Developing ideas using creative question and answer format.
Narrative Short Film Project
What is Narrative Art? Simply put, it tells a story in the piece of artwork. Traditionally, the Narrative Artist would assume that the audience is familiar with the story he/she is telling, either from religion, myths or legends. In modern times, narrative art will tell a story or depict a scene from everyday life.
This short film project will form one of your digital artifacts.
What story do you want to author?
You will select a recent What’s App conversation and turn it into narrative for your film. This maybe something very mundane or it could be big news. You can share as much or as little of the conversation. The resulting narrative might be biographical, political, social, real, imagined or totally abstract.
This narrative will inform the visuals you will collect for your short film. The final film will be between 3-5 mins.
First steps to writing your narrative:
Word count 300-800
Find an interestingWhatsApp chat or the last one you had.
This is a really good conversation because we were discussing all of the mythology surrounding Dartmoor. This touches on my interests on tradition, nature and ancestry.
2. Think about what stories you can take from it. Look at keywords that jump out.
When I walk on Dartmoor, I feel this near tribal sense of belonging to the earth. There is a rare magic that surrounds a place that has deep routed lore and history - and ghost stories and legends are symbolic to Dartmoor's heritage. The stories are passed from generation to generation by the locals and the tourists who visit, bringing home with them books and memorabilia bolstered with each new edition. The earth here is vast and unforgiving, the elements quickly shift; there is an omnipresence rarely experienced anywhere else I have been.
Each season brings it's own array of vibrant colours, and the wide open spaces offer stunning backdrops, which in Autumn are rich with greens and reds, unblemished by the footfall of the summer months. The ferns, responding to the changes in the weather, mature into a rich, rust-coloured blanket over the landscape. The ground, beginning to become slick and boggy, blooms mushrooms and hardy tufts of spiky gorse, clutching the last of their yellow petals in the bitter wind.
When the dark eve sets in it's understandable how you might see monsters in the shadows. The rough terrain may find you walking circles, and once the fog descends suddenly obscuring all landmarks, panic can swiftly set in. I was always reminded never to go to the Moors unprepared for an emergency, and never to go alone without letting somebody know where I was.
3. Think about any concepts you want to explore, messages or ideas or the mood you want to create and how will this be received by the audience?
I want to perpetuate the cultural significances of Dartmoor in the ways local people remember growing up with, but in new, modern ways, combining nature, technology and the human psyche. I hope the audience receives my short film with interest, opening dialogues and perpetuating traditions that have woven magic through this land for centuires.
4. Can you find any parts of your conversation that relate to any current affairs/ situations/ themes in a wider context? What analogies can you include?
We touched on staying in Dartmoor Prison - is this commercial setting appropriate in a working prison?
What are the ecological impacts of tourism on the moors? Is increased footfall affecting the environment negatively? Which other ways might these stories impact this?
Where is the line between myth and misinformation in a world where we have to carefully define these already?
How does folklore encourage connection and understanding over generations, instead of the fleeting moments we encourage over social media.
5. How does it connect to others? How can you build emotion?
On a local level, plenty of people in Torbay and the surrounding areas will have visited the moors and grown up doing so. Most people have heard at least one of the legends. I want to build on the feelings evoked by a harsh landscape, the helplessness in overbearing greatness and heavily layered narratives. It will be helpful to discuss these with local people, and research further into the history of the area to explore all possible avenues of exploration.
6. Are there any twists/surprises?
I want the narrative to be somewhat documentary like to begin with, with the themes and settings turning gradually darker while introducing these ghostly characters.
7. Once you have explored the above make sure you refine your narrative to keep it specific and focused.
8. Lastly,can you include shared experiences in the audience? Whether that be a learning experience, a call to action, a question…
I want to incite curiosity in my audience, and ignite the flames of nostalgic tradition and mythology.
Over half term you will complete your written narrative and collect as much visual imagery as you can on your cameras or phones, or you can rent equipment from the college.
When we return, we will be starting our workshops on Premiere Pro using the visuals you have collected to start creating your narrative film.
NEXT STEPS:
Use this framework to write a refined narrative and start creating a storyboard for my short film.
Collect images and audio files.
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