The brainstorming process:
First things first, the brainstorm:
As a public brainstorm can substantially improve the flow of a project like this, we decided to opt for a mind-map type brainstorm on ‘Canva.’
Furthermore, my team and I already knew we wanted do to a thriller going into the project, which streamlined the process considerably.
We started with a very basic brainstorm (as seen on the top right,) we had some ideas that we thought could be interesting going into the project, but at this stage we just wrote a bunch of ideas down to see what would stick.
In the next class we further refined the ideas into another planning document, In this we decided on the general plot.
We wanted to go for a mix of horror-thriller and mystery, following a detective trainee looking at a missing persons file.
The scene will be split into two parts, a very short start, and a longer end.
Our first draft of the plot goes as follows:
The first part will have a detective trainee (yet to be named)
get off of their shift at a police station,
noticing and taking home a ‘cold case file.’
In the next part, they take the bus on their way home,
out of curiosity they open the file, as they look at the description of one of the missing persons,
as they do, a person who matches the descriptions to an uncanny degree walks onto the bus, the protagonist assumes it to be a coincidence, and keeps flipping, but it keeps happening, until ultimately she flips onto a page of herself.
On reflection, there are several issues with this first draft, namely the logistical problem of the bus – which would be logistically difficult, as recording people entering at each stop would require extreme coordination, and furthermore, it would be very expensive (The oil price hike following the Iran conflict is still very much present and is within consideration.) The second problem is that this would simply exceed the 2 minute limit of the film opening. So in future iterations we need to solve these problems.
Next up, the moodboard.
I must preface that I was not the leading member in charge of the brainstorm, although I did provide suggestions to my other two team members who worked on it.
Based on our brainstorm, we knew we wanted to build a strong dark and somewhat uneasy atmosphere. This can especially be seen in the use of warm lights.
At the time of creating the mood-board we were also still unsure over whether or not the bus would be the primary set (We later decided it wouldn’t be) thus many images involved a bus in some capacity. The mood-board proved to be an effective anchor in keeping the atmosphere of the piece on track – (and would be useful in colour grading much further down the line 😉 .)
Production roles
Any good film needs to have co-ordinated positions for every member (although with only 3 members this is limited,) thus in class my team and I discussed who would do what…
Here are the results:
Casting director: Yantong
Great people skills, knows the drama club (better than I do).
Health and safety officer: Bruce
Cares about the wellbeing of his group members, making him an appropriate fit.
Storyboarder: Joel (me)
I have good knowledge of micro-elements and how they can be used to create effect, I also have quite a bit of free-time after school, making this a good role for me.
Script writer: Yantong
Has a good vision for how the scene will play out, made the initial plot which later developed into the final plot, thus has the best idea of character motives/personality.
Location scout: Bruce & Yantong
Having two people discuss locations allows for us to refine our selection to align it as close to the plot vision as possible.
Costume designer: Joel (me)
As previously mentioned, I have reasonably good knowledge of micro-elements which includes Mise-en-scene and costume design.
Storyboarding the plot
This storyboard was made both in class and at home, I was entirely responsible for it’s creation and personally made all of the rudimentary yet reasonably effective stick figure pictures.
(NO A.I IN ANY FORM)
*I would highly recommend looking at the deeper breakdowns present at the bottom of each storyboard slide*
For a deeper breakdown of shots 1-8 click here
*Unless mentioned otherwise assume that all shots are composed in a linear manner with straight cuts*
**Also I didn’t use A.I at all, full stop**
1: The production logo will be at the very start of the clip, likely a black backdrop to align with the mystery genre. Notably this is JUST the production logo, not the title of the movie/opening. We decided to place that at the very end to break the climax and leave the audience wanting to know what happens, effectively a hook.
2: Jumping straight into the scene with a straight cut, the audience is immediately introduced to the protagonist Leah, as to avoid confusion over the relevance of the characters, the police officer/her trainer’s face will not be shown, the police officer will also be taller than Leah by a noticable amount to establish her position as a trainee or amateur detective.
3: An insert shot of the file being handed to Leah, I am not working on the script as that is not one of my roles, but I would expect dialogue to be spoken over the top of this shot and the adjacent shots (2 & 4.) The title of the file will not yet be emphasised but the insert does hint at it’s importance.
4: An eye level close up of Leahs face as she looks upward from the file works to further introduce her character – and importantly her appearance to the audience (which will be important later)
5: Insert shot of the clock just shows the time this scene takes place during.
A dissolve would then work as a fluid graphic match into:
6: An insert shot of a hopefully identical clock if prop finding works out well, except the lighting and time will be different, ideally this graphic match gets the idea across, that the events of the rest of the opening take place later that night. Bell motif (Imagine a typical café bell that might play when you open the door) is introduced here.
7: Mid shot of Leah as she walks into cafe through front door, the association with the bell motif can now be made, i.e. when you hear the bell somebody has entered the cafe.
8. wide shot of Leah walking towards the register, not much else to say, tells the audience that this is a café I suppose?
