David Makalena - Film Studies Coursework

This second time round I filmed entirely on my phone, a Huawei P30 Pro. Although it has great video recording capability, I opted to shoot in a wide angle - this lowered the overall quality of the footage but did obviously widen the video, making the kitchen look bare. Filming went swimmingly, both Phylly and Ben had previously worked with the script and characters, so rehearsal was not as big an issue. Having edited a little bit between filming also allowed me to see what worked and didn't work. I shot from a few more angles on the argument at the end and changed my approach with the opening shot. However, the best change was the food: instead of chilli and potatoes, Ben and Phylly had mac'n'cheese and broccoli - a normal meal. Also, broccoli makes a lot less mess than chilli-covered potato.

FADE IN INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT The hallway is dark, a thin light trickles in from the kitchen and outside. TITLE: Late / Traffic / Potatoes The front door opens. JACK is a smartly-dressed working man returning home after a gruelling day at his job. He appears visually exhausted, a sunken expression and shrugged body.  He walks towards the kitchen - where the light is coming from. He opens the door. LINDSEY is a house wife, casual attire but with a serious stern look on her face. She has been preparing food for dinner and seems disappointed with Jack's appearance. Lindsey  And what time do you call this? Jack  I know. I'm just as upset as you are. Lindsey These potatoes have been on for too long now. Jack  I'm sorry. Lindsey  Yeah alright. Lindsey walks toward the table as Jack walks in and closes the door. Lindsey (cont.) How was work then? Jack Hm? Lindsey Work? Where you've been for the pas...

I shot on the 16th November with the script in the previous blog entry. Overall, it went okay. The actors knew all their lines and captured my characters extremely well. The single take idea I had for the table-sitting section during the bulk of the film worked great and using the large film cameras made it easier to do. However, I do feel as if I am missing quite a few other angles and shots from the start and end sections of the film (the parts basically where the two characters are not sat down). Furthermore, there were some lines which when spoken aloud by my actors did sound unnatural or cringe worthy so I have decided to rewrite several sections of the script. I hope to film again in the next couple weeks but this time on my phone instead. I always wanted to film on a mobile to add a little bit extra to my short film but didn't know how well it would work out. After my first okay filming session and with a few tests after with my phone, I think I might re-shoot using my...

FADE IN INT. HOUSE - HALLWAY - NIGHT The hallway is covered with pictures of a happy couple. The light from the kitchen shines over the frames. The door opens. JACK is a smartly-dressed working man returning home after a gruelling day at his job. He appears visually exhausted, a sunken expression and shrugged body, and slowly hangs his coat on a hanger. Jack walks towards the kitchen - where the light is coming from. He opens the door. LINDSEY is a house wife, casual attire but with a serious stern look on her face. She has been preparing food for dinner and seems disappointed with Jack's appearance. Lindsey  And what time do you call this? Jack  I know. I'm just as upset as you. Lindsey  These potatoEs have been on for way too long now. Jack  I'm sorry. Lindsey  Yeah alright. Jack goes in to kiss Lindsey but she instead turns and walks off toward the table. Lindsey (cont.)  How was work then? Jack...

What I aim to do with this is to create a slick, professional looking short film highlighting the fact that many men are also attacked in acts of domestic violence and that domestic violence does not have to be physical abuse. I intend to colour grade the video to create that professional look and include lots of snappy dialogue with few camera movements to highlight the mental abuse the wife is giving.

I really want to play with the camerawork in this. I'm a big fan of long single takes and so would like to try and implement one into mine. When I think of my setting, a dining table, one particular shot comes to mind: the long take from American Beauty. In it, the camera moves so slowly towards the characters that the audience has to listen into the characters as nothing else interesting is happening on screen. Sam Mendes was incredibly inventive when thinking of this shot as that force listening allows for the dialogue to properly interpreted, something which I would also like to use in my short film. I also want to try and highlight the fractured nature of their relationship. At the start, when the husband returns home and the audience meets them for the first time, I want to show the couple in a canted angle, to visually show their tilted and fractured relationship. I would also like to make as few edits as possible at the start, as nothing has kicked off yet. When the ac...

