Two different genre of my film. Birth and Death by Scrabble.

In my MA phase, I have done two films. One is Birth, it tells a story about a man was saved and asked to help save his relationship with his girlfriend. The story is written by my friend Roy. It is a little complex because there are 4 actors in the film and I just explain 3 actors' relationship by some actions and dialogue.

The Death by Scrabble is telling a story about a mid-aged man wants to make his wife die and they are playing the scrabble game. The story is written by Charlie Fish. It got 2 actors and in the same room so it is easier than the first one.

To compare the two films:

From the directing:

In "Birth", the actors are both Chinese, so I can direct them easily. I make a rehearsal before I start to shoot, that can help a lot to find out which part I need to consider more. Also I teach the actors to use body language to express feelings, but it is not enough.

In "Death by Scrabble", the actor is from Greece, sometimes there are some misunderstandings of the words, but finally when I show the action to the actors, they can understand. So the body language in this film is including in the whole film.

From the story:

In "Birth", the story is written by my friend Roy, the relationship is complex, it is more like a Chinese story. In the film maybe the relationship is not clear enough, sometimes it will make the actor feel confused.

In "Death by Scrabble", the story is very clear. However, the problem is I need to find a way to express the actor's inner feelings.

From the camera position:

In "Birth", I use a lot of long shots to display the actions made by actors, some close shot to express the expressions on actor's face to show their body language.

In "Death by Scrabble", I use a lot of close up shots and close shots, it is useful for creating a tense situation. The close up shots can express actions well.

From the editing:

In "Birth", I think the color grading is light because it is a romance genre, also some body language in it. So the color in this film is light.

In "Death by Scrabble", I think I can use color grading to create suspense, meanwhile the use of body language works well.

To conclude, the two films are different from genre. At first I try to focus on body language, so I shoot the "Birth". After shooting I find out it can't express body language well. So I find the story "Death by Scrabble" and begin to finish the film. The "Death by Scrabble" I decide to avoid using dialogue and voice-over, just using body language for story telling. It works,and I have tested it with some audiences, the body language can improve the suspense in the film.

Testing the film- Death by Scrabble

I send the link to the Charlie Fish who writes the story. I got the comments here:

The story on which the film is based contains a lot of inner monologue from the protagonist’s point of view. I think you did a good job of converting that inner monologue into actions and body language on-screen without resorting to voiceovers or too much dialogue, and without violating the protagonist’s point of view. Well done!


Also, I gave the questionnaire to some audience, the range of their age is from 18-25 years old. Some audiences didn't know the film's meaning. Some audiences thought the body language can make the film more suspense. Some audiences thought the music played a role in creating the atmosphere of suspense.

To conclude, the testing is a good try to let me know the feelings of being an audience. I should have pay more attention on body language, and make it work. Anyway, this film is my final film of my MA study and I really do a film with body language in it. As Charlie said, I use actions and body language to convert actor's inner monologue on screen. I think learn the theory and finally act on the film is a good way to study film. I will continue my work to make film better.

New version of my questionnaire

An investigate of my film work DEATH BY SCRABBLE

film link:  http://youtu.be/MMR-z_rpdEc

Author: Changliang Li (Lee)

My project is focusing on body language. Body language is obvious in our daily life. If you notice it, it can help you know more about your relationship.

1. How old are you? (  )

A. under 18    B. 18-25   C. 25-30  D. over 30

2. Your gender. (  )

A. male    B. famale

3. Can you understand the story?(  )

A. Yes  B. No

4. What genre do you think the film is? (  )

A. Comedy B. Suspense C. Thriller D. Romance

5. Do you notice some body language the actors used? (  )

A. Yes  B. No

6. What kind of feelings do you think the actions of the actors made in the film? (      )        (Multiple choice )

A. Disgust   B. Fear   C. Surprise   D. Suspense

7. If you notice the body language from the actor, do you think it can help the storytelling? (   )

A. Yes    B. No

8. If so, which elements does the body language  improve the film? (   )

A. camera composition   B. Music  C. Plot.   

D. Color

9. In the film there are some elements to present the suspense. Which one do you think can make you think about suspense? (        ) (Multiple choice )

A. Music.    B. Plot.     C. Dialogue  D. Color.

10. Please leave any comments here, it is important for my project. Thanks!

Questionnaire of my film: Death by Scrabble

An investigate of my film work DEATH BY SCRABBLE

film link:  http://youtu.be/MMR-z_rpdEc

Author: Changliang Li (Lee)

1. How old are you? (  )

A. under 18    B. 18-25   C. 25-30  D. over 30

2. Your gender. (  )

A. male    B. famale

3. Can you understand the story?(  )

A. Yes  B. No

4. What genre do you think the film is? (  )

A. Comedy B. Suspense C. Thriller D. Romance

5. Do you notice some actions made by actors? (  )

A. Yes  B. No

6. What kind of feelings do you think the actions of the actors made in the film? (      )        (Multiple choice )

A. Disgust   B. Fear   C. Surprise   D. Suspense

7. In the film there are some elements to present the suspense. Which one do you think can make you think about suspense? (        ) (Multiple choice )

A. Music.    B. Plot.     C. Dialogue  D. Color.

8. Please leave any comments here, it is important for my project. Thanks!

some part of my film: Birth

Here is the scene Susie invites Nick to her room and Nick finds a chance to change the key. I change the script because I can't find more people to be the actors, so I change the party into a dinner. Nick wants Susie to drink more so he can change the key.

