Treatment

 Perdre La Boule

Treatment: 

An elderly widower struggling to come to terms with his wife’s demise and his own aging, embarks on a journey to recover a token of his past which he believes misplaced.
In a small isolated house resides a bitter and depressed old man whom unable to cope with his wife’s passing directs his anger and fears onto people who surround him. One day, after being particularly unpleasant with a young student working there as a volunteer (or being a family member), he notices that an object very dear to him, a bag of marbles his late wife gave him when they first met as children, has gone missing. Blaming the student of theft, he decides to take justice into his own hands and leaves the seclusion he inflicted upon himself to find him.
Knowing where the student might be, he proceeds to make his way to a park where the young man is. Although the park itself is a very short distance from his house, he is destabilized by his surroundings and on numerous occasions comes into contact with aspects of modern life which he never took an interest in understanding. Although confused and unprepared, his determination to find the thief leads him to find the place he sought. Unfortunately for him, the young man is nowhere to be found. Inconsolable, he seeks comfort by going to the cemetery where his wife is buried. As he is in front of her tombstone he fumbles his pockets to find a napkin and finds his bag of marbles instead.
Shortly after he hears the sound of footsteps behind him and turns to face the young student who left the park early to seek out the older man to apologize, yet upon discovering his disappearance from his home searched for him. Overcome by this caring act, the elderly man finally opens up to the student and tells him the story behind the bag of marbles. As they leave the cemetery he leaves the bag by the tombstone.


Characters:

A: The elderly man, so far nameless, should be in his late 60s, early 70s. He has a constant sullen look on his face and walks with a hunch. He never really accepted his aging and refuses to come to terms with the changing world, this is shown through his insistence in keeping the attire and fashion of his youth. In the beginning he is constantly seen holding or in close proximity of an old portrait of his wife as she was in her youth and the bag of marbles. He is an educated man who held on to strict values and refused to let them evolve with the times, this is shown through his eloquent speech and disdain for the younger generation.
B: The student volunteering at his home. He should be no younger than 18 and no older than 21, for the purpose of the story he will be 19. The fact he studies an English Major causes the elderly man to accuse him of being a spoilt middle class kid who lacks direction in life, sparking a row between the two of them. In fact he is a caring individual from a lower class background whose goal is to become a teacher. Confident and outspoken he refused to be bullied by the older man who attacked his insecurities yet doesn’t lack the empathy to see the man’s pain.
Room for one extra character.

Drama Project

For the drama project, the roles within the group are:

Producer: Olivier Chevalley
Director: Thomas Johnstone (me)
Cinematographer: Ryan Goff
Sound Recordist: Jamie Wiffen
Editor: Megan Crawford
Sound Editor: Emily Howes

Storyboards

Some examples of storyboards that I prepared as my previous role of director for the cinematographer

OF TIME AND THE CITY

Of Time And The City is a documentary that 'paints a picture' of Liverpool's history using home footage, news footage and general found footage. The images used create a brilliant sense of the place in a way that flows like poetry. As we were aiming to create a poetic piece, I took a lot of inspiration from this film. Terence Davies didn't plan the shots he used, he selected them from what was available (a lot). I wanted to take a similar approach, so I decided that we would use copyright-free archive footage along side own footage. I decided that I would shoot lots of footage when in Liverpool, mostly un-planned, so that during the editing stage, Amy, Nyle and Hannah would have lots to choose from like Terence Davies did.

Shot list

There were a few shots I had in mind before we travelled to Liverpool. As we were trying to achieve a poetic documentary I thought I would allow myself some freedom and decide on the majority of shots when I got there. However, there were some that I had in mind:

• Long shot of the cityscape so we could compare to archive footage
• Time lapse of the sun rising
• Looking at the water side from the ferry
• The docks, particularly Albert Dock using the reflections 
• Reflections in the water of birds

I recorded all of the shots that I wanted and many more that I was pleased with. Hopefully my best shots will be selected in the Final Cut!

Dark Days

Dark Days Marc Singer (2000)

Dark Days is a documentary about a group of homeless people living in a New York train tunnel. We follow the day-to-day lives of the small group as we see them encounter different problems; some life threatening, some trivial. All in all, this film is successful in creating an emotional response from the audience as the film is so personal and not at all subjective.

The camera work in the film, is very 'gritty'. The camera operator uses an on-camera light which shows the audience that the makers of the film are very welcome, especially when they also see how the group and relaxed with the crew and how open they are to talk about their experiences. As most of the documentary is filmed in the dark, there is a lot of grain on the image, this ties in with the subject as the place where the group is living is unclean and their lifestyle seems very dirty. 

'Mood Board'

Steel Homes 

 For my role of Cinematographer, I took lots of inspiration from the Steel Homes documentary. I liked the use of deep focus in this film and the use of carefully composed shots. I think that they gave the film a really aesthetically pleasing aspect. I wanted our film to look similar in many ways as it was meant to be a poetic documentary focusing on emotions rather than facts.

     

The Bridge

 In the Swedish/Danish TV Drama Series, The Bridge there is a similar approach to the cinematography. A lot of the shots include symmetry and carefully framed shots. Colours in The Bridge are a rare thing, I like this aspect of the cinematography as it sets quite a low-key mood which would fit in with the poetic theme of our film. Also, the titles are minimal, using a simple font with a small type. I would like similar titles to feature in our film.

Other Inspirations

 These shots are all carefully framed and the use of deep focus is there. For the interview parts of our film, I wanted there to be a very blurred background, with the subject in sharp focus.

Change of Role

Before we set off to film in Liverpool I planned everything as if I was directing. When we got to Liverpool, I was told by the rest of the group that the roles had been changed (without my presence.) I was very confused and under prepared for my new role as Cinematographer. I felt that the director had little control over what I was meant to be filming so I had to use the notes I made as director to help me decide what to shoot.