Ben Jones fmp Unit 13 Short Film

Background - Why It's Such A Beautiful Day?

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The main inspiration for my short film is the 2012 animated film It's Such A Beautiful Day directed by Don Hertzfeldt. I first saw the film back in late October of 2020 after it had been recommended to me time and time again by film accounts that I know and trust on Instagram. I purchased the film on Vimeo, the site where Don Hertzfeldt exclusively released the film and I was staggered by the originality of the film and the themes that it covered and the style in which it covered them. For an Instagram review I went on to write the following: 

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"It’s Such A Beautiful Day is a 2012 animated film written, directed and produced by Don Hertzfeldt that follows Bill, a man trying to navigate his shattered psyche. 

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There is simply nothing even remotely like It’s Such A Beautiful Day. It’s an experimental piece of art that on surface glance, looking at the bare stick images that we have to tell the story, looks almost laughable. Heck, if I hadn’t heard of this film before and how positive it’s reception was, and somebody told me that I’d be sat totally encapsulated by a film with nothing but stick drawings and narration, I’d probably laugh in your face. However, It’s Such A Beautiful Day took me by storm even with the high expectations I had for it. After the film had ended I sat and just stared at the screen for a full 20 seconds maybe even more, with a feeling I can’t even begin to describe. It was as if I was dreaming. It didn’t feel real. And then I awoke and saw the credits, and an urge to cry brushed over me that I had to try pretty hard to overcome.

What I’m trying to say is that this movie is such a surreal experience in every way. It isn’t for everyone; there’s a lot of stylistic choices that just won’t do it for some people. It can get very chaotic and it’s VERY emotional. But for just 60 minutes of your life, it’s so worth the watch. The writing feels so random, and the scenes are seemingly jumbled together accidentally, but it’s so carefully and delicately written. It’s genius without seemingly being aware of it. It’s simple, yet so complex and intricately woven together. It’s funny, without being excessive or forced or out of place. It’s emotionally challenging and sad, without being melodramatic or sensationalised. Don Hertzfeldt makes creating such a genius and affecting and unique piece of cinema seem so effortless. The images are so simplistic yet so striking. The sound and music is so calm, but can be so chaotic and difficult at times to perfectly put into perspective Bill’s point of view.

I very much enjoy seeing subjectivity in films, and I’m not on about people’s opinions on films. I'm on about when a filmmaker uses different unusual techniques to put into perspective the experiences that a character or characters are going through. (e.g shell shock during the Omaha Beach scene from Saving Private Ryan) But doing that for a full hour, dealing with such a delicate and sensitive issue about mental conditions as serious as Alzheimer's and amnesia, is something extraordinary. This is a very rare and clever film that really should be more widely viewed by mainstream audiences. It’s a one of a kind piece of art and an experience that is second to none, which is something not enough films can do these days. Overall, It’s Such A Beautiful Day is one of the best films I’ve ever seen in my life and I couldn’t recommend it enough."

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Towards the beginning of February I decided to re-watch the film, looking to find inspiration for this project and try to generate ideas on what I could make a film about given that I was so immediately fond of the film's creativity. As I was watching the film a second time I began to make notes of some impactful and memorable quotes that I found inspiring and felt like I could generate ideas from. These are the quotes:

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"The passing of time is just an illusion. All of eternity is taking place at once. The past never vanishes away and the future has already happened. All of history is fixed and laid out, like an infinite landscape of simultaneous events that we all happen to travel through in one straight line."

 

"One day soon, we’ll finally have our day."

 

"Whilst on a walk Bill smiled and for once thought “Everything will be oka....”

 

"His ex-girlfriend had been visiting a lot lately. It’s the happiest he had been… in a long time"

 

"He had an awkward conversation with his ex-girlfriend. Bill found it hard to stay on a subject for more than just a few moments and found himself getting easily frustrated… at everything." 

 

"It’s sort of a really nice day. Bill takes a walk along the sidewalk. He sees a woman’s tennis shoes filled with leaves and it fills him with inexplicable sadness."

