Synopsis
We are taking inspiration from the photo ‘Untitled’ by Hannah Starkey (1997) looking at self-identity and mental health. The way the girl in this photo is holding the moth reflecting on it has inspired us to look into animal instincts, therefore bringing to mind the Freudian theory of the Id, Ego and Superego. We will start by having our actor walk into the set which will have two sides to it. One evidentially good and one bad and the element that splits the two in half is the wall with a mirror centred in it about the size of a doorway. The character enters the good side seemingly distressed for an unspecified reason, holding a broken phone, they throw broken phone on the floor and notice their reflection in the mirror, they then go to sit down in front of the mirror on a chair. There is a figure in the mirror, her reflection and this figure is the Id but it begins calmly with them reflecting the movements of the character as if still a mirror. Then the Id will slowly get more distressed and begin to act out not exactly copying what the character is doing anymore. Then the character begins to realize this is no longer a reflection of their true self, the chair falls back when the character realises that this is not their reflection and they will begin to fight back with the Id to try and control it. Things around the set slowly get more broken as the reality of the piece becomes broken. The fight is broken up by the two characters moving away from the mirror into their own space. Eventually the main good character decides to solve this problem by covering the mirror up with a sheet so that they can be alone for a moment. When calm and alone they go back to the mirror and pull the sheet back off but just as they do this the Id lashes out and pulls them through the mirror to the broken side of the set. The Id then moves to the good side and walks away out of shot. The piece ends with what initially started as the good character in a heap on the floor in the broken side of the set. The Style of our piece will begin realistic but become more and more expressive and abstract in movement as the fight begins to break out and will then continue in this way till then end when the Superego is left alone in the space it fades back to a hint of realism. There is no dialogue happening on set with our piece and instead there will be the Dialogue ‘You can't control us’ heard in the SoundScape that plays over the top to reflect the main reason for this battle the character are having and to help build tension. This dialogue will be revealed slowly and will be distorted, echoed and repeated to work within the Soundscape.
Treatment
A
Proposal and Treatment
For
‘Self-Image Reflection Studio Shoot’
(Officially Unnamed Currently)
Group A:
Adeleke Adewale, Ollie Burns, Chloe Debonnaire, Logan Gourlay, Nicole Harman - Smith, Jay Hayes, Sugini Nageswaren, Ethan Salley, Katherine Whetton, Billie Williams & Maisie Mok.
02/11/16
Copyright © 2015
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Treatment
Programme title: (Untitled Currently) Self-Image Reflection Studio Shoot
Duration: 3:00 - 5:00 minutes
Genre: Experimental Psychological Abstract Drama
Production Staff: Katherine Whetton (Producer) Nicole Harman-Smith (Assistant Producer)
Production Date: 27/10/16 till 01/12/16 for Production Work and Set Up, 01/12/16 till 02/12/16 to Film
Hand In Date: TBC
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Outline Production:
We are taking inspiration from the photo ‘Untitled’ by Hannah Starkey (1997) looking at self-identity and mental health. The way the girl in this photo is holding the moth reflecting on it has inspired us to look into animal instincts, therefore bringing to mind the Freudian theory of the Id, Ego and Superego. We will start by having our actor walk into the set which will have two sides to it. One evidentially good and one bad and the element that splits the two in half is the wall with a mirror centred in it about the size of a doorway. The character enters the good side seemingly distressed for an unspecified reason, holding a broken phone, they throw broken phone on the floor and notice their reflection in the mirror, they then go to sit down in front of the mirror on a chair. There is a figure in the mirror, her reflection and this figure is the Id but it begins calmly with them reflecting the movements of the character as if still a mirror. Then the Id will slowly get more distressed and begin to act out not exactly copying what the character is doing anymore. Then the character begins to realize this is no longer a reflection of their true self, the chair falls back when the character realises that this is not their reflection and they will begin to fight back with the Id to try and control it. Things around the set slowly get more broken as the reality of the piece becomes broken. The fight is broken up by the two characters moving away from the mirror into their own space. Eventually the main good character decides to solve this problem by covering the mirror up with a sheet so that they can be alone for a moment. When calm and alone they go back to the mirror and pull the sheet back off but just as they do this the Id lashes out and pulls them through the mirror to the broken side of the set. The Id then moves to the good side and walks away out of shot. The piece ends with what initially started as the good character in a heap on the floor in the broken side of the set. The Style of our piece will begin realistic but become more and more expressive and abstract in movement as the fight begins to break out and will then continue in this way till then end when the Superego is left alone in the space it fades back to a hint of realism. There is no dialogue happening on set with our piece and instead there will be the Dialogue ‘You can't control us’ heard in the SoundScape that plays over the top to reflect the main reason for this battle the character are having and to help build tension. This dialogue will be revealed slowly and will be distorted, echoed and repeated to work within the Soundscape.
Target Audience:
This piece will probably appeal and be aimed more towards a younger demographic because the issues of identity affect teenagers and developing adults much more. However this is not exclusive as it could be viewed and interpreted in a number of ways by many different people.
Visual Elements:
Possible use of strobe or flashing lights at points to reflect anger or confusion between the the ID and Superego although we will double check with the casted actors at the possibility of this. We need to take into consideration any disabilities people may have that this could affect. We feel we could achieve this same effect if post if required meaning we won't need a strobe on set.
At the beginning both sides of the mirror are going to be the same colour for lighting thus allowing no distinction to be made between the places however as time goes on and the ID gains more independence the lighting (possibly through the windows) will separate in colour tones with the Superego adopting a slightly warmer tone and the ID becoming colder with dry blue. By the end of the film, the lighting will resume back to neutral light from outside as to help closure to the script.
