Short Film : Crafting roles for actors by Wong, Godard, Keaton, Chaplin…

“I realize, the best way to work with actors and actresses is not to give him/her a fixed role….The best way is to custom make the role for them, because then you can borrow something from that person, then the experience or the performance will be unique” says Wong Kar Wai in a YouTube video by The Museum of Modern Art.

 

In the video below, the leading actor of the film Breathless( A bout de souffle ) (1960), Jean-Paul Belmondo describes how the film was made. Breathless is one of the most influential examples of French New Wave cinema.

Interviewer: “The film(Breathless) revolutionized cinema, give us an idea of how scenes were shot”

Jean-Paul Belmondo: “It was shot very freely, like the rest of the film”…”When I accepted the role, he(Godard) gave me three little pages where he’d written, “He leaves Marseilles. He steals a car. He wants to sleep with the girl again, she doesn’t. In the end, he either dies or leaves- to be decided”….

Jean-Paul Belmondo: I’d show up around 9am or 10am, and have a coffee with Jean(leading actress) at the corner cafe while Godard wrote our dialogue…First he’d read the scene to us, then we’d discuss anything we didn’t feel comfortable with. We’d rephrase it in our own words, then we’d start shooting. There no lights or cables, so we could move freely, if we wanted to play around, we did. If we wanted to get under the covers, we did. The cameraman was ready for anything..

In the video below, Buster Keaton discusses his films and how they were made.

Buster Keaton: In the silent days, a feature length picture, neither Chaplin, Harold Lloyd or myself ever had a script….We didn’t rehearse a scene to perfection, we didn’t want that, because it’s mechanical then.

It is no coincidence that my favorite film directors all have a similar approach to creating a story and writing a script.

 

 

Short Film : Suspense of the Opening Scene of Drive (2011)

The opening scene of Drive is one of the biggest inspirations for my film. It is a tense and nerve shattering get-away scene that kept me on the edge of my seat for 5 minutes. I thought it was a brilliant way to begin a film.

80% of the shots in this sequence were shot from within the vehicle, making the audience feel as though they were in it as well, instead of shooting from outside the car through the wind shields and windows as is more commonly seen in many getaway or chase scenes in other action moves. Shooting from within the car gives the audience the point of view of the driver and the robbers, who’s view is limited by the structure of the car, enhancing the sense of fear and suspense in the audience. Although it is an action sequence, the camera is held still for most of the shots, allowing us to visually appreciate what’s going on without dizzying the viewers with quick cuts, fast pans and shaky camera movements as is seen so often in action movies, for example in the first 10 seconds of this robbery scene in the movie Takers (2010) –

Most of the suspense in this scene is created by the sounds. First, once the robbers enter the building, the alarm goes off. Then we hear the police radio transmission reporting “shots fired”, and “we are two minutes from the location” whilst they wait for the other robber to return. He returns and they get away unseen and for second we think that they are safe, but the silence is broken by another police reporting that they suspect a vehicle of the exact color and model of the car, which puts them right back into danger. They sneak their way through the wide streets of Los Angeles, police sirens fluctuating from soft to loud signifying their distance from the driver. Then the situation worsens as the a helicopter is employed to search for them. The scene goes from being quiet as they stealthily try to get away to suddenly being really loud as they are spotted by the helicopter, and we hear car engine revving furiously, shrill noise of the helicopter flying above them becomes drastically more apparent, and the police reporting to “all units” of the spotted car. It then immediately goes quiet(not completely silent) again as the driver makes a sharp turn and escapes the spotlight of the helicopter.

When they begin to move again from hiding under a bridge we once again think that they might now be safe. The driver turns up the radio for the commentating of a local game at the stadium, but suddenly comes face to face with a police car separated only by a set of traffic lights. This is the closest they come to a police, to getting caught. “Possible suspect vehicle sighted at the stoplight, stand by”. And we are allowed about 20 seconds to wonder nervously what the driver might do. The lights turn green and sounds come alive and loud again ; the engine roaring, the police siren and tires screeching as well as the local game commentary becoming more exciting and tense.

