Planning: Developing ideas in groups - Miss Begum

 Title: It’s Time

Narrative:

A young lady is lost and finds herself in Liverpool Street Train station at 11:45 pm. While turning around on the spot trying to figure out where she is, she realises a little girl sitting in the middle of the empty train station playing with a doll. As she approaches the little girl and is about to sit down to see if she’s ok she hears the voice of a foreign old man saying “isn’t it a little too late for a young girl like you too be out here… especially here.” As she turns around to ask why, there is no one there and she and the little girl are the only ones there. Exactly at 12:00 the big grandfathers clock bongs and she hears chants and a loud drum beat coming from outside. She is afraid to go take a look but doesn’t want to show her fear to comfort the girl but as she looks back at the girl, she is gone and her doll is still there. She picks up the doll and moves the arm, but weirdly when she does her own arm moves, almost as if the little girl controlled her and brought her precisely at 12:00. She slowly and steadily takes steps towards a window to see what’s going on and she see a crowd of people in ranks marching and chanting words in a different language. First she thinks it’s some kind of creepy festival but as she becomes conscious that something is controlling everyone she sees figure in a black cloak which she can’t make out due to it being dark and the figure being camouflaged…

Mise en scene:

Costume- black cloaks,

Iconography- the doll that controls the damsel

Setting- Liverpool train station

Lighting and colour- high key back lighting to make the setting look harmless and glamorous to defy the audience from the coming of events.

Sound-

Diegetic sound: Chants and drum beat, Grandfathers clock bong, the old foreign man’s voice.

Non-diegetic: The unpleasant humming sound before and after the old man speaks.

Parallel sound: Chants and drum beat.

Narrative Theory: 
Todorovs: It has a clear start middle and end throughout the whole narrative which will structure the narrative clearly so the audience isn't confused.

Aristotle: The main theme presented is supernatural which enhances the audience perspective of defiance as they know the damsel in distress is brought there by coincidence. This will draw apon there emotions as they will be scared for our damsel and confused on why the picked her.

Prop: Although we don't know if there is a hero in opening sequence, there is still the conventional thriller characters including a damsel in distress and a Villain

Sub-genre: 

horror, revenge,remorse

Narrative:  I want to divide the opening into 2 sections that will both make sense and work with one another. In the first section the opening credits will be presented with little narrative in order to establish the mood, atmosphere and genre of the film. This section is an intertextual reference to the opening of Seven where we don’t see the characters but can tell what is happening and what this could resolve in. In section one the main focus will be the anonymous letter that someone is creating by gluing and sticking newspaper cuttings together to create a whole. The newspaper cuttings will also become the typography for the opening credits. Section 2 on the other hand will have a clearer story line. It will start with a female character simply jogging in a forest until she finds a mysterious letter which is the one from the first section. She then feels unwell and takes medicine which causes her to hallucinate and hear things that are non-existing. She spots a weird ritual where an unknown figure does something to a child’s dead body. The sequence ends with an image of a female who wakes up on the floor with blood on her face leaving the audience with wonder whether the ritual was just a hallucination or reality.

Sub-genre: Psychological/ Mystery thriller.

Themes: Mystery, Supernaturalism, Death, Medicine, Chaos, Darkness.

Characters:

• Female Protagonist
• The Supernatural antagonists
• The Child Victim
  
  

Narrative Structure and Theory: 

• Todorov: in section 2 there will be a clear start, middle and end. The equilibrium when the female simply runs for leisure. Disequilibrium when she takes the pills and sees things. New equilibrium when she wakes up.
• Aristotle- the theme of child’s death should draw the audiences’ emotions and make them feel pity and distraught. The theme of mystery will make the spectators feel engaged with the narrative more and make them intrigued.
• Propp- the female character as a hero and the supernatural figures as the villains and the victim is the child.

Mise En Scene:

• Iconography- the Pills are the key iconography in this opening. This is because they are one of the causes of the visions and they give meaning to the narrative and character. The letter which is another stimulus for the protagonist.
  
  
• Lighting and Colour- low key natural lighting which will help to make the scene much more threatening and scary for the viewer.

• Setting- forest. Forests tend to be isolated and have connotations of mystery and danger. This will help to establish the thriller genre.

• Facial Expression and Body Language- the antagonist should slouch a little bit to show that they are mysterious and will not open up to anyone. The female protagonist will have a steady and firm body language and facial expression so the audience can put their hopes in her. The child victim will lay on the floor with open hands to show that it was a welcoming and good child who should be pitied by the viewer.

• Costume- the antagonist will wear a black cloak with white or black masks. This will help to hide their identity and show that they are in fact a supernatural character rather than humans. The hidden identity will scare the audience. The protagonist on the other hand should wear something casual to show that she is a typical person who the audience can relate with. The victim will wear a white to represent its purity and vulnerability.

Title: ‘Can You Hear Me?’ – This title will fit this opening because it will reinforce the idea of suffering from schizophrenia which is what the protagonist tries to fight. Also this is a direct question that aims at the audience too. The spectators will question themselves which will be engaging for them.

Advantages for choosing this idea:

• It is original
• Isn’t cliché
• It will draw the right emotions from the audience
• It has accurate thriller themes
• The characters are untypical
• The setting can be easily accessible                        
• The typography for the opening will be original and will not be added but it becomes a part of the scene which is also unique.

Potential problems and how I plan to overcome them:

• The natural lighting can be an issue as there needs to be a right balance so the scene isn’t too dark and still seems believable. However this could be tackled by editing the sequence and making it darker in Final Cut.
• The pills can be hard to access. This could be overcome by simply using sweets that look like medicine.