BACK TO PROJECTS
Again, still yearning to make a fictional short, I decided to begin scripting a little piece that would just involve one person on screen (which will most likely be myself). I am currently scripting this short, which will be based in a world where everything is presented on screens, the written word is no longer in use, and everything is done via computer screens. The script will show a dependency on technology as well as the question of adult material on the internet � the character I will be playing has been hired by the government to track flagged computer user�s online habits concerning adult material. This idea was inspired by issues I had seen raised on current affairs television programmes in recent weeks discussing the proliferation of adult imagery across the internet and how we might be able to keep the internet under control (at the moment it is wild and uncontrollable); as well as the issue of youth and technology. Children now sit at the computer instead of going outside to play with friends. Online gaming and messenger services has now made the youth of today dependent on technology becoming a medium between humans.
I plan to film this alone in an attempt to bypass any troubles caused by not finding a single soul to appear on camera for me. I never thought it would actually be this hard to make a couple of little shorts. My fellow film students have found the same problems, but unfortunately, none of them want to appear in my shorts either! What is a young aspiring filmmaker to do!? But nevertheless, I will continue. I am becoming increasingly interested in making small, personal films � no matter what, I will film!
UPDATE - 10th August 2004:
Principal photography was completed on June 29th 2004. It's finally been edited and is complete!
SEE PRE-EDIT SCREEN CAPTURES!
SEE SCREEN CAPTURES FROM THE FINAL FILM!
Below are two versions of the film's cover art and a full rundown of the film!
What sparked it all off was a thought I had one day. I was scribbling something down on a piece of paper in a rather scrappy way, and I wondered what it would be like if people abandoned handwriting and used computers only. Package couriers are already using palm-top style gadgets instead of a clipboard and form for you to sign � you actually sign a screen!
I took this initial idea and eventually developed it into �Digital�, the rest of the inspiration coming from all the things I�d been reading online or seeing on TV about the internet. Whether this be yet another BBC documentary on paedophiles, the horridly one-sided and demonised portrait of the downloading phenomena on American TV shows such as �60 Minutes� or the fact that my generation will have a whole host of health problems in later life thanks to modern technology. My generation will be one of RSI, poor eyesight and obesity as well as social mal-adjustment as we spend all our time in front of screens � at one point my character is seen popping pills to halt headaches and tiredness. These areas were my inspiration to make �Digital�.
This film is set in the near future. I envisioned a world where libraries were upgraded to vast computer suites, books were now museum pieces. Businesses now traded solely online, file sharing was through the roof as was internet spending and finally, people interacted with each other through message services (like we already do with MSN Messenger etc). But I predict that online habits will still be pretty much the same in the future as they are now, the biggest being pornography. Having followed various issues related to online censorship and constantly hearing that paedophile rings were constantly being broken on the news, I felt this was where my film would pay a lot of attention.
In �Digital� I play a character simply known as �the user� who is a freelance online mole. These online moles are government sponsored, but they also are hired by small businesses and even family or friends to trace the online habits of an individual. These moles gather information on these targeted people and write up a report suggesting what action should be taken and how much of a threat to society they are.
My character follows one man named �Marracheck� (my reference to �Aliens�) who has been traced accessing both legal and illegal adult websites whose content includes incest, simulated rape and paedophilia. The mole has tracked what Marracheck had been viewing, downloading and paying for online � with access to all his details including credit card numbers, date of birth and address. I wanted to emulate the idea that when online, anybody could be watching you at anytime without you knowing, the notion of Big Brother gone mad, but yet fully plausible � it happens already, but I decided to take it a few notches further.
The online moles are an underground community who are paid well for their job, a high turn over industry made only for those with both the stomachs for the content and the know how for the technological wizardry behind the sleuthing. But to try and establish a link to my generation (those in the film I envision to be either myself or my peers in a few years time), I wanted to include a typical online conversation. I needed to get across a lot of information about the society in which this film is set and what the people of my generation (in this near future) think about online issues such as pornography or file sharing for example. Of course, being an avid internet junkie, I�m a seasoned MSN Messenger user and needed no help in constructing a realistic online conversation between myself and a friend � the dialogue seen in my film is basically how we talk in reality, excessively bad language and shortcut grammar included of course.
In terms of the actual production of this short, it was first scripted in February 2004 and was eventually edited together in August 2004. So it has had a long gestation period, but as any student knows; University takes up a lot of time (when you�re not drinking and sleeping of course). So although it has taken a while to get done, the point is I got it done. From the beginning I knew I would have to make this film on my own, but that was no problem, the script illustrated a claustrophobic atmosphere and living space (my box room at Uni came in handy therefore!). The shoot was pretty simple as I like to keep things this way; but it was certainly hot �on set�. Not only was it summer time, but it was summer time in Norwich � a place of extremes in weather. When it�s not gushing down torrents of rain, it�s freezing you to death before burying you in snow, then after all that comes the exasperating summer heat � not helped by my box room sitting in direct sunlight all day long as two computers add more fuel to the fire. So it was all rather sweaty and clammy, but I got a lot of footage shot merely days before I was due to go back home for the summer to spend my time feverishly and endlessly working on �my NIGHTMARE� among other projects. Then it was a case of getting more shots (close ups which hid the fact I was no longer in the same setting) and of course the matter of the online conversation.
That damned online conversation! In the end I had to film it off the screen (so a lovely flicker was always there), I had spent countless hours trying various failed ideas as well as screen capture software � which slowed down the family desktop so much it was just not worth it in the end. When it came to editing, the on screen dialogue wasn�t as clear as I would have wanted it, so I ended up making two versions � one which had the original shots but made reading everything tricky, and another which replaced the text with either scrolling text or title cards. This way you could either see the original and intended look of the film throughout, or see all the �dialogue� and understand what I was trying to say.
�Digital� is far from perfect, but at this stage I�m not going to be able to make a masterpiece just like that, so I�m not at all bothered about it. I�m pleased with the end result, it looks good and is thought provoking, which is what I was aiming for.