Director's Plan
1. What film or TV show is this from?
The Departed
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What year was did premiere?
2006 -
Who is the director?
Martin Scorsese -
Who is the writer?
William Monahan -
Who is the cinematographer?
Michael Ballhaus -
Who is the production designer?
Kristi Zea -
Who is the editor?
Themla Schoonmaker -
Do you have the actual script of the film—not a transcript? [X] Yes [ ] No
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Did you receive approval from me for this scene? (If “no,” do not proceed until approved!) [X] Yes [ ] No
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Do you have a high-quality QuickTime file of the scene in the original aspect ratio? [X] Yes [X] No
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In 3-5 sentences using your own words, what is the story of the entire film?
An undercover cop with a sketchy background, Billy, is enlisted to help take down an Irish mafia boss in Boston. In the meantime, dirty cop Colin, with a squeaky clean background, tries to find out who the rat in the mafia is to save the mafia boss and his own skin. The mafia goes down in a police raid and Billy escapes, but Colin kills the mafia boss. Billy confronts Colin to bring him in, but another dirty cop kills him, and then Colin kills the dirty cop. As Colin returns home after Billy’s funeral, one of Billy’s police contacts, the only person left who knows Colin is a rat, kills him in his apartment and walks out.
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What is the entire film’s main tension, or main dramatic question?
Will Billy or Colin come out on top, or will either of them even live?
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In one sentence, state the film’s theme, meaning or moral. (The theme is the filmmaker’s personal opinion or point of view on what this story means. It is not a single word. It takes a position.)
When secrets are used to run the world, nobody wins.
- Based on the film, not on research, why do you think this is the theme?
The word “secret” is used a lot in this film, especially with the psychologist Madolyn and the two men. They talk very directly about lies and what happens when they tell lies, how easy it is to tell a lie and get away with it. All three of them lie constantly, to each other and to their respective groups. Madolyn cheats on Colin with Billy, Billy lies to the mafia to work with the cops, Colin lies to the cops to work with the mafia – it all goes around in one big, sad circle and in the end everyone but Madolyn dies and she’s left with a fatherless child. Nobody wins.
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In 3-5 sentences, what happened in the story immediately before your selected scene?
Immediately before this scene, Billy tried to meet with one of his contacts in the police. They were followed by a cop sent by Colin, who then also calls his mafia friends in to go kill the rat (Billy). Billy is able to escape, but a different undercover cop is killed in some crossfire and then Billy’s police contact is thrown off the top of the building and dies. The phone that Colin is using in this scene belonged to the contact in the police.
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In 3-4 sentences, what is this scene’s story—the beginning, middle, and end? In other words, what happens as the scene starts, as the action rises, and as it ends?
Colin calls the last used number in the phone – Billy’s – and Billy answers. They both get nervous, and Billy hangs up. Billy then calls back, and Colin says the police are relieved he’s alive and well. He says he’ll need to come in and that he’ll be taken care of, but Billy shuts the phone and ends the conversation.
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What is the tension of this scene? What is the audience asking from the beginning of the scene that keeps them watching? (This should be phrased as a “will” question: “Will Brody spot the shark before it attacks someone?”
Will Billy or Colin be found out by the other?
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9. List the specific story details and character insights in order that must be clear to the audience in this scene to understand, remain oriented and engaged in the scene, and thus in the story that follows. Often these details are communicated visually—not through dialogue (however, key lines of dialogue can fall into this category so you will need to shoot them properly so the audience will not miss them). Describe what, specifically, the director shot so that the audience received each piece of information. Some scenes will have more details than others.
10. What is the narrative purpose of this scene within the larger story?
This is the first time that Colin and Billy make actual contact with each other. It’s filled with tension and it’s very threatening to the both of them. Both of their lives are at stake, and they’re both fully aware of this fact.
11. How does this scene contribute to and/or develop the theme of the film? (Check your answer #5)
Even as these men are sure they’re speaking to the other rat, they are determined to keep their secrets to themselves. They lie through their teeth (more so Colin than Billy) and it ends just as tense and unresolved as it was before.
12. Good stories take the audience on an emotional journey. In order, list the progression of emotions the audience experiences in this scene. (This is not the emotions the characters experience! Often, the characters are experiencing very different emotions than what the audience is experiencing.) Describe how the director achieved this progression of emotions in the audience—this will not just be use of visual elements, but will include performance, production design, blocking, sound design and music, editing, etc.. Add additional rows if needed.
