LYDIA DWEK Pro Pack- Into the Darkness

7/24/2019 LYDIA DWEK Pro Pack- Into the Darkness

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Into the Darkness Production Pack

By Lydia DwekStage 3: Beyond Te Boundaries

BA (Hons) Digital Film & Screen Arts University for Creative Arts at Farnham

November 2015


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Contents Page

Treatment & Synopsis 1

Inspiration 2

Mood Board 3

Research- Characterisation 5

Example of Script Development 9

Casting 10

Schedule 11

Crew 12

Risk Assessments 13

Actor Agreements 17


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Treatment

Into the darkness is a feen minute narrative piece based on the origins of the Batman lms and televi-sion series characters including the characters Joker,Riddler and Harley quinns characteritics,mannerisms,behaviours, personalities and traits and conveying them through ordinary people. I see it now as 4 portraits performed by actors applying subtle methods to suggest underlying psychosis/neurosis using choreographedmovement whilst speaking to camera. Te characters two men and two women appear in mid shot andclose up from a single camera. Te close up emphasises the odd twitches or gestures. Te camera directionwill follow the inection of the monologue. So Samual Becket like these might need some repetition andemphasis.I intend to use this as the basis of my lm. I will be enlisting selected drama students to enact these cues tomake visual observations of how these characteristics are presented through mannerisms etc As this willbe a solo production i saw this as an oppotunity to explore the deeper emotion of how actors portray thisin lm. Te script will be 4 x approx 3 minute monologues for each character.In terms of costume design Iwould like to approach costumes within ordinary clothing, however to show some hints of characterisation iwill be including makeup but the confusion of different characters within.

Due to the theme of darkness within these characters inicted the theme of aspects of violence the intendedaudience is for the age range of PG15.Te location was original going to be set in an asylum, however due to budget possibilites and permission idecided to lm in the studios as conveying the darkness and using low key lighting would be more effective.As this is an improvised piece excluding the script their will not be a specically set storyboard however andunderlining of what happens in each shot and scene.Tere will be 4 characters 2 male and 2 female..

in conclusion the aim not only to show these well known characters personality traits & behavoiurs but todemonstrate the theory and theme of psychosis.


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Inspiration

My original idea was going to be the effects of mentel health and what it looks like on people diagnosed to show

audiences who have family or friends with mentel health, howeve i though it was too stereotypical so i changed

my idea. Over the summer i saw the television series Gotham which is based around all the batman lm

phenomenon characters, but are brought back to the beginning of how these characters developed into the well

known characters such as joker (jerome valeska beforee named the joker). I thought that as we can clearly see

these characters behaviours are ver erratic and derranged, so i thought that considering all these characters havesome mentel health illnesses even pychotic illnesses i thought if i ignored who the characters were but used all

their personalities,mentel states,mannorisms and to which if i was to put them in ordinary people. in terms of

acting research i looked at the character from teen wolf (stiles) when he becomes evil it shows a very deranged

mentality which was useful in order to research the acting side of things .


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Te holistic structure of this lm is not only the main basis of intepretating these characters personalitie.traits,mannerisms etc butthinking outside tyhe box its also to think about how the relationship of the body betwen its vocal. (Samuel Becket). Tere willbe a logical, and aesthetically consistency in relation to thew continuality throughout the lm. Te idea that i grasped was to haveeach character start with the last word the previous character said. I will explore method acting within trying to access hiddenpsychposis- a pernament distortion? (each character in a distorted liek form?)

Scene 1- All characters 3 second fast fade-Background lighting not visible. Spotlight lighting on actor only showing shadows around

lighting. Scene 1 will be a wide shot of each characters full body (sitting down). Music of heartbeat gradually increasing

Scene 2- Riddler 3 minute monologue (spoken word) wide shot and mid shots and close up shots.- fast paced choreography-straight talking towards camera; Fade out next character.

Script TBC in process of fwriting/inishing script.


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Victor Zsasz is a true sociopath at the age of 25 his parents died in a boating accident to which sent him intoa deep depression. Driven by desire there was no point to his exsistance therefore he attempted to commit

suicide, however he was stopped when a man assaulted him Zsasz saw into the mans eyes that all life is mean-ingless and that nothing nor anyone matters. He then proceeded to stab the man to death as a gif for savinghis life. From then on, he dedicated himself to liberating others from their pointless existence (Zsasz ofenrefers to victims as zombies). He usually preys on young women, but has no qualms over whom he mur-ders. He slits his victims throats and leaves them in lifelike poses, adding a tally mark to himself each time.He has been diagnosed as insane and is regularly incarcerated in arkham asylum.

