Initial cast ideas

 Cast ideas 

Julia: she is 16, brunette and has blue/grey eyes. Relatively tall, 1.68-1.75m, has scars from the car accident that we can always add on the actress. Vision impairment, wears glasses. 

Cast list for Julia: Lauren Bos, Sienna Friend, Gracie Lupton

Lauren: she is the fake mother, around 46 - 48, has blonde/light brown hair and blue or brown eyes. She is the average height, 1.64 - 1.70m. 

Cast list for Lauren: Beth Greenhalhg, Nikie (english teacher), Lottie. 

Aveline: she is the real mother, around 36-40, has brown/light hair and brown or blue eyes, her heigh is around 1.65-1.72 she has a messy bun. 

Cast list for Aveline: Stephanie glide, Danielle (carriers department teacher) 

Research into similar products - flashback scenes (Zoe’s Work)

 

Research into flashback scenes. 

I look at other media's portrayal of flashbacks, the screenwriting needs to have a clear timeline. I have found the 'flow of logic' of the timeline needs to be accurate, so the plot makes sense. There needs to be enough clarity through the whole script. I think it would be used full to write the storyline to the most film. 

For most film flashback should only be used if there is need for the context of the story, or used instead of the character speaking about past experiences which explains the way there are to an audience, its shown. For example Ratatouille. 

Flashbacks can easily confused an audience if not done right. Most films may have a couple used to give a background of an idea. But some films whole concept is the flashbacks telling the whole story through flashbacks and different people such as "The Hours" which has flashes back from the perspective of three different women. 

Flashbacks that has been well executed.

Ratatouille - 

How it's shown: The sound goes very quiet, as only can hear the bites, then the sound zooms (like a car zooming past or comupter restarted). The editing makes the camera zoom out around the man. Which the zooms to the man as a child, then when the flashback ends it zoom back out into the start. 

There is no dialogue but the flashback displays what is happening clearly 

The flashback helps give context to the character and adds to the story

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5m7SGjJo7c4

Eternal sunshine of the Spotless Mind -

The flashback in the film are taken to a literal sense in the film. The flashback are of the lead interacting with past memories.  The flashbacks change by a shot, there is a whole scene of him talking to his ex girlfriend, she goes to kiss him from an OTS shot and then it cut to a wide shot of him alone, no transition, she just disappears. 

Flashbacks can easily confused an audience if not done right. Most films may have a couple used to give a background of an idea. But some films whole concept is the flashbacks telling the whole story through flashbacks and different people such as "The Hours" which has flashes back from the perspective of three different women. 

Flashbacks that has been well executed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFHLE24hDQY

The social network - 

The scenes are key in the story of what actually happened. The film jumps back and forth to what happening in actual time and what had happen before. The scenes just cut through conversation, if the side text of what actually happened is needed. The story has more fluidity with flashbacks, they do not make you focus on the fact there is a flashback but more on whats happening.  As the film is about other people view on to what happened, the flashback help the audience to clarify to what is happening and who side with like. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-_tIPShuwQ&t=148s

Character and costume list

Character and costume list 

Final Storyboard

 Storyboard 

We all helped create this precise story board and describe each shot of the opening title sequence. 

Location

 Location 

For the location we have decided to film it in a room in hurtwood, the room is very big and has a fire place which will be useful as we want her room to look sophisticated and rich. We decided to use this corner of the room, as we can decorate it and fit ti perfectly to the characters personality.  

We decided to use this side of the room as filming in boarding school rooms is quite hard and this was the only option that looked decent and not like a boarding room. We also will redecorate the whole side and add different bed sheets and different decoration such as posters, pictures and lights to showcase her characteristics and give a sense of her personality. Next to this there is also a fireplace which we could make up close shots. 

This is a picture of the fireplace it looks quite messy, but we will take the desk away and clear up all the decorations, we will put a few simplistic candles and create a very sophisticated mood in the room. this way we can show the girls lifestyle. 

There is also a big window with a great view which could help with lighting and expand the view. We would clean the whole room and add specific features and film specific parts fo the room to make it look as realistic as possible. 

For the staircase we were thinking in filming it in the main hurtwood house staircase. Although it looks like school we can cover the posters and make closeup shots of her feet running down the stairs. These are some pictures of the staircase we would like to use. 