- Why did this scene emotionally progress in this way?
This scene progressed in this way because this scene is the first time Colin and Billy make contact. We don’t know if Billy will actually answer, we don’t know what Colin will do if Billy does pick up, and then we don’t know how things will pan out or if anyone will let slip who they are. Everything and nothing happened at the same time.
13. First and last images:
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Good directors channel their deepest emotions into their work. What specific personal experience(s) in your own life does this story remind you of emotionally? What personal truths does this scene does this scene evoke for you? (Do not answer, “Because I’ve always wanted to make a chase scene!”)
Almost never is there a one-to-one correlation between your personal experience(s) and the film. However, finding will help you connect to the emotional truths in your film and the emotions of the characters. To do this:
1) Start by just considering how the film makes you feel, or how a character or characters in the film might feel.
2) Look into your heart and memory and find a time when you felt similarly. For example, does the character feel abandoned because her mother left her? When have felt abandoned? Was there this one specific time when your friends abandoned you at the mall? What, specifically, moment to moment, was that experience like?
As you write about your experience(s), be specific, detailed, and emotional. The stronger you evoke your personal experience, the stronger your final film. Do not be general! Answer this question by beginning with, “There was this one time when…” Note: Because this is personal, you may delete this answer when you post it online.
“There was this one time when…
I realized my landlord was probably lying to me. I had trusted her as a friend because previously, she was living in the house with us. She was only 21, and very clean and took good care of the space and respected our privacy. It was a good situation. When she moved out though, she started telling me some things that made me really concerned about where our money was going and if some of the things she was doing was even legal. After some research, I found out it wasn’t. I talked to my other roommates about my concerns, and they had issues with other things she was doing, so we decided we should try to confront her about the issues. I wanted to hope that she was innocent, but in order to confirm this we had to do so in a roundabout way. When we had the meeting, we told her that some of the things she had been doing were worrying us and she said, out loud, that she fully understood the contract. This showed she knew she was breaking the law in a serious way. It was then I knew that she couldn’t be trusted and probably shouldn’t be considered a friend anymore. Maybe this sneakiness was over the top, but I felt it was necessary to get the answers we needed and contact the necessary persons to feel secure in our living situation and not be extorted for money or have people we don’t know trespassing in our house every day.
- In what specific way(s) does this experience give you insight into a character/characters, the story, and/or the theme and help connect you to the film?
Colin is a very sneaky guy. Everything he does, he does to conceal the crimes of the crime lord Frank and keep himself safe. To him, everything he does is perfectly logical. In the very beginning of the film, Frank “helps” Colin understand as a young boy that really, there’s no such thing as good and evil when you’re pointing a gun at someone anyway. Colin doesn’t care about the repercussions of what he does, he’s doing it purely to keep himself and his crime boss safe. It makes me wonder if, in the situation I described, I was more like Colin or Billy. Was I acting in my and my roommates best interests, or was I screwing her over? I think the law would agree with me honestly, making her Colin (trespassing is a ckass A misdemeanor punishable by up to 6 months in jail and a $20,000 fine don’t you know), but in technique, I was the one that had her on the ropes, making my approach more like Colin’s. Interesting.
Images
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Using the most descriptive language you can, discuss the lighting in this scene. How does the lighting feel?
I will only be doing the lighting and shooting for Colin’s side of the story. The lighting on his end isn’t exactly cold, but it isn’t warm either (color palette uses mainly the color blue for his end), and although there are overhead lights they’re dim enough that the room feels almost dank. It’s very blue. It feels threatening.
- Why do you think the director and DP wanted it to feel like this?
I think they did it this way because Colin is dangerous and filthy. He has the appearance of cleanliness, but is a very dark person on the inside. He’s been groomed into being okay with supporting murder and other horrible crimes; although he works in an office, that space is dark and when he’s calling Billy (who is sitting in a very warm light, although living in a kind of a dirty house) it reflects the lack of warmth and light in Colin’s being.
- How might this look have been achieved technically?
I think this look was achieved through a few lights and finding a way to dim or cut the lights on the ceiling. They look lit, but they aren’t overbearing and Colin still has shadows on his face. I think a bounce might have been used to light his face – it’s not harsh but it isn’t necessarily soft lighting either.
