DISSERTATION BRIEF

Dissertation Structure:
Introduction;
 - sets up and prepares the reader
- Introduce and explain the main focus of the question
- Clarify areas of research your dissertation will follow
- A brief overview of the discussion order of your dissertation chapter by chapter

Chapter One;
- Definitions of terms used in the questions
- Basic theory
- Background information and historical ideas or contexts

Chapter Two;
- Utilises and builds on information from Chapter One
- Application of theories, current discussions/contexts
- Any information and ideas that need to be discussed before the question can be fully answered or the aim fully achieved in the final chapter

Chapter Three;
- Where the question is fully answered or aim fully realised

Conclusion;
- Ends on very last, final response on the discussion
- Reiterate the aim of your dissertation, reminding the reader of any questions you were intending to answer
- Highlight your key findings chapter by chapter and how they relate to each other in light of your aims
- Discuss your response to your findings and any answers/conclusions drawn to your aims/questions

Word Count;
1- Introduction should be about 10% of the word counts = 800 words

2 - The main body made up 3 chapters should be 80% of the word count
   a) Chapter 1; 2150 words
   b) Chapter 2; 2150 words
   c) Chapter 3; 2150 words
Each chapter will have 12 paragraphs of about 180 words

3- A conclusion should also be 10% of word count = 800 words

To prepare for 1st Tutorial work on;
- Topic, its intellectual context and how your question approaches it
- Create and review your list of research material?
- The key authors and a sentence of the way you wish to use their ideas?
- The moving image sequences you wish to relate to this research?
- your method of analysis
- The structure and organisation of your discussion?
- An initial plan for draft chapter 1?

To prepare for 2nd tutorial
- Week 1; read your research material
- Week 2; read your research material and write up a draft of chapter 1
- Week 3; finish chapter one (which will help you plan chapter 2)

To prepare for 3rd tutorial
- Week 1; research (and write notes for) Chapter 2
- Week 2; write up a draft of Chapter 2 (2150 words) and write up the skeleton introduction
- Week 3; is for making amendments to Chapter 1

To prepare for Draft hand-in (27th Nov)
- Make amendments to draft Chapter 2/research Chapter 3
- Research and write a draft for chapter 3
- Should be a full typed version
- Aim for at least 6000 words

Layout;
1 - Title page shud contain; title of dissertation, name, course, month and year of submission, first language, number of words in your text

PRE-PRODUCTION; TRAUMA AND MENTAL HEALTH CASE STUDIES

I have looked at some programmes/films that focus on trauma and the symptoms of; I wanted to see the narrative structure that they follow as well as the symptoms they particularly focus on.

Adrift (2018)
The first film I have looked at is Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley it focuses on Woodley's character and her boyfriend sailing a boat for miles across the Pacific Ocean. Whilst on their journey they run into Hurricane Raymond, which completely destroys half of their boat. This film has a heavy focus on trauma, as a result of the traumatic experience of being in the centre of a hurricane, Woodley's character experiences loss, grief and hallucinations. She hallucinates her boyfriend still being alive, he is hurt from the wreckage and she has to take care of him; classic signs of grief she uses her hallucinations to survive for 41 days stranded on a wrecked boat, floating to the nearest destination. The narrative structure that the film follows is simple but effective, it follows the couple as the embark on this journey together, go through the hurricane together and get through the wreckage together, it isn't until the very last day before she is rescued, that it becomes clear she has been hallucinating her boyfriend the entire time, that he actually died in the hurricane. This is really effective in my opinion for two reasons, firstly because it is shock factor for the audience that he actually died in the hurricane and for most of the film he has actually been dead, and secondly because it really stresses the effects of trauma and grief and how real it can feel for a person, it induces empathy within the audience.

                                                        House at the End of the Street (2012)
The way in which a person reacts to grief can differ in many ways; sometimes it can send a person manic. 2012 thriller House at the End of the Street starring Jennifer Lawrence and Max Thierot, and is a perfect example of portraying the mental effects trauma can have on a person. Thierot's character Ryan went through the death of his sister (due to an accident playing on swings) when he was a child, as a result of the loss his parents dressed him in girls clothes and a wig and therefore made him act as if he was his dead sister. As a result of the emotional and physical abuse that his parents put onto him, he killed his mother and father, took the wig off and led everyone to believe it was his sister who killed them and he was innocent. Years later he is living in the same house on his own, with next to no family or friends around him, Lawrence's character Elissa befriends him before she discovers he has kidnapped a series of girls and locked them in his cellar, dressing them like his sister and pretending that is what they are. The trauma and grief that his parents faced when losing their daughter, caused them to react in such a negative way that they denied it every happened, they would have preferred to have lost their son over their daughter. Furthermore they have caused their son even more mental damage by forcing him to act like his sister, thus turning him into a maniac abductor. Such a negative effect of trauma allows for the narrative to be much more complicated and twisted, in comparison to the simplicity of Adrift. This can be linked more to mental health issues rather than just trauma, Ryan clearly displays many mental health issues, this is emphasised by the closing shot of the film which shows Ryan committed to some form of mental asylum. Something else that i find interesting about this is exploring how reluctant Ryan was to talk to anyone about his issues, he felt like he couldn't talk to anyone about his issues and this perhaps was his downfall and caused him to become what he became. Something I will be exploring more within my own ideas.

