Wong Kar-wai

Wong Kar-wai, BBS (born 17 July 1958) is a Hong Kong Second Wave filmmaker, internationally renowned as an auteur for his visually unique, highly stylized work, including As Tears Go By (1988), Days of Being Wild (1990), Ashes of Time (1994), Chungking Express (1994), Fallen Angels (1995), Happy Together (1997), 2046 (2004) and The Grandmaster (2013). His film In the Mood for Love (2000), starring Maggie Cheungand Tony Leung, notably garnered widespread critical acclaim.

Wong's films frequently feature protagonists who yearn for romance in the midst of a knowingly brief life and scenes that can often be described as sketchy, digressive, exhilarating, and containing vivid imagery.^[1]

One of the most visually entrancing filmmakers working today, Wong Kar-Wai is a man who creates films filled with dazzling images and characters with a sense of romanticism. Known for his broad ideas and unconventional techniques in the realm of filmmaking, he is an individual that refuses to play by the rules. He brings both Asian sensibility and French New Wave cinematic techniques to each of his stories. After finally making his return in 2013, with his Ip Man bio-pic The Grandmaster, it is clear that there is no other filmmaker like Wong Kar-Wai working today.

Born in Shanghai, China on July 17, 1958, Wong Kar-Wai moved to Hong Kong when he was five years-old. His mother introduced him to many different aspects of cinema ranging from the films of Hong Kong to 1960s French New Wave. After spending two years studying graphic design at the Hong Kong Polytechnic College in 1980, he enrolled in the Hong Kong Television Broadcast Limited course for production training and he learned the art of screenwriting. Kar-Wai took part in in an apprenticeship during this period which brought him to the attention of renowned Hong Kong producer Alan Tang.

Tang hired Kar-Wai to write scripts for various movies ranging from romantic-comedies to action films. Though they scripts were successful, and helped him to get a lot of work, it was clear that Kar-Wai wanted something more. Fortunately, it was Tang who ultimately gave Kar-Wai the chance to helm his first feature film. 

Last Period script

Untitled 

EXT rough estate mid-day  

SHANE is walking through an empty rough estate and listening to hard drill music wearing tracksuit bottoms, hoodie and a cap.     

Shane's phone rings phone rings he picks up the phone   

SHANE 

Yo, 

FRIEND 

Yo, what happened? You didn't come back with us last night. Where were you? 

Shane pinches the top of his nose clearly in pain from last night before taking a brief pause  

SHANE 

Nah, I don't shag and tell. 

Friend laughing 

FRIEND 

Get in there! She was well fit.  

Shane smiles to himself 

SHANE 

Yeah man, I don't know if I'll see her again. You know them tings.  

FRIEND 

Yeah, I get you. 

Sighing  

SHANE 

So, how was your night? 

FRIEND 

Yeah it was great I met this girl and 

Shane shakes his head and cuts him off as he's about to go to the job center to job seek.  

SHANE 

Sorry mate I've got to go, I'm at work now, tell me when I see you later.  

Shane walks into the job center with his head down still in his tracksuit bottoms and hoodie. He is holding his head from last night clearly still hungover.   

EXT outside the job center 

Shane walks outside then sits on the steps sighing with his head in his hands, Shane gets a phone call from an unknown number. 

SHANE  

Urgh, hello? 

STACEY  

Hi its Stacey... 

Shane looks confused whispers to himself. Pressing his phone against his shoulder  

SHANE 

Stacey, Stacey, Stacey? 

Shane has a look of realization, puts the phone to his ear. 

SHANE 

Ohhhh Staceyy!! How are you darling?  

STACEY  

Yeah, I just wondered if you wanted to come over tonight? 

SHANE  

Yeah sure babe  

STACEY  

Cool, oh before I forget can you bring drinks? 

