Pre-Productions

ACTOR AGREEMENT FORM - By Sumana

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PHARMACY LOCATION FORM - By Sumana

By Dione, Hana, Marwa and Sumana. Forms made by Sumana
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AUDITION/TEST SHOTS:

The following videos were made as we did not hold auditions and we wanted to show how talented out actor is. Also we wanted to see if any accents would suit the role of Lucas.
All in all, we did it because it was fun

Indian accent -

Actor: Bertie Brown

Age: 16
School/Company: Lampton School

We chose Bertie as our actor because he seemed perfect for the role of Lucas and most importantly, he's comes within the age as our target audience- this makes Bertie more appealing to our audience. Another reason we chose him was because he is REALLY good at acting- hence why we did 4 different screen tests in different dialects (accents):
- His normal voice
- Jamaican Accent
- Austrailian Accent
- Indian Accent

I'm going to discuss the screen test of his indian accent. In this screen test, Bertie used a indian accent and proved that he can mimick the accent very well. However, due to the character 'Lucas' being an English boy, born and brought up in London, it would be preferable for him to have an English/European accent. He improvised on the script and didn't exactly follow it, which is something I liked. It shows that he's good and a capable actor.

Seeing all 4 screen tests and keeping the character 'Lucas' in mind, we decided we're going to keep Bertie and he is to use his normal accent only. He is not to mimick any other accents as it doesn't match his character and as people from other regions, may find this offensive.

By Sumana.
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Normal Accent



Character profile
Name: Bertie Brown
Age: 16

This test shot is what we hope to have in our actual opening sequence. Aside from the accents, we were hoping to use a normal British accent for our production. The accents were a way of showing that he has the ability to vary between them and that he is able to act. As a group we also decided not to have auditions because it would have consumed time with progressing with our production and we knew after these test shots that he was more than capable of taking over the role of the protagonist Lucas.

The way he is positioned on the left rather than the right can suggest that he is lonely and isolated due to having no one sitting next to him which is breaking the rule of thirds but it can imply that he is an unstable character. Normally if a scene was shot at a medium close up, the character would be on the right-side looking in the direction of the other character that he is talking to - but we consciously decided not to do this for the reasons of portraying the protagonist. We wanted to be able to do this to give a clear view to the audience of his personality through almost every shot and this shot (even as a still picture) can show this.

In moments throughout the dialogue, the protagonist Lucas changes his facial expressions. This is due to his medical condition of bipolar - he isn't taking his medication which causes him to cause an outburst. At the moment where he says he takes his medication, he almost smiles as if it a joke towards the therapist. This can imply that he cannot control his emotions or what he is feeling and does not know how to handle it. His continuous mood swings is a way of also portraying the protagonist - unstable.

By Dione
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Australian Accent

Actor Profile:
       Name: Bertie Brown
       Age: 16
     
We didn't have auditions because I had a friend who we thought would be great for Lucas. Visually Bertie fit the role perfectly and he is the same age and gender as Lucas so he can relate easily to the character. When we asked for his consent, he kindly agreed to be our actor.
Bertie has had experience with acting in the past since he was in two school productions; one of which as a main character - Danny in 'Grease'.
He is VERY friendly and flexible which was useful because it meant the filming could be easily done without any problem concerning him. And he's always committed to his role which gives the best performance possible.

Instead of auditions we had to do test shots; showing his acting ability and to see his potential in front of the camera. We decided to have him try out different accents to see if it might suit Lucas; also through accents it helped Bertie excel with his character as he begins to understand the meanings portrayed through Lucas's language.

When this was shot, we thought the Australian accent worked okay. The accent sounded really casual and chilled which is why we decided not to have it because Lucas is not a relaxed person.
The pace was of his dialogue was good, it was slow at times to show when Lucas is careful with what he says and to show his calmer side.

The pitch went high when he was lying to the therapist to show he was happy. We wanted Lucas to show as many different emotions as possible to show the impacts of his disorder. Also it suggests he acts as a posititve person to cover up his lies.

But the pitch was quite low which did sound pretty mellow. This was bad since Lucas has a disorder that triggers his lifestyle everyday; his emotions and thoughts are scattered. 

The pace began to speed up when he was angry. This was good because we wanted Lucas to get frustrated as his dialogue built up.

And the volume stayed the same throughout, the only time it did increase was when Lucas was lying and when he was angry.

By Hana.
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Jamaican Accent

As we didn't hold auditions for the character of Lucas we decided to run test shots to help develop character and get in role, it was important for our actor (Bertie) to do test shots to both understand and become the character of Lucas as well as us becoming familiar with him so we could work around his acting.

In this test shot we thought by giving him an accent will both help develop a connection with Bertie's character and experiment different ways the character Lucas could be portrayed. In this test shot he performed a farmers' accent but then changed to a Jamaican accent, we thought he should do a Jamaican accent as we wanted to be spontaneous and we're just messing around, after experiencing the accent and watching over the test shots we weren't sure whether we wanted to use it of not as it didn't reflect the personality of lucas that we desired as it was 1) humerous which wouldn't have been appropriate for a serious coming of age opening sequence and by using it would have diminished the perpose of using bipolar and the center topic of Behind Blue Eyes as we wanted it to be emotional and somewhat depressing, 2) Bertie British white and by him doing a jamaican accent for the film would have come across as racist, 3) it wouldn't look genuine or serious which is the main thing we wanted the opening sequence to be, all in all it wasn't the persona we wanted the character Lucas to portray.

