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

The Chase

The Chase

A Short Film by Oliver Smyth

The Boy – Voiceover

The voiceover will be accompanied by a collection of shots, starting with a steady cam following The Boy through a forest. Various different shots will be used during this chase scene.

The Boy never looks back.

“It was never intentional.

She was a friend who tried to help me.”

Cut to Title Scene

“And now you’ll come for me.”

The Boy leaves the woods and appears in a Retail car park, the camera pans as he looks around.

“You’ll never believe me.

All I can do is run.”

A wide angle shot watches The Boy run across a bridge.

“I’ll run until my heart burst and my legs give out.”

Various shots of The Boy running through an urban environment.

“Then I’ll run some more, because I know it’s nothing compared to what you’ll do to me.”

The Boy is on a rooftop.

“Handing myself in to you would effectively be signing my own death warrant.”

The door handle to the roof turns slowly before the shot fades to black.

The Charity

The Charity

A Short Film by Oliver Smyth

The Girl - Voiceover

The voiceover will be accompanied by a collection of shots, starting with a close-up of two children (The Girl & The Boy).

“You were always unreliable as a friend, but this was different. This was serious.”

Then a shot of The Boy being held against a wall by The Shark.

“When we were kids “trouble” was a school bully, but we had to grow up. I suppose a loan shark is like a bully, but five grand is a bit bigger than some sandwiches and a packet of crisps.”

Then int. cupboard as door opens and washing detergent is removed, the next shot shows The Girl remove a large sum of money.

“But of course I bailed you out, what choice did I have? Dad’d hate me for using the last of mum’s inheritance but It was what I had to do.

It was my money, so I needed to set things straight…”

Int. a modern family house, The Girl is with The Boy, ready to hand the money over to The Shark

The Shark – “It’s all there?”

The Girl – “£5,000. Now you’re even and he’ll have nothing more to do with you.” She turns to face The Boy “Isn’t that right?”

The Shark – “Not quite” He stabs The Girl and as she falls he wipes the knife handle and throws it to The Boy. “This is your mess” And with that, he exits.

The camera focuses on the knife in The Boy’s hands, and then fades to black.