Drama research - Set Design and Character links - Beginners (2010, Dir. Mike Mills)

Within our drama film, one of the most important elements for us to think about is the way in which the design of the room reflects upon the character. The choice to only use one location, and in particular only one room, was due to us wanting to focus more on the character and make the audience work to discover who they were and begin to gain an insight into their fear through the design of this.

I did some research into production design, which is an area to filmmaking that within our other projects this year we haven't explored in as much detail and discovered the possibilities with this as a separate job role. I found that from this, I learnt a lot about how much time and effort goes into the designing of a production, and just how subtle elements of the background can be, yet they still hold significance to the character or broader themes of a film.

Thinking about linking this to films that I have seen that don't use too many separate locations, I decided to research the production design process in Beginners, a film which I enjoy for the way in which it creatively tells the narrative.

As well as re-watching the film, I found the following interview with set decorator Coryander Friend to be useful in thinking about our own film, especially his last answer in which he discusses how the audience's connection with and understanding of the characters is established through the use and design of room space. This is something that we aim to achieve within our own film, as we want to make subtle adjustments within the features of the room's design, to show the perception of and passing of time - but also to make the viewer look for clues within this that link to our character. We aim to do this in a way that viewers might not necessarily notice on an initial viewing, but pick up on  some of the subtle design features in closer detail if they watch the film again and begin to connect these with their understanding of the character.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/home_blog/2012/02/christopher-plummer-mike-mills-beginners.html

 In some ways, the character of Oliver in Beginners can be seen as quite separated and alternate from the outside world that surrounds him, which holds a small similiarity between the way that we want our character to come across as to viewers. Some of the shots in Beginners show design features such as items from the outside brought indoors e.g. plants, and others show the design of the house to seem very lived in and it feels like a creative space. This gives the audience clues as to the character who lives and spends so much time in the space. Within our own film, we also intend to bring items from the outside into the room space, and include sounds from the outside alongside these, to make the viewer question the space that they are viewing and also the headspace of the character that we are aiming to portray to them.