Me, Myself & I- Shot research

As I am using Bronson for inspiration, I figured it would be a good idea to watch the scenes from which I am drawing my inspiration and take pictures of the shots used so I can mimic them or adapt them to my own work. Please note that I am not copying the film directly, just taking inspiration from it as it is the closest thing to what I am looking to make.

All of the shots below have been taken directly by me using my phone and TV, they're taken directly from the film Bronson which is copyright of Vertigo Films.

Looking at these shots we can mainly see that when Bronson is talking it is shot in a mid shot and instead of moving the camera to manipulate the actors distance from the camera the actor moves around. this is what i wish to mimic, however, I plan to have some movement of the camera because in my film the theatre sections are the main feature as opposed to the sections which link other segments, for example I plan on having a close up of my shoes as I walk in but will then pan up and move backwards to get a full view of me before then cutting to a mid-shot.

Also when it comes to the two faces section there will be some camera movement in the form of a slight pan to the side when I step to change which side of my face is on show which differs from Bronson because Tom Hardy just quickly turns whereas I plan to take a step before I turn so that I can move the camera, I feel this gives a bigger impression of there being a transition.

Me, Myself & I- Script

So today I finished my script for the Me, Myself & I project. Firstly, although the limit for the length for the film was 3 minutes mine currently sits at 2 minutes 53 seconds but I'm not worried about this because it wasn't a true acting of it when I did a run through so this can easily change. There will also be shots that aren't in the script because they're just filler, like the train leaving the station. The second problem that I found was that it was at times difficult to create dialogue that felt authentic if I was saying it. For example, in one scene I am celebrating my team scoring a goal, i found this hard to script an authentic cheer that wouldn't sound too fake. This is what I wrote for this part:

I felt that this is the kind of thing I say when Arsenal score, however I plan on just using this as an outline, in general I will improvise but have this as like a base for that improvisation. 

Also whilst writing this script I  chose to only feature one character (myself) apart from in one little bit where I get a reply to a chant from my Dad. I chose to do this because that way it feels truly like I am somewhat lonely in this film which plays upon the Me Myself & I brief that I was given, that it is just me and my emotion.

Next I need to make up some story boards so that filming becomes substantially easier so shots are set up easily.

Me, Myself & I- New Idea

As it is the early days of my film degree and I have not yet used Avid editing software, I have decided to change my Me, Myself & I project so that it is more the camera that will make it a good piece and not the advanced editing. What I mean by this is that to split screen myself three times (to create three people) would be beyond my capabilities at this time considering the time I have to make the film and  my lack of experience with the editing software. However, this is a technique I am interested to explore in the future, but for now at least I will put it on hold.

This means then that I must have a more camera and visual based idea in mind, I do. My new idea takes strong inspiration from the Nicolas Winding Refn film Bronson (2008) starring Tom Hardy as 'Britain's most dangerous criminal': Charles Bronson.


You may be glad to hear that I am nothing like person on which this film is based. however stylistically there is something in this film I wish to mimic within my piece, which is the use of a theatre in which Bronson looks over his life and offers a commentary of sorts, although it is much more than just a simple narration of his life, he applies face paint and acts out in a sort of monologue fashion that gives a glimpse into the insanity of the character. I do not consider myself to be insane (funnily enough) but I do think that I could play on this style and highlight some of my personality traits. For example I actually have stage fright, what better place than on a theatre stage to show this to the audience. However, this would be exaggerated to highlight it in a comedic manner.

The Picture on the left is the cover for Bronson taken from:  http://www.imdb.com/media/rm119769344/tt1172570?ref_=tt_ov_i

In Bronson the theatre is dimly lit and quite dark all around, this gives an impression of two things, the first is that Bronson is quite a dark character, this is then emphasised by the performance of true insanity from Hardy, and also from the things that Bronson has done. The other thing this lighting gives is an impression that we are inside Bronson's mind, the actor on the stage serves as the voice in Bronson's head and the audience are reacting how he would expect them too, this is also emphasised by the fact that we know Bronson strives for fame so these visuals are him imagining his success to a degree.

This is the theatre used in Bronson, as you can see the framing is beautiful and really nicely gives the impression of being trapped in a box, for example Bronson's mind. (Photo taken from: url). This is a theatre in Nottinghamshire so I could not use this specific theatre, however near to where I live is Billingham Theatre which I think would give me a similar aesthetic which will serve the purpose I am looking for.

Images of Billingham Theatre (Top from: http://www.ukurbex.com/index.php?/topic/1519-the-forum-theatre-billingham-2009/) (Bottom from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stagedoor/6417322669)

The above photos are of Bellingham Theatre which I believe would be a perfect place for me to do the in my head pieces of the film, however I think that I will be different from Bronson by not having a crowd, I may still include the noises that a crowd would make though, I may do this to be somewhat surreal and show that it is in my head. 

The other thing to consider is the make-up that Hardy wears in this film, I could mimic this exactly or I could use imagery that is more relevant to me. 

As you can see by the picture next to this Tom Hardy wore make-up that suggests his insanity so I don't really think this would work for what I am trying to portray. However I am thinking of showing how big a football fan I am so perhaps I could get my teams badge painted on my face for one of the segments. I also plan to do a small section were a very nervous me goes on stage and faints from stage fright, for this I may paint a worried face over my own for comedic and hyperbolic value to highlight the nervous part of my persona. Tom Hardy Bronson Photo Taken From: (http://quotesgram.com/charles-bronson-movie-quotes/). 

This research into my inspiration has given me a lot to think about and plan, now I need to storyboard, script and have a plot outline, all of which will feature on here when they're finished.

24 Hour Film- Planning

As mentioned in the previous post we had to make a film in 24 hours and came up with the idea of Keith the space worm. the next step was to plan what we wanted to shoot and storyboard and script it, with this being a very quick creation and filming we didn't follow the conventions of script and instead went for a more efficient system that meant we straight away knew what we were doing when shooting.

These are the original scripts for a few of the intended scenes, sadly the majority of what we wanted to shoot was simply unachievable with the time constraint. In the end we only had the introduction and the beach scene. However, I still feel we made a short but effective comedy piece.

As you can see in some of these storyboards there were other scenes that we intended to add to make the film even funnier and to perhaps flesh out the character of Keith somewhat, although with what we had I think you still get the portrayal we intended to show so in that sense nothing was lost.

24 Hour Film Introduction

So a couple of weeks ago we were given the brief to plan and shoot a film in 24 hours, we were given the genre at 2 PM on the Tuesday and had to have a film by the same time the following day with next to no previous planning for the film. We were given the genre of Sci-Fi. this could have been majorly worse as one of the other options was for a musical, so I think we got a good deal. That being said there was still a major challenge with getting a story planned that we could do in 24 hours. After a few different ideas flying around we eventually decided upon the idea of a mockumentary which follows a day in the life of Keith the space worm and his carer John. This was done in a similar style to Lou and Andy from Little Britain and in a similar style to What We Do in the Shadows, a mockumentary about vampires who live together.

(Lou and Andy photo taken from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_and_Andy)

(Poster for What WE Do in the Shadows taken from: http://jeremysaunders.com/key-art/what-we-do-in-the-shadows-1/)

This is an image I took of our space worm Keith when he was in full costume. We were going for a deliberately amateur aesthetic to make the film more funny which I feel worked well although the costume deteriorated quickly throughout the day and due to the time constraints there was not a lot we could do about it.