The first step to improving our two minute film opening that our group have decided to do is re-create the storyboard in order to prepare ourselves for filming again with the proper DSLR cameras.
Here is the Narrative structure/storyline for our whole film as well as the first 2 minutes of it:
We also began to make a storyboard for the first two minutes of our film opening. This is what the first/original one looked like:
We realised that our storyboard was still not detailed enough therefore we began to draw it out again making it more detailed.
Here is what the new storyboard of the first minute looks like:
1. We are firstly going to have a black screen which will last for around 5-10 seconds. This will include the opening subtitles such as who it is starring and the title of our short film opening. It will consist of atmospheric music which will be police sirens or an upbeat tune to match the heart rate of the boys running away during the end.
Here is what we came up with: (Although the video may take a away a bit of the realism, we tried to just focus on the editing techniques used)
The idea could be to begin the movie with the black screen along with the low pitch music at the start to begin creating the tense atmosphere as desired. Then we could use a blurring transition at the beginning in order to sustain the suspense of the viewers who want to see what is happening. The blurring transition then slowly reveals the face of the dead person clearly.The different subtitles can fade in and out quickly to the beat of the music which will create tension and emotion for the viewer. As the first shot is black it will also create a sense of mystery and it will have not yet revealed the genre or what the film is about. The subtitles will also be in a different colour e.g. white or grey so it stands out and juxtaposes the background.
2.Here the establishing shot is of the boy dead. He will be situated in the kitchen and will have cuts and bruises with fake blood over him, this will be done by Amber.F as she is the Make-up artist in our group. It will be in the evening so there still will be a bit of light but mostly dark to add emphasis on the death. The innocent victim will be shown standing by with the knife looking shocked also covered in blood. It will last for a few seconds and will be faded in from the black screen at the beginning and will then fade out for the next faded in shot. It will be a close-up to start of and then slowly zoomed out so we can see their surroundings and the boy holding the knife. The boy will be dressed in a gangster demeanour to show that he is hard and was part of a gang lifestyle.Our first glimpse of the body will be a close-up of the head and hand but with a blurred head and a linear hand. As it is a close-up we can see the bling on him, such as a diamond earring and a chained necklace. Whilst the shot is appearing after the black screen we hear a load crash as if something had broke when the boy had fallen
3. We then go into an extreme close-up of the boy so we can see the blood and bruises on his face, this will fade in from the shot before and again will only last for a few seconds. His facial expression conveys sadness and worried emotions as his mouth is wide open and we see a tear rolling down his cheek, this then portrays innocence as the audience start to feel sorry for him. His face becomes highlighted from the forced light from the kitchen light. We can also see a diamond earring in the boys ear which also shows he comes from the same lifestyle as the boy on the floor. The atmospheric music will rise up on this shot to create suspense for the next shot.
4. We then go to an extreme close up of the knife on the kitchen side. This is an image of danger and foreshadows what may happen in the ending. It will again last for a couple of seconds and the atmospheric music will stop so all of the viewers concentration is on the knife. By doing an extreme close-up we also see the reflection of the innocents boys face. By each of the first shots lasting a couple of seconds it lets the viewer have a quick glimpse of the background story. A new background noise will occur and it will be soft and quite but still relating to a criminal genre.
5. In the next shot we see a shocked crowd looking into the kitchen after hearing a crash in the kitchen, the door creeks open and we see the shocked faces. As the boy is innocent of killing the boy on the floor we quickly pan to an eye which is either peeping around the corner or hiding in the shadows of a cupboard. This creates tension and suspicion as viewers then try to guess who killed her through out the opening. This slide will last around 5-10 seconds as we need time to pan to the person in the shadows and to film the shocked faces. Atmospheric music will stop here s the opening background story is finished. The panning action lets us swoop over the shocked crowd and allows us to see where the person is hiding and their surroundings.
6.Tables and chairs will be turned over in the kitchen to show the distress of the murderer. This also creates a shocked moment for the audience as this has not yet been revealed fully.
Extreme close-up of boy 1’s eyes before he runs down the alley
Boy 1 starts to run down the alley after the flash backs the next morning (day 2
Flash back 1 begins – Boy 1 dancing with his ex girl, and moves around the room a lot to talk to people. – Boy 1 pins boy 2 to wall after finding out what he is doing to his ex girl (violence) and everybody at the party tries to break them up
Boy 1 runs down the alley. Sirens and train noises becomes loader
Flash back 2 begins – Boy 2 and the girl have a big argument in the kitchen and Boy 2 is about to hit her. – Close up shot of knife behind the girls back – The girl stabs Boy 2 and screams – Boy 1 hears the scream and enters the room whilst the girl exists and finds boy 2 lying on the floor – Everybody comes into the kitchen with Boy 1 next to him and think that boy 2 has killed him.
Boy runs to the end of the alley
Flash back 3 begins – Boy 1 leaves the house and runs away by the back door of the house
Ending…
Production:
Setting: In the lounge and kitchen of Sophie Cramer’s house. Also an alley way near our school
Filming: Amber Fancourt and Sophie Cramer
Time of Day : Just as it is about to get dark on day 1 and in the morning on day 2 when boy 1 has run away
yardproductions 