Mind Map
Here are some ideas we would like to use for our film opening. Ruxi put them together into this mind map.
Deciding the genre for our film opening .
After considering the ideas we had, and the type of atmosphere we wanted to convey through the film opening, Ruxi and I decided that the main genre of our film will be surreal horror. Of course, conventions of other genres will be present, resulting in a hybrid.
It is difficult to describe surrealism as a style or form. It mainly consists of irrational images, characters and places that do not necessarily fit, and when they are brought together they create a sense of unease and anticipation in the audience. Generally accepted norms and conventions are challenged and bent in order to express the director or writer's view on life and its perceived normality.
Surrealism began in the 1920's when it moved from the French literary movement into filmmaking. The first pioneers of this genre were Luis Bunuel and Salvador Dali that opposed the conventional forms of linear narrative and logic and created this controversial style.
The rise of surreal horror began with the production of indie films that tried to show creativity with the little resources they had, by making a film unique and memorable for the audience
Demure-film opening title
characterized by shyness and modesty; reserved
​
synonyms: modest, unassuming, meek, mild, reserved, retiring, quiet, shy, bashful, diffident, reticent,timid, shrinking, coy
origins:
1350-1400
-Middle English dem (e) ur (e) well-mannered, grave
-French demuré, past participle of demurer to demur;
-perhaps influenced by Old French mur=wall*
-mëur grave,
-mature (Latin matūrus)
Ruxi and I chose this word as our title because it fits quite well with what we have in mind for our film opening. It describes the main character, and it also sounds dark and mysterious, intriguing to the audience that might not know its meaning. We also thought that this word will look aesthetic and could be easily written in different fonts to suggest the genre of the film, and work as a strong convention of horror.
* related to actions in the film opening
Moodboard
This moodboard is meant to suggest some conventions of the genre we chose for the film opening, also showing the general atmosphere and style we are aiming for. Ruxi and I chose the pictures and arranged them in the moodboard
If I am lost... then how can I find myself? Does pain have a tempo? Can I truly know where I want to arrive if I don’t know where I am now?
I keep thinking but this just makes it worse. One question leads to another and another and I get lost in this vortex of words and thoughts but they don’t seem to have any correlation, and they certainly don’t lead to any conclusion.
It’s pretty much my fault. I don’t try hard enough, I have this routine, a circle that goes around and around and I’m aware of it but I never break it. Do I want to?...
And I’m so alone, empty. The world around me is empty. And quiet, so still, so tired. But it’s not a grey kind of empty, it’s yellow, the kind that makes you sick. Like urine, depression and forgetfulness.
There are some that have tried to interfere, to help...and there might be others that will. Sometimes I try to accept them, to have patience. Once I even believed she might understand and have a worthwhile influence. Should I accept my fait as obsolete? Maybe I already have. But if I was to keep going...where would I begin? Where would I end up?
Ideas and thoughts
Story
The story depicted in “Demure” will present the confusing and uncertain psychological journey that individuals go through in order to find their purpose, to find the self.
Plot
"Demure" begins with the main character introducing his world and thoughts, directly addressing the audience. He is sitting on his bed, in his isolated room, away from the world. The strangeness of this place and his mind is suggested through his unusual movements and behaviour. He tries to go to sleep but his mind is too unsettled by worries and nightmares of what he is and what he might become. The gravity of his state is suggested by the hallucinations he has of himself, the audience does not know if these images are past, future or simply imaginary. He then eventually manages to lay on the bed and fall asleep, troubled by dreams and nightmares.
But is he really falling asleep or is he just now waking up?
The main and only character in our film opening will be played by one of our colleagues. His name is Dan, he is 16 years old,he is 1.80 meters tall, he has blond hair and hazel eyes.
We asked him to help us because he is very charismatic and has a dramatic side, that we thought would not only help us with his acting but also by giving us unique ideas and improvisation during filming. He also fits the vision of the character that I had when I first thought about the ideas of this film. His appearance is aesthetically pleasing and he has a mature, strong body
Character
Props
-Large bed (pillow)
-Dark, old bed sheets
-Covered window (newspapers, trash bags)
-Simple grey or brown pants, long, old, dirty hoodie or cardigan
-An old, broken blanket
-Furniture optional
After discussing ideas and planning with Ruxi, she wrote the script for our film opening.
Also added bellow are images of the script in Celtx format, saved as a pdf.
Scene 1: Waking up
EXTREME CLOSE UP:
A young man's eyes are looking straight into the camera, expressionless.
him
I keep thinking but that just makes it worse. One question leads to another... and another....
Extreme close up zooms out to close up of his whole face and shoulders.
him
And I get lost in this vortex of words and thoughts but they don't seem to have any correlation.
He stops moving his mouth but the words continue to be heard as if he is saying them.
(sitcom sound:gasp)
him
And they certainly don't lead to any conclusion.
He slowly turns his head and eyes to the right and looks at something outside the shot. After a few seconds he looks back into the camera with a slightly worried expression.
establishing shot:
He is sitting on a small bed, placed by the right wall of a dark, empty room. The only window that can be seen is covered by papers and plastic bags. After a few moments he lies down awkwardly and slowly on the bed.
(respect 180 rule throughout scene)
CLOSE UP:
We see his face as he lays his head on the pillow. He closes his eyes, worriedly, unsettled.
WIDE:
He is laying down on the bed and stretching in a strange, unnatural way.
