Direction Unit: Research

I have been thinking a lot into what drama television program I am going to use for my 3 minute shoot. Although many ideas came into my head about certain dramas i have watched previously, I have decided to settle on the American drama series, Desperate Housewives.
It is based around the seemingly beautiful, rich, wealthy and perfect neighborhood of Wisteria Lane. it follows the lives of 5 main female characters and the story of their lives is told through the eyes of their dead neighbor. It premiered on October 4th 2004. 

Because the whole idea of this project is to put your own twist on a program of your choice I came up with an idea to take this program from its glossy, glamourous setting and transferring it to a run down council estate. This would mean that i would keep all of the same dialogue but just changing the setting and characters to almost the complete opposite of what they are in the original scene.

I have been doing research into the Desperate Housewives series that have been aired and found that the scenes which portray the show the best are the ones of the main characters sitting around in one of their luxurious stately homes enjoying high priced wine/champagne, expensive foods and a bitchy gossip. I am hoping that very soon i will have narrowed my scene down to the one i think is the best for this unit. I am looking for a scene which can still be translated into a complete opposite of what it originally was but with still being able to understand which drama it was originally.

Direction Unit: Lighting practice.

This is the link to the project that i did with Hennie and Maddie today.

It focused on being able to use different types of lighting for different moods etc and how this can add to the story. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3EzStBifl3Y&feature=channel_video_title

I enjoy this task as it gave us a chance to get to know how to use the lighting equipment for when it gets to our own filming.

Direction unit: Directors workshop

This is my attempt at being a director for 20 minutes!
The task was to film a scene which involved two strangers passing a note from one another.
I did enjoy some aspects such as bringing my idea to life and getting other people to see my idea.

Back to uni I go!

Today I had my first lecture back back at uni for my broadcast Media course since we split for summer almost 3 months ago! I have to say it was a lot to take in but I'm up for the challenge as always!
The project brief was based around this unit focusing on Direction. Simon my lecturer explained that we would be expected to make a 3 minute episode of a drama of our choice but making it our own. This meant that we would have to undergo all the jobs and tasks that a director would do. Such as the prep, which would include looking at and making decisions on all of the following:

• The script
• Cast and crew
• Context
• Design
• Sound design
• Schedule 
• The shoot
• Post production                                                                                                         

Simon also explained that directors are split into 2 different catergories:
The Author
A director who is very specific ad knows exactly what they want. Still colaborates on ideas but the vision is still very much the directors. Examples of Author directors are:

• Scorsase
• Cameron
• Coen
• Hitchcock
• Nolan

It is thought that an author directors work is more recognisable then a conductor directors work.

The Conductor
A director who trusts people to bring their own ideas to the table. The the conductor of a orchestra or choir. Examples of Conductor directors are:

• Doug Liman
• Jon Faureau
• Katheryn Bigalowe

Limitless film review.

Director- Neil Burger
Writers- Lesley Dixon (screenplay)
             Alan Glynn (novel)
Starring- Bradley Cooper, Anna Friel, Robert De Niro
Genre- Action thriller
Plot summary-
Limitless is based around a writer who decides to take a experimental drug that lets him use 100% of his mind. Being a out of work writer and having just been dumped by his girlfriend Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) resides to the decision that he has no future. This is until Eddie bumps into a old friend, who introduces him to an unlicensed drug called NZT. As Eddie takes the pill anything he has ever read or heard is instantly brought back to his mind and made avalible whenever needed. It also gives him more confidence then any other man in the world. As Eddie climbs further and further up the financial ladder due to his unstoppable mind he makes friends with bigger then big business mogul Carl Van Loom (Robert De Niro), who thinks that Eddie's mind is the key to make more money then either of them could imagine. But with Eddie's daily dosage of NZT rapidly running out the side effects of this pill come hurtling towards him with awful side affects.

Review-
This film was very enjoyable and kept me on the edge of my seat through out with its twists and turns to keep the audience hooked. I felt the ending lacked slightly with what seemed like a cliff hanger as to where Eddie went with his life next but nevertheless there was a clear storyline throughout. All acting was extremly good including the violence scenes.

New project!

So the new project is called 'THE JOURNEY' it is based on me taking several sill photographs and producing them into a 3 minute film in which i have produced my own background music for.
The title, 'The Journey' is quite a broad subject and so can be related to many things including the following:

• Personal
• Comical 
•  A mixture of many emotions. 

Over the past few weeks i have been thinking about what i could use for my 'journey.' The process took me in many different directions. Some thoughts i had included are:

• A literal journey, such as a car/train journey. 
• A mental journey, something that would show someone going from one mental state to another. 
• The journey of something happening, such as a task being performed. 

The idea i finally decided upon was a personal journey that I have had to do many times in my own life. This would be a journey from my house to the children's hospital. This will involve taking pictures of me going form my house (bedroom, downstairs and into the car) the journey whilst in the car, ( the views, different road signs, showing me getting closer to the hospital) and finally me arriving at the hospital, (the sign to the hospital, reception area, different hospital departments.)
When i took the photos of this journey i was quite dissapointed with the outcome.  Even though some of the pictures were good quality most were not what i was looking for. Also i did not think i had enough pictures to sustain a 3 minute film. Another reason that i was dissapointed was that i did not really think that the journey had a storyline at the beginning and part the way through the middle. It wasn't until the end shots of the hospital that the story/journey seemed to make sense! So in the end i decided that i would re think my idea.

An idea that i had come up with before i decided on the hospital journey, was the journey to the seaside. This idea came to me as i have lived by the sea my whole life. So i will now be trying out the journey from Maidstone to hastings and then all of the things that you can get up to at the seaside for example, arcades, fish and chips and ice cream!

Trailer progress!

So I've been working on my trailer for a week or so now and its coming along! I was thinking it looks a bit bland until i put my titles on to it which gave it a bit more bulk and body. The music gives it a extra dimension as well, which was needed i think! Anyways back to work for me!