Change of Scene

As a result of the swimming pool not being available, we will have to scrap the lifeguard scene, which is a shame because I think it would have provided a nice setting. Instead, we are to film in Laser Quest, which we checked the availability of before I rewrite the script. Fortunately, the people there were very kind have in fact allowed us to film there for free, which is very kind of them indeed.

So now my goal is to effectively change the scene so that it still works well together.

Zzzzzap!

Edward Muscare - The Character

Edward Muscare is an innocent man in his late 20s, and is suffering from Tourette's Syndrome. Having developed this as a young boy, his parents first realised he had this problem when the family's 3 year old Bedlington Terrier, Fluffy, was treated at the vets after Edward bit a small chunk of flesh from its back. At the age of 28, he is struggling to keep hold of a job because of the condition, and is fighting for acceptance amongst society as a regular person.

His low income situation means he still lives with his parents at their family home, and as a result has become somewhat of a recluse amongst his peers. Although he means well, he has developed a very competitive streak and desire for his place at the top of the tree, so to speak, as can be seen in his time at the swimming pool.

Audition Tape With James Scanlan

Today we had an audition with an actor from the website Casting Call Pro named James Scanlan. Fortunately for us, he lives in Sheffield, and so was readily available for us to interview and assess. We chose James because he had a decent showreel, and looked quite different from the other actors that were available. On top of this, he has quite an innocent expression on his face at most times, which is something I think gives the part a tongue in cheek feel to it. At the same time, this innocence emphasises Edward Muscare's inability to control the tics and outbursts that we will witness.

I feel that for a very first performance, and considering he'd only been given the script a day or two before the rehearsal, James pulled off a good performace. Of course, he will need to revise the script a lot more between now and shoot and will need to be more wild, so to speak, with his mannerisms.

Things I will need to improve with James about his performance:
How natural the dialogue flows - At the moment it seems quite forced. This may require the script to be revised.
Make the tics more over the top - Give them a real edge, and concentrate on how genuine Tourette's Sufferers move and sound.
How well he can fit the tics into the dialogue, whilst keeping a steady flow - As I mentioned before, I enjoyed how the sufferers carried on their original sentence without missing a breath, whenever one of their tics forced their way out.

Job Seeker Script

So, the idea I had about the Tourette's Syndrome camp is a no go, even though the production group enjoyed the idea, and we would still like to make it, which one day I may make a modified version of it. However, because of health and safety considerations (!!) from our producer, I was asked to write something new, over the space of 2 days, mind you. As a result, I sat and thought about a situation, located indoors, that could be the focal point of an awkward public situation.

Whilst walking home, I was hit with inspiration as I walked past the Job Centre and witnessed the people in there being interviewed. After some consideration I decided that this would be a good basis for the script, and would work well with cut scenes to different jobs, like our final project intends to be; cut scenes to different sketches.

The three jobs that I thought of, were what I considered to potentially be interesting to watch a person with Tourette's Syndrome in, and the practicality of acquiring the locations.

The genre of the script at least, is quite light hearted compared to the original script. It is also very light hearted to what the final project should be like, and is quite a different style to what we have planned for the major piece. My main aims and concerns for when we make this film, is the performance of the lead actor. I intend to sit down with him and watch the Tourette's documentaries that I have previously mentioned and hopefully he will be capable of pulling off a good performance and creating a comedic performance.

The light heartedness, I believe, has stemmed from the BBC documentary on Tourette's that I posted a link to. During the session where they are sat in a group, there is definitely a sense of ease and understanding, and this makes their outbursts actually quite amusing. If Job Seeker had a very dark feel to it, the comedic elements may be lost completely, and instead, may look as though we are making Tourette's out to be something that people should be condemned for, which is the opposite of what we are after.

Some Notes On Polanski

During my initial research on Roman Polanski and his approach to working with actors, I spent some time reading Roman Polanski by F.X Feeney and Paul Duncan. It gave a very detailed insight into the life of Polanski, and in particular an insight into the films that he has directed over his lengthy career. Although I still need to read the entirety of the book, the areas that I read were informative and gave me a bit of an initial idea as to what he is like with the actors on his set.

As I have spoken about in an earlier post, during the production of Chinatown, Polanski and Faye Dunaway had a very tense relationship. As I have highlighted on the scan that I took of the particular section I read, I learnt that there was in fact huge friction between director and actress resulting in them being incredibly vocal about it. As the highlights also show, this could be seen as a result of Polanski's involvement with the character of Evelyn Mulwray, and the perfect ideal that he had of her in his head.

In this sense I have a lot of respect for Polanski and his dedication to the portrayal of Evelyn that he desired and the fact he was willing to allow such friction to happen on set in order for this to be achieved.

