Developing my protagonist.

Before I try to develop my main character, I want to research into my favourite films and find out why I prefer the protagonist in those films to help me design a character. I have picked films ranging from different genres, and chosen narratives which have a male protagonist as my film is going to star a male character. I firstly looked at Toy Story, as this was my favourite film as a child because of the character Woody:

Occupation: Sheriff. Age: ?The reason I liked woody as a character was probably due to the fact he is the main character and leads the other toys in Andy's room. Even though in the first film he is jealous of Buzz, he restores his character by showing kindness at the end of the film. Because I enjoyed this character so much it has influenced me to like the actor, Tom Hanks, which has made me enjoy his films such as Cast Away or Big. I then looked at my other childhood film Back to the Future and focused on Marty Mcfly:

Occupation: Student. Age: 19-22? When watching the films the main reason why I liked Marty was simply because he's cool. He plays the guitar, he skateboards, he gets trouble at school and most importantly, he travels through time. "Although Marty is often accident-prone and sometimes thought to lack critical thinking skills, he is nevertheless brave in the face of danger and can be very resourceful and clever." Source. The next film I looked at was Dances with Wolves and John J. Dunbar, even though he is later called Dances with wolves (which the indians call him) because he is friends with a wolf called two socks:

Occupation: Lieutenant. Age: 30-40.  The main reason why I liked this character was because he is kind and helpful to the native american tribe. His kindness is also shown with his friendship with the wolf Two Socks, which portrays his character as kind and honest and to an audience, this reflects that he is a good character. Throughout the film we are constantly watching his side of the story and this makes us connect with him more and understand his actions.The last film I looked at was The Shawshank Redemption but I prefer Andy and Red:

Andy Occupation: Banker. Age: 30-40. The reason why I liked these characters so much was simply because of their friendship. I liked Red because he's funny, honest and even though he was sent to prison because of a murder, we still warm to him as a character. On the other hand I liked Andy because for one he's innocent and we sympathise for him, and two because he's smart, kind and genuine.

Reflection
Looking back through these characters I can now identify the main characteristics about each of them:

• kind
• interesting
• cool
• funny
• innocent
• honest

All these characteristics reflect typically good qualities in people. However, in other films such as Pulp Fiction we like the characters which in real life would be horrible people. For example Vincent and Jules.

Occupations: Gangsters. Age: 30-45. In real life these are horrible, terrifying gangsters yet we still enjoy them as characters.The reason for this is because they are presented as the "loveable rogues" which add humour to the brutal action.Hence, this has made me think carefully about my character. They have to connect with the audience whether they are good or bad. They have to reflect some similarity in order to present familiarity which the text.

Possible locations and actors.

POSSIBLE ACTORS

POSSIBLE LOCATIONS

 In my AS production I remember taking photos for a possible location. In the end we filmed everything inside to reduce the pressure of filming outside with weather. Now in my A2 production I feel that I want to challenge myself so these locations near a canal and a footpath might be possible locations for filming. I have also taken pictures of my house where I will be filming the inside shots- on is the hallway, the other is the stairs and the other is the front door.

Narrative ideas.

Now that I know I want to create a short film with a split narrative, I feel I should start creating possible storylines. My vision at the moment is centred around a male Protagonist that is portrayed in two different situations throughout the short film until they collide together at the end. (like a parallel universes to an extent)

1. Beginning: Protagonist separates into two different narratives
2. Middle: ???????????????
3. End: Protagonist joins back together or one narrative dies or both narratives die

I am currently stuck on what I should focus my short film around. I feel this is a key aspect as I want to portray something that is meaningful to me and my audience. So I came up with some ideas and one was a secret and the other idea was that both narratives contrast each other. This lead me on to decide about making the split narrative (both characters) include binary opposites. So one character is the opposite of another character. I came up with a few binary opposites which have attracted me to possibly include in my short film:

• good/bad
• innocent/evil
• orginal/copy
• inside/outside
• reality/fake
• soul/body
• female/male
• son/father
• centre/margin
• natural/unatural
• truth/fiction
• modern/postmodern
• high culture/low culture
• waking/dreaming

The colours highlighted in purple are the binary opposites which I particularly want to focus on with narrative, and the binary opposites highlighted in red are the binary opposites I want to focus on with camera techniques and filming. After this note taking I soon wanted to develop my idea:

Developing my ideas.

After wanting to create a split narrative, I watched Steven Jones' 'Connected' as he presents similar ideas. The entire short film focuses mainly on one character and portrays two different storylines but through the same character. I however, do not want to use a split screen even though the film constantly opposes each narrative with each other. The way I want to create my short film at the moment may be technically difficult and I have been inspired to create something similar seen in 'Hunted':

Pics Hunted

From 1-18 the pictures show a flash back from the characters past which takes place very quickly to portray her loss of memory with age. The blurriness and change of colour in each shot adds to this and further exaggerates the memory. The quick shots back to the protagonist remind the audience the flash back is not a dream as she is portrayed as uncomfortable. This is the type of effect I wish to create with my short film. At the moment my ideas are as followed:

1. Flash back of memory - on one story the character is involved whereas with the different story the character isn't (haven't thought of situation yet) and this creates two different narratives of what could have been in each story - parallel universe
2. Waking up - blur of this shot then separates the character into two different story lines
3. Short film continues showing different narratives and the possible endings they have due to the decisions made in point one

Point two explained by images: 

  

Establishing my genre and area of focus.

After my audience research, research into codes and conventions and my research into real short films, I feel I can now pin down my idea and develop it. Ideas that have caught my attention have focused around memorable reflections of a protagonist that is shown in two different situations. For example, after watching 'Sliding Doors' I want to create a split narrative. The film uses this idea of a split narrative and it plays with the idea of fate. It portrays two situations: one where the protagonist misses the train, and the other where they don't miss the train. The opposing story lines develop and compare each other throughout the film. At the end of the film, one of the stories finishes, but results in the other story to start where the other one began. 

With my short film, I want to do something similar. I have noticed that a student has done this idea before but with a split screen. I personally don't want to portray my film in that way so at the moment I want to film the same way 'Sliding Doors' does. I now have to develop this idea further and include my originality to make the story unqiue and interesting. I also have to consider where I want to film and which actors I want to include as in my AS production, this was constantly an issue which slowed down progress.

I now know what my area of focus is going to centre round: a split narrative where a protagonist is put in contrasting situations. The genre I want to focus on is a type of short film which typically breaks boundaries and includes many alternative ideas. I will develop this idea further and research and plan into the different routes I can take.

Thrush: photograph technique.

After watching this short film, I can reflect on the unique technique which the short film uses. By telling a story though images and pictures, it makes the short film original. Even though I don't like the narrative, I feel the way it tells the story is very different and it could be something I want to expand into. However, at this moment in time I feel like I should expand my knowledge into different genres and then focus on how I should film and portray my narrative. 

Influences in camera techniques.

Hunted Slides