Brydan Meredith, Project Brief #2 Submission. I would like to request that Blog Post #1 for PB2 is read before Blog Post #2 for PB2.

Thanks very much 🙂

Brydan.

Blog Post #3 for PB2 on Collaboration – Brydan Meredith

BLOG POST #2 for PB2

Blog Post #1 for PB2

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.

A Blog on Collaboration

 “I always find that if two (or more) of us throw ideas backwards and forwards I get to more interesting and original places than I could have ever have gotten to on my own” (Cleese, John 1991 A lecture on creativity.

When work is passed through too many hands it becomes susceptible to convolution, it can lose its aim and as a consequence grow further away from its original purpose. There is a Parks and Recreations episode entitled ‘The Camel’ that concerns itself with the design of a mural. In the episode, all the characters in the Parks and Recs department design their own mural based off the spirit of the town they live in. All the character’s design something completely different and vouch for their ideas to be agreed upon. Ultimately, they compromise, they submit a piece of art that contains elements of everyones design but looks horrible. In his article, The Screenplay Business, managing creativity and script development in the film industry Peter Bloure suggests that if collaborators agree upon a singular vision at the start of the project and create everything with this vision in mind, what is created will become unified and succinct. His first dot point reads ‘Be consistent-keep returning to the vision of the type of film you are trying to make, and refer everything back to that’.

In class, when creating our 6-9 frame stories, Matt, Olivia and I sat down outside building 9 and agreed from start to finish what we would create. So when we walked around the campus with our camera we knew (and had agreed upon) the start point, middle point and end point of our story. Every photo we took from that moment on fitted into this idea. Our individual ideas, that we put aside at the start, saw the light of day within the nitty gritty of making the images- through framing, shot selection and acting choices we all got to place our own creativity on the activity within the constraints of a singular vision.

In our second tutorial of class we watched a French Short film and began answering questions in regards to dramatic action. The idea behind the table based group activity was that we could take the story another direction through our groups singular idea. In this activity, everyone was sprouting random ideas without agreeing upon or elaborating on what anyone else would say. We placed no constraints on ourselves at the beginning. There was no unified idea. About 5 minutes into the discussion I put my head down and answered all the questions by myself on my laptop because I couldn’t deal with the off topic, spontaneous ideas of the group. This is an example of collaboration gone wrong and links back to the Parks and Recreations episode that derives its title from this expression: “That a camel is a horse made by a committee”.

Finally, Cleese’s quote still has merit, but is far too vague to be wholly true. Cleese says “Throw ideas backwards and forwards I get to more interesting and original places than I could have ever have gotten to on my own”. He simply wrote ‘throw ideas’, however he should have written “Throw corresponding ideas”. Collaboration needs to be a formal communication process, throwing ideas will not do.

Nonetheless I can understand where he is coming from and the importance of collaboration at university level. In the professional world one does not get unlimited time to make whatever they want. Collaboration is great for practice because it places constraints. The best artists, writers, filmmakers can create quality content anywhere, anytime. In the professional world, their talent is a commodity that needs to remain fruitful in order to hold value. Collaborating, is to compromise, to sacrifice, it may lead to worst results, it may lead to better results, but nonetheless it is something, that for better or worse, happens.

By Brydan Meredith, s3547569

This week we explored the worlds of three film trailers: Sex and The City, Tangerine and Sing Street.

Of these worlds we asked questions, Could it exist in another world? How does it operate? What is its internal logic? Specific characteristics of world?

Because I have already answered these questions of these films in class, I will pick another one for this blog post.

The Darjeeling Limited by popular auteur Wes Anderson.

What are the specific characteristics of the world? India, Bold and Bright colours, American tourists, Culture Clash (ancient history of India as a backdrop to rich Americans), Nature, Set in a timeless place (a steam train is the main source of transport), Small Train Compartment Vs Big Indian Plains, Lots of patterns and colours, Religion plays a major part in Indian Society, the idea of their being religion in India holds the Americans more accountable for their actions, animals (the idea of India being an exotic mysterious place), Self centred tourists.

