Adaptation development & research
What is an Adaptation?
When researching the first aspect that I looked at is what actually is an adaptation. I have created multiple short films before, but I have never done an adaptation of anything. Adaptations are constantly circling the TV and Film industry as "all texts invoke and rework other texts in a rich and ever-evolving cultural mosaic." (Sanders, 2016:17) Hence meaning that you can adapt any media test into anything and there are little rules or limitations when it comes to adaptation, other than the idea deriving from the media form. Adaptation is "an act of revision in itself." (Sanders, 2016:18) This was important for me to remember as to begin with I was a little worried about making sure that it perfectly represented the story that the poem tells. However after finding out that adaptations carry little limitations, it was exciting to have creative freedom when developing my idea. I wanted to stick quite closely to the story as a proportion of adaptations do reflect the story (Hutcheon, 2012:3), however the poem that I am adapting is "I Choose the Mountain" by Howard Simon which is very metaphorical and this gave me endless options when it came to idea development.
Working on my Own
A large challenge that I knew that I was going to have to face was working completely on my own, this covered every aspect of: idea development, pre production, directing, acting, DoP, editing, designing costuming and set etc. I felt very apprehensive at the start of the unit as I knew that I had a very large task in front of me, but after sufficient research and intense planning and project management I felt confident. I am glad that I carried out research as I discovered aspects that I may not have considered when panning such as audio being challenging to get right and making sure the monitor is set up correctly. (Renee, 2017) The best decision I made was to make sure that my production paperwork was as organised as possible by using the same colour coordination for all, as it made working on my own quite efficient.
Coming up with an Idea:
When planning the idea I did have limitations in place due to lockdown restrictions. I did have to make the entire film from home and could not meet up with anyone that is not in my support bubble. This brought a great challenge as I had to set my idea around being at home and using the resources that I have available to me. I was lucky enough to take out a 4K camera just before the lockdown was announced so I did have a great piece of kit to help me. I knew that I would be working fully on my own as those in my household bubble do not have any experience of using the kit, as well as this the idea of working fully on my own from coming up with the idea, to filming and acting in the adaptation, as well as editing too was something that I saw as a great opportunity to challenge myself. I started to think of a few possible ideas to do with resources that were available to me at home, such as something to do with my dog, or to do with lockdown rules and being in quarantine; however these did not excite me. After looking at the source material I started to consider anxieties and how they can affect someone in their day to day life. Anxiety is something that I have personally struggled with for as long as I can remember so I knew that I would have the personal knowledge on how it can affect somebody. On the other hand, a concern that I had was that I did not want to become too attached to the film, I wanted to make it from a technical point of view, implementing emotions for an audience to respond to, but without filling it with my thoughts and my own experiences. To assist me with idea development I read Richard Curtis' Bafta Lecture on his Screenwriting tips. He discusses how he "writes best when what I right is true to me and I understand it." (Curtis, 2013) Reading this made me feel more confident about creating a film surrounding something that I have had an experience with as I will be able to create something that represents a version of reality that I have lived. He also outlines that he "would never write a film about something that I don't know personally." (Curtis, 2013) Which in turn gave me even more confidence in creating an idea about my own anxieties and I also viewed it as a challenge for myself to make sure that I can make it as personal as possible, but without detaching myself from the fact that it is a film. (Hatfield, 2006:25) When it came to deciding location I knew that I had to film at home, however I did not see this as a limitation, but instead a possibility. I decided to utilise as many rooms as possible to make as visually stimulating rather than repetitive with locations other than the bedroom as this is the protagonists safe space.
Researching Insecurities:
Once I had derived an idea outline of showing a persons anxieties surrounding their insecurities, which reflected the themes of strength of will, determination, choice and inspiration as these were implemented into the poem, I wanted to look at these anxieties in more detail. I knew some information from my own knowledge of suffering with some, however I wanted to give my audience an accurate representation. I read about anxieties surrounding us because we are humans and it is natural, but if we start to see the good in the world and with ourselves, with time they will fade. (BBC Radio One, unknown year) This lead me to derive the idea of insecurities as well as beauty being around us always, and that we get the choice of what to see. I wanted to show this concept in an ironic way, hence I came up with the idea to surround the character with post it notes describing positive attributes about themselves that other people see. To start with they ignore them, but over time they start to read them and start to believe them which improves the characters positivity levels and feelings about themselves. This simple concept would not only be visually stimulating for an audience, but it would be experimental and unique, as well as showing that it is possible to believe in yourself if you see the good aspects. It also would fit with the poems original motives, and would therefore be a successful adaptation. (Hutcheon, 2012:3)
Another form of research that really helped me was listening music about insecurities and how they affect different people. These songs consisted of Jess Glynne's 'Thursday', Alessia Cara's 'Scars to Your Beautiful' and Christina Aguilera's 'Beautiful'. These songs included lyrics such as "don't want tot wear makeup, I'm sick of covering it up" along with "You don't have to change a thing, you are beautiful.' Listening to these songs and lyrics reminded me that so many people struggle with insecurities and have to face them everyday, and that you should learn to embrace them. Including ideas similar to these would reflect the themes of determination and will power, making my adaptation a success.
