Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #10

The final film shoot. it seems like such a long time since we started (actually about a month) but its very nice to be at the end, but there was still a shoot to do so we rallied one final time to do it and wrap up.

Carl setting up the chair for the final scene when he hangs.

This scene was to fill in the missing gaps of what we had missed when we were in the garage before and to shoot the final scene. This was a fun shoot as we had the slide so we had the chance to experiment a little bit with movement and how we could create emotion in a scene. For example the final shot of the film  as we track in from his limp body 'hanging' from the ceiling. This for me is the perfect closing shot for the film and it is because we had the slider that it happened.

This is Liam framing up a shot of the painting so that Carl knew where to paint it.

Carl was very cooperative on this shoot as it was probably the hardest for him as he had to hang from the ceiling as well as looking distressed, Carl was fantastic to work with on this shoot and to be honest throughout the whole film he has been, considering his relatively small experience I found him to be very professional and would definitely consider him for future roles.

Thus the shooting is concluded and on to the edit.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #9

The penultimate film shoot, only one more to go after this one, what a feeling. However, we still had work to do even though this was a very small shoot we still put the effort in and made sure it was of a good standard so that the film didn't suffer. 

We took out the redheads for this shoot but Richard was on Janice's shoot so  I stood in as sound Op on this shoot.

The lighting on this scene was crucial because we had used this room previously and because of this had to make it aesthetically differently from the lettings agent scene, I feel like we achieved that, however, watching the clips back, they will need to be colour corrected as they are too orange and look unnatural but this is a relatively easy fix.

Single of Carl for his side of the conversation.

The actors in the scene were easy to work with, it was Carl and Stephan so they knew each other and already knew what I expected from them and how the characters play off of each other, so I was happy with the performance they gave, we had the same problem of actors overstepping their mark but this was such a small scene it didn't really pose an issue. Sound operating was easy enough to work in conjunction with direction as I already know the script inside out so I had no issue making sure the mic was on the right person. The only issue was that I had terrible headphones because I had left my own at home, as a result I didn't have a very good representation of the sound quality but there are no issues on playback so it worked out fine.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #8

 This is a blog post for the 8th film shoot for Brush Stroke, and holy shit was this shoot a nightmare, before we even get to the real problems on this shoot it felt like the temperature is in the misuses and it one point it started snowing during a take.

Doing a take, Richard very cleverly blocked the wind to a degree with a post.

However, the big issue with this shoot was that the actor for the scene that was supposed to play the Fisherman came and then left because Andrew got lost driving us to the location three times and we ended up being an hour late, I have no issue with the fact that he left like he did, we were very unprofessional and couldn't have expected him to wait as long as he did. What made it worse however, is that he must have gone to the wrong car park because Shaun walked around the car park with his film hoodie on looking for him, but theres no use in crying over spilt milk.

Liam showing me how we can use this part of the front to make it look like we are filming from in the Lake.

At this point we couldn't afford to not shoot this scene so me and Liam quickly planned a new scene from what we had available to us, I am not happy about this because within the narrative, this scene doesn't have much need, however, we adapted very well and this scene was nicely done given the problem we had. So concludes the account of my nightmare film shoot, although to be fair we still shot what will probably turn out to be a good scene.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #7

This was the shoot for the two cafe scenes, these had to be shot in two separate shoots during that day because the cafe we were filming in was open over dinner time but not in the morning or after dinner so we could film then. However, this worked out nicely because the two scenes were set at the time of day that we were shooting them in.

Liam and Richard during a take.

This was another stress free shoot as both actors were really nice to work with and were very receptive to suggestions I had on the performance they were giving. The only issue we did have was the time, as we were working to a non-negotiable timeline of the cafe, it meant that we had to quickly do everything so they could open on time. We also had a small problem with sound appearing to be mono instead of stereo but it turned out to be just the headphones.

Liam spent a while getting this shot to be perfect for Carl's single.

There was an issue with space at this point as we couldn't fit into the gap to get the shot as we wanted, to counter this Liam spent a good amount of time balancing and raising the camera on top of a pile of books, only to have Richard pick up the camera, thus meaning he had to reframe and rebalance the shot.  Annoying but I guess the cables had to be plugged in.

Directing from below.

