Team
Location
Actors
Script and Storyboard
Currently my ideas for the scene are to have the two characters (Fujin and Tomizuyu) interacting. The Fujin has been ressurected for some purpose and is angry and plans to take out his anger by wreaking havoc on the Japanese capital of Kyoto. I want Tomizuyu to be sent as some kind of sacrifice..... I need to plan out the intricacies of the plot, so I shall brainstorm.
Fujin has been promised the most highly valued Geisha in all of Kyoto as an offering from the sailors but she has slept with Raijin (God of storms and thunder). To keep Fujin from destroying Kyoto, the people send Tomizuyu to Fujin as sacrifice
OR They sailors just send Tomizuyu as a sacrifice
a key element of the story is that Fujin is angry, so I need to include that in the story.
OUTLINE FOR FILM: There hasn't been sufficent wind for fishing, so the boats are becalmed in harbour. Population are starving, so they send a young fisherman to procure the most beautiful geisha in all of Kyoto to sacrifice to Fujin. He finds her, they fall in love on their journey and she then goes to Fujin who is at first happy with the offering but then realises she is not pure of heart and destroys her. He then proceeds to wreak havoc on Kyoto and Raijin comes to their aid and a great battle ensues.
OUTLINE FOR SCENE
Tomizuyu will be walking towards the location to meet Fujin (disjointed wind chimes will sound as she walks). She will be scared and worried (that the Fujin will realise she is impure). The Fujin will 'awaken' (as he's a wooden/stone statue) and greet the girl, initially most graciously and will then withdraw in anger as he realises that she is impure of heart. She will panic and deny everything (possibly cry). The Fujin will shout at her maliciously and then stop and stare in disgust, declaring her fate of death. She tries in vain to run and the Fujin destroys her in a rage of dust. I have decided to call the film "The Fujin's Awakening".
Script
(chiming noise as Tomizuyu walks towards the Fujin)
Tomizuyu: besameru Fujin (awaken Fujin)
Fujin: My dear Tomizuyu (goes to kiss her hand. When his lips touch her skin he recoils in disgust.)
Whats this?!
Tomizuyu: screams/crying
Fujin: (grabs her wrist) An impure Geiko?! This is how they reward
me?! (throws her to the floor)
(Tomizuyu is sobbing on the floor)
Fujin: I shall not be taken for a fool!
(Closes eyes and puts arms in sleeves of kimono.)
(whispered) Horobidu (Perish in Japanese)
Expels white dust over Tomizuyu
She vanishes
Shot list:
Panning shot of Tomizuyu walking towards Fujin
closer shot of Tomizuyu walking towards the Fujin with the Fujin in shot
close-up shot of T uttering "awaken Fujin"
full-body shot of Fujin cracking out of his pose and 're-awakening'
reaction close-up shot of T
mid-shot of Fujin smiling and saying ahhh my dear Tomizuyu
shot of Fujin walking over to Tomizuyu
close-up shot of Fujin kissing Tomizuyu's hand. Shows his expression change.
Shots pans up (focused on his face) with him saying whats this?!
Mid/close-up/over the shoulder shot of her fear/crying
Mid/close-up shot of him saying "an impure geiko?! This is how they reward
me?!"
Mid-shot of Fujin throwing Tomizuyu to the floor
Mid-shot of Tomizuyu crying in a mess on the floor
Low-angle shot of Fujin glowering over Tomizuyu "I shall not be taken for a fool!"
Shot of Fujin putting arms in sleeves
Close-up shot of his lips as he says Horobidu and goes to throw the dust which gets split up by the kimono sleeve
Mid-shot of the dust covering Tomizuyu
This is my first draft of the idea, script and shot-list. I will run this by my assistant director as soon as possible to get her in-put and opinion as she has a much better grasp of cinematography and what will need to be improved upon. My shot list is as estimate of what I want.
Compton Gardens (2015) {online} Available from:http://www.comptonacres.co.uk/tours/japanese-garden/index.php [Accessed: April 6th 20015}
Compton Gardens is a location near Poole which has a Japanese garden area. It's almost ideal for the image i'd want to create and looks very authentic. The only issue with it would be transport. I don't know if any of my crew have a car yet, so assuming i'd be doing everything by taxi, this could prove expensive.
After enquiring via telephone asking whether I could use the gardens as a filming location, I was told no. So this means I need to find a new location.
Russell-Cotes Gardens
Russell-Cotes Gardens n.d. [online] Available from:http://media-cdn.tripadvisor.com/media/photo-s/05/16/25/82/russell-cotes-art-gallery.jpg [Accessed: April 9th 2015]
The Russell Cotes museum has a small Japanese garden at the front of the house which would also work really well for my film. Its also in the centre of Bournemouth so it would be a lot more accessable. They have a rocky alcove as well as as small red Japanese style bridge which I think could work really well.
I rang them and they seemed open to the idea, and emailed me a leaflet about information regarding wanting to film there.
As I have very little experience or knowledge with regards to filming/cinematography, I posted on the AUB Collective on Facebook advertising for some help from someone to help me put a team together. I received a message from Jess Bickford (which included her portfolio) and after corresponding we have decided that I will direct the scene and she will be my assistant director and help me put a team toegther and organize aspects such as locations, schedules and cinematography. Together, with her help, we've decided that the rest of the team we need are a cinematographer (film), sound designer and an editor. This sounds good to me, as it's a short scene, so it shouldn't require too many people, and the people that we will have will know about the aspects of filming that I don't. I am trusting her to put together the rest of the team and make sure they are free on the filming day, etc.
