As we now have the concept for the thriller opening sequence, we began thinking about shot types and laying out a storyboard.
[INSERT STORYBOARD IMAGE]
We decided that we think it would be effective to use a drone for a panning establishing shot; and then zoom quickly throughout the maze into an ECU of the protagonist's face. However, this may be difficult particularly as we do not have an official drone - fortunately I have a mini remote-control helicopter that we may be able to use.
This idea I took from this clip regularly used in Doctor Who
We have started to replicate the main shots that we will have. We created a test shoot to show a vague idea of how we are going to film the sequence. We used shots and audio that we have previously discussed such as the ELS of the protagonist walking throughout the maze. We are going to shoot our thriller in the dark and and use props such as a full length mirror , a lantern and a fog machineWe have also started looking at locations that we can shoot for the maze - we considered Hever Castle or Hampton Court Palace as they have tall hedge mazes which is what we pictured.
We also looked at using different sounds for our thriller. We looked at different compositions such as:
After presenting each member's ideas, we split into groups and began to discuss our final thriller idea. We debated about everyone's ideas, and finally decided to combine my idea of the mirror and Jess's idea of the maze and someone chasing the protagonist. We stuck with my general film idea that a young woman begins to have dreams of her death in 7 days (6 nights) and discovers that she is seeing visions. This film is of the psychological thriller sub-genre.
We created the idea that a young girl suddenly finds herself in a maze, she begins to explore further, unaware of a shadow following her. She then discovers a mirror located in the maze, she sees someone lurking in the background of the reflection. She turns around to see that no one is there. She turns back and sees that the shadow has taken over her reflection and looking right back at her.
We have begun to consider details such as props, costume, setting and shot types. We all agreed that we would like the protagonist to be a young woman dressed in pyjamas and carrying a lantern. This is to give the sense that the sequence is all a dream. We thought it would be really effective to film using unique methods: such as using a drone, and a fast POV zoom shot following through the maze.
We work together really productively, as we all contributed to the idea and discussed the overall plan with great detail.
we took inspiration for the idea of the reflection being different to the protagonist; from this scene in The Woman in Black
Yew Maze at Hever Castle, Kent.
We also thought of our second idea, which had the same concept but with different locations.
Today we each presented our individual ideas and filled out a feedback sheet commenting on each one. This will help me to consider what I should develop and what to avoid in my own idea. I personally favour Honor's idea as it's thrilling idea and the location is easy to film in.
I decided to go further with my mirror idea, and created a story based around dreams and reflections. this idea will be in the genre of a psychological thriller.
MOVIE IDEA: "Dream a little dream of me"
A young woman suddenly begins to get multiple dreams of her inevitable death, in a futile attempt to make
sense of them; she discovers that they’re actually visions.
my idea for an opening sequence starts in a large abandoned room, with
furniture covered in dust-proof sheets. The protagonist is exploring the room,
uncovering sheets and discovering what’s underneath. She finds an old vinyl player
and puts the needle on. We hear the song “walking after midnight” or “dream a
little dream of me”, she continues to explore the room and sees a tall but thin
object towards the back of the room. She walks over and takes off the dust sheet. It’s an
antique full-length mirror. She inspects herself in the mirror until the music
suddenly crackles out and stops. She turns to see, the needle has been knocked
off the vinyl. She looks back and she has a different reflection of herself drenched in blood and holding a knife. She looks frantic and starts panicking.
She suddenly wakes up, sweating and panicked.
Ideas with shots:
Start with a low angle CU of the sheet being drifted over
the camera, as the girl is taking it off the furniture.
Tilt up to a mid shot
of the girl. ELS of the abandoned room, to show the proportion of its size. The
room has a slight blue tint to show that it’s a dream sequence.
Over the
shoulder, profile mid shot of the girl uncovering the vinyl. Profile CU of her
face
ECU of her hand placing the needle on the vinyl and starts playing.
over the shoulder shot of her uncovering the mirror,
