Hero Syndrome - Reflexive Account

Initiating Short Fiction Film & Assembling the Crew:

Groups formed quickly for this unit. I had worked with Zac before in the first year for our Filmmaking Through Hitchcock project where we devised and shot a short film in the vein of and inspired by Hitchcock; I found we worked well together. I had gotten to know Robbie over having met on occasion and having worked with him in recreating a scene from a Hitchcock film during the Filmmaking Through Hitchcock unit also. As for Tom, I had not met him before, but Robbie recommended him as he had worked with him previously and regaled his talents with camera and colour-grading.

I bring up this aspect of the project in this reflexive account because, for me personally, forming this crew proved a significant stepping-stone in the development of my interpersonal skills and organisational abilities. Beforehand, I must admit, I had struggled with finding crews for projects and had relied on the course’s mandatory group collation system, which benefited me in such ways as for meeting and working with new people; but, for this project, I was compelled to gain some independence from such a system.

Ultimately, this proved to be an extremely crucial advantage because our group was formed at least a week before many others, thus providing us extra vital time for early discussions of story ideas and forming more a consensus on the narrative we’d eventually follow through with. This early progression and head-start was indelible in our group’s maintaining on schedule; every moment counts in all areas of making a movie in pre-production, production and post-production and a lesson I took to heart here was how quickly organising a group together, to begin with, sets in motion a pace for the rest of the project that which allows for greater efficiency, having divvied out roles and tasks to each member to begin with. This immediate establishment of role and hierarchy made for pivotal time saving on certain aspects of the production, particularly with pre-production administration work with acquiring locations and shot listing and storyboarding since every member knew which they were doing well before it came to enacting these jobs. A filmmaker needs every advantage he can get, and this time and organisational set-up truly aided us in the build-up to production; certainly, this often-overlooked aspect I felt needed covering in my reflexive account as it was true in my development as a student filmmaker and an important note which I shall most definitely carry forth into future projects, growing in confidence to go out and seek the right crew members. I look ahead to next year, my final year, for the practical project assignment and anticipate the usage of my skills acquired here in a principal capacity for that, perhaps my seminal piece of work upon finishing university. So, I am grateful to have pushed myself in these areas earlier, breaking through personal barriers and evolving as a filmmaker and the resolve of my character.

Early Concept:

During one of our first idea generation sessions, I proposed the concept of Hero Syndrome (a condition whereby an individual artificially creates a hazardous circumstance within in which they can perform a heroic act and be hailed as such by a conveniently arranged audience). This seemed to catch on within the group. The potential for what could be done sparked many notions and further concepts. It proved to be a hit for a starting point and got the ball rolling as it were with developing a narrative, ultimately forming the bedrock of what would become our short film. However, though this concept initiated a great spate of creativity and story-telling potential, later on in the evolution of writing the script and realising the actual story, there did prove to be a few limiting factors. Yet, these factors may have limited us in some capacity, though they also forced us to be more inventive with our solutions to the problems faced.

Sound Design:

As sound recordist and then sound designer for the project, I took much creative responsibility for generating the soundscape that would accompany and fulfil the film. Therefore, this section of the reflexive account shall be dedicated to my inspirations and influences in developing the sound for our film Hero Syndrome.

Even though Scorsese is famous for his use of music, one of his best traits is actually his deliberate and powerful use of silence. In interviews he’s credited Frank Warner for helping him do this on Raging Bull (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1980):

“After a while, we had so many sound effects, we always talked about pulling them out of the track and letting things go silent. Again, like a numbing effect as if you were hit in the ear too many times.”

If one goes through Scorsese’s filmography there are numerous and interesting variations on this concept. Sometimes, Scorsese builds the entire film to a climax of sound and then silence. Other times the silence is the central dramatic beat of the scene. Fascinating ways of using silence: to heighten the subjectivity of a moment; to make a creepy scene even creepier; to show us love at first sight; and to bring an audience’s relief and joy to a screeching halt. I think best of all, these sound design choices derive from character. The characters are all making important choices that will have consequences.

It is because these moments are repeated sparingly and deliberately in each movie, the silence feels different, and it’s tied to a different theme. It also lets Scorsese build a cinematic structure around the use of sound. For instance, in Raging Bull (1980), almost every fight scene is preceded by a quieter domestic moment. This lets him do certain things like harsh cuts into punches. But it also underscores the theme of the film, which is that the violence in the ring is just an extension of the violence at home. By the time LaMotta is attacking his brother, one can in fact register the same sounds that were heard in the boxing scenes. This kind of structuring around sound is what I aspired towards during post-production.

And it’s not just Scorsese who does this kind of cinematic structure. For instance, Saving Private Ryan (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1998) is bookended by two long battles. And in each battle, we get a moment of ringing silence, punctuated by a slower shutter speed and slow-motion. At the beginning, the audience is not familiar with any of the characters. At the end, all of them are known. Now, one might disagree with my interpretation here, but I’m convinced Tom Hanks’ character knows he’s going to die, and in both moments, he’s accepting that and continuing to fight. I think it's a great example using sound as an overall cinematic structure for the whole film. Key elements of this I incorporated into the film with Connor’s perception of silence initially representing a retreat from reality in his despair but then coming to a head in the mugging scene at the climax where the ringing fills the silence and he steels himself to be the hero that he dreamt of, creating a satisfying arc for his character and the narrative.

Consider 1978’s Superman (Dir. Richard Donner), which we paid homage to, where the titular Superman finds Lois Lane dead, having been unable to save her. It is a moment of palpable tragedy. In the midst of a movie with such filmic qualities as a triumphant musical score, colourful, flashy comic adaptation and relatively corny tone of a man who can fly – this moment of lingering silence as Superman struggles to come to terms with the loss becomes eminently more powerful and sets up an emotionally charged and raucous finale.

One might find that specific example to be a bit cheesy, especially in comparison to what I’ve been discussing with regards to Scorsese’s work, but at least the movie is willing to use silence to make us feel the character’s loss. Silence, particularly in the recent age of contemporary comic-book movies, has often been under-utilised or even misunderstood, opting instead for a constant barrage of sound spectacular, which has become increasingly desensitising. The film Superman (1978) is willing to stay with Superman through that entire silence; and that commitment to following through with the particular use of sound, or lack thereof, is what infuses the moment with emotion, stripping back the excess and emphasising the pathos of the moment.

When designing the sound and using the inspirations as discussed above, I considered the following at very stage and tried my best to uphold these key principals: silences are deliberate and to be deployed accordingly; never cheapen them by overusing them for any dramatic scene; if I can, build the film, structure it, so that the silence derives from the characters (especially with Connor’s point of view) and what they’re feeling; get something better than just silence: an emotional reaction.

Whether these tenets ultimately worked is up to the audience as with Barthes’ Death of the Author, the film lives or dies on its reception, with the viewer deciding so. In this, I can only hope my efforts paid off.

Bibliography:

Barthes, R. (1992). The death of the author, 1968. na.

Cross, B. (2014). THE “HERO SYNDROME”. School of Law Enforcement Supervison, pp.1-14.

Leach, J. (2013). The Art of Martin Scorsese: An Interview with the 2013 Jefferson Lecturer. The National Endowment for the Humanities. https://www.neh.gov/humanities/2013/julyaugust/conversation/the-art-martin-scorsese [Accessed: 07/05/23]

Filmography:

Raging Bull (Dir. Martin Scorsese, 1980)

Saving Private Ryan (Dir. Steven Spielberg, 1998)

Superman (Dir. Richard Donner, 1978)