Final Film
Poster
Magazine Article
EVALUATION QUESTION 1
EVALUATION QUESTION 2
EVALUATION QUESTION 3
' The film seemed almost like a dream sequence - I loved the music and the sound effects of the wind. '
' The guru character was utterly unexpected and mad, it took the film to another dimension and made it more like a fairly story'
'I think this film shows how unobtainable girls are not more attractive than obtainable ones, a lesson in kindness instead of talking up cruelty.'
'This feels like an old fashioned modern film. I am left haunted by it.'
In some ways I wish I could have made a visual diary to show the journey of my short film, Fluff. I set out with such a different film in mind, however over the months, with false starts, evolving objectives and constructive feed-back Fluff has now transformed into a finished piece that paradoxically seems nearer to what I wanted to express in the first place.
For my initial idea I was keen to do a dark story of unrequieted love. I was influenced by 'Blue Valentine,' with it's focus on the end of a relationship.
The narrative was dark, I wanted the protagonist, Noah, to be caught up in a self destructive cycle where we see him unable to process his feelings and instead show him dependent on energy drinks, alcohol and cigarettes. The love interest would appear cruel and unsympathetic. Ultimately Noah would be unable to stand the rejecting lover and the film would end with his suicide.
The arc of the story line would be a descending towards a darker and darker outcome.
My tutors advised me that although the work had some merits a suicide would be too harsh an outcome leaving the audience depressed. Why would they want to see this film?
In AS I had studied the genre of Romantic Comedy and felt that essentially I had wanted my film to fall into this genre. However, suicide no matter how quirkyilly my intentsion for the shoo would be unable to support this ending.
However I was still attached to the idea of having the love interest be the antagonist:
I felt that her continual rejection was an area I found interesting and wanted to explore. However when I started to solicit feed back from the other students some told me they felt alienated whilst others said they thought the protagonist was either indulgent or boring. One person even said it could end up being like the depressing character in 'Leaving Las Vegas' without the girl.
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| Here we Marie rejecting Noah's kiss, this marks the end of the relationship |
I felt that her continual rejection was an area I found interesting and wanted to explore. However when I started to solicit feed back from the other students some told me they felt alienated whilst others said they thought the protagonist was either indulgent or boring. One person even said it could end up being like the depressing character in 'Leaving Las Vegas' without the girl.
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| Nicolas Cage deciding on a relatioship with the bottle |
Finally I was persuaded that for the film to join the genre of ‘rom com’ it needed to have the ‘feel good’ factor. I cut the antagonist’s rejection to one just the opening scene. Interestingly this is from the original story line but now this is the jumping off point instead of the beginning of the end for Noah.
Ultimately my film can be described as a hybrid between a classic rom com with all the conventions that go with that as a more quirky Art House elements.
What the critics say:
' The film expressed a compassionate narrative and I felt relieved when Noah finally gets the girl'
' The film seemed almost like a dream sequence - I loved the music and the sound effects of the wind. '
' The guru character was utterly unexpected and mad, it took the film to another dimension and made it more like a fairly story'
'I think this film shows how unobtainable girls are not more attractive than obtainable ones, a lesson in kindness instead of talking up cruelty.'
'This feels like an old fashioned modern film. I am left haunted by it.'
Video Review
EVALUATION QUESTION 4
