The document discusses several directors and films that have inspired the creator's final media project (FMP) about mental health and suicide. It describes how 13 Reasons Why by Brian Yorkey inspired the creator to portray a character struggling with mental illness and include a creative suicide note. Black Eyed Susan by Nick Rowntree inspired the use of visuals over script and evoking raw emotion. Films by Tim Burton and Martin Scorsese provided inspiration for incorporating romance elements, distinctive visual styles, and editing techniques to build tension. The creator aims to raise awareness of mental health issues and portray the experience in an authentic way.

1. FMP Inspiration
Brian Yorkey:
Brian Yorkey is someone I have chosen to research, not only because of his
directing style, but also because of the series 13 Reasons Why which is the
closely related show to what I envision for my final project. Yorkey is a director
that tends to use dark and controversial subjects in his work, more specifically
matters that cover mental health and grief.
Upon looking at 13 Reasons Why and viewing it myself, I feel it is a TV series
that needs watching and talking about not only by teens that see it as a “new
craze” but by parents, carers and tutors. Raising awareness about mental illness
is so important, if problems are spotted in young teens, such as cries for help or
unusual teen behavior, they will be more equipped to help. They could save
someone’s life, their own child’s life. Teens need to stop seeing suicide as the
only option.
This series really highlights how fast someone’s life can be turned around by
bullying and rumours spreading around a school environment. The bullying
aspect of this series won’t be used in my final product, however the young teen
feeling alone, even though friends surround them is a perfect way to represent
my main character. The way Yorkey has made it seem like Hannah has a good
social circle around her at school and supportive parents despite her still feeling
alone is very well directed, I see it as a very accurate representation of what
happens in real life.
I want to incorporate this sequence into my own film as I want my audience to
understand that this does happen in real life and it isn’t just something written
into a story to add a more dramatic effect to the show/film they watch. I would
like to portray a main character struggling with mental health and to show
supportive friends. I would even like to show a clip of happier times in the film so
the audience can see there are periods of light even when suffering from a dark
condition such as depression. 13 Reason’s Way was a good inspiration for me in
this case as Hannah Baker was assumed to have a good social life with many
friends, she went to parties and knew the popular kids.
Hannah Baker left 13 cassette tapes to explain the reasons behind her suicide. I
felt this was such an amazing creative idea. I want my character to leave a
suicide note as having no script, I feel this will be something the audience can
read, I think the impact of this will be shocking. 13 Reason’s Way has got me
thinking of ideas to make the note more creative but not just with the written
content. I have some research to do to find ways I can achieve this as I would
like maximum impact from my note, it’s a very personal issue. I don’t want to
cause distress and I am considerate of that, but I do want to shock a little and

2. raise awareness. Something that could perhaps stay with the viewer and get
them thinking.
Yorkey did a great job in raising awareness of teenage suicide and the reasons
behind suicide in the case of Hannah Baker. 75% of 13 Reasons Why’s audience
is 34 or younger, this is the aim for my audience. The series brings a candid look
at issues that have been hidden behind closed doors and not discussed openly. I
want my audience to be 15-34, like 13 Reason’s Why, as I feel my film will
attract a similar type of viewer.
Although some critics felt the series brought blame on school kids for another
teenager’s suicide, overall some graphic scenes in the series pushed vulnerable
people to seek help. 13 Reasons Why opened communication with not only those
who could relate to Hannah Baker’s problems, but to people who have been
touched by the effects of mental health conditions. This has inspired me to be
brave and add in suicidal behavior which is still a taboo subject. It’s ok to talk
about this subject.
I feel 13 Reasons Why provides the same thought processes that I have in terms
of target audience. Again, not only the immediate victims of mental health
conditions, but the impact on those surrounding them. I would like to reach both
types of people.
Bibliography
Anon. (2017). 13 Reasons Why. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/13_Reasons_Why. Last accessed
24.01.2019
Anon. (2008). Next To Nothing. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Next_to_Normal. Last accessed
24.01.2019.
Anon. (.). Brian Yorkey. Available:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Yorkey. Last accessed 24.01.2019

