Directors and their techniques

Andrea Arnold.
Andrea Arnold is a filmmaker and former actress from England, who made her feature film directorial debut in 2006 with Red Road. She ays: '' My films don't give you an easy ride. I can see that. The sense I get is that people have quite a physical experience with them. They feel afterwards that they've really been through something''.
In Arnolds British film- Fish Tank- there is a scene in which Mia- the protagonist- goes for a walk. Arnold uses long shots here to show the journey from her house to a newer houing estate. These long shots show the amount of time it takes her and the hand held camera work shows realism. I think this style of filming will work well in our film as we want a tense atmosphere.

Ken Loach
Ken Loach is known for his naturalistic, social realist directing style and for his social beliefs.  He strives  in every area of filmmaking to emphasise genuine interplay between actors, to the point where some scenes in his films appear unscripted. All scenes are carefully scripted, around which some improvisation can occur. The final script and the final film are actually very close.
Rather than employing method actors, he prefers unknown talent who have had some of the life experience of the characters they portray. Loach's film work has been described as naturalistic; he emphasises the genuine interplay between actors, and foregoes over-dependence on special effects.
Loach makes great efforts to help the actors express themselves naturally and honestly. He believes that shooting in order, from first scene to last, helps the actors to find a response to their circumstances. Many actors in his films are often not given the full script at the beginning of a shoot, but rather they experience the story just as a fictional character might do. He will often give actors their scenes a couple of days in advance so they can learn their lines, but they still won't know what comes after that. If a scene involves shock or surprise for a character, the actor might not know what is about to happen.

Cast

Simon Oxley

Playing Richards

Heath Woodward

Playing Brett Mallard

Nicola Stewart

Playing Sarah Mallard

Casting Calls/ Auditions

To make our adaptation of Story of an Hour more realistic we decided to age the characters by about 10 years. This would help us convey the fact that Sarah has been suffering for years. In the story, Sarah is in her late 20's, but we have changed this to the playing age of 30-40. My dad has opted to play the part of either Richard's or Brett.

We then had to find two more actors the play the remaining parts. As there are no actors/actresses in school of the age we need, Mirada being involved in amateur productions decided to advertise the roles on Facebook, and a local blog website dedicated to casting calls.

Experimenting with colour

I decided to use the windows editing software before i used photoshop as it is something i am more familiar with. For this first picture i brought down both the brightness and the contrast. On top of this i made the highlights dark.  

For this picture i bought down the saturation- taking out some colour. I decided to bring the temperature up to balance the darkness, i didn't want the picture looking too dark, but then i didn't want the colours too vivid and bright. After doing this i added a slight blue tint. I like this final product, because although the editing is simple, it makes the shot look a little more cold and there is a sense of loneliness about it.

Again i kept the editing to as little as possible, changing the colours until it looked a little more bare and cold.

All i did here was change the saturation- this time taking away the majority of the colour. Lastly, i decreased the temperature of the colours.

Harry Potter

After watching the special features on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2- i noticed that the original footage was different to the footage that we see on the big screen. The behind the scene footage shows a very orangy natural glow, where as the footage we see has a blue/grey duller tone to it. This would have been done in the post production stages and an effect i would like to create on our final piece.

I was unable to find two clips exactly the same, but these pictures have been taken from the same scene. The first picture shows the footage- filmed behind the scenes- on a camera without any effects. As you can see the colours aren't desaturated, they are very natural. The second picture shows a clip from the same scene where the colouring has changed. The duller tones add a sense of drama to the piece, it helps set the mood. Without the editing a scene wouldn't have the same effect. I really want to experiment with the colours because i think it would make our final piece more dramatic. We want the audience to feel sorry for Sarah without manipulating them too much.

