Live Project 1- Locations

Filming a roller disco requires a hall. Therefore, it goes without saying that we had to find a hall. There were 4 locations we had in mind, a few of which we could get hold of but due to issues with the venue we couldn't use it. The locations we had in mind were, a church hall, a school hall, a roller derby and a bar.
The Church Hall

This is the exterior of the church, unfortunately I haven't got a photo of the hall but the main reason we had for not choosing this location was that it would more than likely be too small, also there was the issue that we may mark the floor with roller skates. We did not return to test the flooring with roller skates because we had already got a location by the time that it would have come to doing this.

The Roller Derby

The producer contacted all of the local roller derbies and we as a group looked for more derbies but we could not find one that would be willing to let us shoot in their building when we were looking to shoot. Although it is likely that the room wouldn't be what we needed anyway because they tend to be long and thin whereas we needed something more square.

School Hall

The school was almost perfect for our shoot, although we found that there weren't a huge amount of plugs for electricity which may have been an issue because we planned on using a few red head lights and some disco lights and a smoke machine so we need a good access to plugs. Also again we had the issue of potentially marking the floor and knowing that the hall is newly built I knew they would be particularly protective over this. Again, by the time it came to testing the floors we already decided upon a location.

The Bar

We eventually decided to shoot at a local bar called The Studio that ticked all the boxes for what we wanted. I don't want to talk about this too much on here because I am going to do an individual post for it.

Live Project 1: UV Light and UV paint

Another way that we thought we can really nail the 80s vibe of the music video was by using a UV light and UV paint to accentuate and stylise the look of the actors. When I looked into doing this I found that if done correctly, It looks really vibrant and neon, which is more or less perfect for our video.

This is an example of what I found and an idea that we could mimic. With this on board I then went about putting the paint onto actors to see if we could create a similar effect. We also got a UV light from a friend of Ryan (the other camera operator) and then turned on the light to see what it looked like. 

This was the first attempt, I feel this worked well and looked very in keeping with our aesthetic vision. We then applied this to some other extras and filmed their close ups so that we could use this in potential cutaways in the video.

Of the ones that we did this was my favourite as I think it looks good how the hair is illuminated coming out of the hat. This is just pleasing on the eye.

 

These are the last of the screenshots I have taken of the use of face paint in the video. I think the effect is really good and definitely adds the neon colourfulness and flare we are wanting it to bring.

Live Project 1- Poster Lighting

The final thing that we had to do for this poster was to light it for the shots of just the poster. This is only a short post because we got the look we wanted relatively quickly. At first we tried using the rig lights in the studio but eventually decided that it would be much easier to set up and position three red head lights and add filter to them. This is what we did.

This is a very basic lighting plan for what we used to light up the poster, with each circle being the light and the colour being the filter we added to the light. While this is very basic it is still useful on set as it gives a clear indication.

This is what it turned out like when we had lit it up, personally I feel that the blue could have been stronger but on the whole I think that this came out great. We then decided to add roller skates to the picture to show the actors kicking off their skates which we filmed, then I took a still of the skates in place.

All things considered I think this was very well lit up and looked fantastic on screen.

Live Project 1- Poster Photoshop

After we had made the poster from my previous post, but not yet added the stars, I was given this photo to try and tidy up the poster on photoshop in case we wanted to use a still of it on the video.

This was the completed poster without the stars as they were a decision we took later to add them in. The first thing I decided to do with this poster was to make a digital version, I did this simply by colouring in the areas in block colour of what they were on the original.

This is what the digital version came out like, it was very rough but I think that it benefits from block colouring because it makes it more vibrant and also less streaky. From here, if we wanted to incorporate this as a logo I could remove the background to make it transparent so that the image could be easily super imposed onto whatever we wanted.

The new thing I did with the poster was a lot more subtle but also very effective. What I did with this was blur the lettering and the background to remove the creases and streaks but still keeping the look of being hand made. It is unclear at this point whether either of these effects will be used in the final edit but it is of note that they were both done relatively quickly as a showcase and not to be considered the best they can be. If theses were needed in the final edit, it would be done much neater and more time and care would be taken over it.

Live Project 1- Poster design and creation

In the music video theres is a large poster that lays on the floor which has the band name on it (Lost State of Dance), as a result of this poster being in the film, obviously we had to make it, so we did.