Genre
I think the genre of the film covers the three following areas: Japanese, Adventure/Action and Fantasy. The deities cover the fantastical element of the film, as they're out of the ordinary. The Japanese influence is obvious, and as the rest of the plot entails a battle, I think action/adventure is a suitable genre. It is heavily influenced by my research into films featuring deities. I want it to look something like a dramatic scene from Clash of Titans but in a Japanese style. I am interpreting it in a modern way, as my research into dance music videos demonstrates.
Forms
Release Forms
Rehearsals and Meeting with Actors
Obviously I gave both the actors an overview of what would be happening with regards to filming, the film plot, etc, but I also thought that having a rehearsal would help speed things along on the day. As we only have the location for 3 hours.
I met with both the actors on April 30th to talk through the scene in full and explain all the details.
I ran into a couple of problems with my male actor. I'd assuming (as he's just finished 3rd year acting), that he'd have no problem being topless, whereas infact he seemed very concerned about it. I decided to alter the design and costume so he'd feel most comfortable. I'd only planned on doing a cracked statue body paint on the exposed skin, and will be creating this effect everywhere else so it doens't affect the design too much. I did ask whether he'd be willing to shave his arms or legs, just so the paint would sit better (and considering statues don't have body hair it would create a better effect) but he wasn't comfortable with the idea so im hoping the PAX paint will cover any exposed hair enough so that it won't be much of a problem.
As there is slight combat in the scene where the Fujin throws the geisha to the ground, my actor thought it very important that we rehearse this. As the scene is going to be very short, I think we will have time to rehearse it on the day while the cinematography and sound is setting up.
My female actor was concerned as she is one architecture, she has never actually acted before, but I reassured her that the makeup looking good is more important and that her role doesn't require too much acting.
In order to secure filming at the Russell Cotes museum, I had to fill out their filming requirement forms, get them signed, produce a risk assesment and procure a form stating that I am a bona fide student of AUB. I had some help from my assistant director in the planning of this and managed to plan the filming to take place in the gardens, after my assesment from 2-5, giving us 3 hours of filming.
As most of the acting will be done by the male role, I would quite like to find someone from acting to play this role. I think this matters less for the female counterpart, as she only has one line and the rest is her reacting to him. I also think it quite unlikely that I will find a Japanese girl on acting but i'll see. I think the age of the male could be anywhere between 18-40, as he will be wearing a lot of prosthetics, it doesn't really matter. My main concern is fingding someone with the righ tbuild and stature. My design calls for a large guy with quite a big build so that he looks dominant and strong, almost threatening. For the female role, i'd like her to ideally be between 18-30, as I want her to be young and beautiful, small with a slim build so she looks very elegant.
Updates and Obstacles
Unfortunately our sound recorder dropped out approxiately a week before filming and despite our best efforts, neither me or my assistant director could find someone to replace him, so I think we will have to work with the sound that the camera records whilst filming.
I have also discussed a lof of the elements I want to include with the editor, such as having a slightly darker colour scheme to make it look darker and more dramatic, like the lighting i'd come accross in my research in films such as Thor and Percy Jackson and the Lightning Theif. I would also like to have credits, not only to make it look more prfoessional, but a lot of people are helping to create this and I want them to be able to show that they were involved, should they want to. I also sent the shot list to the cinematographer which I told him to interpret as he saw fit and not to take it literally at all, as he knows what he's doing much more than I do. I also had to sort out how to tranfer the film data to the editor so he will be meeting us at the location after filming so that we can transfer him the data as quickly as possible so that he can start editing.
I have also had a third year actress contact me asking if she can come and take photos whilst we're filming, which I think would make her director of photography. This wasn't something i'd planned on at all, but I think it could be a great addition to the team so she will also be joining us on the day at location.
After consulting with my assistant director, I have decided the best way to get to location will be for me and the models to get a taxi and meet the rest of the crew there at 2 o'clock.
Storyboarding
I thought that coming up with some visual storyboards would better illustrate to my camera man how I want the piece to look, as I don't really know the correct terminology to explain it to him.
Shot from behind of the geisha walking to meet the Fujin. There may be several different angles and shots for her approach to him. This will build up suspense, and raise the question of where is she going? It might also be good to glimpse the Fujin in the distance to give a brief shot of whats to come. This was something I learnt from my research when watching the Directing Creatures DVD by the Stan Winston Company - that giving a hint of the creature to come can add suspense.
I thought an extreme close-up of the geisha's lips when she utters her only line "besameru Fujin" would be effective, as she will almost whisper it and the close-up gentleness of her lips will contrast effectivley with the terror of the Fujin's awakening.
This is after the Fujin has awakened and grabs the Geisha's wrist in anger. I want the angle of the camera up towards him which will make him appears overshadowing and scary. Because this part of the scene is quite animated I will leave it mostly up to my cinematographer, although I think lots of reaction shots and maybe over the shoulder shots would be effective.
This is the shot of when the geisha has been thrown to the ground and the Fujin is about to kill her with the powder. I want her to bo cowering on the ground so I thought the angle from above would make it look like the Fujin's point of view as well as making her look defenseless and scared. I had an afterthoguht that this might be more effective as a close-up shot nearer her face which is why theres a rectangle inside the main image, as it would capture her facial expression and the makeup more.
I had planned on completing release forms for my actors, but unfortunately I didnt factor in the time.
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Tuminello, W. 2005. Eploring Storyboarding. US: Thomson Learning
I researched briefly about constructing a storyboard and telling the story visually before drawing up my own. Having done Media Studies at AS level, I have a vague understanding of the process, but this refreshed my memory. I like the idea of writing a two-column script which helps show how the actors movement should happen alongside the dialogue.
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