Directions Unit | Director's Statement
Vince Gilligan - Breaking Bad Adaptation - 2x08 "Better Call Saul"
During this piece I hope to be able to establish some of the creative decision that went into planning and putting together this project. In what form I've adapted and interpreted the script from the original episode into my own, and how that has come across within my final project.
One of the reasons I chose this particular bench scenes was that I found it genuinely entertaining to watch, despite it consisting of very few shots, I wanted to try and replicate that within my work. For my detailed thoughts and opinions on how it turned out, I'd like to point you towards my evaluation piece, also posted on this blog.
The original scene (pictured left) takes place within a public playground area, with the two main characters sitting on a bench and conversing for the duration of the scene. The undercover cop on the left, and Badger on the right. A large part of the direction of the scene is told through their body language and I wanted to ensure that the police character was clearly portrayed as far less confident/comfortable than the character of Badger, who nonchalantly breezes through the conversation with little to no concern.
For my version of the scene we scouted out a playground-type area, with a bench within the Crawley area. (pictured right) are my two main characters, 'Young Man/Undercover Cop' (portrayed by Joshua Phillips), and 'Wayne' (portrayed by Amin Rissaoui). Through constant dialogue throughout shooting we were able to nail down the visual difference in confidence, through dialect and body language.
Casting
For this area I would advise readers to refer back to my previous casting post for further context, however I will explain the events as they happened. The casting process this time round began rather easily, I had opted to go for people I knew within my social circles over professional actors from CastingCallPro for a number of reasons. Initially I considered hiring professional actors however upon looking through the site and reading some people's profiles, I began to concern myself with how I would accommodate them while they were working with me. I currently don't have my driving license therefore making transport somewhat difficult, while also having to worry about feeding them due to financial constraints. I also believe that to some degree I lacked confidence within myself to direct people I did not know very well, however that's perhaps something for the evaluation.
I originally casted another friend of mine, Matt Fussell in the role of 'Wayne' however he was forced to pull out on short notice, and therefore Amin generously offered to step into the role. Another friend is briefly featured towards the end of the piece, playing the role of another undercover police officer who comes in to aid Josh's character in detaining Wayne. This was played by Jack Perry, another aspiring film student.
Locations
The only location for this piece was the playground/park area, found in the Broadfield area of Crawley, South East England. I chose the location because I felt that it fit well with the style of the original piece, while also providing us with more privacy than a street corner may provide. I also had to take into account the differences in British and American architecture, as rarely do street paths have benches on them, and unfortunately I couldn't afford the flight over to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Production/Costume Design
The style of costumes was always clear from the get-go. Fortunately for me both characters wear casual clothing and therefore didn't require a large amount of planning in advance, however it was important for me to show the difference in the way the two characters dressed. The police officer, while still dressed in casual clothing, still chose a smarter look than Wayne. Donning the beige jacket over undershirt and smart, dark jeans. While Wayne on the other hand is wearing a large jacket, lighter, more casual jeans and a beanie hat.
The production design itself was minimal, as we had everything we needed to shoot when we arrived, we did however have people waiting by the gates of the park wearing high-vis jackets to signify that anyone entering the area may be on camera.
Sound Design
Sound design is arguably one of the most important aspects of any piece of visual media, as it generates a sense of being, grounding you in that reality. For me it was important, as always, to nail the ambience, therefore while there is generic background noise within the clips themselves, there is also additional background ambience added in post. This further helps establish a sense of location within the scene, and while not having many characters present on screen, the audience understands that there is a living, breathing world around them.
For capturing audio I chose a Rode boom mic as it enabled me to capture authentic sound while maintaining a de
cent shot. During the planning phase of this project, I was considering using clip on mics to be able to capture dialogue from a wider angle, however due to constraints of the kit available, I was unable to acquire these.
Camera Approach
I knew that this was a scene shot simply from the beginning, rather than seeing this as an 'easy route' I took it as a challenge, how to construct a lengthy scene using such little differentiation in shots. The shots used are a simple mid shot/two shot for the majority of the dialogue. A shot/reverse shot over the shoulder's of either character, and a close up shot as Amin's character is detained against the fence and dragged off screen.
Mood/Tone/Visual Style
The mood of the original piece is very serious, however, like most of Breaking Bad, there is some humour thrown in there with the dialogue, so I attempted to adapt those lines into my own versions that were context-appropriate. For example, one of the things mentioned within the original piece is that there are flower vans parked inconspicuously across the street, which I decided to change to 'scaffolding repairs' as I felt it fit the tone of the area much more. Furthermore in order to achieve the signature 'Breaking Bad' colour palette, I went into the colour correction settings and adjusted the highlight tint to bring out the yellows within the scene. Thus replicating that of Vince Gilligan's own scene. From the beginning I always wanted the scene to look naturalistic, therefore I opted against using any lighting equipment for this shoot, helping aid the gritty look.
Editing
The editing aspect of my projects are by far what I enjoy the most, and I have much more of an interest in editing film than directing it personally. Adobe Premiere Pro was my software of choice and more information on this decision can be found on my recently posted, editing process blog post. In order to replicate the way in which Vince Gilligan often ends breaking bad scenes, this one included, I had the final clip dip to black on somewhat of a cliffhanger, with a portion of the audio remaining, before rolling the opening credits. This has been done many many times over the course of Breaking Bad's run as well as Better Call Saul. I see it as Gilligan teasing the audience as to what they're getting in the following episode. One of the most irritating problems I encountered within this project, which is made clearly evident, is a slight continuity error in terms of the way the camera is positioned between a specific piece of dialogue towards the beginning. This will be detailed much more within my evaluation as it is one of my largest areas for improvement for sure.
