scripted master + coverage: director's statement

FILM   6

NAME: Brenna Empey

DATE: 11/15/2016

DP: Hannah Harper

FILM 6: SCRIPTED MASTER WITH COVERAGE
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT OF INTENT

This statement of intent is designed to train your mind, eye and heart to shoot purposefully. Prepare it well before shooting. Briefly—but thoughtfully and specifically—answer the following questions.

1.      What film or TV show is this from?

·         Drive (2011) by Nicolas Winding Refn

a.       Have you ever watched this film?

·         No

b.      Do you have the actual script of the film—not a transcript?

·         Yes

2.      After reading the entire script, in 3 sentences, what is the story of the entire film?

·         The Driver, a mysterious character with a hidden knack for violence, wants to disassociate himself with his history of crime and career in getaway driving. He meets Irene, a woman who is raising her son alone while her husband, Standard, is in prison, and the three of them form a close bond. When Standard re-enters their lives after being released, the Driver finds himself involved with mobsters and murderers who threaten (and sometimes succeed) to kill both him and his friends – which turns the story into not only one of the Driver protecting Irene and her son, but also of revenge.

3.      After reading the entire script, what is the theme or message of this film?

·         Being a good person at heart doesn’t necessarily mean you have a one-way ticket to an easy life and wholesome relationships with others.

4.      In 3-5 sentences, what happened in the story immediately before your selected scene?

·         The Driver met with his friend Shannon and Shannon’s associate, Bernie, at a raceway where Shannon set a deal in motion to have Driver become a racer. There is clear tension between Bernie and Driver, although it’s not explained why, and afterwards Driver goes to the supermarket. There, he sees his neighbor Irene (who we’ve seen before but haven’t spoken to) and her son in one of the aisles. Out in the parking lot, Irene is having trouble with her engine and Driver goes over to help her, which results in both of them going home together. Irene invites Driver into her apartment because he’s helping her carry groceries, and that’s where my scene begins.

5.      In 3-4 sentences, what is the story—the beginning, middle, and end—of this scene? In other words, what happens as the scene starts, as it progresses, and as it ends?

·         Irene, thankful for Driver’s help, sits him down for a glass of water in her kitchen after he’s helped bring in the groceries. She excuses herself and goes to the bathroom mirror – it’s clear that she’s affected by his presence in her apartment, probably because she’s attracted to him. Not wanting him to leave, she returns to the kitchen and makes small talk with Driver and learns about what he does for a living. When he refuses a second glass of water, she walks him to the door and he leaves.

6.      What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively/plot-wise in order to engage in this scene? How will you communicate each piece of information?

·         This is early on in Irene and Driver’s relationship, so here I think it’s just important to see that Irene is clearly attracted to Driver. He still seems unsure, or at least unsure about how to act around her, because he seems pretty intent on getting out of there are the conversations progresses. The two most significant beats for Irene are when she goes to the bathroom and looks at herself in the mirror – thinking about how she’s married, but can’t deny her interest in Driver – and when she stalls him leaving by small-talking with him. I want to use Irene’s blocking to show how she doesn’t want him to leave. It could be as simple as placing her between the door and the Driver, creating a visual barrier in front of the exit. But I don’t want her to seem malicious or weird, either, so I’ll give her something to do (unloading groceries) so she isn’t idly standing in the kitchen talking to him when he probably wants to leave. When Driver asks about her husband, I want her reaction to be poignantly short, because she changes the subject so quickly and doesn’t provide a lot of information about her husband in the script.

7.      What is the narrative and thematic purpose of this scene within the larger story?

·         This scene is all about the blossoming relationship between Irene and Driver, but it doesn’t forget about Benicio (Irene’s son) either. Benicio serves as a reminder that Irene is married, which is only made more apparent when Driver asks about the photo in her apartment. While it’s clear that Irene is attracted to Driver, it’s not really clear in the script whether or not Driver feels the same way about her. I love the beat with Irene looking at herself in the mirror – she’s thinking hard about Driver’s presence in her apartment, while it appears that Driver was just trying to be helpful with her groceries and doesn’t want to take up much of her time, judging by how he small-talked with her only briefly before stating “I should get going.”

8.      What emotion do you want the audience to experience while watching this scene? Why? How, specifically, do you intend to do this?  

·         I want the audience to feel how awkward Driver is in this domestic situation. He’s from a different world, a different lifestyle, where family isn’t really present. Here, however, he finds himself in a situation where he must interact with a mother and son in their home. The thing is, I don’t think Driver is a bad person, I think he has a good heart and has simply been thrust into unfortunate circumstances that make him unapproachable or emotionally barred. More importantly, I think he sees himself as an emotionally distant person, or a person that others don’t want to or shouldn’t be around. This doesn’t mean he’s a bad person, and I want the audience to see that he isn’t standoffish by nature – he’s standoffish because he believes he’s not a good person. He isn’t going to meet Irene’s eyes very much. When he plays with Benicio, howeer, I like to think that he’s inventing a memory he wish he could call his own, maybe a good memory with his father. I want that to be really tender, while interactions with Irene are polite and kind but not very connected.

9.      What is the first image of the scene? What is the final image of the scene? Why do you think the director chose these specific images?