By Marwa.
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SCHEDULING:

Lucas' Schedule- By Dione

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NEW SCHEDULE 

By Dione
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LOCATIONS:

OLD DEER PARK
We chose this location because it's isolated which is important as in these scenes we want Lucas to be alone when he contemplates to himself to throw away his medication or not. In the end he does. This suggest he is lonely even when he is struggling.
We filmed in the morning because the park's scenery  looked epic and people (apart from dog walkers) don't go in the morning. So we could film comfortably and easily as we didn't get into anyone's way.
The environment of the park : Is next to the River Thames - suggesting free flowing spirits where your ideas can be expressed. This is good since Lucas is fighting with himself to take his medication or not.
There are many trees suggesting life.
There is a lonely bench implying abandonment .
This was in Isleworth which is close for the whole crew; easy transport.

ANOTHER PARK:
for this park all we needed it for was the tree shot, we chose this park because the trees were climbable, closer to the ground, local and there were hardly any people there which minimized any possible casualties.

FLATS
We chose this location for the therapy room as it belongs to a family members of Hana therefore we would be allowed to film there. Also the room has comfy seats which resembled a therapy room normally used in fims. And it is spacious for all our equipment (including tracks). Everyone knew where to go as it was located near a well known school (lampton which the is the school the actor attends) so we could easily get there.

ISLEWORTH PHARMACY
We chose this location because it's in Isleworth which was the main area we filmed most of the scenes in. We wanted to film everything in Isleworth because our actor lived in Isleworth and it would be easier for him to come as he was traveling by bike from location to location.
We wanted to film by a Pharmacy to make his disorder look realistic as well as being part of the dissorder iconograpgy.

ROAD WITH HOUSES
We wanted houses that looked affluent to show he is from a wealthy background despite his disorder and lack of friends. Also as this location is featured at the beginning, shows the audience the film is set on Earth in a normal society just giving it a sense of everyday live/ routine. Suggesting bipolar is still present today and teenagers have an equal chance of getting is as anyone else.
By Hana and Marwa

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IMAGES OF LOCATIONS:

By Dione.
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MORE IMAGES OF LOCATIONS:

By Hana
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CERTIFICATE PROP (Dr.Kiani)

By Dione

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LETTER FOR RIGHTS

Hana: 

The final song we decided to use was Home by Daughter. We chose this over Hunger of The pine by Alt-J because we thought this song created a deeper meaning for the opening sequence. The audience feels more curious about Lucas as the song suggests Lucas doesn't have a sense of belonging and as if he is trapped in his disorder.

We needed the rights to the song so at first, I emailed this letter to Daughter's producer Ian Grimble to use 'Home' from The Wild Youth EP. I got an email back saying I have to contact the publisher of Daughter's to ask for the song rights. Next I found out the publishers were Universal Music Publishing group (UMPG). On their website they had a phone number. My aunty contacted UMPG telling them we'd like to use Daughter's music and if they have an email for me to send a letter explaining more; she had to speak to a man called Alex Kelly who worked in the Copyright and Licensing Department and had worked with Daughter. He said Daughter owns 100% of the song's rights. He gave his email and asked for me to attach the blog's link and any other resources related to the film to give him a clearer overview of Behind Blue Eyes.


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WHY WE CHOSE OUR ACTORS:

By Marwa




Since the character Ashley isn't in our opening sequence we didn't have to cast her. However when editing we had to include the actress name in the titles since Ashley is another main character. So Sumana and Hana came up with the fake name - Ellie Mae Parker as the actress for Ashley Sanders. - By Hana

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THE RISK ASSESSMENT

By Hana and Marwa.
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SYNOPSIS:

By Hana
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CHARACTER NAMES WITH MEANINGS:

Ashley Sanders-

Sanders is Greek for Alexander which means defensive.  Ashley is defensive of Lucas' down thoughts- the way he sees himself with his disorder.

Analysis of 'Ashley' - It is said that people will find it challenging to understand you as you do not reveal you innermost feedings and thoughts only if you are comfortable with another. This is relatable as Ashley in the beginning is seen as a confident girl but by the end she reveals her insecurities to Lucas.

Lucas Anderson -

Anderson means brave

Lucas means light. Light implies he is a bright person, there is a spar in him. Also light helps us see in the dark so implies security too.

Sophie Kiani-

Sophie is a Greek name which means 'Wisdom' and 'Wise'. And Kiani means Variant of Kian. Ancient.

http://www.familydb.co.uk/surname/498/williams/

By Sumana and Hana.

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CHARACTER PROFILES OF ASHLEY&THERAPIST:

 By Sumana And Hana.
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COSTUME IDEAS FOR BBE:

By Hana.
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CHARACTER PROFILES:

By Hana.
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SCREENPLAY/SCRIPT DEVELOPMENT: 

BEHIND BLUE EYES Final Screen Play - Marwa

Screenplay for Sumana and Hana edit -

Screenplay 2

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SCREENPLAY/SCRIPT:

By Hana.
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STORY BOARD FOR BBE

Uploaded by Marwa. Done by Marwa and Hana
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ANIMATICS

 By FEP

This our first animatic for our opening sequence. The animatic allowed us to take the shots out of the storyboard and import it onto Final Cut to edit - include non diegetic, diegetic music and time durations. So we have a draft visual idea of how the opening sequence would be like and see if we wanted to improve or add anything. We used a whiteboard to draw the shots because it was quick and easy.  - Hana