Final Major Project
Jacob Gorman
Primary Research
Contacting Practitioners
As part of my primary research, I have reached out to several independent filmmakers for advice. talking to these practitioners has been insightful, as I have learnt a lot of information from them. Charlotte Regan from Knucklehead has been particularly helpful to me, as she was incredibly helpful in answering my questions. I sent an email to Simon Dymond, an independent filmmaker, but I received no response. Charlotte described her process in intricate detail, explaining how she likes to leave areas in her scripts for last minute creative decisions, but prefers to keep a rigid plan of the technical side of her productions, such as specific shots and the overall look o the production. Charlotte likes to think of herself as 'Easy- going' when it comes to planning, and she explained how she used to avoid most of the potential planning for her projects, but has since developed a greater appreciation for creating a more concrete vision.
Charlotte was also helpful in the way she describes her creative process. Charlotte talked about how she prefers to create her ideas naturally, and believes that you shouldn't force yourself to write anything, as your creative passion will inevitably strain. despite this, she insists that you should keep yourself busy when you are feeling creatively bankrupt, as she suggests that researching different directors or films can often help her when she feels unfocused.
Survey Results
The results of my survey show that the demographic of our class is around ages 16-19, with a diverse taste when it comes to stylisation, with the majority preferring light stylisation over the two extremes. In terms of tone, there was an overwhelming majority of those who preferred a more comedic approach to other tones and genres. Out of what the people surveyed considered the most important part of a short film, cinematography was a slight majority, with editing in a slight majority. Most of the people surveyed perfected a fast pace in a short film, with a few others claiming they preferred a more methodical pace.
Secondary Research
Research Choices and Influences
'Eraserhead' - Directed by David Lynch
One of the major influences for my short film is 'Eraserhead'. The major factor I want to draw from this film is its dreamlike quality, and its ability to tell a personal and relevant story through imagery and surrealism. While my short will be much more grounded than Eraserhead's deeply metaphorical and surrealist approach, I still feel that it is an important film that has inspired my idea. My short film hopes to emulate the dreamlike state of the film, through dimmed lighting and peculiar camera angles; such as a variety of dutch tilts and perspective shots, in order to achieve a paranoid and delirious feeling.
'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' - Directed by Terry Gilliam
Another film I want to draw from stylistically is 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'. The film has a heavily hallucinatory feeling to it, and often uses a wide variety of dutch angles and provocative imagery to conjure a feeling of discomfort and anxiety. Despite being a black comedy, it is the film's darker, more outlandish moments that i want to draw from. The film's visual style is striking, using several different lighting styles, with strange sounds and bizarre editing to disorient and confuse the audience. i adore the film's hazy, surrealist style, and I would like to attempt to replicate it for my own short film.
'Mandy' - Directed by Panos Cosmatos
Mandy is a film that I admire greatly, not only for its distinct visuals and soundtrack, but for its honest yet stylized depiction of grief and anger. While these themes are not directly tied to my short film, I would like to present my own ideas in a style similar to Mandy's, as well as borrowing the unique visuals. My short will be mostly quiet and atmospheric, but I would like to employ the soundtrack to Mandy in a few pivotal moments. The soundtrack to this film feels unnatural and synthetic, yet aggressive and even spiritual at times.
'Enemy' - Directed by Denis Villeneuve
Enemy is a film that has been a huge inspiration for me. The cinematography in the film is often very drawn out and meandering, giving a sense of tension and fear. The film frequently combines wide shots with extreme close ups to disorient and unnerve the audience. The film's lighting is subtle, yet also incredibly provocative, as it uses heavy shadows lit with a toxic yellow hue, to add to the unnatural feeling of the film. The film is incredibly uncomfortable, not only in its imagery, but the way it explores personal themes and issues that we try to ignore.
'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos
'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' is a film I want to draw from, due to its unique defiance of generalized genre conventions. The film plays upon several of the tropes of the horror genre, yet never delves to the point where it can be considered a horror film, Instead telling a more personal story of weakness and futility. the film is methodical and suspenseful in its depictions of dread, which is something i would love to attempt to replicate for my own short film. I don't want to classify my project as a horror film, as I feel that the genre as a whole is very different to the much more subversive approach I wish to take.
