WHERE'S MY CARD
THE Process
The inspiration came from wanting to tell the story of my own mother. I’ve also noticed many real life stories where University students have ignored the contact of their parents, so I wanted to make a film illustrating the other side, how the parents can be feeling, for people my age to really realise this. Not too many films I’ve noticed have shown a Mother’s side to a Mother and Daughter narrative, especially that of when the child leaves for University. Even with a father son film, I’ve seen the narrative follow that of the Father mostly.
THE IDEA
THe research
The films I took inspiration from and researched were Beautiful Boy due to its warm lighting and dark feel and emotion that it created.
Mr Robot’s expression of Elliot’s loneliness with very cold and dark colours, but I focused mainly on body language and facial expression. I wanted the lighting for Where’s my Card to feel warm as this was the turning point for Beth’s writer’s block.
Bridget Jones Diary for the comedic scenes as a way of showing the character is aloof and the awkward situations this creates when around new settings, such as the yoga and dancing classes that I used. This montage scene helped to create some comedy, and break up the mood so that the film had a breather, to ultimately bring back the emotion stronger for the audience later on.
Beautiful Boy. (2019). Directed by Groeningen, F, V., USA: Plan B. [DVD]
Mr. Robot. (2015). Directed by Esmail, S., USA: USA Network. [DVD]
Bridget Jones Diary. (2001). Directed by Maguire, S., UK: Studio Canal. [DVD]
Tully. (2018). Directed by Reitman, J., Tully Productions. [DVD]
Lady Bird. (2018). Directed by Gerwig, G., USA: Scott Rudin Productions. [DVD]
2 films in particular that I took notice of and inspiration for my narrative were Lady Bird and Tully. Both films focus on the emotions of the Mother characters which isn't too common.
In particular Lady Bird dialogue and actions between the Mother and Daughter caught my interest in how natural it was and how realistic the back and forth arguing would be.
Tully was inspiring due to its shock ending and the impact this had on a second viewing.
I wanted to take both these aspects from these films and put them into the script of Where's my Card. The natural dialogue, and the surprising ending were big parts of my narrative.
The Script
The process of writing this film was lengthy. I wanted to find a style to writing scripts, so I started off by telling the story on paper in continuous prose. This way I felt I wasn’t pressured with coming up with new scenes for the script, it felt like a flowing story that could easily be written, especially as this narrative is so personal to me.
The Auditions
Having never cast with auditions before, I was definitely out of my element. I knew how to set up the camera but knowing what to look for in an actor/actress is somewhat different. I was holding auditions with the help of Ivana, the camera operator for Where's my Card, and together it was simple which two actresses would play the Mother and Daughter characters. I edited together their auditions, as they auditioned at different times, but this helped get a better idea of how they would perform together. The conversation sounded natural between them and they hadn't even been in the same room together so I knew Carly and Meryn would be perfect to play the roles.
The Storyboard
I drew up a storyboard of what I imagined the scenes to have, but without a location it was hard to pinpoint and finalise ideas. The storyboard was a loose idea anyway but it still helped develop the pacing of the film as I realised the film was quite slow and long winded.
The Location
The location I needed for most of the film was a house for the Mother to live in. It's hard to find a house in Plymouth that would allow filming. With Amy's help with the production side she pointed me to Air BNB's. I got really lucky with this location, it was perfect for the character and it did not exceed my budget. I was able to film at Tom Vowler's home which coincidentally he is an author and so his house is filled with books and unique items that fit perfectly with Beth's character as she too is an author. As the house was fully realised, there wasn't much need for Set Design. However, we needed a daughter's bedroom, which definiely needed set dressing.
SET DRESSING
Ivana and I brought in any items that we saw fit that would make this bedroom shine as a daughter's bedroom. It had to look pretty bare due to the fact that Ellie, the daughter had just left for University so she would have taken most things with her except a few childish knick knacks such as polaroid pictures, soft cuddly toys. The before and after pictures really show the difference between set dressing and just leaving it. The after picture really convinces the audience that this is a teenagers bedroom. The colour change is significant and really gave that warm feeling within the scene.
The music was a major part with this production as I wanted the film to be emotional but not have the music tell the audience it was emotional. I wanted soft subtle sounds that would be prominent but not too obvious. Later on into the process I managed to find a music composer, James Coulthard who composed the whole sound score. His understanding of the sounds that I wanted was better than what I thought I wanted. He was quick and efficient when creating these sounds and altogether makes the production a level above than I had expected.
BEHIND THE
SCENES STILLS
