient parking and public transport links.

Analysing experimental film (TBC)

Analysing experimental film

As part of the research for this project we have been told analyze two experimental films, I have chosen to cover two of my favorites from the collection we watched during class.

Fisticuffs by Miranda Pennell – 2004 – 11 minutes

http://www.mirandapennell.com/films.html

An unusual piece revolving around a man walking in to a pub and getting in to a fight, which then escalates to a fully fledged bar brawl, described as being in the style of a western.
True to films of old the actors involved all seem impervious to pain despite amount of punishment they dish out on one another, the only difference in the piece is that its transported from that of an old, dusty tavern to a modern, British social club, OAP’s and all.

I found this piece massively entertaining! Up to this point my brief encounters with experimental film were yet to make me laugh, giving me the impression the majority of films labeled experimental were all very stern faced, serious sometimes confusingly artistic.
It was refreshing to view a piece that didn’t take its self to seriously, but was still artistic.

The editing of the piece is impressive, beginning with similar situations playing out briefly at the beginning and building up in length until escalated to the point the actors fighting often appear on screen in multiple places at once, all the while each shot harmoniously focus’s not only on the action but on that of the elderly in the foreground and background, oblivious to the carnage around them, they knit, chat and peacefully sit enjoying a drink.
For me this pokes fun at the British culture and how we are desensitized to drunken violence, accepting it as part of our every day routine and something we are far too comfortable with in our day-to-day lives.
This also goes hand in hand with the emergence of shots showing line dancing classes going on next door, keeping to the western theme, despite the smashing of glasses going on around the vicinity.
I also found the ending of the film particularly humorous with the bell at bar being rung, signaling not only last orders but also being used as a boxing style K.O bell as one actor receives a nasty, finishing blow.


Telling Lies by Simon Ellis – 2000 – 4 minutes

Another humorous piece, this time being told through the use of animated captions.
The piece tells the tale of a number of characters the morning after an eventful night out, with each character telling lies of some sort to cover up what they truly did or how they feel.
Each caption depicts what is being said over the phone by various characters, displaying what they are saying out aloud and what is truly being thought in their heads.
Each character is given personality through the color of their specific text.

It’s a simple piece but I find it to be effective, Like ‘Fisticuffs’ it is a socially realistic piece and I find it highly relatable, which again is something I found to be rare with in this genre of film making so far.

The use of sound and voice actors is spectacular, nothing special or obvious but you can really feel the emotions and deceit in their tones of voice, the shrill ringing of the phone also impressed me, piercing the ears, whilst expressing the sounds of oncoming and inevitable doom in a the hung over, fragile state of our protagonist.

Experimental film projet - Research - TBC

For my first section of research on the project im going to post some music video's i feel relate to what we plan on creating as
many contain techniques and content similar

Becoming real feat. Trim - Like me

I found this piece influential in how dark it is, its incredibly unsettling despite being simple.
The locations filmed invoke a sense of fear, this combined with use of lights and layering give the video a very disturbing feeling.
The low quality and handheld nature of the footage also add to the realism of the piece, enhancing the feeling of despair.




6V6 - Meute Alienatique

Another simple video which manages to cause the viewer to feel at unease, also seemingly low budget making use of props and lighting to create a creepy ambience.
The combination of religious and satanic icon's and gestures in conjunction with the dark, red lighting give the feeling of a ritual of some sort.
The quick editing, unusual shots and handheld techniques also add to the feeling of confusion and give the video an evil and shocking feeling, pairing perfectly with the style of music.




Salem - Redlights

In some ways similar to the 6V6 video, although a lot less menacing.
What i enjoyed about this video is its use of lights and layering, its another simple piece but manages to hold the viewers attention and is for lack of a better word, quite 'trippy'.
We will most certainly be using lights in a way similar to this, zooming in, adjusting focus and using the camera handheld to give the feeling of the lights being alive and bouncing around.
I have recently walked around the city centre with my handycam capturing such footage to practice on final cut with and plan on using it for a music video outside of this project.



Dub Phizix - Marka

A higher quality video then those previous, again capturing what feels to me to be a ritual or some sort.
The effects used on the footage combined with the editing style create an eerie atmosphere, this works really well with the use of fire and costumes of the actors.



Dr. Octagon - blue flowers (automator remix)



HEALTH - we are water

Experimental film projet

Experimental film research

For this experimental film we have been asked to create a 5-minute long piece based on a single object, single word or a single poem.

Experimental film is a faction of filmmaking that is hard to categorize, another title these films are often placed under is Avant-Garde, a French term that when applied to art translates loosely as ‘forward thinking’ or ‘innovative’.

There isn’t much that can be listed that’s genre specific about these films as the themes are too broad, artistic, eccentric or personal to each individual filmmaker.
Due to the individuality expressed in many of these films, its common for the filmmaker to incorporate the anti-conformist nature of avant-garde, working alone.

These films often push the known boundaries of film making and try to conceive something completely original, often artistic in direction there are several unusual traits that emerge with in the genre, some of these being -

Non linear structure – A film that does not take an expected approach to linear narrative

Personal view – these works are often made solely by one person and their subjective view

Pure abstraction – Film focusing on sound, shape, colour, tone, light rather then filmed reality

Structural – making films via a system or set of rules and focusing on the formal properties of film, rather then representation

For this project not only am I going to research the use of various techniques and pieces by experimental filmmakers but shall also give examples of other short films, music videos and other art forms that have inspired and influenced me.

Initial idea’s

We have decided to create a dark and surreal piece based on words such as -

Rituals

Black magic

Witch craft

Cults

We plan on using montage sequences of lighting, candles, darkness, desolate and mysterious locations, a collection of iconic imagery and a twisted and warped antagonist combined with a non-linear structure, erratic editing style, color correction and sound design to create a brooding and disturbing piece with the aim of shocking and confusing the viewer and placing them in an uneasy state.

Contingency plan – 6:30 A.M

Contingency plan – 6:30 A.M

Once again due to this confound weather, we have been forced to change our idea, as we didn’t really want to push back recording any further.

What we decided to do instead is an indoor piece, capturing the rush of an early morning start.

‘The piece will comprise of an every day man, awakening from bed, dragging himself out with a groan and a stretch, before draining himself of bodily fluids and jumping in the shower.
He will then proceed to drying off, getting dressed and venturing in to the kitchen for a rushed breakfast.
He pops bread in the toaster, boils the kettle and in the haste of things smashes a plate.
Truly frustrating.
After scoffing his toast and downing a cup of tea, he returns to his bathroom where he cleans his teeth, he then returns to his bedroom where he puts on his shoes and coat, fills his pockets with change and keys then runs down stairs and slams the door behind him, ready for another day of facing the man.’

The feelings we hope to evoke in this piece are hopefully something everyone can relate too, that day you push snooze even though you know you shouldn’t of.
Was that extra time in bed really worth the stress of getting ready that fast?
Of course it wasn’t, but you will never admit it.
Everyone has felt this feeling of stress, which is horribly difficult to deal with after just waking up.

sense of space - new timeline