The commentary counts down to the end of the game, a victory, and the driver and robbers get away safely.

The way sound and visuals work together in this scene to create the suspense it had is a strong reminder for me that sound is just as important as the visuals, something I keep forgetting having never made a film. The sounds here also help create, in my opinion, a more efficient way of story-telling by having us hear the actions of the police through the radio instead of cutting away to a police unit, or the police department, for example. I also thought it was a brilliant way to introduce the driver character, as we see him successfully executing an extremely dangerous get-away with such skill and collectedness, building our respect and admiration for the character, even though what he is doing might not be a civil or respectable thing.

 

Pyramid of Arts + Leeds Lieder performance video : Brief

Pyramid of Arts and Leeds Lieder are coming together to do a performance.

Pyramid of Arts is a Leeds-based arts collective and registered charity. Established over 25 years ago as an art club at Meanwood Hospital, and now providing projects for individuals with learning disabilities across Leeds.

Leeds Lieder celebrates the performance and composition of song and of poetry in many languages. Between our annual festivals we hold a lively programme of concerts, talks and educational activities in co-promotions with the Howard Assembly Room at Opera North, Leeds College of Music, the University of Leeds and Leeds International Concert Series. Filling the city with song.

“Pyramid of Arts require two film artists to create a short film. The college and the artists will be acknowledged and credited for their support on our website.”

To “Film the performance from various angles, record the performance so it has quality sound. Work with the artists and members to create something we can all be proud of”. This a client brief, each artist is paid 50 pounds.

Short Film: Sound Induction with Matt

Before beginning to doing the actual filming of the dialogue between B2 and Girl, I asked Matt for an induction in using the best equipment record dialogue for film. We organised a sound equipment induction with Beverly, Ruta and Katie. We have already had a sound equipment induction in Level 4, besides being reminded as to how to operate the equipments such as Shotgun mic, La pelle mics, audio recorder, and more, Matt explained to us their differences and the appropriate situations in which to use what equipment. I learnt how to record a dialogue between 2 people, whether to use one mic or two, and how to position the mics.

Short Film: Gimbal Steady Cam Induction and Testing

For the burglary scenes in my shot film, I was expecting to use the Steady Cam for many tracking shots I have planned. I have been requesting to be inducted to use to for a few weeks and have finally been given the chance. Matt had just opened two new Gimbals from their boxes, so we learnt how to setup them up from the box and how to operate them. We also learnt how to control certain modes and sensitivities of the Gimbal with smart phone app called DJI.

Here are my test shots with the Gimbal.

It was difficult at the start to turn the camera at a desired angle at the desired speed, same with the tilting up and down. With more practice and appropriate manipulations of the sensitivities of each turning axis, this should not be too difficult.

 

Short Film : Shooting and testing #1

Here we shot the dialogue between B2 and Girl on a two shot. It cold very cold very quickly at the Leeds Uni, so we had to get warm after finishing the two shots. We then went to The Ship to test shooting the meeting of B2 and Girl.  The meeting is inspired by the very first scene of the movie Fallen Angels (1995). Here is a link to the full movie on YouTube but the scene I am speaking about happens about 20 seconds into the video.

This scene was shot with a very wide angle lens, maybe 18mm, very close to the subject. I want to use this framing because the wide angle “distort distances along the z axis, making them appear longer than they actually are”. And a long lens does the exact opposite, closing distances and squashing everything close together. I want to create a sense of distance between B2 and Girl when they first meet, just like the sense of distance and separation that is felt between these two characters in the beginning scene of Fallen Angels( Turn CC subtitles on when watching this beginning scene! ).

Short Film : The Quadrant System

The quadrant system is a compositional style that splits the frame into halves : top and bottom, left and right. This is perfectly illustrated and explained in this video by Every Frame a Painting.

