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Poppy Blog

Poppy The Blog

The surest way to succeed it to be determined not to fail..


WV Jones
The Beginning
I began with four ideas, addiction, music, love and beauty.Poppys story is inspired
from my relationships and experiences, with references to films that have influenced
my writing and style. The film is a silent drama, told through atmospheric music by
Dylan Brown a local songwriter, and relies on the actors physical performance and
choreography to convey emotion . Poppy experiments with the use of metaphors and
juxtaposition, to create tension and deeper levels of meaning. This film also marks
the start of a creative and professional partnership with myself and Lauren Woodfall,
and launches LAU Production, focussing on short films to promote musicians locally.
Poppy has come from the need to create an industry standard showreel, showcasing
our ability to produce work to a professional level.

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Poppy The Synopsis

A short experimental film exploring the intimacy of a young couple,


caught in the grasp of an insatiable love for one another and their
very own intoxicating drug. Poppy shows us the pure ecstasy and
destructive hell experienced in a suffocating relationship, through
the use of imagery and music. Love and addiction can not be
described with words, only felt and lived. Sometimes the one thing
you thought would keep you alive is the only thing that will destroy
you

Developing Poppy -Creative Methodologies


Creating Poppy has reignited my passion for independent and world cinema. I
researched two films in particular that have always influenced my writing, and used
elements of their mis-en - scene, style and tone to aid in the creation of Poppy.

City of God, 2002, directed by Fernando Meirelles, is a powerful


drama, set in the Favellas of Rio, Brazil. The story is based on real
events, occurring between the 1960
' s and 1980
' s, when gangland
crime started a brutal turf war between two drug dealers.
The film employs a number of visual techniques to help tell the
story, with use of color temperature to show the change in mood
and descend into hell, as well as clever use of split screen, to
show simultaneous events unfolding. Both elements I would like to use in our film.

Poppy Blog

There are moments the director has created with use of simple, but extremely
effective, lighting and editing, to show powerfully violent scenes.
There is a scene in the film involving two very young children, that I find extremely
uncomfortable to watch. It fascinates me, that something so powerful can be
conveyed through film, and I have often thought this about other pieces of cinema
that have stirred strong emotions from me. Not a morbid fascination, just one of
appreciation, and would like to develop these skills in my story telling, to create this
among the viewers of Poppy

Candy, Australia 2002, the debut film by director Neil


Armfield, is an Australian drama, focusing on love and
addiction, staring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish and
Geoffrey Rush. Candy is equally beautiful as it is
harrowing, and is a great inspiration for Poppy.
Dan and Candy, are utterly addicted to each other and
heroin. The two are intertwined and cannot exist
without the other. The story follows them on the
inevitable crash to earth and cruelly guides them all
the way to hell.
A superb showing in film making and acting, and a harrowing look at heroin addicts
that stays with you long after the credits have rolled. (Eoin Carroll, 2006)

Addiction has always fascinated me. The emotions, pain and helplessness that
addicts go through is raw and powerful, especially on screen. It is very rare, unless
you are a close family member of friend, to truly understand the spectrum of
addiction and to accept it as an illness.
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To have no control over repeatedly using a drug that is destroying your life, is one of
the most harrowing experiences a person can watch another human go through.
It is these emotions and experiences that will form the basis for the style of Poppy.
The film will incorporate hallucinations, withdrawal, desire and low self worth
experienced by addicts through editing, lighting and tone. Although the visuals will
be surreal, the performances will be realistic and brutal.

Critical Research of Project, Where does Poppy Fit?