How does it operate/internal logic? It’s set in a romanticised India. The India that Wes creates is India from Western Imagination, as the quintessential place to learn about yourself and comeback changed. Throughout the film he parodies Western Ignorance in foreign places and frames the protagonists of the film as being self-absorbed, egocentric people-hence why they can’t relate to each other. There is some internal logic that I will tease out. In the world of the Darjeeling Limited every Western character is a character unhappy with themselves and as a consequence they try to change who they naturally are. The Mother becomes a Monk, Owen Wilsons character tries to become less assertive, Adrien Brody’s character wears his deceased fathers clothes and glasses and Jason Schwartzmans ‘Jack’ attempts to find contentment in loneliness. This is the logic of the film and is the reason I find it a captivating, interesting watch. To put the logic in a sentence it would be, The western characters in this films world lack self-assurance, whereas the Indian Characters have the ability to accept themselves and things around them they can’t change. This is the focal point of the film and a defining factor of the world.

Another piece of internal logic: Much of the humour is derived from spoilt upper class people doing lower class things. In a way they seem strongly hypocritical-like they should be behaving better.

Could it exist in another world? I think the story could. It would be interesting if the characters were placed in Russia, or China, or New Zealand….. How would a different place impact their want for self-discovery? In the film India wasn’t a sufficient place, probably because they paid more attention to themselves, but would Russia or China or Australia shift their focus outwards? Maybe. It would be interesting to see the contrast. Physical aspects of the world would change, but not entirely everything. It’s a formula that could be played with.

Notes Taken from Week 1’s reading.

I found week one’s reading interesting because it teaches something that is rarely taught-collaboration. Previously (before reading this) my feedback to other peoples creative work has often been too specific/blunt which can not only hurt there feelings and make them doubt what they created, but it can frame me in a bad light that may damage the creative relationship I have with the person.

Some specific notes I took from this reading is below.

• Everything should link to the vision, go back to the start. I think this is important when harnessing ideas, often people want to take their idea (of the idea) in their direction which may not fit into another collaborators idea of the idea and the direction they try to take it. Everything falls out of sync and the creation suffers, like several people painting on the same canvas. By clearly defining what the project is and where it should be taken at the start collaborators begin working on the same thing (adding their own unique flavour) instead of trying to define it and take it.
• Provide questions rather than answers. This idea really stood out to me because it is something I’ve never done. However its very practical and something I will take onboard in the future. By asking questions you keep the initial idea with the writer/creator, you gently push them in another direction without making them lose confidence in themselves and without knocking there idea too much. Often, I now only realise, this technique was used in High School when my teachers would correct my essays, the brilliance behind it is that it got me thinking and kept me confident.
• Give concise notes don’t be wishy washy. This one seems somewhat contradictory to my above point-but it isn’t. I see asking questions as being better for bigger picture creative work. For example, What is the significant behind CEO having a warped sense of justice? If the CEO is a major character that has agency in the story his/her sense of justice would be significant. However if you wanted the CEO to wear different clothes or live in a different type of house you would write it down specifically.
• Use First Person. As it states in the text this is in order to not come off as condescending. You don’t want to be too blunt. By putting an I at the start it makes your thoughts seem subjective (which they are) as opposed to be objective and infallible.
• Don’t Confuse Symptoms and Causes. If you identify the bit that hasn’t been working for you, then the writer can work out how it has been caused. This again falls back to the idea of not letting too many hands mould a vision into something wayward and unrecognisable. Something that tripped up some people in class was the distinctions between Cause and Symptom. An example of a Symptom would be a line that is funny as a one liner but in the context of the script isn’t funny. A Cause of this would be the way the character is behaves in the script before hand. Maybe the character says too many quirky things for this line to stand out? Or maybe the character is too serious, which makes the audience take everything too seriously. Irregardless of what it is, something needs to be changed so the flaw can be resolved. Another example would be Symptom: Scene that lacks in dramatic tension. Cause: No conflict was built up earlier in the story.
• One last thing to be aware about, which we touched on in class, is not pulling a thread that could unravel the whole script. Lets say a producer asks a writer to change a scene, and the writer does, but because they changed the scene they also have to change all of the preceding scenes to give that one context. This is an example of pulling the wool and unravelling the jumper. What should be done is fixing a tiny whole at the start, that gives context to the troubled scene.

As I was working on an assessment task last night an idea came to me of using perspective, defined by google as a particular attitude towards or way of regarding something; a point of view, in order to reveal things implicitly about character.

In the piece of creative writing I will do tonight I hope to juxtapose perspectives to shed light on character.