Jule’s Room mood board

 Room mood board 

Room mood board (iside) : Large room as they are very wealthy. Room has a bit of character shows Jules’s personality. It’s full of posters and there is fairy lights, hanging from the room. There are also a few green plants and a chimney in the center to show how wealthy the family are. 

- posters from different bands 

- funky but sophisticated vibe

- pictures of the family 

- sophisticated room 

- hopefully a fire place 

- clean room

- clothes and walls neatly tidied 

 

Feedback

Opening title sequence feedback:

Today we had a teacher who is going to be helping us with our ideas give feedback and their opinion on our initial opening title sequence. It went really well, although he gave us some feedback on his point of view and told us that the song resembling her trigger to her past could be a bit tricky to find due to YouTube’s copyright rules. Therefore he told us too keep in mind how we are going to achieve this song in the opening title sequence without getting it removed or if we could change the idea as for example when she puts her seatbelt on, this triggers her thought process. 

Location: 17 year old girls room, she has a basic room however includes posters to show her personality. Aldo we have to make it uptight as we will be filming in a boarding room, meaning a lot of decoration will used. 

 Story Board 

This is the first section of the story board, it is very rough and just a quick sketch. 

Camera Workshop

 Camera Workshop 

180 degree rule: 

In the workshop last friday Matt explained to my classmates and I all about the 180 degree rule. The 180 degree rule is a fairly important rule in the world of cinematography. This rule concerns the space between two actors within a frame. Meaning it is important to keep the camera on one side of the 180 degree line making sure the actors keep the same right/left relationship with one another. This is an important rule that every film follows. Said this Matt also gave us key words that directors say to keep everyone on set organized and ready for action. Some of these include: 

- standby, this is a technical term for “everyone get ready” meaning that this is what is said before the film crew start rolling and everyone gets prepared to do their role. 

- roll camera, suggests to the camera man that he can start rolling and gives the director a signal that the scene will start shooting soon. 

- camera rolling, is the term used for when the camera starts rolling and filming. It is important the camera man says this as this way we know exactly when the actors should start the action and no scenes are cut through.

- action, this term is for when the actors get there cue to start the scene and everyone on set must keep their silence until the director says. 

- cut, is the last techniques word sued in a scene and this directs the actor and the camera to stop rolling meaning that the sequence has finished shooting. 

The rule of thirds is a guideline that places the subject in the left or right third of an image, leaving the other two thirds more opened. It divides a photo into 9 equal parts, spaced by two equally horizontal and vertical lines. It helps draw the viewers eye into the image and places more emphasis on the subject. 

In film shoots it is important to not watch the footage back as many actors could point out insecurities or defects of themselves and try change them into looking like something completely differently. Therefore it is important the actor sticks to their character and not get too caught up on how they look in front of the camera. 

Marks are important in a film shoot as they give the actor an idea of where they have to be positioned on set to be perfectly coordinate to the camera. These marks are usually shown with the film lens of the camera and make sure that there are perfect in place so the actor knows when to stand when shooting the scene. 

camera shots for my ideas

 Camera Shots 

·                     mid shot of women from in left of machine of her working out

·                     POV (guy) watching her work out 

·                     close up shot of women from in front of machine of her working out 

·                     wide/mid shot from side of woman as in background can see the man

·                     close up on her face from the side as you can see him in background 

·                     extreme close up on woman face as her eye tracks to the side (she has notice the man but just ignores him)

·                     mid shot of woman front on and she starts to slow her pace

·                     POV (man ) closer to the woman as she checks heart rate monitor 

·                     POV (woman) check heart monitor (92)

·                     close up front on of women drinking water from bottle 

·                     mid shot of her drinking water bottle 

·                     POV (woman) place bottle down 

·                     POV (woman) tilts trying adjust her right legs/feet into foot straps

·                     POV (man) 5 feet away from the women and males gaze to of woman waist 

·                     POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to woman 

·                     POV (woman) still adjusting strap 

·                     POV (man) handheld camera as he takes a step closer to woman 

·                     POV (woman) still adjusting strap, begins to sit up and clocks man 

