"The Sea Room": Experimental Documentary

When it came to research, I wanted to get as much insight into the genre as well as the technical aspects of documentary and use of scene dramatisations, respectively.

With such in mind, I started my research into documentaries that might include scene recreations, relationships and/or the theme of body image as an indespensable part of their storyline.

A great example of a film almost entirely based on scene recreations is Sarah Polley's "Stories We Tell" where she uses a mixture of archival footage, scene recreations and interviews with her family members to try and decipher who her mother was as a person and consequently who is her biological father.

• This film showcased how easily it was possible to blend real footage with staged scenes and how that simply moved the story forward in a way that wouldn't be possible without the latter. Consequently, myself and my Director, decided to follow the same route once it came to staging some of the scenes, but always with the thought that they need to feel as authentic as Polley made them look in her documentary.

Another example of a documentary that showcases the raw-ness of being in a relationship, came with the interactive documentary tilted "The Skin Deep" by Topaz Adizes.

• This up and coming new venue of storytelling, showcases various different modern day couples who ask each other highly personal and intimate questions where they can only answer as honestly as possible. After discovering this and viewing multiple different interviews, did I realise that this is the only way that "The Sea Room" could be seen as a authentic portrayal of Jonas and Aiste as a couple, if they are as honest to the camera as they are to eachother.

And finally, I came across a photography project, created by three Lithuanian women, tilted "We.Women" who wanted to showcase women of different body shapes and sizes, in nothing more than their underwear, standing in front of a mirror to help promote body positivity and acceptance.

• A topic that was very much curcial and important in our own documentary, as Aiste suffers from an eating disorder herself. The very real notion that she was willing to face her inner struggles with the illness in the documentary proved to be a very healling journey for her and all of us.

"Bad Coffee": LGBT mental health drama

In regards to this drama, the main focus of the storyline is centered around the relationship between Tuck and Ashley. Thus my research focused mainly in drama films that contained a lesbian relationship and/or some type of dysfunctionality within it, in thematic terms.

The first film I discovered that proved to possess a somewhat similar storyline to the relarionship in our film is tilted "Ashley" by Dean Ronalds.

• The main protagonist is seen battling with self-harm, which is the same issue our character Ashley struggles with, and coming to terms with her newfound sexuality manifested in her interest in an older woman, which serves as the embodiment of Tuck in our film. Overall the similiraties in both movies are a few and the content of the story and its visual representation enabled us to have an idea of how we wanted and not wanted to showcase and elaborate our characters' storylines.

Secondly, I looked into television shows as try and find a programme that battled with similar issues of sexuality and mental health and that was found in "The L Word" by Michelle Abbott.

• The series follows the lives of various women who are in relationships with eachother and showcase themes of betrayal, addiction and mental health issues, amongst others. A good example that showcases how toxic relationships can be and how it can overwhelm both of the people involved, to a breaking point. An element we wanted to bring a bit of, when Tuck and Ashley's relationship eventually ends.

And finally, the film "My Summer Of Love" by Pawel Pawlikowski, recounts the story of a young girl Mona, a tomboy, who begins a relationship with Tamsin, an older upper class woman, which inevitably leads to heartache and despair.

• In conclusion, as with my previous examples, this film is another thematic example of how a young relationship between two woman can resulte in heartache and pain, as with any other heterossexual couple. These films were anchors that prevented us from straying from the message and theme of our film "Bad Coffee".