Trailer

For the trailer to the film I want to make something very visceral and confronting, something that can emphasise the intensity of the film and hopefully accentuate myself and style as a filmmaker. I want to do this in the trailer by heavily contrasting the diaspora elements of the story using a difference in rhythm to do so.  My idea is to use the long, slow shots of the couple and then cut into them freeze frames of the junkies story, maybe three frames at a time to give them an appearance of being somewhat stop-motion.

This should also reflect my style as a filmmaker which at times is precise and calculated and other times quite capricious.

My influence for the trailer is that of Buffalo 66 which is made up of only freeze frames and this gave me the idea to construct the trailer in a way which would be similar but more effecting for the purposes of my story.

You can find the link here:


http://www.videodetective.com/movies/trailers/buffalo-66-trailer/7731

Ave Maria by J.S. Bach/Gounod

First Images From Film

I have just finished completing the first assembly of the film and I am very relieved. Initially I was apprehensive about the stories ability to successfully weave the three narratives of the film, Flashback, Couple and Junkies into one coherent story and achieving the tense emotional climax I desired. I found it difficult to begin with, however after a longer period of time playing with the footage I found a rhythm and am now much more confidant in our success in production.

I have always found it easier to edit a film when I have a specific musical motif in mind and this is what helped me find the missing link in the film and pull it all together. The films biggest turning points are all visual and therefore music plays an integral part of the climax of the film. Early in the gestation of the idea and because of my classical music inclinations I had as a thought to use the aptly named,  Ave Maria (Love of the Mother) by J.S. Bach over the films climax as its sound contrasts so well with what is going on in the stories but it contains the subtext of the story, Jennifer's loss of a child and the grief she is experiencing because of it. I will workshop this with my composer, Mark Chu who is classically trained and we can work from this as a starting to point to develop the rest of the music for the film.

I have attached below the first screenshots from the film.

Philosophy Of An Aesthetic

My approach to the shooting of the first part of the film, the story of the Junkies, Lennon and Morris, was one based on my particular values and beliefs in regards to the filmmaking process and the application of these ideas to the aesthetical and technical elements of the film. I feel the film industry has deeply regressed into conventionality and is rooted in the tested, tried and tiresome formulas of the past that they pay far too much respect to. Therefore this film must depart from these conventions by the foremost methods with which we film it. In doing this the making of the film becomes as much a part of its identity as the story and the actors in it and the act of making of the film are as much a part of the works meaning as its specific content and style. This is evident in the 'junkies squat',  the camera behaves as one with the actors performances, moving with them as they stand, look sideways, regard an object and not as part of any pre-conceived intellectualization of what the scene should look like.

Despite the use of a high-end camera, the ARRI ALEXA it is shot in a documentary style, handheld and with minimum use of added lighting. This, however is also for practical purposes, saving time spent on lights and tripod and covering scenes in their entirety. Never alienating moments for specific coverage or beats but capturing everything in a fluid, uninterrupted moment by moment of continuous action. The scene is blocked out and the action is planned immediately prior to shooting with no pre conceptions of how the scene will look until it is performed on the location, in character, by the actors. Therefore, there was no use of tracking rails which limit movement and force the Director to pre-plan a shot so pushcarts and wheelchairs were used instead.

Keeping crew to a scant minimum is also a necessity when shooting this way and I believe 5-6 key members is more than sufficient. With no continuity or planning prior to the filming, we work organically from the outside in. Watching the scene we move from wide-shots, to two-shots, to singles, to details, always playing out the scene from beginning to end. For example, if the film requires a close up of a radio and then one of a set of tools, the scene would be performed in its entirety and the camera would maneuver itself within the scene to pick up these specific moments of action. For these reasons the methods become inseparable from its aesthetic.

I strongly feel that this has an affect of bringing the audience closer to an active participation in the film.

Stills From Day 1