Director's Statement of Intent - One-Shot Doc/Film 3

1.     What is the story of this scene in two or three sentences? In other words, what happens in the scene?

It opens on a man indoor surfing. He is not highly skilled and falls a few times, each time getting back up to try again.

2.     What is purpose of this scene in the larger story? (Or, if there is not a larger story, invent the purpose of this scene.)

The larger story is of this young man’s desire to succeed. With each thing he tries, he may not be incredibly talented off that bat, but he wants to get better at anything he attempts. He comes to have fun, yes, but wants to prove that he can.

3.     What is the emotion I want to communicate?

I want to communicate perseverance and dedication.

4.     Why is this scene personal to me? What previous personal experiences does it remind me of? Why do I need to make this scene?

Throughout all my life, I’ve hated people telling me that I can’t do something. It aggravates me to the core, and rather than accept what they say, I set out to prove them wrong. While I may not be good at something when I first attempt it, I truly believe that I can learn to do and be good at anything—as long as I try. Indoor surfing can be incredibly frustrating and painful for beginners. James is going to be my subject, and I’m going to try to capture the process of failure and trying again a few times.

5.     What, specifically, must the audience understand narratively and feel at the end of this scene? How do you intend to make sure this will happen?

I’ll admit that I’m expecting James to fall. In the case that he doesn’t, I’m going to still emphasize how hard he is trying to overcome the surfing obstacle by focusing on his feet on the board, his facial expressions, and close-ups of the water to show it’s power and relentlessness.

6.     What two visual elements (line, shape, space, tone, color, rhythm, movement) will you use to help communicate the emotion of the scene?

One visual element I feel will be easy to communicate, regardless of James’ ability in surfing, is the relentless rhythm of the flowing water. It will, I believe, show that it is unchanging, whereas James must change constantly to adjust to the water. Also, to better yield depth in the square room, I’m going to manipulate the white balance just a tad to make the scene bluer.

7.     What are some potential obstacles to creating a successful scene? How can you be prepared to overcome these?

The first potential obstacle in accomplishing my scene is the fact that James might actually be good at indoor surfing right of the bat. While I cannot manipulate that, I feel that I can still capture the fact that he has worked to overcome the obstacle by focusing on close-ups of each portion of his skill—his footwork, body movement, and facial determination. Another potential obstacle is my ability to capture close-ups, as James will be on a water wave, and I will not risk bringing a camera on with me (and I doubt Provo Beach would let me). I’m going to bring a versatile lens to be able to zoom in and pull out for wide angles.