'Un Chien Andalou' (Or 'An Andalusian Dog' - Directed By Luis Buñuel
This Salvador Dali written short was incredibly influential in the face of postmodern surrealism and film as a subversive artform. The seemingly plotless and meaningless project details several visceral and provocative situations, all loosely connected through themes of death and nature. The short has influenced me in the unique way it handles the surreal elements presented. The film is constantly shot in a flat, lifeless way, complimented by the subtle music and monochrome colouring. This seemingly mundane way of creating a scene compliments the frequent absurdity through the irony of its presentation, highlighting the disturbing imagery with an alluring tranquility.
'Taxi Driver - Original Soundtrack by Bernard Hermann
The soundtrack for Martin Scorsese's 'Taxi Driver' has one of my favorite soundtracks., Composed by the legendary Bernard Hermann (Psycho, Cape Fear), the soundtrack combines heavy, bombastic percussion, with brief highlights of soft jazz. The tones and emotions of the score are unique and breathtaking, switching from a heavy brass, with beautiful symphonies of jazz and piano. This soundtrack has been a major inspiration for the overall tone of my short. I have listened to the soundtrack on numerous occasions.
'Gone Girl OST' - By Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
The soundtrack to David Fincher's 'Gone Girl' is a disorienting mixture of heavy synth and melodramatic undertones. The soundtrack is a perfect fit the the disturbing yet sedated tone of gone girl, and I wish to use a few pieces of original score for my own production. The score is haunting and oppressive, and a perfect fit for any dramatic scene.
Research overview
I believe that my influences will have a drastic influence on the finished product of my short film. Despite my wide range o sources, all of them compliment each other well, and there are no two styles that clash. I do not want m short film to become a carbon copy of these styles and practitioners, but I am willing to draw a few caveats from their design, along with the overall oppressive tone. My references are not only integral to informing my own idea, but they are sources that reflect my own personal goals and vision for the end product.
Literary Sources:
Film Directing Shot by Shot - By Steven D Katz
This book offers an incredibly intricate and complex look at different techniques in film, citing examples and quoting practitioners to help with the reader's comprehension. One aspect of the book I found particularly insightful was the chapter on blocking and framing. Effective blocking consists of creating enough space between important parts of the frame to make scenes easier to comprehend. Camera movement is also an important part of blocking, as it can make things seem smoother and more natural.
Another area I found insightful was the segment on Visualization. Whist not a piece of practical advice, I found it intriguing and helpful, as it gave extensive details on an area I find to be challenging. I believe that overall, the book was incredibly informative and captivating.
'Directing film or television is a high-stakes occupation. It captures your full attention at every moment, calling on you to commit every resource and stretch yourself to the limit. It's the white-water rafting of entertainment jobs.' - Excerpt from page 358
Moviemaker's Masterclass - By Laurent Tirard
This book contains interviews with several prestigious directors. The areas which interested me the most were the interviews with David Lynch and David Cronenberg. The book avoids the more technical side of filmmaking, instead diverting its focus upon the more personal and individual aspects, such as screenwriting and visualizing shots .David Lynch came across as incredibly passionate and informative. he talked extensively about how he forms his ideas, along with what inspires him, which I found incredibly helpful. Lynch talked extensively about how important it is to love your ideas, and how the link to your vision is one of the most important aspects of the filmmaking process.
I also found what David Cronenberg had to say incredibly informative. Cronenberg described the filmmaking process in comparison to literature, and concluded that a film with out a strong foundational idea is fundamentally flawed. He also stated that no filmmaker can possibly know how a finished film will look, they only have a hopeful view of how it will look. I found this quote incredibly intriguing, as it is a problem I have suffered from in the past
'That’s true, making movies is a balancing act. On the one hand, you need to be open to new ideas if the reality of the situation requires it and not rigidly try to reproduce your original ideas. But on the other hand, you must have enough confidence in your own ideas so that you’re not changing in response to any sort of exterior exigency that will want to make you push the movie one way or another.' - Joel Coen, an excerpt from page 161
Online Sources:
To expand my research, I have used a wide variety of online articles and video essays. These resources have been incredibly helpful, as not only is there a wide variety to choose from, they are all incredibly well researched, and often feature specific examples to popular films. Perhaps the most helpful resource I have studied were the video essays i found on Youtube, as they contained an abundance of footage to give clear and thoughtful examples of whey they are explaining, along with quoting filmmaking practitioners and other sources of knowledge. The written articles I read were also incredibly useful, as they went into extravagant detail about specific devices and techniques, along with intricate knowledge of how these devices have been employed elsewhere.