This shoot went fairly well and apart from the time issue was completely stress free. So yeah, thats all for shoot 7.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #6

This was the exterior of the restaurant scenes with Carl and Stephan, aka Michael and Cipriano. We were back at a full crew for this shoot and we were filming both scenes that featured the two of these characters (we intended to shoot the office scene with the two of them but decided the location wasn't good enough and thus decided to reschedule that).

Me directing Carl on the path he should take to get where I wanted to frame him.

This was another relatively easy shoot because both actors got into their characters well and were easy enough to work with. I had a bit of trouble at times getting one actor into place and making them stay there. Also one actor kept suggesting how we shoot the film, to be honest while I am not a complete dictator, I don't appreciate actors who over step the mark, for example I have no problem with actors suggesting things but when they tell me that their idea will look better, they're overstepping the mark so I politely asked him to stop, there was no issue from this point on so no hard feelings and we could continue from there.

This is the afternoon shoot when we got the wise shot of Michael arriving. (a rare sight of our producer on set)

The second half of the shoot went down without a problem, except the public were out a lot more and the wind picked up so sound became an issue, this meant that we just had to wait between takes, this wasn't really an issue, it just felt as though we were wasting time. 

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #5 (actually 4)

This Blog post is for what should be the fifth film shoot for Brush Stroke but actually it was the forth and I had just forgotten to put it in, my bad. This was for the Lettings agency scene with Michael, the Landlord and the Lettings agent. This was a new experience for me as it was my first time working with semi professional actors, as opposed to people who just do it as more of a hobby.

Roger and Carl in place between takes.

This was a bit of a learning  curve for me as I knew I would have to be more professional than my usual self on set, however they are really nice people to work with and they didn't seem to be unhappy in any way with how I was directing them. Although they may have been too professional to say even if they were unhappy.

Me directing with a pint of water in hand, (no thats not Richard, Allan stepped in on sound)

One issue we had was that through no ones fault (although perhaps Richard could have planned his travel better) Richard couldn't be on set as he couldn't get travel to be there, luckily my friend Allan was on hand to help out and he took over on sound for this shoot, luckily it was interior so relatively easy to get sound, although having checked the clips there were no issues with sound so I suppose I no one will know we had an inexperienced sound op.

A relatively simple shoot but fun for me to work with a high quality of actor and get good results from the shoot. It is worth noting that on this shoot I was quite ill and had been sick that morning and had to change, hence why I am dressed relatively scruffily, I regret this but was almost unavoidable.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #4

The fourth film shoot for Brush Stroke was in the Hartlepool Marina, and was scheduled for 6.30 pm, in actual fact we had split into two groups as my producer and sound op went to pick up the main actor and me and the camera op went to get the equipment, this would have been no problem but as my group walked, we over estimated the amount of time it took and we were late, this wasn't a huge issue but it did mean we wrapped later than expected.

This was what the lighting was like at the marina about half way through the shoot.

One issue we did have was that it got dark quickly so there is a very clear difference in the beginning of the shoot and the end meaning we needed something to mask this change and show time passing, luckily whilst I was directing Liam was going around and getting cutaways and he got a nice shot of the moon that can be used to show time passing without it being a huge issue. 

Sometimes you just have to grab the camera yourself, this is me getting a shot that Liam was worried about getting due to the water.

The picture above as you can see shows me getting a shot of Michael wetting his face from the sea, the reason I got this shot was because it was very close to the water's edge and no one seemed willing to get close so I got my camera operator (Liam) to set up the exposure and settings so that all I had to do was go down and hit record and shout action. That way I wasn't taking his job from him but still got the shot I wanted. This is one of the most fun shoots I have been on and I really enjoyed every second, one of those days when I'm happy to make films, thats all for now, until next time.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #3

This is a blog post to document the events and quality of the third film shoot, this was the one we did for the forest scene, this took place at Penshaw monument and was in general a good shoot. The weather was a minor issue at times but generally there was no huge problems with this shoot.

This is Carl standing staring at the picture on the tree before the character of Michael is transported out of the forest via the picture.

The first things we shot were Michael walking through the forest as he is transported into a picture for the first time. These were easy shots we just found nice bends in the path and gaps in trees for Carl to walk towards and pass to simulate a long walk. The only issue with this is another way we are trying to show time passing is by tilting to the sky and fading to a new sky then tilting down again. However, we will not know if this worked until we come to the edit.

Over the shoulder set up for the shot on the previous production still.