Poppy, is primarily a short film for online audiences, secondly an online experimental
film and thirdly a promotional tool for a local singer/songwriter.
Short films have boomed online, with on various websites working to promote the
medium. They can circulate your work around the internet and around the world, as

well as providing a platform to view your film for people already in the industry
searching for new talent. These sites can achieve 100,000 views in just under two
weeks, which is a far greater audience than the traditional festival circuit.
Shortoftheweek.com has become the most influential.
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The
possibilities of online viewing has created vast means for audiences to view short
films (Curt Holman 2012)
Short films merging with product advertising, is a new idea circling the media world;
We often scoff at the integration of marketing into entertainment because it is done
so distastefully. Long-form advertising through artistic expression is, in my view, a
suitable cure for heavy-handed marketing and product placement (Mike Elsenbery,
2011)
This is where films like Poppy can be commissioned, by companies and musicians
etc, who want to create a following online, and can do so by attaching themselves to
a short film attracting an endless range of viewers and the potential for viral
marketing.
Recently there seems to be a return to the 1980s, in particular Michael Jacksons,
idea of breaking away from the traditional music video and making a short film with
music attached.
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They allow a director to be the auteur and have control of content, without the need
to included the musician or dancing, something I would be interested in making.
The platform for these types of films is largely online, especially in the youtube era,
where it is widely excepted that successful artists will make their break and create a
large fan base. I first saw the potential for musical short films whilst exploring the
music of Sigur Ros. An ambient/post rock band from Iceland who became a major
influence for directors and directors of photography around the world. Their songs
are meant for film. Recently they gave fourteen directors a sum of money to make a
video for each song off of their new album, with complete freedom and not knowing
what the songs were about, and promoted them exclusively on their own website.
(Poppy Portfolio pg 7)

Poppy will also have its own website that Lauren W has designed, which I have
created the content for. It will be the central hub for viewing the film, with extra
material, a gallery and provides a way of contacting the cast and crew that worked on
the film.

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My Roles And Responsibilities on Poppy

Producer - Casting, Set Practicalities, Promotion


My role as Producer for pre-production, was to source actors for Poppy.
I wanted to make sure we found the perfect people for the role of The Man and
Poppy, using family and friends was not the path to take . I made a start by contacting
these organisations;

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Star Now
Mandy Ellen Performing Arts
Prima School
University of Kent Drama and Theatre
Valley Park
Invicta
Maidstone Grammar School for Boys and Girls
Rose Bruford College of Performing Arts
Hilton Hall Dance Academy

Poppy is a silent drama, and


therefore the actors needed
to give strong performances
through facial expression
and movement. It was
desirable that they had
some experience in dance.
After a week of sending out a
casting call, I received interest from around thirty actors, most of which male. I
scheduled the first round of auditions on Friday 5th October.
I was nervous on the run up to audition day, feeling under-qualified to be judging
professional actors, but I soon eased into the job, and found it to be one of the most
rewarding experiences, and gave the production the lift it needed.
In the auditions I wanted to see the actors ability to mime, improvise and reveal a
range of emotions through their bodies and facial expression alone. I created a
range of scenarios (Poppy Portfolio Pg 22) to work through in each audition. At the
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beginning of each audition it was important to establish they were informed about
the dates, times, pay, subject matter and physical requirements of Poppy.
In the casting process actors will be advised of the nature and amount of onstage
nudity you will require and that their willingness and ability to collaborate have been
established (Dekoven, 2006, pg 135)
My producer role also included scheduling the cast and crew. I started by looking at
the dates people were available and the times we could use the studio and farm. I
then created call sheets so that everyone knew where they needed to be and when
(Poppy Portfolio pg 30) .
The main role of a producer in the industry is to raise funds for the film and manage
the budget;
It is all dependent on day to day control and knowing what is going on and ensuring
that costs are kept down. (Jones and Jolliffe, 2006, pg146)
Poppy is a student film, and as such is running on a zero budget. Once we had hired
our actors, I realised we would have benefitted from fundraising, but unfortunately it
was too close to production. I discussed with Lauren, and together we managed to
find around 400. I negotiated with the actors how much they were willing to except
for expenses for a six day shoot, traveling from London. James was traveling by bike
from Canterbury most days,
so in fact we paid more for
snacks to keep them fueled
whist filming, then we did for
our lead actor (Poppy
Portfolio pg 29) . For future
projects, raising funds will be
a greater priority, although I
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am happy with the amount we spent and what we achieved with it.
As the writer on Poppy, I took control of the prop list, and myself and Lauren both
sourced them. I was responsible for transport, and along with a family member,
recovered the whole set from Rochester and transported it to Maidstone.
After filming I made sure I collected all the relevant paper work from the actors, so we
would have no issues over ownership of material. (Poppy Portfolio pg 32).