·                     extreme close up on women face as she is panic 

·                     zooms out to close up women is sitting up with man in out of focus in frame 

·                     POV (man) as reaches for women's waist and grabs it 

·                     close up on woman's waist, front on woulds with monitor swinging ('140 slow down') 

·                     camera tilts down and cuts 

Action list: ( vita )

• blurred POV of the girl waking up (vision impairment because of the car accident) ( 3 secs) 
• static mid shot of her seating up ( 3 secs ) 
• close-up to her hand reaching out to the bedside table to take the glasses ( 2 secs )
• static mid shot+ change the angle (e.g. from the table's perspective) of the girl putting her glasses on ( 3 secs )
• following close-up shot of the girl fixing her hair/yawning in order to expose the scars on her hands ( 4 seconds ) 
• static mid shot of the girl starting to stand up from bed ( 1 sec ) 
• long shot of her standing beside her bed and stretching for a second ( 2 seconds) 
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the books on her shelf) + rack focus to draw attention to the object
• following shot (from the back) of the girl walking to the bathroom
• mirror shot with the camera moving away from ECU to the mirror to a mid shot (creates an illusion in the beginning, that there is no mirror, but as the camera moves away, the audiences see it was a mirror after all)
• close-up to her turning the tab on
• "over-the-shoulder" shot (through the objects in the bathroom, like numerous pills), while the girl is washing her face
• static mid shot (profile) of the girl drying her face with a towel
• following close-up shot of her reaching out to a box of certain pills
• mid shot from the mirror's POV, as she can't get a single pill out
• close-up to her trying to get a pill out
• low angle "over-the-shoulder" (through the bin) shot of the girl approaching the bin and throwing the box away
• following shot of the girl walking out of the bathroom (the camera captures her from the front)
• match on action (she approaches the wardrobe) 
• close-ups to the objects in her room (posters, photos, neat clothes etc.) x4
• POV of her tying her shoes (while seating down on the bed) +she is already wearing the school uniform
• floor-level static shot of her standing up and walking away to apply her perfume
• "over-the-shoulder" (through the perfume on a shelf) shot+following shot when she takes the bottle
• close-up of her spraying the perfume (to show the scars again)
• static long shot (door's POV) of her putting the perfume back and grabbing her school bag 
• close-up of her hand approaching the bag
• long shot from the bed of her walking out of the room
• following shot (from the back) of her approaching the main door (to go outside)
• mid shot of her almost standing outside outside screaming "Mom? Dad?" in the direction of the opened door
• close-up to her checking her time (wristwatch)
• mid shot of her standing outside and the parents walking out
• close-up to the dad unlocking the car
• long shot (from the car's POV), as they walk towards it
• following mid shot of the girl getting in the car
• static mid shot from inside the car (the front window's POV)
• close-up to the dad starting the car
• following close-up shot of his hand turning the radio up
• reverse dolly shot of the girl suddenly getting a headache
• close-up to her face
• POV shot (from where she is), looking at the parents on the front seats
• the same POV with the other actors for the parents, in a different location (a flashback)
• 
  
• back to the girl's POV, which starts to get blurry
• a following POV of her passing out, the screen fades into black (+the muffled voices can still be heard)

groups for opening title sequence

                                 My group 

I was randomly put into a group with Vita and Zoe for my opening title sequence, as i was absent I couldn’t discuss ideas for the opening title sequence however I strongly feel that I was put into a great group as the 3 of us are very hard workers. The ideas for the opening title sequence are still being discussed as the 3 of us had very strong ideas however we will have a discussion about this as soon as I recover and I am attending classes again. 

Our ideas 

1 idea: ( iside ) My next idea is of this girl she’s kidnapped in the car and then a song starts playing, this song reminds her of her past, therefore we start seeing her memories of her childhood that reminds her of this song playing on the radio. The opening title sequence would be of the scene starting with the girl kidnapped in the car then suddenly the song starts to play and we get a quick flashback of memories of her childhood. She starts  reminding herself of the time spent with her family and there’s short clips of her playing in the garden and laughing and spending time with her whole family United.