Then we came to a clearing where I put the photo up for Carl to look at as a reference. There weren't many issues at this point except some things we saw in hindsight when we looked back at the footage, for example we got a shot that pulls in on Michael's face as he stares at the picture, however the bag on the tree in the background wasn't moved and somehow we missed it so it ruined the shot.

Me directing from under my coat to compensate for the rain.

As I said, the main issue was the rain, although this wasn't an issue during takes it was during transportation between spots when people were slipping and almost falling with the equipment, luckily nobody did fall and the equipment was unscathed. The only other issue with the rain was Carl slipping during takes but this only happened twice and was pretty funny so we just laughed and reshot.

Brush Stroke- Film Shoot #2

This was the second shoot of the film when we shot the garage scenes, not all of them but we made a good chunk into them. Sadly there is no production shots on this one as we were at the bare minimum of a crew, there was just me (directing and on camera) and then Richard on camera. Had I known the trouble this would have been, the chances are I wouldn't have done this shoot and would have waited until the whole crew was free.

The crew itself worked well, but on the whole, I felt that it caused more problems than it was worth. Mainly these were continuity issues that I missed because I had too many factors to think about. I have no problem in holding my hands up and saying this was fault if what we shot needs re-shooting but we did get some good shots in and amongst so it wasn't a wasted trip.

Due to the fact I eventually wrapped the shoot before we had shot everything as I didn't feel comfortable without a full crew we do have to return but this isn't a problem.

This was only a short post due to the lack production shots but all the same there was a rundown on the second shoot.

Brush Stroke- Film shoot #1

These are some thoughts and some images from the first shoot of Brush Stroke, in this shoot we filmed the sequences where Michael is in his home. These are very short sequences to shoot so we could be more perfectionist as we knew we had time to spare.

Me directing Carl (playing Michael, whilst checking the framing)

A lot of these segments were close ups and extreme close ups so it was a relatively simple shoot and the only complications came when we went to film the exterior of the house we were filming in.

This is an over the shoulder shot of Carl reading the letters.

Carl is a really easy to work with actor, he was patient while we set up the shots and gave exactly what we asked for when the camera started to roll.

These two photos show me and Liam setting up a hallway shot and checking the lighting.

Liam was particularly good on this set as he is very good director of photography, this made my job easier as I trusted him to get my artistic vision into the shots, which he did without fail.

This was the production set up for the second shot we filmed.

As I said this was a very easy shoot as everyone pulled their weight and we all worked efficiently, there is not much for me to say other than that, one more thing I can say about this is that there were issues with sound and the public when we went outside. The public kept deliberately ruining shots and the wind kept ringing the sound.

That's all for now guys, bye.

Brush Stroke- Director Influences

With the fact that I am going to be directing Brush Stroke I decided that I wanted to look at some directors that influence me and that have influenced the script during the writing. The first of these is my favourite Director(s) the Coen Brothers, famous for such films as No Country for Old Men and Fargo, they have a unique visual style that I wish to emulate that comes from their very close work with their cinematographer Roger Deakins.

This is an example of how Roger Deakins sets up his shots for the Coens, he shoots with a wide lens on but always makes sure that the background is still interesting so that the "shot appears more personal". This is something I would definitely like to mimic as I agree with Deakins that it adds to the personality of the shot but also I think that it will add to the intimate drama of the conversations.

Another director who influenced me was Christopher Nolan, particularly the film Inception, which I have referenced before when talking about Brush Stroke. Although this is an action film, it does feature some interesting character development and some similar themes to my film, predominately the 'is it a dream' feel to the film as well as the debate of whether you could kid yourself that you aren't in a dream to be happy.

This is an example of a shot that is similar to the Deakins shot from above how it is a nice wide shot with an interesting background. I also like how this film utilises close ups to show important aspects of the story with a basic shot of something small in a close up. The prime example being the spinning top in the climax of the film. One example I can think of where I will do this is when I will exaggerate Shannon's engagement ring. I will exaggerate it by getting an extreme close up that pulls the focus onto the ring.

Brush Stroke- Paint effect trials

When I come to make Brush Stroke I would like to add an effect where Michael paints over the lens of the camera as though the lens is the canvas, in order to capture this effect I did some tests to see what the best way to do this was. These are the results.

This was with a sheet on acetate over the lens secured on with celotape. I think it worked well but the paint needs to be thicker or perhaps a different paint, this was oil paint.

This was a second attempt with acetate but as you can tell the acetate wasn't secure and as a result the illusion is broken, again the paint wasn't thick enough.