3. Nick Rowntree:
A short film that impacted on and influenced me is the award-winning Black Eyed
Susan, written and directed by Nick Rowntree. The film stars the actress Denise
Welch who suffers from depression herself. Denise also co-produced the film as
she wanted to portray her personal experience of depression.
Denise said she wanted to show the speed depression can descend, the crippling
effects and the return to the light with recovery. This impacts on me as I want to
produce something that shows someone suffering, their coping mechanisms and
how they are brought back from suicidal thoughts.
This short film gave me so much inspiration, there was minimal script involved,
the visual speaks for itself. As I am using song lyrics instead of a script, this short
has confirmed to me that my vision for my short film is feasible. As an award
winning short-film, Black Eyed Susan also confirms that delivery of this strong
message is achievable in this type of medium. This film’s title is a flower, this
flower symbolises justice. The flower appears throughout the film.
I can relate to the reasons a flower is used, as I would like to include the heart in
my film. People suffering from anxiety attacks experience a rapid heartbeat, I
would like to include different variations of the heart’s meaning in order to
highlight this and for this reason, I would like to carry out my project in a home.
The kitchen is the heart of the home, people describe food as ‘hearty’, a romance
element has a heart connection and a fireplace is also described as the heart of
the home. I would like to be able to link these parts in my film in a similar way to
the flower link in Black Eyed Susan. Home is where the heart is.
Other film directors have used this technique such as Spielberg in Schlinder’s
List. The movie was shot in black and white except for the use of four colour
images. One of the four was a little girl wearing a red coat. The little girl stood
out so much to the viewer, people were watching in the hope that she would
survive the atrocities happening all around her. Spielberg said of one of the main
characters of the movie, Oskar Schindler, that seeing this little girl was a moral
turning point for the character.
In the movie The Sixth Sense, M. Night Shymalan used the colour red whenever
a supernatural scene occurred, highlighting deeply emotional scenes. Red was
barely used in any other circumstance and whenever the deep red colour
occurred, the background was paled out. The director said of his choice to use
red in these scenes, "anything in the real world that has been tainted by the other
world" and "to connote really explosively emotional moments and situations"
I find direction such as this so inspiring. It is this type of creativity that I will
strive to achieve in my film.
Going back to Black Eyed Susan, the interesting connection between this film and
mine is the music connection. Denise’s son Matt Healy of the popular band, The
1975, wrote the soundtrack for the film. It was after the birth of Matt in 1989
that Denise started suffering from post-natal depression which led to clinical

4. depression. In order to ‘get in the mood’ to act the part, Denise played another
song by Matt, ‘She Lays Down’. This song was written about Denise’s long battle
with depression. Denise also played this song to her crew who all had tears in
their eyes by the end of the track, just before filming.
I am hoping to provoke this kind of raw emotion whilst filming my film. The
soundtrack, Fire Away by Niall Horan has a similar content. I would like to play
the song to my cast / crew prior to filming so they can fully understand the
nature of the film and the parts they are playing / recording. Black Eyed Susan
has definitely inspired me to do that, I didn’t realise how important that aspect
is.
I would also like to use a cast of ordinary people living normal lives in order to
highlight that mental health can impact on anyone. For example, someone who
appears to be a normal teenager doing normal things with his girlfriend, could
have a much darker life behind closed doors and could be struggling getting
through life each day.
This is like Black Eyed Susan where the opening scene shows three friends
having lunch in the sunshine. Although to an outsider everything appears normal,
one of the friends has a sudden onset of depression that comes over her for no
apparent reason.
I feel the success of these films comes down to the authentic emotion. Cast
members and crew can relate to the films’ content whilst filming. I feel this
emotion is passed on to the viewer as it is so real and genuine. This is something
I really hope to achieve in my film, it’s such an important aspect in making this
kind of film.
Barbara Hodgson. (2017). Denise Welch's depression film wins best drama award
at American film festival. Available: https://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/whats-
on/film-news/denise-welchs-depression-film-wins-12963907. Last accessed
24.01.2019.
Anon. (1993). The Girl In The Red Coat. Available:
https://www.shmoop.com/schindlers-list/girl-red-coat-symbol.html. Last accessed
24.01.2019.
Rapid Readers. (2017). What Does The Colour Red Symbolise In "The Sixth
Sense". Available: https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/76471/what-
does-the-color-red-symbolize-in-the-sixth-sense. Last accessed 24.01.2019.