2 idea: ( vita ) Based in a coffee shop. where the woman is waiting for the killer in a cafe. A long shot from the entrance of the cafe introduces the audience to the setting and the main character. Close-ups to her sunglasses, shaky hands holding the cup of coffee, bruises emphasise she was abused and she is trying to stay secretive at the moment. The mid shot, followed by an ECU reveal the texts on her phone (with the killer). A POV shot of her looking at the floor of the cafe and hearing distant steps (that are getting closer) will be interrupted by flashbacks to her boyfriend and him abusing her (shown through a POV as well). In the flashback only his legs and his fist (ready to hit the woman) would be revealed. An over the shoulder following shot (over waiter's shoulder) captures the waiter walking towards the woman's table to give her the receipt. A close-up shows her spilling the coffee, as the waiter puts the receipt on the table. A POV shot captures her opening the receipt and finding a note inside of it. A mid shot, followed by a close-up reveals a tear falling down her cheek (from underneath the sunglasses), as she holds the note. The camera moves closer to her hands and as she drops the note on the table(along with the cash for the coffee) and quickly stands up from the table, the viewers can see what was written on the note through an ECU ("I told you you would never run away with the signature of the killer.

3 idea: ( zoe )  It would start in a gym with seeing the lead women from a maze gaze POV angle. Then the camera flips to the women's view. She see him in the mirror, they never make direct eye contact. The rest is from the women's point of view. The camera cuts from the women on a different workout and he is still in the background. This repeats but while the women is working out the man starts to walk closer to her, she stops working out and freezes. We see her fitbit heart rate raising. The last shot is from the male pov, his hand places on her shoulder/waist and the camera zooms to the fit bit heart rates that reach extreme high. Then cuts.

4 idea: ( iside and vita ) The scene starts with a blurred POV of the girl waking up (because of the accident she has a vision impairment), followed by a mid shot of her seating up and putting her glasses on. Close ups to the scars on her hands and face (from the accident again) should be present while she is in bed as well. A long shot captures her slowly standing up and "over the shoulder" shots (through such objects, like school books on her table, clothes laying around the room and her pills are empty) introduce the audience to the setting, shaky camera movement capture the girl having a sever headache. We walks downstair and outside to the car as she is going to school. In the car the radio plays and the girl gets a flashback to being driving in a car as a child (camera angle pov is from a lower angle) and the people driving aren't her 'parents'. The camera flips between the two images of her different sets of parents driving. 

5 idea: ( vita ) Car crash (Vita's)The scene starts with a blurred POV of the girl waking up (because of the accident she has a vision impairment), followed by a mid shot of her seating up and putting her glasses on. Close ups to the scars on her hands and face (from the accident again) should be present while she is in bed as well. A long shot captures her slowly standing up and "over the shoulder" shots (through such objects, like school books on her table, clothes laying around the room) introduce the audience to the setting, while the girl walks to the bathroom. A bathroom mirror shot shows the character's face and as she turns on the tab (close-up), she starts getting flashbacks. A mid shot from the mirror's POV, blurred close-ups, shaky camera movement capture the girl having a sever headache. "Flashbacks" to the day of the accident will be added here while editing. Mid shots from the backseat to the front seat, where her parents were seating, close-ups to the hands of the dad (=the driver), pans to the windows, introducing the location, close-ups to such details like the fabric of the car seats will represent the memories the girl has of that day. A dutch angle mid shot with a handheld camera movement should capture the girl reaching out to the box of pills she has in the bathroom. A close-up will show the pills and a following shot will capture the girl falling down on the floor and dropping the pills. A POV shot (blurred, because she is dizzy) should show how she is trying to drink one of the pills from the ground. A floor level dolly zoom shot should capture her finally swallowing the pill and a static low angle shot should show how she eventually collapses on the floor. A POV shot should show how she is slowly closing her eyes. The titles will be appearing throughout the whole scene and the name of the movie will appear on the black screen as the girl shuts her eyes at the very end of the scene. 

The Lodger

 Hurtwood; opening title sequence 

So far i have noticed that in my preference the opening sequences work best with very little dialogue and a good soundtrack works best. For example, the opening title sequence the pursuit there was barely any dialogue however some was included this creates a mysterious affect which indulges the audience. I also think I prefer mysterious genre as it creates suspense and its a wide genre that many easy ideas can be told. Moody and gory is also a good genre as many ideas could be brought up. 