The problem is the light is different when actor is inside the room and outside the room. So maybe I can adjust it in the same light in post-production. Also the sound is the other problem, even I use radio mic to record the sound, but the volume is low.

I will finish the editing in next week, and find if I need some shots. Also I need to edit death by scrabble before 14th of July so I can check the film and plan to test the audience.

Death by scrabble -- shooting plan.

Death

1 full shot   emply shot.   outside the house

2 mid shot  Aris and Tina are playing scrabble.

3 from top to bot (Aris wants to go out, so he do foot tapping) close up  Aris's feet.

4 mid shot   Aris speaks to a milkman.(past)

5 close shot.  Aris holds a lot of letters.

6 close shot  Aris plays first with BEGIN. With N on the little pink star. and got 21 points

7 Aris's pov  Close shot  Tina smug's face.

8 pov Aris     Close shot  Tina rearranges her letters.

9 close up   Aris's thinking. His head turns up and smiles.

10  close shot  from Aris' s shoulder   Tina plays JINXED with the J on a double-letter score. 30 point.

11 close shot  Aris's reaction. His feats clenched.

12 close shot  Aris's thinking, he plays MURDER.

13 close shot  Aris chews U letter and plays WARMER for 22 points. and keep chewing.

14 close shot  (T)Aris's thinking. letters KILL and STAB  TINA.

15 mid shot  (T)Aris stands and beats Tina.

16 pov of Aris  a bee flying into Tina's throat.

17 close shot   Tina plays SWEATIER and get 24 points plus a 50 points bonus.

18 Close up   Aris gets sweatier. He wipes his forehead.

19 Close shot   Aris plays HUMID. U from his mouth. He gets 22 points.

20 close up   Tina says lousy letters.

21 close up   Aris hates her more.

22 Mid shot  Tina plays FAN, with F on a double-letter.

23 mid shot  Tina gets up to fill the kettle and turn on the air conditioning.

24 Close shot  Aris plays ZAPS, with the Z doubled.

25 close shot  Tina gets a static shock off the air conditioning unit.

26 close shot  Aris satisfies.

27 mid shot  Tina sits back

28 close shot  Tina sits back and plays her letters.

29 Close up  Aris's thoats.

30 mid shot. (T) Aris jump out of his chair, spilling the scrabbles over the floor and hitting Tina.

31 close up  Aris clenched fist release.

32 close up  Aris heart beating.

33 close up  The kettle starts whistling.

34 Close shot Tina plays READY on a double-word for 18 points.

35 mid shot  Tina gets up and pour a cup of tea.

36 close up  Aris steals a blank tile from the letter bag. and throw back a V from my rack.

37 close up  Tina a suspicious look.

38 close shot  Aris plays CHEATING using the A of READY 64 point. including 50-points bonus. Aris smiles.

39 close up  Tina : are u cheated?

40 close shot Tina plays IGNORE on the triple-word for 21 points.

41 close up   The score is 153 for Tina  155 for Aris.

42 close up  The steam rising from the cup of tea.

43 close shot  Aris plays letters then plays SLEEP.

44 close shot  Aris plays all his letters. EXPLODES, using X of JINXED. 72 points.

45 close up   After Aris puts the last letter down, the air conditioning unit bangs.

46 close shot  Aris could not believe what happened.

47 close shot  Tina plays SIGN, with the N on a triple-letter for 10 points.

48 close shot  Aris see his rack. ABQYFWE. He picks B to chew.

49 close shot  Aris plays FLY, using L of EXPLODES and close his eyes.

50 pov of Aris. Aris opens his eyes, there is a fly buzzing.

51 close shot  Tina plays CAUTION, using a blank tile for the N. 18 points.

52 close up   Aris sees his rack again, and thinking again.

53 close shot  Aris is hit by an idea. He plays QUAKE for 19 points.

54 close up   Aris's arm shaking.

55 close shot  Tina plays DEATH for 34 points, the room starts to shake.

56 close shot  Aris is surprised by the shake. His B gets lodged in his throat.

57 close up   Aris tries to cough.

58 close up   Aris face goes red.

59 close up   Aris clawing at his neck.

60 pov of Aris  He falls to the floor. Tina sits there and watching.

(T) means  thinking shot.

a footage of shooting

Here is a shot of the tram coming. I am not sure this is convincing. Maybe I will use some editing skills to fix it.

At first I think the lights around the street may not work for the camera. But it looks nice. I just adjust the iso and iris of the camera.

I will continuing the shooting of my film. There are some changes because of the actor's time is changed, so I need more days to shoot.

Anyway, it is a good try of shooting at night.