Currently its Saturday Night and I’m feeling tired and not wanting to write at all, however I’m often told that the best writers can write like its a trade-any time, any where. So here goes nothing….

Black and light, Black and light, Black and light. SUV’s and Sport Cars rolled into the car park of the Casino. Men got out, formal shoes gracing the pavement, cigarettes dangling from mouths, open collars and slicked back hair. They walked with a purpose, moving quickly towards the light and dark of the Casino. They walked through the doors into a new world, a world of chance, where the thought of achieving something great, greater than oneself, was only a role of the dice away. The Casino placed the outside world into obscurity. It had the fate of those men in its cold magnetic hand.

A silhouette walked down the highway kicking cans into the creek.

How does one come back? How do I get back? Through all those years I thought I wasn’t changing, I was……. I was changing. 

Wearing a green bomber jacket and board shorts he walked into the wind. His eyes were bloodshot, they stung when he blinked. His hair was short and neat, his drivers license told us he was 29. Not even 30, yet something feels inexorably gone.

Time doesn’t tell us what it takes, it just takes. 

A fleet of young men, in SUV’s and Sports Cars drive past, throwing cans and yelling abuse. The silhouette doesn’t look up, whats there to look at? He focuses his eyes on the wind and beats on. The young men give up. They illicit no reaction and sail down the road, tuneless music beat deep and loud.

I think I’m going to finish here for the time being. I didn’t end up getting to the point of perspective (the very thing I initially set out to do). I think in the long run this will happen towards the end of my narrative, so no need to rush into it. I was quite happy with this, I think my depiction of the Casino was a strongpoint and I think the final paragraph of the man walking down the highway and coming across the fleet of cars was nice. I might have to make the correlations (that these are the same people) stronger. It would also be worth fleshing out the scene, maybe some more dialogue?

IDEAS

• Maybe I could reveal the silhouettes facial features at the very end?
• Have a look over ‘Life and Times of Michael K’. The dialogue here is good rhythmically, if I want to continue with this scene. Work on my short story dialogue.
• One, was not, but those with the most self-awareness found themselves leaning into a slower rhythm as they swaggered into the Casino.

INSPIRATION AND ANALYSIS – THE SEABIRDS – THE TRIFFIDS

I would like to discuss the lyrics of a song called Seabirds, by a fantastic Australian rock band The Triffids. In my post I will explore how this song will help me shape my worlds internal logic, as well how it demonstrates subtle exposition and clever subjectivity that I hope to draw inspiration from when creating my future work.

Below, are the lyrics.

Continue reading →

Last Friday I had an idea of something that could develop into my final project for this class. I want to put this idea on paper, and flesh it out a as a means of moving it forward.

I would have my project brought into 3 parts.

Part 1: Will be the Short Story, Currently I’ve been having these ideas for stories that centre around people learning something about themselves or confronting some deeper personal issues on the beach. The first idea that I had, centred around two old high school friends running into each other in the township. The second, which I think it the most potent idea, has two narratives, the first is about a recently divorced man and a morning he spends at the beach after he sleeps with a random stranger. The second will centre around the stranger, and her night at the Casino before ‘picking up’ the Man. I could envision this project going to around 2000 words.

Part 2: I would like to adapt one of these moments into a short 1-2 minute film, as a way of visually supporting the writing.

Part 3: I would like to film some kind of video essay, potentially with me in the RMIT greenroom, talking about how water/the beach function in classic texts and how my short story and visual piece (and the world I have created) fits in with this.

When I do write this, I’ll need to think of how my world fits in, or doesn’t fit in with these worlds. I don’t need to make this a super strict or academic video essay. But I do need to a main objective, and I think if my objective is simply to compare and contrast (my world and these famous beach worlds) It should be relevant.

E.G This is this world, This is how the world relates to the protagonist, then this is my world and this is how my world relates to my protagonist.

Reveals a truth/Baptism of sorts.

The Swimmer, by John Cheever, whose works largely concerns himself with the decay, the rot, behind the beautiful charade of suburban American middle class life. Depicts its protagonist on a pristine, dreamlike summers day. The protagonist sets himself a goal to symbolically through a sea of pools to his own, the day symbolically (again that word) grows colder and the protagonist begins to comprehend the truth behind his world, that indeed his world his fake and friends are pretend, rather surrealistically, his old life, or his old idea of his life, fades away. It’s also a stripping away of his ego. Maybe in my short story, the lead character of mine begins to learn something about his past? Maybe he too needs to lose some ego? This example would be of the beach, as a place of renewal. The Beach as a place of moving forward.