This was an attempt using cling film, it didn't really work, the application of the paint is good but there is way too much movement of the surface and as such there is no illusion because you easily notice that something has gone wrong.

This was the final attempt, for this one I used a sheet of glass and got my dad to hold it against the lens while I did the painting, this is by far the best of the lot and I think the best thing to do with regards to the paint is to use acrylic instead of oil as they are more translucent but stick better so it will give a better effect.

Just a side note these are in poor Gif former because I had trouble uploading to youtube so had to use Gif.

Brush Stroke- Painting photoshop

As one of the central aspects to Brush Stroke is the paintings that appear in and amongst the plot, it is obvious that we will need some paintings. Due to the fact that we have neither the budget nor the time for professional oil paintings or high quality paintings of any kind I have had to get creative with photoshop. What I did was take some photos (from the internet and in one case from our recce photos) and then I applied an artistic filter, and after this if I wasn't pleased with the outcome I adjusted the other settings like contrast, saturation, hue, etc.
This is how my experiment turned out:

 This was my first attempt and actually one of the best that I did, I think this may be due to the quality of the original photo. This is a very simple application of the angled strokes filter.

In this one I again applied the angled strokes filter but I widened the stroke and upped the saturation when I felt it didn't look 'painting' enough.

 As I knew that late on in the film there would be a painting of a cabin with the two lead characters stood outside I experimented with adding people, in this case it didn't really work, however, I think this is because of the colour contrast between the people and their background.

 This is an attempt at a forest which I thought looked quite good but when I showed my crew they said that it looked too "blocky" so perhaps if I was to used this effect then I may have to reduce the stroke size, it should be noted this wasn't angled strokes.

This photo was taken from a recce at a lake in Sunderland that we are thinking about shooting at, for this one I used angled strokes and lowered the saturation before changing the brightness, contrast and vibrance.

I then added this man in the boat to the painting, he was crudely cut out and quickly edited to have similar aesthetics to the painting. I don't think this looks too bad considering it was a test and when it comes to the real thing I will take much more care over it. I then lowered the brightness to integrate the two images better.

Production Module- Brush Stroke

So after a few months away from Brush Stroke (the script I wrote for the screenwriting module) I have no got the chance to direct and make it. The deadline for which is May 8th, so its an 8 week turn around, not a huge amount of time considering the vastness of this script, with many locations and a fair few actors, this is definitely the biggest production I have been a part of. Therefore to be the creative drive behind this is only adds to the magnitude of what I have to do in such a modest amount of time. However, this is by no means impossible and I fully expect to come out with the film I want to make and it will not have been unnecessarily cut down for ease of time or as a way out of working harder on it.
That's basically the end of this post as I did it to serve as an introduction to my new module.

Brush Stroke- Inspirations and Influences

This post is to highlight what I was inspired by when I thought up the narrative and concept of Brush Stroke. Just to highlight the films narrative: Michael is a starving artist who loses his inspiration and has a very hard life. He then rediscovers his inspiration by literally entering paintings, he enters three in total and then creates a masterpiece that takes elements from all three. At the end of the film Michael discovers his best friend (who he loves without telling her) is engaged, he loses his job and is evicted, all in one day. After this Michael goes straight to his painting and finishes it off before he hangs himself to live in his painting. The ending however isn't that simple because we do not know if Michael is dead or if he is in the painting because Michael was unable to prove his power to Shannon and she said that he must have been day dreaming.

My first inspiration for this was Inception, the 2010 Christopher Nolan film which was best known for being somewhat confusing but it was remembered more by audiences because of its ambiguous ending where we are unsure which 'world' the main character is in, basically whether he is dreaming or not. (Photo taken from: http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/inception-ending-christopher-nolan-finally-discusses-the-meaning-behind-that-spinning-top-10294480.html)

This was my inspiration because I love the way this film made you doubt what you had been shown before you and then leaves you hanging and to think what you want to. From here I wanted to make something similar but obviously I couldn't just copy the plot and the setting of going into dreams at will so I had to think of  a new twist on this. This is where my second inspiration comes into play.

