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Clifford Whitworth Building (Library), Salford

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In all films there is an underlying message. The one I have chosen is at the fore front of people's minds around the globe and is a huge part in society currently with papers, books, podcasts, music, and other forms published marking a problem in mental health and wellbeing.

There are many categories, but individual mental health is one that is prominent.

I have chosen to cast a woman; this is not to say that I am focusing my efforts on women's mental health but the mental health of an individual which just so happens to be a female.

In First Glance, Kelly is the main character and has a conflict in the form of an internal struggle. Kelly wants to be quote-on-quote Normal, or at least have the feeling of living a normal lifestyle without the relentless interference of her internal monologue.

I wrote the scene with the intention that we will not have Kelly physically speaking as she has a fight with her internal persona, until she finally has enough at the end of the scene and speaks out to an empty room.

AFTER The Scene: the story will continue to become more elaborate with Kelly's battle interfering with new situations that Kelly finds herself in whilst she is fighting for control of her body, mind, and life. A revelation occurs when Kelly finds a man who is determined to be a part of her life and help her through her struggles.

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The script breakdown was simple and straight forward as it is only a 1 cast member project, if I were shooting the entire feature film with many more additional characters, locations, props, and wardrobe it would have created a substantial amount of additional paperwork. As for the Budget, I kept it minimal with only small costs that really helped with aesthetics and the hydration of the cast and crew during intense workouts.

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BBC London Broadcasting House, Portland Place, London

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I have drawn a storyboard and marked each shot with a number which follows from a letter to mark which page it is on, page 1 is A, page 2 is B etc..... The floorplan I have created shows the spaces I will be working in were room to manover is limited by the confines of the walls. Envisioned camera placements and audio placements have been made because I undertook reconnaissance to evaluate the acoustics and visual aesthetics of the spaces, ultimately to see if my plans were viable.

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Script references can be found on the Script, Shot list and the Storyboard for easy reference and collation of data. Most shots that I have chosen are static. The reason for this is to further aid that Kelly is stuck in a rut, she is living her life but going nowhere. To elaborate this point even further I used the same lens to have the same perspective feel throughout the scene, making a more claustrophobic feel showing that her comfort zone is tiny, non-existent.

Side note: during the external scenes of Kelly walking to the park I had her walk left to right to give the sense that she is straying further and further from her house, and then repeated the opposite for her return home walking from right to left.

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Mary Seacole Building, Salford M6 6PU, UK

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The casting call poster underlies the stories vision. I used the illustration of a tree and a woman both half in colour and the other in black and white to aid in the visual representation of the struggles that are faced within the piece.

I also added a Trigger warning label with information denoting the scenes possible fragility as it may present a problem for an applicant.

UPDATE:

I have found the perfect candidate for the production and she has also granted me access to a location for all INT shots. she answered my casting call through a post that I made on a Facebook group. her name is Danni Buck and she ticks all of the criteria within my casting call parameters.

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Full location scout pictures, release forms and RA

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I drove around and went on walks to find some of the exterior locations and had a wonderful time sourcing them with aesthetics, angles, frames, and cinematography that I had envisioned for the production.

I went through the relevant process of seeking permission for filming:

1. For the driveway, I left a note for the owner of the property, and he answered his door, I told him the reason I was there, and he was more than happy to grant me permission and sign a location Release form.

2. For the park and other related EXT locations I approached my local council as the locations fall under their domain. the council then put me InTouch with their press office, I then described the nature of my business and they deemed my use of the various locations acceptable, stating that I do not need permission as they are public areas and that there is no issue along as I don't interfere with anyone's peaceful operations of the space, and we mutually agreed if that was the case I would abort operations and return at a later stage.

3. For the Gym, Iknow somebody who attends mac’s Gym and that is the reason I thought of his space. I went there to talk to the owner and spoke to him in detail about my intentions and answered any concerns he had, one of which was the location Release as quote “this looks very Legal” so I reassured him that it was just something that needed to be signed off and that I could leave it with him to read for as long as he needs, he was happy with my honesty and after also explaining how I knew our mutual Acquaintance, he signed off.

4. Danni’s house was suggested to me by Danni herself when I chose her for the part, she will be more comfortable in the space and that it was perfect as she would not need to travel. I said thank you, but I will need to see it first as it may not meet the requirements that I have for Kelly’s house. After scouting and seeing the potential of the space I took her the Release forms and secured the location. (My main requirement was that it could not have Christmas decorations in it and that it was fit for purpose in relation to the character Kelly and the storyline.)

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I was easily and safely able to set up and get out of each location, whilst on set I made sure to capture multiple takes of each shot so that I could be better prepared during post, it is wise to have more footage than you need. Keeping on top of the equipment's safety and power was easy as I saved more power by turning off the equipment when not in use for any reasonable time, an incredibly good habit to have.

There was changes to some shots due to creative insight whilst working in the field as well as executive decisions when issues were posed, one instance was the impact on the short time I had at the Gym by the trainer in attendance, he was late to open the gym, which in turn made me think on my feet and get different shots than I had first intended as time became something I had to re-evaluate

Whilst on location at the Gym I met another man at the gym who is a secondary trainer who asked about the film and my intentions in the gym, out of curiosity. He then stated that if I needed someone to step in to spar with Kelly that he would be quote “up for it.”

I carried blank spares of all documentation for purposes such as this and had him sign a consent form before allowing him to become a cast member. I told him that safety is a major concern of mine and that sparing would not be wise and that it would be more prudent if he was to get pads on his hands and train Kelly.

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During the editing process I flipped the colour pallet to cold inside and a warm hue outside to physically show confusion in a very subtle way, adding to the mind field that is Kelly's mental state, which I also did on location with the lighting. I had a lot of footage and audio files to sort through and will better manage in the future how the files save themselves on their respective recording devices by consulting the user manuals (ZOOM corporation, N.D).

I created my piece First Glance and added additional content before and after the scene composition. Before, I added the Salford university logo as a sign of respect and appreciation for providing the equipment and also added my own production company logo. After the credits, I added a helpline for the Samaritans to help anyone who maybe struggling with the themes in the scene, in reality.

Reference:

ZOOM corporation. (n.d.). Operation Manual Handy Recorder H8. Retrieved November 26, 2023, from https://zoomcorp.com/media/documents/E_H8_v2.pdf