In class today, we were immediately told to Google image search 'random pictures' and select the first one that appealed to us. Once we had selected our image, we were asked to print it off onto an otherwise blank piece of paper. After vigorously scanning through countless images on Google I eventually selected this one:
Once we had printed our images we were asked to form a story based on what we could infer not only directly from the image itself but also in context to subjects outside or surrounding the image. For example, who took the picture? Who was the Dog with? Etc.
Why Did This Picture Appeal To You?
Despite the simplicity of the photograph, I felt that you could infer so much from every obscure and insignificant features. For example, the subject's (dog) expression and body language. The warm lighting coming from in front of the dog, the wooden panel and out of focus rural looking background and the overall flat tones of the image, which carry many sad connotations.
Not only did these minor observations entice me into picking this image but the actual subject did too. I thought that picking an image featuring only an animal (a dog to be precise) would be more interesting to work from than if I had chosen a human subject because plots don't often only focus around animals.
What Did You Interpret From Your First Look At The Image?
We were given a set of questions to answer in regards to what we interpreted from looking at the image, these were how I answered the questions:
Who? - An Old Dog and his owner
What Led To This Interpretation?
Looking at the image, the first thing that captured my attention was the dog itself. His eyes are contemplative yet have a sad look to them because of how round and soppy they are. His head is sunken into his leg - something humans would often do (into their arm) if they're feeling down or sorry for themselves - and his leg is drooping off the platform, which, to me, suggests giving up or surrendering to their own gloominess. Furthermore, the drooping leg may suggest fatigue, as they don't have the energy to hold it up - this, to me, suggested that the dog was fairly elderly, as it struggled with simple tasks like this. This may also suggest why the dog seemed to feel sorry for himself, as he was tired and gloomy in his old age.
The reason I interpreted that the dog had an owner with them was because the setting is outside and a dog would not likely be out in the open without an owner's supervision. Could it have been a stray? Possibly, however, looking at how trimmed their toenails are and the fur around their feet, not to mention how glossy and clean the dog's coat is, I figured it would most likely have an owner to keep it in such good condition.
What? - Overlooking the beach from the walking platform
What Led To This Interpretation?
The dog is looking off into the distance, where the light is coming from. Because the light is hitting the dog from where they're gazing I interpreted this as the sun against the horizon (probably close to sunset considering how warm and glowy the lighting is), a place you often see the sun hitting the horizon is the beach. Furthermore, the wooden platform the dog is laying on is reminiscent of a boardwalk before a beach, reinforcing my interpretation of the beach.
When? - Evening
What Led To This Interpretation?
The warm lighting striking the dog is reminiscent of light produced during golden hour i.e sunset. This is what led me to believe that the time is evening. Furthermore, evening is the generic time in which owners take their dogs for a walk.
Why? - Taking the dog for a walk
What Led To This Interpretation?
This interpretation goes without saying - if an owner is outside with their dog they're likely taking them for a walk.
Developing Our Ideas
After we had formed our initial interpretations surrounding the photograph, we were asked to develop them further. This is what I recorded:
Who? - A very old dog who finds everything a struggle because of his age.
His owner who has to compromise a lot because of his dog's age.
What? - Watching other dogs playing on the beach as the sun comes down. (The glimmer in his eyes in the photograph reflects a nostalgic appeal)
When? - Evening - the usual time they go on their daily walk,
Where? - The beach the dog and his owner comes to everyday on their walk to meet and play with other dogs.
Why? - They're watching other dogs playing instead of going onto the beach because the dog found the steps from the platform onto the beach too tiring and strenuous so their owner decided to sit with them on the platform and watch all the other dogs playing instead.
Plot
Now that my ideas were fully formed I was able to create a plot of the opening two minutes involving the characters I had created from the image. My plot involved the following:
It's evening and an old, loyal dog and his owner had made their way down to the beach to start their daily walk which usually involved playing and meeting the countless other dogs on the beach. As the dog and his owner approach the stairs leading from the boardwalk to the beach, the dog attempts to make his way down the steps however his old age causes him severe difficulty and pain. The dog cannot reach the bottom before giving up and his owner walks back up the stairs to carry his dog to the top again. Instead, they sit on the edge of the platform, watching the sun go down and the other dogs playing on the beach. This triggers an on-and-off flashback sequence depicting the old dog as a puppy again, playing with the other dogs on the beach. It cuts in between the old dog watching the other dogs and the old dog young again (in the flashback sequences) playing, before cuing the title of the film. There will be no music over the top, just the calming sounds of distant dog barks and the waves lapping the sand.
