Fiction Adaptation: Briefing

Fiction Adaptation: Briefing 

Today we had our briefing on fiction adaptation. We were introduced to mike who would be our unit leader if we picked this option. After a short lecture on fiction adaptation and a "pop quiz" that I scored a point in, we were introduced to our workshop task for the day. 


We were tasked with picking a Haiku from the ones provided and using stock footage to form a basic pictorial narative to match or rather symbolise the meaning (or should I say interpreted meaning) of the Haiku. 
After reading the ones available I sleected to look in to the following Haiku. "My life.... how much of it remaains? This night is brief". 
After giving it some thought and looking through a few clips I settled on my theme that I interpreted from the Haiku.  I wanted to look at aging and the passing of time. I started with footage of a baby in the womb, then transitioned to a todler. Then I used footage of balloons and presents to symbolise a birthday or comming of age. Which allowed me to transition in to footage of children playing then to teenagers hanging out. I then used footage of presents under a Christams tree to represent the passing of another year or years adn the gathering of a family. After demonstrating that more time had passed I used footage of an office setting to show how my character had aged furher and entered the adult world, before cutting to an old man walking dow a street. 

The text that appeared on screen for a short period of time durign this segmant was "My life... how much of it remains?"

Then my final two shots were of a time lapsed night sky, transitioning to a sunrise and then the final shot is of someone lying in bed with light peaking through the curtains. The text on screen read "this night is brief", matching the night sky. Then the character awakens to turn of their alarm. At this exact point I made the calming music that played in the background fade abruptly and the screen dip to black.

This was my aim, so as to leave the audience woundering at what point in the characters life was this sentance comming from since we don't see their face in the last shot. This could represent their death bed, or it could represent a dream. It's up to interpritation as I simply wanted to convey the passing of life. 

After completing this we all gathered as a group to watch each others piece and give feedback. A few people chose the smae Haiku as me, and although some were similar, none were exactly the same which I was pleased about. 

The feedback I received abou my piece from Mike and the others was interesting. I was told that the way I had combined the shots was very courperate, it looked like something a comany like moonpig, instagram or some organisation might commission if it wanted to promote a warm feeling of family and innocence. I was complimented on the fact it looked like a profeciolnal looking piece someone would commission, which supprised me but pleased me at the same time. I was told it almost looks like ot could have been used for promotional or advertising perposes.

After this we had a full run down of what this unit entails. This unit is formed by:

•  A 5 minuet short film piece based on a sonnet that you will   select out of those provided for you.
• A full script/shot list as well as location, and casting plan. 
• Regular blog updates on your thought process and a brief evaluation of how you think the project went. 

My Thoughts

• I will admit this project is more interesting than I first thought, however I've had my mind set on professional practice for some time and I'm not sure it was enough to sway my decision. 
• Although I like the creative freedom we have, it's still not as much as I was hoping, since firstly it has to be based off of a sonnet, and secondly it's supposed to be one we select out of those provided to us, so it is a bit limiting in that respect. 
• This unit requires you to write a script (which I am not very good at), as well as direct (and potentially operate a camera at the same time) which while I am perfectly capable of performing such tasks to a reasonable standard; it's not where my strengths lie and I would prefer to sharpen other skills in professional practice. 
• If i opt for professional practice I have to write an analytical report which will be good practice for my future Dissertation and Critical perspectives essay. And I may still have the opportunity to attend some of the Fiction Adaptation workshops so as not to miss out entirely on some valuable skills.   
• If I can secure a placement in the industry I want to work in (post production) it could prove invaluable. And while more fiction work could be useful to have under my belt, for now it remains my second choice. We'll see what Thursday brings.