Director's Treatment
It's 2002 and a rebellious 17-year-old, who has a strained relationship with her mother, is trying to establish who she is in the world whilst attending a private Catholic high school in Sacramento.
Lady Bird is a 17-year-old attending a private Catholic high school in Sacramento in the year 2002. She is struggling to fit in and establish herself in the world, which is made even harder as a result of a strained relationship with her mother, whom she is constantly seeking approval from and battling with. After she sets off to explore herself and the world further at an out-of-state college, the dynamic of her relationship with her mother changes for the better. However, before that, she must navigate through various relationships and the relationship that she has with herself. Lady Bird is a comedy-drama.
I was drawn to the film, Lady Bird as I felt as though Lady Bird is a relatable character to many in terms of trying to find her place in the world. I feel as though Lady Bird and I are somewhat similar in terms of our personalities. I also felt as though I could make it my own to some extent.
The film is naturalistic and must hold a sense of realism with it being set in the real world. Therefore, I have stuck to more naturalistic lighting (e.g., day light, lights in a gym, living room side lights) and naturalistic colour palettes as "the introduction of colour should never be obtrusive and that care should be taken not to depart from the convention of naturalism"(Street, 2018:5). By doing this, it ensures that the film stays realistic. When looking at colour palette and lighting, I drew upon films that were shot or based around the 2000s that I liked, such as ‘Little Miss Sunshine’ (2006), ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou?’ (2000), and ‘The Way Way Back’ (2013).
Eye-level shots will be a prominent feature as they create a greater sense of intimacy and allow for the audience to have a greater sense of empathy. In addition, I included shots like mid-shots, medium long shots, and close-ups. This allowed for the character’s costumes, reactions, and their relationships with each other to be displayed to an extent.
I created a mood reel to display the type of feel I wanted Lady Bird to have as well as showing some of the types of shots that I wanted. The audio/song that I used for the mood reel was Avril Lavine's Complicated (2002). I felt as though it was a song that Lady Bird would listen to as it's alternative and suits her rebellious personality as well as her relationships.
Aiming to maintain a sense of realism, I have chosen for the film to be shot in Sacramento. I looked at high school gyms in Sacramento and pulled out two that I thought could be adapted to look as though it’s 2002. I also looked on Pinterest at living rooms from 2002 and the 2000s for the family room, which could be replicated either in a house in Sacramento or through a built set.
Costume is an important aspect as it reveals a bit about the character's personality. I researched American private school uniforms when it came to the students’ and Lady Bird’s costumes. With Lady Bird I wanted to reflect her sense of individuality and rebellious side, so adapted her costume. I chose a pair of Dr. Marten boots as they are often seen as being a bit rebellious, like Lady Bird, and are like the Dr. Marten shoes Marion would wear, showing that they’re not a dissimilar as they think. Streaks and highlights were a popular hairstyle in the early 2000s and also differ from societal norms. I have aimed to incorporate a bit of each characters’ personality into their costumes for example, Larry has a bit of a geeky look as he was a computer programmer.
Bibliography:
Gerwig, G. (2017) Lady Bird At: https://www.dailyscript.com/scripts/LADY_BIRD_shooting_script.pdf (Accessed 02/03/2021)
Morris, L. (2018) 'Celebrating The Hairstyle That Defined The Early 2000s' In: Grazia 12/01/2018 At: https://graziadaily.co.uk/beauty-hair/hair/bad-highlights-hair-2000s/ (02/03/2021)
Oscars. (2015) Costume Design Defining Character. At: https://www.oscars.org/sites/oscars/files/teachersguide-costumedesign-2015.pdf (Accessed 03/03/2021)
San Fillip, C. (2019) Filming 101: Types of Camera Shots and Angles At: https://www.polarprofilters.com/blogs/polarpro/filmmaking-101-types-of-camera-shots-and-angles (Accessed 09/03/2021)
Street, S (2018). 'The Colour of Social Realism' In: Journal of British Cinema and Television 15 (4) pp. 469-490. At: https://www.euppublishing.com/toc/jbctv/15/4 (Accessed 10/03/2021)
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