Winters Bone techniques

Winters Bone Techniques Used

• Hand held camera 
• Lens flare
• Chiaroscuro
• Non actors 
• Some trained actors
• Some actors are family 
• Mostly natural lighting 
• Super 8 camera used in flashback
• Real set no studio used 
• Clothes an't made for the film they are 2nd hand
• $2,000,000 budget for entire film 
• $6,500,000 money made
• Natural weather 
• Some exposition but not much
• Improvisation used throughout between Ree and Teardrop
• Active spectatiorship is encouraged due to the lack of exposition 
• Low key lighting used most of the time 
• Strong use of guns and violence from the male characters

Winters Bone

Winter’s Bone

We start with a shot of Dolly washing her face in the sink and her brother and sister playing on the sofa. We then get a shot of Dolly cooking some food by cutting up some potatoes and putting them in the pan. The room that they are in is very cluttered and dimly lit, The only source of light is coming out of the window which has a red curtain over it. All of the things that Dolly is doing are something that we would expect a mother to do. This isn’t the case because Dolly is doing it. From the start of the film we can clearly see that Dolly will be doing all of the work and is the main mother and or father figure to her brother and sister. Dolly then opens the fridge and pulls out a tub of food that is for the dog . She then opens it and sniffs inside it and says “Better than nothing”. This is food for the dog, later on in the film we find out that they haven't fed their horse for 4 days. There is a clear pattern of lack of food. Even the food that Dolly is putting on is very plain and sparse, only potatoes. Dollys sister then takes the dog food outside and the dog is chained to a pole outside their house. The dogs tail is wagging and the dog looks to be very excited to be eating, this may be the case with the horse. This may be the dogs only source of food for a while. The dog's rib cage is clearly visible which is another indicator that the dog doesn’t get fed as often as he should.

One of the next shots is through a mirror showing Dolly brushing her mum’s hair. The mirror has a large hairline crack in the middle of it. The line is cutting through Dolly. I think that this represents the split personality that she has. She aspires to be a part of the army and be a mother and or father figure for her brother and sister. In this shot we see that Dolly is brushing her mom's hair. This backs up my point that she wants to be a mother and a caring figure because she is doing something that a mother would do to their child. We then get a mid shot of her brother walking in with a dog in his hands. Dolly asks “who’s this?” Her brother responds with “peanut butter” Dolly says back “where did you find peanut butter?” The brother responds with “in the woods” Dolly strokes it in his hands. This shot is the same shot that we left off at. It clearly looks like Dolly is the image of a mother figure, she is taller than everyone else in the room and doing things motherly while her Mum is in the room. We then get a tracking shot of Dolly with her brother and her sister walking down a path. Dolly is helping her sister spell house. Her sister is struggling and Dolly is helped her. Her sister at this age should know how to spell. This shows that she isn’t educated and that it’s hard to teach when Dolly has lots of things to do as well as teach her brother and sister.

Followed Evaluation

Followed Evaluation

Our plan for the film had changed lots over the course of 3 weeks. We originally wanted the film to have a boy and a girl coming home from a party with the boy acting more manly and wanting to show off to the girl. This changed to two girls coming home from the party and seeing a doll everywhere they go and that they can’t escape it. We have a cyclical story so that it makes the viewer feel more engaged and into the film. It was ambitious because we didn’t know if the story would feel too repeated in a way that the audience would get bored and not enjoy it. We stuck with the cyclical storyline but we mixed up different shot types so that the beginning and the end didn’t feel the exact same. We made sure that the main part of the setting was visible so that the audience knew that the story was cyclical. The reason that we changes from a boy and a girl was because the two actors couldn't make the shoot so we had to improvise and change up to story. The editing was very fun to do because it was all of our first times doing it and I feel like we used most of the features that it offered us. Using a range of music and effects to make the film work as we intended.

Followed story board

Followed horror story synopsis and ideas

Followed

Synopsis:  We start how we end with the girl or guy on the floor and we zoom out from this shot out of the girls eyes. What triggers this is the guy snapping his fingers in the girls face to get her to come back after drifting away. (Still in thought in names for the characters) Two people walking from a party a Guy and a Girl the Girl a little drunk and the Guy slightly sober. The Guy wanting to impress parents in not bing too drunk. They are talking too each other and the talks are full of giggles and laughs. They are walking to get home and the Guy want to get home quickly to impress his parents that he is on time and not drunk. They end up walking the fastest route home. Along the way home they see a doll around them at different parts of town. They don't take much notice especially the girl since she is drunk. They go through a tunnel to go home and they encounter the doll again. (Still in thought of how they encounter and or deal with the situation. We end ho we start making the film a cyclic narraitve 

Cinematic ideas:

Birds eye view shot
Using a drone for establishing shots
Voice over narrative for some back story at the start of the sequence
Only voice over at start not a lot of exposition
Low angle shot to show the object
Low key lighting
No names established
Heels for the girl to add noise and suspense
Boy: Jeans, polo and trainers