Fight Club (1999)

Fight Club is a really interesting film that portrays multiple personality disorder, the main character known as 'The Narrator' believes he has befriended a man named Tyler (played by Brad Pitt) who manages to show The Narrator a whole new, risk and care free way of life. By the end it is revealed that The Narrator and Tyler are actually the same person; the character just has what is known as multiple personality disorder. This means that a person can act in completely polar opposite ways, like different people completely. The thing i find most effective within this film is the realism and shock factor to the audience. As a viewer you are left thinking that they are two completely different people, only subtle hints such as Tyler appearing on screen in one quick second flash, imply that they are the same person. Firstly this is entertaining for the viewer, its part of the story that keeps them engaged and it is a good narrative twist. However it also really illiterates the realism of the disorder, it is a real thing that is effecting people everyday and this is really illustrated within the film. It helps to bring awareness to the idea as well.

Unsane (2018)
Unsane is a really interesting film to look at; because it implies some mental health issues when they are not really there. It is a film realised in 2018 and it was filmed all on an iPhone 7 Plus starring Claire Foy. The overall plot revolves around the character of Sawyer, who believes she is being stalked, once she speaks to a therapist about the issues she is having she unknowingly gets herself committed to a mental health ward where she is kept in for observation. Whilst she is in their, her stalker gets a job and begins haunting her there, she eventually ends up escaping the ward, and contacts the police - after having to kill her stalker in self defence as he tries to rape her and kills her mother. Six months later she is sitting having lunch with a colleague, and she sees her stalkers face and nearly stabs him before realised she is just hallucinating and it is actually an innocent man. The reason i wanted to include this in my research is because in a way the narrative is what causes the character to have mental health issues, rather than beginning the story with someone who has these issues already. The entire film revolves around Sawyer trying to get help, to convince someone she is okay and she is being messed with by this stalker, and by the time she manages to do this and get her life back together, she starts suffering with hallucinations. Linking back to my research i believe this is an example of someone having PTSD from trauma they have experience recently.


Overall, the reason i have looked at these films in particular is because they all look at a different aspect of mental health or trauma, and they present to the audience the effects that that can have on someones everyday life. This is someone i would really like to do, i would like to pose an issue, something that is physically, emotionally and mentally effecting someones life. I would like a story that starts in the middle of the problem, a character suffering with long term effects of trauma, and by the end of the story I would like to show the audience that their is an understanding of the problem for the character. The research I have done on trauma, and the above films that portray mental health, will allow me to create a factually correct portrayal of a character that is suffering.

PRE-PRODUCTION; POTENTIAL IDEAS

After completing some research on the topic of trauma, seeing the effects it has on people and how many different experiences people can have with it, i think it would be a good starting point to draw on for potential ideas for our drama.

Still from the life crime episode of 'Eastenders'

1st Idea; the first idea I had is derived from an episode of Eastenders. This particular episode broadcast in July 2018, mixes together the fictional storyline of a mother losing her son due to gang violence, with the very real and raw narration of real people telling their different, but very similar troubling stories. I think it is really interesting to mix the real life aspect with the soap drama, it emphasises the issue to the audience as not just a storyline, but a harrowing and very real everyday societal issue. It is important with any issue that a story or programme is dealing with, that it is done correctly and with full knowledge, using these real life stories ensures that this happens. The idea i have for ours is to speak to people that have suffered long term effects because of trauma, and derive a factually correct and unbiased story that highlights the issue as well as dramatising it.

2nd Idea; Another idea i have had, is quite complicated but i think it could be very interesting to the topic so i would like to document it here, is almost creating a support group for people who are suffering with long lasting effects from trauma. We could have people telling their stories/detailing the symptoms that they face and how it effects them in their everyday life. I think however this idea would more suit a documentary style rather than a drama. As a drama we could make it more interesting and engaging (as a short film) by perhaps creating flashbacks that match the action of what the sufferer is talking about. Im not too sure how this idea could work at this point as a drama but it is something i would like to discuss with my group.

