Friday 11 September 2009

Coursework Pitch

I have chosen to create a short film for my A2 project

Title- Very Important Nobody

The short film I will be creating will be centered around 3 topics...outcast, celebrity culture and conforming to society.

Narrative and uses of Values

The plot will follow a man, who has a fully painted red face and head, almost like a member of the blue man group (image below) but painted red instead of blue. It will follow his life of being an outcast and the first half of the story will be nothing more than filming his day to day life as a social outcast.
The key feature of the film is that will make use of colour isolation, this is when the action is in black and white apart from a certain are which is left as it's original colour. I will use colour isolation on the red of the characters face while leaving everything else black and white. This will highlight the difference of the man to everyday society and life and symbolize how he is an outcast to the social normality around him.
The action of his day to day life will highlight how different he is and brings up the issue of discrimination in modern day society and how people who are different will stand out amoungst normality. It will have varying shots, from numerous angles and in different locations to show how all around him and everywhere people notice him because he stands out.

The twist in the film comes when the man sits in front of the mirror with make up remover wipes in his hand, he looks into the mirror as if to reflect on his life and who he is, he will then part from the mirror and stand in a dark room, facing the camera. He will begin to walk towards the camera (although he wont move closer) a contract will be given to him as he walks, and he will shake hands with an agent. This scene will work like the james bond advert below, as he walks he will develop as a celebrity, he will be given an award, the press will follow him, fans will hound him and he will grow into a celebrity, as he does this however his red face will wear away until the end of the film, he will stand still, the celebrity entourage will move away and his face will be coloured black and white.




The idea of the film is to show how people who are different can be discriminated against in everyday life, however, if given a celebrity status an outcast can be praised for their unique looks and attitude and are seen in a better light by society, the walking scene towards the end however will show that celebrities, however unique and different they are will eventually conform into the perfect celebrity and slot into society. It represents the culture of discrimination, social expectations and that harsh, robot like, manufacturing of 'celebrity'.

The sound will be minimal, possibly a simple piano piece, this will make the audience focus more on the action and think about the film rather than the entertainment factor.

Representation-
This concept is key in my short film as race, celebrity and social lifestyle are represented in unique and abstract ways. Firstly the fact that the main character's face is red whilst everything else on screen is black and white highlights race in a obvious way which immediately draws attention to the fact that the character is different to the rest of the public. Race in this film is represented as a way to distinguish one person to another and the fact that the character stands out so much against the social norm means that there is a negativity with race in my short film, this highlights the negative perception of different races and how they are often perceived as different and not part of the social normality.
The representation of celebrity and celebrity culture is another main theme of my short film. I will portray the celebrity life as harsh and almost scripted, the character will be found and praised for their different looks and thrust into the spotlight, this scene will show all of the aspects of celebrity culture being thrust upon the character at once. This represents the culture as harsh and how the lifestyle can destroy a person. One example which I will base this scene on is Susan Boyle, she is an outcast of society who would normally be perceived as weird and different, however she gets thrust into the spotlight as a celebrity, the pressures of the celebrity status are thrust onto her in weeks and this almost becomes unbearable. The fact that I will be showing the lifestyle in a negative view means that my representation may challenge peoples views on 'celebrity' statuses.
The final representation is of social lifestyles and the life of the mass public. I will edit the film to have everything in black and white apart from the red face of the character, this represents everything else in the background as bland and will show the mass public as people who slot into society without a voice or a unique appeal. The fact that every scene will be in black and white may also allow the audience to ignore the background, this therefore will represent the public as unimportant. This is a statement on society and although there may be stories and uniqueness in the background footage the film will represent the mass public as no-bodies who simple conform to the black and white life.

Ideology

The dominant ideology of the short film is that anyone who stands out in the normality of society is different and outcasts, they are perceived negatively because they do not fit into the status quo of life. The other ideology relating to celebrity culture is that people who are popular because they are unique and stand out are often broken down by the celebrity lifestyle and moulded into the perfect celebrity, the lifestyle breaks people and they begin their downfall from very important people to very important nobodies.

Values

The main technique that I will use is colour isolation. This production technique saturates all colours other than a specified colour. This emphasizes the colour and gives the colour and the object it is on a deeper meaning.
The second production value used will be slow motion. The scenes which follow the day to day movements of the character will all be in slow motion and the celebrity scene will be in normal speed. This will emphasize the slow, monotonous feel of the characters lifestyle and will make the speed contrast of the celebrity scene more obvious, it will also make the life cycle of a celebrity seem quick and gone in a flash.
One final production value will be a close up focus blur of the characters face right at the beginning with the title appearing in the blurred out area. This will set the scene perfectly for the opening of the film and will instantly show the red face and how the focus of the film is the character.

Audience

My target audience will be individuals aged 25-40, they are familiar with the celebrity culture and are at a mature age which will help them think about the message of the film and look at their perceptions of outcasts and celebrities.

Language

The colour red has an underlying meaning, red symbolises danger, aggression and strength which is why it will be so effective as the colour of an outcast, it shows the perception of red by society in the context of everyday life. On the other hand red also symbolises energy, excitement and passion which will suit the celebrity scene, celebrities are often associated with energy and excitment so to see the colour red gradually fade away from his face will symbolise the energy and excitment of the celebrity being worn away.
The other technique which has a deeper message and symbol is the use of desaturation, this will suck away the vibrancy and colour of people and places symbolising the lack of individuality and energy of society in its conformed way and emphases the uniqueness of the red character.

Genre

The genre of the short film is a drama, it is a serious narrative piece.







Example of Colour Isolation


2 comments:

  1. Hi Tom, I like the idea, it's ambitious. We need to talk through some of the technical aspects to ensure they are possible with our software. I believe they are. Although you have explained in some detail, I need you to look at your writing again and make direct reference to the key concepts in media studies. Discuss the ideas of representation, production values, genre etc - specifically.
    Ward

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  2. Much better Tom. You've presented a critical discussion of your work which is what we're aiming for at A2. Pushing you just a little more, can you discuss some comparable media products under Genre and/or Production Values. This will further help you develop your ideas for the technical elements of the film.

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