Talk About "Life of Pi" - The Real Story 2

Until now, many audiences still cannot accept the second story. Let me give you some details that director has provided before:

1.The ship encountered a storm. When Pi jump to the lifeboat, the Chinese sailor shouted: Zebra! Zebra! After that, Zebra jump into the lifeboat.

2.When Pi's mother want to eat vegetables, the cook was very vile.It's in keeping with hyena's character.

3.The orangutan was the only animal helped by Pi to get on the lifeboat.

4.After orangutan be killed by the hyena, tiger suddenly killed the hyena. It is very similar to the second story. Pi killed the cook because he cannot bear his mother's die.

In this case, we know the first story is a metaphor of reality. It has two meanings: i,The metaphor of the real events. ii, Through Pi's comprehending, he gets a reflections on human nature. These two meanings are the core of this film.

Firstly, we need to talk about the name "Pi". It also means "π", the infinite digital unreasonable number. Pi's father said, technology gives humanity achievements in this for hundreds of years are worth Belief's achievements in thousand years. This achievement alluding to the endless human desire, like π.

Pi believes a variety of religions: Hinduism (family background), Christianity (talk with the priest) and Islam (he was touched by chanting of Islam). He believes that these religions can be compatible. He considers if he did this, he can be close to God, understand the God. In fact, Pi is a symbol of all mankind. No matter which religion, human need to introspect their belief.

People believe in God. However,people are doing things contrary to the nature of God at the same time. Everybody has endless desires. Nobody can separate bestiality in the hearts. Pi's father told Pi: If you believe everything, that means you believe nothing!

In the second place, let's think about Pi and tiger. If we compare the first story with the second one, we can find that Pi is the tiger in the first story. Then, who is "Pi" in the first story? In my opinion, Pi in the first story is the God in his heart. It is an invisible God who will guide mankind in reality. It is independent of the human, also is a part of the human. Humans abandoned this "God" many times, but to accept his guidance at a critical moment.

So we can say: In the first story, the tiger is humanity's evil and bestial side. Pi is humanity's divinity side. 

MA study agreement-first draft

This is the first draft of my study, I'm improving and revising it now. And I'll provide my final draft before 07-01-2012.

School of Art and Design 2012/13

MA:	Learning Agreement

Name: Tianchi Wang (Tiki)

Course: MA Film Practice

Date: 2012-12-19

What is your subject of study?

The study of how change in the character’s emotion is depicted in film. 

What is your research question? 

How do other directors present characters’ emotion changing in their film?

Research aim(s):

What are the overall aims of the project?

Explore how director use filming skills to present character’s emotion changing and to influence audiences. (ways of shooting, write script, lighting...)

Research objectives(s):

What are the specific tangible project objectives?

Note: these are separate to what you personally need to learn in terms of skills and knowledge, see learning objectives below.

Read some books about direct skills

Analysis some famous (good or bad) films

Do some research in psychology

Writ a screenplay, create some characters

Film my screenplay by myself

Rationale

· What is the wider context of your project?

Read some books like “the Film’s director’s intuition” and “The Visual Story”. And watch different type films to explore how these films present character’s emotion. Find how director cooperate with other staffs (like actors, cameraman) and let them perform better.

· How does the project relate to your previous experience/practice?

I have shoot several short films, however, I could not use skills of direct very well to change character’s emotion. And it also makes I knew the screenplay is very important for film.

· How does it relate to relevant current practices, debates and theory?

It relate to director’s way of work, different ways of work present different result.

It relate to details in the screenplay, every behaviour of character should be significative.

It also relate to the skills of shooting and editing, different focus shooting and different editing order will give audience very different feeling.

· Why is the intended research significant? (So what?)

Characters are a film’s spirit. Director should grasp how to create them better in screenplays and present it better in films.

· How does this project relate to your plans for the future?

I want to write a fine screenplay, and create better characters in my film.

Methodology 

· Outline the research, creative and intellectual methods you will employ to develop your research project.

· Identify ethical considerations where appropriate. 

