Finally, Our First Shoot!

Having tried for days to sort out casting, meeting as a group time and time again morning until night in the hopes of getting something done, we have finally settled on casting a friend who is not an actor, but has played a couple of roles in a crew member's previous projects and has something of a knack for it, at least.

Now that we've got somebody to play our protagonist, we set up in Aaron's flat to shoot the second half of scene 1, after the protagonist has taken acid. Setup took a long time, but once it was done I was pleased with the results. We hung all kinds of fabric from the ceiling, and filled the room with smoke from a smoke machine. To top it off, we projected digital visualisations from a digital video projector onto various surfaces, to give the impression they were shifting and changing.

We used green paper as greenscreen on the window, to facilitate our transition in POV through the window into a sequence of psychedelic patterns. We also put small pieces of green paper on the actor's glasses, with the intention of keying more psychedelic patterns onto them in certain shots.

Transcendence Script 2nd Draft

A second draft of the script again by Rob, very similar to the original but with some minor adjustments such as cuts and transitions described in more detail.

Transcendence v2

Rough Shooting Schedule for Transcendence

After we discussed a way of arranging shoots during the weekend, Rob has put our plans onto paper for ease of reference. As not everything is yet arranged (we are still casting!) this is subject to change, but hopefully things will run smoothly at this late stage.

Filming Schedule Trans

Storyboards, Part 1

Following the receipt of a shot list, I have begun work on a set of storyboards. Here's scene 1, albeit badly drawn, showing everything we'll need to cover the scene.

Transcendence Shot List

Following our meeting to discuss the project, Rob has drawn up a shot list detailing ideas for each scene. I'm pleased with the ideas presented and happy to utilise them in the project. Now begins the storyboarding process, in which I will illustrate each moment described here, filling in the gaps with extra shots I feel are needed and troubleshooting as I progress based upon the locations and the potential for interesting staging of the cast.

Transcendence Shot List

Transcendence Script

Here at last is the first draft of the script for Transcendence. Written by Rob West, following his revised version of my original treatment. It's been great to be able to bounce ideas off each other, and I think Rob's done a fantastic job of taking our story and transposing it into a viable script. There's a lot of material to cover and some ambitious elements, but I'm confident we can handle it as a team.Transcendence v1

Final Treatment for the Drama Project - Transcendence

Here's the new treatment put together by Rob, on which he will soon be basing a first draft script. We met recently to discuss the best elements of both original treatments, and this is the result. We have decided to stick with the theme of a spiritual journey sparked off by a psychoactive journey, in a similar structure to Enter The Void. We now have a title, too: Transcendence.


Transcendence Treatment 2

Alternative Treatment by Rob

When we eventually managed to organise a production meeting after the Easter break, Rob showed me his own version of a treatment for the film. We left it to the group to decide which elements of each treatment they felt would work effectively. Based upon this, Rob will design a third treatment taking the best elements of both.

Cycles Treatment

Drama Project - Pitching Session

Having pitched our film in a tutorial session, based upon my initial treatment, I thought I'd post some thoughts. I felt that the storyline came off well, and that the themes were easy to explain. Thanks to some character development carried out beforehand I was able to vividly describe the relationships between characters, particularly the protagonist and his sister. One important piece of feedback was an uncertainty about the strength of our idea to include a cosmonaut character in the film. We didn't feel, however, that there needed to be too much of an explanation in the film about this element; after all, why does any character appear in any film? In order to make the appearance less jarring, we plan to include some props and set dressings in the protagonist's bedroom in the first scene, in order to establish the idea of a cosmonaut as part of his mind. Then when he hallucinates, it can be seen as a representation of his unconscious mind.

First Production Meeting - Drama

Today we finally had our first production meeting for the drama project, as I was able to contact the rest of the group. I brought along my treatment, as did Rob, and as a group we finally managed to figure out which we were going to focus on. I'm somewhat concerned as to the popular plan to shoot next weekend, which sits at the end of the shooting period as described on the brief. Having spent a great deal of time planning over Easter, trying (and failing) to contact two members of the group by both email and text, and eventually constructing a treatment with no knowledge that it would be accepted by the group, it's disappointing that we're only just beginning to think about shooting. There's talk of revising the plot in time for the script, so there's not a lot I can do in terms of casting and other planning at this stage. I'd like as much time as possible to get things in place (especially cast members), but I'm going to have to wait. 

Looks like rehearsals are probably out of the question. 

