Director Research/Inspiration

Director Research/Inspiration

This is a collection of filmmakers who have inspired me throughout the process of creating our short film, 'River'. As our screenwriter and I worked on the script, I had to look to other directors for inspiration as I had no experience in directing this type of film before. We came up with the overall idea for the film as a group, but Ciaran was tasked with actually writing the script. My job was to develop a shot list from this, and to start thinking about actually crafting each particular scene.

Yorgos Lanthimos: 

After looking at our script for the film, I was instantly reminded of this Greek filmmaker, who has risen to prominence over the past number of years, with films such as 'The Lobster', 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' and 'Dogtooth'. The reason that I was reminded of him, and am looking to his directorial style as a source of inspiration, is the fact that our film bares many similarities to his pictures. Our film could be described as a combination of multiple different genres, with elements of drama, fantasy, comedy and satire. The film is almost otherworldly, in the sense that the lead characters go unnoticed in the real world, and are actually part of the afterlife. The film is mainly a drama, but has many comedic scenes, and satirises elements of Greek Mythology and the afterlife. This reminds me of Lanthimos' 2015 film 'The Lobster', in a way, as that film had an almost identical blend of genres to our film. The film was, by nature, a drama, but it was mainly designed as a satire on dating and relationships, and took place in a world where those that struggled to find a partner had to be turned into an animal of their choosing. In my opinion, the film was incredibly entertaining and humourous, while still retaining its drama. It also acted as a relevant satire on its subject matter. I would like to take elements from this film, when directing 'River', as I think our film could benefit from having a similar tone to 'The Lobster'.

Quentin Tarantino: 

While not always one of my favourite directors/writers, I do really appreciate the dialogue that he writes, and how he chooses to block a scene. As our writer is a fan of his work, mainly his dialogue, and has taken some inspiration from him when writing the dialogue for our two lead characters, I will also look to take inspiration from him when writing the shot list, and in the characterisation of Kevin and Ron. Throughout the film, I hope to use a number of two-shots and tracking shots when these two characters are on screen together and conversing, as this typically engages the audience within a Tarantino flick. As some aspects of the dialogue, such as the somewhat comedic, somewhat realistic conversations, are already modelled after his style, it is only fitting that I do the same when bringing our lead characters to life.

   

Edgar Wright:

Some of the humour featured within our script shares many similarities with some of the humour that typically features within an Edgar Wright film. After watching a number of his films, a noticeable trope is the quick action montage (also known as an ellipsis in editing). After looking at the scene, toward the beginning of our film, of The Ferryman preparing to leave his house for work, I thought that it would be a great idea to include a quick action montage. When filming this scene, I will have to capture multiple routine activities of The Ferryman (such as preparing coffee and putting on his trademark coat), with somewhat of a frantic-zoom style, and then allow our editor to piece them together, in quick fashion, to properly create this affect.