Character Research:
When carrying out character research I created a 'role on the wall' (BBC Bitesize) which is a technique used to break down a character profile. All aspects of the characters personality go on the interior of the figure, and the other physical aspects of the character go on the outside. This was a helpful way for me to differentiate qualities of the protagonist. It was also helpful for me as I understand things better if they are more visual, which this definitely is and in future I will use this technique again to help me. I also carried out research into the name of the character and decided on Billie as it represents "Strength and Determination." (Ratnum, 2020)
Mood Boards:
Uncomfortable:
An idea that I had from the start and that I really wanted to be successful with many aspects of my film was using subliminal shots and signs to make the viewer feel uncomfortable, as that's how the protagonist feels. As the protagonist feels uncomfortable when she looks in the mirror and uncomfortable when she thinks about her appearance, I wanted to subtly reflect this. I used multiple aspects to try and make this successful and these consisted of:
- Using Dutch Shots. I wanted to distort the audiences point of view and portray the characters "abnormal state of mind." (Brown, 2016:101) I planned to carry this out by tilting the camera very slightly so that it makes a canted angle and this will then build and sense of unease which will therefore make the viewer feel uncomfortable, even if they do not recognise it.
- Another way that I planned to make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable was through use of sound. I wanted to try and include small sound effects or moments of audio that will accentuate the uncomfortable feeling in the adaptation. s the character feels trapped in her appearance my aim was to make the audience feel similar, hence I looked for the most annoying sounds and they tended to be either a long 'buzz' sound effect, or an alarm. I used sound effects from 'Zapsplat' as they offer a plethora of different sounds to add to films that are also royalty free which was extremely useful. I made sure that I had planned to use an alarm in at least three moments for a short period of time. Hopefully playing these sounds will add to the very slight feeling of discomfort.
- The next way that I plan to make the audience feel uncomfortable is by holding onto shots for longer than I normally would. This experimental technique will involve me holding the shot I would normally edit just to include the key parts and to keep it condense (Brown, 2016:2) however by holding shots it makes the audience feel slightly uneasy as they will be subconsciously waiting for the next shot to come.
- Another way that I am going to make the audience feel uncomfortable is through a very very subtle shot. When the protagonist is feeling very insecure and is eating, she will be seen eating a plate of four sausages lined up. This may not even be noticed, however if it is then the audience may question why she is eating such an unusual meal and this confusion will add to the subtle underlying tone of discomfort.
- The final way that I plan to make the audience feel uncomfortable is through the use of colour. This is for the opening title and the graphics. "Pantone is the most uncomfortable colour" (Wikipedia, 2016) and this was useful for me to know as it meant that I could make all fonts in my film this shade of brown. This is an example of how a very slight choice of colour will add the the uncomfortable feeling that I want the audience to experience.
Music Usage:
Initially I knew that I wanted to use an upbeat and positive song for the ending of my adaptation. This is because it is inspirational and follows the themes of the poem that I am adapting. When creating film, music is a powerful tool that can be utilised as "in adaptation, music functions as an emulsifier that allows you to dissolve a certain emotion." (in Ondaatje, 2002:103) This is definitely true as I wanted to use music at the end to finish the audiences journey while watching my film. I decided initially that I wanted to use the song 'Someone New' by Hozier, therefore at the start of January I got in contact with Sony Music licensing, but unfortunately I never heard back from them. I did not let this stop me from trying and I reached out this time to Universal for my other choice of music. This was for 'The Tide is High' by Blondie as it is upbeat and would fit well with the happy and inspirational ending. I got in contact with Universal music and sent the email below.
Mood Boards:
To help me with the design of each shot and set-up in each room, I decided to create a sequence of mood boards. Some of them were inspired by certain films of television programmes such as 'Black Mirror's Nosedive'; creating mood boards was a useful was for me to visualise the style of each segment of my film, as well as creating colour pallets that will reflect the mood of the film. This is important as colour takes the audience in a certain direction so it is an key factor to consider. (in Ondaatje, 2002:103)
This mood board is for the running scenes in my film. Is is inspired by Black Mirror's 'Nosedive' and the shots seen below. I enjoy how the high vibrancy reflects the characters happy mood and this has inspired the planned running shots in my film. I have created a colour pallet from this which will be used when doing colour correction in my film.
Bibliography:
Ondaatje, M (2002) The Conversations: Walter Murch and the Art of Editing Film. [online] At: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conversations-Walter-Murch-Editing-Film-ebook/dp/B00B0CWCPI/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=3 (Accessed on 4.1.2021)
Brown, B (2016) Cinematography: theory and practice: imagemaking for cinematographers and directors. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=720723 (Accessed on 24/12/2021)
Hutcheon, L. (2012) A Theory of Adaptation. [online] At: https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ucreative-ebooks/reader.action?docID=1016075 (Accessed on 3.1.2021)
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