Dreams of a Life by Carol Morley

Dreams of a Life

Dreams of a Life is a 2011 documentary-style film based on a real-life tragic incident in which a woman's corpse is found in her apartment in January 2006, however she had been dead since December 2003. Joyce Carol Vincent's death went unnoticed for three years, her TV was still on at the time of her body's discovery, she was surrounded by wrapped Christmas presents and the cause of her death is unknown due to her body being completely decomposed to a skeleton. She was only discovered because she was badly behind on her rent and the landlords went to repossess her apartment.

The plot is about the director of this film, Carol Morley, interviewing Joyce's close friends about their relationships with her to try and discover how and why she died and went undiscovered for so long.

Cast and Crew

Carol Morley:- The director of "Dreams of a Life". The younger sister of film composer, Paul Morley, she is best known for her work in Dreams of a Life, Edge, The Alcohol Years, etc. In the film, she stars as herself, behind the camera, interviewing Joyce's friends.

Zawe Ashton:- A famous actress known for starring in Dreams of a Life, Blitz, Fresh Meat, St. Trinian's 2: The Legend of Fritten's Gold, etc. In the film, she stars as Joyce Carol Vincent in reconstructions of Joyce's life.

Alix Luka-Cain:- A child actress known for starring in Dreams of a Life. In the film, she stars as Joyce Carol Vincent as a young girl in flashback reconstructions of Joyce's childhood.

Joyce's friends all star as themselves in this movie.

Newspaper Article of Joyce' death
















Carol Morley

By around the time 'Dreams of a Life' was being developed, Morley already had several Arts Council Awards, making her quite a famous artist filmmaker. She tended to make films that challenge how stories are told, often crossing the boundary between fact and fiction. Her films have been featured in several film festivals, galleries, cinemas, on Channel 4 and Film 4 and international channels like the Sundance Channel. She also recieved the Arts Foundation Fellowship for the documentary film genre.

Morley's first narrative feature film was 'Edge', which was produced with a micro-budget and premiered at The London Film Festival in 2010 and was later released in 2012. 'Dreams of a Life' was her first documentary feature film.

Here, producer-and-director team, Carol Morley and Cairo Cannon, discuss the film.

On the official website for 'Dreams of a Life', Morley put up her Video Diaries, which are set over the production of the movie.

Cross-Media Convergeance

'Dreams of a Life' spawned an official website and two companion games called 'Would Anyone Miss You?' and 'Dreams of your Life', all created by the company, Hide & Seek.

Interview with "Dreams of a Life" director about the British Council

Interviewer: "What's your connection to the British Council?"

Carol Morley: "Over the years the British Council have done a great site dedicated to international film festivals and I've always used that to find out about festivals and when to apply."

Thriller Coursework Construction

Thriller Coursework Construction

22/01/14 - We haven't filmed anything yet. We are planning on filming this weekend (Sat 25 Jan 2014). We are currently edit our Movie Title on LiveType.

25/01/14 - We filmed the first few scenes of our Thriller at Joe Howlett's house at around 6 o'clock. We are planning to film the other scenes on Wednesday at Jamie's house at around 4 o'clock.

31/01/14 - We filmed the rest of our Thriller at Jamie's house.

05/02/14 - Joe and I have pieced together some of the Thriller, but we are planning to re-film some of the scenes at a later date.

07/02/14 - We decided that we don't need to re-film our Thriller and we just need to finish piecing it together.

14/02/14 - We have finally finished our Thriller and have posted it onto Youtube and embedded it into our blogs.

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Production Schedule

Production Schedule Location Visit Sheet Programme Title: Difference. Writer: Joe Howlett, Marianne Webb Producer: Joe Howlett, Marianne Web Director: Joe Howlett, Marianne Webb Date: 15/01/14

Rough Sketch/Explanation of location and key points to note We will be filming in two three different locations, starting off with the drama studio in All Saints School, then we will be using one of our houses and then finally we will be going out into the streets to film the final scenes. Access to location via:   Drama Studio All Saints School. Name and number of location contact: Drama Teacher.

Health and Safety Issues to note: There is the problem of filming out in the streets and the obstacles of cars coming down the street when we will be trying to film the Thriller.

Potential Filming Problems: If we have the problem of not being able to gain access of the All Saints drama studio but however if this is the case we do have the backup of filming in a shed at the back of one of our houses. Another problem to us could be the weather, we would have to keep the camera dry so therefore if it was to rain, and then we would have to use something to keep the Camera Dry. We could possibly do something like just put an umbrella over the Camera.

Additional Notes:  (map of area/weather forecast etc) Here is a map of the Area that we will be filming at, on the A is where we will be filming most of the Thriller and then also on this map you can see All Saints School where we will hopefully be able to film the other part of the Thriller.

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Shot List

Shot List
Scene	Shot Number	Description
1	1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11	The main character (Jamie Martin) comes home from working late but gets in an argument with his wife (Amelia Braz) and storms out.
2	12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19	The main character walks out of his house and walks down the road, not knowing that he is being followed by a hooded figure (Amelia Braz). The hooded figure then knocks him out and the screen goes black.
3	20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28	The main character wakes up in a small, dimly lit room, tied up to a chair. He tries to get free and screams. Cue Movie Title.

