New and Final Non-Narrative Idea

Post by inFAMOUS.

Being a big fan of the inFamous game series, I have seen this style of artwork right the way through the trilogy, and I've always found it really gritty and riveting to look at.

In the video above, we see the artist spraying the liquid with water and air, making the liquid run in different ways and directions. I tried to replicate this test with things I had around the house, replacing the surface with paper and also a chopping board, and for the liquid, I tried to find something with the nearest density to ink, which oddly enough... was Soy Sauce.

I tried blowing on it in bursts, I tried a hair dryer for continuous force, and I also sprayed water on the sauce to see what it would do, and this is an example of what results I got:

Soy Sauce on a chopping board.

Soy Sauce on Paper.

It proved quite difficult on the surfaces I tried as paper absorbed it and the chopping board caused it to grip in place, but both tests had their qualities and flaws. The chopping board divided sauce into droplets, whilst the paper made it drag and not divide so much.

With the footage I had, I put into Adobe Premiere and decided to see what sort of things it could produce if I were to tweak the colour, or something similar. The results proved promising:

The video above shows the original footage I had recorded and how keying out the surface with the "Ultra Key" plugin, and then adjusting the saturation, size and adding a mirror effect could make the (what I find) very boring original footage, into something very interesting to look at.

I have decided that I will pursue this idea as I find it to be the most interesting result I have gotten from any of my tests.

I have booked the TV studio for the 14th of April for 8 hours, where I will be able to have full control of the lighting of the environment and by which time should have more liquids and surfaces to try new things on and plenty of time to gain more interesting results.

Some materials I intend to buy prior to the date include a large, opaque white square of acrylic plastic, white tarpaulin, as well as food colouring and ink. The reason for white is because I will be able to separate the liquid from the back ground more easily and will be able to change the colour of the back ground in post production.

Non Narrative Music

With my non-narrative, I wanted to try my best to find a song that didn't have lyrics for the sake of the film solely focusing on he beat of the music.

A friend of mine who also makes films posted a film on Youtube which had a song in it called "A New Error" by Moderat. I really liked how the song began slowly and kicked in later.





Although I liked this song, I found it quite repetitive and may limit what I could do with the film, so I kept searching. I asked people to recommend songs that they may have thought sounded similar to this track, and I had this song brought to my attention:



I did like the beat in this song, as well as the pulsing bass, however; I again thought it was a bit too repetitive, although this song did give me ideas for visuals.

When writing other essays for other modules, I like to listen to music. I tend to find random YouTube playlists and have them on as background noise, but in one playlist, a particular song stood out to me:

I really liked the build up at the beginning of the song, how it dwindled slowly until it kicked in. I did find some of it repetitive, but it had more variation throughout the song than the others did, so I thought if I could cut some of the repetitive parts out and edit them together seamlessly, it could work.

Actors

Previous experiences when making short films has shown me that using people that don't know how to act in films is never a good move, so for this film; I wanted to get it right.

As a precaution, I decided to put flyers around Coleg Cambria in Wrexham with my university email address on it for performing arts students to contact me if they wanted to act in it.

Here is the flyer:

Along side all of my work in my second year, I have done some extra curricular work with the performing arts students, and have been able to see first hand just what they're capable of. Over the last few weeks, I invited the students that I thought would be able to play the roles of my characters, to an audition.

I managed to audition five male students and five females, all of which prepared a monologue that they read to camera. Here are the reels of the students I finally chose to be in my film:





I thought Gwynneth had a shyness about her personality, but when I have seen her perform, she is capable of really coming out of her shell. She will be playing the lead character, Sarah, who has similar traits to Gwynneth, she's shy, but when she's encouraged or pushed, she becomes confident and strong.



When watching Alex perform, I have seen him play sinister, very serious characters, but when I wrote the character of Michael, I wanted him to be sinister and twisted, but also very lively and loud. When I told Alex to play the character that way, I wasn't quite sure what sort of performance I would get from him, but the result blew me away, and you can see why in his reel.


Claire's character is Jess, Sarah's best friend, and in real life; Claire is one of Gwynneth's close friends. Normally, I would be very hesitant to consider two close friends to act in case of them being nonprofessional, however, I have seen Claire perform alongside Gwynneth previously, as well as on her own, and they are both professional. Jess is almost the comic relief of the film, she has a bubbly personality, but also reveals a dark secret which brings her to tears, and I firmly believe Claire is fully capable of giving this performance, as you may be able to see from her reel.

