This Grad film was part of my Extended Major Project for my final year at University.
The Tubmen
Visual and aural inspiration
Setting
With the looking and feel of the film, we are going for an otherworldly feel. The idea is that these
two fisherman, Matt and Barry have landed in a place that is like the flip side of the mirror to
current reality. Based on the recce we are clearly going to be utilising what Dorset has to offer to
create our sense of place for the film to a high degree. The iconic sense of isolation of the two sets
of huts inhabited by Finnistere and Cromerty and the grey beaches and empty village which seems
to be stuck in a time warp, have a surreal element to them and that needs to be taken into account
with the design, sound and cinematography.
Colour
I came across this colour swatch on Adobe Kuler and it just jumped out at me. It has just the right
hues of blue and of course the greys that I primarily envisioned would wash the images of the final
film. The blood red colour at the end really matched the imagery of the fish being cut open when
we first see Finnistere and also the bottle of wine Barry finds, that Cromerty uses at the end to get
Shannon to remember. This red in the swatch is precisely what I had in mind for that.
The motivation behind the look and feel of the film is to always serve how the characters are
feeling. Stylistically, I want to get as close as possible to the reality of these characters lives and the
emotional landscape of the film- that is the ultimate aim of the visual style for the film.
To do this I want to emphasis the use of long takes, deep depth of focus and hand held camera
work.
Why do we cut in scenes? Why do we edit? Normally we would assume the standard procedure of
shot-reverse-shot coverage at different angles and different focal lengths, so that the scene can be
assembled in the edit. But why? Why do we do this, when other film makers have successfully
managed to produce films that consist mostly of long takes, that are not self-conscious and still let
the scenes and performances breath without taking away from it's impact on the audience?
The best example of this is Y Tu Mama Tambien, directed by Alfonso Cuaron. The simplicity of the
shots, wide shots mostly, is so strong because the composition of the camera, the actors and how
they relate to their environment and each other is so dynamic, that it communicates everything we
need to know about the scene with out having to cut. I find this amazing because we could
potentially transform the way we shoot films. With more thought and consideration, we no longer
have to cover scenes in multiple, time consuming set ups. We can shoot more intelligently and
economically by limiting ourselves to shooting scenes in one take or two takes. We can spend more
time of that one shot, so that it doesn't get lost in a list of endless shots. We can perfect it and
make it stimulating through all the communication going on through the actors performance, their
relationship to their environment and relationship to each other.
For a great example of this, please watch Y Tu mama Tambien and pay particular attention to 15
minutes and 20 seconds in, the whole scene is a long take. But it has planes of depth, with
different things going on in the background as the characters come in and out of the scene. Notice
how the actors are standing and where they are standing and how the way they interacting with
their environment and others, communicates a lot about their character. Long takes allow us to
record all this information. In the past, our wide shots or long takes have always been boring
because we never took any of this into consideration. It is largely down to the performances. If the
performances are bad and the characters aren't alive in their scenes then it will boring, no matter
how nicely you frame it.
Most of the scene in done in one wide shot and it's interesting to note the how the
production design along with the camera composition and lighting, do a good job of maintaining a
busy frame with lots of interest and character detail. The shot is interesting because the characters
have their own space and their own actions and how they position themselves in relation to
others, along with what they are saying, makes it interesting. I bring this up because wide shots
and long takes are considered boring, buts that only because most people don't know how to
utilise them properly. The result is being able to cover scenes in a more thought out, intelligent and
economical way, hopefully getting rid of the need for multiple shots to cover a scene.
The DP, editor, sound and production design team need to work together in order to make this
work because it could easily just turn out looking shit unless we are really perfectionist and
detailed about it!
When I shot Nutshell over the summer, my hypothesis was that shooting in long takes would be
be more time saving and economical- and it was. We basically shot a 20 minute film, in three days.
All the shots look special and considered and explain a lot about the characters and we managed
to shoot it in three days in total. We never went over 10 hours on set for any of those days either.
Shooting on film is going to stretch that massively, but there is no reason why the same format and
time saving element cannot be implemented. The efficiency of cinematic storytelling is most
important, don't get wrong, but it just happens to have a positive side effect in that it makes the
shoot more time efficient and economical.
This is not a "style" for me, it's a belief based on a philosophy of making greats films for less money
because film making is, in my opinion, already a hideously bloated profession in the first place with
lots of wasted money. You might not like to hear that and probably strongly disagree but that is
where I'm going as an artist.
Films for research
The War Zone, directed by Tim Roth ~
A drama about a family who move from London to a remote rural village. Thematically, it doesn't
have much to do with Tub Men as it's about a father who molests his daughter but the visuals,
sense of place and dramatic pacing is very, very similar. The sense of place and mood of this film is
amazing.
Y Tu Mama Tambien, directed by Alfonso Cuaron ~
For the cinematography of long takes, depth and lack of editing.
Developments for next meeting
Sound break down- To do a sound breakdown of the script, generating as many creative ideas and
possibilities for the sound design. Pay attention to how and come up with ideas of how the sound
can uncover more about the characters or increase the emotional strength of the film. The more
potential ideas and detail, the more of a creative process there will be between the director and
the sound department.
Design research- Come up with concept art/visual material and background research in line with
the. Start to build a foundation and sense of direction in the design based on the discussed
setting, emotional landscape and colour pallet from this meeting.
Costume- Same as with design. Also take into consideration where people would buy their clothes,
how the way people dress asserts their social and financial status.
Cinematography- Watch suggested films for research and start to build up an idea of technical
requirements in line with the creative direction of the film discussed in the meeting today. I will
come up with more films to watch.
Editing- Same as cinematography but also consider how montage is going to play in the film and
contrast with lack of editing. There are scenes in the script that are going to involve heavy editing
but this is made more meaningful because it comes when the story needs it. Develop ideas for
how scenes will transition- this will inform the shot list when we shoot.
Looking at the colour scheme I decided to follow it strictly creating a sea colour pallet with shocking red only used for memorable moments in the script or the appearance of important characters.
The list of characters;
Matt played by Sean Coyne
Reg played by Paul Steels
Cromarty played by Marcus Kelly
Finisterre played by Daniel Earl
Shannon played by Kimberly Drew
Penny played by Victoria Kelly
Young Cromarty played by Nick Bradley
Young Finisterre played by Joe Emms