As for natural lighting inside the rooms we will have a 2 lamps (one on each side) for normalisation and then for the actual lighting I will make use of the in-house Studio lights from above to naturally light the scene.
We intend to use different camera angles and movements for different scenes. We
would like the camera positioning to represent the statuses of the characters. We want
to include the surrounding space in our frames to introduce the audience to the location.
Since this is going to be a movement piece we would like to incorporate movement into
the camera shots. The opening scene will mostly be tracking shots, using a slider and a
shoulder rig. We will be experimenting with different depth of fields(i.e. focus pulling) in
order to draw attention to certain places. When we progress onto the fighting scene, we
intend on using the shoulder rig and get the camera to match the actor’s movements,
the camera shots will be ranging between close ups (to express their emotions), over
shoulder (to represent the status changes), wide shots (to show whole body
movements). These camera movements will be a lot quicker and edgier to reflect the tense atmosphere. The fight gets broken up by the actor walking up to the mirror and covering the camera (in front of the mirror) with a sheet. When actors back off, we aim to
create the same sense of isolation again using slow camera movements i.e pulling out
and panning from one room to another along the sides. When the actor pulls the sheet
off once calmed down, the camera will be places in the middle of the two rooms to show
the actors in the same frame, each on one side. When id pulls the superego into the
mirror, the camera will move into the other room with the actor. Once the superego is in
the other room, the camera will experiment in different camera movements to show the
situation that superego is trapped in the ‘id room’ and id got out to the ‘superego room’.
Camera movements will include: orbit out from a close up shot of actors face out into a
wide shot behind the shoulder shot, camera on slider tacking into the “id room” then
backs out to show id in the foreground walking out of the room and superego in the
background left behind.
We want it to start slow and calm with slow cutaways. Then the pace of the piece will increase when the tension begins to rise with the Id character. We will look into sound and image manipulation to speed and slow down things to make it have a more dramatic effect. (May need to work on some shots with 50fps to achieve this).
If in Lighting we want a strobe effect but it can not be done in post production we can use editing to cut up a single shot as so to imitate a strobe effect.
We will be recording in Avid Codec on the Samurai Blade to make it easy for editing in Avid, however we will also capture it in Codec on the SD card which is accessible through Adobe Premiere so that everyone can edit if wanting to.
The set will be a birds eye Capital E. It consists of 5 walls creating a 2 room layout seperated by a wall with a empty door frame gap. We will dress the door frame to look like a mirror from each side. The two sides of the room will be in contrast to each other. On one side (superego) the walls will be pastel green with possible use of some wallpaper. The walls will have cracks and and begin to fall apart more and more as you get towards the mirror. On the other side (Id) the walls will be dark grey and black with the effect of rust and scratches etc on them. There will also be bright isolated colours among the walls too. The colourscape for the Superego will be beige and slite pastel colours and the Id will be dark greys and blacks with bold isolated colours. The mirror will be identical on each side as it represents the Ego. This will be visualised in the Set Plan.
We will be holding auditions to find appropriate actors but we need two people who can act in similar ways and have very fluid and abstract movement to them. Dance training would be helpful to them. Either two females or two males as having different genders will confuse the viewer.
We need items which symbolise different aspects of that person and their mind. (Further detail in the Prop List)
Half the items which are on the Id side will be damaged.
We need to source a frame to use as a pretend mirror on both sides of the empty gap/doorframe.
Props will be distorted on the Id side of the space.
The superego has controlled calm props and the ID will be more open more expressive and explosive versions of those Superego props.
There will also be a chair placed in front of the mirror on each side. One will be perfect the other will look old and disused.
The mirror frame will have hooks on each corner to catch the sheet which is thrown over it.
Both Actors must have matching costumes to portray the characters being the same person. Very neutral clothing to be used, nothing with too much personality.
The costumes will be slightly distorted from one another to again help convey the aspects and differences of the ID and superego “personalities”. For example the Id will look slightly more childish. We are Keeping colours the same to match the overall colours of the set from each side.
Audio Elements:
Abstract
Sounds that can add to the atmosphere of the piece. Maybe smashing and things breaking with lots of echos. Other sounds will be recorded and used to allow the audience to get into the mind of the character being portrayed.
I will use effects like reverb and slow motion with other tools to manipulate the actor's voice. This will be increasing the intensity of everything being heard. We will also create sound effects to be manipulated developed in post production and added to the SoundScape. On set I will be recording the noise of the Actors such as Breathing and other sounds that can be played with in post.
It won't be as dominant as the Soundscape and may only be used at certain points in the piece. I don't want to take away from the experience, therefore music will be used to just to assist in the film and to become part of the Soundscape. More research and experimentation will be done to find the right balance.
Requirements and Resources:
Canon XF 305 Camera or Sony PMW-EX3 or Panasonic Lumix GH4. External Microphone and boom pole, Tripod and tripod with wheels, Shoulder Rig, Dolly, smoke machine, Studio lights, strobe lights, gels for lights, MDF, Wood etc, Nails, Drill, Paint, Props (tbc), Empty Mirror frame.
Constraints and Contingency:
With the shoot being within a limited time frame, communication will be key for it to be successful. With the use of a schedule and call sheets, we should be able to have a solid filming days. We as a collective, with oversight from the production team, will make sure that our £200 pound budget is used to our advantage. The production team will begin to scout for actors from the locate area. Nevertheless throughout the process we must, as a collective, make sure that our original concept and intentions are met.
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