Final Script

I wrote four drafts of the script, the first was very rough, then I left it for a short while and came back to it and decided there were lots of things I could change to it, for example, Sarah's best friend in the film, Jess, was originally written to be Sarah's mother, but I felt I would have been making things more difficult for myself in the sense of finding an older woman to play her, even though I already knew there was great talent within the younger generation of the performing art students that I have already encountered.

The second draft I had changed things I had found wrong and showed my lecturer, he then told me what he personally thought I could do to it to make it seem more natural, i.e. don't make the characters say the character's name because the audience wouldn't know it otherwise. For example, when Michael arrives home in scene one, originally Sarah said "Hey Mike", which felt unnatural, but when I changed it to "Hey, you" it really felt more realistic.

My third draft of the script was only slightly different from the second, mainly making minor tweaks to the wording, but once I had done that, I sent it to some friends of mine who are either studying how to write scripts, or have already learned how to do so and now write and film their own independent films. They told me to change the location of the final scene to all inside the house, rather than the fight scene being on the drive.

Final Script

“Coercion”­

Written by

Gareth Roberts­

2014

  

EXT. DRIVEWAY - DUSK. Blood stains the floor like a crime scene and trails toward the door. We follow the trail of blood and we start to hear a phone’s dial tone and a woman’s crying gradually getting louder and louder as the camera pans further and further across the floor and eventually going through the door, revealing more blood. Eventually, the camera slowly tilts up, revealing a young woman in her early twenties bloodied and bruised and holding a phone her ear. The dial tone stops, the call has been answered. A man answers saying “999, what’s your emergency?” The young woman gasps, but quickly covers her mouth. CUT TO BLACK.

SCENE 1

INT. LIVING ROOM – AFTERNOON. The camera opens to reveal the same young woman only one week prior to the incident, staring at a pregnancy test that reads “positive” which shakes in her hands, she feels happy, but equally as frightened. She is soon snapped out of her trance by the phone ringing. She answers it quickly.

SARAH

H-Hello? (Closes eyes tightly, grips the test)

SARAH’S FRIEND, JESS, IS THE CALLER

JESS

(Confusedly) Sarah?

SARAH

(Sigh of relief) Oh, hi Jess.

JESS

Everything alright? You sound a bit off

SARAH

(Abruptly) Yeah ye—I’m fine. What do you want? I’m kinda busy right now.

JESS

Well, I’ve just bought a big bottle of red wine, so I thought I’d call my nearest and dearest to join me, say, Satur--

SARAH QUICKLY ANSWERS

SARAH

Maybe! Like I said, I’ve got a lot on this week.

THE FRONT DOOR OPENS AND SHUTS IN THE DISTANCE. SARAH PANICS.

SARAH

Jess, I really need to go, I’ll call you soon.

JESS

Sarah?

SARAH HANGS UP AND HIDES PREGNANCY TEST BY HER SIDE. SHE IS EXCITED TO TELL HIM THE NEWS.

MICHAEL ENTERS IN HIS WORK UNIFORM. HE LOOKS TOWARD THE OVEN AND NOTICES NOTHING IS COOKING. THIS ANGERS HIM.

SARAH

(Giddy) Hey you!

MICHAEL

Where’s dinner?

SARAH LOOKS CONFUSED.

SARAH

What?

MICHAEL

I said… “Where’s dinner?”

SARAH

I thought you said we could go out tonight? Remember? It’s Valentine’s Day! (Timidly smiles)

MICHAEL

What? You know we can barely afford to live here, why the fuck would I say that?!

SARAH

You told me that night you went out with your friends, remember? Just after you came home.

MICHAEL

Oh come on! I was drunk! I’d have said anything to shut you up in that state!

SARAH LOOKS DOWN, AVOIDING EYE CONTACT AND CHOKES UP.

SARAH

(Softly in realization) That was the night we--.

SARAH LOOKS DOWN AT THE PREGNANCY TEST, SLOWLY REACHES FOR IT AND HIDES IT BETWEEN THE CUSHIONS OF THE SOFA. SARAH STARES BACK AT MICHAEL HATEFULLY.

SARAH

I thought you meant it.

MICHAEL

(Rolling his eyes) I’ll say it again, I was drunk! Plus you look a damn sight better after I’ve had a few (Begins to laugh to himself).

SARAH STANDS UP AND MARCHES TOWARD THE DOOR.

SARAH

That’s it, Mike, I’m tired of this!

MICHAEL FOLLOWS HER TO THE DOOR BUT BEFORE SHE CAN LEAVE; HE GRABS HER BY THE HAIR AND PULLS HER TOWARD HIM.

