L’Intervalle – The London "Cinéma, cent ans de jeunesse" Film Club

Situations where people may feel excluded:

Card trading.
Trading of more serious items.
Being left out of an activity or not invited somewhere.
Going to a film with brother and not asking a friend.
Black/other ethnic child feeling left out of a group of predominantly white kids

What people do when they are watching something they’ve been excluded from:

Discovering it on social media
Stumble upon friends doing something they’ve arranged without telling
Debate or ambivalence within yourself. Looking into distance – look away from object of envy
Pretend disinterest – or create hostility.
Do something stupid out of anger or frustration:
1. Making a spectacle of someone
2. See someone and confront them
3. Leave and avoid the situation
4. Continue watching from a distance

What groups do when an outsider appears as if they want to join

Most of the group remain quiet – send an emissary
Talk to each other skeptically
Carry on as if they’re not there
Invite him to join the activity
Some people are hostile, but others are inviting – there is disagreement – schism

SCENE 1:

Outsider watching group revising/eating/playing – from a distance. Over the shoulder type shot.

// Cuts to Fantasy Scene 1b – where he’s with the others having a great time.

SCENE 2:

This time filmed with the group in the foreground who then leave together – one person remains and the outsider approaches. Friendly conversation – they are old friends, but one has started spending more time with the larger group.

SCENE 3:

Outsider plays skateboarding game/ Tech Deck.

SCENE 4:

Group actually skateboarding.

SCENE 5:

Ending options:

Leaves alone
Leaves alone but one guy from the main group breaks away and catches up with him – but they end up walking in opposite directions with a broken teK DeK symbolising his letting go of the desire.
Skate park: A skater from the group gives the outsider a nod and gestures for him to join.

Final Film Improvisations

After a very interesting session where we explored real experiences of feeling jealous or excluded, the following are excerpts from the improvised scenarios that the filmmakers came up with as a result:

Group 1 Rushes:

A whole pile of rushes from group 2:

Routine, Ritual & Space

Today’s session explored the use of the camera to help tell the narrative and show moments of solitude and ritual. We watched clips from Between Us, Insomnia, Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and 500 days of Summer.

We also looked at the notion of a mcguffin (an object that triggers the plot to move forward), exploring how the engagement ring led the character in 500 Days of Summer to leave the party. We then discussed how this might relate to other films we had seen.

We then revisited a game involving movement and space, using the camera to pursue a partner. Here are some of the results:

Movement Game 1 (BFI Film Club.) from Joel North on Vimeo.

This first clip of the movement game looks at what might happen if the camera continues to move forward with the subject. There is a definite point where the camera moves much more aggressively towards Leo.

Movement Game 2 from Joel North on Vimeo.

Movement Game 3 from Joel North on Vimeo.

Movement Game 3 is particularly interesting as the Eugene and Sterling begin to experiment with remaining static and how potentially awkward this might become for the viewer. They then explore the idea of moving around the space in an unconventional way in comparison to Movement Game clips 1 and 2.

The final filmed activity looks at solitude and daily routines. The brief was as follows:

Film an arrival or exit to one of the following settings – home, playground, bus, classroom. Film the same sequence twice, using a variety of shots to allow the camera to explore the space and narrative of the character. Edit your two takes onto one sequence. Your character may express any emotion you wish.

Here is the clip from Thabit, Ian and Leo’s group: