atravellerssolitude-blog

[atravellerssolitude-blog]

Target Audience

The concept for this film has not been created with one particular audience in mind because the viewers are encouraged to identify with the subjects’ ‘this-could-be-me’ personas.  I believe that anybody can experience a sense of commonality with the four characters in the documentary.  However, some of the film’s key messages are directed towards the younger generation of today.  This is because in this particular age that we live in, there seems often to be a lack of emotional connection between people, or rather, a technologically induced failure to connect to the ‘real world’.  This is largely the result of isolating personal portable devices and the vast array of distractions that some people have in their lives today.  

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Central Characters

1. The Busker

Tom Ward is a Hungarian Spanish-Guitarist.  He is a traveling musician, currently situated in Sydney.  He spends his days and nights busking on the streets around Sydney. He chooses to play without amplification to a smaller, more intimate crowd rather than at large venues. 

I chose Tom as a subject as he is not motivated by money and fame, but rather is devoted to his craft, and sharing his passion with an appreciating audience.  He is humble, has a great performing presence, and his music is highly unique and innovative.

Additional information about Tom Ward can be found at: tomward.com.au

2. The Immigrant

Ruth Lampey is a Cambodian immigrant who is now living in Newcastle.  During the Cambodian Genocide in the late 1970′s, her whole family was wiped out by the Khmer Rough.  Eager to escape and start a new life, she immigrated to Australia where she eventually met her husband and has three children.  She struggles financially, but despite this, is so grateful for a better life, a roof over her head and a job to support her family.  She’s such a positive person with an incredible backstory.  Besides the trauma she has suffered in the past, she has been able to successfully leave that behind and carry on with her new life.

3. The Homeless Man

I chose a homeless person as my third central character because society has so many misconceptions about the homeless on our streets.  For some people it can be an unfortunate situation, series of events, upbringing or social environment that causes them to become homeless.  Sometimes it is through no fault of their own.  I have met and spoken to homeless people in the past regarding their stories, and have always been struck by how positive some of these people are, despite their terrible situation.

4. The Artist

For the final subject, I chose to use Lucy Cawood, a friend of mine.  She is an exceptionally talented artist and photographer, currently living in Melbourne.  Some of her work is available to view here: https://www.lucycawood.net/

I decided to choose her because she seems to fit the ‘struggling artist’ type of character I am attempting to convey in this documentary.  She hasn’t yet been able to support herself through her art and photography alone, but has a burning passion for the arts.  She works long hours at a cafe in order to support her hobby, and continue doing what she loves. 

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Target Platforms

Internet / Vimeo

It would be very inexpensive to create this documentary.  I myself would be able to undertake the various roles of producing, directing, director of photography, sound recording, and editing.  I would not need an additional crew.  For this reason, I would like to distribute on a platform in which people are able to watch it for free, and I believe that I am likely to reach a larger audience this way.  ‘Vimeo’ will be my distribution platform of choice for this project.  

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The intended ‘look’ of this film is a raw, grungy style in order to match the different city street environments in which  much of the film will be shot.  The appearance of the film, whilst it will be shot entirely on digital, will mimic the look of Super 16mm film. In particular Fujifilm film stocks which often lean towards a colour pallet of cooler tones will be used as a reference during the grading process.  The mood of the documentary will be conveyed through it’s colour.  Cool colour tones such as blues, greens, dull yellows and browns will predominantly be utilised.  The camera work will be entirely handheld to further match the look of a handheld 16mm film camera, and stabilisers such as dollies, tripods, steadycams and gimbals will not be used.  

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Prototype Video

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Purpose

The purpose of this documentary is to encourage the viewer to sometimes just stop and think about the wider world around them, rather than carrying on with their own daily activities and thereby giving no thought to others.  Instead of being constantly distracted by the chaos that our own lives may can often entail, this film asks the viewer to sometimes just stop to observe and appreciate some of the small things in life, and stories that make us human.  

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Project Description / Synopsis

A Traveller’s Solitude delves deeper into the lives of people that we would otherwise pass in the street without a second thought.

So often we live our lives, self contained and self-exiled in our own worlds of closed-off virtual reality and portable entertainment and digital networking.  As a result, we rarely give much consideration to what is happening around us, and the life patterns of others we might pass by.  A Traveller’s Solitude begins at a train station, and focuses on the story of four different people that we encounter there.  These characters — a busker, an immigrant, a homeless person and an artist — live completely different lives and each of the subjects has a compelling, identifiably human, story to tell.  This film seeks to expose some of the layers of these four people’s lives.