Learning objectives

· Link to your personal skills audit and development plan; identify the skills that you will develop and knowledge that you need to acquire. Match the objectives against the MA programme learning outcomes. 

Understand some direct skills, know how to write a good script, and learn some ways of shooting and editing.

Submissions (practical and/or written work)

· Describe your intended body of work, including your reflective journal and the summative critical review 

My blog address: http://tianchiwang.blogspot.co.uk/

· Specify the audience and communication context for your project. 

· Describe how you intend to evaluate/ test project outcomes with your audience.

Resource implications

· List what resources are required within or outside of the University 

Camera, lighting, voice recording equipment, tripod, computers. 

· Identify other organisations or individuals involved that you will rely upon and describe what role they will have

I consider I will need some actors to act my short film.

References

Cite material using the Harvard System referenced in the previous sections.

Bibliography

Cite essential background or contextual material using the Harvard System of referencing

Books:

Ascher, S., and Pincus, E. (2007). The Filmmaker’s Handbook. 3rd edition. New York, USA: Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

Akers, W. M. 2008. Your Screenplay Sucks! : 100 Ways to Make It Great

Block, B. 2001. The Visual Story: Seeing the Structure of Film, TV, and New Media

Henson, W, J.2004. screenwriting: STEP BY STEP

Hockley, L. (2001). Cinematic Projections: the Analytical Psychology of C G Jung and Film Theory. Luton, UK: University of Luton Press.

Rabiger, M. (2008). Directing: Film Techniques and Aesthetics. 4th edition. Burlington, USA: Elsevier Inc.

Weston, J. 2003. the Film director’s intuition: Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques

Movies:

Alfred Hitchcock. 1954. Rear window

Alfred Hitchcock. 1963. The birds

Korozawa Akira. 1950. Rashomon

Korozawa Akira. 1954. The Seven Samurai

Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1993. Trois couleurs: Bleu (Blue)

Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1994. Trois couleurs: Blanc (White)

Krzysztof Kieslowski. 1994. Trois couleurs: Rouge (Red)

Ingmar Bergman. 1957. Smultronstället (wood strawberry)

Ann Lee. 1994. Eat drink man women

Ethan Coen & Joel Coen. 2007.No country for old men

Yimou Zhang. 1988. Red Sorghum

Stanley Kubrick. 1980. The Shining

Timetable

· Outline your plan of action; give dates of developmental milestones linked to the PGC / PGD / MA stages; include personal tutorials and your vacations.

Week 22 Write a short film screenplay. Write some journals of my work. 

Week 23 Shoot the short film.

Week 24 Edit the short film and prepare the assessment (presentation).

Week 25~Week28 Read some books and do some research on director skills and psychology theory.

Week 29~Week 32 I will choose some good films and read the screenplay of these film. And I will try to write down the shooting script for understand how these director working.

Week 33~Week 34 Write two different type screenplays.  Explore what different skills we need to use in different type scripts.

Week 35 Choose one screenplay I wrote and film it.

Week 36 Edit the second short film.

Week 37~39 Do some shooting practice, explore how to present character’s emotion through different shooting method.

Week 40~Week 41 Read some books about shooting and editing. Watch some films and do research on shooting.

Week 42~Week 45 Write three different stories happen on one person. And then write three screenplays which include the same character. However, this character will have different attitudes when he encounters different things.

Week 46~Week 48 Shoot these three screenplays.

Week 49~Week 50 Edit.

Week 51~Week 52 Prepare the last assessment.

· Identify a programme of events in which you intend to participate: lectures, exhibitions, tutorials, seminars, workshops, research visits, interviews, searches, on-line activities, etc.

Agreed as a viable programme of study

Signature of student: Date:

Talk About "Life of Pi" - The Real Story 1

In me the tiger sniffs the rose.

Look in my heart, kind friends, and tremble,

Since there your elements assemble.

－－Siegfried Sassoon（1886-1967）

Last week, I went to watch a 3D movie "Life of Pi". It is directed by Ang Li. A large number of people, like children and student, believe it is just magical and beautiful. Actually, this is a philosophical and oppressive film, too.

