It's crazy to talk about this now after already having it done for almost a week, but I wanted to dedicate this post on the storyboard I created and how I can apply past research I did to my overall opening. This doesn't mean I'm gonna stop research, I still want to have more details on how to make every aspect of my opening have meaning. I posted the storyboard in my last blog, but I'll show it again here for reference.
(Also, the project name was just "Film opening" at the time because we still didn't have a title in mind.)
Mara's Room
These sequence of shots was an attempt of following the outline of the opening. There are a few frames, like the medium and long shots, that might be changed if I can find out if there's a better way to display them. I don't want to just add a huge variety of shots that don't have much meaning to them. For the first scene, of Mara in her room, I cut down the amount of shots in the storyboard because of space. I'm thinking I can make a separate storyboard to display just that part. There will be a variety of shots establishing the room (the mess, the note, a picture with her and her sister) while also showing the credits. That's the most important reason why I need to have multiple shots in the room. However, I still also have that problem with time during the film. I'll need to see how I can limit it.
Also, I want to add that we decided to get rid of the flashback idea. It simply takes up too much time and could add some confusion and mix of mood. It also won't give too much away in the opening. We wanted the letter to be really noticed later in the film, after Mara's death.
Interaction between the two sisters
Moving on from that part, when Valerie walks in to Mara's room, I simply used long and medium shots to focus on the dialogue between the two characters. A shot-reverse-shot will be used between their conversation. I'm thinking of including a contrast in lighting between the open door in her room, emphasizing the mindset between the two characters and how they feel about each other. The script isn't finished yet (I might still need to do research on that too), but this is where most of the dialogue will take place. The sisters have a strong bond, but as most siblings are, aren't afraid to point out their flaws. From there, the focus shifts to Valerie, she closes the door and (maybe) the lighting could become brighter.
Graphic Match
From here, I wanted to incorporate both graphic matches and crosscutting, also known as parallel editing. These techniques, of course, show the contrast in what they're doing and how they feel about their daily lives. During this part of the scene, to help with time, I could add any credits that I don't have enough time to add for in the first scene. When the camera tracks Valerie to her room, I could use the same shot showing Valerie's room compared to Mara's room. However, for this to work the way I want it to, it would be best to have the rooms similar in composition. Since we're filming everything in one house, we should probably look for bedrooms of the same layout or size.
For that specific shot, want them to both be on their phones. To avoid unnecessary detail, I don't think I'll edit any text messages onto the scene in Valerie's room. When it cuts to Mara's room, Mara will be on her phone, and text messages revealing the blackmailing are going to be shown, since it actually is needed to understand part of her character.
Crosscutting
This section of the opening was also cut down in the storyboard, but the concept of it is there. While Valerie is seeing her friend Bella, Mara begins walking to the bathroom. This is where I also want to add a contrast in noise; music and many sound effects when showing Valerie, but silence when showing Mara. We can implement white noise to fill in the silence.
This is the second part of the opening that will include most of the dialogue. Because of this, I don't want to show that many complex shots during interactions between Valerie and Bella, so dialogue is heavily focused on. When it cuts back to Mara, she is in the bathroom, staring at herself in the mirror. This is another section that I'm worried about when it comes to time. The clip from Thirteen that we took inspiration from took around 30 seconds to fully take effect. For our opening, we'll definitely have to shorten it, maybe to 10 seconds. I also want to add another shot of Valerie before walking into the bathroom, just so the time pass isn't immediate (this part isn't included in the storyboard).
Valerie's Reaction
Valerie walking into the bathroom and finding Mara is one of the most confusing parts for me, and I definitely need to clear it out before we begin filming. As someone who's never witnessed a suicide, this will be harder for me to know which exact emotion Valerie should really be expressing. Should she immediately be in shock, or disbelief? So, I researched different film scenes of reactions to overdose, as this is the best way we could find an accurate reaction.
I found a scene from 28 Days and from Pulp Fiction that I think work the best in this scenario.
These two scenes display two very different reactions depending on their personality or relationship with the character. The first video begins with shock, then as soon as she slaps her, she snaps into reality, and she feels horrified when she realizes what is actually happening. The scene in the second video, however, uses more of an aggressive tone with an immediate responsibility to save her instead of showing distress.
What I don't think I should do, however, is show her actual dead body. Although they're both shown in the clips and in many other videos I found, I simply don't think it's a good idea for us to do, as its a hard process to make it look good, including the makeup and other aspects to make it look realistic. Even though it's what Valerie witnesses in the scene, I believe it's too graphic for this film.
In the second video, I really liked that they used a single shot and a voice over to show the reaction of the character. I believe for our opening, it'll match with the shot of her staring at her reflection in the mirror. Also, if I'm being honest, I don't have many ideas for what to put in the "fast cuts" I wanted to use originally in this scene. We thought of an open pill bottle, Mara's hand reaching out and a close up of Valerie's shocked face, but besides that, there isn't much to show without making it seem repetitive. So, with inspiration from Pulp Fiction, I think it would be cool to just use one shot with a voice over of Valerie saying something as her reaction. We can include the pill bottle in the right third and Mara's hand reaching out in the left third. This is just an idea that I want to share with my group.
After??
Once that scene cuts to black, this is where we're thinking of putting the title Dear Mara. I'll do more research on fonts possibly soon or during post-production. From there, our group needs to come up with a scene of Valerie a few days later, by also implementing the date.
Next class (next Tuesday), we'll need to discuss our final ideas for the filming of the project as we are planning on filming it on Wednesday, March 6th, as juniors need to take the SAT, and everyone in our group isn't going to school that day. We think setting it to one day will limit ourselves from that "we have plenty of days to finish" mindset. After that day, we can schedule another day to film everything again, maybe with a few changes that we want to make after reflecting our original clips. Before this, I definitely need to research mise-en-scene elements for the opening so we understand exactly what to bring and prepare for beforehand. I also want to include that we have set actresses for our characters! My group member Andrea looks very similar to a close friend of ours, Andreina, so they'll be acting as our two sisters. Our other friend Gaby has agreed to playing Bella. I'm already excited to film!
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