Hello, peoples!
I have finished filming editing day three, which involved the Bedroom, Landing and Stairway scenes. I started with filming the Bedroom scene first and go on chronologically from there, so the actors knew where the finished film was going.
I paid massive attention to the mise-en-scene of the Bedroom scene because I thought it was a key insight into the Lunatic's character. I wanted the environment to be rather bear on the walls, with only a few posters up - relevant to his character.
As we can see, the most obvious features on the wall are the photos of women, revolving around a fast-food hamburger. This is to represent his pleasures, which are rather animalistic. They are used to show how secluded he is from the rest of the world as well as the Lunatic's teenage instincts. This would make it instantly appealing to teenage boys. The wall is mainly white, with blue/grey stripes going down. I thought this looked very much like a prison, which the Lunatic seems to be encapsulated in.
A poster from the famously controversial 1971 film 'A Clockwork Orange' is also on the wall. The target audience would recognise this intertextual reference because of the psychological and ethical elements within it. I framed the Lunatic's head like this in the image to show that he is not paying attention to what is on his wall. He is looking straight ahead of him, where the Laughing Man looms above.
I decided to film this from a rather low-angle in order to make The Laughing Man seem more intimidating. He is the domineering presence of the Lunatic's mind, and there is a constant battle between them. Like I have said in previous blog posts, I had him in a suit to add to his 'desire-for-domination personality'. He looks straight into the camera, as if he were looking at us - even though he's really looking at the Lunatic. This allows us to get into the Lunatic's mindset, achieved through these subjective camera angles. The lighting used was also rather appropriate because of the shadow which reflects behind him. This allows the audience to see that he is indeed a dark presence within the film.
To make the film even more surreal, I took further inspiration from '2001: A Space Odyssey'. I was inspired by the last fifteen minutes of the film where the title character, Dave, keeps witnessing an older form of himself. I have attempted to do the same, where the Lunatic witnesses different forms of himself - though this would represent different psychological forms.
The framing of these shots were directly inspired by the extract from 2001:
I centralised focus on the feet, as if nothing else were important. The following shot is of the Laughing Man:
I made it a dutch-tilt to suit the surreal, uneasy feel of the film. It also provides perfect observation to when the Laughing Man walks down the stairs. The Laughing Man's costume stands out from the rest of the mise-en-scene because it is darker than anything else. So, all attention is drawn to him.
When the Laughing Man goes down the stairs, I needed the Lunatic to follow - but hesitantly. So, I decided to have the camera follow him as he walks toward the stairs - demonstrating his fear and anxiety.
This shot is significant because it adds to the idea that the Lunatic is delving deeper into his dark side. The downstairs goes into his darker frame of mind, as it were, and this is where the Laughing Man lingers.
When the Lunatic goes down the stairs, I wanted to indicate the passing of time without spending too much of it in discourse. So, I decided to use a 'Dissolve' transition twice to indicate this passing of time. This angle is perfect because his body blocks the light above, which makes the front of his body appear darker and spectral. This shows that as he goes further into his dark side, he himself changes as well.
I have finished filming editing day three, which involved the Bedroom, Landing and Stairway scenes. I started with filming the Bedroom scene first and go on chronologically from there, so the actors knew where the finished film was going.
I paid massive attention to the mise-en-scene of the Bedroom scene because I thought it was a key insight into the Lunatic's character. I wanted the environment to be rather bear on the walls, with only a few posters up - relevant to his character.
As we can see, the most obvious features on the wall are the photos of women, revolving around a fast-food hamburger. This is to represent his pleasures, which are rather animalistic. They are used to show how secluded he is from the rest of the world as well as the Lunatic's teenage instincts. This would make it instantly appealing to teenage boys. The wall is mainly white, with blue/grey stripes going down. I thought this looked very much like a prison, which the Lunatic seems to be encapsulated in.
A poster from the famously controversial 1971 film 'A Clockwork Orange' is also on the wall. The target audience would recognise this intertextual reference because of the psychological and ethical elements within it. I framed the Lunatic's head like this in the image to show that he is not paying attention to what is on his wall. He is looking straight ahead of him, where the Laughing Man looms above.
I decided to film this from a rather low-angle in order to make The Laughing Man seem more intimidating. He is the domineering presence of the Lunatic's mind, and there is a constant battle between them. Like I have said in previous blog posts, I had him in a suit to add to his 'desire-for-domination personality'. He looks straight into the camera, as if he were looking at us - even though he's really looking at the Lunatic. This allows us to get into the Lunatic's mindset, achieved through these subjective camera angles. The lighting used was also rather appropriate because of the shadow which reflects behind him. This allows the audience to see that he is indeed a dark presence within the film.
To make the film even more surreal, I took further inspiration from '2001: A Space Odyssey'. I was inspired by the last fifteen minutes of the film where the title character, Dave, keeps witnessing an older form of himself. I have attempted to do the same, where the Lunatic witnesses different forms of himself - though this would represent different psychological forms.
The framing of these shots were directly inspired by the extract from 2001:
Since this is also a rather famous scene, it could fit as another intertextual reference (which many film-fans would enjoy because Stanley Kubrick, the director of 2001, also made A Clockwork Orange). This continues with the Lunatic discovering different rooms, representing his fall into madness as he delves deeper and deeper. He tries to find out what the dark presence is in his mind and attempts to stop it.
Throughout the Bedroom sequence, in the edit I noticed that it was too dark to actually see anything. So, I decided to increase the brightness of the video. This not only enables us to see what the characters are doing but also gives a surreal juxtaposition. The whiteness makes the bedroom seem more heavenly, but the Laughing Man's presence contradicts that - thus confusing the audience's expectation.
The Bedroom sequence marked the beginning of the cinematic element to the film. Like in music videos by 30 Seconds To Mars, I decided to make mine like a short film. This contains gaps when the original music is not playing. It was difficult finding a piece of music to cover the ending Bedroom sequence and Landing sequence. It had to be surreal and it couldn't have singing involved. So, I decided to use 'Shine On You Crazy Diamond Parts 1-5' as the background score in the cinematic sequences. Fans of Pink Floyd would recognise that this song also relates to Syd Barrett and his schizophrenia.
In the Landing sequence, I wanted a first confrontational scene between the Lunatic and the Laughing Man. In this scene, we see the Lunatic approaching carefully as the Laughing Man simply stands there. This is to show the Lunatic's fear. To display this further, I filmed a shot involving the Lunatic's feet, which is a great way to show fear and wariness. I had myself on the floor and I followed the actor's feet by slowly panning hand-held.
I made it a dutch-tilt to suit the surreal, uneasy feel of the film. It also provides perfect observation to when the Laughing Man walks down the stairs. The Laughing Man's costume stands out from the rest of the mise-en-scene because it is darker than anything else. So, all attention is drawn to him.
When the Laughing Man goes down the stairs, I needed the Lunatic to follow - but hesitantly. So, I decided to have the camera follow him as he walks toward the stairs - demonstrating his fear and anxiety.
I used cameras from only two different angles - front and rear. I thought the audience has to be on this journey with him in order to understand his psychology. It has to be from a subjective point of view. I think it also builds up the suspense - the audience is wandering what will happen and when it will happen (typical in films by Alfred Hitchcock).
When the Lunatic goes down the stairs, I wanted to indicate the passing of time without spending too much of it in discourse. So, I decided to use a 'Dissolve' transition twice to indicate this passing of time. This angle is perfect because his body blocks the light above, which makes the front of his body appear darker and spectral. This shows that as he goes further into his dark side, he himself changes as well.
