MDA3400 Dissertation Proposal

Name: Ricardo Smith

Student number: M00491653
Blog Address: http://bafilmblog.blogspot.co.uk/

I will create a showreel using clips from each of the films that I have worked on.
Through these clips I will display my skills through the films that I have been
working on through this third and final year.
The style of my work tends to be that of the dramatic and the suspenseful with
the addition of surrealism. The definition is:
A 20th-century avant-garde movement in art and literature which sought to
release the creative potential of the unconscious mind, for example by the
irrational juxtaposition of images (Oxforddictionariescom, 2016).
So in film surrealism means that there is a noticeable contradiction of sound
towards the visuals.
Examples of this are from some of the films that I worked on for last year. Those
films were Fuel for the soul (2016), One foot in the sea (2016) and Pyre for Hire
(2016). All of these films suggest surrealist themes so I devised a style that best
suited the worlds that were being created. The way in which I came up with this
style was through watching films such as Drive (2011) and The Dark Knight
(2008).
For a more detailed explanation into this concept I have added the address to my
blog: http://bafilmblog.blogspot.co.uk/
These reason for that was because these films construct sound patterns order to
elevate the themes of the film. This is an element that I will emulate with the
films Im working on this year.
For example in The Dark Knight (2008) there is the Jokers theme. As the Joker is
about to make an entrance or is somehow an omnipotent presence in the
narrative you can hear those two cello notes increasing in volume which gives us
an indication of the horrors that the Joker will bring.
A leitmotif is a short uncomplicated musical phrase or theme, usually one to
three measures, which is employed and reused, by the composer when he
deems it important to the composition (Bribitzer-stull , 2015, p.8)
I replicated this technique in my own work with One foot in the sea (2016). As
Tony enters the bath, which happens several times in this movie, I added the
sound of a doorbell for two purposes. One was to inform the audience that
someone was at the door but more importantly I wanted it to sound like a
droning church bell to connote the theme of death or a fear of it. I did this by

adjusting the low pass on the doorbell so it sounds muffled as if it were

underwater. The difference however between the designs is that the sound in
One foot in the sea (2016) is more diegetic whilst the design on The Dark Knight
(2008) is more non-diegetic.
The phrase For whom the bell tolls was always in mind when designing the
sound for this scene.
Now a quick overview of the two projects that I will be working on, AYO and
The Unfortunate fate of Felix Hill. Ill start with AYO.
This film is about an African Mother who is on the run with her children from her
abusive husband, where she takes refuge in a London estate.
Social-realism is a genre that I havent had much experience with so I decided to
look at some social-realism films in order to see what Ill be doing.
Social realism is an international multi-stranded art movement focusing on the
everyday lives of poor and working class communities. (Into film, 2016)
Albeit the task I face will not be underestimated by any means. I have the task of
recreating reality which is difficult to do as the sounds that are based in reality
do not have structure. Through my research I found that they overlap one
another, the sounds of dogs barking and loud music was coming from all
different angles. I will design the sounds in AYO differently by layering each of
them so that the sound is more surround rather than mono, creating a more
immersive atmosphere.
For AYO my director wants to create a world that is not so different to the one we
live in today. So even though Ive worked on surrealism films mainly, I will adapt
my style so that I am able to understand the conventions that make up a socialrealism. I want to bring a sense of danger to AYO since the titular character is
always in state of panic. Additionally I want to bring tragedy through sound,
since I want the audience to be on the side of AYO and her children. Everything
that she has been through results in tragedy for her, so I want the audience to
sympathise with her pain.
In order to see what I have planned for AYO there is a brief explanation on my
blog: http://bafilmblog.blogspot.co.uk/
The Unfortunate fate of Felix Hill is a romantic comedy about a man named Felix
Hill who has the burden of being forgotten about every 3 minutes by everyone
that he meets.
I will bring to this film the romantic comedy factor by including the usual tropes
that are attached with the genre. For example, the lead character starting the
film with a voiceover and exaggerated sound effects during a slapstick comedy
situation.
However I will add in tropes when necessary that do not fit in with the romantic
visuals on screen.