My Treatment for the Drama Project

To start us off with something tangible on paper to work with, I went ahead and compiled the group's original ideas into a treatment, adding an element of personal drama to the plot and constructing the protagonist.

Drama Project Treatment

An early concern - Drama Project

A concern at this stage is that I've heard from only the sound editor, out of all group members. I have sent the link to the Pinterest board to the others, and text them to let them know, but to no avail. I hope at this point that no alternative ideas are emerging from the producer, who has expressed an interest in writing. We have only three weeks of pre-production, and given the ambitious nature of our production it's important we make the most of it.

Tibetan Book of the Dead

The Tibetan Book of the Dead, or The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying, is something I have been interested in for quite some time. The book comes from the tradition of Tibetan Buddhism, a particularly extravagant form that incorporates much of the imagery leftover from the country's ancient Bon religion.

After watching Enter The Void my interest was renewed in getting around to reading it, and I set about trying to obtain a copy identical to the lovely publication in Gaspar Noe's film. Following some research I came across the book, published only in 1972, by Peter Pauper Press. It took a long time of scouring the internet, but I eventually found a website advertising no more than 3 copies: one in the UK, one in the USA and one in Australia. Due to the varying conditions, I went for the best, a copy from Australia that was described as having little damage. In fact, upon receiving the book I identified not a single mark or dent whatsoever.

I read the book cover to cover in a matter of hours, understanding the imagery of deities from a metaphorical point of view, and marvelling at the way in which it continuously stressed that the visions seen after death were a product of the mind, and not to be feared.

These ideas fit in perfectly with our own project, and really show a similarity to descriptions of hallucinogenic experiences. As inspiration for the project I couldn't have asked for anything better. In writing our treatment, I would like to focus upon the spiritual elements that may arise during a psychedelic experience, and turn the journey from a psychoactive one, towards a spiritual one.

Solipsist - Drama Inspiration

Not all that long ago, I watched a short film called Solipsist by Andrew Huang. The film was advertised on the NoFilmSchool blog, which rated it very well. The film is a highly artistic, non-narrative piece - not normally my cup of tea, but I'm nevertheless glad I watched it!

Much of the film takes place in front of infinite black space, shot on a green screen. The high number of effects is impressive, but all the more so when hearing that 99% of them were practical, and very little CGI was actually used. A series of moments take place in which people are connected by various means, a theme explored throughout the short. This includes chains of fabric connecting two back-to-back dancers as they sway as a single unit and eventually consuming them, a man's face collapsing into a pit of multi-coloured sand and falling into another person, explosions of sand grains in vibrant colour and a series of fabric sea creatures gradually connecting together.

The slow pace made for a confusing watch, but as things progressed a meaning eventually emerged, and the strangely disparate elements seemed a little more relevant to each other. Solipsis is an impressive piece of work, the scope of which we can only hope to emulate in some way in our own project.

Boards of Canada - In a Beautiful Place - Drama Inspiration

While constructing the Pinterest mood boards to get the group's ideas flowing, I came across a music video creator named Neil Krug. A couple of his pieces were inspiring, including a video for In a Beautiful Place by Boards of Canada.

Krug uses a strange mix of what looks like tarnished film stock, combined with a kaleidoscope, in order to produce a unique and surreal aesthetic. While the actual scene behind the effects is clear in places, Krug gradually degrades the clarity of the image, the kaleidoscopic effect distorting the subjects and transforming them into abstract compositions.

This layering of effects is extremely effective, especially as the appearance of tarnished film becomes more detailed and appears as its own highly-detailed kaleidoscopic, almost mandala-like patterns.

Enter the Void

Once we had made a decision about the overall theme of our drama project, it was recommended by a member of my group that I watch Gaspar Noe's Enter The Void. From the moment the title sequence arrived on screen, I knew I was in for something spectacular. A series of graphics with the film's credits flickered across the screen in bright, strobing colours, the shifts in text becoming ever-more impressive. Once the film finally began, it was immediately clear that the cinematography was carefully considered, and executed in a way that perfectly suited the narrative unfolding on screen. Involving much stabilised handheld camera-work, the dialogue at the beginning was interesting to watch, set as it was in vibrant downtown Tokyo. As the film progressed, it began to turn to POV shots involving the protagonist, which soon became impressive during a sequence in which he smoked DMT, a powerful hallucinogenic drug. After a shift in the lighting of his apartment, a glance to the ceiling showed an impressive CGI sequence of geometric and organic shapes and colours, shifting and filling the screen. The scene was stretched over a long period, and I suspect we were taken through the entire six-minute duration of a DMT trip.