I will analysis it through four articles.

Pi is a young man born in India. He believes in Christianity, Islam and Hinduism. His father runs a zoo. One day, Pi's father decide to move their family Canada, with the animals in the zoo. Pi's father want to sell them abroad. Unfortunately, they experience a shipwreck. Pi's families are all dead in this shipwreck. Pi fall to a lifeboat and survived. There are a hyena, a broken leg zebra, a female orangutan and an adult Bengal tiger named "Richard Parker".

In the first three days of rafting, hyena killed the orangutan, eat the zebra, and then the tiger killed the hyena. Next this young man's survival story at sea is the story that how to cope with "Richard Parker". Pi couldn't victory over the tiger, in the end, he chose to live with a tiger. In this 7 months, he needs to collect freshwater, catching fish and shrimp. He needs to feed the tiger and also allow himself to survive.

                 

Of course, they encountered a rainstorm, shark attack and a variety of exciting and bloody dangerous. When they eat up all the foods, Pi prepare to easily die. However, a miracle happened, they arrived a paradise island by drifting. After a short stay, Pi find he did not want to die on this island. So he started drifting with the tiger again until be rescued at Mexico Beach.

Until now, we know is the first story of Pi. And then, young man Pi told us the second story. Many people believe the second story is fabricated. But when we look back, many details in the movie flash in our brain, these details change into foreshadowing, let us find a ruthless bloody story.

Let's talk about the end of the movie first. When Pi talked the first story to two Japanese company representatives, Japanese could not believe it and they thought Pi are lying. Japanese want a real story without hyena, zebra, orangutan and tiger. Then, Pi told us another story:

Actually, there are no animals on the lifeboat. Only a cook, a broken leg Chinese sailor, Pi and his mother.The cook has killed and eaten the sailor, then he killed his mother. Eventually Pi are intolerable and killed the cook. The final reality is only Pi survived.

The second story is over. Two Japanese were amazed. Maybe we consider they chose the second story. However, when the writer who interview Pi, open the file of this event, we can see "Finally, he and his animal companions survived in the last" in the end of file. Obviously, they chose the first story which is not so cruel. Next, Pi asked the writer, which story do you prefer? The writer said, the story with tiger. Pi said, so you follow God.

Here, many audience became realized the four people in the second story is the four animals in the first story. Sailor is the zebra, the cook is the hyena, female orangutan is mother and Pi is the tiger.

This time, can you believe the second story? I will continue analysis it in the next article.

The photography work - The Exhibition in Hayward Gallery

It is an art exhibition in Hayward Gallery in London form November to December. Many of them are Chinese young artists. I do some photography work in it.

1. These big iron chains with silks make it looks very old and miserable. The stones looks ordered but lonely. Nowadays, Chinese traditional culture just like these chains and windows.

2. The rhinoceros and dinosaur fossil, looks very big and like ancient creatures.

3. This is a very interesting table. Chinese do like play table tennis. And we always win the gold of table tennis in the Olympic game. Chinese government believe table tennis means many things. Look at this table, looks like a small mountain, I consider it means we are not just playing, but also put many other things into the sport.

4.This is a 1980s Chinese city people's room. Maybe it is a workshop and a room. It's so old that lost colors. But it looks very warm.

5. In my opinion, the pictures following are the most interesting design. The word on the bag is "words of the deceased". Many "words of the deceased" had been put into these bags, and these words became black. Maybe the artist want to told us, nobody really care about dead people's words.

6. These are some pottery little persons. It shows sex and desire.

7. These are some lights's arts. These colorful lights shows a night of city. Lights beside lights. Life in night can not without lights.

A larger failure: Yimou Zhang's "A simply noodle story"

After directed 2008 Olympic Games, Yimou Zhang prepared return to make movie. His investor Weiping Zhang thought it is another good chance to earn more money. So he invited some famous comedians to act Yimou Zhang's next film - A Simply Noodle Story.

It looks like a traditional Chinese story when you watch it first time. But if you watch it more attentive, you will find it's familiar to another America movie - Blood Simple.

