PRODUCTION: Filming Scene 2/ Flashbacks

Because of our early preparations and testing we were now able to to film scene 2. We chose a location that was slightly more sheltered from the wind, and we had checked the weather forecast ahead of time, luckily it was a bright sunny day.

We took advantage of a hill that lead down to a footpath, this way we could film our protagonist at the bottom of the small hill, where the camera was always looking down on him slightly, and our extras were filmed from the bottom of the hill. This created a sense of status, as during this scene Jack is to be shown to be feeling paranoid and as if our extras are looking down on him, mocking him. 

We shot this four times:

-Once with a a couple walking past laughing at Jack and pointing. (Played by Alex and Jayd)(Jacks perception)

-Once wherein our couple walks past and minds their own business entirely (reality) 

-Once where an extra walks past and gives Jack and aggressive, disgusted look. (Jack's perception)(Played by me)

-Once where the extra simply walks past and smiles/glances at Jack. (Reality)

This way, we can show Jack's perception of the way people are reacting to him initially, and then show the audience how the extras reacted in reality, when we reveal entirely that Jack is not perceiving reality. At this stage we don't know if we'll use both sequences of extras, but by filing in this way we allow ourselves options when it comes to the final edit.

Jack's scared or defensive reactions to this were filmed by tracking our camera at roughly the speed our extras had walked, to create a sort of arc-shot.

In this article by Syd Field, Field explains what a flashback is;

"Flashbacks are a tool, a device, where the screenwriter provides the reader and audience with visual information that he or she cannot incorporate into the screenplay any other way. The purpose of the flashback is simple: it is a technique that bridges time, place and action to reveal information about the character, or move the story forward."

The majority of our film is seen from the perspective of Jack, whom is struggling to perceive reality as it is really is, instead projecting insecurities onto his reality to the point of hallucination. If we were to reveal through Jack's dialogue that his perception is incorrect, this would suggest that he had agency and control over his perception, or even his condition. This would not work. 

We could instead, reveal Jack's incorrect perception of reality through Sheena, our secondary character, however this would then suggest that Jack's condition is entirely transparent to others, that Sheena sees Jack's behavior and is automatically aware of what Jack is feeling, possible sympathizing with his condition. However this is more often not the case for those suffering with symptoms of mental illness. Sufferers of BPD in particular are often stigmatized as anti-social, unreasonable and even manipulative, By showing only the audience that Jack is genuinely perceiving reality incorrectly, we show the audience that this is out side of his control. Hopefully evoking a feeling of frustration in audience, that can sample that of someone who is suffering with these symptoms.   

Field goes on to say; 

"You can use flashbacks for any number of reasons but its primary purpose is to bridge time, place and action to reveal a past emotional event or physical conflict that affects the character. Sometimes, it gives insight and understanding into a character's behavior or solves a past mystery as in The Lookout.

You can also use a flashback to reveal why an event happened, or how it happened, or possibly flash-forward to an event that may or may not happen in the near future. These all are ways of incorporating the flashback into your screenplay and make it work effectively."

Hopefully this will be the effect of our flashbacks, to reveal to the audience information about our character that enlightens the narrative.