Prop List

Sarah Mallard Costume
-Over sized cardigan
-Jeans
-Shoes?
-Plain vest top

Richards Costume
-Shirt and tie
-Smart work jacket and matching trousers.
-Smart shoes
-Black briefcase with lock

Brett Mallard Costume
-Smart looking suit with shirt and tie, much like Richards
-Smart work shoes

Props
-Honeymoon picture of Brett and Sarah
-Wedding ring (for Sarah)
-Richard's wedding ring
-Kitchen condiments- including sugar, tea bags and coffee granules
-Mugs
-Kettle
-Armchair
-Sarah's Jacket
-Keys

Shot List

1) Long shot of Richards walking down a street
2) Medium Close up as he looks up at the house he has been looking for
3) Extreme Close up of the door bell as he rings it
4) Medium shot as he backs away from the door to take a look at his surrounding areas
5) We cut to a mid shot of a lady making her way down the last few stairs of a staircase
6) The camera pans round to follow her to the door, where she stops
7) The camera tracks a sideboard until it reaches a picture frame turned down, sarah's hand picks it up and places it up right
8) The camera slowly zooms in to the picture, it is a picture of Sarah and Brett on their honey moon.
9) Mid shot of Sarah's upper body as she reaches for the door handle
10) Over the shoulder shot as she opens the door revealing Richards with his back to her
11) Cut to  an over the shoulder shot from Richards side as Sarah moves away from the door to let him in
12) As Richards walks through the door we cut to a medium shot from inside the house as Sarah closes the door behind him.
13) Long shot of the corridor from the front door to the kitchen as Sarah walks down it to join Richards
14) The camera slowly zooms back as sarah walks out of shot to put the kettle on

Developing Our Skills

Both mine and Miranda's final pieces in AS were tripod fixed, neither of us had experimented with different ways of filming. We were both particularly interested in hand held camera movement and so wanted to try making a short piece using this technique. We also wanted to try filming with a mobile phone to see what effects this had on our audience as well as filming and quality.

 The story follows a young girl, who has a unstable relationship with her mother.  She is alone and isolated from society, and has only herself for entertainment.  She takes a trip to the arcade to have some fun, and then goes back home to meet her high tempered mother waiting for her return. Below is the end product. 

Genre Research and Adaptations

Genre:Dramas are serious, plot-driven films that portray realistic characters, settings, events and stories involving intense character development and interaction.  They do not usually focus on special-effects, comedy or action sequences.

Adaptations:
A film adaptation is a transformation of a written text into the form of a film. Novels are frequently used, and they try to appeal to an existing commercial audience. The most recent film adaptations are;

The Harry Potter series - Originally a series of novels written by British author, J.K. Rowling - first film released in 2001
The Twilight Saga - Originally a series of novels written by American author Stephenie Meyer - first film released in 2008
The Time Traveller's Wife - Originally a novel written by American author Audrey Niffenegger - released as a film in 2009
The Adventure of TinTin - Originally a comic book created by Belgian artist Georges Remi - released as a film in 2011
Wuthering Heights - Originally a novel written by English author Emily Bronte - most famous adaption was in 1939.
Water For Elephants - Originally a historical novel written by Sara Gruen released as a film in 2011

New Moon

New Moon is the second film in the Twilight Saga. An adaptation of the books written by Stephanie Meyer. A particular section of the book skips over four months, we wanted to see how the director- Chris Weitz- portrayed this movement in time.



We like the simplicity of the pan, and how the change in time was suggested through different seasons and nature. The slow movement and desaturated colours helped set the mood and suggested a long period of waiting and thought. This is exactly the type of colouring i wanted to add to our shots, we want the audience to feel for Sarah in the most simplistic way possible. I think Chris Weitz captures Bellas emotions well without over doing it.

Target Audience

As our film deals with the subjects of death and unstable relationships we didn't want to set the age limit too low, but none of these subjects are explored in great depth, things are only suggested and most of the time the audience can make up their own mind. Strong language appears only once and so we wanted to research the guidelines to see which bench mark our film fits into.

For a 12, the BBFC clearly states ''moderate language is allowed. The use of strong language (for example 'fuck') must be infrequent.'' They go on to say ''mature themes are acceptable, but their treatment must be suitable for young teenagers.''

For a 15, ''There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘c**t’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.'' and in terms of theme ''No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.''


After looking into the two categories we decided to give it certificate 12. 

Character Development

Sarah Mallard
Sarah Mallard is in an unstable relationship with her abusive husband Brett. They were hopelessly in love, and married at a young age of 17. It has been 19 years since Sarah has been able to enjoy herself and her life. She is fragile, insecure and desperate for escape, and sees her husbands death as exactly that. Initially, she did love Brett, bus since they got married she has become a slave to him and, because of her weakness has been unable to stand up for herself, and so was submissive to Brett's demands. Because of this struggle her appearance suffers and she looks tired, haggard and drained.
Naturally she does feel heartbroken after the news of Brett's death, however, after some thought, she begins to realise that she is finally free. There is no one now, to tell her what to do or how to feel. From the characters severe heart disorder, when she finds out that Brett is alive, she suffers from a heart attack 'from the joys that kill'.