 

"He pictures himself having trouble breathing and waking to a room full of concerned faces. He'd been terrified of dying his entire life, and as much as he tried not to think about it, death was always in the back of his head, around every corner, and hovering on each horizon. He’d brushed shoulders with death on a few occasions, but in his care free youth it had all seemed like an abstract impossible thing to ever happen to him, but with each passing decade he began to gauge the time he probably had left, and by his forties he had come to know just one thing: you will only get older. The next thing you know, you're looking back instead of forwards, and now, at the climax of all those years of worry, sleepless nights and denials, bill finally finds himself staring his death in the face surrounded by people he no longer recognises, and feel no closer attachment to than the thousands of relatives that came before. And as the sun continues to set, he finally comes to realise the dumb irony in how he'd been waiting for this moment his entire life. This stupid, awkward moment of death, that had invaded and distracted so many days with stress, and wasted time. If only he could travel back and impart some wisdom to his younger self, if only he could at least tell the young people in this room, he lifts an arm as if he's about to speak, but inexplicably says, 'it smells like dust and moonlight'

 

"Bill dropped his keys on the counter and stood there staring at them, suddenly thinking about all the times he had thrown his keys there before. He then thought about all the time he had spent completing the same tasks and rituals in his apartment over and over again. He then wondered if, realistically, this was his life, and the unusual part was his time spent doing other things." 

 

"That morning while Bill was looking at the patterns in the carpet, his mother noticed a loose thread in his jumper. (He swipes the scissors out of her hands) How could you think I would ever hurt you she said, before crumpling to the floor. In that moment, Bill thought she looked really old." 

 

"The next day felt pretty good. The next day he felt even better. Then he felt a lot worse. The next day he felt fine." 

 

"He decides to make toast… but then changes his mind. He’s been having trouble sleeping again. He finds himself lying in the dark with his eyes open."

 

"Scattered throughout the box were photos of himself when he was a boy. He’d read once that each cell in the body replaces itself and dies as the years pass. How everyone is slowly reconstructed, out of continually changing pieces. It depressed him how foreign the pictures seemed to him now. How his ridiculous in grown cells had long ago stolen this happy dead kid’s identity, and with his own life, made a complete mess of it."

 

"So many years of faces and moments, are just a vague feeling now. The years are slipping… out of his head."  

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"It’s kind of a really nice day. He decides to walk around the block. On the side of the road he sees a woman’s tennis shoe filled with leaves and fills him with inexplicable sadness. He walks down his side street and see’s striking colours in the faces of the people around him.  Details in these beautiful brick walls and weeds that he must have passed by everyday but never noticed. The air smells different. Brighter somehow and the currents are vivid. And the sun is warming his face. And the world is clumsy and beautiful and new. And it’s as if he’s been sleep walking. For god knows how long. Something has violently shaken him awake. His bath mats…  are gorgeous. The grains in his cheap wood cabinet vibrate something deep within him. He’s fascinated by the way his paper towels drink water. He’s never appreciated these things. All this detail he’s never noticed. He’s alive. The stars rattle him to the core. All these lights have travelled for tens of millions of years to reach him at this moment. Our sun looks just like them. How many of these stars no longer exist, but’s ancient light is just reaching him now? They’re like a ghost. An amazing ancient time machine above his head that he’s ignored for most of his life. He wants to stop people in the street and say isn’t this amazing. Isn’t everything amazing? "

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These quotes were the ones I found to be the most thought-provoking and deep. After a while of reflecting on what I had just seen and all of the quotes that I had written down, I finally came up with the concept of my film. To tell a story similar to the one of Bill, but in this case, link it to how the lockdown over the past year affects mental health instead of age and pre existing mental illness. I remember being told by my teacher after finishing my short film "Butterfly" that I should focus on telling stories that I WANT TO TELL rather than trying to copy something that someone else has made. In the past year there has been a lot of talk about how the global pandemic has mentally damaged nearly everyone, and though I know that many people will want to tell the story of that, I want to tell it in a way that no one would expect. That's why I want to adopt a similar style of narration and narrative constructs from Don Herzfeldt's film and make it my own. I've personally really struggled with mental health over the past year, and I know that all of my friends have too. The goal of my film is to make people feel less alone in their experiences of mental health deterioration. I want to show people that they aren't the only ones feeling the things that they are. I want the audience to relate to the main character more so than they'd want to. I want to pull at the heart strings and raise awareness of mental health. 