·         The first image is of Irene and Driver entering the apartment with bags of groceries. The last image is very similar, with her walking him to the door as he leaves. This is a really cool use of parallel images – an opening shot and a closing shot that are visually almost identical, but mean very different things. The entering shot is all about Driver coming into a normal space, a domestic space that he isn’t familiar with or comfortable with. But it’s inviting – maybe he’ll be okay, be able to get some good out of this. And as the scene progresses, we see that he is getting something good out of it, but he’s still not comfortable with it. He wants to leave. The last shot, the exit, is not only defeat for the Driver but for Irene as well, who is interested in him but seemingly feels shackled to her criminal husband.

10.  Why is this scene personal to you? What specific personal experience(s) does it remind you of?

·         I relate to the Driver for a slew of reasons, the most prominent of them being the fact that I struggle to connect emotionally with people. Oftentimes, if I’m not good friends with a person, I see conversations as something to get through rather than something to enjoy. Based on how the Driver constructed his small-talk and ended the conversation pretty quickly, I’d say he’s the same way. At this point in the story, it’s clear that Driver thinks Irene is beautiful, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he wants it to go any farther – I like to think that in a way, he looks down on himself too much to ever consider moving farther with her. This kind of self-deprecating behavior/mindset comes from an inability to connect with people, and it’s something I understand. You can only struggle to talk to someone so many times before acknowledging and accepting that it isn’t going to work, and eventually, “it isn’t going to work” sticks at the forefront of every conversation and makes it horrendously difficult to envision potential friendship and relationships. I don’t know if I can necessarily tie this mental state to a specific experience, but I can tie it to things I’ve realized about myself the older I get. I’ve realized that close friendships I develop with others begin to crumble after about a year, like clockwork. I’ve realized that I’ve never dated someone for more than a month. And realizing those things is an incredibly distressing and discouraging process – that’s what the Driver and I have in common. The more you realize you’re an emotionally disconnected person, the more it dictates your desire to pursue friendships and relationships. It’s sad, but it’s true. I don’t think the Driver doesn’t want to be with Irene, but I think he can’t see himself with her and that’s what pushes him to end the conversation and get out of the apartment.

11.  How should the lighting feel in this scene? Why? You may include sample image(s). (Not from the actual film!)

·         While I haven’t seen this film, I know that Refn is a big fan of high contrast and extreme lighting. I don’t necessarily want to imitate what he might do with the lighting in this scene, but I really like the idea of stylizing the mood and color of this space. Stylization in a film like this is usually associated with something unfamiliar to the characters, or something that really needs to be punchy and pronounced. Well, the Driver isn’t familiar with domestic spaces. He isn’t comfortable in them. I’d love to really bump up the tungsten in Irene’s apartment, because that’s typically a warm and homey lighting scheme, but if the color is saturated and the contrast is high it’ll still feel uncomfortable. I almost want the lighting to have this conflict of interest on screen – to show the viewers warm colors, but abrasively, with high contrast. I think that’ll embody what Driver is feeling.

12.  Which two specific visual elements—line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement—do you intend to use to purposefully communicate the emotion of the scene? (You will be graded on your execution of this plan)

·         I’m actually really excited to shoot Irene’s part of this scene because I’ll be using a lot of movement and blocking to show how she’s feeling, as I briefly mentioned before. She’ll be unloading groceries, then cleaning a bit, then maybe reaching for the pitcher of water right before Driver refuses another drink. She needs to look a little flustered, because she’s attracted to him, but not in an obvious way – so I think these movements/blocking points make sense. Secondly, I want there to be noticeable tonal differences between Driver’s face and Irene’s face. I’m going to make sure Irene’s face is shot on the light side while Driver’s face is shot on the shadow side, and I think I’ll be able to do that pretty easily with two light sources and some well-informed placement of actors in the space. As long as Driver’s light is used as more of a kicker than a fill and Irene’s light is used more as a fill than a kicker, I’ll be able to achieve that tonal difference.

13.  In a bulleted list, describe three potential obstacles you may face in creating a successful scene. Describe how can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!

·         I’m worried about casting Benicio. Kids are hard to find, and even harder to work with, for me. I’m really hoping that I can use my cousin, Miles, who is a bit of a firecracker but at least I would know him which I think would make things easier.

·         This might be kind of dumb, but Driver shows Benicio a magic trick in this scene, and I’m kind of worried that I won’t be able to make it work on screen. It’ll just take some practice and some tweaking to get it right, and obviously I’ll test it beforehand, but I’m just hoping my actor can learn it quickly.

·         There’s a lot of movement in this scene, and I’m worried about covering it all, but I think to remedy this I’ll focus less on Benicio and more on Irene and Driver. Benicio is definitely present, but I don’t think he’s the most important part of the scene. When I was originally envisioning this, I was thinking about getting coverage from all over the place – in front of Benicio with Irene and Driver in the background, and vice versa, shots like that. But I think the moment with Driver and Benicio is not only really tender and nice, I also think it covers what needs to be covered with Benicio in this scene.

14.  Prepare your lined script including the director’s breakdown as discussed in class; prepare your shot list.