Other Beach Texts

• Cloudstreet (It plays an untrusting God)
• Rabbit Run (no water, no renewal)
• Mad Men
• The Wind in the Willows
• Heart of Darkness
• Of Mice and Men (a place they go as a refuge and ultimately to die)

How will the idea of world influence my writing? Think about this as I work on my piece.

What inspiration can I draw from when creating this world?

Project Brief #2 – Brydan Meredith – s3547569

The task below was written in our second class of the Semester. It required us to write about a place we liked and then begin imagining why someone may not like the place and whom these people/characters may be.

This task was a prolific one for me, it garnered colonels of ideas that were substantial enough to generate more ideas, which led to further writing.

That night I went and responded to my initial Brainstorming session with a short piece of creative writing.

The paragraphs in italics, that start with a bold word, are the ones I deem to be worthy of elaboration. Under these paragraphs I write about how they influenced my creative response.

 The Original Task – Brainstorming

I like the Beach.

I find it, like so many others, quite peaceful.

In an age where everything is so busy, where so many people do so many things, where everything changes in minor, irrelevant ways every day, beaches remain untouched by culture, they are timeless. Old but still significant. 

I think the above paragraph speaks for itself. I like how my protagonist can be alone yet completely in the open. It makes for an expansive image.

A lot of Australia’s national identity is tied up with the beach, considering that all the major cities are on the coast.

I hope to mould my piece into something that feels uniquely Australian. In this first draft it may not, but as I continue writing I want to begin to explore ideas relevant to Australians. Even by placing universal ideas in an Australian setting will see me achieve that.

Why might someone not like the beach?

It’s quite messy, you don’t feel clean, you get sand and water on your clothes and on your body.

The physical discomfort that I talk about here go hand in hand with mental discomfort that I explore in my writing. How physical aspects of the world give implied reasoning to particular behaviour is really interesting. Would my writing be more interesting if my protagonist, instead of falling to his knees on a cold morning at the beach, reacted the same way in his pristine bedroom with soft carpeted floors and perfectly framed photos hanging from the wall? These two images, of a man kneeling in despair on the beach or in his room connote very different things. The beach makes him appear more animalistic, he would be perceived as being poorer-without material possessions as well as physical wellness. However, if he does the same gesture in his room, the piece would make the reader examine the impact wealth has on his mental health. He would be perceived very differently. 

Can be cold and windy.

Potentially they could have had a near drowning experience or a loss of a pet or friend/family member to the waves.

Who would these people be? What stories would they tell?

Potentially gamers. People who enjoy passive entertainment. It would almost be a comical story, to have a bunch of gamers sent to the beach and experience something out of there comfort. You would also get a clash of culture between the surfers and the gamers.

People who are very body conscious: Often people wear less stuff at the beach because of its unique environment, it could be a source of anxiety for some people. You could tell a story of someone learning to accept themselves while at the beach. This could physically or mentally.

Maybe my story will not be about someone accepting their body, however it might be about someone accepting themselves. It might even be about someone coming to terms with the past. Nonetheless acceptance will be a theme.

The Creative Response

The silhouette strode across the sand until it reached the water’s edge. It had signed the divorce papers yesterday, spent a night at Park Beach Motor Inn, fucked some ugly stranger and walked here in the remaining moonlight. It was time for cleansing. Falling into temptation the Silhouette fell to his knees as the sun rose above the horizon.  

 Juliet, awoken by the light of the morning, felt nothing by her side. There was no longer a man next to her, no big hunk of flesh she could hang onto, no human heart beating in rhythm with hers. Draping the bedsheets over herself she let out a muted whimper. The sun fell through the window, it warmed her body as she slammed down a fist.

 The Casino, located half a kilometre from the beach, smelt like beer and mould. It is here where Juliet spends many moonlit hours. Sitting at the bar, night after night, she would listen to the same songs, if she closed her eyes, even just for a second, shapeless objects of green and amber would fall onto the black of her eyelids; darkness burnt with flashing light.

Many warm nights would be spent at the Casino, sitting on a red stool, rubbing sweat from her eye. She would watch the men drink, discerning between those who drank to be happy and those who drank to be sad. It was the sad ones she liked-they were the ones who would do anything.  