It could also be worth noting that he cast Faye Dunaway because of her 'retro beauty' and the fact that she reminded him of his late mother in her younger days. Because of this, I get the distinct feeling that he perhaps cast her based primarily on her appearance, rather than her actual portrayal of the character. This itself may have been one of the main contributions to the animosity which occurred during the production of the film.

I find the scan above especially interesting. Here you can see a photograph of Polanski demonstrating to an actor exactly how to walk with the crutch during a scene. If I remember correctly, during this scene in Chinatown, the character with the crutch is a very minor part, and it is this attention to detail that Polanski enforces in his productions that I strongly admire. It can be seen that he has a very hands on approach to the performances his cast, and seems to want to get the very best out of every single person on set, even the very minor roles.

It is also worthy to note that Polanski himself has done a fair amount of acting, such as starring in his own film The Tenant. Because of his first hand experience at acting in front of a camera, in both major and minor roles, it seems much more credible that he is in a position to show his actors exactly how to behave in front of the camera.

This is something I will take note of whilst directing my own films - pay attention to every detail possible, including very minor details of minor characters in order to achieve something that is all round excellent.

The photo and caption above that I found is that of Polanski talking through a scene with the lead actor of Chinatown, Jack Nicholson. The caption states that Nicholson was allowed to improvise lines within the style of the character Jake Gittes. I think that allowing an actor to improvise lines is a good way of going about things at times, as it can be used to create a more natural flow, with natural conversation and action being a key factor. Whether or not Polanski does this with all his actors I'm not sure of yet at the moment. Maybe he just put his trust into Jack Nicholson, afterall he is without a doubt a brilliant actor.

I've also, out of interest, highlighted that Polanski had a very heated battle with the screenplay writer Robert Towne. It seemed that whilst working on Chinatown, Polanski had quite strained relationships with a lot of the cast and crew, because of the clear final product that he wanted to create. He and Towne argued over the ending of the film, as the original script had a happy ending with Evelyn Mulwray living. Polanski wanted a very hard hitting ending with a the 'good guys' losing out, and eventually got his way. After time, Towne agreed that it is a better ending.

From this I have learnt that determination to get a perfect plot, regardless of how you must go about it, will be worth it in long run. Chinatown afterall, is now widely considered to be one of the best films of all time, and there is no doubt that Polanski had to fight strongly for his vision to be carried through to the end.

Whilst reading the book, I learnt that leading up to the shoot of the Pianist, lead actor Adrien Brody, was asked by Polanski to use method acting to get into to the role of the Holocaust survivor Wladyslaw Szpilman. As a result of this he was put onto a very feeble diet and lost a considerable amount of weight, and also gave up his home and his car to get into the mindset of something with absolutely nothing.

Very dedicated, I must say.



Tourette's In Adults

This is a documentary that aired on BBC a few years ago. I remember watching at the time, and found it funny really. I think this is because of the context that it is. While the sufferers are together and having a laugh about their situation, with people who understand what is happening, it is quite a pleasant atmosphere and makes it comical.

I think that in a situation where a sufferer is not understood by someone, or where they are not aware that have have Tourette's Syndrome, it is a very different case. It could be far more awkward and embarassing for them, and could lead to further problems.

As you can see from the video, the tics that these adults suffer seem to be far more severe than those of the children in the previous documentary that I watched. There is a lot more aggression, offensive language, and obscene remarks. It does seem to be a bit more violent overall, at least to an outsider who would be unaware of what is going on.

Although, upon reflection, this only seems to be the case in the two gentlemen who are prominent in this particular video. This would imply that they other sufferers do not necessarily suffer as severely as the men, and as a result have the condition that I would be most interested in pursuing for the sake of our 3rd production film. I think it would also be easier to get a convincing portrayal of a minor sufferer instead of someone who has comple vocal tics.

I Have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me

I Have Tourette's But Tourette's Doesn't Have Me is a documentary that I have watched about children with Tourette's Syndrome directed by Ellen Goosenberg Kent. Although it not an insight as to how a fictional piece would be made about Tourette's, it was a very good insight as to what the syndrome actually is and how it is for the people who suffer with it.

What I noticed about Tourette's Syndrome from the documentary, is just how the sufferers carry on with their actions seamlessly after their tics have occurred. Upon reflection it really was quite something to watch, and was very impressive in some sense.
I think it is important that our lead characters carries on without a pause after his tics have happened, as it will give a scope for reactions from the public, and could end up being quite comedic. As people will be expecting him to be screaming and shouting and swearing, it will give a fresh insight into the condition and hopefully will catch people off guard.

If you consider that this documentary is about children, it may explain why their tics do not revolve particularly around obscene language, as it will not be in their nature to say these words. However, I will look into Tourette's Syndrome in adults and see if it a different matter.

Although I would rather not have swearing in the film, the obvious Tourette's symptom, because of our requirement to depict the condition accurately, we may have to do so. Hopefully we will be able to get around this without straying from the brief.