The Directors Notebook (1) (3)

8/17/2019 The Directors Notebook (1) (3)

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The TimeTraveler


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1A short script about a time

traveler and some actors

making a horror movie.

The Time Traveler


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This Section Will Include

1. Costumes

2. Props

3. Sets

4. Music Usage

2

Section 1

Background

Information


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3

CostumesCharacters wear casual day to day clothing (excluding Puck). As it is a “location

scout”, characters will wear normal clothing as if it was just checking a place out.

Left - Bottom

Right - Snug

The usage of common cloth-

ing show that the scene is

relaxed and calm in contrast

to a serious mood. On the

other hand, the normal cloth-

ing of the characters show

that the mood of the situa-

tion at hand is tranquil and

peaceful. The characters who utilize this type of tone are Bottom, Snug and Quince.

On another note, Puck uses a futuristic type of clothing shown by his capes worn on

him. He is shown to be a darker individual, whilst in contrast to the red and purple

insides which is also represents blood and royalty. The red blood and anger colors

juxtaposed to a refined and more dominant royalty colour show a mix of moods for

this character. Puck is a rather elusive character as he is shown to be a spectator in

most

scenes, en-

tering and

manipulat-

ing as he

sees fit.

Props

The Laptop

The computer has been the tool of choice for creative individuals for many years. As a direc-

tor, bottom holding a laptop shows how he has pre-prepared notes and is ready to talk about

the movie and share it with his crew. His laptop, and the fact that he has a prop shows the

fact that he is in power and that he is most knowledgeable.

Set(s)

The First Set (main set)

This first set is where the main characters are set and placed for their upcoming act.

Once there, they practice their lines for pyramus and thisbe scene. The charactersBottom, Snug and Quince all show up here at some point and practice their parts in

the play.


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The Secondary Set (side set)

The secondary set is used when Puck teleports into the scene from the future and

shows up in a bright white flash. This particular scene can also be seen in the frame

of the first set while the main set is going on, Puck entering the scene shows his sly

actions toward the plot of the story.

Music

Our music choice, is completely based around our mood of playfulness. This playful

music reflects our comedic approach for this short film. The characters depicted in

the scenes attempt to be serious but ultimately becomes a comedic and playful

scene. The transition between music pieces show the development of plot within the

story as music can influence the course of action within a character, potentially fore-

shadowing a future event.


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This Section Talks About:

1. Script

2. Subtext

3. Characters

4. Costume

5. Prop Usage

5

Section 2

Script


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Actions

Bottom stands on the chair, being the highest person in the scene, he is shown to have

dominance and to be the

boss. His laptop estab-

lishes the fact that he is a

director who has pre-

prepared notes to share

with his crew.

Framing

A camera is placed by the edge of the scene and another is placed in the center of the

chairs.

This video shows blocking from this page tothe next.

Blocking 1.1 Blocking

The camera at the edge of the scene

has one side blocked by a pole which

creates depth to draw in an audience,

while the wide framed shot acts as an

establishing scene to establish the fact

that the actors are in a playground.

The second camera in the middle of the

scene is also a wide shot, used to estab-

lish the scene and setting. The charac-

ters are framed using the rule of thirds in

the top left edge and are emphasized.


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Framing

The shot is reframed and is shown with the characters closer together. As Bottom is still the

one in power, the shots are framed over the shoulder for Bottom, showing him using a cam-

era pointed from low to high, suggesting his power in this scene, and the shot of Snug from

regular eye-level which suggests regularity. Over the shoulder creates depth and allows the

audience to imagine the distance that the two actors have which creates comfort. The con-

trast between characters as

they line up against the rule

of thirds, with Bottom taking

two points of the thirds

while Snug is placed di-

rectly centered onto the

framing. This thereby

points the camera onto

Snug.


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Subtext:

This sentence shows Puck’s confusion on what events are happening around him

which ultimately effects his character as a time traveler: “What do we have swag-

gering here so close the the Dairy Queen?”. His reaction towards “Maybe even an

actor!” demonstrates his eagerness to join the play showing his inner feelings to-

ward his surroundings. As puck is part of the background characters, this is also

reflected :”I’ll be a spectator,” showing his tendency to space himself out from

other characters showing his shy and sly personality within the film.

When Puck stresses the final words of “...an actor!” his voice raises higher show-

ing his excitement towards being part of a large play. Additionally, some vocal

pauses that he shows are between “What, a play?” starting the phrasing with a dis-

gruntled question, and ending with a higher sense of mood in contrast to before.Puck’s facial reaction during this scene changes as he begins the play as a more

neutral tone, natural and when he is prompted with being in a play, his eyebrows

raises up, demonstrating his delight to being a potential actor. As soon as Puck ar-

rives from his time machine, he swirls his capes and ends with his chin high up ex-

erting dominance on his surroundings. Once he realizes that he arrived some-

where, he careful zigzags into a better place to see on the opposite side where Bot-

tom, Snug and Quince are located.

His odd otherworldly movements reflect him as he steps into the unknown with the

upmost care for his own wellbeing. However, as he gets closer his shifts into a posi-

tion where he can clearly and concisely see everything within the play itself. None-

theless, he utilizes this and carefully sits down onto a place where he wants to

watch the actors practice their parts, discreetly enjoying every part of the whole

act.

This video demonstrates the actions and reason for doing so.