First we had to make a single piece of paper big enough for what we wanted so we took some old posters that weren't needed and attached them together then flipped them over so we could paint on the white side.

It just so happens that our lead actor is on the illustration course at out university, this meant that we could tell him what we wanted and he essentially nailed exactly what we wanted when he drew it onto the paper. Then it was just a case of painting onto the paper what had been drawn out.

Apart from the "state" this was the poster finished until we later decided that there was too much empty space and we concluded that there needed to be some stars in the gaps to bring it to life that little bit more.

This was then finished and we just needed to film it. Although we did experiment with photoshopping  the poster to touch it up as well as experimenting with lighting to get the best effect of the poster, these are both things I will post about later.

Live Project 1- Actors.

This is just a short post to show the actors that we have cast for the music video as the 80s girl and modern boy.

This is the girl (Jess) who will be playing the 80s girl, we decided to choose her because she was the most like the vision that we had for how the girl would look, also with her having green hair it made her a bit more vibrant and even more suited to the role.

This is the modern boy we chose to cast (Ryan) as he is very modern in how he dresses so it would be a lot easier for us to dress him in a modern way, also he was extremely comfortable and confident during the audition, this set him head and shoulders above the other auditions.
It is also of note that both of the actors said that they had some experience on roller skates and thus this meant that we could work better with them as there was no need for doubles.

Live Project 1- Costume

As mentioned in previous posts, the music video that we are making is 80s themed with a modern element as well. I have also previously mentioned that this was going to be done by having an 80s girl and a modern boy meeting up. As a result of these two culture clashes we need two distinct clothing styles so the difference between the two is evident on screen. Because of the need for distinction between the two eras on screen I decided to do some research into costume for the two characters and the type of things they could wear.

The Boy
The boy is the modern one of the two, this means it will be substantially easier to dress the actor because in all likelihood they will already have the kind of clothing we are looking for.

One quick google search of modern clothing and you find this image and I think this is a good starting point for what we want him to look like, in particular note the dull colours, nothing neon or bright like it was in the 80s, I think in particular the middle one of these men would be the best for what we are trying to achieve, I think the other two (in particular the left one) are perhaps a touch too smartly dressed.

Looking into more casual wear I found this and think this is more or less exactly the aesthetic we should look for, although the white is a bit bright, it will add to the vibrancy of the overall video when it is lit up but will still look more dull in comparison to the neons of the 80s girl.

 The Girl

With the girl being 80s themed and me being born in the late 90s I had to do a little bit of research into the clothing styles of the time, I knew they were neon and bright but aside from that I had very little knowledge.

I eventually came across this image and thought that this was more or less the image we wanted for the actress, however, her legs were a little bare and also considering that they will be at a roller disco she would need dressing up a little. The best way for us to do this would be neon leg warmers, the most quintessentially 80s piece of clothing ever created. If we were to add this to the costume coupled with some bright coloured roller skates I think that the outfit would be perfect.

Something on the lines of this to just add that extra 80s factor to make the costume perfect and really sell the idea that she is a girl out of her time. The only other thing to think about is her make-up, this will also be 80s themed so as to really push the image, the man will not have any make-up because it wouldn't be normal for a modern man to be wearing make up. The make up that the girl will be wearing will be brightly coloured and it will most likely be the David Bowie lightning bolt, as this is one of the icons of the time and also it is something of a tribute because of his recent passing.

If you are unsure of what this looks like it is the picture above, this should be relatively easy to replicate as we have a make up artist coming along to the shoot who will be able to do this for us and thus make the ultimate 80s girl come to life. 

This is what we eventually put onto the actress as a nod to Bowie but not a copy Although it is clear of our influence there is a lot that is different about our version.

Live Project- Song 3 Idea

This is the third and final song for Lost State of Dance's brief for making them a music video for each of their three new, yet to be released songs. This was the song that (of the three) was hardest to think up a solid concept for although we did come up with a fairly strong idea which we had no problems with pitching to the client.

The song talks about the break up of a boy and  a girl and the struggles involved, because of this the core aspect of our idea for the video for this was the boy following the girl through a maze but never catching up to her. In and amongst all the chasing we will cut in shots of the band playing with each one being filmed individually as well as full band shots.