For a deeper breakdown of shots 9-16 click here
9: An insert shot of the file sticking out of the bag further emphasises the important role it will play, and now is where the emphasis on the title (“Missing persons cases”) is placed, as this shot will zoom (or cut) into:
10: An extreme closeup insert of the title of the file, audience should read the name at this point. Throughout 9-10 there will also be muffled yet non-emphasised dialogue between the barista and Leah as she makes an order, this isn’t really supposed to be important but will be a plot device in future scenes.
11: A two shot of Leah walking away from the register, barista is clearly visible to avoid any confusion about the missing persons who will be introduced later.
12: Close up/mid shot of table as Leah walks into the frame and sits down, she will remain here for most of the clip so it’s important to show this now
13: Master shot of the cafe, shows that Leah is more or less alone, apart from the barista who will be either barely in frame or doing something in an non visible backroom. Also shows the scene of the cafe, note that the police station did not receive an establishing shot (at the time of writing) because it was NOT the focus of the opening , whereas the cafe does, making it seem more important (because it is.)
14: You can see Leah doing work, or at least beginning to do work, the over the shoulder nature almost makes the audience feel as though they are in the scene, and watching her, which may start a sense of unease which will hopefully be maintained.
15: Close up of Leahs face, emphasis on her eyes drifting towards file, shows her curiosity as she would rather look at it than do whatever she was doing on the computer.
16: Low angle of Leah looming over the file from the perspective OF the file, this is quite a common troupe in the mystery genre and makes Leah look as though she is towering over the file as her hand comes to grab it, also further shows the importance of the file.
For a breakdown of shots 17-24 click here
17: An eyeline match as Leah opens the file, also serves to place the audience into Leah’s perspective, like a POV.
18: Extreme close up of the files contents, the photo should be the most important content of the file and will thus be made noticeable – through a red border or something? That is TBD at the time of writing. Note that as the file is opened the bell motif can be heard.
19: Shallow to deep mid pull shot of Leah looking up from the file possibly in response to hearing the bell noise. This is where the first missing person will be introduced, hereby named “#1.” #1 will match the appearance of the missing file picture to a T (hopefully,) if the audience was paying close attention they may notice this, and the pull shot should draw attention to them.
20: Either way, Leah looks back towards the file, and a SUPER extreme close up takes place, as the camera focuses on specifically the photo, at this point the audience should make the connection.
21: A quick close up to #1’s face/clothing perhaps in a graphic match style should further reinforce this connection
22: Back to the file, the extreme close up is now on a detail – such as “last seen wearing XXXXX” – which matches the appearance of #1, thus, the audience should now be skeptical that this is not a coincedence.
23: A close up of Leahs face with a look of suspicion, should make the audience relate to this feeling.
24: A reverse pull shot of the focus going from deep to shallow occurs as the barista interupts the tension, giving Leah her order, this will be the opposite of 19. Providing a brief respite from the now rising tension for Leah and the audience. However, as the barista walks away #1 will no longer be present.
For a breakdown of the final shots click here!
25: A POV of Leah looking at where #1 was standing. But they aren’t there anymore. This is intended to feel somewhat paranormal.
26: Another low angle from the POV of the file looking up at Leah, her hand will be visible turning the page, parrallels when she first opened the file.
27: an insert shot of the next page, before audience can adjust to what they are looking the bell motif should play again, heavily foreshadowing what is happening. It may be wise for us to use a distressing photo or at the very least switch up the age demographic, because #2 will not be fully visible, just strongly implied to be present.
28: Close up of Leah now starting to look scared as she returns her gaze to the doorway. This should be somewhat slow and reluctant to show fear
29: Medium shot from perspective of where #1 was standing (now where #2 is standing) looking back at Leah. Note that this breaks the 180 degree camera “Line of action” rule, this is intentional, as it helps to make the audience think that something is wrong, or at the very least feel unnerved or disoriented at a sub-conscious level.
It is very important that this makes it into the final cut as I do believe that it will serve as a great show of camera knowledge!
30: Another close up of her face as she avoids eye contact with presumably #2, fear should be very very visible at this point. Out of perhaps a morbid curiosity, Leah will be heard turning the page one final time. This sound will be audio mixed to be very noticeable.
31: A final extreme close up of the next page, where Leahs own face will be visible, for those with a keen eye/ rewatching, it may be noticeable that her last seen with clothing will be what she is currently wearing. Of course, the bell jingle will play, having harrowing implications that will build an incredible amount of engima and tension
32: An extreme close up of Leahs eye/s looking towards where the door is, as a droning sound gets louder and louder. but before they make it to where the door is, a cut to the title. This is the climax
33: Not present on the storyboard, but this shot would be the title, which breaks the tension that has been building up to this point, leaving the audience in a state of shock, hopefully hooking them to want to watch more of the movie!
Prop/costume design
Prop/costume design was one of the jobs that I was allocated in this project, and as such quickly made a list of props I would need to create or find to match the storyboard.
(Props labelled with an asterisk are not completely necessary and could be changed or swapped out on the day)
– A laptop*
– The folder
– The files in the folder
– The outfits of Leah, #1 and #2.
– The outfit of the barista or equivalent
– Coffee or some sort of drink*
– An appropriate bag for the file to be in.
