Fiction Adaptation | Director's Statement

With the edit complete, I wanted to explain some of my choices throughout the production process, from choosing the sonnet to exporting the final cut.

As a group, we were also tasked with creating a short sting for the intro of each piece so that everybody's films fit together as a series.  It was originally decided that some members of the group would create this, but due to other commitments they were unable to, therefore I created the intro in After Effects.  I kept it simple, at only 6 seconds long so it did not eat into the films too much.  I kept to the theme of adapting fiction by adding the projector background which worked to bring in the film element, combined with the text that appeared with a keyboard sound effect to give the impression of typing, bringing in the idea of adaptation from a text.  I feel this could have been more interesting, but at the same time, I do not feel it should distract from the main film.





I chose 'Trespass' by John Clare as I felt I drew the broadest interpretation from it.  The poem draws from themes of isolation and almost paranoia from Clare as he embarks on a journey through the beautiful countryside.  The narrative voice conveys a sense of displacement, and a feeling that they do not belong, which drew me to write a story about a refugee in response to the poem.  With the recent EU referendum, rising division against different ethnic groups, and the rise of hate crimes as a result, focusing on a refugee who feels this sense of displacement and isolation would be a topical and potentially hard-hitting subject matter to deal with.

This led me on to write the script, which I decided should take place in three different locations to reflect a classic three part story structure: the central character's war-torn home country, out in the public in Britain, and the central character's new home, after he has integrated into Britain.  I aimed to comment on the discrimination against migrants by creating parallels between the central character's home country, where he is persecuted for being on the wrong side of the conflict, and in his new country, where he is persecuted for his race, religion and status as a refugee.  I chose not to name the country, as I wanted to bring attention to discrimination against any refugee or ethnic minority, not a particular race or culture.  I did, however, focus on a real-life and current model for this by looking at the Syrian conflict and subsequent refugee crisis as a basis for the locations and casting of the film.

Fairly late in the edit, I chose to rename the film from 'Trespass' to 'Home', as the main goal of our central character is to find somewhere he belongs; his home.  This word becomes a motif throughout the film: Abdullah cannot go back home, and he is told to 'go home' when he reaches his new 'home'.

The film itself begins with the central character, Abdullah, running from soldiers in his home country.  This scene is filled with various sounds, such as soldiers shouting, gunshots and explosions.  We can also hear Abdullah's footsteps and breathing so we feel more of a connection to Abdullah as he runs through the landscape.  The fast cuts work to emphasise the fear and turbulent nature of the scene.  As he ducks for cover and curls up, the audio volume rises as the tension rises and the frame blurs to give the impression that Abdullah's fear levels are rising and he is becoming more isolated in his position.

We cut to black, then straight to several hours later after the fighting has stopped.  I shot this footage with a slightly lower exposure level which I accentuated through colour grading in post production.  There is just ambient outdoor noise now, no fighting, just nature and Abdullah's footsteps.  The cuts are much slower now as things have calmed down and he is alone.  We follow him as he finds somewhere to pray - this scene establishes his religious background and demonstrates how Abdullah is trying to find solace in prayer.  The sound of water fades in as we see a body of water.  I have made use of intellectual montage to suggest that Abdullah wishes to travel across the water to reach a better life which we see mirrored in the next scene with the shot of the glass of water as he has reached Britain.  In this scene, I also decided to add a plume of smoke to the background to give a more believable representation of the setting.

The scene cuts; we are now at Abdullah's new home in Britain as he is being visited by a patronising support officer who does not understand the struggles that Abdullah has endured.  The scene is very awkward and uncomfortable through the performances of both my actors and through the edit where I have drawn out these long pauses and reactive shots to highlight Abdullah's discomfort.

The interview scene ends and we see a happier Abdullah as he is walking through a town centre.  I chose to shoot here as it is a crowded place with a lot of noise and movement to lead on to a sense of being overwhelmed by the new environment.  This also draws on the line in the sonnet "every stranger frowned at me", as he is surrounded by strangers, and the stranger he bumps into reacts in a very negative way to Abdullah being there.  The strong racist language is intended to strike a cord with the audience, bringing attention to the level of discrimination being inflicted on some people coming into Britain.  This scene overlaps with the final scene, which is introduced through jump cutting between flashbacks of Abdullah in his home country.  This brings the whole film together by juxtaposing Abdullah's treatment in his home country, which is arguably just as harsh as the racist abuse he is being dealt with in his new country.  By juxtaposing the mirroring shots of him running away from conflict in this scene with the flashbacks, we are left with the notion that as he is running from one place he is persecuted, he is walking back towards persecution.

Clare's isolation draws from his poor background and mental health which I have alluded to in my film.  I do not feel I have commented on Abdullah's financial status, but as a refugee, he is an outsider in this respect, so I have altered this to bring it into a more contemporary context.  I have also alluded to a psychological side to the poem by utilising close up shots to enter the character's psychological space, as I experimented with previously, as well as the flashbacks in the final scene.  This hints at Clare's own personal struggles with mental health.

The final scene also brings us back to Abdullah praying in a much darker location.  He is only a silhouette which solidifies his position as an outsider in Britain due to his race and religious beliefs.  The film ends with a shot of Abdullah's clothes - the same clothes he wore when he was running from his homeland - to resonate the idea that no matter where he is, Abdullah will be an outsider: he has nothing and cannot fit into a country that is not his own. "But, having naught, I never feel alone and cannot use another's as my own."