Trauma Dump

As Director of Photography on this production, I contributed heavily to the

aesthetic of the film. Coming to the production with knowledge of

cinematography and experience with the Black Magic camera,

I brought a technical understanding that proved to be an asset

to the production, not just in terms of the final look and feel of Trauma Dump but

in the process of filming and troubleshooting on set.

Dealing with the heavy subject of grief within our film, I wanted to reflect the

emotional state of the characters within the aesthetic of the film. I played with

focus to represent the absence of the characters, representing the frame of mind

that the main character was in, who was struggling to come to terms with the

death of his friend. Similarly I used shaky close up angles to show his mental

unsteadiness and state of mind.

I worked collaboratively with the set designer on set to create the look and feel of

the film. The studio scenes, the live performances and the scenes with one on

one interactions with the main characters, all required quick set changes for

continuity as well as to change angles to create perspective. This required a lot of

forward planning and this was indicated on the shot list. On set I took charge of

scene changes and everyone stayed in position, which allowed me to then

quickly reset.

Prior to filming Trauma Dump, we shot a small teaser video and images that

would be used as promotional material for the film, during which I was able to

work collaboratively with the director to create a sense of familiarity between the

cast members. This was also an opportunity to develop the style and look I

wanted to achieve. After setting up the shots, I instructed the cast to interact

naturally and do whatever came naturally to them without direction. Within this

session we made major progress in terms of character development and the

natural relationships between the characters that were so essential to the film.

My experience the outcome of my contributions to this production, is an

example of how far my knowledge of film production has progressed since the

beginning of my course almost three years ago. My technical understanding is

such that I am able to think on my feet one set in order to get the best out of the

equipment, sets and cast. In the case of unavoidable technical issues on set, I feel

confident and comfortable resolving these and I am able to adapt to unforeseen

changes.

When approaching my role creatively as Director of Photography, the subtext in

the script was as important was the dialogue; in parts Trauma Dump is as much

about what is unsaid between the characters as what is. The emotional state of

the characters and the inner turmoil was a key focus in my approach to the film’s

aesthetic. This led to incorporating dutch angles, unsteady shots and close ups

into the project in the way that I have laid out.

Additionally, until the final performance scene, the film is set in fairly every day

surroundings: a young person’s bedroom and unadorned rehearsal room. Paired

with the subject of grief it felt natural that the feel of the film should reflect the

monotony of every day life. The ambience of the scenes have a lacklustre feel to

them, and the the rehearsal room feel when the lights are turned out this takes on

a more literal sense as the scene fades to grey.

The exception to this is the final performance scene where it was important that

atmosphere take on a greater sense of vibrance and in which I visualised scenes

and took inspiration from live performances. In this scene, the venue also played

a significant part in my creative approach, as from a practical and technical

standpoint this was the most difficult to shoot. The aesthetic and the flow for the

big performance includes quick pans and camera movement that adds

dynamics to the scene and gives the viewer an aesthetic experience that is

energetic and vivid.

Ultimately, Trauma Dump is a film about raw and unbridled emotion and so my

role was about giving space to the script and the actors to work with that and that

is where my creative approach was centred, The techniques I have employed

work well because they work tangentially to the acting, writing and directing.

Without those the close up shots, the changes in focus and the unsteady camera

angles would have fallen flat.

The purpose of creating Trauma Dump was always intended to highlight and

carry across a wider message surrounding mental health. The narrative, which

focuses on a group of young men struggling to navigate the death of their friend,

highlights a subject that often goes unspoken about, which is male mental

health and the men who often suffer in silence.

Therefore as a group we discussed how the film would be an effective part of an

awareness campaign. In attempting to raise funds through Go Fund Me to assist

with production costs, we discussed how in the distributing the film, the film

could be released as a fundraiser, to raise money for mental health support for

people experiencing grief.

The film would be distributed online and on social media channels as sponsored

content, meaning the film would appear in more feeds and as a fundraiser would

be more likely to be watched and its message received than if it was released in

other ways.

All on you

Our group wanted to create a gritty, British drama that carries a wider message about falling into

the trap of reaching for short term gains rather than working towards long term achievements and

progression. It was our intention to depict how, when presented with a decision that poses a

choice between the two, opting for short term money or status, can often take us completely off

course.

We decided to show someone who is studying at University but who like many students who

have complex situations, has a lot more on his plate that he feels ill-equipped to deal with. Our

main character is trying to support his family while also studying for a degree and in trying to do

so makes all the wrong decisions and falls into a situation, which creates more problems and puts

him in a position that he then has to struggle to get out of.

Knife crime and gang violence are a huge problem in London, one that we are all aware of and

hugely affects and involves young people of our age. We wanted to create a film that underpins

the reasons why people get into this and humanises people involved in these situations but more

importantly shows what it takes to come out of it.

It was important to us that our main character be likeable, so we felt it was important for the story

to come full circle at the end, showing him as a role model. Often the people who become role

models for young people involved in gang culture are those who have been through it themselves.

We felt it was important to show the different angles and aspects of this issue.

We took inspiration from the 2004 film Bullet Boy, which depicts someone who has just left a

young offender’s institute and who is trying to get his life on track but can’t get free from the

street life that keeps pulling him into violent situations. Though this was a low-budget film, this

reflected the life of the character who is living in a high-rise on a council estate, a big-budget

perfect quality film would not have captured the atmosphere in the way that the cinematographer

Marcel Zyskind managed to. This influenced our decision when choosing our camera as we

wanted to choose something with great quality that would create the kind of grit that we were

trying to achieve.

