The Journey

For our first mini documentary project, we had to create a short (approx 30second) film called 'The Journey'. We had to shoot footage in groups of three which when edited with a fitting soundtrack, created a film demonstrating the passing of time/journey.

Guide to a Journey:

“Personal Viewpoint: A personal journey from one location to another over a period of time. (emotional, physical, psychological)

Navigation: A physical journey from one location to another. (Walk, chase, run, floors, rooms, levels)

Preparation: Getting ready to do something. (Going out/go to the shop/etc.)

Metamorphosis: How something/someone can change over time. (Mood, personality, change and decay)

Unfolding: How something can unfold over time. (Game/contest/etc.)

Realisation: How something is understood over a period of time. (The penny drops)

Comparison: Time Vs time – doing the same before and after an event. (e.g. drinking coffee/waking up/etc.)

Interpretation and (mis) understanding: How something changes over time. (e.g. Chinese Whispers)”   [Information obtained from The Journey handout]

Idea: For our Journey film, we decided to play with the idea of a 'Personal Journey'. We wanted to create a physical journey, from one place to another, but decided to play with the idea of 'Over a period of time'. Me and Michelle came up with the idea of repeating clips. The idea was to create a kind of film which showed an individuals journey though being stuck in a time warp, meaning that they repeated all of their previous action unintentionally.

 Treatment: Sequence 1: The frame fades into an establishing shot of a girl sitting at a table. She is leant forward onto the table and appears to be asleep, her belongings are scattered around the table, it is clear that she has fallen asleep during work. She gradually wakes up and reaches for her phone, she looks shocked by something presumably the time and then we follow her as she begins to pack all her gear into her rucksack which is situated on the chair to the left of her. Whilst swinging her bag onto her back, she walks into a close up shot from the camera. The film then switches to a high angle shot of the worried girl descending the first flight of stairs. From a low angled shot we then see her continue to descend the next couple of flights.

We then watch as she reaches the ground level and hurriedly navigates her way through the doors. We follow her with a tracking shot as she walks to the main college exit doors.

[Throughout this first clip 'Dear Jane' by Breaking Benjamin is being played, the intro has been lengthened and repeated so that the soundtrack is just an instrumental.]

Sequence 2: The whole of sequence 1 is repeated. The music follows the same layout and also the framing/shot types are positioned the same.

Sequence 3: As the girl, Amy, nears the exit for the third time, again the music and visuals begins to fade out, and then back in again. We see Amy once again sleeping at the table. We see her repeat her actions of packing up all her gear and once again swings her rucksack over her shoulder, but as she completes these actions, she seems troubled. She begins to walk towards the stairs, this time at a slower pace and without motivation. Just as she nears the camera, she pauses with a sad expression plastered to her face. She directs her eyes slightly to the right of the camera and then her gaze towards the floor and slowly turns, walking back towards her seat. Dumping her bag onto the floor as she passes, she then slumps back down onto the chair and pulls her arms up onto the table and leans her face into her hands. The frame zooms in slightly and a fade is applied onto the visuals and the soundtrack.

[The End]