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Further Development and Pre- Project Research
 

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After assuring myself and developing more ideas of the concept of my film and briefly discussing it with some friends, I decided to re-watch It's Such A Beautiful Day again and really take some good notes. I wanted to write down notes and come up with scene ideas as I was watching the film. The following is what I noted down: 

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Memories are becoming more and more like lucid dreams. Events that feel blurry and you can’t remember exactly what happens. 

 

Repeat time lapse looking at the sky. Black screen. Title of film.

 

Public annoyances of others (return back to it in psycho sequence)

 

Ask someone how they are. No response. Feel used

 

Watching a paper bag whilst picking a scab

 

Reading something pointless (procrastinating) then looking at ants in the sink

 

Dream sequence

 

Waking up tired even though had had a full uninterrupted night’s sleep

 

Watching random stuff on YouTube. Been watching a lot lately but not sure why

 

Next morning feel even worse

 

Meet with someone - every time asks how she’s doing she just looks away at something with a tight lipped smile as if everything were okay but clearly not. Made Bill even more worried and confused and angry 

 

A friend trying to be helpful corners him about something going on. He daydreams suddenly realising that this might be what he was like to her and feels really awkward and sad. Only catches the end of what the friend was trying to say which was “I had a weird dream where he hit his shin on the pedal of his bike and it scraped all the skin off his shin. He felt that. 

 

That night one of his posters fell down while he was sleeping. 

 

Messed up dream

 

Goes for walk sees some nice graffiti

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Scrolls through the internet and begins to wonder about all of these people with no lives posting things that no one cares about (society scene from Mr. Robot) All of our heroes are counterfeit and that the world is just one big hoax. Spamming each other with our running commentary of bullshit masquerading as insight, our social media faking as intimacy. We want to be sedated. Because it’s painful not to pretend. Because we’re cowards. 

 

Starts losing his mind (echo of routine realisation and everything else)

 

Bus ride

 

He sees a social media post that says they’re proud of everyone for making it this far and that there is a light at the end of the tunnel. This didn’t make him proud of himself at all. Instead he just sat there staring at the patterns on his ceiling he had never really realised were there, thinking about how much he has changed since his first few months in the lockdown. 

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He takes a walk to the park to get outside but doesn’t really know what to do when he gets there

 

Whilst doing work that was overdue, the sound of a tree cutter next door distracted him, irritating him for a long period of time (not narration)

 

*at new years eve* He celebrates with his friends and wishes them all a happy new year. Later on as they began sobering up all lay outside staring at the stars. It was such a beautiful moment. They then began to talk about all of the wonderful things that they will do that year. 

 

Memories become faded. 

 

He starts getting in a routine of watching movies with his friends. Sometimes they play games and get drunk afterwards. It’s the happiest he’s been in a long time

 

On one of his more lonely feeling days, he decides to call a friend. He sits in the voice chat with them not really knowing what to say. He finds it hard to stay on one topic for more than just a few moments without getting bored or repeating himself. After a few hours of awkwardness and many pointless minutes scrolling through Instagram at accounts he didn;t even know he followed, he says goodbye to his friend and leaves the call. *he sits there in silence for a while afterwards in complete silence looking guilty and upset*

 

The next morning he can’t remember the last time he talked to his best friend. *he lies in bed thinking* He looks at his phone and to his surprise it’s been over a week since he messaged her. That’s odd. Didn’t he talk to her just the other day. 

 

He realises he’s been staring at his phone without actually doing anything on it. He gets surprised by messages he received hours ago. Why couldn’t he remember receiving them?

 

Repeat scene

 

Wasn’t he supposed to call somebody? Doesn’t remember his dreams at all.

 

Now he finds himself looking back instead of forwards. The future no longer holds any excitement, and every spark of hope is quickly snuffed out by yet more unfortunate news. Without realising it, he’s staring at photos of better times, wishing how he could relive them, wishing that he never took anything for granted.  He wishes he could travel back in time and impart some wisdom upon his younger self warning him that things will change and that every day is precious. He closes his eyes trying to relive these memories in his head before they wither with time, fading into nothing but a vague feeling. Faces… seem to slip…. away. The memories… are fading… out of his head. 