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What specific focal lengths do the director and DP appear to be using? Why?
From what I can tell, I would say everything in Colin’s half is shot between a 35 and an 80. There are some extreme closeups, some closeups, and when there’s a deeper background they make sure it’s out of focus enough to know it’s a ceiling but not enough that it distracts us from his interaction. They use what they do in order to make his space feel flat, that everything that makes us feel emotion during this scene is Matt Damon’s reaction.
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What is the aspect ratio(s) of the film? (You can find this information on IMDB under Technical Specs near the bottom)
2.39:1; it’s cropped in some streaming sources to 16:9, though.
- Why did they choose this/these aspect ratio(s)?
Why? I don’t know. This isn’t something we’ve talked about yet. From what I’ve seen though, it seems like different aspect ratios have shifted in popularity over time and have also felt different depending on culture. I’m guessing this is what felt the most cinematic and dramatic at the time.
Rules for Visual Elements & Cinematics
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In the table below, list any of the seven visual elements (space, line, shape, tone, color, rhythm, movement) you notice the director using to purposefully communicate the narrative and emotional information of the scene.
ALSO INCLUDE: any cinematics such as lighting, composition, slow/fast motion, dolly, shallow focus, etc. (see Film 1 assignment description for a more complete list), is the director using to evoke emotion?
Sound
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Using the most descriptive language you can, discuss the sound (both design and music) in this scene. How does it feel?
It feels ridiculously tense. Anything and everything could go wrong right here, and while I think most everyone is rooting for Billy, we aren’t sure if we shouldn’t be hoping that Colin will survive the ordeal, too. It’s a very nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat and see what happens kind of a scene and we can’t predict what these characters will choose to do.
- Why do you think the director and sound designer(s) wanted it to feel like this?
The decisions being made in this scene are so important. It’s showing us that Colin is getting ever closer to finding out that Billy is the rat, yet neither of them are safe as they try to find each other. They wanted it to feel so tense because they’re both putting their lives on the line just by answering the phone, let alone speaking into it.
- How might this soundscape have been achieved?
The repetition of the calling, the lightness of the breathing, and the halting of the music as soon as he flips the phone open change our expectations for behavior so quickly. The sounds of the phones beeping and slapping shut are also very dynamic.
Preparedness
Describe three or four potential obstacles the original filmmakers may have faced in creating a successful scene. (This can be in any aspect of the scene—but must include at least two potential production obstacles.) How do you think they overcame these?
Describe three or four potential obstacles you may face in creating a successful scene. How can you be prepared to overcome these? Be specific!
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Write the date and time of your scheduled meeting with your DP to discuss your approach: 13 February 2023. Review your Director’s Plan and shot list. Discuss the equipment you will need to capture that approach. The DP will prepare the equipment list and reserve the equipment.
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Attach your TMA 319 Film Casting Call flyer. Did you email this document to the TA?
[X] Yes [ ] No
The Binder
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Fill out a Shot-for-Shot form for every shot appearing in the scene. Place these shots in the order in which they appear in the scene. (Use the Setup number to “connect” shots which were filmed from the same setup.)
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For each shot, and on its own sheet of paper, create an Overhead Floorplan indicating the placement of characters, blocking, camera (including movement), lights, furniture, important props, etc.. Insert this Overhead Floorplan to the right of each Screenshot form. Use a “V” to indicate camera placement and direction. Write the setup # from the Shot-for-Shot form on the Overhead Floorplan. Keep the orientation of the floorplan consistent from shot to shot—in other words, the top of the room should remain in the same place for each shot. Do not print/draw the overhead on the back of the next shot because you won’t be able to organize your shots by setup when the binder has been returned to you.
IMPORTANT NOTE: The Overhead Floorplan for each shot must match the location used in the original film, not the location where you plan to shoot. This is to help you grasp camera placement and geography in relation to the image. In other words, do not alter the Overhead Floorplan to match your shooting location!
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Attach the Lined Script, as described above, to plan your coverage.
In some films, there are significant differences between the shooting script and the final scene. In these cases, include: 1) a lined copy of the original shooting script, and 2) a lined reorganized version of the shooting script that reflects the finished film. If you have questions about this, please talk to me about how to organize/reorder the shooting script.
