One of the only enjoyable activities in the midst of these two modules. If I am to blog about the lessons, you probably would be bombarded by much of my laments, so I shall be nice and not mention it. On the rollercoaster ride, still =( When there are up days, there’s bound to be down days. Even so, all I wish is that tabletennis trainings and the tournament days would keep me quite alive until the end of this block. Anyways. >> Storyboarding – concept plus rationale. Took me long enough to think of a concept, though it’s not even original.
Introduction on Blue Spring (Aoi Haru):
I’ve mentioned in class before that one of my favourite Japanese movies is Blue Spring (starring three of my fave bishies – Ryuhei Matsuda & Sousuke Takaoka, & also Tsukamoto Takashi as a minor character), directed by Toshiaki Toyoda in 2001. Accompanied by the jarring rock music, bizarre shadows, graffiti filled walls in the interior of the all-boys school, stunning scenes of endless blossoming sakuras and yakuza(local mafia)-influenced activities, the film brings up issues such as power struggle, uncertain futures, violence in school, death, and it also portrays the growth of characters under such circumstances. Whoever claps the most number of times on the other side of the railing on the school’s rooftop without falling to his death is leader; this is what the film begins and, ironically, ends with.
Parody:
With this visually shocking yet realistic image and concept, I have decided to create a parody of Blue Spring for my 45- to 90-second long short film. As much as I love artistic films, I also take a liking for parodies because of their crude humour and ingenious twist of events from the original. Instead of boys, I plan to cast girls as the main antagonist as well as the victim (the bully and the bullied respectively). Without the use of dialogue or voice over, I understand that I would have to illustrate the story based on purely images, camera techniques I have learnt and the acting skills of the cast.
In my version of this parodic story, the main antagonist will be a proud and condescending bully who thinks the world of herself. Her two followers are merely useless guys who almost immediately butter up to their new ‘boss’ once the antagonist ‘falls’ (both figuratively and literally). The twist I plan to add to the story is that the bullied outsmarts the bully and tricks her into letting down her guard, hence turning the tables around so that the bully receives what she deserves. Of course, it will be a comical (I hope) portrayal of this seemingly stereotypical story through which I achieve my purpose.
* Pictures taken on 4 July. Thanks to Jacq, Qinghui, Justin and Azmi for taking time off to pose as my models.
Storyline:
Bully is well known in school for daring fellow schoolmates to try dangerous stunts in isolated parts of the school. She has two loyal guy followers, who also supposedly serve as bodyguards. One afternoon, the three of them decide to pick on Victim – also labelled as a ‘Loser’ in school – and Bully dares her to climb over the railing of a balcony, assuming she has no guts and will hence back out halfway. Bully taunts her and proves her point by clapping several times and then grabbing the railing just as she is about to fall backward. Victim, who seemingly has resigned to her fate, begins to tell a wonderfully amazing story. Before they know it, Bully is so engrossed that she starts clapping and falls, but manages to hold onto the railing with one hand. Victim emerges victorious and she walks away nonchalantly humming the tune “If you’re happy and you know it”, finally showing her true colours. The Followers stare with jaws wide open in awe of Victim and run after her like idiots, leaving their poor leader hanging there.
1 – Establishing shot / long shot of sky and balcony. Ped up slightly to focus on balcony.
2 – High angle shot. Pan left (from behind Bully to reveal Victim) while subjects are taunting Victim. Victim looks nervous.
3 – Long shot. Bully and Victim appears to climb over the railing in the background. Followers look on in the foreground.
4 – Close-up of Bully and Victim against the sky. Gives the impression that both of them are on the other side of the railing. Bully claps several times, then grabs the railing. (Sound: Clapping)
5 – Same close-up shot. Bully faces Victim with a smug look, victim looks down.
6 – Big close-up shot of Victim. She begins telling a story. Slowly crab left, away from her face to the sky as an indication of time passing. (Sound: Victim’s voice fades away quickly. Bully sniffs, suddenly applauses, then goes “Aaaarrrrgh!”)
7 – Low camera angle.Victim appears to climb down from the railing. Following pan, towards the left.
8 – Continued from shot 7. Victim now faces the Followers in the background.
9 – Long shot. Foreground – Victim walks nonchalantly towards camera, both hands in pockets and smirks. Background – Followers awed by Victim. Handheld camera, tracks in at a very high speed to show their expressions and exaggerate the effect. (Sound: Victim hums softly to herself the tune “If you’re happy and you know it”)
10 – Mid-shot. Followers run (after Victim) from right to left, then out of the screen. (Sound: Quick footsteps)
11 – Zoom in slighly and suddenly, camera tilts right.
12 – Close-up shot of Bully pissed yet helpless. (Sound: Bully clicks tongue)
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Movie screenshot from here.
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