In addition, we were inspired by Kidulthood (2006) by Noel Clarke, which depicts a group of

reckless “anti-social” young people. In the filming of Kidulthood, Clarke directed the cast, who

were all young people from London to work within the bounds of the script but to speak naturally

and improvise in terms dialect. The success of these films is widely attributed to the their

authenticity and the fact that the writers and directors were from London and speak in the way

that the film is portraying as well as the fact that its cast use the same language and mannerisms

having grown up in London. These films showed the importance of having a representative cast

and crew when taking on films that show specific subcultures if you want to capture its authentic

grit.

We felt that our writer and director, who grew up and went to college in London would be able to

write a script that would authentically and naturally capture the way in which young people in

London actually speak and communicate. It was therefore also important that our cast be young

people from London who the script would feel natural to, who would be able to take on the

characters depicted within it without having to unnaturally take on the tone and feel of the

dialogue. On set we modified dialogue from the script, allowing the actors to use synonymous

language that felt more natural to them.

As the producer and co-director of All On You I was responsible for the logistics, financial planning, paperwork

and smooth running of the production on the day. The project posed numerous challenges; not

only was the film itself set across numerous locations, with numerous props but we were reliant

on a number of actors and extras on the day. We had originally planned to shoot the film across

three days, but when our lead actor was too unwell to make it to set, we then had to extend

filming for another day, which meant additional last minute planning and ultimately we were

unable to complete the film in the way that we had planned.

Bradley, who was our writer and director, had a very clear vision of the film he wanted to make,

which contains many challenging visual elements, so it was essential that we work closely

throughout the planning and filming to ensure that this was able to come to life on screen. There

were several scenes that were cut in the initial planning of the film where one character would be

shopping in a thrift store and the other would have been showed in designer stores, which would

have been the perfect juxtaposition of the two lives that our character had to choose between, but

feasibly this was beyond our remit.

It was therefore important that the location and props in the other scenes that we had planned to

show this juxtaposition created the strong visual representations that we were looking for. The

party scene where our character who has chosen to join a gang is portrayed as living the high life,

was one of the most important scenes in the film - this is where the wider message of showing

short term versus long term gains comes to a climax, it was also the most challenging to shoot.

For the party scene we had initially planned to have more extras on set than we were able to get

with girls, dancing and high energy. Ultimately we had to change the energy of the scene to

something more laid back - the scene was trying to show the bond between our main character

James and the gang leader Carter as well as to create the juxtaposition and I feel that this came

through in what we created.

The scene needed to take place somewhere that looked and felt expensive, we didn’t have

access to an apartment or a view that would give us this look so we hired a location. We also had

multiple extras on set, and therefore logistically there was more to consider, which made this

scene the most expensive of the shoot. With all these elements considered there was a lot of

decision making that took place on the day and though we had to compromise I am pleased that

visually we achieved what we had intended.

As a producer the most challenging decision that I had to take was regarding a scene that

involved a knife. In the initial script James takes the knife out with him to a drug deal, anticipating

that things might go wrong, but due to the risks involved the scene changed drastically. To avoid

taking a knife into a public space we decided to show him putting the knife inside his hoodie

before he left the house and then we would hold his hand in the same posture to show that he

was holding it in the scene that took place on the estate. Working with a knife was the first time I

had been presented with a severe risk on the set and after consideration, I decided that it was not

worth it when there was the option of working with a prop knife, which would allow us to use a

rubber knife that better matched the type of knife that would be used by gangs.

The recent tragedy that happened on the set of Rust is a testament to the fact that even on high-

budget films where there are multiple crew members responsible for the safety of a production,

situations that present a high-risk can always go wrong. Ultimately the safety of our cast and crew

comes before anything and I felt that a risk as great this was unnecessary just to create better

visuals for a film.

Pay your bills

For this project myself and my production group decided to participate at the Just a minute festival, submitting a short drama that we have titled ‘Pay Your Bills’

The entire film takes place in Maya’s living room, which means we have a limited space to create

visuals with, made further limited by the narrative in which the power in Maya’s house cuts out. This

will be a one of the most challenging aspects of the cinematography to overcome but also presents

opportunities to create unique visuals and utilise the fact that working in complete darkness allows us

to illuminate areas in the room that are key to the narrative and look for interesting ways to light the

shot, making it look as natural as

possible.

We have considered how to maintain the darkness in the room whilst still capturing her actions. The majority of this film and the most important shots within the narrative will be short in relative darkness, so we will need to illuminate the shots in a way that gives the effect that any light we see on the screen has been generated by the character and is coming from either the character’s flashlight or her computer.

By thinking about where the computer is placed in the shot we will place lights but off camera to

give the illusion that the illumination in the shot is coming directly from her screen. For example,

one of the most important shots within the narrative will be when Maya is plugging and unplugging

her computer and phone charger from the socket, which takes place directly after the light has cut

out. She is using her flashlight to see what she is doing, so by placing her flashlight on the floor we

can place a light stand behind the camera which will be turned on at the same time she places her

flashlight on the ground. There will be shots within the scene where technology is not being used by

the character, in these scenes we will create a low light on set enough for the viewer to clearly see

the action so that the darkness can be created in post production.

Most of the narrative is focused on Maya’s emotions and reactions to what is happening so we will

capture most of the scenes through close-up shots to expose more emotion on film. Though the film

will be composed mostly from close-up shots, we will only illuminate small parts of that shot itself -

we are trying to create a feeling of claustrophobia and make the character look and feel isolated.The intention is to be overly dramatic, the narrative in itself isn’t particularly heartbreaking or tragic

but we are trying to convey that for the character this is how she is feeling, and to get our student

audience to sympathise with her.