First Act: Men returns home. We are introduced to the husband and wife and are almost instantly made aware of some tense behaviour between them both. Second Act: The couple sit and eat at the table, conversation is brief and once again tense. The atmosphere is extremely frosty. After an upset, the wife stands up to leave. Third Act: As the husband comments on the potatoes, the wife turns and slaps them from his mouth. She then grabs him by the collar, threatening him but ultimately leaves him.

A man comes from work, he is late and worried. He goes into the kitchen, where his wife has been preparing dinner. She is not happy with him, complaining how she has left the potatoes in for too long because of his lateness. Dinner is served and the two converse in awkward bursts. Ultimately, the wife is 'hurt' so much by the husband's actions that she gets up to leave. The husband comments on how the potatoes are fine to which the wife turns and slaps the fork out of his mouth. The husband apologies but the wife doesn't take it. Ultimately, she grabs him by the shirt, threatening him, until she drops him and leaves the room. This film is highlighting how men are the victim of domestic violence to a degree much bigger than people realise. It also points out how domestic violence is a lot more psychological than physical.

A couple eat dinner but tensions are high.

We got the opportunity to listen a screenwriter, Neil, about the process of generating ideas and then eventually creating a screenplay. Neil questioned my typical thinking methods - bringing up the idea that documentaries also offer an interesting story telling opportunity. However, for my coursework, doing a documentary is not applicable.  In general terms, Neil explained how short films should strive to be something you couldn't or wouldn't necessarily show in a feature length film. They should also include universally known scenarios so that they can connect to lots of people in a short space of time. Adapting short stories also came up, which is an idea I approached across summer break.  However Neil gave some genuine student film maker advice. He insisted that we build a story around resources that we have access to. He also recommended that we film the master shot first, the main shot, so that we have a concrete shot to work around. Neil's t...

For summer work I had been asked to come up with a few ideas for short films that I could make for my coursework. The ideas had to meet some guidelines but those were quite loose to begin with - meaning that I could make short films about whatever or whoever I'd want to. The first was an idea based on a short story or novella. When I was in Year 5 (I would have been ten years old) I read a collection of short stories by Michael Morpurgo and one stood out in particular - The Giant's Necklace. It is a described as being a ghost story for children and the ending is something that has stuck with me for the eight years since I last read it. Adapting this into a short film could be something really interesting and quite cool to do - with a more personal story as well, a short film could work better than full feature. The second idea is based on Dr Barry J Marshall, the man who discovered that H.Pylori bacteria causes stomach ulcers. His story is fascinating - he drank all of th...

Practice (based on short story) - INT. CAR - NIGHT DAD and CARLY sit in their family car, a Volvo estate, as they drive down a long, straight and mostly uninteresting side road in the Shropshire countryside. DAD puts one arm out the window and flings his head back to hit the head rest behind. DAD //  I can't believe they closed the motorway again! CARLY //  Well you know how shocking that road is. DAD //  It is pretty piss poor CARLY //  Piss poor? I break my back every time we drive down there. DAD //  But they always close it for 'repair issues' but it never seems any better. CARLY //  That's because of the Conservatives. DAD //  Damn right. CARLY holds her hand out for DAD to high-five it but DAD takes no notice. CARLY //  You gonna leave me hanging? DAD //  Yeah. I think I will. CARLY //  God I hate you. CARLY slumps back in her chair and...

Character - Name: Newt Maledos Age: 32 10 Things They Would Have In Their Pocket:  A knife A piece of map A hip flask A magic ring A sack of gold pieces A dragon's tooth A tearing of bread, wrapped in cloth A glass eye A spell scroll A greataxe EXT. FORBIDDEN FOREST - NIGHT Follow a feather as it glides along the forest floor. Suddenly, a large, brown, worn-in boot steps down on it as a thud is heard reverberating through the trees. The boot lifts slowly from the dirt as a purple, scaled hand reaches down to retrieve the feather - a glowing yellow band, sits on the ring finger. Continue to follow the feather as the hand pulls it up the long, brown, trench-coated body - with tears on its shoulder-pads and forearms; deep pockets at the waist and a purple, scaled body underneath.  The feather reaches the face of the body - a scaly, purple dragon-humanoid. Two large nostrils protrude like a pig's snout from the face as the character...

