Ruth & Jayden

FINAL EVALUATION

Malgorzata Feter | FMP | 2020

Introduction
I’ve received a brief for my final major project. The mediums which I could choose
from were:

 Short Film

 Music Video

 Documentary

Since I have worked on all of these mediums since September 2019, I know for sure
that both the Music Video as well as the Documentary were my weakest mediums.

I wanted to focus on something that would get me that Distinction grade, and if I
were honest, I was quite unhappy that the Radio Drama production wasn’t even a
choice so, I had to go with something similar, although I was hesitant at first. Since
I like listening to music, and I see scenarios coming together when I listen to the
words or the lyrics of the song, therefore the music video medium might’ve been
easier for me to do however, those scenarios were quite difficult to capture on
camera so I decided to involuntarily stick to the Short Film Medium.

In any case, the Short Film medium would allow me to be a creative storyteller. I
have thought very hard on each idea, but I ended up writing an adaptation to the
classic romance – tragedy of Romeo and Juliet. It might not seem much however,
the key to the adaptation of such play required research not only on the play itself
but the context, artists/directors, medium etc.

Why did I decide to produce an adaptation? I know that Shakespeare’s play

‘Romeo & Juliet’, has been adapted many times however, since COVID-19 has
complicated dating, the aim of this short film was to show how it did so, with a
fictional twist.
In this short film adaptation, Romeo is a female called Ruth whereas Juliet is a
male named Jayden. There is another character, apart from the mains; Tiffany was
Tybalt in the original play although in ‘Ruth & Jayden’, Tiffany plays the role of
Jayden’s sister who is annoying but supports his blossoming relationship with
Ruth. COVID-19 is the reason why they can’t meet each other, but Jayde’s parent’s
make it all the more difficult as they are strict when it comes down to education,
restricting his screen time which also results in limited communication with Ruth
via online/offline communication during lockdown.

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Research
The research that I have conducted, both primary and secondary, proved to be
invaluable. I’ve gained knowledge on this medium and the ideas that surround it.
There are short, yet detailed summaries below of each aspect of the research.

Primary
Data collected from primary research is usually from surveys/questionnaires or
people, such as your classmates, through a set of questions.

I used Survey Monkey for my survey, and since I was unable to set up an interview
in person with other people as the government was on lockdown, I used
Houseparty.

Most who have participated in the survey are within the age range of the target
audience which means that I am receiving answers from my target audience who
are mostly teenagers. However, since the link to the survey was not only through
email to my classmates but also Snapchat and this meant that there were bound to
be people who didn’t understand what the questions meant. In any case, some
answers were predictable such as YouTube being the top and most chosen
platform to upload a production (this will be explained further under Platform on
Secondary Research) or the fact that the lighting should be dark and dramatic for a
romantic tragedy such as this.

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Using Houseparty, I wanted to interview 3 people. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to
reach the 3rd person, so I just interviewed Robin as well as Jade. I do know them,
but we’re more or less are acquaintances so that’s why the interview seemed
awkward. Since they aren’t film or CMP students, I had to explain some
terminology but other than that the answers were quite similar to the ones from
the survey. Nothing in particular stood out for me personally.

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 In both the survey and the focus group, I have asked if this production will suit the
target audience between the ages of 15-24 and, most if not all have agreed stating
that it’s a nice twist to the original and like Robin said, most will know of Romeo
and Juliet since they have probably studied it at school.

Secondary
Medium
Since I will be doing a short film, I had to do research on short films such
as the awards and the history of short films. One of the short films that I’ve
mentioned was Méliès’ ‘Le Voyage Dans La Lune’ (1902). I managed to find
this experimental short on YouTube and in my personal opinion… It was
more than strange. I wish my eyes could unsee what they saw, but
unfortunately the images are burned within my memory.