Video Essay on Eyelines:
One of the most useful resources I found was 'Every frame a painting's video on eyelines and how to employ them effectively. I found the video incredibly informative and helpful, as it gave intricate details on how to employ this technique, along with several examples of when it has been used correctly and incorrectly. The caveat that makes the video so helpful is that it is structured around one specific film in particular; Bart Layton's 2012 documentary 'The Imposter'. Not only does this film use the technique effectively, but uses it in a unique way that not many films do. The film only uses eyelines in extremely pivotal moments, and therefore can emphasize the specific moments in which it is most effective.
Article About Effective Lighting:
Another useful outlet for information was Adorama's article on cinematography and lighting. this article not only broke down the reasons for using specific lighting setups in film, but also interviewed industry professionals to back up the advice. i found the article very interesting, as it not only gave vivid descriptions of the necessary information, but it also had videos embedded that explained and demonstrated these techniques even further. The article was particularly helpful in the way it described key lighting, as this is a technique that I hope to employ for my own short film.
Studying eyelines (By 'Every frame A painting') - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0TnU80idDA
The Usage Of Red (By 'Now You See It') - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tg5iwK9dKQ
An excerpt from 'Elements of Cinema's article on blocking - http://www.elementsofcinema.com/directing/blocking-actors/
An exerpt from Adorama's article on lighting - https://www.adorama.com/alc/basic-cinematography-lighting-techniques
Opinions and Cultural Tropes
For my research on opinions and cultural tropes, I researched three separate opinions on the film 'Mandy' to compare and contrast their respective opinions. The one area that was unanimously agreed upon was the exceptional visual department. However, the area that seemed to divide people the most was the storyline; while some revealed in its simplicity, others felt underwhelmed and starved of the lack fleshed out characters. An area I found to be fascinating was how the film was received more favourably by critics than audiences. The film's critical and audience ratings on Rotten Tomatoes sit at 91% and 66% respectively. I believe the primary reason for this is Mandy's heavy reliance on subtext and symbolism, which may become lost on audiences who are not intently analysing every scene, whereas a critic would make sure to carefully dissect the imagery in order to find any potential meaning.
'The trailer made this look so good. Perhaps i wasnt in the right frame of mind at the time for this movie but the dragging at the beginning resulted in something i rarely do, turn it off before the end. The ending of this film may have vindicated all the dull nonsense at the beginning but i will probably never know.' - By Kyle D (A Rotten Tomatoes User)
'Cosmatos' metal-to-the-max revenge thriller is more than just the sum of its deranged set pieces, choice as they are: Its slow-drip blend of hardcore pulp and demonic fantasy has a patience and all-consuming conviction that simply cannot be faked.' - By Justin Chang (A Top Critic and reporter for The LA Times)
Experimental Research
As part of our experimental research, we experimented heavily with different lighting techniques and setups. This was incredibly important for us to do, as our short film will be employing several different lighting quest, and none of us have any concrete experience in effectively lighting a scene. as seen in the video, we experimented with several setups, including key lighting and underlit scenes. This research has been not only incredibly enriching for a technical department we lacked confidence in, but it has also been practice for the day of shooting, as we have worked together as a group towards a common goal.
Application of research
I believe that the research I conducted was incredibly helpful in allowing me to visualize the end product, and help solidify and build upon existing ideas to create something original. I took my inspiration from a variety of different films, such as 'Eraserhead' and 'Mandy', which I believe greatly helped in the overall planning of the short, as I was able to draw from external sources to explain and cement my final ideas.These comparisons are important to make, as they show my applied research, and allows me to draw from external sources to cement my ideas. The main idea I drew from the film 'Mandy' was the lighting, as it is incredibly oppressive and surreal within the film. I hoed to replicate this effect for my own short film. 'Enemy' uses lighting to achieve an uncomfortable, sickly feeling within the narrative. i also thematically drew inspiration from the themes of in completion and self fulfillment in 'Enemy'. 'Eraserhead' was a huge point of artistic inspiration, mostly from the haunting tone and bleak presentation.
'Eraserhead'- Directed by David Lynch
'Enemy' - Driected by Denis Villeneuve