 The Questions

How do I think this piece could be improved?

I think I’ll start with the small stuff.  In my third paragraph, in my first draft (it has since been changed) I write It is here that Juliet spends her nights. Sitting at the bar, night after night, she would listen to the same songs. Firstly, I write the word Night too many times, it makes the whole scene start rather chunkily and clumsily. Secondly, it may be a matter of opinion, but I write the Casino rather vaguely, all we know about it is that it is half a kilometre from the beach, which is trivial and unimportant, and that it plays the same songs. The sentence about the songs, now that I think about it, seems to be more descriptive than first thought. Like the Beach ‘beaches remain untouched by culture, they are timeless. Old but still significant’ this Casino, could be untouched by culture, unwilling to change from the same old songs. Maybe this is a world I can explore in the future? A world where things don’t change, a world where history is bound to repeat, where people get stuck. And when they do get stuck how do they act? The Beach (and its surrounds) could be the ideal place for this, because it naturally doesn’t change. Through my further writings, I can begin to tease this out.  

What do I think works with the piece?

I think the relationship between the story world and the characters is strong. The idea (that I just touched on) of my characters being in a relatively flat, dry and unchanging world is something that, now that I’m conscious of it, works quite nicely.

I like whats not known about the piece. The protagonist is nothing but a silhouette without a name. Juliet is also shapeless, all we know about her is that she really likes lonely men because she can connect with their loneliness.

I also like the way I reference the moon. I don’t know why, but for me moonlight has a greater impact than sunlight. Moonlight connotes mystery, as if the things it does illuminate are less significant than the things it doesn’t.

By Brydan Meredith, s3547569

Project Brief 1 – An Early Reflection – Brydan Meredith s3547569

I want this blog post to explore and exploit the very basics that comprise a story world. An issue I had in these opening lessons, was that I struggled to get past the false idea that place (setting) and story world are interchangable. They are not.

Let’s go to an apartment.

The apartment lives in the 1960’s, it is in California, on the top floor of a 20-story building Surfers talk amongst themselves wearing nothing but bathers, the cream carpet is soft on their terse feet. All of the Surfers are men whom enjoy listening to Elvis Presley. They all smoke, they all drink, they are all under 30, 65% of them don’t believe in God, 10% consciously rebel against any kind of authority. In the middle of the apartment lies a huge, green couch. It’s the centrepiece of the room. Behind it, at the very back, just metres from the window and balcony, there is a bar. Jailhouse Rock plays in the background. Everyone is talking, the dry California sun shines through the large window at the back, energy, positive and intangible swells within the room. Our protagonist, inscrutable, sits on the arm of the couch.

This is my world. Now let’s play around with it a bit.

The apartment lives in the 1960’s, it is in California, on the top floor of a 20-story building a group of Indian people, from Pune, talk amongst themselves wearing nothing but board shorts and T-Shirts, the cream carpet is soft on their terse feet. All the Indians, Men, Women and Children alike enjoy listening to music from their native city. Only a few smoke, none drink, 95% of them believe in God and none rebel against any kind of authority. In the middle of the apartment lies a huge, red couch. It’s the centerpiece of the room, behind it, at the very back, just metres from the window and balcony, there is a television. Ambient music plays in the background. The room is quiet, but pleasant, everyone is happy, the dry California sun shines through the large window at the back, energy, positive and intangible swells within the room. Our protagonist, sits on the arm of the couch with a relaxed expression on his face; Contentment.

These two examples of the same setting demonstrate that a) Setting does not solely define a world- innumerable things do. Some of these innumerable things are: The culture that comprises it, the country (albeit ficticous or not) where the world lives, the year the world is set, the people within the world, the objects that comprise the setting, even the weather, all play a role in building this world. If there was no Sun in my first illustration, the mood would change, maybe the characters would talk less, wear more clothes, drink less alcohol, listen to Bing Crosby.

The second thing I was showing can be found in our protagonist, doing the same thing in both sketches, can be perceived differently depending on the world he is in. He wears the same expression on his face both times and in the first example, is not fitting in, and is perceived as being alien (inscrutable). In the second he is perceived as being relaxed, content, because he matches the world around him.

I declare that in submitting all work for this assessment I have read, understood and agree to the content and expectations of the assessment declaration.