3rd Idea; The idea that my group and I have already come up with and discussed between ourselves, is that of a set of twins who when they are younger, one of them dies, and the other twin grows up experiencing hallucinations of their deceased twin. Something from my research that i have discovered that i think would pair well with this narrative, would be to show the reluctance to talk to someone about their issue. Our main character would be a teen, at an important stage of life with education who is struggling with the effects of trauma since losing their twin, and perhaps this is something we could also emphasis; the importance of talking to someone. My instant thoughts are using locations such as doctors surgeries and waiting rooms for an intense feel, casting a doctor for the main character to talk to etc.

PRE-PRODUCTION; TRAUMA RESEARCH

'Trauma' can be defined as a 'deeply disturbing or distressing experience'. It is when something so distressing happens in a persons life and so it effects you in negative ways. Physical trauma can lead a person struggling with upsetting memories and emotions in addition to a crippling anxiety that doesn't go away. People who suffer with this feel completely disconnected from society and the people around them. Emotional and physical trauma is the result of stressful events that 'shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world'. There is some debate about what causes trauma but overall it is about the subjective emotional experience of an event that causes it rather than the fact of whether they have been physically hurt or not. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatised. Situations that can cause trauma include accidents injuries or violent attacks, illness's surgeries or death of someone close to you.

You can be more likely to be susceptible to trauma as a child because you're less likely to understand what is going on in your life. Examples of what can cause childhood trauma include being in an unstable environment, separated from a parent, sexual and physical abuse and domestic violence. Childhood trauma can have a long last effect, when it isn't resolved (because as a child they do not know to how to explain their feelings) 'a sense of fear and helplessness carries over into adulthood'.

Trauma can be summarised as the emotional response someone has to a negative experience in their life. It is the effects of trauma that are long lasting and have the most effect upon someones life. Symptoms and effects are as follows -
- Shock, denial or disbelief
- Anger
- Anxiety and feat
- Withdrawing from others
- Feeling sad or hopeless
- Insomnia
- Difficult concentrating
- Racing heartbeat

As a result of traumatic events that can happen to people, there can be some serious consequences to future life. Upon research I've found that the most common long-term symptom of someone experiencing trauma can be PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) - this is a type of anxiety disorder, it changes the hormones within a person to change their reaction to stressful situations. If someone experiences something traumatic, they can almost be triggered by other things to remind them about the previous traumatic experience they had, and from then react in a distressing way.

I also have researched how hallucinations can be relevant to traumatic experience; as this is a potential narrative point we may be looking at. Freud (1936) had a theory that linked hallucinations to to 'repressed traumatic experiences'. It has been known that if a person experiences many traumatic events, they can have 'schizophrenia' as well as PTSD. Hallucinations that they experience c
an then either be a result of schizophrenia, or a result of re-imagining experiences through PTSD. The content of which people experience in their hallucinations are quite often linked to childhood events, as I have seen in the previous research childhood events can have long lasting effects in adulthood and hallucinations can be one of these effects, as many theorists argue.

RESEARCH LINKS
https://www.psychguides.com/guides/trauma-symptoms-causes-and-effects/
https://www.helpguide.org/articles/ptsd-trauma/coping-with-emotional-and-psychological-trauma.htm
https://www.healthline.com/health/traumatic-events#responses-to-trauma
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4569972/

PRE-PRODUCTION; FIRST IDEA AND TUTORIAL FEEDBACK

As previously discussed, my group going forward for both the pre-production and production unit is Katie who will be the editor and Laura who will be the director, with myself being the producer and script writer. Over the summer we all met up to start discussing possible ideas that we could move forward with, we wanted to try and get ahead and have begun thinking about the story before we came back. We all went to see the film called Adrift, starring Shailene Woodley.
It tells the true story of a couple who's boat capsized during a hurricane on the Pacific Ocean; the film details the couples struggle sailing along on a half broken boat, delivering a final plot twist that the male star of the film actually died during the hurricane and Woodley's character had been hallucinating him the entire time. This was a plot twist that influenced us all and we really liked the idea of hallucinations. Using this as the beginning of our research we have discussed the option of using a teenage boy who has been hallucinating his dead twin sister. I really like this idea because its got a real sense of drama involved; something I like to create within narratives. We all juggled around a few ideas about this boy who maybe had some mental health issues, he sees a doctor who urges him to speak out about his feelings. The idea we mainly finalised on was that of showing two days running concurrently, the first showing the twins as young kids, and the second showing them as teens going about their day, both days eventually reveal that firstly the twin sister died when she was young, and secondly that the boy was only hallucinating her (implied by her death). This is an idea that I really like because i think it allows us to all have a lot of contribution to the project; there would be a lot of casting and locations involved, as well as editing because of the two different timelines so i think it could work really well.