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Attach Location Photos of where you will shoot this scene. Match a few angles in your location to the actual film to be sure that this location will work for your scene. If you can have someone stand in for an actor or two, even better. I recognize that this can be difficult with everything else you’re doing. If you contact me before the plan is due, I am willing to give you a few extra days to find a location and submit your location photos. But you must email me the location photos before you shoot. If you fail to send the photos, the points will be deducted from your score.
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Put your Director’s Plan document and color copies of your Shot-for-Shot Screenshot forms in a no-bigger-than 1.5” binder. Insert the Screenshot form on the left side and the Overhead Floorplan on the right side, facing each other as described above.
Do not print double sided; do not put the shot-for-shot forms in plastic sleeves!
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Did you read “F – Editing and Finishing your Film” above to make sure you are using title cards and music correctly?
[X] Yes [ ] No
Did you read “E - Screening the Film”, above, to make sure you prepare and bring the proper elements to class for the screening?
[X] Yes [ ] No
a) Do you understand that your film will not be screened if you do not bring a file of both the original scene and the comparison version correctly formatted, as explained above?
[X] Yes [ ] No
Director's Reflection
A) Give your overall response:
In 2 or 3 paragraphs, write about your overall experience making and screening this film: Did you achieve what you set out to do? What are you proud of? What did not work as expected and why? What did you learn?
Making this film was an adventure to say the least. It was a disaster to arrange, multiple plans fell through, location fell through last minute, and I’m really unimpressed with the result. I’m happy that the film was at least finished, but if I can avoid watching this again I think I’ll do that. I’m… not really proud of anything in this film. The things that I was excited to work with on the set didn’t turn out well, the compositions of the shots weren’t accurate often, the lighting was shoddy (partially due to location) and I’m really, really sad about how rough it was.
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Screening this film was even worse. I’m happy for our actor that he at least did a great job and he can definitely use this in his reel (he’s in the process of making his first one), but for my part I was really embarrassed. Murphy’s law states that what can happen, will happen, and this seems to be the rule on my sets. Disaster struck at every corner, and it was obvious to an audience that fixing those issues was nigh unto impossible. I learned from this assignment that if I don’t have creative control or the ability to contribute my creativity to a project in a way that is effective, I lose heart and stop caring about the project, as well. I remember years ago hearing from a friend that they were so excited because someone famous saw shot-for-shot and told them they liked it a lot, and I guess I was hoping I would at least make something that I could be similarly proud of. I did not.
B) Based on the class discussion and your honest evaluation, briefly but specifically respond to the following:
In one sentence, what idea, emotion and/or theme, specifically, did you want to communicate:
Patience is necessary in the pursuit of truth.
Were you successful? How? Why? Why not?
I think so, if for no other reason than that I followed the same cuts and pacing as the original and that’s one of the themes that can be drawn from the original scene. The content was essentially the same, so the theme was the same.
How, specifically, did you try to communicate this idea, emotion, theme:
I was able to communicate this theme mainly just because the cuts and the pacing and the lines were the same. It was really clear what was happening because it was the same stuff that was happening in the original. The emotion, however, wasn’t the same. It just didn’t hit. This was most likely due to location and lack of similar lighting in many shots; it didn’t read the same way and the same care was not taken here, not due to lack of effort but lack of time and resources.
What did you learn about storytelling:
I’ll be honest, this assignment didn’t feel like it had a lot to do with telling a story. I was so focused on the perfect recreation that I stopped caring about what it was about before we even started shooting it. What I did learn was that focal depth and lengths along with good lighting can go a long way in improving how the story feels. However, you have to have the right space and objects to light, so maybe things would have been better if the shoot panned out the way I wanted it to.
What did you learn about working with actors and getting performance:
When Shintaroh said in class a few weeks ago that you can tell good actors apart from the mediocre by the look in their eyes, I wasn’t sure what he meant. Now I get it. Andrew did an incredible job here, and I’m so excited to see where he goes with his acting career. He knew what to do with his eyes, how to put on a certain air, how to prepare himself for a scene and how to deliver the lines with the same confidence of Matt Damon. Of course he has room to grow, but I know he’s going to be big someday. It was so easy to work with him, which I was so grateful for because everything else was so hard.
