Final Group Edit of 'DOG'

DOG LIFE from Gush Sembhi on Vimeo.

On Set Still Shots

Here's some shots we took while we were out filming

Music Decisions

Right, I've been sifting through music tracks on youtube and just any other sounds in general for ages, in search of appropriate audio to use for my short film. Because there's no actual talking, apart from one scene (the cafe) which i decided not to use as it didn't tie in with our adaptation of the script; so the audio is pretty importnt.Here it is:

Shot 1



Shot 2

Noises of scraping and slamming cupboard doors

Shot 3(montage)



Shot 4



or



Shot 5

No music, sounds of birds in the background, sniffing as he smells the dog shit and growl

Shot 6

No music, lapping water sound

Shot 7

I haven't been able to find the actual noise yet but i have a clear idea in my head. I want a deep sinister sounding bass drum beat do depict the fact that although it is clearly funny that a man has starting acting fully like a dog there is a dark, sad side to it too; hence the genre of film: black comedy.

I have compiled this choice of music using my story boards as a reference for the shots, as we filmed them out of sequence its hard to remember it in order. But i know that while filming we developed the scenes from the story boards so there may be some tweaking needed when we come to edit tomorrow.

Ed Sheeran Interview

I received a bit of a surprise phone call yesterday from an old friend and MC turned internet television channel, Champagne Bubblee TV owner, Quinton, or ‘Champagne Bubblee’ as he’s more commonly known. When I asked about how things were for him he told me about the interviews he’s been doing recently for his television channel, the likes of Giggs, Gyptian, Ed Sheeran(all fairly high profile new artists) among them. Here are some of the links:





This conversation got me thinking of how I could incorporate this into the film side of my course and what I want to do in the future. I knew this was something I could reference in my visual essay as a way of illustrating why my chosen pathway will be moving image, through my love for real life documentaries. So in that sense this type of work is something I could definitely see myself doing after I graduate. However, I’d like to differ from this in that I believe it would be interesting delve into the individuals life experiences as opposed to purely what direction they are going in with their music.

This is very similar though, to a project I plan to start following the Easter holidays, a series of short documentaries about people I have met, or know who I believe have a fairly interesting story to tell. At the minute I have two musicians whose lives I aim to film an insight into. I also plan to include another character from a different field.

Opening scene music

After a couple of hours sifting through music on youtube i think i've found a track i want to use for the opening scene, and yes its the Beatles!



Our first idea was to use something along the lines of this



or this



but after some deliberation i think it would be wrong to include either of these just because it is about cannabis and our main character is also smoking cannabis when the frame opens, pretty basic stuff! Instead i think it would be more effective to use a sad, reflective more introverted song to emphasise the characters state of mind, depression over his dog dieing. As opposed to glee at the fact he happens to be smoking cannabis, something he is actually doing as a means to remedy his depression.

Moving image shot idea

Here is an idea i thought of after watching Guy Ritchie's Lock Stock And Two Smoking Barrels.



The part i gained inspiration from in particular strats from 4 mins 20 seconds in where he looses the poker game and the realisation that he now owes £250,000 to some very bad people.

It looks like the camera man uses the zoom to focus in on the characters face while moving away from him to illustrate his dismay at the situation(also used in goodfellas in the cafe scene between Jimmy and Henry). He the films the characters face from below but still using a close up face shot.

I have interpreted this and applied it to our short film. We could use a wobbly, low but close up shot to reflect our main characters mind state when on drugs, and also loosing his insanity. My idea is to film this around three or four times, getting the actor to wobble from alternate sides. We could then use after effects to vary the opacity on the shots and layer each take to create a variety of shadows all in the same shot.

Back to adaptation 1

Following the changing of our adaptation of the script we have been to Phil's seminar. He liked the original script and thought it would be be more realistic to shoot in the time we've been given. So just as a reminder here it is:

Shot 1 opens to smoke floating across the frame. As the camera follows the smoke it pans past a framed picture of a dog to a depressed looking man smoking a spliff. There is rubbish littered around the room and the man is dressed in just boxers socks and a vest, he looks scruffy and un washed.
The second shot opens to complete darkness, all the audience can hear is scraping of cupboards and opening and shutting of doors. The shot will be filmed from inside the cupboard and the door of the cupboard will be opened to reveal the man’s face. He is shown to be looking at piled up tins of dog food, the only things in the cupboard.
He then sits down at the table with a plate and cutlery and empties his tin of dog food onto the plate and starts to eat it.
This is then followed by a montage of different bowls of dog food being eaten by the man and more drugs being consumed as he plunges himself deeper into depression. The camera angle could be pointed up at him and made deliberately wobbly(see lock stock for an example of this, it’s just after the main character looses to Harry the Hatchet in a card game). This would reflect the mans mind state under the influence of the drugs.
Contained within this montage I visualised the scene where he is walking down the street with a ‘distinct pronounced spring in his step’ having just bought some drugs from a dealer and clearly happy that he is going home to consume them.
As he is taking more drugs he begins to act more and more like a dog we see him get down on the ground to sniff some dog shit. The shot opens with a piece of dog shit on the floor and the man lowers himself into the frame before sniffing it and leaving the frame again the same way he came into it.
The next shot it of the man in his living room he goes to drink the water out of a glass but stops just before it reaches his mouth. He then puts the glass down on the floor before lapping the water up out of the glass with his tongue. It is clear he is sad at the thought of doing this.
The final shot shows the man running around in circles as if chasing his tale before laying on the floor rubbing his back on the carpet as a dog would do.
Credits

Second adaptation of script

On consulting Deborah she seemed keen for us to change the script to create a mroe poignant reasoning and ending to the short film. Here is a new adaptation i wrote up following her advice.