Conclusion
To conclude, what I set out to do was to replicate the drug bust scene from 'Breaking Bad 2x09 Better Call Saul', which I feel like I did. The shaky camera movements that are intentional from Gilligan are present within the master shot of the cop and Wayne sitting on the bench, even though this did introduce some issues later on in the editing process, I am overall happy with the way that it turned out. Although I do recognise there is significant room for improvement, I do feel that due to the limitations of equipment, actors and time (poor weather conditions), I did the best with what I could at the time.
During this piece I hope to be able to establish some of the creative decision that went into planning and putting together this project. In what form I've adapted and interpreted the script from the original episode into my own, and how that has come across within my final project.
One of the reasons I chose this particular bench scenes was that I found it genuinely entertaining to watch, despite it consisting of very few shots, I wanted to try and replicate that within my work. For my detailed thoughts and opinions on how it turned out, I'd like to point you towards my evaluation piece, also posted on this blog.
Casting
I originally casted another friend of mine, Matt Fussell in the role of 'Wayne' however he was forced to pull out on short notice, and therefore Amin generously offered to step into the role. Another friend is briefly featured towards the end of the piece, playing the role of another undercover police officer who comes in to aid Josh's character in detaining Wayne. This was played by Jack Perry, another aspiring film student.Locations
The only location for this piece was the playground/park area, found in the Broadfield area of Crawley, South East England. I chose the location because I felt that it fit well with the style of the original piece, while also providing us with more privacy than a street corner may provide. I also had to take into account the differences in British and American architecture, as rarely do street paths have benches on them, and unfortunately I couldn't afford the flight over to Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Production/Costume Design
The style of costumes was always clear from the get-go. Fortunately for me both characters wear casual clothing and therefore didn't require a large amount of planning in advance, however it was important for me to show the difference in the way the two characters dressed. The police officer, while still dressed in casual clothing, still chose a smarter look than Wayne. Donning the beige jacket over undershirt and smart, dark jeans. While Wayne on the other hand is wearing a large jacket, lighter, more casual jeans and a beanie hat.
The production design itself was minimal, as we had everything we needed to shoot when we arrived, we did however have people waiting by the gates of the park wearing high-vis jackets to signify that anyone entering the area may be on camera.
Sound Design
For capturing audio I chose a Rode boom mic as it enabled me to capture authentic sound while maintaining a de
cent shot. During the planning phase of this project, I was considering using clip on mics to be able to capture dialogue from a wider angle, however due to constraints of the kit available, I was unable to acquire these.
Camera Approach
I knew that this was a scene shot simply from the beginning, rather than seeing this as an 'easy route' I took it as a challenge, how to construct a lengthy scene using such little differentiation in shots. The shots used are a simple mid shot/two shot for the majority of the dialogue. A shot/reverse shot over the shoulder's of either character, and a close up shot as Amin's character is detained against the fence and dragged off screen.Mood/Tone/Visual Style
The mood of the original piece is very serious, however, like most of Breaking Bad, there is some humour thrown in there with the dialogue, so I attempted to adapt those lines into my own versions that were context-appropriate. For example, one of the things mentioned within the original piece is that there are flower vans parked inconspicuously across the street, which I decided to change to 'scaffolding repairs' as I felt it fit the tone of the area much more. Furthermore in order to achieve the signature 'Breaking Bad' colour palette, I went into the colour correction settings and adjusted the highlight tint to bring out the yellows within the scene. Thus replicating that of Vince Gilligan's own scene. From the beginning I always wanted the scene to look naturalistic, therefore I opted against using any lighting equipment for this shoot, helping aid the gritty look.Editing
The editing aspect of my projects are by far what I enjoy the most, and I have much more of an interest in editing film than directing it personally. Adobe Premiere Pro was my software of choice and more information on this decision can be found on my recently posted, editing process blog post. In order to replicate the way in which Vince Gilligan often ends breaking bad scenes, this one included, I had the final clip dip to black on somewhat of a cliffhanger, with a portion of the audio remaining, before rolling the opening credits. This has been done many many times over the course of Breaking Bad's run as well as Better Call Saul. I see it as Gilligan teasing the audience as to what they're getting in the following episode. One of the most irritating problems I encountered within this project, which is made clearly evident, is a slight continuity error in terms of the way the camera is positioned between a specific piece of dialogue towards the beginning. This will be detailed much more within my evaluation as it is one of my largest areas for improvement for sure.Conclusion
To conclude, what I set out to do was to replicate the drug bust scene from 'Breaking Bad 2x09 Better Call Saul', which I feel like I did. The shaky camera movements that are intentional from Gilligan are present within the master shot of the cop and Wayne sitting on the bench, even though this did introduce some issues later on in the editing process, I am overall happy with the way that it turned out. Although I do recognise there is significant room for improvement, I do feel that due to the limitations of equipment, actors and time (poor weather conditions), I did the best with what I could at the time.
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