(Photo taken from: http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/thepursuitofhappyness/)

As you can see this is the Pursuit of Happyness, in this film the main character is really down on his luck and struggling for money, it was this aspect that I wanted to put into my film that the main character is just a normal guy on the outside but behind that he is struggling and just looking for an escape from his harsh reality. However in this film it is a physical escape as he gets a solution by getting an internship, in my film he is just hiding from his problems by escaping into a new world. The third aspect of my film that I got inspiration for came from two places, one from a video game:

(Photo taken from: http://e-aagh.net/2011/11/remembering-oblivion/) 

This is from the video game oblivion, there is a quest where you have to go into a painting to save the artist of it who has gone in but is now trapped in there. This is a clear inspiration of mine as it is someone literally trying to escape their problems by entering a painting, however, it differs from mine as Michael doesn't do it intentionally but rather he discovers the ability by accident and has little control of when it works for him. The second inspiration for the painting worlds was What Dreams May Come starring Robin Williams.

(Photo taken from: https://www.yahoo.com/movies/robin-williams-fans-turn-toward-visions-of-him-in-94564567702.html)

In this film he isn't in the painting as a form of escapism but he is actually dead and is inside one of his wife's paintings. This also differs from mine because in this the world it is literally painted, whereas in mine it will look and feel like the real world but we know it isn't due to the set up. However this was still a strong inspiration for may film as this and the Oblivion game gave me the idea of 'What would it be like to be able to go into a painting?'

Brush Stroke- Character- Shannon

This is my inspiration and a description of the protagonist's best friend Shannon, as I mentioned in my other post she is something of an opposite to Michael. Shannon is an attractive, successful bank worker who is essentially a desirable woman for any man. My first inspiration for this character (and actually the face I see when I imagine the character) is Scarlett Johansson, in particular the role she plays in the movie Chef. (Photo taken from: https://www.pinterest.com/jessielo1109/hair/)

This character served as inspiration for me as she is a no nonsense, conscience type character that plays off of the protagonist to guide him somewhat and give an escape from mounting pressures that surround him, in Chef she helps the character cope with the stress of not being able to cook what he wants, in my story Shannon helps Michael with the stress of being bullied at work as well as his mounting money troubles. However, Shannon differs this character because this character isn't overly successful and she isn't someone that the protagonist wants to be in a relationship with.

From the top of my head I couldn't think of an existing character from something else that reflects the professional nature of Shannon so I did some research into this and found that Sandra Bullock's character in the proposal represented what I wanted to portray quite well. (Photo taken from: Amazon.com: The Proposal (Single-Disc Edition): Sandra Bullock ...)

Though I do not feel this film was very good, or that the character was anything special, I do think that she portrays the professional, almost robotic side of Shannon that is quite devoid of creativity and any artistic skill. This is of course the opposite of Michael who is a starving artist. However this character is a lot more cold than Shannon and therefore would not fit Shannon's role because she doesn't have that warmth and honesty that the example from Chef portrayed, but as the character is layered I believe a hybrid of these characters do marry together well.

Shannon will be something of a mix of these two characters and thus I think will be a very believable character that will play off of Michael very well because of that.

Brush Stroke- Character- Michael

This is to show you my protagonist for the script I am writing. My character's name is Michael and he works in an Italian restaurant where everyone except him is Italian, as a result of this he is bullied somewhat, couple this with the fact that he doesn't get paid much and is given all of the dirty work and you see why Michael hates his job and his co-workers. I chose this because my film is about escapism and by giving the protagonist a poor standard of day to day life it highlights his need for an escape (which I will talk about shortly). Moreover it sets up the image of 'poverty' that I want Michael to live in, Michael is struggling for money and has a lot of back rent that he cannot pay, this adds to the job issue to show that Michael has a very hard life at this part of his life and he also has few friends, in fact the only one I have portrayed in this film is Shannon, the polar opposite of Michael, but I will do another one of these posts for her. When writing this character I had a few characters from other films that inspired me somewhat.

One such inspiration was the narrator of Fight Club, this is because of his complete lack of care for his work and his limited social interactions with people, not to mention his lack of friends, also it is of note that I mean the narrator at the beginning rather than the end as anyone who has seen the film will know that he undergoes a large transformation. (photo taken from: zombiesruineverything.com)

Despite Michael's poverty, he is actually a very good artist, landscapes are his preferred type of painting, this serves as Michael's escape from the harsh reality he finds himself in, however as the story progresses this also becomes a physical escape as he enters the world of other people's paintings. In this sense Michael becomes a lot like one of my other inspirations, Will Hunting from Good Will Hunting, this is because this character is a hidden genius, although he is talented at maths and not at art but the premise is similar.

