must do

Research and planning

• Research into similar texts
• Narration
• Titling
• Genre
• Conventions

Location Research

• Videos and pictures to show potential locations, why you want to use these, good and bad points
• How it fits your story

Moodboards

Storyboards

Scripts

Actor

It is important that the actor I choose for the film opening is what I envisioned, to ensure that the opening turns out as I hope it will; if the actor looks wrong, then it might ruin the whole of the opening. This is because I have formed a certain character and their appearance in my mind. For my actor, I used my best friend Ruby.

As of last Tuesday, I have had a very horrible tonsil infection which has left me in bed dosed up on plenty of antibiotics. Hopefully I will be having my tonsils removed soon. However, this has given me the best excuse to watch films day after day. Recently I have watched:

and many, many more

The worst storyboard to hit this earth (I am better at things like this I promise)

Also some pretty bad scanning skills. These are just my first ideas, I hope to do a far more improved and detailed storyboard if I have time.

Title Openings: To Kill a Mockingbird

This is a simple opening, in black and white. It shows numerous old objects therefore setting the time that the film is set in. Frames fade into each other giving a nice and slow effect, giving us time to take things in. I enjoyed this opening as it gives enough information for us to know what the film is about, yet it makes me want to watch more. I also like the black and white effect.

Genre of my film

My film doesn't really have a set genre. It doesn't fit under an obvious category but if it had to be, it would be a mix between Art Cinema, or Drama. It is aimed at a certain type of audience and it focusses on the main characters dreams and feelings and there isn't a clear story, yet there is a distinct relationship between two characters.
This film could also be classed under drama because it involves realistic characters dealing with emotional themes.
Genre is important as it gives a set way to shape the film and describe it. Patrick Phillips (1996) said - "Genres are formal systems for transforming the world in which we actually live into self-contained, coherent and controllable structures of meaning. Genres can thus be considered to function in the way that a language system does - offering a vocabulary and a set of rules which allow us to 'shape' reality, thus making it appear less random and disordered. At an ideological level, genre offers a comfortable reassurance, closing down the complexities and ambiguities of the social worlds we actually inhabit, replacing them with patterns of order and continuity deriving from the conventions of genre itself. Transforming the experience of living into a set predictable conventions provides a number of pleasures. These include anticipation of these predictable features and satisfaction when expectations are fulfilled. (At the same time the 'mix' of elements is slightly different each time thus providing just enough uncertainty for the spectator to be held by anxious curiosity).''

Audience Research from Sarah and Anna on Vimeo.

Anna and I worked together to collect audience research as our films are of a similar genre and it was an efficient way to do so. We interviewed six willing people from the common room, some of which did not want to be seen so we shut the lense cap. This is useful as it gives us an idea of how successful a film like the one we are filming would be and if anyone is interested. The questions were carefully thought out to help with different aspects of our film opening and to find what people liked. This can help us amend anything in our opening idea if we feel it is necessary. Interviewing people our age was also a good idea because they are part of the group who watch film/go to the cinema the most.

Film Synopsis

The film begins with the main character, a teenage girl named Cicely, sitting under a tree. She has a different style to other teenagers and her hair is a very bright shade of red. From this, we already see that she is an outcast. She is on her own and sitting under a tree that reflects her, it is very obscure and twisty. The girl opens her bag which was lying by her foot and pulls out a lighter with a cat on it, and some pieces of paper. She places them all on the floor in a pile and picks one up. She sets alight to a photograph and we see close up that it is a photo of her, a man and a woman. She puts it on top of the pile and the pile of paper sets alight quickly and easily. She's upset and her eyes are watering. The fire burns out and she slowly and sadly walks away.
She then walks to what we assume is home, walking along walls on her way and brushing past things without really acknowledging their existence. She doesn't seem to have a direction or any great need to be anywhere.

The scene then cuts to her at home, pottering around in her room. From this we see more of what she is like and the things she is interested in. The house is oddly silent. She sits down at a typewriter and begins to write something, struggling at some points. We see the words 'I miss you' and she signs off with her name. She then puts this in an envelope, seals it, and leaves the house. She rides an old-fashioned bike with a large basket down a few country lanes and eventually comes to the post box. She posts the letter and cycles away. Then there are scenes of her waking up six or seven times, all on different days with assorted clothing and hairstyle etc. On the eighth day, a woman comes into her room to wake her up and hands her a letter. Cicely reads the letter through, smiling occasionally but remains stony faced for most of it. We see 'love Mum' at the end of the letter. The camera then zooms out and she sticks the letter to a pinboard above her bed which also has many other letters stuck to it. In the middle, there is a family tree with blank spaces. There is no picture in the Mum, Dad or Brother boxes.