Richards
We know through Richards costume that he is in a well paid job. His briefcase implies he has a high position for the company he works for. He has known Brett since university, where they both studied Business and met Sarah on a double date, new years eve. Richards is a genuinely nice, family man and lives in a detached house with his wife and two children. 


Brett Mallard
Brett lives for his work, which is all consuming, and he regrettably forgets his love for his wife.  He turns to alcohol for comfort, and leaves Sarah alone at home most evenings whilst he is out drinking with his friends in the local bar.  He comes home, violently drunk, and takes the rest of his anger out on Sarah.  He is controlling and manipulative, and makes Sarah's life very difficult.

Location Ideas

We wanted to create an idealic, family home environment for our film.  We want to confuse our audience about why Sarah is depressed about her life. 

We knew that we wanted the scene between Richards and Sarah to be in a kitchen.  We therefore needed enough space for Richards to sit down at a table, and Sarah to move around, making tea.  When Sarah leaves the kitchen, she leaves to go to her bedroom.  The chair by the window was a key moment within the original story, so we wanted to keep this element within our film.  We also wanted to film a shot with Sarah looking out of the window and looking at the birds in the tree, creating a symbol of freedom. 

I wanted to take a few shots of the location, and a few still shots of various close ups and long shots we are planning to use in the final piece.

I really like the lighting in this shot, the light comes from under the cupboards, keeping the character looking slightly dull but we can see what she is doing with her hands. 

There was a choice of three rooms for the bedroom scene. Each room has a chair by the window but decorated differently. I like the simplicity and neutrality of this room. I want to keep the lighting to a minimum and use as much natural light as possible, throughout every sequence. The only lighting effects i want to add are in after effects or premier.

The lighting in this room is perfect, there is no orange glow, everything is simple and easy to see. 

 There is a shot of a a bird in a tree that Sarah stares at for a while. This is particularly important as it shows her want of freedom. The three different rooms offer different views of trees. I decided to show the view from this window as there was a bird sat in the tree. 

Although i imagined the door to be further away from where Sarah is sitting, it is still possible for us to ''cheat'' our way around this by using a completely different door as long as we match them up. 

This is the second room, it would need a little clearing up, but the view from the window is slightly different. The colours of the room are darker than the last, and personally i prefer the simplicity of the last.

I think this shot shows too much of the modernized neighborhood. 

Artificial light has been used here to light this shot. There is a slight orange glow, so we would have to experiment with the lighting. The stairs are in perfect distance from the front door and the kitchen. 

At the beginning of the film the camera pans across a sideboard with pictures and other items on it. There is a sideboard just to the right of the door that we can use. 

Costume Ideas

Sarah Mallard

We wanted to dress Sarah in a costume that represents her personality.
An over sized plain cardigan allows Sarah to almost hide behind it. The bagginess hides her figure, she is quite insecure and isn't happy with her relationship. This has an impact on her sense of style, she isn't keen to give much away. Teaming this up with a simple plain white top and a pair of boot cut jeans. Again, the jeans are baggy and don't complement her figure. She lacks confidence and her clothing supports this. I think make up wise- she should have little to none. Sarah is a tired, run down, unhappy character. Hairstyles need to be simplistic, a loose pony tail or loose waves in the hair. I don't think she needs anything extravagant, i don't want it to look as though she has made too much of an effort.

Richards

I always imagined Richards as a well presented character. He has a sense of success about his character and this is obvious due to his costume. Although he has this sense of style, when he appears at Sarah's door he appears distressed and this could be shown through him having his top button undone and his tie loose. The lock on his briefcase will be used to show his awkwardness as he begins to play and pick at it.

Brett Mallard

What have i learnt from my analyses?

In The Magic Mile the sound helps us sympathise with the character, the silence helps us connect with her and the loud screeching noise startles us just as much as it does her. The Non Diagetic music at the beginning helps set the tone, and open the film. Our film focuses on emotions quite a lot and a good opening piece of music will help to set the mood and put the audience in the right frame of mind. The audience need to connect with Sarah as soon as possible so that they see her full journey. Silence is also a good and effective way, as it helps the audience focus on what you want them too. This would be another good technique for us to use. 