Writer - Screenplay, Script Supervisor, Research, Social Media Content


Writing comes from the ability to
watch the world around you and
understand the motivations for human
behavior.
Honing your ability to see, really see,
is a crucial part of your development as
an artist, in fact, if you aspire to be
original, you must first heighten your powers of observation (Johnson, 2009, pg 60)
Writing for film and television is a role that seems to come naturally to me, and
something I hope to develop. For this project I decided to take dialogue out of the
equation, and strip things back to basics. The most fundamental rule of filmmaking
is to tell a story visually, and therefore by taking away dialogue, I believe as a writer
and director you can truly see your ability to be a story teller. I also wanted to
strengthen description in my writing, which this exercise has helped achieve. My
goal for Poppy was to write beautiful human moments, building high emotion,
tension and to create an intense experience for the audience. Although I enjoy
writing screenplays and strive to create an exciting read, it is important the basis of
the story could stand alone.
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People often mistake a good script for a good story, and vice versa. They are not
the same thing. You can have a script, which is beautifully written, but the story is not
that interesting. ( Jones and Jollife, 2006, pg 38)

Although Poppy is not explicitly a metaphor for heroin, it is there to symbolise any
kind of addiction, researching this drug was important. I started by reading about
the effects of heroin, the risks associated with it, the physical and emotional
implication, as well as the practicalities of being hooked on the drug. I watched a
number of films that focused on the subject for inspiration.
Candy
Trainspotting
The Artist
Tyrannosaur
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
Leaving Las Vegas
Russell Brand - Addiction to Recovery
Requiem for a Dream

I begun by listing the different scenes I am visualised in my head, and the order they
should go in. There were certain moments I knew I wanted to create in my film, as
soon as I got the idea, through these I developed the character and the journey they
would go on. Poppy deals with conflict, but it is also about the deepest connection
two people can share. Since the day you thought about writing screenplays, youve
no doubt been told that they must have conflict. This is only have true, connection is
equally as important. (Johnson, 2009, pg 99)

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For the opening of Poppy, I


wanted to introduce the
surreal aspects and the
metaphor of the Poppy
immediately, to hook the
audience in. Design a strong
and intriguing opening for
your movie. People are hooked in by mystery and intrigue. The challenge is
maintaining that level of tension and tying it all up in a dramatic and surprising
way ( Jones and Jollife, 2006, pg 57)
For me, it was important not to create another student drug film. Using needles can
sometimes become laughable, which was part of the reason I wanted to use a
metaphoric drug. Poppys focus is on the characters and the situations they are faced
with, if the audience focuses on how the drug is used or its believability I havent
created the film I wanted to.
Screenwriting is rewriting. Over and Over (Johnson, 2009, pg 85)
I was pleased with the first draft I produced and could visualise the finished piece in
my head. The next three drafts developed the characters and changed the flash back
sequences. I made the decision to omit the moment the man places the condoms
into Poppy
' s bag, as I felt it would distract the audience, it was already clear by the
stockings and her actions he was sending her out to sell her body. I think if the
audience see the condom pack, it suddenly brings them into reality too abruptly. For
the same reasons, the picnic scene in the field was taken out.