Although I have identified similarities with the two characters, Will Hunting is much more confident and willing to stand up for himself, whereas my character is more likely to let people ride him than stand up for himself. Moreover, Will is younger and more successful with women than Michael. Michael is more of the type that only wants one person but that person is otherwise accounted for. (Photo taken from ctcmr.com)

There is one other character I thought about when I was creating this character and that is Chris Gardner from the Pursuit of Happyness, I looked at this character for inspiration because he too lives in a similar kind of poverty to Michael, although perhaps his is more extreme than that of Michael (Michael at the start of my film anyway).

Of the three, Chris shares the least with Michael in terms of character traits, however I believe that the two react in similar ways to scenarios that befall them due to their shared strife, I therefore thought of this character at times because I know Michael would react similarly. (Photo taken from: www.fanpop.com)

Screenwriting- Treatment

Recently I had to write a treatment for my film, Brush Stroke, I found this to be a very helpful exercise with regards to panning because it allowed me to get a solid plot written down so I knew exactly where it was going. If anyone is unfamiliar with what a treatment is, it is basically the entire plot of a film with all the twists and such so that a company can know the plot and from this know if it worth investing in.

This is my treatment for Brush Stroke:

Brush Stroke

LOGLINE: The story of a starving artist who is in a dead-end job and doesn't fit in who loses his inspiration before finding it again after gaining the ability to literally enter works of art, as though they are different dimensions.

Act One:

Michael is a artist in his spare time, he paints fantastic works of art but sadly has not been successful in the art world and as such is forced to work a dead-end job in a three star Italian restaurant, this is a problem for Michael as he feels like a caged bird as he does not speak Italian, like his coworkers and boss, thus he feels out of place and as though his job is stifling his creativity and from this his art is suffering. On the whole Michael is a loner, save for his young attractive friend Shannon, although Shannon is young she is already in a high paying job in a bank and lives something of a luxury life, quite the opposite to Michael.  Michael is also very proud and often declines financial help from Shannon despite his money problems and his low income.

At the beginning of the film Michael is painting a landscape in his basement which is spectacular, we follow his every stroke until he is finished and he takes a step back from  his stand, smiles and goes upstairs from his art workshop (which is in his basement) and to bed. The following morning he looks through the mail in his bare, dull kitchen while he eats toast that he’s burnt and we see that he has several bills, one of which is a very serious bill for his rent which is a last notice before his eviction. Michael then leaves the house and goes to work via a rusted old bike.

Upon arriving at work he goes straight into the kitchen where immediately he has orders barked at him while his two co-workers stand and chat in Italian, the day winds on and at the end of the day he cycles a few streets to meet with Shannon at a coffee shop. The two chat about their day and Michael begins to vent his problems to Shannon and he begins to let go more and more whilst telling her about his financial troubles and that he may lose his house due to back rent. On the brink of a full breakdown, Michael stops talking and begins to drink his coffee, Shannon then offers to pay off his back rent and some of his bills. Michael angrily denies her offer and she reaches a minor compromise as he lets her pay for the coffee. The two then part ways and once Michael is home he immediately goes to his basement to paint to take his mind off of the day.

Act Two:

Upon attempting a painting in his basement Michael can no longer find his inspiration, he tries and tries but cannot put the brush to canvas and do anything good, as we see him struggle his frustration grows he eventually snaps and throws the canvas across the room before slumping into a corner and sobbing as to him it is as though he has lost the only thing in life that brings him joy. We then go again to his next day at work and as he is getting bawled at by his boss he stares at a painting on the wall of a forest, all of a sudden Michael finds himself in the forest from the painting and he walks through the trees and gets lost. he then comes across a floating framed picture of his basement as he left it. Michael stops to ponder the photo before he then finds himself in his basement stood in the middle of the wreckage from the previous night. he tidies up his mess and sets about sketching an outline for a landscape, he has not yet found his inspiration again but has found enough to begin sketching.

The next day Michael has a meeting in a lettings agency with his landlord about all his back-rent. whilst he is being asked to explain himself and to explain how he is going to pay back the debt, Michaels stares and studies a painting on the wall of a marina, the same thing happens again and he finds himself on a marina front that appears to be empty. Michael walks along the front for sometime before looking down and once again seeing his basement only this time it is on the floor. Once again he stops to study the picture before him and finds himself all of a sudden stood in front of his canvas and paints, he then picks up the brush with renewed enthusiasm begins to paint a landscape of a forest by a river with a log cabin. Upon doing a substantial amount of the painting Michael puts down the brush and goes to bed.