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From this, I spent over a week developing more detailed scene ideas for the film, outlining why the scene should happen, what I want to communicate to the audience and everything in the scene. I developed first draft ideas of 11 different scenes detailing all of the narration and outlining everything in the scene (almost like a script draft) The following is what I came up with: 

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Opening - *Time lapses looking up at the sky from the streets below. The time lapses repeat about 4 times before suddenly cutting to a bedroom in the morning. A young man’s small, cramped bedroom that’s messy and could probably do with a good clean and declutter. The screen cuts to black and the title appears on screen in small white text in the bottom left corner.*

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Then,

 

First Idea

“On his daily walk Joe passed by a park where a group of similar aged boys were standing around chatting. He stopped for a brief moment to look at them. Joe felt angry and frustrated. He clenches his fist in pure rage. He prepares to yell aggressively at them however he stops when one of the boys notices him. Joe immediately continues walking hoping that the boys never saw him in, now confident that he wasn’t brave enough to shout at them even though they were breaking the law.”

 

Scene 2 - Features an awkward interaction where we learn about Joe as a character. This scene needs to prove the point that he is socially awkward and is just like everyone else. Joe is an everyman and people need to be able to feel like they can relate to this experience after the scene has finished

First Idea

 “Later that day Joe saw someone he knew in the street. He waved at them to get their attention, but then realised it was a complete stranger. Words got stuck in Joe’s throat as he tried to figure out what to say. The stranger looked at Joe confused and scared. Joe panics as the two approach each other. He eventually says sorry and then runs away, too ashamed of at himself to do anything else”

 

Then, 

 

In this next part. Joe will watch a random object (probably a paper bag) blowing in the wind. Something random but beautiful, a detail he would normally miss. Whilst he does this he anxiously does something. This could be sucking on an ulcer in his mouth, picking at a scab on his arm, scratching an itch for a little too long. The point of this moment is to further show Joe being anxious but taking a little moment out of his day to be distracted by something utterly random. This says a lot about Joe without saying anything specifically. It gives people a chance to catch a break from the chaotic 2 moments we just experienced. The scene will linger on a static shot of Joe as he watches the bag, and music will blast fairly loudly. 

First idea

“Joe came across a paper bag blowing in the wind and watched it dance in the air as he anxiously picked a scab on his arm” 

 

Scene 3 - This is the scene where Joe gets home and completes his daily routine. This is where he realises and thinks about how many times he’s repeated these same tasks and rituals in his life and how repetitive and sedated his life has gotten in lockdown. How he has been sucked into a time loop where each day is the same with little to no change. Then he begins to wonder if, realistically, this is his life, and the unusual part is his time spent doing other things. Like this scene in It’s Such a Beautiful Day “Bill dropped his keys on the counter and stood there staring at them, suddenly thinking about all the times he had thrown his keys there before. He then thought about all the time he had spent completing the same tasks and rituals in his apartment over and over again. He then wondered if, realistically, this was his life, and the unusual part was his time spent doing other things.” 

First Idea

“When Joe got home he took his shoes off and stared at the TV that was playing in the other room, suddenly thinking about all the times he had repeated this same exact process before, how he always puts his shoes in the same place,  and sees his mum watching the same terrible reality show. He then thought about all the time he had spent completing the same tasks and chores each day over and over again. But then the thought came to him that maybe, realistically, this IS his life, and that his time spent doing other things is the irregular part. 

 

Then,

 

This next part showcases Joe procrastinating by reading something he doesn’t care about for no reason. This will show the audience that Joe is bored and doesn’t really know what to do with himself. He’s killing the time because he’s got nothing and no one to spend it with. I want the audience to be able to relate to this moment and easily identify what is going on and what the problem is here. This bit only needs to be short but it needs to be impactful. 

First Idea

“That night Joe read an article about a celebrity he’d never heard of moving house. *long pause of Joe thinking looking confused* Wasn’t he supposed to text someone?” 

 

Scene 4 - This next scene follows a disturbing dream that Joe has followed by him waking up multiple days in a row. He then watches something random on YouTube and then suddenly wakes up and asks what he is doing. The purpose of this scene is for Joe to wake himself up suddenly and plant the seeds that he needs to change. He needs to find change in his life and start “living” again. The purpose of the dream is to show that Joe is quite disturbed and is designed to make people uncomfortable but also find amusement in the dark humour. 

