Film Structure - The Three Phases

We don’t want to be too prescriptive about what is filmed. Instead we have set out three distinct phases for the film as a general guide for our film-makers to follow and use as inspiration. The suggestions given at the end of each section are just that, suggestions! We obviously welcome any other ideas that fit in with the general themes for each phase. The three phases are: “Celebration - Caution - Action”.

We would like you to focus on the social, economic and environmental sustainability of YOUR world as YOU see it. The openness of the guidelines will help ensure that the film covers many perspectives and concerns.

The editorial team will be guided in their compilation and shaping of the final film by themes that emerge from contributed footage.

Music will be critical in fashioning the mood of each phase, acting as an influencer/interpretator of visual images, eg. dark beats or soothing chords to draw out the sense of the visuals; - or ironic use of music to give audio-visual inversions, eg where the impact of grim imagery is accentuated by accompanying it with jolly music

Phase 1 - CELEBRATION:

NOW! will begin with a tribute to the positive aspects of humanity as well as the diversity and majesty of our environment: a joyous extravaganza, celebrating the brilliance and beauty of human life, civilisation and the natural world. The audio dimension will be irresistibly positive, drawing the audience in, making it hard to resist tapping your feet. From the rich, colourful flamboyance of human culture, carnivals, festivals and parties, through to the simple wonder of beautiful landscapes and the intrinsic fascination of nature, Phase 1 will be an uplifting and exciting introduction to put a smile on your face and lift your heart.

Suggestions for footage:

You, your family, your friends, your neighbours enjoying time together - parties, festivals, events, gatherings, celebrations, just enjoying the gift of life and the love and laughter that we cannot put a price on. Film the beauty of your neighbourhood, the plants and animals you share it with, scenic landscapes, brilliant sunsets, sunrises, dramatic clouds and the moon. Film weather that makes you smile, dancing in the rain or playing in the sun. Keep your antennae out for eruptions of beauty and humanity amidst mundanity and squalor: this footage could be particularly appropriate for bridging between sections. Get out there and film the things that make you happy!

Phase 2 - CAUTION:

All is not right with the world. The middle section of the film will challenge the audience by showing vivid and dramatic examples of where things are going wrong. As the soundtrack takes a darker, discordant turn, the audience will witness the blight of the modern world in all its reality: pollution, urban decay, famine, corruption, war and disaster. Phase 2 will leave an unsettling sensation that the beauty of both human and natural worlds is fast becoming a reminder of what we’ve lost.

Suggestions for footage:

Film things that upset, shock or depress you. We could see images of sickness, poverty, hunger; streets crowded with traffic, waterways polluted, children playing in rubbish, people forced to beg, dirty factories, terrible housing, natural landscapes damaged. You might also get footage of violence and anger, the huge differences between rich and poor, dead animals and plants. Try to capture anything that creates a sense of unnecessary loss. We realise this could be extremely challenging to film but we need to show some harsh reality, essential to contrast with the celebrations that precede and the call to action that follows.

Phase 3 - ACTION:

We have the solutions. A change of pace and tone from the doom and gloom, the final sequence ushers in a sense of optimism. This phase will demonstrate some of the possible answers, ways in which by taking responsibility and individual and group action we can turn to our shared global problems around. Whether it’s successful direct action, a renewable energy project, an AIDS awareness campaign or a fair trade farm, this section should make a better world feel possible, and give a sense of directions, actions and tools that might help achieve it.

Suggestions for footage:

Footage that could leave the audience excited and motivated, believing that they too have the power to become a force for positive change in their family, amongst friends, in their neighbourhood, city, country and beyond. Film your heroes, people who inspire you; maybe health workers, doctors, protesters against controversial projects, artists and their work, spiritual teachers and practitioners. Maybe projects like charities providing food and shelter; organic farmers; people cycling; wind farms or solar panels; recycling activities; environmentally conscious art and architecture like earthships; community workers helping the elderly, sick or infirm; successful alternative communities; mediators resolving conflict in the international arena, neighbourhood, playground or household.

The challenge here is to film powerful and inspirational footage, principally without the use of dialogue. We want image and non-verbal sound that speaks eloquently for itself. Certain succinct phrases and sequences including dialogue may be used, but to make the film accessible to as many people as possible across the globe we want to avoid too much use of words.

Themes

It is likely that strong themes will emerge from the footage you send in. One theme we would suggest, which is particularly compatible with audio-visual collage, is: 'Life is rhythm and rhythm is life'. We would use footage of rhythms both visual and audiovisual, and these would be sequences that can be repeated and looped together to form patterns. Some possibilities are: heartbeat, breathing, walking, skipping, running, eating, chewing, cycling, exercise, foot tapping, thumbs twiddling, sex, cooking, chopping, drumming, playing, timelapse: sun through the sky , night and day, the moon, timelapse: flowers open and close, animations of food, water cycles, mum screams giving birth, baby is born, cries, old person dies, onlookers cry, writing, sleeping, waking, working, relaxing, waves, trees in wind, birds chirping, animals growling/making noises rhythmically, machine rhythms e.g. factory, trains etc. All conveying the circular, cyclical nature of life. We welcome other theme ideas from you.

Style & Technique

The film will be edited using the latest digital techniques and effects. We would also like YOU the film-makers to use your cinematographic inventiveness! You can send us straight footage, or alternatively if you want to send in footage processed in, say, After Effects, that's cool, though we would prefer if you also include the unprocessed source footage.
We will need a varied range of different types of footage so we would like you to consider the following styles and techniques, as well as distinctive ones of your own.

Extreme close up shots that capture the magic and wisdom in the eyes of elderly people, or the innocence of a child, or a beetle on a leaf.

Timelapse shots that can be speeded up to show surging crowds, streams of traffic, rolling clouds.

The human angle - we would like to see footage from the perspective of the human eye “your world as you see it”, i.e. hand-held footage, roving or wandering shots.

Atmospheric or scene-setting shots from tall buildings, hills or mountains, panoramics of brilliant skies, cities at night
Moments of stillness and calm as well as action and activity
Drama and tension will be enhanced through juxtaposition of slow-mo footage with speeded up scenes, accentuating contrasts between stillness and movement, tranquillity and energy. Changing the pace and style of editing (using cut-aways, animations etc) will keep the imagery fresh and lively.
We expect MiniDV will be the main format used though we can handle other DV formats. But if you have incredible footage on other formats, we still want to see it!

The audio-visual editing and sampling techniques pioneered by Coldcut and Hexstatic, where sound components on film are linked to their video sources, will be used to draw out key parts of the overall film message. Whole rhythms can be intricately edited out of individual beats and video frames. You can see this technique in action in the clips on the website of “Timber” and the “Natural Rhythms Trilogy”. We would like you to create strong audio-visual clips of your own - i.e. striking film images with an accompanying sound. It is not always essential that the sound quality is perfect for these, as the audio can be enhanced in the studio afterwards. What is important is the idea behind the sample. Which is why the chainsaw sample in “Timber” is so powerful.

Watch ‘Timber’ here.