Feedback Time

This past week I was fortunate enough to sit down with other creators and discuss each other's projects so far. This group meeting was meant to both get feedback and to as well help work out any problems or improve upon existing details with everyone's film opening. In general, I found the  experience really inspiring since I got to hear everyone's creativity highlighted and to see the efforts they are making to bring it to life. Since I was able to share my own film opening, I was able to get more ideas to implement or consider as the project takes shape. I jotted down quick notes about everything and am now going to show you guys what I got. Here goes nothing!

Movie Recommendations

Since my film opening deals with the topic of mental health, specifically it being unaddressed among countless celebrities, many in my group told me to check out some similar films that handle this similar topic. These might be some possible sources of inspiration on how this subject matter is represented, acted, written, and implemented within a successful production:

• A Star is Born (2018, dir. Bradley Cooper) - A Star is Born is a drama about a musician falling in love with another artist, but is tragically facing drug and alcohol addiction on the side. The element of privacy to this problem matches Keith Floyd's own hidden battles. This film can hopefully help me understand how to handle addiction properly in the film opening.

• Walk the Line (2005, dir. James Mangold) - Walk the Line is a drama about the country music icon Johnny Cash and details his rise to success. Within the film, he deals with drug addiction, which is another connection to celebrities and substance abuse.

• Amy (2015, dir. Asif Kapadia) - Amy is a documentary on the late singer Amy Winehouse. The documentary acts as a deep look into her life and what led her to pass: drug and alcohol poisoning. This real world example can definitely help to inspire Keith Floyd's overall presentation in the opening (She was also in "the 27 club"... see more below).

• Rocketman (2019, dir. Dexter Fletcher) - Rocketman is a drama and musical is based off of the life of legendary artist Elton John. Elton John himself has dealt with substance abuse issues in the past and the film supposedly details some of it.

• The 27 Club - While I wasn't able to get the name of the specific documentary, there seem to be many from my searches online. The 27 Club is a collective name for a group of musicians, athletes, actors, and artists that have unfortunately passed while they were all twenty seven years old due to poor mental health, substance abuse, or violence. The topic itself as a whole works as a great topic to research and it is something I will definitely look into to inspire the tragic lifestyle of Keith Floyd. 

Costume Design

I told everyone on how my group plans on recording the opening indoors to avoid modern looking buildings from interupting the fact that it takes place in the 80's, and they responded by stating that costume design should then be heavily incorporated to illustrate the time period. This was an excellent idea, and one that luckily some of my group members have already spent time researching on their own. I will make sure to bring this up to them so they keep it in mind.

The Use of Color and Lighting

One of my fellow classmates suggested that to help convey the tone and the emotion of Keith Floyd, we can use color and dramatic lighting cues to illustrate his tragedy. I have already have knowledge into these two techniques, but have not done much research into how I can specifically implement it for the film opening. I really should check this out before it becomes time for production.

Other Assorted Ideas

Here are more minor ideas that I was given during the meeting. First off, they all approved of keeping the film set in the late 80's instead of the early 80's as it would make sense with the coccaine epidemic of the time. I was also told that during this time period that the program of Drug Abuse Resistance Education (or D.A.R.E.) was prominent in the media, so maybe a subtle allusion to it would help conncet the time period with the subject matter. Another improvement I was provided with was to enforce that Keith Floyd has a "snappy" attitude, and to consider his psychological headspace to base his behaviors off of, not simply just that he was on drugs or alcohol. They all gave me other things to consider, such as the strange frequency of child-stars who grow up finding themselves go through substance abuse, maybe how Keith could hide his physically decaying apperance with make up, and to possibly play with perspective. If the opening can show how Keith sees the world through his drug use, and how unglamorous it actually is, it can visualize his twisted sense of reality. 

Conclusion

It was truly great to get a fresh perspective on my film opening after spending a lot of time talking with my own group. I will keep everything in mind in these next upcoming weeks.

My actual copy of notes from the group meeting.