Act three:

For the first time in a while Michael wakes up with a good feeling about the day and arranges to get coffee with Shannon before work, so the two of them meet up in there usual cafe and they chat as they usually do. Shannon notices that Michael is a lot brighter than usual and Michael cannot help but tell her about his new found ability to enter paintings, for obvious reasons Shannon cannot believe Michael. He pleads with her to believe him before eventually offering to prove it with one of the paintings in the diner, a small painting of a cottage in the country. Michael takes her hand and really focuses hard on the painting but to no avail. no matter how hard Michael tries he cannot get it to work. Shannon now thinks Michael is making fun of her and tells him he must've dreamt his trips into the paintings. She then leaves cash on the table and leaves angrily and abruptly.

Feeling somewhat upset about what had happened and also wondering if it was a dream Michael cycles to work to find out he is being sacked for ‘what happened the other day’ (while he was in the painting) when he asks the boss to explain he just says that he was barely there all day (Michael is unsure whether he means physically or mentally). Distraught by how his day has gone Michael cycles home only to find that there is an eviction notice on his door. Michael tears the notice off of the door and immediately goes to his landscape.

Michael pulls a chair up to the painting to stand on so he can paint the top of his canvas and we watch him put the last few strokes to his masterpiece before the chair gives way and we see his legs dangle, Michael has killed himself so he can live in his perfect masterpiece.  However as he is hanging there he drops his paintbrush which is covered in black paint and we look over his painting to see a black figure next to the log house as we fade to black to end the film there will be a slight movement from the figure as if to suggest that he is alive in the painting but it is deliberately vague to make the viewer decide if he is alive or not and thus whether he did have the power to go into paintings.

This was my original treatment but like with the step outlines the story evolved over the writing process due to me finding out how things worked in practise.

Screen writing- Idea

My idea is basically an artist who loses his inspiration and finds it again by gaining the ability to enter paintings literally. The protagonist Michael has a hard life and not much to live for, he works a dead end job and only has one friend really, Shannon. Shannon is almost a polar opposite of Michael as she is successful and easy going, they get along well regardless.
The original 10 step outline for this film was:

1. Michael is doing a painting in his art studio which is in his basement, he is very good and is finishing a really good landscape.
   
2. Michael gets up and does his daily routine before going to work.at work Michael does not fit in and is constantly being shouted at and scorned because he is the only non-Italian in the restaurant staff.
   
3. Michael then gets coffee with his best friend Shannon after work, he tells her about all of his money issues and how he will potentially be evicted from is house. Shannon offers to pay his bak rent and help him out but he refuses and gets angry, the two compromise with her paying the coffee bill.
   
4. Michael returns to his basement to do some more painting but he has lost his inspiration and in a fit of rage he trashes his workshop.
   
5. Michael is getting shouted at at work the next day and while he is, he stares at a painting of a forest and all of a sudden finds himself in the forest. he explores the forest and finds a picture of his basement as he left it, upon studying this he finds himself in there.
   
6. The same thing happens the following day in a lettings agency when he is being told he must pay off his back rent or face eviction, this time it is a marina but the events transpire in the same way as the forest.
   
7. Upon returning from the marina Michael has rediscovered his inspiration and begins work upon his perfect scene of a log cabin in the woods.
   
8. The following day, Michael goes to see Shannon before work for coffee and cant help but tell her about his new found joy and where it is coming from. she cannot believe him and the two get very angry, Shannon because she thinks Michael is making fun of her, and Michael because he cannot show her his power, Shannon concludes he isn't making fun but that he was just dreaming.
   
9. Michael leaves the coffee shop and heads to work, only to find he has been sacked due to ‘hardly being there all day’ when he was getting shouted at. he then heads for home to find an eviction notice on the door of his house, Michael tears this off and immediately goes to his basement to finish his art, he pulls out a chair to reach the top and the chair gives way, leaving Michael hanging. Michael has hung himself. 
   
10.  Michael hangs from the ceiling and drops his paintbrush which has a black paint on it, we then look over his painting and see a newly added silhouette, then we see a slight movement, or perhaps it didn't move, the point is to make the audience decide. 
    
    Although there are some differences as the script has developed this is still the basic plot, although I am thinking of adding a third painting scene instead of the intended original 2.