Initial Ideas

Initial Ideas

Before we came up with our final idea for our film opening we came together as a group and created two initial ideas which we then presented to the class to gain feedback. As a group we all immediately decided on doing an opening in the style of a thriller. One of the openings was the protagonist being abducted and the other was the protagonist stalking someone around.

Idea 1:

Rough Storyboard of Idea 1

The idea was about following a teenage girl throughout her day until she is abducted. This would be done in a montage style. It would start off with the girl being in the dark boot of a car (having just been abducted) not much will be able to be seen but the audience can hear her breathing. The scene will quickly change to her during her day before she is taken. These shots will include being with friends, at school, with her family, etc. Throughout this montage of the girl's daily life there will be flashes of her in the the dark boot. This is where the credits will be held as not much is featured in this scene. As the opening carries on the montage will speed up with more frequent shots of the boot. We were also thinking of adding her breathing in the 'normal' shots to intensify what is going on. The final scene would actually show her being abducted and then it would end.

The problems with this idea is that it includes many different locations for example, a school. This would mean we would need to get many actors which means we may be vulnerable to bad acting. We may also have problems with continuity errors as there are so many people in different places, Furthermore, this idea runs a high risk of becoming a cliche of other thriller films which could make it boring.

Idea 2:

The main idea for this film opening is the main character being followed by someone or something. This stalker will be the camera as it will be shot in a point of view style. This stalker scenario will be immediately recognised due to the first being watching the protagonist through a window. The character will just be doing normal activities for example reading or sitting at a table. The main character will then move but the shot will continue in one movement from the outside as they walk from wherever they were situated to the front door and out of it, whilst the camera remains outside watching them. As the protagonist walks across the front of the house the shot will then switch to the camera being situated in a bush but still following the character. Location will then be changed to a train station and the character walking onto the platform. The camera will be placed on the opposite platform to make it look more distant. Some non-diegetic music will begin to play but only quietly. Another key character could be introduced here by having the protagonist quickly bump into them. A train will go by and the character would have disappeared. There will then be the sound of a car door closing. A taxi (or just a normal car) will then drive off as the camera moves back from it. The audience will be able to see the character in the car squinting out of the window towards the camera suggesting that they have noticed something. The car could then turn and start driving towards the camera as if it is trying to run it over. The camera will then do a whip pan backwards as the car is about to hit it. It will then cut to a ‘flashback’ of the scene in the driveway, but from the character’s perspective as they look around after hearing the rustling of the leaves. The camera will then whip pan again but downwards this time and back into the road where the car was about to drive into the camera, but the camera is now behind the car, watching it screech as it comes to a standstill. The credits will be integrated throughout the opening for example, when the train goes by the film title will be revealed.

The problem with this idea is that it has a complicated concept. We will need to carefully plan this to make sure other people like our actors can understand what they are doing. It also has many locations that are in public places. This is bad as we may have problems with continuity errors as there are so many people in different places. Furthermore we would need to change the location of the train station as we can not film there.