By far the closest movie I've found to my own project, My dinner with Andre is essentially a feature long length of my film and focusing in a broader range of topics.
Mise-en-secne - Setting
The movie is about two people, Andre and Wallace having a very long conversation which takes up almost the whole film so the vast majority of the film is set and filmed in an eating booth in a restaurant that they have the conversation in. The other settings that are used in this film are the street just outside the restaurant where Wallace has to walk past at the beginning of the film, and the taxi at the end of the film when Wallace is narrating the end and reflecting on the conversation he had with Andre.
- Costume The costumes for both Wallace and Andre are pretty casual dinner clothing for the decade that the movie is set. The two are wearing colours that fit in with the background and setting colour as well as the lighting.
- Lighting Lighting is pretty good and it ensures that the audience can see the expressions on each characters face, especially on Andre's face. Many lights surround the two characters and allow everything in that's essential to the scenes visible. When a close up happens, the area behind the characters is dim to allow all focus on the character, what they're saying and doing.
Camera
- Shots
When in the restaurant the camera rarely ever changes it's positioning as a two shot (used at two different distances from the characters), a close up on Andre, over the shoulder shots from both characters' perspectives and a close up of Wallace dominate the film and especially this scene.
- Camera movement
Oddly the camera seems to be hand held in almost every shot in this scene. maybe this is to show exactly what the characters would be seeing - especially when its a close up - and this adds to the engaging factor of the conversations.
Editing
Throughout This film, no special effects are used and in this scene, and no titles have been used in this scene and aren't used until the end of the movie as end credits. Apart from two instances when the camera focuses on Wallace's facial reaction to what Andre is saying, the camera is always focused and looking at the character who's talking. These brief looks at Wallace's face and reaction allows the audience a short break from constantly looking at Andre and also compare Wallace's reaction to their own. If the cuts didn't happen the view would have to watch 2 minutes of Andre speaking at them on a close up shot (CU) and an over the shoulder shot (OS)
Sound - Soundtrack
- Sound FX
- Dialogue
- Diegetic and non-diegetic sound
Overview
As I'm working on my own with this project, there's little input from others unless I ask for feedback and assistance, so most of the components are likely to stay virtually the same throughout the planning and production stages of this film.
Plot Structure
The structure of the film is mostly staying the same and is likely to only change with the dialogue used and possibly one or two aspects that I feel may not be realistic, both with the characters actions and dialogue. So the plot will remain that Sam confronts Laura about her homophobic and racist remarks made earlier in the day, the setting for these scenes hasn't changed either.
Logline
The ideas I had initially when developing this idea further are still the front-runners of being the logline of this film. These ideas include: Step into the booth, The booth shall set you free, Rethink everything, Open [up] your mind, Take a seat. Although I have thought about being a little comical and going for "Take your jacket off" which is an obvious play on words which would mean the person should get comfortable, as well as it being a play on words with one of a potato's by-products: a jacket potato. I have ultimately chosen to go for Take a Seat as my logline.
Characters and possible actresses
The film has 2 main actresses that are needed, however 3 people are required to play the characters in the film. I need actresses to play Sam, Laura, someone to play the waiter/waitress and possibly some extras to be in the background.
- Sam: For Sam's role, I need a girl in her late teens, and preferably of Asian or black ethnicity. This is to suit with the character profile and the visuals I had for her character. I currently have 2 girls in mind to play the role, my friends Sabah and Ruqaiya. Sabah would be easier to communicate with because we attend the same school, but I doubt she'd be able to pull off the attitude and essence that I want Sam to have plus she lives in Keighley, a fair distance from the setting, although getting to Bradford wouldn't be too difficult. Ruqaiya on the other hand is more likely to be able to pull off the look and the attitude, plus she lives in Bradford which is where the location is for the film. However communication and availability could be hard with her.
- Laura: The part for Laura is currently filled by one of my friends Diana. She's a good enough actress to pull off the role of Laura and is easy to communicate and meet up with because she lives just minutes away from me. However her Russian accent is hard to mask and will contradict with the fact that Laura's character is meant to be a racist who doesn't like foreigners migrating into the country. Because of this I am considering recasting the role of Laura, although I would have to meet up with her first and see is she can convincingly deliver the lines - when the script is virtually finished. I will go think about people who can play her role and if anyone is willing, they'll have to audition with a small section from the script.
- Waiter/waitress: The hope is to have one of the actual waiters or waitresses from the bar coming to help us with this role, and if not we should manage to get someone else to come and play the role as their face is likely to not even be seen in the film.