First Idea

“He had a dream about being caught in the crossfire of a police shootout carrying around a load of severed feet” 

 

“When Joe woke up he felt really tired even though he’d had a full night’s sleep.”

 

“Whilst he had breakfast he watched a YouTube video of people finding old cars in woods and rescuing them. He’d been watching a lot of videos about cars lately.

 

*eventually* What is he doing? *he looks to the side at nothing in particular looking confused and disgusted in himself* 

 

Scene 5 - This next scene I want to show that Joe’s mental state fluctuates throughout different days for no apparent reason. This is something that I’ve experienced throughout lockdown and that I know a lot of other people like friends have experienced and I think that it’s important to briefly show this in the film to somewhat comfort people who have also experienced and remind them that they aren’t alone in feeling this way. The next part of the scene also needs to have an interaction with Joe and a friend. He’ll get frustrated and the conversation will be a little awkward. Joe doesn’t really have much to say and finds it tricky staying on a subject for more than a few moments which is something that mentally exhausted people have and experience frequently during lockdown. She’ll ask him if he’s okay and he’ll say he’s fine and then she’ll ask him if he’s done anything nice this week and this will be the moment that Joe realises he hasn’t been doing anything with his life lately and that change needs to happen. He’ll ask how she is and she will not really give a proper answer and keep a tight lipped smile on her face as if subtly trying to tell him she’s not okay but masking it. The reason this scene needs to happen is that Joe now needs to make change. I’ve hammered home the point of this repetitive, boring cycle Joe is stuck in and now it’s time for him to try and properly break through and try and change so that the film doesn’t begin to get repetitive. 

 

First Idea

“The next day Joe felt pretty good. The day after he felt even better. Than he felt a lot worse. Then he felt way worse. The day after he felt just fine. Then he felt great again”

 

Then, 

 

“Joe video called his friend. He explained how he wasn’t really sure why he feels so different each day. The conversation suddenly became a lot more awkward.*pause* Joe didn’t really know what to say, and found it hard staying on a topic for more than a few moments without getting frustrated. She paused for a second and then asked “are you alright?” Joe said he was fine. *there’s a pause* “How are you?” he asks. She kept this tight lipped smile on her face and dodged the question. Joe felt used. He kept trying to get an answer out of her but she calmly refused to open up. “Have you done anything nice this week?” she asked. *Joe sits there deep in thought* As hard as he tries he can’t seem to think of a single thing that he’s done in the past week… in the past month actually. It’s as if he’s been on autopilot, for god knows how long. As if his mind has been in a sort of half hibernation, waiting for something unusual and exciting to happen.”

 

Scene 6 - This scene will start with Joe trying to make a difference in his life to make him feel better, it starts going well but then falls flat. He also gets cornered by a friend trying to help him but it just makes him feel bad. He daydreams and realises that this is how his friend must’ve felt before. It’s an important character moment for Joe and helps him realise how he needs to improve as a person but whether he’ll remember to do so is another question. To improve his life he’ll wake up and do exercise. Some simple push ups and sit ups and ab exercises. He tries to eat a healthier breakfast and get up early to make the most of his day. He then goes for a walk on a different route that he’s never gone on before. 

 

First Idea

“That night Joe set alarms to wake up earlier to make the most of his day and try to do something with his life. He tried doing exercises he hadn’t done in a while and made himself a healthy breakfast. He went out for a walk on a different route than he usually does. He got cornered by a friend who was trying to be helpful by continually asking how he was. He suddenly thought about if this is how his friend felt last night when he was trying to comfort her. Joe felt… awful. *pause* He wasn’t paying attention to his friend but catches the last part of what he was saying where he explains that he scraped the skin off his shin with his bike pedal and that it really hurt.”

 

Scene 7 - This scene really needs to start to set Joe off down the spiral of insanity and how his mental health becomes more and more unstable and damaged. This scene can have like a filter or something that somewhat distorts the view and makes things slightly blurrier. This scene needs to show Joe waking up the next morning to his alarms but feeling no motivation to do exercise or continue to improve his life. From then on it’s downhill. It rains for a week and he can’t go for a walk or get outside. We follow a montage of him once again carrying out the same tasks and rituals everyday like we did before to once again solidify this feeling of a time loop. I also want to have multiple shots of him looking outside hoping that the weather gets better. He looks more and more tired and depressed each day. He less energetically completes his chores as the days go by and the feeling of imprisonment is further hammered home. I think that this is something important that needs to happen in the film. It’s something I’ve heavily struggled with during lockdown and I know lots of other people have struggled with it. After the relative high of the previous scene I think that this scene is important to bring the character back down to earth so that it doesn’t feel like that there is nothing happening in the film. 