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Character Description Poppy

Poppy was a young


passionate women, who
has been weakened by
the love and comfort
she has found. Her life
has transformed from one full of hopes and dreams, to addiction and
confinement. She is trapped in the grip of despair, and does not yet
possess the true desire to break free.
This beautiful young girl, is a former shadow of herself, beholding
all of the physical signs of a drug abuser. She is a slim, pale girl,
hiding behind her lank and dirty hair. He eyes are dark and sullen, with
a constant rim of unwashed makeup framing them. Her sensational
smile still shines through, but she is gaunt and exhausted, living
each day for her drug, for him.
Poppy screams of desperation, the love of her life sending her out
most nights, to sell her tiny frame to men, to feed their insatiable
habit, has taken its toll on her body and mind.
Poppy finds herself unable to change the patterns of a viscous
destruction, but perhaps the bitter sweetness of her existence is
just what she has been living for.
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Poppy Blog

Character Description The Man

The Man is weighed


down by guilt, for
plucking this beautiful
flower, and allowing her
to suffocate in his arms.
Slim built , with medium unkept shaggy hair and beard, you can
almost smell the muskiness of his unwashed body. He skulks
around the room in bare feet and tight jeans, his torso always bare.
There is love in his eyes, but it is overshadowed by the need for his
drug. The Man has a constant battle, visible in his tired eye. He feels
physically sick every time he sends POPPY out into the night, but
for now his addiction comes first. He is graceful and sensual, with
deep thoughts of love that spill out of his eyes and trickles
through the rest of his body. His look is that of a failed musician
or poet. The Man is week to everyone but POPPY.

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Director
I choose to direct Poppy, as my
strengths are in story telling
and communicating my ideas.
Having a DOP has meant I have
been allowed the freedom to
work solely with the actors. It
has been very freeing to not be
concerned with setting up
cameras and lighting, putting all my trust in the capable hands of Lauren Woodfall to
achieve the look I want for Poppy. I was able to fully submerge myself in the world of
Poppy, and think about the emotion and intensity of the story.
One of the directors biggest jobs, which also goes beyond acting, is that of creating
a world for the characters to live in (Dekoven, 2006, pg xiii) .
Although Lauren Woodfall was in charge of arranging the set, it was important for
me as the director, to add a few finishing touches. I also sat with the actors and gave a
detailed background into the lives of the characters and the feelings developed in
every scene of the script.
The key to directing, is building a strong relationship with your actors. It is important
to give direction positively and Avoiding negatives such as Dont do that, use Why
dont you try. Actors are subjected to enormous doses of rejection and are, by
definition, asked to expose their very innards in the course of the work. This makes
them extremely vulnerable human beings. (Dekoven, 2006, pg 11)
As a director you must make sure your actors know you believe in them. Whilst
working on Poppy, after the end of every scene I gave opinion, even if it was just a few
words about what I liked, so they felt their performance was working. I also made the
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decision at the start of every day to show them some of the footage we had recorded
the day before. Although this is rarely done on productions, due to time constraints
and protocol, I believed it gave my actors a boost each morning, they enjoyed seeing
their hard work paying off.
The rehearsal period proved invaluable, especially due to the closeness required of
the actors. It also allowed me to create a comfortable relationship with them, I felt in
control, but relaxed enough to make them feel this was a collaboration.
The primary need of the actor is a sense of security, provided by the knowledge
that the director will protect him/her and help make the performance as good as
possible (Dekoven, 2006, p63)
I arranged for the two of them to first meet in London for coffee, without any of the
crew or production team present, so they could build a personal relationship.

I decided as a producer/director to shoot Poppy in a studio, so we could control


variables and create a space that was ours to use how we wish.
Look for contained and controllable locations in which your story can take place.
Minimise locations so you dont need to keep moving cast and crew ( Jones and
Jollife, 2006, pg 57).
Using the studio meant we could lock the set, and with a small crew, it became very
comfortable and personal, which I think we would have lost to some degree if we had
needed to use external locations.
In preparation, I went through the script over and over as a director not the writer,
and tried to look beyond the words I had written. I made annotations (Poppy Portfolio
Pg 19) about what the character was feeling at each key moment as why. I also wrote
explanations of their actions, the choices and needs they had.