Similar films/Scenes (List - possibly with things I can learn from them)
Inglorious Bastards - Bar scene
I want the film to be as tense as this scene in the Tarantino film.
No Country for Old Men - Coin Toss Scene
Daredevil - Season 2, argument with "The Punisher" on a rooftop
The Dark Knight - Interrogation scene
Potential difficulties
Many issues can arise from this film, the first one would be not finding any actresses willing enough to take part in the film, and even if I get some actresses the next issue would be if they can be convincing enough to make the role and the character believable enough, and would they be available on the days I'd need them? After that issue there's the problem of the bus scene at the beginning of the film. Since I'm planning to be filming on Saturdays, it's going to be extremely busy in Bradford city center and the buses will be full of people which would ruin the continuity of the film as people will be there in one scene but not the next. My backup option of using a bench in the city center also has some faults though as the continuity can also be ruined, people in the background might ruin the shots and the noise might be too loud even with the boom microphone, so I'd need to find a quiet spot - preferably near the main setting - where it's not busy and makes it easier to carry the equipment. Saturdays are likely to be match days for the Bradford City football club, meaning that the bar will be busy before and after the match. I'd need to film in the quieter times and have minimal people in the background. If I can't do this, they'll be shots with one person in the background, and in the next a totally different person or even worse, the person disappears altogether. Even with trying to make the background go out of focus, I know it'll be almost impossible to explain or hide the ever changing or disappearing people. the toilets at "The Sparrow" are very small which isn't ideal for my film considering some of it is shot in the toilets, however I have managed to get a pub across the street to allow us to go use there's. Possible roles and who's going to do them
As I'm working alone on this project it's only right that I do all the roles, mainly because there's no one else to do them. Because of this I'll be the director, director of photography, sound, editing, production designer, equipment carrier, post production and any other roles I need to take up.
As I started the presentation, I described the reason why I was making this film - I feel it's needed and it is a total shift to my previous comedy film - I also had the Macklemore and Ryan Lewis instrumental of their hit equality song "Same Love" as the lyrics are relevant to the topics of in film.
Slide 2 - Comparisons and Opinions
I made my first slide about preferences of other people.
This linked well with my project because it's about the opinions and views of
my two protagonists, Laura and Sam. As people have different opinions on what's
best in each of these boxes, it hopefully made the audience realise that
although were all of a similar age and go to the same school, we are very
different when it comes to our personalities, perspectives and preferences.
This will be the case with my two characters, Sam and Laura are two girls
that if you were to look at their personalities and intelligence should be
best friends, however despite all this their views on social and
political issues creates a unnecessary division and conflict. This is a
subject matter that the world is experiencing, especially in the current
climate. This slide was a good link to the next slide and the meaning of my
film.
Slide 3 - Synopsis and Location
Putting both the synopsis and the location of this film on one page, I gave the audience a small taste of what the film will be like. I made the synopsis a little humorous, brief and to the point as well as giving a clue about where it will be shot. The synopsis is just an overview of the film and I imputed more information about what is going to happen throughout the film when presenting my pitch. I put images and details about where the location is and how the location looks with details of how that will be an advantage and a help when I am filming the film. At the bottom I also mentioned the weaknesses of the locations I am using and how I can possibly overcome the issues I'm likely to face when filming.
Slide 4 - Characters
To help the audience start to understand the vision I had for each of the characters I produced, I provided them with a character rundown of their aesthetics, attitudes and attitudes. This helped to illustrate that the girls are very similar with their personalities however their views and opinions are the reason their not very close or friends.
Overall Feedback:
Overall, I think the pitch went very well - which is shown by the fact that the film and the pitch managed to win over the audience and is going to get made.
The positives were that the audience seemed to get behind the idea as they think it's an important topic and from the results, seems like would be willing to see it if it was released in the cinema as a full length film - although its more suited for a short movie. I also think the ease, simplicity and somewhat realistic nature of the concept and ease to make it played a big role on making this pitch successful.
However the negatives of my pitch were that I didn't say what all the difficulties of this film would be, especially the casting, even though I already had 50% of the people cast, the most difficult aspect of this project and the only way I can make it have the impact I want it to have is by casting the perfect actresses for each role, people that not only look or sound the part, but also make it genuinely convincing as there's meant to be a lot of tension in this movie. Another issue is that I didn't include the strengths I had for this movie. Although it seems like I didn't need it, I did feel like that was a big aspect that was missing in the pitch.
- Camera movement