5. Tim Burton:
Tim Burton is a big inspiration regarding my final project. I like his
directing/producing style with his films. Although his films have a dark theme to
them, his romance ones hold that element that I want in my own film. I feel the
genre I want to go for in my film is romance, with that hint of tension between
the characters to keep my audience hooked into the story. I think Tim Burton is a
great example of directors that keep their audiences hooked into a film as they
hold that mysterious element that isn’t revealed until the end of the film. Burton
has a very distinct directing style, without having to read who the
director/producer is when first watching one of his films, it is made obvious
within the first few seconds of the opening scene that it is a T im Burton film
because of the music and editing style.
One Tim Burton film that shows more romance than others is his movie starring
Johnny Depp: Edward Scissorhands. Although not an animation, Edward
Scissorhands holds an animated style to it because of Burton’s past when
creating movies. As he started out as an animation director, Burton’s films still
hold that element to them with unrealistic looking sets/backgrounds. This film
shows an almost forbidden romance between a normal teenage girl and
scientifically made man.
Another example of a romance film by Burton is Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride,
released in 2005. Corpse Bride is an animated film, however due to the graphics
of the movie it is obvious that it is a Burton film. Burton’s animated movies are
very obviously his when looking at the characters facial design. The characters
tend to have sunken faces in the jaw area, the head seemingly rounded. Their
eyes are large, usually with dark circles round the edges and noses tend to be
very long, taking up most of the face; mouths tend to be no wider than the nose.
Burton’s camera techniques are different to what most directors’ use in their
films. He experiments with shots that are deemed as “tricky” i.e. using the wing
mirrors of a car or a mirror on the inside of a wardrobe door to show reflections
and characters facial expressions instead of pointing the camera at their faces;
this is especially apparent in Edward Scissorhands. I would really like to try out
some more daring shots in my film.
Burton uses a monochromatic style in his movies, mainly using black and white.
This means that the splashes of more vivid colours like red and yellow are more
meaningful in his films. I plan on using dull colours in my film to make the more
vivid colours, like those used in the flashback and the fire, stand out more and
give the film more of an identity. In my film, I’m going to have my actors dress in
the typical Burton colours, black and white. I’m going to have my strong female
character dress in white/light clothing to emphasise her purity and positive
influence on my male character who will wear shades of black and dark colours,
to emphasise the dark place he is in. Tim Burton also has a lot of strong female
characters in his films, especially Alice In Wonderland, best shown when Alice

6. chops off the Jabberwocky’s head at the end of the film. I’m going to use
Burton’s idea of having a strong female character in my film, instead of the male
character being the source of power in the film, most of the internal strength and
resolve will be displayed by the female lead.
Bibliography
IMDb. (1971). Tim Burton - Director. Available:
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000318/. Last accessed 21.01.2019.
Fraley, J. (2013). Edward Scissorhands (1990). Available:
http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=20283. Last accessed 21.01.2019.
IMDb. (2005). Corpse Bride. Available:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0121164/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1. Last accessed
21.01.2019.
Tim Burton. (2010). Alice In Wonderland (2010). Available:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/. Last accessed 24.01.2019.

7. Martin Scorsese
Although not originally a romance movie director, Scorsese is another director I
feel is good inspiration for my FMP. His filming style is more aimed towards
gangster films, but the films that hold a romance aspect to them aren’t dissimilar
to what I want to create myself. Similarly with Tim Burton, Scorsese knows how
to keep his audience hooked to a film because of the plot and storyline he has
based the film upon. Scorsese’s directing style isn’t as obvious as Burton’s,
however it is easy to know when a film is his own because of how meticulous he
is when creating the film.
One of his most famous “romance” films is Hugo, based in Paris in the 1930s.
Hugo is more of an adventure/fantasy movie the romance aspect of the film is
what I am looking at mostly. Hugo and his ‘love interest’ are friends before they
seek any form of romance, both of them wanting an adventure more so than
anything else. Hugo is portrayed as someone that is trying to find his purpose,
something I would like to do within my own film. This film doesn’t focus solely on
the romance side of the pair, but more so the adventure they take to get into
that position in the first instance. This is something I would like to do within my
own film myself as I feel it best reflects how I am going to get the point of the
film across to my viewers; it seemed to work in Scorsese’ case.
Scorsese’s editing techniques, in order to create tension, cuts between scenes
and certain events very quickly to emphasise the situation in a certain event
happening in the film. I’d like to incorporate this editing style into my own film,
to create tension where necessary in order to keep my audience interested in the
plot of the film.
Bibliography
Ben. (2012). Hugo (2011): “It’s impossibly romantic”. Available:
https://magicoficecream.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/hugo-2011-its-impossibly-
romantic/. Last accessed 24.01.2019.
A&E Televison Networks. (2014). Martin Scorsese Biography Producer, Director
(1942–). Available: https://www.biography.com/people/martin-scorsese-
9476727. Last accessed 24.01.2019.
IMDb. (2011). Hugo (2011): “It’s impossibly romantic”. Available:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0970179/. Last accessed 24.01.2019.
Di Mattia, J. (2016). Scorsese & Schoonmaker: Symbiotic Filmmaking. Available:
https://2015.acmi.net.au/acmi-channel/2016/scorsese-schoonmaker-symbiotic-
filmmaking/. Last accessed 28.01.2019.