Secondary research

For Secondary Research, I will research multiple films, industry professionals, books and authors. I also intend on extending my research into researching music and musicians to get a wide range of knowledge on things that inspire me.

BBFC Classification

What is the BBFC?
The BBFC is the British Board of Film Classification. All films released in the UK have been watched and classified by the BBFC. Film classifications range from U Universal for all to R18 or restricted 18 which means that only adults over 18 may watch and distribution will be limited.

The classification of films is the process of giving age ratings and content advice to films and other audiovisual content to help children and families choose what’s right for them and avoid what’s not.

(Bbfc, 2020)

Quentin Tarantino

Quentin was born on the 27th of March, 1963 in Knoxville, Tennessee. He has received 2 academy awards and 10 nominations. He is a critically acclaimed director and writer. I believe Quentin is one of the best screenwriters of modern cinema. As a screenwriter, he has such a unique style with the non linear storytelling and all the way to his dark and bloody comedy. He tells a story but through different characters and their perspective. He has a storyline for a film, but we see it from different timelines, different characters and their motivations, their situations and how it will eventually all come together with the original theme of the film. For example, The Inglorious Basterds, the story follows WWII, more specially Germany. We follow a group of Nazi killing Jews, a Nazi general, an English spy and an escaped Jew. The general story is a group of escaped Jews attempt to kill Hitler, but we see it through every side of the war. Quentin often does this and it always works, this is a big inspiration for me because I intend to write a screenplay with an evolving story through different characters from all walks of life.

(IMDb)

(Murphy, 2022)

Quentin Tarantino, is an American filmmaker, who has written and directed films such as; Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, Django Unchained and many more modern classics. Quentin has a unique style of screenwriting with non-linear storylines, with dark comedy, stylised violence and references to pop culture. Quentin made his first feature; Reservoir Dogs, with no film school degree, and little experience. He originally made a short film called Reservoir dogs set all in one room with only a few characters. He refused to get any funding for his idea for a very long time. Until a producer promised Quentin he would be able to get the funding, he brushed off the attempt and carried on writing. He eventually got enough funding to turn Reservoir Dogs into a feature film, and be his directorial debut. He ended up getting actors such as Steve Buscemi and Harvey Kietel and Micheal Madsen. Resevoir Dogs ending up making 2.9 million USD at the box office, doubling its budget.

Analysing Tarantino's style

It has become very easy to separate tarantinos style and influence in films in todays cinema. From the fast editing, to the non linear structure, or to his dark bloody comedy or his constant pop culture references. Quentin has established his own style and we now associate these themes with his name.

This video that I researched, shows Tarantino explaining how to write and direct films. By watching this video, I now can see and understand his style and methods from his perspective. I watched this video to better understand his methods of writing and use these new ideas and mindsets when creating my own script and then filming my project.

Style
Pop Culture References
Quentin Tarantino often references things in his movies relevant to the time the film is set, and also just things he finds interesting as a filmmaker. For example, In Reservoir Dogs, there's a scene where the main characters sit down, (Mr Brown, Mr White, Mr Orange, Mr Pink, Mr Blonde), and they discuss the relevance of tipping waitresses. By creating a conversation about a popular topic it makes the audience relate and adds layers of comedy and relevance for the audience. Pop culture references are what make Quentin so recognisable and separates his style from other filmmakers of his era. I intend on making relavent popular culture references within my project because it's what I've taken from Quentin but also it makes the audience remember it and discuss the scenes after watching.

Non Linear Structure
When analysing Tarantino style, it would be strange not to mention his creative ways of structuring his stories. Pulp Fiction is a great example of when Tarantino uses a non linear structure. This is clear in Pulp Fiction from the jump in time, the starting scene also being at the end, and the character development going back and forth throughout. I believe he made this film this way to keep the audience guessing and keeping us as the viewers, at attention the whole way through.

Analysing pulp fiction

(1994)

Pulp Fiction, (1994), is a Crime/Drama film with a non linear structure, written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. Pulp Fiction made 213.9 million dollars at the box office, and starred the likes of; John Travolta, Samuel L Jackson, Uma Thurman and Bruce Willis. Watching this film has been a huge part of my research as I am taking a lot of inspiration from. Things like the topics, the pop culture references and especially the structure of the story and his writing approach.

By telling a story but not in order, it forces the audience to focus in more on the characters and their motivations and why they act in a certain way, and ultimately gets you attached to the film in a whole different way. This is because by the story not being in chronological order, it makes us as the audience question where we are in the timeline, so by seeing a character die, then seeing them later on in the film, shows us where their story ends in correlation to the rest of the film.
Quentin does this to show us exactly that. That the story is just as interesting as any other film, but telling it in a different structure creates a feeling of uncertainty and therefore after watching, it sticks.

(Lane, 1994)

Impact And Inspiration
How will researching Quentin Tarantino reflect in my work and benefit me? By researching his work and his stylistic approach to everything he does, i've been able to learn key tools when it comes to film making. These include; How to effectively get your audiences attention with the structure of the story, and I also discovered how he can use pop culture references to better help the audience understand the time in which the film is set, and the motivation of the character saying it. For the longest time, I have drawn inspiration from Quentin Tarantino and for this project specifically, he's writing and directing style will be a big influence on me once in production in the next few weeks.