What did you learn about blocking the camera and actors?
I’ve learned, or perhaps remembered, that I like it when people read my mind. Alas, this is not possible. I think Jason and I have potential to learn how to work with each other better, but we were pretty out of sync in this shoot (my fault I’m fairly certain) and there seemed to be a communication barrier where I had a hard time getting my requests across. It was tough. Blocking with Andrew was easy though; if I asked him to do a backflip he would probably do it.
Refer to your Director’s Plan. What specific visual elements and cinematics did you choose to use and what were the rules for their use? Where you successful in the use of that rule?
What did you learn about using the visual elements (space, line, shape, tone, color, movement, rhythm), cinematics, contrast and affinity, lighting, composition, framing, etc.:
I wish I had learned more, but I was so desperate to just finish the thing that I lost track of a lot of these details. That said, I did enjoy seeing the attention to line and composition in the original scene as well as contrast as Colin gets progressively sneakier with Billy on the phone. The set mimics his emotional state so well, and none of that is an accident. I enjoyed analyzing how they shot this film, and making a shot list that tried to mimic how they had organized their own (by location, lens and movement).
What did you learn about design, art direction, locations, etc.:
I did my very best on that art design, on figuring out a location, and the like. It still sucked. What I’ve learned here is that without money, your design is probably going to look awful, and without a good location, what you need from the location for the plot will be impossible. I tried to make things work, I put so much stupid elbow grease and money into the props and making things look good, and it was garbage and I am so mad about it.
What did you learn about the filmmaking process such as pre-production, collaborating with crew, securing equipment, etc.:
While I’m usually really good on set as far as setting a good tone and being prepared with creativity and ideas for what I’ll ask the crew about how they want and hope to contribute, this film was so different because I couldn’t ask any of those questions and the content felt so dry. Pre-production was, quite honestly, boring. Securing equipment wasn’t terrible – the DI run to get the props might have been my favorite part of this shoot, finding the flip-phone in a glass case like it was being held ransom was hysterical – and Jason did a great job making sure everything went well with the equipment we had.
What did you learn about editing, sound design/music, color correction and/or grading:
Holy crap. I will NEVER try to edit in RAW on this computer ever again in my life. It’s not beefy enough and it can’t take the stress those ginormous files place on the RAM and the hard drive. No thanks. Exporting didn’t work properly either (what an actual nightmare and how extremely embarrassing) and the color grade was lackluster.
What was it like to watch your film with an audience? Did they understand it? Miss the point? Why did they respond the way they did?
Watching this film with the class was embarrassing. I know I can do better, but the circumstances surrounding this shoot were such a disaster that nothing came together the way it should and I hated having people watch it. I wouldn’t say I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my work, but I do have a certain standard I like to work by and this film didn’t even come close to meeting it. The only redeeming factor was that the actor was good and has potential; everything else was a mess. They got the premise because it’s so straightforward, but I could definitely tell everyone pitied me for having to show this one publicly and it really sucked.
What will you do differently on your next film because of what you learned on this film?
I know I said it last time, but I’m seriously going to find someone who will dedicate themselves to props and set dressing. I can’t keep doing this myself, I will exhaust all of my resources and there are other people who want to help with set dressing (don’t worry, they aren’t grads or pros or in the film program or anything). I also want to work on projects that I actually feel really tied to. This assignment really felt like an assignment, while the films before this one were a lot more creative and fun and felt more rewarding to complete. Although my previous films weren’t anything to write home about either, this one stunk to high heaven and I don’t care to watch it again because I didn’t care about the subject matter. I don’t really want to do that again.
Other observations or notes:
Long story short, I hate recreating existing scenes. I can’t do it. You can’t make it perfectly again. It’s great to learn about why these directors did what they did and how they did it, which you can only do through re-creation really, but the quality between my cut and theirs has such a harsh difference that I couldn’t help but absolutely despise my work and begin to hate the process from the minute we started shooting. There was no creativity, no thoughtfulness, no fun anywhere – it was just bland and sad and boring and I really didn’t like it. I’m really thankful for this next week as I think the assignment leaves so much more room for creativity and spur-of-the-moment thoughtfulness that it’ll rejuvenate my sad soul after what turned out to be a garbage heap of a project. Ugh.
C) Production Report (include any notes if necessary)