(sitcom sound: awww)
mid shot:
Shows him sitting up right on the bed, from his left side. His breathing can be heard and he is staring at the left wall of the room. (outside the shot). He crawls to the end of the bed and sits down again.
PAN:
Follows his gaze to the wall, there is nothing there.
WIDE:
He is sitting in the same position on the bed, still staring, frowning at the wall. Abrupt cut shows him standing by the wall and hitting his head against the wall, crying and clawing at the wall. This only lasts one second, cut back to him sitting on the bed.
After another moment, he starts to lay back down on the bed, scared, worried.
CLOSE UP:
We see his face as he lays his head on the pillow. He closes his eyes, worriedly, unsettled.
WIDE:
He is thrashing on the bed and turning from one side to another. Cuts show the same shot of the bed, alternating between him laying still and moving on the bed, his eyes closed
Demure- film opening script
Target audience questionnaire
We sent out a questionnaire with several questions on the topics of film genre, film opening types and film preferences in general. Ruxi and I worked together on designing the questions. This was meant to help us understand and identify our target audience for the two-minute opening of "Demure". The questions had short written answers or multiple chioce answers.
The questions are the following:
Gender
Age
Country of origin
How often do you watch movies?
How do you usually watch movies?
What type of film opening do you enjoy?
What hybrid of horror do you like most?
Do you enjoy more enigmatic and mysterious films?
Do you like plot twists?
Do you like dream scenes in films?
Have you ever watched indie films?(independent production)
Do you like any of these movie directors?
Do you like symbolism in film?
Do you like surreal art?
Do you enjoy the atmosphere of black and white movies?
Do you appreciate the feelings given by horror soundtracks and settings?
After reviving answers from 53 respondents, we summarized and illustrated the results in an infographic.Ruxi and I worked together to redesign the results of our questionnaire in order to make them more appealing to viewers.
From the results we got it can be concluded that most of the people who completed the questionnaire are interested in the genre and type of film opening that Ruxi and I want to create. The majority of respondents are from the UK, this is one of the reasons why the film opening will be in English, but also because it is a language well understood by many and usually heard in movies.
Furthermore, most people are informed about less common conventions and styles. There is a large interest in horror and more psychologically complex films. People are open to symbolism but less so to dream scenes, this is why we will not necessarily ad our character's dreams into the opening.
Our target audience is well informed about types of film openings and movie directors who's style match that of our task. So we believe that they will enjoy the less conventional, enigmatic scenes that we will create.
.
Ruxi and I wanted to find an empty room where we could work on our film opening. We hope we will find a room that looks old and derelict where we can just put a bed or simply a mattress.
In order to find a suited room we asked different friends, our parents and our teacher for ideas and help.
Dan, our actor, told us about an abandoned house he had previously taken some pictures in.
Also, my mother will ask about a room in an art museum from our city.
Our media studies teacher asked about an empty room in an art gallery. They are currently under construction and they sent us some pictures of what the gallery looks like (I added them bellow).
Abandoned house, in Grigorescu neighborhood:
Location
Filming equipment
In order to be more efficient when filming, I thought about what equipment I might need for shooting the film opening of "Demure".
1. two DSLR cameras: Mine: Sony alpha, Tea's: cannon 700D (batteries, camera bag, memory cards)
2. one tripod (bag)
3. two spot lights (from the school's marketing department)
3. Makeup, hair products
4. Costumes
5. Portable radiator
6. Snacks, water, tea, coffee.
7. Generator ?
8. Extension chord
9. Props
10. Paint?
I worked on drawing the storyboard for the nine shots we have in the film opening of "Demure". These are done after the script I wrote but we are more than certain that once we begin filming we will change quite a few shots and ad some too.
Story board
Actor- change
Ruxi and I decided to find another person to act in our film opening for a few reasons:
Firstly, even though Dan agreed to work with us, he did not manage to come the first few times we wanted to film. He is very busy with a lot of extracurricular activities, because he is studying to become an architect, and acting in our film was not a priority for him. Ruxi and I did not want to risk not finishing the project because Dan could not come to our filming sessions. So we told him that we did not want to take this risk and that it would also be better for him not to have this project as an extra activity.
The next person that we though of for playing the main character in "Demure" is a friend of ours, Andrei Felecan, we call him Fele. He is 17 years old and he studies at another school in our city. Right now he wants to move to an arts and design high school, he has a very artistic side, he wants to become a designer, he plays the guitar and the violin.
Fele also fits the character's description, but in a different way than Dan did. Fele is quite thin, with dark wavy hair and green eyes. He has dark, sharp features but at the same time beautiful and soft. We believe that he might embody the character's personality and image even better than Dan. Fele can represent the uncertainty and beauty that "Demure" tries to depict through the experiences and nightmares that the character has.
After I drew the storyboard for our film opening Ruxi took pictures of each shot in order to create the animatics. She put the photos together and added the soundtrack in CyberLink PowerDirector 14. The only effect I used was cross-fade between each image. Also, she tried to estimate the number of seconds each shot would take when filming and adjusted the time for each photo according to that. The song she chose is called "Sincerely" by Stephen, she thought the instrumental part fit well with the atmosphere that our film opening will create. She cut only this part from the song and trimmed it to fit the images. She also added the title of the movie at the end as a first draft of what the font will look like. I suggest having an artistic and elaborate "D" and Ruxi thought the rest of the word should be more simple so that it also fits the darker side of the film.
Animatics