MICHAEL

(Still gripping her hair) Where the fuck do you think you’re going? You haven’t made dinner yet.

HE THROWS HER TO THE FLOOR.

MICHAEL

And make it fucking quick.

Michael leaves the room and slams the door behind him. Sarah begins to weep as she pulls herself up to begin preparing Michael’s meal. She stares on toward the sofa cushions that hide the only proof of her and Michael’s child’s existence, now knowing it was not conceived out of love.

END OF SCENE 1.

SCENE 2

INT. BATHROOM - DAY. Two days after scene one; Sarah is in the bathroom partially dressed, wet hair, alone, getting ready for the day ahead. She is lathering herself in makeup to hide new bruises given to her from the previous night, as flashbacks are shown depicting the events that occurred. After the flashback of how she received the bruise; she is now putting her clothes on which hide scars, old and new. She then stands and looks at herself in the mirror, to check no marks are on display, but she soon stops this as she looks at her stomach and thinks about the new biggest change in her life. She looks side on at herself to see if a bump is visible, and she also cups her bosom to see if it has increased. She stares at her reflection like she wants to swap places with it.

END OF SCENE 2.

SCENE 3

INT. KITCHEN. – EARLY EVENING. Sarah is in the kitchen tidying up ready to prepare dinner, when suddenly the doorbell sounds. Confused, she grabs the keys and goes to the door and opens it to find Jess with a bottle of wine.

SARAH

Jess? What are you doing here?


JESS

(Friendly Sarcasm) Hello to you too! Well since you hung up on me, I thought “She can’t hang up on me in person”, so here I am!… I have wine?


SARAH

I am sorry about that, but I’m in the middle of cooking right now and Mike’s home soon—

JESS

(Persistently) Oh come on, one glass?!

SARAH

Jess, I really don’t have ti—

JESS

(Serious) Please? I really need to talk to you.

SARAH NOTICES JESS’S EXPRESSION CHANGE COMPLETELY, REALIZING SHE REALLY NEEDS TO TALK. THEY RETURN TO THE KITCHEN WHERE JESS IS SAT AT THE KITCHEN BAR. SARAH GETS ONE GLASS OUT AND HANDS IT TO JESS.

JESS

Where’s yours?

SARAH

None for me. I’m gonna carry on making dinner, but I’m listening.

SHE BEGINS CUTTING CARROTS.

JESS

Okay, well, how are things with Michael?

SARAH

(Hesitates) … They’re okay.

JESS

Oh good… No problems lately?

SARAH

(Quickly) Nope, nothing I can think of.

Jess stares at the kitchen surface, shamefully.

JESS

So… Michael hasn’t acted strange or anyth—

SARAH

(Annoyed) No, he’s done nothing. Why?!

JESS

… Sarah… (Begins to choke up) Sarah, he raped me.

JESS BEGINS TO SOB, BUT SARAH REMAINS SILENT. SHE BEGINS TO STARE AIMLESSLY AROUND THE ROOM THINKING TO HERSELF.

JESS

I was so scared coming here in case he was home, but I needed to tell you, to protect you from him. You’re the only person I’ve told.

SARAH

(Speechless) When? Did he…

JESS

About two weeks ago… he was out with his friends and I was drunk, so he took me home. At first I thought he was being nice, but then… he… (Continues to cry)

SARAH LOOKS TO CLOCK TO SEE THAT MICHAEL WILL BE HOME SOON.

SARAH

(Hatefully) Get out. Now.

SARAH USHERS JESS OUT OF THE HOUSE.

JESS

Sarah, you believe me don’t you?!

SARAH

Just get out!

Sarah slams the door behind Jess, after which she turns around and puts her back against the door and begins to weep, sliding down the door until she reaches the floor.

END OF SCENE 3.

SCENE 4

INT. KITCHEN - EARLY EVENING. Michael is just around the corner from home, where Sarah is carving chicken to put on his plate. Michael enters the kitchen, throws his coat down and sits to eat his food, without even saying hello to Sarah.

SARAH

I saw Jess today…

MICHAEL

(Pauses briefly)… So?

SARAH

Oh we were just talking about you… She said she saw you out a few weeks ago.

MICHAEL

Yeah she was there, didn’t talk though.

MICHAEL FINISHES HIS MEAL AND SLIDES THE PLATE TO SARAH. HE LEAVES THE TABLE AND GOES TO WATCH TV.

SARAH

(Smiles to self) Really? She said you did…

MICHAEL

I may have said hello… I can’t remember, I was dru—

JESS

--You were drunk. Yeah you mentioned that.

MICHAEL

(Pauses)… Have you had the remote?

SARAH CLEANS UP.

SARAH

No.

SARAH TURNS HER BACK TO HIM TO PUT THE KETTLE ON. IN THIS TIME, MICHAEL BEGINS TO ROOT THROUGH THE SOFA CUSHIONS, WHERE HE FINDS THE PREGNANCY TEST, AND STARES AT IT.

MICHAEL

What the fuck is this?!

SARAH TURNS BACK TO FACE HIM AND SEES THE TEST. HER EXPRESSION DROPS.

MICHAEL

This better not mean you’re pregnant…

SARAH REMAINS SPEECHLESS, TRYING TO FIND WORDS.

MICHAEL

(Impatiently) Sarah… Tell me!

SARAH

… Mike… I…

HE MARCHES TOWARD HER

MICHAEL

(Throws test) Oh you idiot! We can’t afford a baby! At least say you’re getting rid of it?!

SARAH’S EYES BEGIN TO WELL UP AND SHAKES HER HEAD. MICHAEL SLAPS HER. THE KETTLE BEGINS TO WHISTLE.

MICHAEL

Do you know what this would do to us!? Are you really this stupid?!

SARAH COWERS BACKWARD SLOWLY AS MICHAEL FOLLOWS. MICHAEL CLENCHES HIS FIST AND SARAH SEES IT. THE KETTLE WHISTLES LOUDLY. HE SWINGS FOR HER STOMACH, SHE TURNS HER BACK ON THE BLOW AND GRABS THE KETTLE AND THROWS SCALDING HOT WATER ON HIS FACE. HE HOLDS HIS BURNS AND SCREAMS. SARAH THEN HITS HIM WITH THE KETTLE, KNOCKING HIM TO THE FLOOR. HER ADRENALINE PUMPING; SHE CONTINUES TO BEAT HIM WHILST HE’S DOWN, BLOOD SPATTERS ON HER CLOTHES. JUST BEFORE SHE CAN DELIVER A LAST POWERFUL BLOW; MICHAEL KNOCKS THE KETTLE FROM HER HANDS. HE FLIPS HER OVER AND BEGINS TO STRANGLE HER. WITH THE LAST OF HER MIGHT, SHE REACHES TO A NEARBY KITCHEN SURFACE TO FIND A WEAPON, WHERE SHE FINDS A CHICKEN FORK. SHE GRABS IT AND STABS HIM. MICHAEL’S GRIP LOOSENS FROM HER NECK. BLOOD RUNS DOWN HER KNUCKLES SLOWLY AND DRIPS ON HER FACE. SHE PULLS THE FORK OUT, PUSHES HIM OFF HER AND CRAWLS AWAY OUT THROUGH THE BACK DOOR, TRAILING BLOOD WITH HER. WE RETURN TO THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM TO FIND HER CRYING ON THE PHONE.

POLICE

999, What’s your emergency?

SARAH

(Long Pause)… I’ve just killed my boyfriend.

SARAH PUTS THE PHONE TO HER SIDE AND WE HERE THE POLICE VOICE FAINTLY IN THE BACKGROUND. SARAH CONTINUES TO CRY, BUT SHE LOOKS DOWN TOWARDS HER BABY AND BEGINS TO SMILE. SHE IS HYSTERICAL, BUT IS REASSURED THAT SHE HAS DEFENDED HER CHILD.

CUT TO BLACK.

A TITLE APPEARS AND READS “A MOTHER’S LOVE IS UNCONDITIONAL”.

END OF FILM.

Final Narrative Idea

After many weeks of tweaking, I have finally completed my script after making 5 drafts. I gave it to my actors to look at for their advice on input to make dialogue feel more natural and believable, and it really did help.

The final script is 13 pages long, roughly 1,700 words. I am very happy with the final idea and have a clear vision for how I want it to look, and I am very much looking forward to filming.

I have estimated the film should be able to be completely filmed in one day, with an additional second day to assure I have all the footage I need after reviewing the captured footage on the first night. I have confirmed with my actors their availability over Easter to film and the agreed dates are Thursday the 17th - Friday the 18th of April.


Synopsis

At the start of the film, we see a young woman, Sarah, covered in blood looking traumatized and is on the phone to the police, but she doesn't say a word. It cuts to black.

The shot reopens a few days before to show the same woman, only not covered in blood, but instead holding a pregnancy test. We soon discover she shuts people out, but are unsure why she does so. We then meet Mike who we learn is an abusive, controlling boyfriend who has power over Sarah and treats her poorly.

Throughout the film we see the plot develop and we soon discover the truth behind the beginning of the film.