The lodger 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mYNWniPA8yo

The opening title sequence the lodge is mainly about a small family living in a cottage, with a extremely normal life. However we can identify that the mother is a murderer and is about get arrested. We can tell she is a murderer because of the cut up hand that she keeps in her kitchen. Suggesting the meat she is cutting for her family is human meat. 

The opening sequence starts with a pleonastic sound of the mother cutting carrots in the kitchen, and a background noise of the children speaking and playing a board game. There is no music or non diegetic sounds creating a feeling of tension and realism. As the mother walk towards the fridge there is a pleonastic sound of her footsteps, this diegetic sound gives a creepy and mysterious tone to this opening scene in the title sequence. As the opening title progresses, the first camera shot to be seen is a point of view, wide shot of the cottage and quickly cuts to a outside shot letting the audience have an idea of what is happening in the house before we actually enter. Then the camera cuts inside the house to a closeup of the mother cutting a carrot. Then it takes us to a closeup of a closeup of the mothers face. Continuing, we can see a wide shot of the kitchen and we see the family sitting on the kitchen table and the mother walking towards the fridge. The camera then focuses on the fridge where the audience can justa bout see a bloody hand at the back of the fridge. While the young boy is out of focus showing that they have no clue about this. Following this, the camera cuts to a shot of the mother standing upo and the father sitting down. The camera is acting as if its the fathers eyes creating a eye line view. This shot shows the mother status and how she is more powerful and knows more than the father. This then quickly cuts to a eye-line match view of the mum looking down at the father. With a shot reverse shot out cuts to the father looking at her back. 

opening scene ideas

Opening Title Sequences 

 The first idea I had was, that there are a group of teenagers at a party, it could also be a club or a house party, there all dancing there are different lights everything looks and sounds really fun, the music is loudly playing. Then this guy makes direct eye contact wiht this girl and starts walking slowly towards her as ther beat of the music begins. The girl is young and she’s holding a glass as she’s not looking the guy pops a pill in her drink and then the girl with no thought starts drinking this drink. After a while she starts getting dizzy and nauseous she quickly runs to the bathroom but as soon as she gets there the guy takes her and she passes out. She wakes up alone duck taped in a room with blood covered all over it. 

For the opening title sequence, it would begin with a shot of many colourful LED lights and a slow beat of party music, people would start walking in mainly teenagers there all dancing and having a really good time, this could be a house party or a club. There’s lot of poeple but at one point the camera gets a eye line match of this girl and this oh. They make direct eye contact with a flirtatious look. The guy starts to slowly walk over to the girl to the beat of the music the camera is following hid footsteps this walk could be in slow motion as the music continues to play. As soon as the guy reaches the girl he smiles at her the girl turns around and he quickly puts a pill in her drink and that where the opening title would end.

My second idea is that the opening title sequence begins with the end of the movie so its like a flashback of what will happen at the end. Therefore the movie it’s about this serial killer criminal group that have mission to assasinate poeple. Therefore the story would be that there at the peak and the police are so close to finding them therefore this is their last killing and they have just finished it so they are walking along the forest with large long coats and a really slow and creepy song to the beat of how they walk covoured in bloody hands and just smiling towards the camera,

The opening title sequence would begin by 5 poeple just slowly walking through the woods wiht a lot of style holding knives wiht bloody hands and in slow motion walking towards the forest as they have just finished their last act. Before this to introduce the ambience i would do some wide shots of the forest and just create a creepy and peculiar atmosphere that makes the audience uncomfortable. Then in the background i would have the police talking and saying how they’ve got them and there so close to catching them all this wiht the creepy and uncomfortable music playing in the background. As the police talk the 5 criminals are just casually walking towards the camera and smiling as if they were happy and creepily enjoying this. 

My next idea is of this girl she’s kidnapped in the car and then a song starts playing, this song reminds her of her past, therefore we start seeing her memories of her childhood that reminds her of this song playing on the radio.

The opening title sequence would be of the scene starting with the girl kidnapped in the car then suddenly the song starts to play and we get a quick flashback of memories of her childhood. She starts reminding herself of the time spent with her family and there’s short clips of her playing in the garden and laughing and spending time with her whole family United.