The reasoning behind this is that I dont want the film to gloss over Felixs
loneliness at any point in the film. Plus the contrast of genre and sounds allows
us as an audience to understand the psyche of Felix. I have proposed my ideas to
both directors and they are on-board with what I have planned. This reassures
me as a designer, since that tells me that I am on the same page with my
director which in any stage of the production is vital.
The research that I have done for AYO was that I looked at a film called Dirty
Pretty Things (2002). It delves into the dark underbelly of London immigrants
and how they deal with personal traumas such as rape, broken families and
discrimination. As for research I went into an estate and recorded the entire
ambience around me, in order to get a better understanding of an estate in 21 st
century London.
For research on The Unfortunate Fate of Felix Hill I have been looking at films on
loss of memory. The one that stood out the most was Memento (2000) due to its
recurring motifs and non-linear structure. I have looked closely at this film for the
audio cues that this movie places within the narrative, indicating that Leonard
cant make sense of whats going on. The sound design that I found in Memento
is a mixture of overemphasis and sombreness in order to keep the audience
engaged. The overemphasis is done through sound effects in order to keep the
audience on the edge of their seat. The sombreness comes from the subdued
music that feels unsettling and haunting; it never overshadows a scene but
merely accompanies it.
As for research in the romantic comedy film genre I looked at films that my
director has advised me to watch. The films that I watched as research were
What if? (2013) and 50 First Dates (2004). I feel that this was the right research
method for me in terms of my approach to this film. I was able to look at two
contrast genres and see how both of them construct ideas as well as foreshadow
events through their own individual sound designs.
For more written content into what I have planned for The Unfortunate Tale of
Felix Hill please read more at: http://bafilmblog.blogspot.co.uk/
I will be producing the sound designs for both films digitally, since all of the
sound recordings will be recorded in analogue. I might be using digital sounds
from a sound library, in order to add some variety and contrast. I will be using
Pro Tools for these films and it can provide the necessary leverage needed to
editing high quality audio. My approach is that I am going to be having some
tutorial sessions with Peter Williams since there are some issues that I need help
on.
(Some groups are still under development with dates. However this is my
schedule as of now)
Key
Red Work Days
Light Blue AYO- shoot days/Sound Edit/ Meetings

Orange Felix Hill- shoot days/ Sound Edit/Meetings

Yellow Faith - shoot days/ Meetings
Dark Blue (Working Title) Claudia & Mariam/ shoot days
Pink Breached Soul - Meetings/ Script Editing
Dark Purple Pro Tools lessons with Peter Williams
Green Holidays
Khaki Sound research Days
Blank Days off
Light Purple Deadline
Brown Screenings
December
Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thurs
1

