Film Stills, Stylistic Impression/ Vignette examples

Short Impressionistic shots that give a strong, vigourously stylistic impression of a character, setting or scenario

Film Idea Development

Going off my previous post about my film idea and my tutorial with Leah, I have decided to alter my idea to have the same scenario playing out but with different actors inhabiting the role of the protagonist.

I want to fuse the two approaches of the improvisational directors i previously mentioned, working individually with the actors before hand to develop their character based off of a common backstory/bio (allowing the actors a certain amount of freedom in the way in which they interpret this to give variety in the scenes. Also developing the character with the actor in Leigh's style will allow for the actor to give a more honest/authentic performance (i want to avoid the typical drama class improvised bullshit)) and giving them a basic idea of where i want the scene to go.

How it gets there will be loosely discussed and implemented with a certain level of freedom, it will also be based on how the actors interpret the information they're given. I will step in to give direction where necessary to ensure the improvisation doesn't diverge too much from the desired outcome.

I will attempt to keep to a minimum the number of actors the protagonist will interact with to limit the potential for divergence from the base concept and desired outcome. These actors will need to be briefed and given character development/bios that are more extensive even than the protagonist as they need to be able to adjust their reaction to the improvisation of the main character in such a way as to steer the protagonist towards the desired outcome.

Idea Development, Improvisation Directors

Mike Leigh 

Leigh's process of making film is uniquely unconventional, rather than writing a script initially (or working off someone else's script) he starts his process with a basic premise, which he develops by working one-to-one with each actor. He improvises dialogue and character traits with the actor (usually basing the characters off someone the actors know for a more authentic and personal performance) and researches "anything and everything that will fill out the authenticity of the character" over a period of sometimes months before writing a shooting script, a bare scenario. This is followed by more 'real rehersal' on location, on the shoot, before the script is finalised.

"I'll set up an improvisation..I'll analyse and discuss it...we'll do another, and it'll...refine and refine..until the actions and dialogue are fully integrated. Then we shoot it"  - Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh

This improvisational process appeals to me and my idea as i would prefer taking a more methodical/scientific approach to my work, an approach that is semi-synonymous with my research and content.

Some of Leigh's more noteworthy works are Abigail's Party (1977) , An improvisational play for theatre and television (which was voted no.11 in the BFI's Poll of the 100 greatest British television programmes), and Secret's and Lies (1996) which was awarded the Palme D'or at Cannes (Another film with largely improvised dialogue, with Leigh aiding the character development)

John Cassavetes

Cassavetes was a pioneer for Improvisational and Indie film in American cinema.

The manner in which Cassavetes employed improvisation is often misunderstood, the large majority of his films being fully scripted. While dialogue and actions were scripted, delivery was not.

Cassavetes' Directing style was vastly different from the director run sets of Hollywood's big budget productions, often employing his friends as cast and crew, filming over long periods of time at the weekends or when funding was available.

"I think you have to define what improvisation does - not what it is. Improvisation to me means that there is a characteristic spontaneity in the work which makes it appear to have not been planned. I write a very tight script, and from there on in I allow the actors to interpret it the way they wish. But once they choose their way, then I'm extremely disciplined and they must also be extremely disciplined about their own interpretations. There's a difference between ad-libbing and improvising and a difference between not knowing what to do and just saying something. I believe in improvising on the basis of the written word, and not on undisciplined creativity" -John Cassavetes on improvisation

Film Idea

My idea for the film is based heavily on my research into vignettes. I would like to fuse the Psychological premise for vignettes with that of the Literary Vignette. The use of the moving image medium for the vignette will allow a better insight into a persons mindset by placing them into the situation itself and recording their reaction.

The film would be made up of a series of scenes in which the protagonist is placed into a scenario with minimal information about the scene, but provided with a back story and bio for their character and will be asked to improvise a reaction to the events of the scene. This will happen several times, but each time the characters in the scene will act differently or cause a series of different events to see how the protagonist reacts, thus giving an insight into the protagonist's psyche.

Alternatively, the scenario and people in the scenario will act the same each time, with the protagonist being provided with several different back stories to see how different characters react to the same scenario. (or the protagonist will be played by different people each time to give a wider, more accurate range of reactions)

I was thinking the narrative form of each scene could play out in reverse chronological order, for example, showing the consequences of the protagonists reaction first, and then the reaction itself, then the catalyst for the reaction, and finally the protagonists entrance. (Not particularly relevant but a challenging editing style and a homage to the unconventional narrative forms I have researched)

The scenes will be short and concise( as a nod to Slacker and the Literary Vignette) with minimal dialogue. Information will be provided through significant symbolic shots, close up reaction shots, and motifs.

Vignettes

Vignettes in Literature (As demonstrated in Slacker (Dir. Linklater, 1991) ) are a short impressionistic scene that focuses on one brief moment to give a trenchant (vigorous in expression or style) impression about a character, idea, setting or object. (A blog could be argued to demonstrate a form of vignettes)

However upon looking into Vignettes more i became enthralled by the idea of vignettes in Psychology and Sociology. Vignettes in Psychological/Sociological experiments present a hypothetical situation to which research participants respond , thereby revealing their perceptions, values, social norms or impressions of an event.

