Reflection on Creative Media Directions, Film Narrative (ARD507)

Blue Eyes, Disrupted Narrative by Andrew Argyle

As I detailed in my assignment of the Influence boards, I enjoy comedy and the way they can take a simple event and turn it into a programme.  How I Met Your Mother, is one of my favourite comedy sit-coms and they actually use a disrupted storyline on a few occasions.  A disrupted storyline is a narrative technique, sometimes used in film, wherein events are portrayed out of chronological order. It is often used to mimic the structure and recall of human memory .  When I saw that disrupted storyline was one of the options on this assignment, I got excited as a disrupted storyline is something I have always wanted to try since I became interested in film making.

How I Met Your Mother, is an American sitcom, premiered on CBS in September 2005.  The series uses a framing device in that Ted (the main character) does a voice over narration talking to his two children in 2030, the narration explains the events leading up to how Ted met their mother.  The first episode that uses a disrupted storyline in How I Met Your Mother is called Lucky Penny (aired February 2007), and appears as episode 15 in Series 2.  Ted misses an important business trip to Chicago, and ends up retracing his steps through the past few days to ascertain what triggered the events that made him miss his flight.

Whilst it will be obvious to anyone who watches How I Met Your Mother, that my film of Blue Eyes has a lot of similarities with the episode of Lucky Penny, this is in part deliberate.   As it is my way of acknowledging how much this episode has stuck in mind, since I first saw it.   As I stated in my Influence boards, I want as a film maker to take iconic films and remake them in my own style, and although I know an episode of How I Met Your Mother can not truly be classed as iconic, but to me it is as it shows the benefits of using a disrupted storyline, and so Blue Eyes is my tribute to a great Television series.

Since finishing my Film Blue Eyes, I have endeavoured to get people’s opinions on it, initially this started with family and friends, but has also included lecturers, professionals, peers and ex Creative Media Students.

I have received several positive comments from the 3D camera effect on the opening credits, to the depth focus on Scene Two, Jaden’s fault.  Several enjoyed the comedy elements in Scene Two, Jaden’s fault.  I also received positive feedback on the crossing the Line angles in Scene Six: New Boat and Scene Seven, Blue Eyes (It showed enough of the other actor to provide continuance but not too much).

I am also glad to say I received some criticism, I did have the fear that the viewers would be nice rather than honest.  Some was obvious which I had already picked up on that were simple recording errors which I had been unable to rectify as time was short.  Others I have seen as a learning curve in filming like the Crossing the line, being on both Jack’s and Boat Terminal Assistant 1’s right shoulder in Scene One, Missing and Scene Three: Boat, it was something I hadn’t stopped to think about, and therefore hadn’t appreciated till after the film was edited.

 One smart eyed watcher spotted a continuance error – Jack’s posture in Scene Six: New Boat and Scene Seven, Blue Eyes.  The other thing I discovered with recording in HD on my Canon 500D is that the viewfinder doesn’t clearly show if you are filming 100% in focus, this is something to bear in mind when undertaking future recordings.

Blue Eyes I am proud of whilst acknowledging it has its flaws, but providing I learn from these and do not repeat them in my next film then that in itself is another benefit of this film.