We went in and spoke to Simon about our initial roles and ideas. We spoke about the idea that we had and explained how we all had a part in coming up with the idea and that was one of the main reasons we wanted to move forward with it. The feedback we got from Simon was as follows:

- What do we want to explore?

- What is our main theme?

- The mechanics of the film at the stage do not matter, we need to focus in on what the sole of our story is about

- who are the twins? why does it have to be twins?

- Strip back to basics

Simon suggests that we need to look at what we want to tell a story about rather than what we want to show to tell a story. Thinking about this it helped me to look at past years work, seeing work that was made meaningful by a specific message that was being conveyed. The nature of storytelling needs to have reasoning, the tutorial helped me to realise we need to find a topic as our starting point and then build a story around it, rather than fitting a topic over a story. A topic that I wanted to explore was trauma, as far as i'm aware i think it would be an interesting topic to look at and would allow for good points of research to begin with, as well as a broad narrative structure.

What's next? Following on from our first tutorial as a group, i would like to get started on researching what we want to tell a story about, i would like to begin with researching trauma. As the script writer I am feeling the pressure to get pen to paper asap, but i know we need to be researching first so that we have a story we are passionate and interested about. 

FIRST TERM BRIEF

- Research is KEY
- Be an independent learner using the advice through tutorials ad peer support
- Draw up a timetable and make sure to spend equal time on dissertation and pre-production units      because they are worth the same amount of credits (main term one focus)
- Slight introduce of the 'transmission' (final degree screening) as well as starting to get CV ready and portfolios/showreels

TERM ONE;
Dissertation (30 credits)
 - 8000 words
- With 3 tutorials prior to draft hand-in; November 27th
- Followed by 1 draft feedback tutorial in final week of term
- FINAL SUBMISSION; January 25th 2019

Year 3 Creative Project
- Selecting what creative skill set we would like to pursue, focusing skills and interests through collaboration

Pre-Production unit (30 credits)
-Individual or small group based
-Two distinct choices
-Largely self-directed
-Tutorial and seminar support throughout
-Submission of Project; December 11th
-Aim of this unit is to produce a details Pre-Production 'package' for an original production, this year there are two distinct choices as to how you fulfil this brief

- high concept piece; large scale idea that is aimed at competing with what is currently on television, a package that communicates an idea to a potential broadcast commissioner

 -major project pre-production; a pre-production package for a project which you will then take into production in your major project unit after christmas, produce a detailed plan for the production including all of the required production elements (pitch, script, budget, schedule, casting, locations, trailer etc) aim of 20 minutes for the final piece that is taken into production]

-In terms of the research involved for both projects, it has to be appropriate research that matches the piece being made, e.g. do not research a multi million pound director if you are making a short film

BOTH units are open to external collaboration in the following areas only
-Cast/Presenters/Actors
-Music
-Production/Costume design
All other roles and jobs must be filled by your fellow classmates or students in year 1 or 2

THIRD YEAR BRIEF

The third year brief enabled us to look forward and plan ahead to our last 3 units that we will be undertaking in the third year. I was glad to be able to know about the units before the summer holiday so that I could think about the units and what I wanted to do for them. In terms of the final major project, there is a lot that has to go into that, but the one thing I'm certain of is that I would like to produce a project as well as at least contribute to the writing of the scripts for the project. Producing is something that I have always enjoyed throughout our previous units and I believe it is what I am best at compared to the other roles.

Our first unit is to choose one of two options, designing a pre-production package for either a high budget programme that would be intended for one of the big broadcasters, or for our major project. At first I thought that the high budget programme option was appealing, it would be the first project that wouldn't be constricted to student budget and regulations. However upon further thought I have decided to go for the major project pre-production. As a producer for the major project the pre-production is a lot of the work that I will have to do anyway so I think that choosing this option for the first unit will allow me to really pay attention to every finer detail of the pre-production and produce a package that I will be able to take forward into the major project later in the year. This option also allows me to collaborate with someone else, in previous projects I have struggled with the visual elements of my work, written work and organisational pieces are what I enjoy more and have a stronger capability for. Therefore with this project it would be good to collaborate with someone like Laura, who will either be the director or the director of photography for our major final project. I think that together we will be able to create an extremely detailed and visual pre-production package that would enable us to take it through to the next project very well and for that reason I have chosen this option to move forward with when we begin again in September.