Geordan Gaukroger A2 Film Studies

In this essay I will be evaluating my A2 Film Studies short film “A Day With Soundbomb 2000”, I will be discussing the aims of my film and how I achieved them, the stylistics I had decided to use and how successful the project had gone.

My initial film aims as seen in my Aims and Context (blogpost 08/11/10) were:

Attract a target audience of film fans, music fans, people aged between 17 and 25 and people who nostalgia for the 1980s
My main stylistics are Editing and Mise-En-Scene
Creation of humour for the main target audience
Provide Nostalgia with the use of the script and sound

The film’s purpose were also to parody the superficiality of the typical ‘80s Rock Star, this is done by presenting the main character, Soundbomb 2000’s ego as exaggerated as possible, as seen by one of Soundbomb 2000’s first lines from the final script draft (Blog Post 20/10/10) being “Do you know who I am?” I also added to this by making the character seem as senseless as possible, by having him mock the director Walter Donovan and trying to incorporate the Star Wars theme into a song further in the narrative through the use of intertextuality. This also parodies the Rock-Documentary genre by showing the typical song writing process, often seen in Rock-Documentaries.

I had chosen my target audience’s age range specifically due to the parody aspect of my film, as the film parodies typical ‘80s rockstars, this allows the younger people within the age range to be able to laugh at a time completely alien to them. Also I have including music fans as part of my target audience due to the music being strictly reminiscent of the time. The film could also humour those who were around in the 1980s as they lived through this time period and went through all the fads and trends that were popular at the time.

My main influences for the film were mockumentary films such as This Is Spinal Tap (Rob Reiner, USA, 1984) and rockumentary films such as The Last Waltz (Martin Scorsese, USA, 1978) and Some Kind of Monster (Joe Berlinger/Bruce Sinofsky, USA, 2004) this is best seen with the parody value as seen in This is Spinal Tap, the interviews are similar to The Last Waltz and the “day in the life” aspect is similar to Some Kind of Monster.

The main stylistics I decided to use were Mise-En-Scene and Editing, these typically are the formal aspects which are found in documentaries. I had planned to use these in order to emphasise the time period of the film, and represent Soundbomb’s lifestyle, the Mise-En-Scene was particular inside Soundbomb 2000’s workspace where there was a large mattress placed on the floor representing his laziness and his sex life, Diet Coke cans littering the table showing his superficial attempts to seem somewhat healthy, also instruments and other musical equipment reinforcing the idea that the character is a rock star. I had Soundbomb 2000 deliberately be typically overdressed and wearing eyeliner for typical everyday tasks, this was to emphasise the characters ego, showing that wherever he goes he has to look good, I also picked black and white to be dominant in Soundbomb 2000’s workspace, showing that his personality is quite one dimensional by showing his soul interest being himself, it also reflects his perspective on things, which is as simple as black and white. In the background I also included 12” vinyl records which were recent at the time, the most visible being Michael Jackson’s Thriller, I also included The Ink Spots and the Grease soundtrack since all three records are considered groundbreaking for their time period. The positioning of these albums are also centre frame, drawing the audience's attention to them even though they are placed on a different plain within the depth of field. Also throughout making the film I tried to take out anything pre-1983 and replacing objects with other objects, examples being the phone that Soundbomb is talking on at the beginning of the film which is a corded phones which were a standard in the 1980s. During the exterior scenes, I had made sure to film somewhere were cars and satellite dishes were minimal in order to make the film seem as old as possible to reflect the era it is set. The characters clothing was carefully picked during the outside scenes with Soundbomb 2000 changing from black and white to being mainly red, this was to show that he’s most interesting outside, and is always looking for new women, with red emphasising passion, or in this case lust and sex, although wearing white underneath showing he’s still one dimensional under his new sharper exterior. Daffodil in this scene was heavy in makeup with backcombed hair and flowery clothing and a denim jacket, this is due to the fashion styles of the 80s, which is again is a parody of how people dressed in the 1980s.

Editing being my second main stylistic. The main way I had used this was by using cliché transitions effects, this is best seen in the transition clips where there is a small box moving around with Soundbomb 2000 similar to 80s pop music videos such as Billie Jean by Michael Jackson (Steve Barron, 1983) which was considered to have set the standard for music videos throughout the 1980s. I also included a black and white side shot of Soundbomb 2000 while talking in an interview, this was a reference to a MTV style and form of editing, which emphasises the time due to MTV launching in the 1980s. I also made use of non-continuity editing by having the film open in present day, go back to 1983 and return to present day at the end of the film, this was done to match This Is Spinal Tap, by having a statement from the fictional director at the beginning of the film.

Throughout the film I also considered a number of other stylistic features too, with links to cinematography and sound, examples of this are seen in the cinematography as each of the transition shots of Soundbomb’s music video, these are mostly all intertextual references to other music videos, these are as following:

Time Lapsed
Footage
Reference
1:38
Soundbomb 2000 dancing
Billy Idol - White Wedding
Rick Astley - Never Gonna Give You Up

2:11
Soundbomb 2000 on bed

Soft Cell - Bedsitter
4:07
Soundbomb 2000 on bed in dark clutching pillow
Michael Jackson - Beat It

I had chosen to include these references in order to offer familiar settings and atmospheres often found within music videos. In the scene where Soundbomb 2000 meets Daffodil, it’s a continuous shot without cuts, this is to emphasise the way Soundbomb 2000 lives and that meeting a fan isn’t regarded as something particularly important to him, and it’s just another day for him.

Music and sound were also aspects which I had carefully used, such as during the opening shot the radio is playing diegetic sound and the song is The Safety Dance by Men Without Hats, this was used because of the songs lyrics, which state “Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance, well they're no friends of mine” connotating the point that if people aren’t like Soundbomb 2000 then Soundbomb 2000 isn’t going to like them. Another way sound was used was by having the non-diegetic music which was produced exclusively for the film playing throughout, this was to add a sense of authenticity to it by using music written specifically for the film, and give it more of a documentary feel.

As I have uploaded my video onto YouTube I have used this as a way to gather my audience feedback. From gathering this feedback the main criticism I have received is in terms of sound where I have not mastered the audio levels properly and the speech is sometimes inaudible. Some of the other comments included the moving boxes, where it was noticed that this was referencing the time period.

Overall I would say I used these stylistics quite successfully, as I have managed to create a world which Soundbomb 2000 lives in, by using Mise-En-Scene and having things which represent him as a person, I believe I also managed to reflect the character’s personality by using the stylistics in a proper manner. I feel I had not put enough emphasis on the time period however, and the only way I could get this across successfully was by having Walter Donovan explicitly say what year it was set in during the opening of the scene. I also think that if I was to make the film now, I would go for an alternative style of filming, following a more traditional route with cuts as opposed to filming continuous shots, as I feel this was an unprofessional way of filming and didn’t portray the film in a positive way. Including myself through the film, I believe was a bad idea now, due to my lack of acting capabilities and having to balance myself acting with making the film was too complicated a task to perform to a high standard.