Research-Characterisation


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Te Riddler is obsessed with riddles and puzzles. Riddlers crimes are amboyant and conspicious. TeRiddler is typically portrayed as a smooth-talking yet quirky character with abnormally high IQ. But this istempered by his intense narcissism, histrionic behavior, underlying egomania, and his obsessive-compulsiveneed to devise and disseminate his riddles and puzzles. His obsession with displaying his own intelligence isthe central trigger of his many personality disorders, however in Gotham the television series we see himebecome riddler and he has split personality disorders within the mental illness of schizophrenia.

In the television series Gotham Riddler is Edward Nygma is a forensic scientist working for the Gotham CityPolice Department (GCPD) who has a fondness for expressing ndings in the form of riddles. He frequentlycollaborates with detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock, processing and presenting evidence for casestheyre working on. He harbors unrequited romantic feelings for a coworker, Kristin Kringle, and commitshis rst crime when he kills her abusive boyfriend, GCPD Detective Tom Daugherty.He escapes detection,but suffers a mental breakdown and develops an alternate personality harbouring the personality of a shiz-ophrenic person. A personality that is as ruthless and aggressive; as Nygma is a timid and socially awkwardperdson. He wins Kringle over and begins dating her, but she recoils from him when he confesses to killingDaugherty. He accidentally chokes her to death while trying to get her to stay,He disposes of the body andcovers up his crime, in the process embracing his other, evil self.


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Joker is an insanely homicidal super-villain. In most adaptation of joker he is also known as Te clownprince of crime, However in new addition in the tv series gotham , Which inspired me to create this lm theseries uncovers the characters from the beginning from before the were these evil characters. joker is knownas Jerome Valeska (as a young teen/adult). Te originality of joker is that his dominant image is that of anextreme psychopath.Joker has a sadistic sense of humour to which becomes his trademark, within the senseof trademark joker is well known for his purple suit,white skin,green hair and blood red lips and scars.

No crime is beyond the joker (murder,thef,terrorism). Joker exploits of crime are a theatrical performance. Itis known to be that joker has killed over 2,000 victims. Te Joker is the personication of the irrational, andrepresents everything Batman [opposes].

Te Jokers main characteristic is his apparent deranged insanity, although he is not described as having anyparticular psychological disorder. comparable to a psychopath, he lacks empathy, a conscience, and concernover right and wrong. Te Joker is described as capable of processing outside sensory information only byadapting to it. Tis enables him to create a new personality every day (depending on what would benet him)and explains why, at different times, he is a mischievous clown or a psychopathic killer. In Te Clown atMidnight (Batman #663, 2007), the Joker enters a meditative state where he evaluates his previous selves toconsciously create a new personality, effectively modifying himself for his needs.


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Harley Quinn was an arkham aylum psychiatrist who was assigned to treat the joker (Dr.Harleen Quinzel),However she became obsessively xated on joker,to which she believed that she was in love with joker inwhich she helped him escape. Harley became a violent unpredictable felon. tQuinn then became he sidekick

of the Clown Prince of Crime himself.Harley has an addiction with having a signicant other that violates taboos, hence the Jokers appeal to her..She suffers from a version of Battered Wife Syndrome (domestic violence) and PTSD, related to her abuseboth at the Jokers hands and her fathers. Harley also has Passive-aggressive personality, and Sociopathy arelikely, and Histrionic Personality Disorder (excessively dramatic) is all but Guaranteed, as this can bepromptly identied by her overtly sexualized clothing, her need to speak in a loud voice, her wild behavior,and her tendency to talk and joke, even in ghts. She is also very much Antisocial.


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Script

In to the Darkness

By Niamh Quinlan & Lydia Dwek

Based on Gotham

[email protected]


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ScriptINT NIGHT CELL

The Riddler cricks his neck from side to side and with hishead looking at the floor. He raises his head with hiseyebrow following and stares blankly in to the camera.

RIDDLER

Im a bloody walking paradox... noIm not?