Playground relies heavily on lighting to set their tone, the sound is kept to a minimal, and the lighting very de-saturated. The lighting plays a key part as it highlights key characters as perhaps a bit strange and menacing. The lack of lighting puts the audience on edge as we cannot see their surroundings. The blue hues suggest danger and mystery, but they also make the clip seem somewhat cold. 
As well as the lighting, the use of close ups help progress the narrative. They allow us to see what he is looking at and they focus on specific detail, sometimes emphasising the fact that this man is a killer. (the close up of the bracelets hanging from the mirror- suggest that this girl is not his first) When picturing parts of our film i imagine a different coloured filter of hue placed over the top. I think subtracting the colours will make the film seem more cold and sad, and help set the tone. When it comes to editing i think it will be interesting to play around with the different filters. 

Sound Analysis

THE MAGIC MILE.



When a deaf girl chances on an abandoned wheelchair, she discovers the incredible secret of the magic mile. Finding herself in a strange and unfamiliar world, she picks up on the trail of the wheelchair's owner who reveals that even miracles have their limits.

The film opens with an establishing shot of the beach, and a lady enters the screen from the left and proceeds to walk along the beach. The music is a non diagetic piano piece which seems to have a lot of ''feeling'' to it. It sets the tone and suggests that this  piece is going to make us sympathise with the character. The lady herself is dressed in a green sweater and black trousers, the scenery around her is very grey and monochromatic making her the most dominant part of her shots.
The lady is alone which makes us as the audience question why she is there, has something gone wrong? is she ill? are there relationship problems? The music becomes quieter and we can hear the waves in the background. Everything is still. 


The lady begins to walk through a set of planks before there is a loud screeching noise which puts us on edge. It isn't until we see a medium close up of the lady as she reveals her hearing aid that we begin to piece the footage together. The lady herself instantly falls to the floor and we feel sorry for her as she is alone. Everything becomes silent, we get to see life as she sees it.
This allows us to become her, the director put us in the characters shoes and we only hear what she does. Nothing. When the character enters the planks again she can hear things. As the audience we see her character change. She was, before, very quiet and insular. We see her change of character through a series of medium shots that show her being very inquisitive with the things around her. Her own laugh startles her her.


Without the sound we wouldn't sympathise with the character, the silence helps us connect with her and the loud screeching noise startles us just as much as it does her. The Non Diagetic music at the beginning helps set the tone, and open the film. Our film focuses on emotions quite a lot and a good opening piece of music will help to set the mood and put the audience in the right frame of mind. The audience need to connect with Sarah as soon as possible so that they see her full journey. Silence is also a good and effective way, as it helpf the audience focus on what you want them too. This would be another good technique for us to use. 

Other Roles

I have taken on all of the post production roles and Miranda has taken on the role of cinematographer and director. Miranda will be in charge of the creative aspects in terms of how the film looks. As director she will also be filming.

What is the job of the cinematographer?
It is the cinematographers job to decide on the technical aspects of the image. These include lighting, composition, filtiration, lense choice and exposure. They often work vey closely with the director to ensure that they are supporting the directors vision of the story they wish to tell. In the early 19th century the cinematographer was usually also the director and the person physically handling the camera.

What is the role of a director?
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic aspects, while guiding the technical crew and actors.
Directors are responsible for overseeing creative aspects of a film under the film producer. They often develop the vision for a film and carry the vision out, deciding how the film should look- they make their vision come to life. They are responsible for turning the script into a sequence of shots. They also direct what tone it should have and what an audience should gain from the cinematic experience. Film directors are responsible for deciding camera angles, lens effects and lighting with the help of the cinematographer, and set design with the production designer. They will often take part in hiring key crew members. They coordinate the actors' moves, or blocking, and also may be involved in the writing, financing, and editing of a film.

My Role Within The Production

I have taken on all of the post prodution roles. This will include editing the footage, adding any desired effects and filters to the to the film, and creating and adding the soundtrack.

What is the role of the editor?
Film editing is part of the creative post production process of filmmaking. It involves slecting shots and combining them into sequences, and ultimately creating a finished motion picture. Editing is the art to story making, it is the ony art that is unique to cinema, althought there are close similarities to the editing process in other art forms such as; poetry or novel writing. Film editing is often referred to as the ''invisibe art'' because although it is well practiced, the viewer can become so engaged that he or she is not even aware of the editor's work.
The job of an editor isn't simply to mechanically put piees of a film together. A film editor must creatively work with the layers of images, story, dialogue, music, pacing, as well as the actors performances to effectively ''re-imagine' and even rewrite the film to craft a cihesive whole. Editors usually play a damatic role in the making of a film.