The film investor bought a famous screenplay again. I watched "Blood Simple" 3 years ago. I was amazed by Coen Brothers' ability of telling story. This is the first feature film they direct, but it looks so mature and attractive because audiences can believe the story they talk about.

"Blood Simple" succeed. However, "A Simple Noodle Story" failed. Most Chinese audiences considered they were cheated. This movie is a really Lousy movies.

Actually, "Noodle Story" has three conditions for success:

1. The most famous and experienced director in China - Yimou Zhang.

2. The most talented comedians and actors.

3. A good screenplay which has succeed filming before.

Why it still failed? I analyze it also has three reasons for failed: 

1. The director did not really want to film it. He just became a tool and title for earn more money. (Recently, he realized it, and he choose to quit partnership with his old investor, Weiping Zhang.)

2. The movie was filmed too hastily. Many details had been ignored. (Yimou Zhang admitted "A Simply Noodle Story" is the most dissatisfied film in his films.)

3. The screenplay was good. But it is not a comedy script. They added many jokes into the screenplay, it make this screenplay neither fish nor fowl.

Yimou Zhang's failed told us, when we make a film, we need not only an excellent screenplay, but also characters adapt for cultural background.

"The Shining" of Kubrick, a good example for the characters' emotion changing

Yesterday, I watched "The Shining" in the Broadway cinema. This is the third time I watch it. I consider "The Shining" is one of the most great horror movie in the last century. The director and the actors, all of them, achieved the best state in this film. "The Shining" is not about ghost, but crazy.

After watching the movie, we can find Jack said he so love his wife and son that he will never injure them again. He said it many times. But with the development of the plot, he became changing.

He find the hotel is like his old home. And he want to stay here for ever.

And then, when Jack was writing, his wife disturbed him. He was like a crazy woodenness, he roared to his wife, and audiences could find the environment here is more important than his family.

In the gold bar of the hotel, Jack start to drink and talk with "ghost". It looks like he know everybody in this bar long before. Director arranged a friendly bartender here, not only Jack like him, all of us would like to talk with him. But we would strange, who is he? Director told us, Jack knew him.

With the plot developing, audience was attracted by the characters' psychology changing. We all want to know what will happen next second. In the end, director told us, Jack has crazy. But maybe he was not, he just became a ghost who lived here before. It sounds very unimaginable but audience all believe it because they were scared!

Yimou Zhang's "Hero", a bad example

In 2001, director Yimou Zhang want to cooperated with his idol —— Ken Takakura, an old Japanese actor. And his good friend Weiping Zhang prepared to earn a large number of money from Yimou's new movie.

Weiping Zhang invested a lot of money into this film plan. He invited 5 most famous Chinese actors (include Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Daoming Chen, Ziyi Zhang and Donnie Yen)join in this film. But Yimou Zhang thought it is not enough to attracted Ken Takakura. He and his team began to write a good screenplay. This screenplay actually adapted from another famous Japanese movie, Rashomon. However, this time, story happened in ancient China, Qin Dynasty.

Unfortunately, in 2002, Ken Takakura declined the invitation from Yimou Zhang, because he thought it is not a good film screenplay! It is a story for earning money, not for audiences. In the end, Yimou Zhang invited another famous Chinese actor, Jet Li, to be this film starring.

Yimou Zhang's 'Hero' get a huge success in China. But majority audiences thought it is not a good film. Yimou Zhang can not compare with Korozawa Akira.

In my opinion, 'Hero' was failed because the director did not think about character's emotion. Every character's behavior in this movie are deliberately. They did it for the plot and screenplay, not for the audiences. Most audiences would find it looks beautiful but not logical. Audience watch it because these famous actors,they like it because Yimou Zhang's great pictures, they did not like it because the plot, the characters' behavior and they find this movie just want to earn money from them!

A interview shooting practice in Broadway

This is a short video about interview. We acted by ourselves and everyone had used Cannon D7 to shoot each other. In some pictures, the camera are out of focus. But all of us had knew how to use it better and how to use the sound recorder.