The film opens with a few short news reports either on the radio or with motion picture about a man escaped from a mental institution, going on to warn the public that he may be dangerous and not to approach him, but to report any sightings to authorities immediately.

The audience then see our main character “Dog”(I’ll refer to him as this as I know we haven’t decided on a name yet). Dog is shown crossing a road tentatively, looking around him as he walks. He is then shown to peer around before jumping a fence; the audience then hear a smash. We then see Dog smelling different parts of the house and searching through doors as if looking for something. At some point Dog finds a framed photo of a woman and a dog.

The man is then shown smashing the photo frame before revealing to the audience that the woman in the photo is his mother and her Dog, in a tone that conveys resentment.

Next we see Dog becoming hungry but seems scared to go out because he is the asylum escapee and will be taken back if he does. After what seems a long time he searches the cupboards finding nothing but dog food.

We are already aware that the man is technically insane but it must be clear to the audience that he is not dangerous, as the news reports are suggesting. Following the break-in and revelation that it is his mothers house, a woman he seems to resent as a result of her neglecting his needs as a Son he begins to act as a Dog, according to the script we were given.

I think one possibility for why he is acting like that it that his Mother loved her dog more than him so through his insanity he assumes the role of a dog in the hope of gaining the love he was denied.

I was thinking maybe he uses the dog act because he, through his insanity starts to think that he won’t get recognised by the authorities if he acts like a dog. Obviously his act wont work and we could maybe end it with him getting taken back to the institute, but we’ll have to discuss this in seminar.

Initial adaptation of script

Here is a fairly brief write up i constructed which outlines how i envisioned the short film to be when it's finished.

Shot 1 opens to smoke floating across the frame. As the camera follows the smoke it pans past a framed picture of a dog to a depressed looking man smoking a spliff. There is rubbish littered around the room and the man is dressed in just boxers socks and a vest, he looks scruffy and un washed.
The second shot opens to complete darkness, all the audience can hear is scraping of cupboards and opening and shutting of doors. The shot will be filmed from inside the cupboard and the door of the cupboard will be opened to reveal the man’s face. He is shown to be looking at piled up tins of dog food, the only things in the cupboard.
He then sits down at the table with a plate and cutlery and empties his tin of dog food onto the plate and starts to eat it.
This is then followed by a montage of different bowls of dog food being eaten by the man and more drugs being consumed as he plunges himself deeper into depression. The camera angle could be pointed up at him and made deliberately wobbly(see lock stock for an example of this, it’s just after the main character looses to Harry the Hatchet in a card game). This would reflect the mans mind state under the influence of the drugs.
Contained within this montage I visualised the scene where he is walking down the street with a ‘distinct pronounced spring in his step’ having just bought some drugs from a dealer and clearly happy that he is going home to consume them.
As he is taking more drugs he begins to act more and more like a dog we see him get down on the ground to sniff some dog shit. The shot opens with a piece of dog shit on the floor and the man lowers himself into the frame before sniffing it and leaving the frame again the same way he came into it.
The next shot it of the man in his living room he goes to drink the water out of a glass but stops just before it reaches his mouth. He then puts the glass down on the floor before lapping the water up out of the glass with his tongue. It is clear he is sad at the thought of doing this.
The final shot shows the man running around in circles as if chasing his tale before laying on the floor rubbing his back on the carpet as a dog would do.
Credits

Moving Image DP2

On arriving at our first Moving Image Seminar we were seperated into groups and given a script, at random, to adapt and make our own. Our groups script is entitled 'Dog':

1.
1 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 1
TITLE SCREEN: DOG
Cupboard doors are flung open and rapidly slammed as the cupboards are
revealed as empty. Eventually... one cupboard is opened and shut
quickly and then re-opened. We see inside. there is a dog bowl and a
tin of dog food. Freezeframe
MAN
(v/o)
Ordinarily I wouldn't have considered it
but...
2 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 2
The plate of dog food sits on the table. The Knife and fork are
straightened to become perfectly aligned
The man gently drops a sprig of parsley onto the dog food.
He picks up the knife and fork and stares at the plate
3 INT. LANDING. DAY 3
From outside the toilet we hear a difficult shit taking place
4 EXT. STREET. DAY 4
Our man is walking down the street. He has a distinct, pronounced
spring in his step
5 EXT. STREET. DAY 5
We see our man sitting in a cafe. He is talking ten to the dozen
2.
6 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 6
Our man unloads his shopping. Tins and Tins of dog food. Plus some
herbs and milk
7 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 7
What follows is a montage of a series of jump cuts as plates of dog
food are eaten, piled up, eaten, plates clean. Knife and fork
switching sides and spoon to fork. Different plates. Each time a sprig
of parsley is left on the plate uneaten. Sometimes the plate is a bowl
8 INT. LANDING. DAY 8
From outside the toilet we hear a difficult shit taking place. It is
so difficult our man is still trying to defecate as day turns into
night
9 EXT. PARK. DAY 9
Our man studies a pile of dog shit. Slowly he stands and shuffles off.
Almost under his breath we hear him growl
10 INT. FRONT ROOM. NIGHT 10
Our man sits and watches television. Picking it up his glass of water
he begins to lap it with his tongue
11 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 11
Our man slowly spoons dog food onto his plate. The plate is smaller
than any we have seen before
12 INT. KITCHEN. DAY 12
Sitting at the table our man slowly, reluctantly eats the dog food. As
he eats tears run down his face
3.
13 INT. FRONT ROOM. NIGHT 13
Our man runs around in a very tight circle. He is trying to see his
back. As he run he barks
THE END

On looking at the script the first thing i thought was how bizarre the concept was and the fact that it could only be presented as a feasable situation if our character were to be presented as insane to some extent.

We Ran through some ideas in our groups but ultimately decided upon one.