Ideas for filming

As The Story of an Hour is set over the course of an hour we needed to think of ways to capture the story in just 5 minutes. We had to carefully shorten the text to fit our time limit. Once we had a suitable script we thought up ways we could capture the images.
One of our ideas was to place a clock in the corner of the screen that ticked for an hour, this would show the audience how much time has passed. Another idea was to use slow motion and speed things up, emphasising the important parts and fast forwarding through the parts that weren't important. Our last idea was to shoot as if watching through a security camera. They have built in timers and would effectively show the viewer what is happening at the same time as showing the time scale.
It is also important for us to make sure the audience feel for the character at an early stage, and become attached to her as she shows some strong emotions, and we only have a short amount of time to display them.

Stoyboard

Synopsis

'Story of an Hour' shows the rollercoaster of emotions that Sarah Mallard goes through at the discovery of her husbands death.  A modern, film adaptation of Kate Chopin's 18th Century short story. 

A woman in a modern world, yet still in the chains of pre-suffragette Britain.  She struggles to come to terms with her loss, yet realises the freedom that this will bring her.  But will she suffer from the joys that kill?

Final Script

Story of an Hour

Scene 1

We see a man, Richards walking down a street. He stops at the house he is looking for, looks up at the window and then walks to the door. He rings the door bell and waits. He backs away from the door and looks around the surrounding environment. Cut to a figure making her way down the last few steps of the staircase. She walks towards the door. She stops. On the table next to the front door there is a picture frame turned down. She picks it up and puts it upright on the table. It is a picture of Sarah and her husband Brett on their honeymoon. Brett is smiling and enjoying his holiday, Sarah's smile is forced. She reaches for the door handle. She faces the figure before her. He's dressed in a black suit, and is holding a briefcase in one hand and a newspaper in the other. Sarah is confused by his visit.

Sarah: Richards?

Richards turns round to see Sarah Mallard at the door. His face is grave. He struggles to greet her with a warm smile. Instead it looks forced and fake.

Richards: Can I come in?

Sarah doesn't answer. She stands back away from the door, letting Richardswalk through. She closes the door, and follows him through to the kitchen. She puts the kettle on and then sits opposite him.

Richards is fiddling with the lock on his briefcase, picking at the lock. Sarah is holding her shaky hands in her lap, turning her wedding ring around her finger. Richards looks up at Sarah every few seconds, hoping that she will start the conversation. He sighs, takes a deep breath, and pulls his hands away from his briefcase, shifting his body so that his whole attention is on Sarah. He leans forward to address her.

Richards: How are you?

Sarah notices that he has started a conversation, and pulls her gaze away from her wedding ring. She looks up at Richards, yet finds it hard to hold his gaze.

Sarah: Okay.

She pulls away from his worried, searching gaze and looks back at her wedding ring. Richards sighs as she does, concerned about her well-being.

Richards: Good. (He nods once and turns back to his briefcase, and continues to pick at the lock.)

There is a silent pause. Richards looks around the room awkwardly. All the audience hears is Sarah tapping her finger nails on the table, Richards picking at his lock and the kettle boiling. The three sounds climax until the kettle boils. Sarah goes to make the tea. Richards, now that he doesn't have to deliver the news to her face, builds the confidence to break the news.

Richards: I'm sorry. I went to wait for Brett's train. I waited for an hour. Sarah... Sarah, the train never arrived. Brett never arrived.

Richards waits for a reaction. Sarah doesn't react, and continues to make the tea. Her actions are shaky and quick paced. Once she has got everything ready (milk, sugar), she orders them on the counter.

Apparently some kids were playing a game, Some sick game. They put a log on the tracks. The train collided and... I'm sorry.

Long pause. Sarah's movements have become more shaky and quick. Whilst pouring the water she overflows the pot, and spills the water on her hand. Sarah curses under her breath. Richards gets up quickly to help her.

Richards: Let me help you.

Sarah pulls away from Richards help, backing away from him.

Sarah: No. I'm fine.