If You Were to Follow This Idea Through To Your Final Piece, What Pros and Cons would it create?
I've decided to create a pros and cons list of each developed idea I create to help me identify which is the most
Pros:
The dog is looking off into the distance, where the light is coming from. Because the light is hitting the dog from where they're gazing I interpreted this as the sun against the horizon (probably close to sunset considering how warm and glowy the lighting is), a place you often see the sun hitting the horizon is the beach. Furthermore, the wooden platform the dog is laying on is reminiscent of a boardwalk before a beach, reinforcing my interpretation of the beach.
When? - Evening
What Led To This Interpretation?
The warm lighting striking the dog is reminiscent of light produced during golden hour i.e sunset. This is what led me to believe that the time is evening. Furthermore, evening is the generic time in which owners take their dogs for a walk.
Why? - Taking the dog for a walk
What Led To This Interpretation?
This interpretation goes without saying - if an owner is outside with their dog they're likely taking them for a walk.
Developing Our Ideas
After we had formed our initial interpretations surrounding the photograph, we were asked to develop them further. This is what I recorded:
Who? - A very old dog who finds everything a struggle because of his age.
His owner who has to compromise a lot because of his dog's age.
What? - Watching other dogs playing on the beach as the sun comes down. (The glimmer in his eyes in the photograph reflects a nostalgic appeal)
When? - Evening - the usual time they go on their daily walk,
Where? - The beach the dog and his owner comes to everyday on their walk to meet and play with other dogs.
Why? - They're watching other dogs playing instead of going onto the beach because the dog found the steps from the platform onto the beach too tiring and strenuous so their owner decided to sit with them on the platform and watch all the other dogs playing instead.
Plot
Now that my ideas were fully formed I was able to create a plot of the opening two minutes involving the characters I had created from the image. My plot involved the following:
 |
| Another photo I searched for to help set a mood for the plot idea. |
It's evening and an old, loyal dog and his owner had made their way down to the beach to start their daily walk which usually involved playing and meeting the countless other dogs on the beach. As the dog and his owner approach the stairs leading from the boardwalk to the beach, the dog attempts to make his way down the steps however his old age causes him severe difficulty and pain. The dog cannot reach the bottom before giving up and his owner walks back up the stairs to carry his dog to the top again. Instead, they sit on the edge of the platform, watching the sun go down and the other dogs playing on the beach. This triggers an on-and-off flashback sequence depicting the old dog as a puppy again, playing with the other dogs on the beach. It cuts in between the old dog watching the other dogs and the old dog young again (in the flashback sequences) playing, before cuing the title of the film. There will be no music over the top, just the calming sounds of distant dog barks and the waves lapping the sand.
If You Were to Follow This Idea Through To Your Final Piece, What Pros and Cons would it create?
I've decided to create a pros and cons list of each developed idea I create to help me identify which is the most
Pros:
- It's a simplistic idea - it only involves one location and one actor (disregarding the dogs) and doesn't involve too much action to make it hard to follow or overwhelmingly chaotic
- It's a moving concept that can easily invoke emotion in the audience - this makes it more memorable and therefore makes it more successful as a piece
- Because it is so simple and open, and the location is beautiful, it allows room for a variety of different camera shots and angles, which'll enhance the quality of the final footage
- Not many coursework pieces, or feature films, focus solely on a dog and their feelings, it is quite a unique idea with good potential
Cons:
- Working with dogs is renownedly difficulty as they don't understand your directions like a human would. Furthermore, because they don't have any concept of the fourth wall they could potentially break it by looking at the camera (which is likely because it'll be an intriguing, alien object to them). It'll take a lot of patience, effort and time to work solely with dogs.
- Involving puppyhood footage that matches the old dog will be difficult. This being said, if I were to cast my own dog, I have puppyhood footage of him running on a beach and could merely use this. But this wouldn't give me much lenience with who I cast as the main dog.
- I have to rely on using other dogs too, because of the scenes involving the various dogs on the beach. This would mean relying on the fact that there will be other dog walkers on the beach.
- Because it will be filmed at sunset, there won't be much time in between goldern hour and darkness, meaning I will have little time to film the entire piece.
- Because filming with that warm glow of sunset relies on weather, I could easily be let down due to too much cloud or fog etc.
Overall, I quite like this idea, however, it does have many issues that comes with it. This would require intricate planning in order to avoid any organisation disasters, but would also require relying on how the dog behaves and the weather. Therefore, it would be wise to consider other ideas before considering this one.
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