DIRECTORS STATEMENT A Journey Through Freedom By Mark Cooper

I have chosen to create my 4 minute short film based on A Journey Through Freedom. With the main theme of the film being Freedom, I have decided to create a world vastly different to our own, which I hope will both highlight just how much freedom we have humans have in the real world. The story I came up with from the script I was provided with was that the main character would be a person living in a world where their entire standard of living and everyday activities are dictated to them by some kind of antagonistic entity. TONE AND STYLE Firstly, I will be using 2 very different styles of cinematography in my film, but I believe they will both complement each other perfectly and create the atmosphere I want, which is for the viewer to feel powerful and for the characters in the film to seem restricted and inhibited. I wish to use various long-shots and shots from high-points, which will create the illusion of the viewer being some kind of omnipotent presence as well as make the characters involved in the film seem weak and insignificant, which with them being pseudo-prisoners with their lives being dictated to them- is something that I believe would be a fitting technique to use. These camera styles, while incorporated with the set designs and lighting styles I wish to use will hopefully create the atmosphere of the characters in the film being completely alone in a cold, sterile environment whilst the viewer is the all-watching omnipotent presence. Similar styles to the ones I am planning to use were used in the 1998 Peter Weir film The Truman Show.

Fig 1- The Truman Show

Fig 2- The Truman Show

In the film Truman (played by Jim Carrey) discovers that his life is nothing but a TV show, and every aspect of his life is controlled by an all-seeing, all-knowing God character, who is simply a TV producer causing things to happen in Trumans everyday life. While we learn this fact early on in the film, Truman doesnt, and the cinematography does a fantastic job of making Truman seem out of control and insignificant by using many camera shots that make him look small and far away against his various different environments and backdrops.

This style is something I would like to incorporate into my own film as the main character (whilst knowing their life is being governed by a higher authority figure) will still feel insignificant and alonesomething this style of cinematography does very well. In terms of how the camera moves and such, I will be using a lot of fixed shots, with little to no panning. I may occasionally use panning techniques in places where the character is alone and in a large area just to highlight the fact that the character is completely alone, and also the highlight the cold, empty environment. The second style of cinematography I wish to use will be used sparingly, but will also be used to create the sense of the characters being watched. For this, I will be using a small portable camera and hiding it in various places throughout the sets. The camera will not be an omnipotent eye-piece this time however, and will instead be a physical object in the characters environment- albeit wellhidden. This is similar to the cameras in the Paranormal Activity films, and films in the Found Footage genre, such as The Blair Witch Project, where the camera is a physical prop where the footage has been taken from. I will emphasise the difference between the omnipotent and prop camera in the editing process, by adding some kind of time-stamp or scan-lines to the prop camera, or reducing the camera quality slightly to give it the appearance of being a camera that is much smaller than the cameras used to film the more cinematic scenes.

Fig 3- Paranormal Activity

Fig 4- Paranormal Activity

The kind of mood I want in my film will vary, from very warm, inviting moods of the characters home indoors to cold, sterile feeling areas of the outdoors and inside corporate buildings. The lighting I plan to use in my film is something I have considered and debated continuously throughout the creative process. The style I want my film to have is that the environment is exceptionally clean and sterile, similar to that of a hospital or laboratory. The lighting will therefore be mostly made up of exceptionally bright lighting kits to make the environment seem clean.

Fig 5- Laboratory Corridor Scenes which take place in areas outside of the characters designated living environment will use completely different, purely practical lighting, and will also take place in much darker environments. The reasoning behind this is to be able to clearly differentiate between areas the character is familiar with (the brightly lit areas inside of their home) and the areas they are not familiar with. (The mysterious, unknown areas of a boiler-room or back-alley.)