Sarah makes her way from the hall way, and up the stairs.

Scene 2

Sarah makes her way up the stairs. She walks into her room, and slowly shuts the door. There is a large armchair placed in front of the window. She stands in front of it and then sinks slowly into it. She sits, staring outside the window. A tear slowly rolls down her face. She quickly wipes it away. Her expression shows her exhaustion, her stress. She has aged and looks years older than her actual age. She sits motionless. We see two birds flying past her window. They sit on the nearest tree by the window. Sarah looks at them in envy, jealousy. After some time she throws her head back, resting on the top of the chair.

She lifts her head again, slowly. A sudden realisation comes across her face. Looking out the window at the birds again. She slowly rises, and walks over to look out the window, and rests her head against the glass. She continues to watch the birds. She smiles, a gleam of life coming back to her eyes.

Sarah: Free. Mind, body and soul. Free.

A knock from her bedroom door. We hear Richards, call from the other side of the door.

Richard: Sarah? Sarah, open the door! Please, open the door – you're going to make yourself ill. What are you doing? Sarah? (To himself) For fuck sake. Open the door!

Sarah: I'm not making myself ill.

Richards keeps on shouting through the door. Sarah stays at the window. Smiles. A tear comes to her eye. She looks excited. “Drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window. She turns away from the window, and opens the door to find Richards on his knees. She grabs Richards' arm and starts to drag her down the stairs. 

Sarah: Pub?

Sarah has reached the bottom of the stairs. She goes into the kitchen, grabs her coat from the back of the stairs, and goes to the table at the side of the front door. She grabs her keys.

Richards: What? Sarah...

Sarah: Come on.

Richards: Sarah, wait....

At that moment Richards is interrupted by the sound of a key entering a lock. All freeze. They turn to face the front door. Sarah backs away towards the staircase to support herself. She looks scared, shocked. Fear overwhelms her.

We see a figure step through the door, we do not see his face yet. Richards looks happy, overjoyed.

Sarah: (screams) No!

We now see Brett walk through the doorway, shocked, confused at the outburst.

Kate Chopin

Kate Chopin was born in 1851 and died in 1904. She was an American author of short stories and novels. She is now considered by some to have been a forerunner of feminist authors of the 20th century.


From 1892 to 1895, she wrote short stories for both children and adults which were published in such magazines as Atlantic Monthly, Vogue, The Century and Harper's Youth's Companion. As well as The Story of an Hour her other famous pieces include, Bayou Folk (1894), A Night in Acadie (1897), The Storm (1898) and Desiree's Baby (1893). Within a decade of her death, Chopin was widely recognized as one of the leading writers of her time.


Kate Chopin had different lifestyles throughout her life which provided her with insights, understanding and allowed her to analyse of late 19th century American society.
Many of her stories and sketches were about her life in Louisiana and her less than typical portrayals of women.


Her seemingly different writing style emerged from an admiration of Guy de Maupassant.

''...I read his stories and marveled at them. Here was life, not fiction; for where were the plots, the old fashioned mechanism and stage trapping that in a vague, unthinkable way I had fancied were essential to the art of story making. Here was a man who had escaped from tradition and authority, who had entered into himself and looked out upon life through his own being an with his own eyes; and who, in a direct and simple way, told us what he saw..''

She, however went beyond Maupassant's technique and style and gave it a flavor of her own. She put alot of concentration and emphasis on women's lives and their continual struggles to create an identity of their own within the boundaries of the patriarchy. In The Story of an Hour, Mrs. Mallard allows herself time to reflect upon learning of her husbands death. Instead of dreading the lonely journey ahead of her, she stumbles upon another realization all together.

 "She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome"

Not many writers were bold enough to address such subjects during the mid to late 19th century.

Inspiration.

When looking for ideas for our short film we came across a story by Kate Chopin. Its her most famous piece of work. ''The Story of an Hour'' shows the contrasting emotions from beginning to end as a woman comes to terms with her husbands death.


The Story of an Hour

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.

     It was her sister Josephine who told her, in broken sentences; veiled hints that revealed in half concealing. Her husband's friend Richards was there, too, near her. It was he who had been in the newspaper office when intelligence of the railroad disaster was received, with Brently Mallard's name leading the list of "killed." He had only taken the time to assure himself of its truth by a second telegram, and had hastened to forestall any less careful, less tender friend in bearing the sad message.