Blocking


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Subtext

The positioning and framing of Quince and Bottom show the contrast between charac-

ters once they meet. As Bottom was in a physically higher place then Snug from the pre-

vious shot, Bottom steps down from the balancing beam equalling in height. However,framing of the shot is placed in a perspective that Quince is visibly looking down at Bot-

tom returning him to his

rightful place under the

real director.

When both characters

interact with each

other, they attempt to

show dominance over

one another but

Quince eventually over-

takes Bottom as he

leaves the scene in de-

feat. However, once

Quince utilizes some

hand movements like

the finger quotes, it

shows his sarcasm to-

wards the topic at hand.

This also reflects his comical approach to the scene in contrast to Bottom, who actively

wants to overtake him.

Swings

Swings

Balance Boards

B o a r d B o a r d

Bottom

Snug

Swings

Swings

Balance Boards

B o a r d B o a r d

Bottom

Snug


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This Section Includes

1. tonys rationale

2. howard’s rationale

3. max’s rationale

4. taishan’s rationale

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Tony

In the directors notebook, I contributed to the first section of the script. I wrote page

1 and half of page 2, then alongside the script, I created the subtext of the film. Also,

I showed Bottom and Snugs costumes in section 1. In terms of the performance, I

framed the shots for the first 4 minutes and applied the cinema analysis knowledge

to the film by using different camera shots and angles. I also put together and edited

the entire film in post-production. Our group explored the theme of power within our

performance. One person in the film was always showing more dominance over the

other. It started out at Bottom(Max) showing more dominance over Snug(me), and

then it ended in a fight for power between Quince(Taishan) and Bottom(Max). To

show this dominance, we mostly used levels. We had Bottom stand on a balance

beam to gain more height than Snug. This created a dominance over Snug, who was

sitting on the balance beam below Bottom. Another example of this exploration of

power and dominance was through the framing of the shot.

In the angle shown below, the camera films Bottom from the bottom to the top, which

creates a sense of height and greatness, therefore, creating dominance and creating

the ef-

fect

that he

has

more

power

in the

scene.

I devel-

oped

my

charac-

ter to have the least power in this scene. My character, Snug was always at a lower

level in the shot and always listened to Bottom when he spoke about the movie. My

character did not talk back and was always at a lower level of power. My character

Section 3

rationale


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utilized the setting by sitting down on the balance beam to show that he was at lower

power than others. My character always didn't want to start conflicts with other char-

acters and tried to remain calm when bottom was getting annoyed at him. My charac-

ter played a supporting role in helping establish the thematic issue of power, As he

was always at a lower amount of power than others, he was able to help show how

powerful the other characters were.

Howard’s Rationale

Max’s Rationale

In our interpretation of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which brings the Shakespeare

classic into the modern setting of the 21-century, my unique portrayal of the charac-

ter Nick Bottom (simply referred to as “Bottom” in our film) converts the identity of the

quirky actor from a Worker to a teenage high school student keen on directing his

own film.

From the very first show, Bottom is seen standing on a ledge of sorts. I this scene,

which he shares with the character Snug, this stance is one way the character as-

serts his dominance sub-textually. The shot and angles of this scene are framed, as

well, to support the assertion of dominance in Bottom’s character. The two different

angles used in this scene represent different elements that coordinate with the plot

and characters; the first shot, looking upwards, further elaborates on Bottom’s power,

as it looks up to him from a low to high perspective. All the while, in this same shot,Snug is given an eye-level shot, signifying him as the subordinate character. The sec-

ond shot in this scene is over-the-shoulder of Bottom; with a slightly heavier focus on

Snug, as his face is the only one visible. In addition, this shot also creates a sense of

depth, as it looks from a high to low perspective, allowing the audience to imagine

the distance between the two actors, creaking a sense of comfort.

In this short-short-film, I used my 21st-century reinterpretation of Bottom’s character

to capture the spirit of the original Shakespeare classic. In A Midsummer Night’s

Dream, Bottom is depicted as being an over-confident and generally naive actor with

an overdone belief in his own abilities. In my portrayal, the reimagined Bottom takes

self-appointed dominance over his fellow actors, much like Nick Bottom does with

the production of Pyramus and Thisbe. From the very start, he is seen dictating crea-

tive choices, providing unwarranted opinions, and, in one case, even patronizes

Snug. However, much like his Shakespearean counterpart, much of this, if not all, is

done out of good intention, as he genuinely believes to be the grandiose showmanhe sees himself as, while, in reality, there are few who take him seriously.

More specifically, in the notebook, I wrote the very last section of the script; from the

scene in which Taishan’s character (Quince) enters and onwards. This portion of the

story was a lot of fun for me to write, as it was, in bulk, comedically rich interactions

between the various characters. I was truly able to widen my horizon embodying the

characteristics of Bottom in his awkward arguments with Quince, where (surprise) he

tries without fruition to assert himself as the director. In this particular scene, Bottom

steps down from his ledge to greet and talk to Quince, showing that while they more

or less hold the same level of power. However, Quince is the actual bigger man,

hence Bottom stepping down from his level rather than Quince stepping up. Bottom’s

over-the-top perception of his own acting skills is seen as he clumsily delivers the

line, “I am one of style, and drama!”, attempting to assert a dominance of skill over

the actually talented Quince.

Taishan’s Rationale


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© TONY HOWARD MAX TAISHAN

All characters and other entities appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resem-

blance to real persons, dead or alive, or other real-life entities, past or present, is

purely coincidental.

Documents

The Directors Notebook (1) (3)