With regards to the actual maze we were thinking of doing it in the style of maze-like streets which we will manipulate regular streets and turns to appear more like a real maze as this would be substantially easier for us to film. However, we did also consider the idea of using a real maze as one of the crew members owns a couple of drones we could use for aerial views of the maze, however, finding a maze would have been hard on such a small time frame.

One idea we had was to have the band playing at every dead end that they hit in the maze just so that we can put the band into the video in a more imaginative way than cutaways. Another idea we had (which links to the narrative) is that at the end of the maze one of them exits into a countryside and the other into a city or town showing that they are so different and don't belong together. Another idea we had was that they could reach the end and then the girl leaves with one of the band members after we find out that the band was waiting for them at the centre of the maze.

I personally think that this was our weakest of the three ideas that we thought of, but it is still a very strong idea we could put into production relatively easily. Some of these aspects could be used in other videos but most of the ideas for this were specific to this video.

Live Project- Song 2 Idea

This post is to explain the idea we had for the second song (this is the song that the client wanted us to make). This song is much more straight forward and requires much less of a narrative focus and is simply about an encounter between a man and a woman on the dance floor, alright there is more to it than that but thats the angle we presented to the client. So as the song talks about being on a dance floor we wanted to avoid the safety of just having people dancing and instead we decided to instil something that is quintessentially 80s, a roller disco.

We decided upon this as they were one of the key images of the 80s and thus would easily represent what the band is about. In addition to this it gives us a blank canvas for some adventurous visuals that will look fantastic on screen. This backdrop for the video gives us a great platform for neon colouring and bright lights that will give it that feel good 80s ascetic. The client expressed an interest in keeping the 80s girl, modern man theme throughout all the videos so this is something we will incorporate into our video quite easily by dressing the characters appropriately. With regards to making it look 80s the woman underneath is basically what we are looking to dress the 80s people like so that we can be accurate in our portrayal of the era. One idea we had for this video is that the skaters could have paint on their skates and could skate around and create the band logo in the process, however this is something that may be hard to get permission for as many places may be reluctant to let us paint their floor, this may be possible to add later using after effects but it would need some research doing into it before we give it the go ahead.

Live Project- First song Idea

This is a blog post to show and discuss some ideas and inspirations for the first song we were given as part of the brief, there are three and we have been given the second one but we will be working closely with the other groups on the other videos so I feel it would be useful to show my ideas for these videos too. There is very little I can say about the songs themselves as they are yet to be released so I will talk more about themes and ideas.

The first song is a story about a man obsessing over a girl he has seen who he thinks is beautiful, it basically talks about how people don't see what he sees in the sense that she is beautiful and perfect. This is all delivered in the bands 80s style. Given that the band want to acknowledge their 80s themed roots and want something feel good and visually beautiful we came up with the following idea.

Our idea was to show a boy and a girl getting ready in a split screen before going on their respective journeys before meeting up on an open street with the band playing in the middle, this will all be mixed in with cuts to the band playing the song. However, this probably sounds quite uninteresting, well, what makes this idea more interesting and a bit more relevant to the band is that we will have the girl in the story be from the 80s and the man be from present day, this makes the journey of them meeting up like a big metaphor for the band and how they fall perfectly in the middle of the 80s style but in the modern era, which is shown as the two converge together. In and amongst the respective character's journeys we will have them doing similar things but specialised to their eras. So for example they will take selfies but the girl will do it with a polaroid and the man will do it with his phone. Another idea we had is that when she passes by modern technology it transforms into 80s equivalents, the main one we had thought of was televisions, she could pass a store window and the sets on display turn from modern to the old CRT screens. Another idea we had in the interest of having strong visuals was to use neon paint heavily to tie into the 80s theme and also make the video, more striking. We had two ideas for the use of paint.

The first idea was that we can do something similar to the blue man group with the drums and have the paint splashing up onto the wall behind the group, then at the end of the video they could pull a stencil away to reveal the band name left on the wall in bright vibrant colours. This would be fairly easy to do it is just a case of putting powdered paint onto the drums and then filming it, some research into paint types would be needed should the client want this tough. The other idea we had regarding paint was that we could see paint splashing from the feet of the girl as she walks down the street, this would be much harder to orchestrate as it would require some clever cutting or someone to add it in using after effects, which I would be unable to do as I have never used the program.
That was the main idea behind the first song we were given and although it was not chosen we can still perhaps borrow aspects from this idea as the concept we have for song 2 is not yet set in stone.