 

First Idea

“When Joe woke up his legs hurt and he felt more tired than usual. *staring at his alarm going off. He reaches over, turns off the alarm. He sits there for a second rubbing his eyes debating whether he should get out of bed. He ultimately decides not to and goes back to sleep*

 

Then,

 

*Walking around his house in his dressing gown looking tired.* “Why am I so tired? He thought” 

 

Then, 

 

“At about 3pm Joe was ready to start his day. He’d debated going for a walk but it was raining so decided against it.”  *The montage begins. We see Joe watching TV, eating lunch, looking out the window again, playing video games, calling his friends and then going to bed. He wakes up the next morning to the alarms again, more annoyed this time. He brushes his teeth, watches TV, goes to the toilet, has a shower, watching TV again, eats lunch, looks out the window, plays video games, calling his friends but looks less and less enthusiastic each time and then going to bed. This cycle repeats at least 3 times with the editing accelerating and his energy slowly depleting. At one point when he’s looking out the window his mother asks “why don’t you go for a walk anyways?” *Joe just looks at her confused as if she’s gone insane” “What would be the point in that? He says” 

 

*The montage comes to a grinding halt as we see Joe lying in his bed clearly awake, his alarm going off, but not getting up to do anything about it. His look says everything. The imagery becomes even more blurry and distorted. The bags under Joe’s eyes are enormous. He’s clearly in pain. Not necessarily physical pain but emotional pain. Joe takes a deep breath. Cut to black*

 

Scene 8 - After the really dark and depressing nature I want the next scene to be a little more uplifting and humorous but in a way that’s dark and still fitting for Joe’s current state. He won’t suddenly be all cheerful and happy but he won’t just be drowning in his own misery and making everyone watching feeling sad and bored. I also want to take this scene as an opportunity to make a brief but impactful somewhat commentary about social media. It’s something I myself have grown more and more aware of recently and it’s something that I want to address in this film given that the film is about the feeling of lockdown and it’s experience and social media has made a huge change and had an enormous impact on all of our lives since the pandemic happened. We all knew that social media sort of controls us before the pandemic but since then it’s grip on us has tightened significantly and I want Joe to end up acknowledging this. I’ve used the f*** society scene from Mr. Robot as well as my experiences and information from the documentary The Social Dilemma as inspiration for this. He starts to question himself and his existence. Why does he do the things that he does every day? Why does he scroll through social media so much. Does it really have that much of a control over him or is it just something that people always over exaggerate about? 

 

First Idea

“That night Joe masturbated to something very strange. He regretted it immediately and had trouble sleeping that night, drowning in his guilt, the thought of someone somehow finding out about this seemed like an inevitability for no reason. He completely forgot about this the next morning” 

 

Then, 

 

*whilst on his walk* “His head felt strange. It felt fuzzy…  and numb. The world seemed silent and unlived in somehow. It was quiet, but in a sad and empty way rather than being peaceful and tranquil. There were so many goddamn groups of people acting as if everything was back to normal. 

 

Then, 

 

“When he got home Joe said hello to his parents who were both sitting in the lounge on their phones. They did a sort of “ehh” sound to acknowledge him. Then they carried on scrolling and typing. *Joe sort of hangs around the door for a little bit staring at them blankly, clearly underwhelmed with their reaction.* “At that moment Joe’s parents looked like robots. The way they’re sat there glued to their phones reminded him of what he used to see on a daily basis. People being somehow controlled by their screens, faking social media as intimacy, spamming each other with their endless commentaries of garbage. It’s as if people want to be sedated. He’s a victim of this too. Constantly allowing his phone to suck the life out of him. He craves clicks and likes to get that sweet dopamine boost that everyone else does, hoping to get the brief high off of it that never feels as good as you think it will.” *Joe snaps out of this daydream* “Seemingly out of the blue his mum says “isn’t it crazy to think how bad this would all be without social media” *there is a silence. His dad doesn’t even look away from his phone. His mum takes a moment to think and then smiles, before proceeding to look back down at her phone. Joe, deep in thought, slowly leaves the room* 

