Client Project - Storyboard

This weekend saw the completion of the treatment and today is the first a number of client meetings this week to ensure we are up to date. Beneath is the project storyboard:

Update on Research Project

This term I have been working on three separate projects with my creative consultant, Ryan Harvey. To gain a better understanding of my research topic Ryan has agreed to experiment with unfamiliar collaboration techniques whilst we work on these projects. The aim of this is to document our experiences and review the various advantages and disadvantages of online/offline collaboration.

When I say 'online collaboration' I am referring to any means of communication that allows a space for shared contributions to a piece of work. Some notable experiences would be Celtx, Collabowrite and Amazon Studio, however there are a number of everyday gadgets that were implemented as part of the collaborative process. Skype, for example, with its "Share Screens" function, proved to be extremely useful for researching music and for sharing work. Another useful everyday gadget was "Wunderlist", the to-do list app. We were able to organise our schedule and send each other updates on work and the clients.
'Offline collaboration' pertains to face-to-face communication, such as our meeting with the client as well as any meetings we had separate to that. To get an accurate overview of our experiences we each kept a video diary to record how we thought the meetings went, both online and offline.

January proved to be the ideal time to experiment with these means of collaboration, as one of our meetings was nearly cancelled as a result of the snow, however once we rearranged our schedule we were able to have our meeting online rather than face-to-face.
I made notes in each of our meetings, pictures of which can be found here. They provide an accurate insight into each of the projects that are currently being worked on. A summary of the video diaries will be uploaded within the next 24 hours. It will aim document and evaluate the experiences Ryan & I had with the different collaborative styles.

So far this is as much as I can include in this little update, but the Video Diary Summary will have a lot more information on our working processes and what we each thought of the different techniques.

So, to summarise, over the past couple of months I have taken on three very different projects; a music video, a recruitment video and a short fantasy film. The development for these projects has been done using various methods of collaboration, both online & offline. I hope to analyse the advantages that these different approaches have in my summary of our video diary entries within a day's time.

Tour of ATRG

Today's tour of NTU's Advanced Textiles Research Group provided much needed insight into the internal client project. Luckily, the facilities that are currently in use by the innovative task force are extremely close to those I'd previously envisioned. When it comes to shooting on Wednesday I hope to get plenty of shots of the facility, as well as a short interview with some members of the ATRG such as professor Dias. This interview will hopefully churn out some useful buzz words that I can interlace with the footage of their equipment.
In my opinion, the work being done by this group has the potential for great applications in not only the medical field, but also sporting, military and even fashion. Hopefully, due to this, there will be very little narrative needed, as the advanced technology will speak for itself to a certain respect, my job here is really to make it speak up.

Behold, The Collective.

My latest film-making feat, known in its triology as 'The Collective'. Enjoy, and please post feedback.

'The Choice'

'The Chase'

'The Charity'

Justification

My idea for the DepicT project is to create a series of short films, each with independent issues but all holistically similar. The general theme, if I had to give the series one, would be that it is a crime drama, seen from the victim’s perspective, as well as that of the alleged perpetrator and the individual investigating the crime, something that I’m not entirely has been done before, at least not in the way I plan on creating it.

            In the beginning the series began as the final film on its own, being orbited by other, separate ideas to include in my pitch, and the advice I got for making that film, ‘The Chase’, was to cut the familial connection as my tutor believed that there would not be enough time to make it clear that the murdered girl was his daughter. I, myself, thought that this wouldn’t be a struggle, so, against my tutor’s recommendation, I began rewriting the story to strengthen the fact that the girl was his daughter, while at the same time fixing my other ideas to be pitched. I later realised that one of my ideas had a similar vibe, as if it was another chapter in this story. Once I realised this, the third, but chronologically first, film came to me.

            I like to think that the series possesses a contextual relevance as crime is a daily occurrence in any city on the planet, everyone will at some point be affected by crime, and everyone will at some point be accused of a crime. Anyone who does not believe this is either in denial of the  national and international crime rates or lives in a closely guarded bubble. For this series the crime is murder, which reduces the scope, as far less people will be affected by murder in their lifetime. However, as a species, we are fascinated by death; This observation is strengthened by various multicultural occurrences, hence the number of “CSI” and “Law & Order” type shows, not to mention Professor Gunther von Hagens’ frequent televised autopsies. Death is such a common occurrence that Mexico celebrates it annually as the Día de los Muertos or, “Day of the Dead”. Therefore contextually speaking, I believe that creating this series would draw an interest from various demographics.

            In terms of available resources, this shoot will be extremely low budget, as the only necessary props, such as a knife and fake blood, are already available to me at no cost, with the only foreseeable spending being that of the taxi fare between locations, which is unlikely to exceed £10. The actors will be informed of this, under the pretence that the series will  provide them with good exposure and will be a beneficial move in their career

            The expertise necessary to produce the series is something I already possess, as I am more than familiar with using both the Panasonic 151 and the Edirol R-09 having used both various times in the past. I will also be prepared for the post-production treatment in Adobe Premiere Pro, having experimented with the majority of Audio/Visual effects in the previous, ‘Projected Visual’, project. In terms of sound, I have thought of three tracks that would work well with each of the films. A jazz number, Nicholas Payton’s cover of Chinatown,  to accompany ‘The Choice’ which will give it a film noir feel. I’d like Hans Zimmer’s Mombasa, from the film Inception, to play alongside ‘The Chase’ and as for ‘The Charity’ I wanted to use something ethereal. I originally thought that Clair de Lune would be good but will probably use Max Richter’ Autumn Music instead. I have requested permission from all of the artists and am awaiting a response.

            In relation to time, I’d like to mention that this entire series could all be shot on the same day, permitting roof access for ‘The Chase’, and I imagine that editing will take, at maximum, one day per film, however I can see it being drastically less time than that. Therefore production time is estimated at between four and five days, which seems like an especially short time to create three short films, but I have no doubt that these predictions are feasible.

Storyboards

A little treat for all you who can actually sit through my drivel, Storyboards from each of the 3 upcoming films, so without further ado:

 The Charity

The Chase

The Choice

The Choice

The Choice

A Short Film by Oliver Smyth

The Cop – Voiceover

The voiceover will be accompanied by a collection of shots, starting with a close up of The Cop’s face taking up one half of the shot, the other half shrouded in rain.

“This city is Diseased.

The vermin that call it home infected it with crime.”

The camera observes as he walks along the canal-side, unaffected by the rain.

“Theft, rape & murder are just a daily occurrence, as sure as the sun will rise and set.

Half the police are paid to turn a blind eye, but I see it. I always see it.”

He stops on a bridge and looks at a photo, it’s of a girl. His daughter. The Girl.

“It took the disease to affect me first hand however to do something.”

A flashback of when The Cop finds The Girl plays, before cutting to int. of a dingy shed/garage/basement with The Boy tied to up on the floor.

“But what do you do with the scum when the justice system is unjust; they’re barely behind bars before they’re back on the streets.”

A series of close-ups of The Boy, The Cop, His Badge and His Gun.

“I want to remove this tumour from my city surgically.

But I can’t.

Can I?”

Cut to Title Scene