Direction 10 Point Plan

Ten Point Plan :

Ideas of what the film is about and what it means to you personally.

For me, The Holding Pattern film is a story of rejection. Trying to achieve or gain something and not succeeding in your aims. In this case the rejection comes in the form of what I interpreted asylum. Bogdan is trying to achieve British status so he can work or live in the United Kingdom however the government rejects his application and he is sent home. The film deals with issues of loneliness and attempts to integrate into a society or even group of people. I think everybody viewing the film or reading the script can draw upon personal experiences where they have tried to fit in with others who are different to them.

Each scenes facts, images and the question is raises.

The Holding Pattern instantly asks questions from the viewer from the starting scene. Bogdan is stood on the side of the road holding a suitcase and looking at the passing traffic. I imagine Bogdan to be rejected at this point and maybe sitting down staring at noting as the cars fly by. His suit is scruffy the audience is almost feels he has lost the will to make any attempt at his appearance. Already there needs to be some answers, who is he ? where is he going ? why is he standing on the side of the road ? Straight away we are brought back to flash back mode and hopefully by the time we see Bogdan back at the side of the road the questions will have been answered as to why he is there and where is he going. Bringing the government into the film by the second scene gives the audience some clue into Bogdan’s life in the this country. The imagery of this scene feels very alone in my head. I imagine Bogdan alone in this office with the customer service provider manager. The sandwich and drink touch makes me feel sorry for Bogdan, sat awaiting his future with a little pack lunch that he doesn’t want to rush. Maybe due to appetite or maybe due to his financial situation. Sympathy for Bogdan grows as the next scene shows him reading a tabloid newspaper which I imagine to be filled with hatful, bitter comments about ‘thousands upon thousands of illegal immigrants in this country sponging of the great British tax paying family.’ Once again Bogdan’s diet gives us an insight into his life. Plain water and a small pastry for his lunch. The room is very cold and not well decorated, I imagine a small radio next to Bogdan (leading onto the next scene) or maybe a small bed-sit style room. The next scene is the only time I imagine the audience sees Bogdan relatively happy. Listening to the Romanian radio and dancing is Bogdan’s escapism from The United Kingdom. Maybe Bogdan likes the UK ? maybe he is here to try and work to feed his family back home ? maybe he has been forced to leave his country but longs to go back ? The audience is supposed to feel for Bogdan at this stage, everyone can relate to the love of music and to see, maybe a broken, man dancing and genuinely being happy should provoke an emotive response from the audience. However, from that short splash of happiness the film is brought straight back to remind the audience of Bogdan’s outsider role in society as he watches a football game, possibly through a fence. Putting up a literal boundary between social groups and Bogdan. Once again I see the scene as very alone, Bogdan is rarely in shot with anyone else throughout the whole film and when he is he is being told to leave the country. I think Bogdan sitting alone is a very strong image. Sat alone, counting out his money alone, waiting in the office alone, walking alone. It tells the audience in the clearest possible way that this man is not active socialite. I think there is a strong sense of sympathy for Bogdan throughout the film. This is achieved by tiny, subtle actions and mannerisms. When he is standing in line in the office later on in the film he holds his letter tightly, awaiting his sentence almost. Soon he will know how long he has left. Eating his lonely lunch and constantly sitting on his own. The audience should feel something toward him and then by the time the last scene comes and he is hitchhiking his way home hopefully the audience will feel sorry for him.

What the scene is about, it’s emotional event and how the scene fits the story graph of the script.