In summary, short films had a fluctuating popularity. The 1920’s saw the
rise of feature length films meant a decline for short films however, with
WW2 and it’s use of propaganda, they rose again. Cartoon’s from Disney
and others helped to keep the genre alive and some of them made it into
the mainstream. Even now, many people produce short films to showcase
their talent’s whether it is in filmmaking, screenwriting, lighting etc.
Thanks to this, we might see the time when this genre becomes popular
once again.

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Artist(s)
I have conducted a research on two artists: Greta Gerwig as well as Joe
Wright. I have included two movies each from them that I have personally
watched and in most cases, enjoyed.

Gerwig’s work feels refreshing, bright, airy and youthful with mostly light
scenes compared to Wright’s work which has dark overtones with scenes
that vary in colour and richness of it.

If I were to film my production, I’d try to imitate Wright and his work. Like
I said earlier, each scene is different. They look and feel different that s why
I like the cinematography in Wright’s movies than Gerwig’s.

Content
Since I was basing my short film on Shakespeare’s ‘Romeo and Juliet’, I had
to research into this. I’ve researched the plot, summarizing it as well as the
in-depth character analysis of the main characters and two film
adaptations.

Shakespeare’s Romantic Tragedy is based on two lovers from two opposing

families, the Montagues and the Capulets. I suppose, everyone knows how
it goes. Afterall, not only did most of us studied it at school, read about it
or maybe watched a movie adaptation, or watched a play but it’s also a
classic tale that people talk about and sometimes we might experience
what the lovers had faced, if not so violently, then gently and in
moderation.

Through the analysis of the two main original characters, I have adapted
the personalities into my own characters. Ruth, as the female portrayal of
Romeo, is supposed to be reckless yet witty compared to Jayden, who is the
male portrayal of Juliet. Although Jayden has a heart condition, he could
stand his ground however, not only that but also his parents, especially his
father, prevent him from enjoying things in life.

I wanted to analyse and compare at least two adaptations of Romeo and

Juliet in order for me to gain an understanding of how I could write up a
script for my idea which was still pretty vague at that point in time. Whilst
doing this, I also researched about the context of both of these films,
especially the events of the years they were produced in such as the Rodney
King riots of 1992. Now that I look back at this research and compare my
script, it seems like ‘Ruth & Jayden’ is quite similar to ‘Warm Bodies’. Some
similarities include:

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 Warm Bodies Ruth & Jayden
Zombie Virus Coronavirus
R is a Zombie Ruth is contagious
Julie is from an elite family… …and so is Jayden, kind of.

Platform
The two most popular
video platforms were
YouTube and Vimeo.
After looking at the Pros
and Cons of each, it was
clear that YouTube had
the advantage.

As a student, I am
unwilling to pay for a
membership just to look
at my analytics and post
a longer video which
would clearly be more
than 500 MB therefore,
making YouTube the
only and better option.

[Image: YouTube (left), Vimeo (right)].

Video Analysis
The two videos I’ve decided to analyse were:

 97% - Ben Brand (Vimeo)

 Into Dusk – Jason Ho (Vimeo)

Even though they are short films, they have plots that are so intriguing that
I’d want to watch a full feature film of. Isn’t that how ‘lights out’ started
out?

The plot of ‘97%’ was more enjoyable than ‘Into Dusk’ however, the
cinematography of ‘Into Dusk’ is much more mesmerising and appealing

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 than ‘97%’. Brand’s camera techniques and the use of them was interesting
and the camera mostly focused on the facial expressions or features as well
as actions whereas Ho’s camera techniques mostly focused on the location
as well as objects.

If I do decide to film my production, as I was unable to due to the

pandemic, I’d definitely use techniques from both productions making my
own production have a unique blend of Brand’s, Ho’s and a tint of my own.

Target Audience
My target audience was from 15 to 24-year old’s however, I know for a fact that
William Shakespeare’s plays are known and liked globally therefore, I think that
my adaptation will be liked no matter the age or gender since many would like to
see a modern twist.