 

Scene 9 - This next scene I want to show a flashback to when Joe was happy and hopeful at the future before the pandemic happened. I think that this scene has a lot of potential to be extremely emotional and relatable so I really want to get it right. I want it to be pretty simple but also really impactful. I want it to feel like a gut punching reminder to the audience of how the world used to look so hopeful. I want to also recapture this feeling of happy hopefulness and unity and youth that I know I experienced around this period and so many other people did. We planned and talked about all the amazing things we’d do in 2020 and how exciting it would be to grow up more with each other. I also want the next scene to show a small upside during the pandemic where he starts getting into the routine of doing something he loves and it actually makes him happy. It’s important to show that it’s not all doom and gloom and that happiness in the little smaller things can be found even at the most grim of times. Lot’s of the film has been incredibly negative and pessimistic so a scene like this. There needs to be a scene towards the end where he hits rock bottom and really struggles, and then i want to end it on a bittersweet, glimmer of hope that perhaps everything will be okay. 

 

First Idea:

*on new years Eve. Joe and his friend are clearly at some sort of celebration with his friends all drinking and having a good time. The year 2020 finally begins and him and his friends all cheer.* “Joe remembers celebrating New Years Eve with his friends, and how one of his friends got so drunk he vomited out of the bathroom window. *brief pause* 

“Later on that evening, as he and his friends began sobering up, they all discussed their future whilst star gazing. *Joe and his friends are laying down on grass in a circle looking up and pointing at the sky whilst talking* “Joe took a deep breath and looked around him. Is it because he’s still a little drunk, or is this one of the most beautiful moments of his life? He tells his friends about all of the wonderful things that they are going to do this year” 

 

Then, 

 

*Joe is sat in his room on a video call with his friends watching something with them, we see him laughing and clearly having a nice time* “Joe had recently gotten into the routine of watching movies over video calls with a couple of friends. For some reason, it’s the happiest he’s been…. In a long time”

 

Scene 10 - After a pleasant little segment I think this scene needs to draw Joe to rock bottom just before the end of the film. This scene will almost be like a montage of Joe’s memories becoming fractured, him losing his sense of reality and him feeling caught in this endless loop, where he feels that there is no future, and that now he only looks back at his life instead of looking forward to what is to come. The end of this scene I want to be the most emotional and hard hitting of the entire film. I want people to relate to it, and I want it to really hit home hard. The scene will have a montage of Joe losing track of reality and showcasing less obvious but clear signs of his mental health deteriorating rapidly. He’ll get bored and awkward during conversations with friends and find it hard to stay on more than one subject for more than a few moments, his friends recount experiences with him that he for some reason can’t remember, he loses track of time and can’t remember when he last spoke to certain people, he realises he spends too much time on his phone not actually doing anything and forgets to respond to messages without meaning to. After this mini-montage / quick combination of very short scenes, Joe will find himself sat on his own, looking at old photos of him and his friends, almost in tears, wishing that he could go back to the time where he was hopeful and care-free, wishing he could let himself know that soon things will change and that he needs to make the most of every single day, and to not take anything for granted. He tries to relive the memories in his head, but now they feel like nothing but a vague feeling that’s meaning and impact is slipping out of his head. 

 

First Idea:

“The next day Joe felt lonely so called one of his friends. He didn’t really know what to say. He found it hard to stay on a certain topic for more than just a few moments before getting frustrated. He spent most of the call looking at terrible memes from pages he didn’t even know he followed. Eventually his friend had to go do something and left rather abruptly.” *Joe sits there in silence looking at his blank computer screen for a brief while after his friend leaves. He looks guilty and upset.*

 

Then, 

 

*Joe is out in the park and is talking to a friend whilst socially distancing.* “His friend recounts a time that they spent together just before everything changed that Joe doesn’t actually remember… Actually, come to think of it, Joe can’t remember much before. All these memories and experiences that he knows he’s had, feel blurry… and distant…”

 

Then, 

 

*whilst sat in his room* “Joe suddenly can’t quite remember how long it’s been since he contacted one of his friends” *Joe scrolls through his phone and looks. We see highlighted that it’s been two weeks since he messaged them. Joe looks shocked and confused, then a little worried. “That’s odd. He could’ve sworn it was only a couple of days.”