1.) The first scene establishes Bogdan as wishing to leave where he is now, whether it be to go home, or to leave the city or even the country. I feel Bogdan is thinking about one think and is oblivious to what is going on around him. Bogdan is trying to get somewhere and he obviously has no way of getting there, straight away establishing himself as not very successful.
2.) This scene is integral to the storyline as it gives the audience as clue as to why Bogdan is wanting to leave where he is now. Already you are putting two and two together and are starting to realise that maybe he has had some trouble with the government and must leave.
3.) The first scene we see of Bogdan at home is an important one. He is lonely and sitting alone reading a tabloid newspaper. The scene shows Bogdan in his habitat and establishes the character as not a violent or mischievous member of society but a quiet one.
4.) This is an important scene also. The dancing shows a very humane side to Bogdan that we wouldn’t see anywhere else in the film. It shows him enjoying himself albeit on his own. Maybe the music takes him back to his family in Romania, possibly the reason he is where he is.
5.) Once again, a sense of the outsider as Bogdan is sitting alone, whilst young groups of friends play together in the background. Still we have not seen Bogdan talk or even interact with a member of the public on an unofficial basis.
6.) Bogdan writing the email builds on the alternative personality of Bogdan. Maybe who he is back home. The email shows the audience that Bogdan is not completely alone in this world. He has just been removed from what he knows and is alone in this new habitat. The email works as a face-less companion for Bogdan. His form of keeping in contact with the people back home.
7.) The official letter brings us back to the story of the film having deviated from the reason to why he is here and why he is doing what he is doing. Bogdan has met with the government who have now explained their wishes in this official letter to him.
8.) The official story carries straight on into this scene where Bogdan is going back to the office to argue ? change ? or have the letter explained to him ?
9.) The swimming pool scene could be read as symbolic. Swimming alone ? Isolated from everyone else ? going nowhere ? or just repeating the same thing over and over and over again.
10.) We are brought back to the starting scene where Bogdan is hitchhiking his
way home. The story comes full circle and we now know how he got there.


Possible character objectives and imaginative back story adjustments.

The back-story for Bogdan is open for interpretation, as is everything in the script I feel. The audience does never actually find out why Bogdan is leaving the country, you just assume that he has been told to leave by the government. But why is he here ? There could be political reasons behind Bogdan’s exile and he could be forced back into a much darker story line in his home nation. Maybe Bogdan heard of work in the UK and left his wife and children with the promise he would return with money that will transform their lives. Maybe Bogdan has lived in this country for some time illegally. He does not interact with society because he is keeping a low profile.

The beats of the scene, it’s characterisation and action verbs ideas of how you might work on that beat.

1.) I think the first scene’s beat will be very subtle. Maybe just a look of fed up look or close of the eyes that breaks his stare.
2.) I think the moment where the Customer Services Provider Manager looks at Bogdan before he sits down is the most important beat in this scene. I have always imagined this look to be quite a dirty look. Looking down upon Bogdan.
3.) Hopefully, if I can find the right page in a newspaper I will have Bogdan reading a page on immigration, translating the words with his dictionary then maybe create a beat in his facial expressions.
4.) Maybe have Bogdan tunning in the radio and coming across the Romanian tune making the station find the beat of his scene.
5.) The football game and money scene, the beat is Bogdan’s disappointment after he has counted out his money. Knowing that this is not enough to send back to his family ?
6.) Bogdan could be very happy in sending this email or he could be very computer illiterate and struggling to type this email. I have not decided which yet.
7.) Once Bogdan has read the government letter his look of confusion is the beat in this scene. Disappointment. Confused.
8.) I think at the end of this scene, as Bogdan is waiting to be seen in the queue the beat comes when the person in front of Bogdan moves away and Bogdan is called to the desk.
9.) The beat comes with Bogdan’s relaxed look after his swim.
10.) The beat here comes from when Bogdan throws down his hitchhiking sign and look dejected from the world.

Research you have done and research you have left to do.

I have not started to research the actual immigration system yet. However, I will research the actual process of trying to gain citizenship in this country. How long is takes to wait and how long you are granted minimal residency.

Your plan of what you wish to accomplish.

Hopefully, by the end my film the audience will have warmed to Bogdan and feel tied to him. I think by showing Bogdan’s interaction with the public to an absolute minimum I can portray him as an outsider. I don’t think I will have any voices or talking in my film that puts all the focus on facial expressions. I think with the right music and good acting I can create an emotional scene by capturing a broken man.