Having missed the first lesson owing to being in Denmark at the time, I returned to find the class had prepared character studies and invented a history of a stranger they had observed. The ideas the others came up with were quite remarkable given the mundane circumstances of their encounters with their characters, and it was a welcome reminder of the ease in which inspiration can be found everywhere you look. I recalled a busker in Copenhagen whom I began to formulate my own backstory for.
Standing on a bridge with a saxophone wailing sultry blue-note jazz that resonated over several blocks is where our character was to be found. Slightly unkempt in appearance, with stubble that betrays his disregard for the use of a razor, and comb-shy matted hair that didn't quite reach his shoulders. I imagined him to have at one time been one of the up and coming greats in the Danish jazz scene. Somewhere along the way however the dark side of temptation that inevitably comes with success began to take hold as he developed a habit for the old peruvian marching powder and began to alienate those around him. His over-indulgence became his downfall. Now disgraced among his band-mates and peers in the scene, with nothing left but his sax, he takes to the streets to express his sorrows and regrets as one is want to do through the medium of jazz.
This does however seem somewhat of a cliché, so much so that it has even been used in The Simpsons,
so I began formulating another idea that the man was a mute, and that he found his voice through his saxophone.
Also in the session we watched several clips from films where emotion is conveyed through alternative means than dialogue. Focusing on body language is one of the more obvious techniques, however the most effective of the clips we were shown for me was the use of split-screen in (500) Days of Summer to present the characters expectations against the reality of what happened. In doing this Mark Webb generates audience sympathy with the character as it is a very relatable scenario that everyone will have experienced in some way or another and come out of it disappointed because their fantasies were never made manifest.
We also formed our groups and assigned roles for our films. Once again I'm working with Christy, Joe and Jordan with whom I made the documentary with last semester. We collaborated well however the biggest issue with our last project was our lack of organisation which can be attributed to our non-existant producer role. This time however Robin has taken that position and has risen to the occasion with a very promising start, already producing a manageable schedule for the next 6 weeks that will leave plenty of room to amend any complications that will arise along the way. I have taken on the role of sound, which I have done on virtually every film I've made so far which I'm fine with as I enjoy it a great deal and feel more comfortable than I would in any other position. I would also like to have a hand in the art-direction to an extent as this is another area of interest that I would like to explore further in practice. I look forward to commencing this module and working on the films.
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