DepicT - Improved Storyboards

DepicT - Additional Pre-Production Paperwork

Assignment 1 Feedback

Depict Evaluation

Pre-Production Essay - Continued

The Pre-Production Process Essay

Depict Entry Video - Loss Of Love

Pre-Production Paperwork: DepicT!

Initial Idea Proposal - DepicT! 90 Second Short Film

My initial idea is for a 90 second short film that follows a young man who plays piano at a level that is above average. He is considered more intelligent than most due to his advanced ability at playing piano. However he looses his love for it due to intense pressure from examiners and tutors saying he isn't good enough yet and that he can do better. It also shows some hard times he falls on with serious issues within society among young people, like substance abuse which are becoming more common.
I want the film to be purely silent, as it's a piece based on expression rather than words. The words are secondary to the expressions of the characters because actions speak louder than words.
The film would purely take place in a piano room and the piano would be in the majority of the shots to connote how his life is taken up by piano.
There would only be three actors in this piece, one to play the pianist, one to play the tutor and one to play the examiner. I want the pianist to be male, however the other two roles can be played by any other gender.

"Winnow" DepicT! Analysis

This 90 second short film By George Lewis for depicT, is one that can be interoperated many different ways. Interoperate it in a way that suggests man reconnecting with nature.

During the scene where the man falls down inside the tree he just climbed into, his wallet, phone, keys and clothes disappear, leaving only him. This connotes a loss of material possessions so the man can focus on his reconnection with nature; the fact he climbs into a tree literally connotes that he wants to reconnect with nature.

This fits in well to the Torodov theory of equilibrium, as things are in a state of equilibrium to start with. It’s just a man staring at a tree. Then the disequilibrium starts when he climbs into the tree and begins to fall down inside the tree. This leads to a state of restored equilibrium when the guy lands and he goes towards the light and remerges as a plant. This leads to a clear, linear narrative.

The editing is one of the most impressive features, as the camera cuts add the right amount of tensions to the scene where he climbs into the tree. When falling, CGI is used to show the man falling, you can tell this by the slight cartoonish nature; this shows the unrealistic nature of just falling into a tree to achieve the simplicity in life you want. These features make for a powerful piece, as it sets the mood well and advances the narrative in a good way.

The use of lighting is good too, as it relies on mostly ambient lighting to start with, however it does turn to set lighting towards the end. This gives the effect of him going from the world of normality to one of an ideal world for him.

"Family Dinner" DepicT! Analysis

This 90 second short film from the UK for DepicT is one that is powerful and relatable for most people.  

The Mise en scene is impeccable. Every character has props relevant to them, like the teenage girl and her phone, the older characters with their glasses on alcohol. Each character has food on plates, connoting it is a dinner.

The lighting is also impressive as it uses ambient, and lighting in the scene. This creates the effect of the scene being lit but in a way that connotes it is the evening, which is typically when most families sit down for their evening meal.

The film has a good use of sound too. It uses a good mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create the atmosphere of a family dinner and they mix together well. For example there is a soft guitar music used in the background while everyone is talking; this creates a relaxed environment where everyone is just sitting down to enjoy their dinner. This is interrupted by the small boy dropping his sister into trouble after he reveals she was kissing a guy named Roger, when she meant to be babysitting him. This causes the music to stop and is followed by a lot of shouting out from her family, which creates an awkward tension in the room. This use of sound is good because it uses sound to set the mood of the scene.

The scene following where them music begins again and the sister slaps her brother around the head is a good ending to the film as you only hear the sound of the slap. This creates a cliff hanger as to what ensues after the slap.

The films visual and audio elements go well together to create a realistic scene.

"The Fish and I" DepicT! Analysis

The fish and I

This Iranian, 90 second, short film for DepicT, is one I like a lot, due to its symbolic nature.  The film relies of its visual nature and with a lack of dialogue conveys a plot very well, which proves that actions can speak louder than words.

The film being in black and white is a good feature of it too, as it shows how simple yet effective the film is; the fish could be seen as something precious and the kitchen getting flooded, and the man shoving his shirt down the drain can be seen as the means people go to protect what’s important to them, and the sacrifices they will make for it.

 The angling of the camera is a good feature too, as it goes from showing the man at a high angle stumbling around in the glass to an angle where the camera is level with him sitting in the flooded kitchen; this can connote the man feelings powerless when not being able to find his fish going to a restored balance in power where he knows the fish is safe due to the kitchen being flooded and the drain being blocked.

This fits well into something like Todorov’s theory of equilibrium where the fact his fish is flopping on the floor is the state of disequilibrium and then when the fish swims into his hand, it turns back to a state of equilibrium as what is important to the man is safe.  

The films use of sound shows the importance of the fish, as the guy ignores a ringing phone in order to fumble around in broken glass to find his fish. The water can also be heard pouring out, which increases its significance as a major plot point in the narrative.

The film - https://www.depict.org/2017/the-fish-and-i/?category_request=2017