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Whatever the director chooses to make of the material at hand and it is entirely his/
her decision finally - this self imposed discipline of actually condensing ones thought
and transferring them from the subconscious to the conscious level be writing them
down, translating them into a useful and articulate sentence, is in my opinion the
most important part of the directors process. (Dekoven, 2006, pg 53)

Editor
Editing in post production is
where a story teller can use his
or her scissors to piece it all
together. I enjoy being able to
switch off from the pressures
and often crowded situations
of production, and focus on
something that is quite intricate, and be allowed to structure my work on my own, its
like having a cup of tea and doing a word-search after a hectic day.
It is difficult, but necessary to create a barrier, a cellular wall between shooting and
editing (Murch, 2001, pg 25)
It was hard to become detached from the shoot. As an editor I need to see the
footage for what it was, not because as I director I loved what I had achieved, or let
the amount of hard work and time it took to film a particular shot influence whether it
is cut.
The editor should try to see whats on screen , as the audience will. Only in this way
can the images be freed from the context of their creation (Murch, 2001, pg pg24)

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During the edit of Poppy, we found out very quickly the draw backs of over shooting,
and re doing takes, simply because of the time it takes to sift through the footage. We
allowed four weeks for editing, and it was tight, with over twelve hours of raw
footage. Organising clips and starting to assemble alone took two weeks. On the
other hand, it was nice as an editor to be able to select the best performance, and not
worry about finding enough footage to make sense of the story. In the industry,
realistically I would be given a few months to edit a project of this size.
Continuity was an issue for Poppy, and some of the shots that worked the best were
not usable, because of differences in position, make up and props. Having someone
on board to watch out for this on set, would have be great, especially over a long
shoot, when the director can not always remember if the actress had her hair behind
her ear or not three days ago. However, small things are noticeable to the editor and
director, as they have come to know the footage inside out, but in reality most
continuity issues go unnoticed, and this was the case with Poppy.

I benefitted greatly from organising my clips well. Although it isnt to every editors
tastes, I started by selecting all the clips in order for each act and putting them in the
timeline, then gradually cutting scene by scene. This helped me select the best takes.

Poppy is an experimental film, and the edit needed to reflect this. In the beginning it
was hard making jump cuts, I didnt feel the audience would follow, but you need to
give their intelligence as knowledgeable viewers of film some credit. One basic rule
of editing and film making, is that you dont need to show every second of an actors
movements from getting up and going out the door to know he has got dressed and
prepared himself for the day.

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In the book In the blink of an eye editor Walter Murch who worked on Apocalypse
Now, talks about the six rules of editing. Traditionally three dimensional continuity is
at the top of the list, but he places it at the bottom. At the top of a list is emotion, the
thing you thought come to last. How do you want to audience to feel? If they are
feeling what you want them to feel through the film, youve done as much as you
can. (Murch, 2001, pg. 18)
Murchs List;
1.Emotion
2.Story
3.Rhythm
4.Eye Trace
5.Two dimensional plane of screen
6.Three dimensional space of action

With editing Poppy, I made some brave decisions to let the scenes breath. Where she
re-enters the room after her ordeal, and the man sits her down on the bed, I stayed
with the same shot for the rest of the scene.
You would never say that a certain film was well edited because it had more cuts in it.
Frequently, it takes more work and discernment to decide where not to cut - dont
feel you have to cut just because its what you are being paid to. (Murch, 2001, pg
16)
By not cutting, it allowed tension and intensity to develop, making it emotionally
hard for the audience to watch, but bringing them right into the scene.

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The Crew of Poppy Collaborations