DONT TOUCH MY ICE COLD SKINKRISTIN! (sheepishly) you will burnyourself its hot

and now people say im crazy?

well Im subject to hazy

dreams, the night brings the devilto me

even jesus says i cant redeemmyself

summoned by the bell

i follow him the burning pits ofhell

black and blue, the flames so thebruising

but it was you! that committed toloos-ing

me.

it could be called bitter sweet onthose love stained sheets

taste of vodka in your mouth tut

tut Kristen you must have drank itneat

it was just another crime ofpassion in a hotel suit.

the blood through your veins and onto the bathroom floor

what more...

evidence could there be? i didntbreak the law

(CONTINUED)


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CONTINUED: 2.

i just loved you and well you loved

me more

i only wrapped my hands around yourthroat for a moment

i didnt stop because i wanted to..there was gas between my hands and

its components

and well i will only crack myfingers if i can crack all 10

because if i can only crack 9 thenill just start again

although Im NOT odd!

numbers like me send lighting rods

elctic pules that made me blackoutand then i woke up and well...

Kristin was gone (sniggers)

Im sorry detective i have no timefor your questions, this is not ahot line.

although i do love questions, let

me ask you. what has a foot but nolegs? i need your answer becauseyouve already got mine.


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Ashley Ginn

Jordan stansbury

Lukas Vikavskas

Amy sherlock

Stephen Frith

Daniel Brindley

Andy Vernon

Ellie Crouch

Debbie Smith

Sasha Crespi

Carlota Matos

Nicoletta Christodoulou

Rachael Mason

Molly-Jo GordonFaith Ava Rae

I will be holding Auditions from 12/11/2015 onwards as when I advertised my lm for audition quite a lot ofpeople responded so i will only be choosing 5-6 people as characters.

!"#$%&$'$ )* +&%,-,)./

in order to get through a whole day of audions i have decided to audition two people at the same time andswitch roles of all character to audition for as this would be a faster method of auditioning people for thesecharacters .start time:10 amLunch: 12:30- 10 minutes

Each audition in twos will be around 10-20 minutes each if in twos and each audition takes exactly 20minute auditions hoplefully should take 2-3 hours depending if more people would like to audition.

On Audition day i will be photographing and lming all the actors auditions in order to pick the people iwant to use for my lm. In order for this to happen I intend to book a medium sized room and i will bringacting agreement forms. In addition I am hoplefully intending to ask someone to help me as their input ofchoosing the right actor would be very insightful.

Cast- Audions 20/11/2015


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Schedule

2/10/15 start writing Script; 2 ten minutes monologues.4/10/15-Visual treatment Look at black spaces, lighting techniques,camera shots,technical methods, 3 pointlighting.-20/10/15 Development of Characters are they female or males/ am I playing with gender issues and mentalillness.

04/11/15- Script half done

20/11/15- Casting Auditions


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Crew

Producer Lydia Dwek

Assistant Producer Julia Cowell

Cinematographer/camera Lydia Dwek

Assitant camera

Director Lydia DwekAssistant Director

Sound Design Still deciding/Diallo williams

Script Niamh Quinlan

Lighting Design Lydia Dwek

Costume Design Lydia Dwek

Makeup design Lydia Dwek

Editor still deciding/ Diallo williams

For the moment this is the crew i have depending on other peoples schedueles the crew may change in time.


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Costume design,props,Camera, lighting,Makeup & Hair.

Costume Design

I have decided that the characters would be wearing ordinary clothes except for their props.


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Camera,lighting

To Film Into the Darkness I will be using the C300 camera as i will be using low lighting, and when we hadtraining in this camera it was really good with low lighting.

In terms of lighting the background will be black and low lighting within the lm here is an example of whatthe lighting will look in the rst shot of my lm.

Af

er this similar lighting i would like tocreate a dark,but light spotlight on thecharacters. Tis will create intensity withinthe actors performances. Here is anExample.

It would look like this except all the surrounding would bedark including some parts oof the actors. It would almost

look like an interogation scene-within the lighting.


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PropsTese are a few props i may consider using in my lm.


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Makeup & Hair

In terms of makeup i will not be using the well known scars on this characters (like jokers white face andscars), however i will be transferring makeup scars and fake blood on the characters and regular makeup.Here are some examples: Overall this is just an idea at the moment.


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Risk Assesment


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Actor Agreement

!"#$% '()* $+)+,!+ '#$*

-./0 12 !3145 '67/ 89530 '67/:;


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BA (Hons) Digital Film & Screen Arts University for Creative Arts at Farnham

LYDIA DWEK Pro Pack- Into the Darkness

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