Syd Field

Syd Alvin Field, born 19 of December 1935 in Hollywood, was brought up with the rise of Hollywood, with stars like James Dean in the limelight. His passion was screenwriting and teaching, he loved everything about film, he grew up in the industry going through so many different eras, like old Hollywood up to the digital era of film. As he was coming into screenwriting, he befriended the late and great French director and writer; Jean Renoir. Jean was a famous ground-breaking filmmaker who worked through the silent noir era, all the way into Hollywood in the 1960s.

(IMDb)

Syd Field, was an American author who wrote many books including, 'The foundations of screenwriting', which is a step to step guide to writing a script. I personally started reading this book, and I found it to be really helpful and useful when it comes to screenwriting, and the planning that comes with it. I personally have learnt a lot from this book, and I can clearly see the impact this book has had on screenwriters of todays generation. Syd Field's The foundation of screenwriting, is the ultimate guide for screenwriters, writers and playwrights alike. The formulas and the structure of his storylines; "Paradigm" follow the rule of, Act 1: Setup (inciting incident), Act 2: confrontation then Act 3: Resolution (climax). This formula is believed to be the basic structure for a successful story, therefore a successful film. In his formula, he states the second act should be twice the length of the first act, and Act 2 should be in two halves within the confrontation.

(2023)

Syd Field's The foundations of screenwriting

This book has been a key influence factoring in my writing process, prior to this, I spent a term specialising on screenwriting and ultimately researching practitioners such as Syd Field and then reading this book. After getting into the book, it shows an upcoming filmmaker like myself, how the structure and foundation of a story should play out.

Impact and Inspiration.

Reading and researching Syd Fields book, and himself, has impacted me in a new way. I always thought my writing needed improving, and after purely focusing on that, I believed I improved. I started to read this book for my Secondary Research, but because it impacted me so much I started to read it for pleasure in my own time. For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to be a filmmaker, and writing is apart of that. I hope to reflect his structural methods in my script under Experimental Research. This research will hopefully reflect in my writing practical and also my production, as learning about structure will help me in the writing processes and filming. I will make the most out of the resources I have researched and what I learnt from them and put this into my work.

Before Sunrise

Before Sunrise, written and directed by Richard Linklater(1995), is a romance starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy. It follows two young adults who meet on a train, and decide to get off in Vienna and spend the evening together. This film is such a lovely viewing, it just focuses on the two characters getting to know each other throughout the evening. It's a beautiful film about young love and love at first site, however, it becomes sad as we realise it's most likely their only night together. The film is apart of a trilogy, as we re connect with the characters every 5 years.

Richard Linklater

(2023, IMDB)

(IMDB)

Richard Stuart Linklater, born 30 July 1960, is an American screenwriter and director. Born in Houston, Texas, Richard has created classic films such as the Before Sunrise trilogy, Dazed and Confused, Boyhood and many more. His projects often circulate around the effects of passing time and how people evolve, this is evident in his very experimental project, Boyhood. Boyhood is a coming of age story that follows a boy and his family change overtime and grow. However, the film is filmed over 14 years and the actors stay the same, this idea was revolutionary and still is. Its what makes Richard Linklater one of the greatest working creative minds out there. This specific style is also evident in the Before Sunrise films as it's the same couple as they both grow up and change as people.

(Spencer, 2020)

Romance
My project, Sonder, is a romance. This film, Before Sunrise, is my key source of inspiration when it comes to genre. The simplicity of the film yet the complexity of the story, we dive in as they tell each other stories on each others past love lives and we learn about them as they do. I believe the simple romance and the love interests are way more interesting and have been a big inspiration on my project and the writing process.

Why did I research Before Sunrise?
I decided to research this film specifically because the key themes and genres of this film are the same or similar was to the ones I'm trying to create. I really resonated with this film and its way it easily grabs my attention. It's under 90 minutes and filled with really interesting dialogue between the two as they venture into a European city alone as they discover the city, each other and themselves. Therefore, I researched this film and spent my time watching it to really understand romances and how to effectively execute.
How will this benefit me?
I believe researching Before Sunrise and Richard Linklater will benefit me especially in my writing process, but also in my production. I am taking in the dialogue and seeing how it has attracted me towards the next film in the trilogy, and I intend on having the same interactions with my audience through character and dialogue.

Music

I decided to research into an artist who has inspired me in the writing process, Sade, but her song; 'Like a tattoo' more specifically.

Sade

Sade Adu, is a British singer, born in Nigeria in 1959. As one of the most successful British female artists in history, Sade has been a huge inspiration on me. Her most popular songs to date consist of; "Smooth Operator", "By your side", "No ordinary love" and "Kiss of life".

(Valenti, 2022)

Inspiration

Before I had a fully fletched idea on my FMP, Sonder, I always knew it was going to open with the song "Like a tattoo" by Sade. Every time I listen to that song I can picture a sunset lit beach with a couple sitting gazing over the view. This image kept replaying in my head and once writing the scene, I knew it had to be incorporated. The song is so beautiful but it has a slight sadness to it. The song follows the story of the narrator talking about the bittersweet lies of love her love interest tells her, as they explore each other she reconciles with the lies he tells her. But another way to interpret it, is a story from the mans perspective. He tells us a story on guilt and shame on committing a war crime, as the song goes on, it can be interpreted as him telling us he shot and killed a man who was surrendering, which may have been witnessed by the love interest in the victims life. This beautiful song has connotations of love, passion, war and empathy. With such an interesting story, my mind spiralled into ideas on how to use the song. The scene I intend in using this song is the opening shot, as we see a couple in love laying on the beach, as our eyes are opened up to the beauty of nature and compassion, as our ears are exposed to a song as beautiful as love.