     She did not hear the story as many women have heard the same, with a paralyzed inability to accept its significance. She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

     There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

     She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life. The delicious breath of rain was in the air. In the street below a peddler was crying his wares. The notes of a distant song which some one was singing reached her faintly, and countless sparrows were twittering in the eaves.

     There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

     She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

     She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

     There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully. What was it? She did not know; it was too subtle and elusive to name. But she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

     Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will - as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been.

     When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

     She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial.

     She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and gray and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

     There would be no one to live for during those coming years; she would live for herself. There would be no powerful will bending hers in that blind persistence with which men and women believe they have a right to impose a private will upon a fellow-creature. A kind intention or a cruel intention made the act seem no less a crime as she looked upon it in that brief moment of illumination

     And yet she had loved him - sometimes. Often she had not. What did it matter! What could love, the unsolved mystery, count for in face of this possession of self-assertion which she suddenly recognized as the strongest impulse of her being!

     "Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

     Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhole, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg, open the door - you will make yourself ill. What are you doing Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

     "Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

     Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

     She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs. Richards stood waiting for them at the bottom.

     Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

     But Richards was too late.

     When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease - of joy that kills.


Condensing the text

Because we need to condense an hour into 5 minutes, we cut down the text, and left only the important visuals/ideas that we want to create. 

Purple - Visual/action

Orange - Dialogue

Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break to her as gently as possible the news of her husband's death.........

She wept at once, with sudden, wild abandonment, in her sister's arms. When the storm of grief had spent itself she went away to her room alone. She would have no one follow her.

There stood, facing the open window, a comfortable, roomy armchair. Into this she sank, pressed down by a physical exhaustion that haunted her body and seemed to reach into her soul.

She could see in the open square before her house the tops of trees that were all aquiver with the new spring life....

There were patches of blue sky showing here and there through the clouds that had met and piled one above the other in the west facing her window.

She sat with her head thrown back upon the cushion of the chair, quite motionless, except when a sob came up into her throat and shook her, as a child who has cried itself to sleep continues to sob in its dreams.

She was young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength. But now there was a dull stare in her eyes, whose gaze was fixed away off yonder on one of those patches of blue sky. It was not a glance of reflection, but rather indicated a suspension of intelligent thought.

There was something coming to her and she was waiting for it, fearfully....she felt it, creeping out of the sky, reaching toward her through the sounds, the scents, the color that filled the air.

Now her bosom rose and fell tumultuously. She was beginning to recognize this thing that was approaching to possess her, and she was striving to beat it back with her will--as powerless as her two white slender hands would have been. When she abandoned herself a little whispered word escaped her slightly parted lips. She said it over and over under her breath: "free, free, free!" The vacant stare and the look of terror that had followed it went from her eyes. They stayed keen and bright. Her pulses beat fast, and the coursing blood warmed and relaxed every inch of her body.

She did not stop to ask if it were or were not a monstrous joy that held her. A clear and exalted perception enabled her to dismiss the suggestion as trivial. She knew that she would weep again when she saw the kind, tender hands folded in death; the face that had never looked save with love upon her, fixed and grey and dead. But she saw beyond that bitter moment a long procession of years to come that would belong to her absolutely. And she opened and spread her arms out to them in welcome.

"Free! Body and soul free!" she kept whispering.

Josephine was kneeling before the closed door with her lips to the keyhold, imploring for admission. "Louise, open the door! I beg; open the door--you will make yourself ill. What are you doing, Louise? For heaven's sake open the door."

"Go away. I am not making myself ill." No; she was drinking in a very elixir of life through that open window.

Her fancy was running riot along those days ahead of her. Spring days, and summer days, and all sorts of days that would be her own. She breathed a quick prayer that life might be long. It was only yesterday she had thought with a shudder that life might be long.

She arose at length and opened the door to her sister's importunities. There was a feverish triumph in her eyes, and she carried herself unwittingly like a goddess of Victory. She clasped her sister's waist, and together they descended the stairs.

 

Some one was opening the front door with a latchkey. It was Brently Mallard who entered, a little travel-stained, composedly carrying his grip-sack and umbrella. He had been far from the scene of the accident, and did not even know there had been one. He stood amazed at Josephine's piercing cry; at Richards' quick motion to screen him from the view of his wife.

When the doctors came they said she had died of heart disease--of the joy that kills.