Evoking Childhood: Director's Statement of Intent

EVOKING CHILDHOOD

DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT OF INTENT

This statement of intent is designed to train your mind, eye and heart to shoot purposefully. Prepare it well before shooting. Briefly—but thoughtfully and specifically—answer the following questions. Be sure to read the assignment description carefully and make your answers specific.

This document will also be accompanied by a shot list. Submit a hard copy of this assignment twelve days before your film screens in class. Upload to Learning Suite twelve days before your film screens in class. Post to your blog twelve days before your film screens in class.

1. Use these questions as inspiration and write about your childhood:

What was your childhood like? Carefree? Painful? Glorious? Mysterious? What specific memories do you have? Sounds? Smells? Tastes? Faces? What did the world look like to you then? How did others see you? What scared you? What did creativity feel like to you? How have things changed for you?

My childhood could be described as being loving and longing at the same time. I remember intense memories of feeling very included, loved, and respected by people. Other times I felt very excluded from others for various reasons.

1. List 10 or more people, places, or things that remind you of your childhood. Can any of these be used as symbols or motifs to communicate meaning and emotion?

I remember most of all my family (I’m one of 5 kids). We moved a lot, so those are the people I remember the most. Friends varied: some good and some bad. I remember front and backyards a lot. Those spaces are very familiar and safe. I also remember houses, hallways, etc. Those places were usually where I felt more secluded or alone. So I remember my mom, dad, brother, three sisters, front yard and backyards of a few houses we lived in, and long hallways.

1. Before continuing, consider how can you subvert our expectations and surprise us? What individual images capture the essence of your experience? How can you avoid cliché? Can you provide a hint of story--even if it is not elaborated on? How can you imply rather than explicitly state? How can you use ellipsis to let the audience fill in gaps? How can color, or lack thereof, help evoke emotion? What about sound?

I want to create a shot to shot visual structure. All shots are one or the other (i.e. green, diagonals, or orange circular…). But then at the end, they mix (a shot is green, pans over to orange elements: the worlds meld together). These associations will give the sense of story. I want to use music as the exclusive soundtrack until the worlds mix at the end. This switch from non-diegetic to diegetic audio will create a sense of immediacy and realism at the end.

1. Describe the progression--the beginning, middle, and end--of this film in three or four sentences? In other words, what happens in this scene as it starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

We start with shots of a child in a warm field with mom and dad. These are warm and fluid moving shots (camera and characters) that evoke love and acceptance. Then we go to shots of the same child in a hallway with green colors and diagonal lines, which evokes loneliness. Then the worlds meld: the elements begin to mix and a new normal is established with a feeling of irony.

1. What, specifically, would you like the audience to understand? How do you intend to communicate that information?

There are certain moments in childhood where a child is included, and excluded. The two visual components I’m using are line and color.

1. What emotion(s) do you want the audience to experience about your childhood through this film? How do you intend to make this happen?

Love/Acceptance vs. Loneliness.

1. What is the first image of the film? What is the final image of the film? Why are you choosing these specific images?

An empty field of golden grass. This will establish a world of safety. The last shot will be the same, but with people in it, so as to show the same world.

1. Why is this scene personal to you? Ask yourself, “Why do I need to make this scene?”

I think that these feelings are very specific to memories that I have, but universal inside most children.

1. Before making your shot list, consider: How can you subvert the audience’s expectations and surprise us? What individual images capture the essence of your experience? How can you avoid cliché? Can you provide a hint of story--even if it is not elaborated on? How can you imply rather than explicitly state? How can you use ellipsis to let the audience fill in gaps? How can color, or lack thereof, help evoke emotion?

There are two locations: a field/backyard and a hallway. The avoidance of cliché will come through subverting the audience expectations at the end by blending the worlds.

Most importantly: How can you intensify your purpose or intent for each shot? Can you will emotion into your images?

I will do this through movement and performance. I want a really strong contrast between the two worlds, which evoke the two emotions. One world/emotion without the other wouldn’t be so strong. But the principle of contrast and affinity will help create clarity through difference.

1. List two or three potential obstacles to creating a successful film. How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

The biggest struggle will be including only what the Witness needs to see, and nothing more. Controlling the space will require careful casting and locations acquisitions. Also, wardrobe will have to be strict on color and brightness, as there will be a rupture in that world if there are incongruences in the visual decisions in each space. So I’ll talk to the talent beforehand, and clarify the colors and brightness of their clothes.