The concept for my major project is: Capturing Subjectivity on film. By this I mean that I want to effectively differentiate one character's individual experience of the world with the 'outside world' that they inhabit. I want to show both the differences and similarities between the characters world and the wider world that they live in. I intend to experiment with different film techniques to show the world from a subjective point of view.
I am hoping to create the pilot for a webseries that features a group of flatmates in their 20s, being watched by a rat who lives in their house. The concept was inspired by the rats living in my own house. Myself and my flatmates have had issues with mice and rats throughout our time living together, and we complain about them regularly. One day I wondered how the rats feel about us, and how it would be to be in the rats position. I want to try and capture the humans how I imagine the rats might see them. I want the rat to be more recognisable than the humans and I want the humans to seem alien in comparison in order to get the audience to identify with the rat as the subjective observer rather than the humans.
Examples of films that capture subjectivity well are Big Fish, Saving Private Ryan, Hugo and I'm Not Scared (Lo non ho paura).
The first example shows the different use of colour between the world told from the father's embellished point of view and the colour used in the parts that show the world not as the father's point of view.
Another example of colour is the way that the wife is washed out when she is depicted young. This shows the wife as the father sees her. She seems like she is shining and makes the rest of the world seem dull in comparison. In the "wider world" example, she is lit with natural lighting and seems far less fantastical.
The witch is in the father's stories. She is an example of one of the normal characters who is described and seen by the father in a different way. Later on the audience learns the witch wasn't actually a witch at all when the son explores further. This is another way the audience is shown the subjective point of view of the father vs. the reality of the wider world.
Saving Private Ryan has a scene that is very effective at showing one character's subjective point of view. In this scene, Spielberg depicts shell-shock subjectively as all of the soldiers run out onto the beach. Techniques such as shaky camera and sound affects are used to get the audience to empathise with and see from the point of view of Tom Hanks' character. This extreme subjective view is broken when another soldier screams at the soldier, pulling him back into the world outside him.
Hugo looks out from the clock. This introduces the audience to how Hugo sees the world.
Another example of Hugo looking out the window. Having the Eiffel tower places Hugo in a recognisable place, showing it from his own subjective experience.
On the far left hand side of this image you can see the door that Michele stands behind. The other side of the door sits his father, who we later find out is one of the organisers of the crime.
Here is an example of Michele looking through the gap in the door at the village adults discussing their crime. The framing of this shot clearly shows that Michele is the observer in the scenario.
I am hoping to create the pilot for a webseries that features a group of flatmates in their 20s, being watched by a rat who lives in their house. The concept was inspired by the rats living in my own house. Myself and my flatmates have had issues with mice and rats throughout our time living together, and we complain about them regularly. One day I wondered how the rats feel about us, and how it would be to be in the rats position. I want to try and capture the humans how I imagine the rats might see them. I want the rat to be more recognisable than the humans and I want the humans to seem alien in comparison in order to get the audience to identify with the rat as the subjective observer rather than the humans.
Examples of films that capture subjectivity well are Big Fish, Saving Private Ryan, Hugo and I'm Not Scared (Lo non ho paura).
Concept Examples
Big Fish shows a son trying to reconnect with his dying father who embellished all of the stories that he told throughout his life. The father and son see the world in very different ways; the son prefers facts and the father prefers fiction. Big Fish depicts both characters subjective realities, the sons during his wedding and the father's in flashbacks. Tim Burton, the director, uses colour to differentiate between the two worlds. In the flashbacks the colours are brighter, with a larger colour palate and fantastical characters. In contrast, the world that the son sees has a more muted colour palate, natural lighting and the characters aren't fantastical. As the narrative progressed the audience begins to connect the two viewpoints before eventually merging them. By the end of the film it is easy to piece together the story from both the father's subjective point of view, as well as the son's point of view (the wider world).
The first example shows the different use of colour between the world told from the father's embellished point of view and the colour used in the parts that show the world not as the father's point of view.