These forms of vignettes are used extensively to demonstrate/teach management and teaching styles ( for example )

Vignettes allow for 'controlled studies of mental processes'. Vignettes are used for processes that are impossible or highly difficult to study through more traditional/classic experiements.

However the process of someone reading a scenario and then responding has a lot of drawbacks/pitfalls as the person is not truly experiencing the scenario, hence why i struck upon the idea of using them in film to provide a much more genuine reaction.

Slacker/ Non Linear Vignettes

While investigating different narrative forms I came across Richard Linklater's 1991 film Slacker.

Slacker has a unique narrative form, which is seemingly plot less, following a series of various bohemian/burnt out characters in a single day. The film never focuses on one character for more than a few minutes. Slacker gives a unique insight into the lives of these kinds of people in the college town of Austin, Texas and almost acts as a cautionary tale at times.

Upon investigating the film more, i saw that the films narrative structure had several times been described as as series of Non Linear Vignettes. Vignette being a term i had not encountered before i decided to investigate further.

Reflections ; Unconventional Narrative Form; Reverse Narrative

The first narrative structure that came to mind when reading the brief was the reverse narrative, this form is very interesting to me and is one i have only seen done succesfully on a handful of occasions.

The most well known/ commercially successful film to use this narrative form is undoubtedly Momento (Dir. Nolan, 2000). Momento is split into two different narrative sequences, the first; a series of black and white scenes that are shown in chronological order and the second; a series of scenes in colour shown in reverse order. The sequences represent the different forms of the protagonists memory (or lack there of) and converge at the end to show one common, complete narrative.

Another film that uses the reverse narrative form (and in my eyes uses it most thoroughly and to the best effect) is Irreversible (Dir, Noe. 2002). The film shows the events of a night out in Paris in reverse order (even going so far as to have the end credits roll UP the screen at the beginning of the film) revealing shocking plot points as the film progresses (an excellent film but not for the weak stomached >.<)

Another film worth mentioning that uses this form is 5x2 (Dir. Ozon, 2004) which splits its narrative form into five episodes in reverse chronology.

Reflections: Photography Instillation Idea

While watching the short documentary piece by Paul Sermon about the use of the space in the coal mine showers (A Body Of Water), I began to think of how I might use an environment to display the photography project.

I actually decided upon how i would like to display my work before landing on a concept, in fact the idea for the display led to my idea for the concept.

While watching A Body of Water and the Echo piece, i liked the idea of the viewer moving about and experiencing the piece , feeling that a more immersive experience would stay with the viewer longer and make a larger impact (a sentiment similarly expressed in the YoHo piece). As such i decided that my photos would be in the centre of the space (whatever that might be) and displayed in a manner which would allow the viewer to move about or to stay in one spot and still be able to view the whole thing. Too this end I thought to display my five photos on the faces of a cube that is suspended in the middle of the room on a chain or rope that spins the cube around.

From the above idea and the research i had been doing for Image Factory, I decided that each of the our vertical faces would display an image that in some way denotes each of the four seasons and the bottom face that of death. I felt this was fitting for the square that moves in a circle, as i felt that it represented the way that we humans attempt to make everything clear cut and definable by manageable arbitrary integers, like the four seasons , which in reality aren't clear cut and run into each other (this is denoted by the turning of the cube, which also represents the constant progression/changing of the season). While the image seperate from these four, underneath, will be one of death as that is the only escape from the turning of the seasons (on Earth that is).

However upon thinking on the doc's i began to like the idea of projection more and more, thinking that if the images where in fact projected out from the faces of the cube into the exhibition space, it would make for a more immersive experience, and also would be synonymous with the way in which humans force our perception of the universe onto others through communal understanding. We don't truly know whether the person sitting next to us is seeing the same thing as us, yes they would be seeing the same visual light being emitted, but there is no way of knowing for sure if their brain perceives it the same way you do.

Our understanding of the physical universe being what it is we know that in reality we are 99.9 percent empty space, being made up of electrons and the forces of the universe holding them together, and the human brain instinctively fills in the gaps. So how do i know that my green is your green.

Upon thinking further on the idea, i felt that a hellish image would be better for the bottom face than one of purely death, the two concepts are synonymous in my catholic/jesuit upbringing/force feeding. also the idea that hell is below us works well with the image being projected onto the floor. This projection will be in stark comparison to those on the outer faces, those i decided would be photo montages, as this is a more interesting way of showing all the facets of a season rather than like just falling leaves for autumn etc. I also thought that in addition to the hellish image i would include some coloured LED lights underneath that will add emphasis to the image and also help to create a sense of vertigo and unease as the viewer looks at the swirling image.

I would also ideally like to include sound in the exhibition, creating a general atmos track for each image that will all play together creating a cacophony of sound.