The Fly (2014) by Olly Williams What did I enjoy? The film is shot in a good way. The driver is always in shot and the camera focuses on him constantly. This makes sense obviously because he is the main protagonist but the personal feel of the close up camerawork truly drives that relation between us and him home. What did I find interesting? Similar to Operator, a feature film wouldn't necessarily show this side of the situation: in this circumstance we are seeing the getaway driver of a bank heist as opposed to the actual bank heist. What could I challenge? I feel that the wacky methods of this man trying to kill this fly ramp up too quickly. Also, I know the intention of this short is to be outlandish and funny because of it but a man shooting a car with a shotgun to kill a fly isn't funny in this sense because we haven't had time to learn about the character. All I am seeing in this moment is a very angry man destroy a car. If we spent time with the c...

Slap (2015) by Nick Rowland What did I enjoy? How brutally honest this film is hurts at times but is so rewarding overall because we get to see the struggles that trans-people go through on a day to day basis. The scene in the toilet stands out in particular where the main characters two best friends seemingly turn against him and are no longer his support systems. I also loved the long shot of the lead walking down the middle of the street. Coupled with the intense music, it shows a change in mood and a gaining of confidence as he doesn't care what other people think and feels truly happy in his appearance. Getting all this from one shot is very impressive and clearly the intent of the filmmaker. What did I find interesting? The ending of this film is open to interpretation about what happens. Why he keeps hitting the man is understandable due to what the character has been through but what happens when the film fades to black is not known. Having the audience left ...

The Arrival (2016) by Daniel Montanarini What did I enjoy? I loved how theatrical this short was: the way the film was presented was like we were audience members to a stage play and just watching the scene unfold from the one angle. How the film starts with the camera looking in from the outside is something else I enjoyed as from the get-go, we understand that we are bystanders to the events on screen and are merely observers to what is happening. What did I find interesting? The visual cues throughout are very impressive if they are done to be in time with the monologue. Having the man only visible in the couple tells us that the protagonist is thinking about the male side of her relationship; the pushchair comes into view as she starts talking about pregnancy and her expecting a child; de-caff coffee instead of normal coffee is a subtle change but one which would be taken by someone who is pregnant. What could I challenge? I am a big fan of how this film is made ...

Echo (2011) by Lewis Arnold What did I enjoy? Honestly, not a lot. If I had to pick one thing it would be the long take about a third of the way through where the protagonist gets into the taxi. Over the course of the shot, we see the woman's expression get less and less emotional making us as audience members question what is happening. What did I find interesting? The open-endedness of the finale of this short leaves the viewer questioning if that call was yet another fake cop-out or if that was the short showing the viewer the original phone call which the protagonist repeats throughout. What could I challenge? There seemed to be no stakes in this film: I didn't know who I was rooting for, if anyone, and I didn't really know what I was meant to be following. It's a short where events occur seemingly unconnected and without affecting anything else. It is a pretty nothing film. What do I want to use? The whole premise of the film is centred aroun...

Tight Jeans (2008) by Destiny Ekharaga What did I enjoy? I loved the general look and aesthetics of this film: the opening shot of the three characters sitting on the wall is low, slow moving and wide - showing us a deprived council estate vs the three figures dressed in coloured hoodies and trousers. What did I find interesting? The camera is always moving throughout the short and although slow and uneventful, I do find this choice interesting. I also can't deny the representation in this film: of both young black men and white women who as the film states 'are trying to be part of the black community'. The film is just three guys talking and what they talk about and the way they talk about it is very clearly a choice by Ekharaga who wants to make sure her voice is heard. What could I challenge? The film just consists of three men talking and nothing really happens. Whilst this can be effective to build character in feature-length films, in shorts I per...

Operator (2015) by Caroline Burtleet What did I enjoy? The whole concept of the film was showing us the operator, not the scene of the incident. A traditional feature film would be action-packed so would show the fire, not the operator on the other end of the phone. This makes the short film incredibly tense, as we know as much as the operator in this scenario. I also love how still the camera is - meaning we are forced to imagine the fire as not much is happening on screen. The lack of action on screen is made up two-fold in the dialogue as the script is chock-a-block. The relentless of dialogue results in me being emotionally exhausted by the end of the film, I feel like I have watched more than I actually I have. What did I find interesting? The action starts very quickly, the call is intercepted as the woman panics and worries about her son stuck upstairs. Both her and the operator are instantly thrown into action. It's not until her son has been found that they ta...