Another example of colour is the way that the wife is washed out when she is depicted young. This shows the wife as the father sees her. She seems like she is shining and makes the rest of the world seem dull in comparison. In the "wider world" example, she is lit with natural lighting and seems far less fantastical. 
The witch is in the father's stories. She is an example of one of the normal characters who is described and seen by the father in a different way. Later on the audience learns the witch wasn't actually a witch at all when the son explores further. This is another way the audience is shown the subjective point of view of the father vs. the reality of the wider world. Saving Private Ryan has a scene that is very effective at showing one character's subjective point of view. In this scene, Spielberg depicts shell-shock subjectively as all of the soldiers run out onto the beach. Techniques such as shaky camera and sound affects are used to get the audience to empathise with and see from the point of view of Tom Hanks' character. This extreme subjective view is broken when another soldier screams at the soldier, pulling him back into the world outside him.
Hugo and I'm Not Scared are both relevant to my concept because they deal with a character who observes the world from their subjective standpoint. Hugo is about a boy who lives alone in a Parisian railway station, behind the big clock. Hugo is introduced to the audience peeking out through gaps in the clock face. From this the audience learns that Hugo is "the observer" and that the world that they are being shown is his point of view. As the film progresses, the audience grows to learn more about supporting characters and by extension, they begin to understand the wider world which Hugo inhabits, and the differences and similarities between the world Hugo sees and the "wider world".
Hugo peers out of the clock. He is introduced to the audience as an observer as he watches the people in the train station below him.
I'm Not Scared tells the story about a boy living in a poor part of Italy accidentally learning about a crime that is being committed by all of the adults in his village who have kidnapped and are ransoming the child of a rich northern-Italian family. The film deals with themes of morality, poverty and childhood vs. adulthood. The director, Salvatores, uses framing to separate the childlike world of Michele (the boy) and the adult world of cruelty and crime that Michele stumbles upon. There are a lot of shots of Michele peering through doors that have been left ajar. Michele is always on the opposite side of the door to the scheming adults, showing that he is the observer but is not partaking in the action. It is only through TV broadcasts, and snippets of dialogue overheard by Michele that the audience can begin to piece together the extent of what is happening in the village. Through these elements the audience begins to get an understanding of the wider world inhabited by Michele in order to compare it to Michele's world.
Michele peers over into the hole where the kidnapped child is hidden. This is a different example of his he is an observer because in this exchange he has the place of power when compared with who he is observing. This is a difference when compared to how he is portrayed when observing the adults scheming.
While I will be mainly focusing on my main concept (an observer watching a world from a subjective point of view), I am very keen to attempt to draw parallels between the rat as the observer and the humans. Stylistically, I want the humans to look quite trippy, fluid and exaggerated in order to emphasise the rats subjective experience of how they perceive the humans. Despite this, I want the plot and the dialogue to come across as very realistic and relatable to viewers.
The reason for this is because my primary target audience would be people between the ages of about 16 to 25. I want the human characters to feel relatable enough that the target audience can recognise parts of themselves in them. I want to portray the humans in both positive and negative ways that feel as authentic as possible, almost as if they are part of a character study that the rat is conducting.
An example of a contemporary TV show that I think achieves this is Bojack Horseman. Bojack Horseman depicts a world where humans and human-oid animals live in the same society as equals. It's main character, Bojack, is a horse that was the star of a 90's sitcom, but has since been 'forgotten' by Hollywoo (Bojack Horseman's substitute for Hollywood which is satirised throughout).
Part of the reason that Bojack Horseman has been so successful is because the story is very intricate and deals with themes of failure vs success in the modern world. The target audience, young adults, empathise with the main themes because the fears that Bojack and the supporting characters have are very common fears for many young people. Bojack isn't a very nice character but people tend to like him anyway because they empathise with his fears and struggles.