 

Then, 

 

*Joe is sitting on the floor against his bed looking at his phone.* “He pictures himself playing board games and watching movies. He pictures himself wandering along a path carrying huge sticks, that they will then throw into the river. He pictures himself drunkenly walking around at night, blasting music that he feels nostalgia to. He pictures himself showing the amazing views that you can see from the small mountains near where he lives. And as much as he loves to recreate memories in his head, he finds it harder and harder with each passing day to stay optimistic. To remind himself that things will get better. As each day passes the horizon looks bleaker…  and bleaker… and bleaker… and now, the only way left to look is back. The future no longer holds any excitement, and every spark of hope is quickly snuffed out by the weekly dose of unfortunate news. He wishes he could somehow travel back in time to impart some wisdom upon his younger self. To tell himself that soon everything will change, and that everyday counts. That every opportunity should be taken and that every moment should be lived to the fullest. It’s sadly ironic how he never appreciated the present, until it became the past, and that you never know just how much you love something, until it is taken from you.”

 

Scene 11 - This is the final scene. I want this final scene to be quiet in comparison to the narration heavy scene that just comes before it. After delving deep into his own mind and coming to some tough but important realisations, I feel that it is time for Joe to quietly re-evaluate his life, and take a new approach. I want Joe’s character and story to come full circle and come to peace with his life in the pandemic. I want him to come to peace with the fact that he can’t go back. I want to show that Joe realises that the world will keep spinning, and that he can’t control the world. All that he can do is make the most of what time he has and what he still has left. There will be no narration to disrupt the tranquil atmosphere of the scene as I feel that it would distract the viewer from what I’m trying to say. This scene is a moment of reflection not just for Joe but for the audience. This moment will allow them to sit back and think about all that they have just seen and consider that. 

 

First Idea: 

*During the late afternoon Joe walks up a rural country road surrounded by fields and hills. He walks through a bush to emerge in a field where before him lies a pond with a tree just in front of it. Taking in the beautiful tranquillity of the location, he sits down against the tree looking out at the hills and mountains before him. He takes a moment of reflection, taking deep breaths and slowly looking around him, deep in thought. His at first blank and painful expression slowly but surely turns into a look of reassurance and hope. He subtly smiles and slightly nods to himself. Cut to white. END*

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In addition to all of this, before the project had officially started, I already began to do some primary research in the form of creating a Google forms questionnaire that asks people about their experiences of lockdown to try and get a better initial understanding of what people I know are going through and feeling. I shared this on my Snapchat story to my friends. I used this information as well as information I've gotten through just talking with my friends on social media to really broaden my understanding of what people are thinking and feeling and how a number of different people have struggled during the past year. 19] (Lockdown Experiences, 2021)

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Furthermore, before the project started I hiked up a nearby mountain to try and get a time lapse of the sun setting (something I want to have for the opening shots) The first time I hiked up the mountain I was a little too late and couldn't capture a great time lapse on my phone.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So I went up a second time a few days later and captured these fantastic time lapses of the sun setting. I just want to say it was one of the most incredible sun sets I've ever seen. 

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A few days after this I posted on my Snapchat story the pitch for my film and asking my close friends who live in my area if they would want to help me make the film. Among the people who said they would help was Iwan Ellis who has a lot of experience in music and developing melodic soundtracks and instrumentals. He is an artist with multiple songs on iTunes and Spotify by the name of Bands God and asked if I wanted him to develop music for the film in which I answered yes to. 

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He needed context and wanted more information about the film and the main inspirations for it so given that I can't send him the entire film It's Such A Beautiful Day, the first part of the film (the first of the 3 short films that make up It's Such A Beautiful Day) Everything Will Be Okay which us available to view for free on Don's official YouTube channel. After he watched the film he was stunned by the insanity and tragic beauty of it's communication of mental illness. The next day he sent me a quick draft of a piece of music he had created for the film and wanted to show me to see if I liked it, which I did. 22](god, 2021)

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