I did want this production to be set around that age range, especially late teens
because the main characters are around that age. I found that as teenagers,
including myself, can make reckless choices and speak or do something without
thinking it through. It’d be nice for the audience to be able to relate to the on-
screen characters.

Planning
I prefer to start my planning stage by writing the script followed by a storyboard
and so on. Those two tasks are the most time consuming according to many, and I
now know why…

In the midst of writing my script via StudioBinder I found myself at my desk not
knowing how to continue. I was having a writer’s block. I tried to rewrite it and
make other drafts, which I did do, but no matter what… the story seemed awkward
and it didn’t flow smoothly like I hoped it would. Then on the 29th May 2020, I had
an 1-to-1 with one of my teachers who has given me feedback a day later about the
script that I have written so far and I did take everything that was said into
account. That feedback improved the script, or at least I think it did. It sounds
better, runs smoother, and has almost a clear storyline. Each character sounds
different which is a good thing because in reality no-one sounds the same.

Throughout the screenwriting process, I sent drafts to the teacher I had mentioned
previously, for feedback and I responded by inputting all suggestions into the
script.

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In all honesty, I would have continued writing past the 15 th page but I’d probably
end up with half the length of a feature film. If I ever made this script into a
production, I won’t doubt that the post-production would be a nightmare,
especially the editing.

Apart from writing the script, I have also made a storyboard as well as detailed
character profiles for both Ruth and Jayden.

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 I’ve tried to make the sketches as clear as possible so not only did I use colour but
annotations as well as the 1st letter of the name for the corresponding character.

Strengths & Weaknesses

What I like most and what I am most proud of within this FMP, is my script. The idea
might not be completely original, and I did get feedback on what I should and should not
include in my script but through all of that, I am still happy of how it came out. The
characters seem to have different voices, therefore giving them different personalities on
script, which is important. Not only that but the gender roles of the original characters
have switched, and it is set during the current global pandemic which of course, everyone
could possibly relate to, especially if they have a loved one who they wish to break the
lockdown rules with. Like I’ve said before, I could’ve kept on writing until Jayden dies in
Ruth’s arms, since that was the main plan, but then if I were to film the production, the
end product would come to, in length, of about 30 or more minutes which would not only
be a nightmare to film but also to edit.

I’ve also enjoyed conducting the secondary research and I feel like this could possibly be
one of my strongest points? Other’s might dislike this part as isn’t practical however, I like
it since it allowed me to gain extra knowledge on topics, I possibly had no idea about and
I’m thankful for it.

Although I am proud of my FMP as it is, there could be huge improvements made that
would maximise my potential and the chance of receiving a Distinction grade.

Since quarantine began, I’ve slept until around 9 or 10 am however, if I woke up at around
7 or 8 am I would’ve gotten much more work done with a schedule and a to-do list. I had
those last two, but I did it at my own pace.
Procrastination as well as distraction slowed me down further adding to the time lost.
Usually my procrastination is productive as I end up learning related topics to this course
such as the different angle and shot types or cuts. Distraction is worse. I end up texting, or
scrolling through social media platforms endlessly… I fall into a temptation that I cannot
escape from. It’s hard and I admit that its was wrong of me to fall into a spiral of these
unimportant tasks when I had a project that needed to be finished.

In any case, the weekly evaluations were harder for me to do than any other work and the
reason behind this is simply because I like to be straightforward and I like getting to the
main point instead of elaborating on what I had done. It just drags on and I really dislike
that feeling since I feel like my energy levels drop significantly upon opening that weekly
evaluation document. This might come from my personal dislike towards analysing work,

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especially my own.
Apart from that, I found that I disliked doing the location recce’s, the equipment as well
as the prop list. I found these very daunting for me to do.

For me to overcome these weaknesses, I must find something that I like about them and
keep on practicing how to do write up important documents such as those that I’ve
mentioned. I will also push myself to do more work, minimizing breaks.

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