Latest Project Intro- Music Video

This is just an introductory post to tell you about what my latest project is. So we have just been given a client who is a local band called Lost State of Dance, they are an 80s style pop/electro band, and I actually think they're quite good, which will help in the long run. We have been given three songs (which haven't been released so I can't say much about) to make a music video for. As of yet we do not know which song we have of the three but we have been put into groups and from here me and my group have planned an idea for each of the songs and pitched it. I will do a post for each idea about the idea and my research into the themes and visuals of each one. This was mainly a post to be a start point for my other posts on this module so for now I will sign off this post.

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)

Film Shoot- Bradley's Me, Myself &I #1

So I am aware I am writing about this film shoot a few weeks after the event but this is a post about my first proper film shoot as a student. In this particular instance I was camera operating for Bradley on his studio shoot where we used a range of shots and some advanced lighting to get his desired effects.

 With regards to the lighting as oh can see above, we put a heavy purple/pink filter on the key light so that it painted the whole of the scene in a surrealist time that gave the film an uneasy and somewhat arty aesthetic. I think that this particular technique worked very well when translated into camera. This them coupled with the costume and soundtrack made the scene very surreal and eerie to the viewer, I am in firm belief that Brad nailed the aesthetic and I think that as the camera operator I also got the vision perfectly in the shots.

In this shot Bradley is watching back over my footage whilst Connor the sound op for this shoot (the shoot was silent) is laying on the track and dolly. It is the track and dolly that I was wanting to talk about, Bradley decided early on that he wanted the track and dolly shots to feature heavily in his piece. This was a completely new experience to me as I hadn't actually used this equipment yet but doing it was very fun. It was very simple to do a basic tracking shot as it just required someone to push the dolly,  however Bradley and I had bigger ambition than just a standard tracking shot and we decided to add camera movement along with this so that (for example) when the track went to the right, I turned the camera to the left at roughly the same speed, this meant that I kept Bradley in the centre of the shot whilst the camera moved around him. This effect worked particularly well when cut with the other tracking shots quickly as it made the film more artistic and frantic which when coupled again with the fast paced orchestral soundtrack made it hit the mark all the more.

So to conclude this post, a very fun shoot in the studio that I found to be very useful as a learning means as it taught me some new camera techniques I will now consider an option when I'm shooting where I may not have used them before.

Me, Myself & I- Masks

This I As previously mentioned on this blog I intended to add face paint to myself to create my character on screen and portray emotion and aspects of myself visually, unfortunately I was unable to get hold of a face painter in time for my shoot that could do as well of a job as I was hoping. As a response to this problem I decided that instead of using face paint I could buy paper masks that were plain white and I could add the faces that I wanted onto those.
These are those masks:

This is a blank mask I used to show an indifferent character who was not yet emotionally involved in the story.

This was a mask that was intended to look disappointed as Arsenal had just drawn and in my narrative this is very frustrating.

This was was intended to look nervous as at first a nervous version of my self walks on stage before fainting, and I think that the mask really helps to highlight the nerves.

This mask demonstrates that often I can think of nothing but Arsenal as I am a huge fan and the team is one of the biggest aspects of my life.

This is a half and half mask that displays a different emotion depending upon which side I face towards the camera, this means that I can strongly portray the emotion.

This half is used when Arsenal score to highlight the joy this gives me and how happy it makes me generally in the day.

And finally this is the sad side which I show when Arsenal concede to show the despair when Arsenal concede or lose  all of these make serve to portray my strong emotion towards my team but to also caricature it in a way.

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.

Using the smoke machine

We recently were given a tutorial on how to use the smoke machine.

As you can see above we can have a very thick smoke with just a few presses of the button, this means that you can create a heavy smoke environment. The only downside of this is that you cannot put a thin layer on the floor like with dry ice, which is now illegal due to the health risks of inhaling the gas. It is also of note that this can be used outside but will have to be used more as the smoke dissipated quickly.

There is not much else I can say about this because I haven't got anything planned that can incorporate this or rather needs to incorporate this. However I should briefly say that because it is smoke machine, it will set off smoke detectors (if not they're not really very good are they) so you'll need to turn off the smoke detectors in the vicinity or cover them. Also in form whoever owns the building of you doing so.

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.