Fri
2

4
Work

11
Work
18
Work

12

13
20

15
SCRIPT
22

16

19

14
SCRIPT
21

25
Christma
s Day

26
Boxing
Day

27

28

29

30

31
Work

Sun
1
New
Years Day

Mon
2

Tues
3

Wed
4

Thurs
5

Fri
6

Sat
7
Work

8
Work
15
Work
22
Work
29
Work

10

11

12

16

17

18

19

13
MEETING
20

23

24

25

26

27

14
Work
21
Work
28
Work

23

Sat
3
Work
10
Work
17
Work
24
Work

January

Meeting

Meeting

30

31

February
Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed
1
Shoot
8

Thurs
2
Shoot
9

Fri
3
Shoot
10

Sat
4
Work
11
Work

5
Work

6
Shoot

12
Work
19
Work
26
Work

13

14

15

16

17

20
Shoot
27

21
Shoot
28

22
Shoot

23
Shoot

24
Shoot

18
Work
25
Work

Sun

Mon

Tues

6
Sound
Edit
13
SHOOT
20
Sound
Edit
27

7
Sound
Edit
14
SHOOT
21
Sound
Edit
28
Sound
Edit

Thurs
2
Sound
Edit
9
Sound
Edit
16
SHOOT
23
Sound
Edit
30
Sound
Edit

Fri
3
Sound
Edit
10
Sound
Edit
17
SHOOT
24
Sound
Edit
31
Sound
Edit

Sat
4
Work

5
Work

Wed
1
Sound
Edit
8
Sound
Edit
15
SHOOT
22
Sound
Edit
29
Sound
Edit

Sat
1
Work
8
Work

March

12
Work
19
Work
26
Work

SECOND
ROUGH CUT

11
Work
18
Work
25
Work

April
Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

Thurs

Fri

2
Work

9
Work

10

11

5
Sound
Edit
12

13

14
Good
Friday

15
Work

16
Work

17

18

19

20

21

22
Work

23
Work

24

25

26

Sound Edit

FINE CUT
SCREENING

27
Sound
Edit

28
Sound
Edit

29
Work

Sun

Mon
1

Tues
2

Wed
3

Thurs
4

Fri
5

7
Work
14
Work

10

11

12

15

17

18

19

21
Work
28
Work

22

16
DEADLIN
E
23

Sat
6
Work
13
Work
20
Work

24

25

26

29

30

31

Easter
Monday

30
Work
May

27
Work

There are a fair amount of obstacles that could happen during these couple of
months. One of the main ones is clashing of schedules between groups. This is
an obvious problem as so many people will be filming around the same time, so
a clash is inevitable. My way of dealing with this, will be to talk to all of the
directors individually or bringing them all for a meeting in order to find a way for
me to be a presence in all of the projects without being neglectful. Since I have
some big roles compared to others that are smaller. Ill see if there can be a
compromise for roles that I cant be on set to do.
Another problem is that I have a weekend job and some of the shoots are
scheduled for over the weekend. Unfortunately I cant take these days off, so Ive
already decided that I cannot be present on these specific days. This information
will be spoken about and dealt with during all group meetings once I attend
them.
These are going to be a hectic couple of months in terms of organizing clashes
and meetings but I feel that the groups that I am working with are all
understanding and generous so I am somewhat certain that things will run
smoothly. In terms of my flexibility to all of the groups that I am a part of is

something that Id say is one my greatest challenges. I am a helpful person and

tend to say yes to most requests. However this time where I need to politely say
no to some of them. As I do not wish to stress myself out entirely and with 5
groups who I am assisting that is going to be tricky. If I follow the solutions that I
have mentioned there is definitely a way to successfully complete all of the
projects to a high standard.

Bibliography
Into film. 2016. Intofilmorg. [Online]. [21 December 2016]. Available from:
https://www.intofilm.org/news-and-views/articles/ken-loach-feature
Bribitzer-stull , M.B.S (2015). Understanding the Leitmotif. (Illustrated
ed.). England : Cambridge University Press .
Oxforddictionariescom. 2016. Oxforddictionariescom. [Online]. [15 December
2016]. Available from: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/surrealism
Filmography
One foot in the sea (2016) Student FilmDirected by Glendha Santos [FILM].
Fuel for the soul (2016)Student Film Directed by Mariam Harutyunyan
[FILM].
Pyre for Hire (2016)Student FilmDirected by Daniel Tempel-Merzougi
[FILM].
Drive (2011) Directed by Nicolas Winding-Refn [FILM]. USA: FilmDistrict
The Dark Knight (2008) Directed by Christopher Nolan [FILM]. USA: Warner
Bros
Dirty Pretty Things (2002) Directed by Stephen Frears [FILM]. UK: BBC
Films
Memento (2000) Directed by Christopher Nolan [FILM]. USA: Newmarket
Capital Group
What If? (2013) Directed by Michael Dowse [FILM]. USA: CBS Films
50 First Dates (2004) Directed by Peter Segal [FILM]. USA: Columbia
Pictures