Choose people because they
have intelligence, and have the
ability to work hard, which is
almost as important as anything
else. That way you will make
better films and at the end of the
day that is what it is
about. ( Jones and Jollife, 2006,
pg 41)
We had a very small crew during
filming, James and Kathryn our actors, Mel the make artist and myself and Lauren W.
It became a tight group, that benefitted from everyones enthusiasm, Due to the
subject matter and intimacy the actors needed to share, I felt it important to have a
small closed set, so they felt comfortable to perform. For one day I did invite a
production photographer, Gibson Brosman, who took some beautiful shots, but
noticeably affected the actors, and so
after an hour I had to ask him to stop.
As I director, the actors must come
first, and there should not be anything
that hinders their ability to perform.
The make up artist, for me, made the
production feel real. Mel travelled
from Brighton every day, and provided
everything we needed. A professional
working in the industry made all the difference.
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Learning
The main issue I had was finding the right actors . Three factors were effecting this.
We needed actors who were available during nine to five hours due to the availability
of the studio, we could only afford minimal expenses, but unpaid actors tend to have
regular jobs to subsidise their work. They needed to be comfortable with semi nudity
and physical theatre method acting. We also had a distinct lack of the right kind of
female interest for the role of Poppy, only managing to audition three compared to
thirteen males.
I have learnt during the making of Poppy, casting can be extremely demanding on
time and resources, and should be allocated accordingly.
Although we had few minor issues with illness and working to get the soundtrack
completed, the production went well. This was down the the communication and
planning we both worked hard to achieve.
loss of split screen, changing script, cutting, too much footage, trying to find talent,
weather at the farm, photographer problems, Kathryn going home early, music
complication, time contraignths. Exporting problems.

Potential Career PathWorking on Poppy has cemented my ambition to make films. I have realised, the
technicality of filming, isnt my strongest point and being a DOP is not the road I
should take. My passion lies with writing and telling stories.
I am looking to continue working with Lauren Woodfall, into our professional career,
and believe the roles we have taken will continue to suit us. Producing is also
something I feel comfortable with and would use this to create business. We are
looking to work with more local artists, using their fan-base as a platform to
showcase our own abilities.
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The Final Product


Making Poppy, has been one of the most rewarding, hard and intense experiences of
my life, but every single moment has been worthwhile. I have watched the film
numerous times now, and it is hard to see the film from a fresh audience perspective,
Im not sure I love the finished piece, but I do love that you can see the amount of
work that went into a zero budget student film. We really gave this our all, and thats
all I could of wished for.
There are elements that I feel tense about when watching the film, mainly to do with
the musical score. Im not completely sold on some of the sound effects when they
first take the drug. Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances, the artist could
not re-record the demos he sent us, and the musical supervisor, only had two days to
come up with a mix of the score. Poppy, as a silent film, relies heavily on the music,
and although I am happy with the style, the production and recording of it will need
to be tweaked and smoothed out before we send it for festivals.
During the edit, I played Poppy alongside some existing film soundtracks, and the
emotion created brought me to tears. I desperately wanted to achieve this with the
music Lauren.W commissioned, and although its not quite as dramatic as I had
hoped, I feel proud that we had an original score created. It means we have sole
rights to the film, with no copyright issues, and it can be submitted around the world.
It added to the pressure, but I think it will pay off in the long run.
The look of the film and the issues it deals with is what makes Poppy so special for
me, each still frame of the film looks professional and that is what we set out to
achieve. Again there are a few minor things I am not so sure on, such as the zoom out
at the end, the kaleidoscope imagery and the transition between Poppy selling
herself and becoming the dominant of the pair, but as a whole piece, it works.

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Bibliography
Books;
Water Murch, 2001. In the blink of an eye:a perspective on film editing. 1st ed.
Silman James Press, Los Angeles.

Claudia Hunter Johnson, 2010. Crafting Short Screenplays That Connect. 3rd ed.
Focal Press. London

Lenore Dekoven, 2006. Changing Direction; A practical approach to directing actors


in film and theatre. 1st ed Focal Press, London.

Chris Jones and Genevieve Jolliffe. 2007 The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook. 3rd ed.
continuum and Ealing Studios. London.

Websites;
Mike Elsenbery, 2011, Are short films the future of advertising? http://
www.cmo.com/advertising/are-short-films-future-advertising. Last Accessed
November 2012

Eoin Carrol, 2006. Candy http://wwwmcc.murdoch.edu.au/ReadingRoom/film/


dbase/2007/candy.html Last accessed, December 2012.

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