I am satisfied with the way the Mis en Scene ended up in this film. The everyday, messy indoor sets combined with the props such as alcohol and cigarettes created a believable, natural feel. I did not get to explore as many possibilities as I originally intended, but on reflection I believe that in this case, less turned out to be more.
Nathan and I spent a lesson discussing the different characters in the band, to work out both the scripting, and so that I could think about their costume and set design. This discussion was also influenced by what Chris Ramsden had suggested the previous lesson.
The guitarist is the sensible character – his clothes were to be the most casual and ordinary, and I chose for him to be shot in a room on his own, with his chair to camera left. The lead singer was shot on camera right, also on his own, but this time outside, to distinguish him as an outsider in the group. Keeping the guitarist on the left and the lead singer on the right is intended to help visualise the power struggle between them, and establish the guitarist as in a stronger position. I drew this idea from the 180 degree rule, most clearly used in Westerns. I wanted the bassist and drummer on a sofa together so that the two could work as a double act, and because they are both stuck in the middle of the power struggle. Nathan's home provided the sets. The lead singer's clothes were simple when he was interviewed outside; this was so that he could contrast strongly with his appearance in rehearsal and performance shots, which we never filmed in the end. However, this is simply part of a full film, and these sides of his character would have been shown in the full feature.
My plans for the other band members' costumes had been also been different. Originally, the bassist was going to be female and stoned, in grungey, cheap clothing – short tartan skirt, boots, female denim waistcoat over a netting shirt etc, with messy hair and old eyeliner. Naturally this changed drastically because of casting and the direction that the character was taken in when filming, and what would've been quite a throw-away character became a talkative and useful one, as well as amusing. I was therefore happy with this change.
The drummer was also originally different. I wanted to dress him inn a dressing gown and hat, to set him aside as more casual yet more unusual than the rest. The hat remained but the dressing gown was refused by the actor when it came to shooting – I was unhappy about this.. Also, originally the drummer was going to hardly speak (which was kept) except to make seemingly sage remarks by saying obscure famous quotes that made little sense in the context. This was inspired by the Garbage Man on Dilbert and the stereotype of drummers being the oddity in a band that was highlighted in the interview about drummers in Spinal Tap. I picked some quotes for him from http://www.quotegarden.com, but again, the actor did not want to do this when it came to filming. Luckily the bassist had become a more talkative character, and so the drummer's input was less missed.
When we were planning to have shots of the band rehearsing and performing, i was going to arrange a stage space etc. In rehearsals I planned for Eddie to wear his performance gear whilst the rest of them were casual (and drummer, again, in dressing gown and hat). This was to show his more avid dedicated to the band. Performance clothes were all going to vary – Eddie's was going to be loud and ridiculous, inspired by some hideous combination of Ziggy Stardust and Aerosmith,. The drummer was going to be more Sex Pistols and the guitarist, laid back 70s. The varying clothes were going to show the division in the band.
Some of the props that we did use were to establish the characters - for example, the guitarist had his guitar, and the drummer had drum sticks stuck between cushions on the sofa. This wasn't done for every character to keep an illusion of realism. I was going to make a band Logo and some albums, but we had to shoot our main footage before I could do this, and we decided we didn't want or need them. The Mood Board was an idea from early on, though the result may not have been successful. I think that was an illustration that in a documentary style piece, less turns out to be much more, and on reflection I am glad that we kept the movie and the Mis en Scene as simple as we did.
The other task i was involved with was the editing. Chris was in charge of it and did a fantastic job, and was also good at accepting a lot of input from Nathan and I. We also all co-wrote the summaries of the people's lives since the band.Labels: Alice Instone-Brewer, Evaluation, Zebra Voltage |
