Storyboarding

These are the storyboard's for the main interview and the day in town, they highlight the main shots we aim to take and what they will show.

Shooting scheduled

These are the times we are planning to film for the next few weeks.

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date - Tusday 7th November
Location - Janaan’s House	Shots: pre interview, close up’s and mid shots as well as some tracking	Props – none planned	Note – this will not be the main interview only the get to know part.
Times – 4pm-6pm

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date - Tusday 14th November
Location - Janaan’s House	Shots: We plan to shoot the main interview from a medium shot	Props – some film books	Note – we will film the B roll shots at a later date. .
Times – 4pm-6pm

Names of crew Hibah Jan, Rochelle Dalgetti, Guillen Gomez, Dan Ceteras	Addresses	Telephone numbers
Date – Sat 18th th November
Location - Janaan’s House, in Brighton	Shots: This will involve close ups of objects, mid/medium/long shots of Janaan on loacation and other shots that will be planned with the setting	Props – film posters, DVD’s, vintage camera’s etc.	Note – This will be in two places so we need to manage our time well.
Times – 11am-5pm

Presentation

We presented our idea to the class this week and received some feedback. These are the slides from the presentation:

Feedback - We got given some great feedback that will help us to improve our documentary, the suggestions made were to consider the use of having the film professor interview because of the shift in tone from the main interview. I agree with this feedback as we want it to be personal and not take away from the main themes and opinions. The second piece of feedback we were given is to consider the shots we will be using and how they will help to elevate our message and tone. 

Overall I am happy with the response we received and am looking forward to continuing our idea and beginning shooting.

Inspirational shots

Shots from films are a point of inspiration for me as I feel so much can be captured in a singular moment, whether it be the lighting, background or format of the shot when these elements meet something truly beautiful can be made. I will be looking at some shots that have inspired me and how I could apply this to our group documentary.     

Lost In Translation (2003), Dir - Sofia Coppola

I really enjoyed this shot, not only because of the background and positioning of  Scarlett Johansson's character (Charlotte) but also the beautiful blue tone. The shot perfectly shows isolation as well as sadness while linking to the surrounding. I feel this shot links to our idea as our subject is someone who may of felt isolated from society and it is important to know how to show this not just say it.  

Grey Gardens (1975), Dir - Albert Maysles, Ellen Hovde, David Maysles, Muffie Meyer

This shot, perfectly shows a moment in time, the subjects are in discussion and natural. This is also something we aim to do as we want to observe and keep the shots as natural as possible. The shot also allows us to see the subjects in regard to their surroundings, this is important as we aim to show how Janaan functions in everyday life. 

The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), Dir - Wes Anderson  

This shot allows the viewer to enter into the characters likes as we see young  Margot Tenenbaum read we learn she is an avid play write and can see how her room reflects who she is. This shot can help us as I wish to take a shot of Janaan's room and display how her possessions display her personality. 

Bright Leaves (2003), Dir - Ross McElwee

I really like this shot, though it features in a documentary it is beautiful and truly natural. I wish to take these kinds of natural shots without prompt to keep the 'fly on the wall' aspect while also displaying Janaan in an inventive way. It also shows a great deal of personality as the cigarette and sunglasses display the loud character. 

Submarine (2010), Dir - Richard Ayoade

Lastly but by no means least is this shot of Craig Roberts (Oliver Tate) as he looks over the sea, much like 'Lost In Translation' the shot shows isolation while using colour to elevate the tone. I think this shot captures the unknown as Oliver struggles to understand life we feel the sea symbolises this vast world in which he finds hard to grasp. This can help us as we two wish to use symbolism to represent Janaan's feelings and emotions. 

New Idea

Janaan Jan 

We have been able to make a breakthrough on our idea. We began by thinking about what the idea was missing, which was something/someone to ground in. We all thought about people we knew who used film and how it helped them, at this point I began to think of my own family, particularly my older sister who has 'Dissacociative Depersonalisationalisation/Derealisation Disorder, Dissacociative Amnesia'. Her mental health has caused some problems in her life but she never let it be and excuse to not pursue her goals. She has always used film to escape life when her mental health has proved to much and she also wants to enter a film related career in Film Theory.

This idea would focus on Janaan as a person, it would still explore the escapism of film but instead the film theme will be tied to Janaan's experiences. We would like to explore how the interviews would tie into the narrative and if both the film professor and film shop owner would be needed. In the new idea we do not want to shy away from the dark side of mental health but we also want to show the amazing things that Janaan has been given as a result of her condition. 

Overall I am looking forward to exploring this idea and seeing how we can bond both film and Janaan to raise awareness for mental health as well as the importance of film in today's ever evolving society.  

  

   

Where Film Takes Us

This is one of the idea's we have for our four minute documentary, it looks at the location of film, not so much the literal place but the place of escapism or safety. I think that this idea will work for all of us as we are all film lovers and have a point of view to show. However there are both positive and negatives to this ides.

The possible interviews are endless, but we have decided on three main types of interviews

1. film professor 
2. film student(s)
3. film shop owner 

These interviews will discuss the importance of film, the safety it offers and why we want to escape. Though I like this idea and feel there is potential, we all feel it  needs something more to create another layer that will help it link to one of the themes clearer and end more interest. It is also limited in terms of tone as we can not evoke any deeper emotion then slight realisation instead of something deeper.

We are going to continue to brainstorm for this idea and figure out a way to add more interest to this idea.     

Grey Gardens (1975)

This documentary follows two women, who are related to Jackie Kennedy. The mother, daughter duo are loud characters who have both lead interesting lives but now (in the documentary) they stay mostly inside. 

Notes on viewing

• Filmmakers voices can be heard
• Women talk to filmmakers
• Interesting characters
• Focus on two loud characters (their interactions)
• Long takes close up’s
• The tone shifts (anger)
• Confrontation. Raw emotions on New York and family
•  See house get wilder, into disrepair
• Dance, sing and preform for camera
• Loose handheld shots
• Characters look into camera

 I really enjoyed the dynamic of these characters, and how they are so raw and real, but some moments felt to long and as if they lingered on one topic too much, and the structure becomes repetitive. I think I would like to use interesting characters if we do a character documentary but perhaps have less of a presence as the filmmakers in ‘Grey Gardens’