After being given the assignment and watching a few films, I
actually had a hard time coming up with a feasible idea that I was content
with. The only film that I found inspiration in initially was ‘Wrong’ as I enjoy making crime based
films. It wasn’t until we watched ‘Down
by Law’ that I finally found a film that sparked an idea for a short film
that I could truly make well and feel happy with.
After my last film for Comparative Film Practices was a much
more serious film, I wanted to get back to making more comedic based films that
had a much more simple style to it. I wasn’t happy with how my Comparative Film
Practices film turned out and I think the tone is largely to blame for this. The
idea brewed from the concept of prisoners sharing a cell and all but one of
them want to break out. The one left over preferred staying in prison due to
having a terrible life outside. With this in mind, it snowballed into the final
product very well as I managed retain the image from the inception of the idea
to what was made.
In ‘Down by Law’, around
a third of the film takes place inside a prison cell with only the main three
protagonists being seen on screen. I loved the idea of this as it really made
the audience feel enclosed in the cell too with only the prisoners to relate
to. Jim Jarmusch’s style also appealed as he would set up the camera for long
shots that lingered at a particular angle. To capture this style and keep the claustrophobic
feel, I decided to have the camera stay in the exact same position throughout
the film and shoot it as a long take.
What I found most interesting about this submission was how
the idea almost completely changed when filming took place. Initially, there
wasn’t much to look at since it wasn’t too deep. It was initially just two
prisoners in jail. That was it. However, when I came up with the idea of
playing all three characters with only one ever being physically seen, I
realised it could work as a metaphor for a trapped mind. A person imagining
themselves as their own companion locked up. The reason they would also act as
the guard could be seen as self-doubt. It was quite a discovery when I realised
this and I felt proud that there were a number of ways one could interpret my
film.
Comparing this film to my previous submissions, I found this
one the most experimental and actually quite risky. Because I played all three
characters, I had to make sure I timed the dialogue perfectly or else there was
a chance I could be left with long pauses of silence or the dialogue was too
quick, giving no time to insert the voices of the characters off screen. It
therefore made editing quite a challenge in order to make sure everything lined
up correctly. This film relied heavily on the editing to make sure it made
sense.
Despite being a seemingly simple idea, it actually took me a
while to get the script off the ground. Because of the free form style of just
following a person’s time in jail, it was hard to pin down a narrative which is
when I tied in the idea about criminals wanting to break out with one wanting
to stay behind. Ultimately, while I did have a script to follow, there were
times during the shoot where I went off script and using improvisation to
create new dialogue which I realised wasn’t a good idea for a film where I had
to work off myself. In the long run, it worked out by recording the different
character’s dialogue separately rather than try to tackle it in sequence.
Something I wanted to explore too is being able to create
distinct characters in a very short space of time. Only one is named (Terwilliger,
who is named after Sideshow Bob’s real name from ‘The Simpsons’) as he is the only character seen on screen. The
rest, despite not being named, are given varied personalities with the second prisoner
being more cowardly and emotional than Tewilliger and the stern, loud and
abrasive guard who watches over them. It would make for a much more interesting
dynamic between the two characters if they had completely opposite
personalities.
In fact, making sense was one of my biggest concerns. Unlike
previous films which I was able to get the point across easily to the audience,
I feared that this would leave the audience a bit confused. The moment that I
felt this was most apparent was when the second prisoner is introduced. The
first prisoner’s head is out of shot so I thought that it could interpreted
that he was making the second prisoner’s noises. This is also the reason that I
decided to perform a variety of voices for the characters to make them stand
out more as well as get over the challenge of providing a voice only
performance.
Something I realise in hindsight that is an issue with my
film is the lighting. In the solo scenes, it is very effective as it highlights
the single character and having his shadow on the wall is aesthetically pleasing.
However, it doesn’t make sense when the other prisoner is introduced. His
shadow is not seen on the wall which would mean that the light source is coming
from the inside of the cell between the two characters. Originally, I set out
with the idea of having the shadows of the prison bars going over the prisoners
however I couldn’t get this done in time for the shoot. On the flipside, the
isolated feel with the focus on a solo character made it feel more like a play
which is an area in which I received my acting training. It felt good to convey
my previous expertise.
One problem I had with the editing side of the project was
that I actually had too much to fit into the running date allocated to us.
Being long takes, I had almost half an hours’ worth of footage however that
meant there was a lot that I had to cut out. The big problem here is that the
final cut loses a fair bit of character development such as why the first prisoner
is so desperate not to leave prison or even a trait that saw him singing prison
songs every now and then. I’m almost tempted to create an extended cut just to
have and to make me content with the project as a whole.
This is a film that I am not only very happy with but I’d
actually be willing to remake someday. Not just reinterpret but outright remake
scene for scene. The only things really letting me down are the camera and
sound quality so if I had a full crew and actual actors to work off; it could
easily be of a higher quality. While I will defend my choice to play all three
characters, I do think it would’ve been easier to have someone else assist with
filming. Although on the film side of this is that having no-one else around
let me do much more improvisation which helped flesh out the characters much
more.
In summary, I am proud with how my film turned out. It’s one
of the only times where I felt I’ve nailed exactly how I initially envisioned
my film to be. The camera was set up exactly how I had hoped, I managed to
convey a sense of multiple characters despite playing them all myself and
having the problem with not interacting with anyone when filming. It was a
challenging film to make however I still had fun filming it. It was refreshing
to take a break from more comedy based films with the last module however I
think I’m better at that then the more serious kind of film. Hopefully down the
line I can find a good compromise between the two but, so far, this submission
is the closest I’ve gotten. It’s a dark, serious setting with unconventional
conversations and awkward based comedic timing. I felt I was able to use both
my skills as a filmmaker (due to the emphasis on editing and lighting) and an
actor (playing multiple roles, most of which through voice) which, while not my
initial aim, is something that I came to learn as the project went on.