Fig 6- The Dark Knight Interrogation Scene

A good example of the kind of lighting I want to use in some of my scenes can be found in the interrogation scene of the film; The Dark Knight. The light source comes from above the characters and set-pieces, and as such creates very interesting shadows in the area, as well as making the area itself look very gritty and as if shady goings-on are occurring there. The overall atmosphere I want my film to have will be a very cold, gritty one- and I hope to emphasise this in the editing process through my use of colour filters and also through the exposure used on the camera. I hope to reduce the saturation of the film to a bare minimum, so that it keeps its colours, but noticeably only just so. This should not only make the film appear colder and more unsettling, but also give more importance to my use of lighting, with huge contrasts between light and dark. COSTUME DESIGN The costume designs I have decided were inspired by the ones used in the 2005 Michael Bay film; The Island. In the film, the characters wear very plain, sterile looking uniforms, which they have no other choice but to wear. Although I do not have the available funds to be able to purchase costumes as complex as the ones shown in The Island, I want to dress my characters using the same white colour, as they will then blend into the environment where they live, which will be brightly lit and coloured white. This will make them appear insignificant- almost as if they are a part of the environment in which they reside. I will also be dressing my characters in the same kind of costumes so that it becomes obvious they are all part of the same unit, in this case- prisoners. Any authority figures that appear in my film will be dressed completely different too, making them stand out and seem like theyre on a higher level than the prisoners, as they are not under the same clothing restrictions.

Fig 7- Costumes in The Island.

EDITING Aside from the basic cropping together of clips, and the application of saturation and various colour filters to evoke a specific mood, I do not plan on using any particularly extravagant editing in my film. Scenes which are shown from the POV of the prop cameras that will be physically seen in the film will have a time-stamp and possibly a [REC] symbol applied to them to show that the camera the viewer is looking at the scene through is recording. The overall feeling of the film I want to create is that of a reality that could occur one day, but thankfully hasnt yet. Since my film will be set in a gritty future where citizens are treated like cattle and life is very basic and unpretentious, I am thinking it may be an idea to keep the use of non-diegetic sound to a minimum. It is my hope that this will create a much more uncomfortable and tense atmosphere, as a lot of my film will have silence or basic sound effects such as the footsteps of the characters or the movement of their clothing etc. CASTING In terms of the kind of person I am looking for the play the main character- I would like to cast somebody who doesnt look too out of place in modern society- somebody who looks as though they would be able to blend into a crowd of people. The reason behind this is that I feel it would give the viewer the sense of the main character being nothing particularly special and being exactly the same as all the other people living in this world segregated by the government.

Fig 8- Ewan Mcgregor in The Island

Fig 9- Jim Carrey in The Truman Show

Going back to what I mentioned briefly about the movies The Island and The Truman Show, the two movies contain characters that appear to be quite the everyman of their particular situations. The characters Ewan Mcgregor and Jim Carrey portray are very much the same as the other males of their age and occupations, and do not look in any way out of place in the environments they live in. This is something I want to consider strongly when making my choice in casting my main character. I would like the viewers of my film to feel some kind of emotional connection towards my main character, and feel quite sympathetic about the situation that they find themselves in. Therefore I should probably choose an actor that has some experiences in clearly showing various different kinds of emotions.

BIBLIOGRAPHY Fig 1- The Truman Show (1998): http://theredlist.com/media/database/settings/cinema/19902000/the-truman-show-/007-the-truman-show-theredlist.jpg (Accessed 19/2/2014) Fig 2- The Truman Show (1998): http://highdefdiscnews.com/screenshots/the_truman_show_1.png (Accessed 19/2/2014) Fig 3- Paranormal Activity (2007): http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/paranormal_activity_2009_1024x768_588118.jpg (Accessed 19/2/2014) Fig 4- Paranormal Activity (2007): http://beingloquacious.files.wordpress.com/2013/11/paranormalactivity.jpg (Accessed 19/2/2014) Fig 5- Laboratory Corridor: http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/files/2012/06/05Exhibition-Corridor.jpg Fig 6- The Dark Knight Interrogation Scene (2008): http://www.empireonline.com/images/uploaded/wally-pfister-dark-knight-interrogation-scene.jpg (Accessed 20/2/2014) Fig 7- The Island Costumes (2005): http://reviews.brianburridge.com/generated/the_island1191x432-d53fae.jpg Fig 8- Ewan Mcgrgeor in The Island (2005): http://www.qwipster.net/island2005.jpg Fig 9- Jim Carrey in The Truman Show (1998): http://www.180coach.com/wpcontent/uploads/2010/10/Truman-Burbank.jpg