Showing posts with label Posted by michael mcrgroarty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Posted by michael mcrgroarty. Show all posts

Script

01:17 thomas brown

The main focus of the script is on the disappearance of the Dad. The mum is trying to keep faith, whereas her son is being defeatist about it. The mother is called Johanne, the son, James, and the daughter, Lucy.

James: (head in hands) 4 days now. We have no idea what's out there -
Johanne: Please don't...(sighs) please don't start again.
J: He said he was just gonna see what was outside, then he was coming -
JH: Straight back! I heard just as well as you did James!
J: So where the hell is he then? He's not gonna endanger his own life for nothing, we both know -
JH: You don't know what happened to him! He could've found survivors, he could be coming back right now.
J: (he sweeps away the chess pieces from the board in anger - he sees Lucy and realises he has to be strong for his sister) Listen... Mum... I'm really sorry
A bit later.
J: Soup...or beans tonight, the agony of choice...(fumbles with cans)
JH: (stifles a laugh) Yeah... (smiles) open the soup, we had beans yesterday.
J: (picks up a can, starts to open it, the can opener doesn't work, he exhales deeply) This...doesn't (slumps and tries again) why is everything...(gets climacically louder) it just (throws can on the ground furiously)


Lucy provides a retrospective narrative. It is over the top of the argument, although both can be heard.

Lucy: For a lot of the time after Dad left, this thing happened a lot. Of course Dad never came back to us... I guess I didn't really understand at the time, the grief, the uncertainty, I was too young to realize the confusion. For me, my world was now a dingy cellar, not exactly the kind of fantasy you read about in books. I had no idea what was going on above the cellar door, a young childs imagination can run wild though. The idea of a sudden vacation to the cellar was a strange one, it had never settled right in my mind, but I never questioned it. I couldn't help my naivety; I was young, smart for my age, but the world was still a giant riddle my mind couldn't then comprehend. For weeks we sat in the cellar, our hideaway, our little slice of life. I never complained about the dust, cobwebs, arguments. They became their own rhythm, their own routine. Sure I missed my friends, good food, and a comfortabl bed, but I trusted my parents. Like they always said - they had my best interests at heart. My parents were my life - and if I knew where my Dad's footsteps ever went, I surely would have followed. Confinement can eat away at a person, and for my Dad, his makeshift prison was as close to hell on earth as he could get.

The last bit of the film is a radio broadcast, a staple of the disaster film.

Radio Message (looped): If you can hear this, you are not alone. Do not go outside (static) Armed forces are attempting rescue of survivors. I repeat, Armed forces are attempting Rescue of survivors, Sit tight. (static).

This is our intial script. We will tweak it later on and probably on set too, as actors can be good at changing certain words to add emphasis or more punchier emotion.

Lighting

01:08 thomas brown











As our film is set completely in an underground cellar during some anonymous disaster, the lighting will obviously be provided by candles. We will use red-heads to attain moody shadows, without taking away the realism; candles are only so bright, so it is important not to give the impression that there are other lights used to create or get rid of shadows. A good example of brilliant lighting used to create shadows in a closed environment is Stalker, a Russian film from 1979. The opening 45 minutes or so is shot in a colour drained, sepia tinted way, which highlights shadows and mood. I have included a couple of stills from the film to show what I mean. This fits in with the whole aesthetic of the plot, a wasteland in the beginning, and when the action moves to the Zone, an out-of-bounds paradise, it is filmed in regular colour. This emphasizes the change in location and the characters feelings. Although our lighting will not be directly like Stalker's, the idea of draining a portion of the colour fits in with our post-apocalyptic plot and the characters emotions.

Another film that uses lighting very effectively is the 2005 horror thriller The Descent. The majority of the action takes place in underground caves, so lighting was the most prominent tool when shooting the action. I've included a couple of stills to highlight my point. Besides the caverners lights and the production team lighting, there is no natural light, so all the lighting is artificial, which means every shadow and effect used was used deliberately. This will be similar to ours. Our film is set completely in a lightless cellar, so our lighting will be completely artificial.




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