The cost of film——production workshop in Broadway

If we want to make a film, many thing will cost money. We list a cost list following.

COST LIST：
·Director
·Script
·Actors
·Equipment (lighting, sound, camera...)
·locations
·Insurance
·Properties
·Foods
·Music
·Transport
·Costumes
·Editing (special efficacy)
·Advertise/Publish
·Take part in Film Festivals

Then film producer give us some advice:

THE COST OF YOUR FILM:
·consider its elements:
  ·How many actors?
  ·How many locations?
  ·Is it period or present day?
  ·Are there any special effects?
  ·Are there any stunts?
  ·Are there any crowd scenes?
  ·How many pages is the script?
  ·What is your shooting format?

VALUE VERSUS COST:
A balancing act
Hence Packaging:
·Who do you need in your film to make the cost equal the value?
·Stars have great value but also great cost!
·So do some directors and writters
·The "First time director" problem
·Consider the "care package","rider" and "entourage"-hidden costs

What makes a good pitch?
The 10 rules of pitching (thanks to Suzanne Lyons):
·Make it fun-entice people into joining you-get them to dream your dream.
·They need you-you could be their next Oscar/BAFTA etc.
·Preparation-who are you meeting?
·Create a relationship-network with them, make small talk, find a common interest or acquaintance before launching in.
·How do you come across to people?They need to be able to work with you for several years on a project.
·The killer log-line, Run it past friends, keep tweaking it.
·The STORY-2 to 3 min pitch.
·What happens next? Ask them what they would like from you and when.
·Follow up - do what you said you would do and on time. Update them if relevant.

These suggestions and experiences are so helpful that I will consider it carefully if I make a short film in the future.

Yimou Zhang: A Director Between Art and Commerce

Yimou Zhang is a very famous Chinese director. In 2008, he direct the Chinese Olympics opening ceremony and gain significant success.

When he was a just graduate student, he direct a film named "Red Sorghum". "Red Sorghum" is the first feature film direct by him. But it looks very mature and allegorical. "Red Sorghum" gain Golden Bear Award of Berlin Film Festival that year, it's also the first time Chinese director gain international film award.

After that, about 1988, Yimou Zhang began to do some creative work in feature film, Asian people even world loved his film, every Chinese thought he is a genius.

Yimou Zhang haven't think about commerce element in his film until 1996. Before 1996, Zhang's film always very high quality but can not drawed large audiences.

At 1997, he meet a man name Weiping Zhang. This man's surname also is Zhang, Chinese people prefer to call them "Two Zhang". Yimou Zhang can not find investors for his film. Though Weiping Zhang did not know how to make a movie, he still ready to help Yimou Zhang.

They make a film, "Keep Cool". They have a success at the box office.

Audiences find that they began want to watch Yimou Zhang's movie in the cinema, but they didn't really like it.

Why? Why audience didn't like Zhang's movie, they still want to watch it?

I find an interesting thing. Weiping Zhang prefer to choose some classic screenplay which everybody know, and he will find several famous actors to act.

Audience adored these famous actors, and they also want to watch how Yimou Zhang shoot these famous screenplay. However, in the end, they realize they don't like it...

In the next two articles, I will analysis and compare two movies which directed by Zhang, and adapt form two famous screenplays.

My storyboarding work

This is my storyboarding work. 

I draw 15 pictures in 3 papers, it spend me about one and a half hour.

The pictures show a story which I want to shoot in the future. The story is not very complex, but it needs 3 actors.

The first picture shows two girls, A and B, and B's boyfriend. A is a girl which not very happy because she did not enjoy her life abroad. She always talk about something she don't like. But B and her boyfriend always very happy, they invite A to have dinner together. Boy is cooking. B is listening to A.

Second picture describe that the boy finish cooking. They can began their dinner. B help her boyfriend to put plates on the table. They looks very warm and fragrant.

At the third picture, we can see that B talk to his boyfriend very happy. A admire their life, she think she is a very unfortunate girl.

Maybe I will make it to be a film in the future, if I can find seemly actors.