This is my first attempt at making a film, and I know that I will be lost with the innumerable choices of composition. The quadrant system is a simple yet beautiful, and well-balanced tool, which I will attempt to use throughout my film.

Short Film : Filming smoke

Another thing about Godard and Wong’s characters, is that they are always smoking. For a good reason I think. Smoke is beautiful. The act of smoking, except for what it does to a person’s health, is in some ways visually beautifully as well. The deep inhalation, the rising of the chest, the glowing of the cigarette tip, the catching of the smoke, the exhale and relaxation of the body, the releasing of smoke, gradually or abruptly.

Here is my go at capturing smoke in film :

 

Short Film : Script for B2 and Girl

As mentioned before, the approach I wanted to take to create the whatever was to happen between B2 and Girl was that of Godard’s and Wong’s, the only approach that gave me the confidence enough to do it. I did not however put all my faith on that one approach. I did try to write the script, try to imagine what would happen between these characters at night time in the city, but I found it extremely difficult, mainly for one reason, that is I had no clue who was to play the Girl character, and simply could not imagine what they would do or how they might behave. The initial idea for the script between B2 and Girl when I tried writing it was this:

• B2 sits on the Leeds City Museum steps drinking wine. Depressed Girl who evidently has been crying just minutes ago, walks past the city museum and asks for a cigarette from B2.
• B2 gives her a cigarette and she joins him sitting down whilst she smokes her cigarette.
• Girl talks and talks and talks – *of what was never solidly decided.*
• B2 almost never speaks, but only smokes and listens, doesn’t seem to pay much attention to the Girl either, but he never goes away or asks her to leave.
• *B2 and Girl go and have take-away food together*-Optional

Having no solid script but a few lines of description of what B2 and Girl were going to do was one the main reasons I took so long to approach anybody for the role of Girl, because without a clear idea of what they might have to do, or how much time they might have to spend, I had no confidence that anybody would accept my request for a arduous and potentially time-wasting favor. Ruta and I approached Sofie to ask if she would be the Girl character because we thought her Hong Kong background would be appropriate and add to the role. Thankfully she agreed, even without a full script, or anything close to a script at all. We explained to her how we wanted to film it ; I wanted to write the script with the actors, borrowing from their ideas and personality as much as we could, to create characters that were as natural as possible, to experiment and to be unique.

Through many meetings, and watching films of Godard, Wong Kar Wai, and other directors together, here are some of our notes:-

B2 + Girl Incomplete Script

B2 + Girl Complete Script

Short Film : Cinematography Inspiration

Beautiful pictures and beautiful cinematography was the first thing about film that inspired me to want to make films. I’ve always wanted to capture visually beautiful sequences of images, before I gave any thought to what they meant or what story it was telling. I loved seeing beautiful combinations of color, or absence of color, with beautiful light and shadow cast across detailed textures. This must relate to my passion for photography, I knew that if I was to ever make a film, it must never look boring, even if the story had not much to say, it must at least be visually, cinematically, dazzling and inspiring. Many names come to mind when I think about beautiful cinematography, but the one name that always comes first to mind is Christopher Doyle, the man who has shot many of Wong Kar Wai’s best films. Christopher Doyle is the cinematographer who’s pictures made me begin to really pay attention to details in pictures.

“Film has an enormous power to glamorize, it can put in front of our eyes delightful images, many meters in size, shot in extraordinary colors, vivid and immediate.”

Here is a clip from In The Mood for Love (2000) of which Christopher Doyle was the cinematographer.

A clip from Fallen Angels (1995) of which Chris Doyle was also the cinematographer.

I found a short “Christopher Doyle Masterclass in Cinematography” on YouTube which describes his approach to capturing pictures, which has really inspired and motivated me to make pictures as well. Christopher Doyle paid a lot of attention to the locations in which he filmed. He