Thursday 15th November- Almost Ready

Today was a really good day.  I was really excited about the new location.  We had started to set up and wanted to crack on with finishing it.  We are fully prepared for the shoot.We have decided to do the shoot on Saturday 24^th November. This does seem like a lot of  time to prepare but we want everything to be perfect; location, script, positioning, performances etc.  Aaron and I had already spent time working on the new location and we wanted Christi to come and give us her feedback about the location. We finished off with setting the scene, mainly placing the ornaments and the pictures.  Aaron came up with an idea to have dying roses in the corner constantly in shot; this has many purposes towards our piece. 

The dead roses are meant to give us a better understanding on the characters, especially Mick, as it shows he doesn’t really tend to Doreen’s needs or even take care of the house in any way.  Also, Aaron had come up with a title that has some resemblance to the roses.  

Reasons for title name (provided from Aaron)

1. Her name is Rose and the word blue reflects her current emotional state.

2. It's a sort of oxymoron, which reflects the contrast between the two characters and their personalities.

3. Blue roses do not naturally occur which suggests mystery, something odd. The blue rose is also used as a symbol of caution. It expresses a need to be discreet. Again, there is a whiff of secrecy and mystery as expressed by the blue colour.

4. Blue roses have a wealth of symbolic meanings.

5. They are often portrayed in literature and art as a symbol of love and prosperity to those who seek it; representing the relationship between all three characters which is based around love. In Chinese folklore, the blue rose signifies hope against unattainable love.

Due to these changes we have decided to change Doreen’s name to Rose and the meaning of the title makes it more relevant.

We did have a bit of a struggle with dressing the other side of the bed as there wasn’t a matching side cabinet, so we looked around the house and decided to use a portable tray instead of using anything else.  At first I was against using it because it seemed too placed but once we had discussed on how to dress it, it gave a better effect than having a bedside cabinet.  On the tray we are using objects that will give a better understanding to the audience for the character development. We are going to have it covered with pills, dirty cups and dirty plates. The pills are to make it more clear to the audience the state of mind Rose is in. The dirtiness is just to show the lifestyle these two live in.

Once we finished setting up we decided that it would be of great benefit to us to re-enact the entire drama in order that we can work on camera positioning, the positioning of the protagonists and most importantly if the sequence seems believable.  We discovered some areas weren’t.  Aaron and I had two different ideas on how we wanted Mick to behave.  Aaron was after something more wild and unpredictable whereas I thought we were going for subtle and creepy.  Aaron pitched how he wanted Mick to behave but we couldn’t reach an understanding so we thought it would be best to act out a particular scene where Mick is robbing from Rose.  He tried out many different scenarios and we finally reached a compromise where Mick will be wilder but then retaliates that with a hint of creepiness.  Originally he was to subtly threaten Rose with her pill and make her go to sleep but now he gets unnecessarily angry and rages.  He takes a moment and starts to stroke her face.

We went for a break and when we came back we noticed the dramatic difference of lighting.  We were using natural light and as the sun was now at the other side of the house, less was getting into the room.  We are going to be using lighting equipment on the day but I am still worried on the continuity difference if not done properly.  I think it would best to attempt get all the footage in the morning, even though that is quite unlikely. 

We had finished what we could do for the day and just assigned roles for each other.  We all have to gather certain props for the shoot day and I decided to be in charge of making the necessary changes to the script. Our main priority is to find a young boy to play the role of Shaun as it is a key part.  Also, due to the changes we have made I am going to adjust my character description so that it suits the character more précis. I am now really looking forward the shoot.  Everything is falling into place.