Early on during the film, the protagonist is shot by police in a toilet cubicle. The remainder of the film demonstrates the meticulous attention to cinematography and to staging that Gaspar Noe is known for. Sweeping overhead shots dominate, a mixture of crane shots, helicopter shots and CGI allowing us in a strange POV to transition vast distances across Tokyo from a bird's-eye view, through walls and over rooftops to follow the close relatives and acquaintances of the protagonist's life. Seamless transitions take us through places as bizarre as through a kitchen plughole, into sequences of bright shifting colours and back into other locations. In many places we are transported into the character's past, witnessing his memories through a mixture of POV and over-the-shoulder shots.

The entire film is structured to fit in with two main elements: the experience of a DMT trip (Noe did his 'research' in Mexico before making the film), and the Tibetan Book of the Dead. The book deals with what happens to an individual after death and before rebirth, aiming to guide them through the process; the similarity between phenomena described in the book and the hallucinogenic experience has been pointed out many times, most famously by Timothy Leary in his book, The Psychedelic Experience.

Though the cinematography of Enter The Void is staggering, and the CGI used tastefully and extremely effectively, my criticisms of the film begin with its length against its content. Great portions of the film take place in which nothing happens to advance the plot, focussing perhaps too much on the formal techniques used in order to allow the viewer to savour them. This creates a situation in which we await the next event in boredom much of the time. Another negative aspect is Gaspar Noe's inclusion of copious amounts of sex in the film, bordering of misogyny. Many of these sexual encounters displayed by the film are unnecessary, I felt, for the plot, and seem to be included above all to maintain the interest of the less patient viewer through a cheap trick.

Despite these flaws, however, the film is a great inspiration for our project and for my filmmaking overall, and I rate it as one of the most spectacular films I have ever had the pleasure of seeing.

Inspiration from Jeremy Geddes - Drama Project

While creating the mood boards for the drama project on Pinterest, I was reminded of paintings by Jeremy Geddes, which I had quite recently spotted in a copy of the magazine Juxtapoz. In particular, his works in which he places a cosmonaut in unusual backdrops drew my attention. The surrealism of his work is immediately apparent, despite the photo-realistic style he employs. The juxtaposition of the cosmonaut against urban environments, or floating in a white void surrounded by doves, for example, creates a unique image with a strange effect on the observer. The paintings entice you to think deeply about their purpose and the meanings behind Geddes' choice of subject and backdrop, while the very fact that the elements are so disparate takes them away from normality and lends them a sense of value as simply an image that cannot be compared to reality. His placement of the cosmonaut always implies movement and action, an element which provides the images with a sense of narrative, causing the observer to construct their own imagined story in response. Reason, however, is not much use when dealing with Geddes' work, and I find it best to simply take it for what it is.

I would very much like to reference Geddes' work in the drama project if possible, as I feel its uneasy and surreal tone will fit well with the type of film we are trying to create.

I Do Air - Drama Inspiration

I Do Air is a well-thought out short film, BAFTA nominated, that I first watched back in September's Showroom Shorts hosted by the SYFN.

As a character piece, the film was interesting, keeping the viewer interested and guessing about the choice to be made by the protagonist (should she take the plunge and swim?). In turn, however, I did feel that it carried a simplistic plot, one that seemed as though I had come across it many times before. Although this was perhaps complimentary to the child's perspective the film represented, but I felt that it could have been more complex.

The sentimental feeling at the end of the film was both heartwarming and somewhat tacky; though the ambiguity as to whether or not the child imagined the events was effective, it seemed to be a very convenient ending that excused the filmmakers from something more meaningful.

Preproduction Update #2 - Mood Boards

Our initial concept in relation to the brief and the notion of a journey is the effects of a psychedelic experience that takes the form of a spiritual journey. In order to get the ball rolling with further ideas, I created a board on Pinterest. Here's some screenshots of the boards so far, many elements of which I will revisit in further detail on this blog.

Preproduction Update #1 - Drama roles

For the drama project, our group is still being constructed. So far, though, the roles are as follows:

Producer - Rob West
Director - Myself
Sound Designer/Recordist 1 - Aaron Mears
Sound Designer/Recordist 2 - Jordan Barningham

We still require two more crew members: a DP and an Editor.