In my project, I am hoping to effectively depict a group of 20-something year olds and the fears that they would have without having them as the main characters and seeing the world through their subjective point of view. To do this I think I will have to have the dialogue and the actions that they do to feel very authentic and relatable. I think if I don't have these aspects feeling relatable enough the highly-stylised humans will feel too alien-like for the audience to find any recognition in the "wider world" that the rat is observing. This will take away any emotional impact that I hoping to achieve, potentially rendering the clip uninteresting without it. Bojack Horseman seems to straddle the line between feeling both surreal and also very realistic at the same time, this is also what I am hoping to achieve with my project; stylistically I want to to feel very surreal, but in content I am hoping to create a feeling of realism and relatability.
While I will be mainly focusing on my main concept (an observer watching a world from a subjective point of view), I am very keen to attempt to draw parallels between the rat as the observer and the humans. Stylistically, I want the humans to look quite trippy, fluid and exaggerated in order to emphasise the rats subjective experience of how they perceive the humans. Despite this, I want the plot and the dialogue to come across as very realistic and relatable to viewers.
The reason for this is because my primary target audience would be people between the ages of about 16 to 25. I want the human characters to feel relatable enough that the target audience can recognise parts of themselves in them. I want to portray the humans in both positive and negative ways that feel as authentic as possible, almost as if they are part of a character study that the rat is conducting.
An example of a contemporary TV show that I think achieves this is Bojack Horseman. Bojack Horseman depicts a world where humans and human-oid animals live in the same society as equals. It's main character, Bojack, is a horse that was the star of a 90's sitcom, but has since been 'forgotten' by Hollywoo (Bojack Horseman's substitute for Hollywood which is satirised throughout).
Part of the reason that Bojack Horseman has been so successful is because the story is very intricate and deals with themes of failure vs success in the modern world. The target audience, young adults, empathise with the main themes because the fears that Bojack and the supporting characters have are very common fears for many young people. Bojack isn't a very nice character but people tend to like him anyway because they empathise with his fears and struggles.In my project, I am hoping to effectively depict a group of 20-something year olds and the fears that they would have without having them as the main characters and seeing the world through their subjective point of view. To do this I think I will have to have the dialogue and the actions that they do to feel very authentic and relatable. I think if I don't have these aspects feeling relatable enough the highly-stylised humans will feel too alien-like for the audience to find any recognition in the "wider world" that the rat is observing. This will take away any emotional impact that I hoping to achieve, potentially rendering the clip uninteresting without it. Bojack Horseman seems to straddle the line between feeling both surreal and also very realistic at the same time, this is also what I am hoping to achieve with my project; stylistically I want to to feel very surreal, but in content I am hoping to create a feeling of realism and relatability.
Style Examples (Character Design):
Human Design:
I will also be looking at the animation in Pink Floyd's The Wall to influence the surreal feeling and the fluidity and motion that I want my animation to have. The Wall morphs the animation, using things like proportion and perspective to blend and evolve different shapes and characters. I am going to look at the animation in The Wall and use it to inform the style of my animation as I go further into the experimentation process for designing the characters.
This sequence shows some of the animation that is in The Wall. I am particularly interested in the morphing of the characters and the use of perspective to tell the story, I will use this as a base when it comes to drawing proportion in a way that morphs fluidly. I like the sequence of the animated judge in particular for these reasons. I think it will help inform my character design because the character of the judge is quite stylised and this is what I am hoping to achieve with my characters . I think that the character design, coupled with the characters movement as it morphs and 'dances', effectively conveys who the character is without needing to even say a word. I want to look at the techniques used in the animation in The Wall when it comes to designing my characters and how they move.
I will also refer to Walking, by Ryan Larkin, to inform my character design. I am mainly interested in the walking cycles showing the characters walking from a low perspective seeing as the rat will be looking from the floor and so most of the shots looking at the humans will be from the floor to emphasise how the rat sees the humans. Walking will inform how I will draw movement and proportion when it comes to designing my characters.
First Pecha Kucha
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