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Risk Assessment

Group Members: Marianne Webb, Joe Howlett           Location: Joe Howlett’ House, Jamie Martin’s House

Hazard	Person(s) at Risk	Likelihood of Hazard 1 – Extremely Unlikely 5 – Extremely Likely	Severity of Hazard Outcomes 1 – Very Low Risk 5 – Very High Risk	Risk Level (Likelihood + Severity) 2	Measures to Take to Manage Risk	Risk Managed? Y/N
Filming on the road	Joe Howlett, Marianne Webb, Jamie Martin, Amelia Braz	3	3	6	Move out of the way if a car came by.	Y
Slipping on the road and pavement (it was raining)	Joe Howlett, Marianne Webb, Jamie Martin, Amelia Braz	1	2	3	Keep your footing on the ground.	Y
Breaking the equipment	Joe Howlett, Marianne Webb	1	4	5	Hold equipment carefully and securely.	Y

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Shooting Schedule

Day	Scene	Location	Equipment	Costumes	Props	Cast +Crew
1 (Sat 25th Jan 2014)	1-17	Joe Howlett’s House	Camera, Tripod, Boom Microphone and Pole	Jamie Martin: White Shirt, Black coat, Brown Shoes, Black Trousers	Cables, Chair, Duct Tape	Marianne Webb, Joe Howlett, Amelia Braz, Jamie Martin
2 (Fri 31st Jan 2014)	18-33 (possibly 1-17)	Jamie Martin’s House	Camera, Tripod, Boom Microphone and Pole	Jamie Martin: White Shirt, Black coat, Brown Shoes, Black Trousers Amelia Braz: White top, Small Black coat, Jeans, Trainers, Black hoodie, Black Tracksuit bottoms, Boots, Black gloves (maybe)	Magazine, Mobile phone	Marianne Webb, Joe Howlett, Amelia Braz, Jamie Martin

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Costumes and Props

Character Name: Kidnapped Man	Played by: Jamie Martin
Costume: White Shirt Black coat Brown Shoes Black Trousers	Props: None
Character Name: Female Villain	Played by: Amelia Braz
Costume: Black hoodie Black Tracksuit bottoms Boots Black gloves (maybe)	Props: None
Character Name: Kidnapped Man’s Wife	Played by: Amelia Braz
Costume: White top Small Black coat Jeans Trainers	Props: Mobile phone Magazine

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Storyboard

Thriller Coursework Planning Documents: Treatment

Treatment

Group Roles Cinematography: Joe Howlett Mise-en-scene: Marianne Webb Sound: Marianne Webb Editing: Joe Howlett

Title: Difference Tag Line: It’s not always the same…

Synopsis:  Victim wakes up in a dark room, tries to look around, and however cannot see anything. Kidnapper then says lines like “Isn’t it strange how roles can be reversed…”. Then the next shot that we will see is that a shot saying 12 hours earlier, the victim has an argument with a couple of his friends and/or family and leaves the house to try and calm down but ends up getting kidnapped after getting knocked out by the villain. The screen goes to black and the title of the film comes up. The villain kidnaps him because she wants a role reversal, instead of a man kidnapping a helpless girl, a woman would kidnap a helpless man.

Key Genre Conventions: Tension.

Thriller Coursework Storyboard Animatic

Thriller Coursework Ident: Skyward Studios

Past Student Thriller Analysis

Past Student Thriller Analysis

Channel for Past Student Thrillers:- http://www.youtube.com/user/robertclackmedia/videos?flow=grid&view=1

The Routine:- http://www.youtube.com/watchv=qNxP9HjpivQ&index=2&list=PL643A575553997720

The plot of this video is that the main character goes about every day in a kind of routine (hence the title). However, one day, there are things that are out of place, e.g. his right slipper is in the wrong place, there is blood on the knife he usually uses to cut his apple everyday. It soon comes to light that someone is out to get him and put him out of his usual routine. Eventually, the main character is knocked out and kidnapped by the mysterious man.

What makes this video unique is that, after showing his routine once, they reuse the shots used the first time for the next few times to show that this routine is repeated everyday.

Night Walker:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MU-b322M8w&list=PL643A575553997720&index=8

The plot of this video is that the main character is walking normally through the streets at night on her way home. Relatively normal things happen at first like the main character calling her mum, saying she'll be home in 5 minutes, and a man asks her for the time. However, the main character is then followed into a small road and kidnapped by a mysterious man.

I like the set-up of this video as a Thriller film. It uses a tense but ambient vocal song in the background (Wait for Me by Moby), the video is set at night, so it is dark (save for the lampposts) to emphasize anxiety and suspense to the viewer as usually, bad things happen when you are out alone at night and the credits sway or sweep onto the screen like smoke to portray a mysterious sense in a way as absolutely anything could happen at night.

Watch Your Back:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5L0aifQENSc&index=14&list=PL643A575553997720

The plot of this video is quite vague. It shows a man first walking up a flight of stairs to what might be his apartment and then walking through a neighborhood and a local park. However, it seems that he is being followed by a mysterious man wearing a mask. All the while, there are several sudden shots throughout the film showing photos on a wall, each showing a man in a certain location. It could be speculated that the main character was caught by the mysterious man as the camera (the P.O.V of the masked man) is shown rapidly zooming in on the back of the main character before the screen goes black. The final few shots show the man with his mask revealed to the viewer.

I also like the set-up in this video as a Thriller. There is suspenseful music playing in the background, the shots occasionally switch from normal colour to greyscale and back and there are 2 Jump Cuts when the main character enters the park that turn into Dissolves to very faintly show the characters last two positions and convey a sense of suspense and mystery. The editing is erratic to convey anxiety to the viewer, constantly switching between scenes with the main character, scenes seen through the P.O.V of the antagonist and shots of the photos on the wall. The narrative also seems to be non-linear due to the main character, at one point, walking up the stairs to his apartment and then suddenly switching to him in the park. I also like how the Company Ident Sequence of this film (A J-PEC Production) was created in a way that made it look like a major studio that would be the kind of studio that would produce/distribute this film.