The Melancholic Wife enters onto a white screen and begins to dance. As she turns back on herself floorboards rise from the white space below her becoming a floor beneath which creaks and overwhelms her with their noise and darkness.
The Melancholic Wife uses dance to cope with her dark and troubled thoughts. But within her is a memory of dancing that feels embarassing and challenges her coping skills and the film will chart the journey through this memory. The rising floorboards of this first sequence represent the difficult memory rising from her subconscious. She is unable to fight off the hard feelings and she falls, descending into the void of shame.
This is my first animatic representing what the story could look like adapted for film. The first challenge that arises isthe timing for each scene within the film, how to tell the story in an effective but also efficient manner in order to make it realistically achievable in the timeframe I have to make it. I am happy with some of the transitions, the black to carpet to wooden floorboard from the first sequence to the next feels right, but the transition from the Wife being swallowed by the dark claws to the final sequence needs more work. I think that I was attempting to retain too much of the original comic's aesthetic in this transition and neglecting the requirements and benefits of film.
As the bulk of the action in my film occurs in an imagined dreamscape that represents the protagonists inner world I am interested in exploring experimental and unusual transitions. I would like to utilise the backgrounds to create a sense of organic flow from one scene to the next in the hope of evoking an amorphous space. A space that is responding to the narrative.
As part of my research I have been looking at the Catch Me If You Can opening credits and its use of strong graphic shapes that can represent a door one moment then a chair leg the next through the creative use of scale. The characters move in, through and across these shapes. The shapes themselves become wipes, like the airplane flyover transitioning to a freeway.
Another aspect of the work that requires research is the balance between abstract and figurative, the level of accessibility in the film as it must represent the protagonists individual world while remaining relatable to the viewer. One of the films I've watched in relation to this aspect is A is for Autism by Tim Webb. This film does a powerful job of visually representing the participants world while also maintaining a narrative thread for the viewer to follow. As a person on the autistic spectrum myself it also serves me personally as a confidence boost to trust my own visual language and how I see the world as represented through my film.
Another film I've used for research is A Different Perspective by Chris O'Hara for its inventive use of scale and movement of the characters through the foreground, middle ground and back ground planes. It plays with the conceit that though the layout may conventionally represent a three dimensional world, it is still also a flat drawing and the characters can interact with it on both levels. I'd like to try investigate using these techniques for my film especially in the wooden floor sequence with the transition from the foot stomp echoing down to the Melancholic Wife.
We were given a presentation on the Peter McVerry Trust's work by Aisling Hussey, Digital Communications Officer for the Trust. In the presentation Aisling stressed the organisations aims of;
Creating greater awareness of the issue of homelessness in Ireland.
Facilitating full inclusion in society for those affected by homelessness.
Housing First Policy - getting a person into a home and using that solid base to engage with any coping issues that may be present.
In terms of communication goals, Aisling would like us to adhere to the following values;
Positivity.
Respect for the person.
Conscious use of imagery.
Conscious engagement with stereotypes - challenging peoples perceptions.
In discussion with Aisling I asked her what she felt signified that a person had really inhabited their home and she responded that photos were an indicator of someone feeling at home. This gave me the initial idea of a person hanging photos on a wall indicating the progression of their journey to their new home. I thought about integrating this with my previous idea of a house-key acting as a seed from which the house would grow.
We received a presentation from Aisling Hussey, Digital Communications Officer for the McVerry Trust. She presented us with the main goals of the trust's communication strategy, which included:
Positivity
Respect for the person
Conscientious use of imagery
Challenge peoples perceptions and the stereotypes associated with homelessness
Raise awareness
In relation to the work of the Trust, Aisling emphasised that they employ a Housing First model. The Housing First model focuses on the immediate provision of long term/permanent accommodation for the homeless with supports and services subsequently built around the needs of each individual. Further information on the Housing First model can be found on the Trust's website.
We were also presented with two further interviews to adapt for the project, Jimmy and Cheryl & Mark. We were then each assigned a specific interview to develop to animatic pitch stage and I will be working on the Dwayne - Home for Good film.
For visual reference from existing film my first port of call is Persepolis, it being an adaptation from a comic and using a black and white aesthetic that mirrors my own source material. I'm interested particularly in the use of texture for atmosphere and backgrounds. The action of my own story not being situated in a particular location, I want to find a visually appropriate way to represent the space my character is inhabiting. I also want to explore composition in terms of the balance between black and white to support the depiction of the characters struggle.
