Hey Cambridge! Before the long weekend, we had a class where we were put into groups of four and offered/gave advice on each other's movie opening ideas. We went one by one and spoke about what we have so far, ideas we're interested in, and then the other three people gave their tips. I'll touch base on my classmate's ideas, but mainly what I came in with and walked out with.
Pedro:
A man recovering from witnessing paranormal activities (maybe in the forest while hunting) but nobody believes him and he can't let go of it. The opening scene would either be the paranormal activity itself or a therapist appointment about it.
Oona:
A young adult woman gymnast has a bad injury and has to recover before a big event or competition. Takes unapproved medicine that is detrimental to her brain but is at least healing her injury. The opening scene would most likely be the injury taking place because she works at a gym and has access to all the gymnastics equipment.
Tiziana:
She doesn't have a very clear idea of what she wants to do for the film itself but has an idea for the opening. A young adult is shopping for groceries and then driving home and baking while listening to a radio station when it suddenly gets cut off to announce a murder in her town. The main character would look concerned, surprised, and urged for something but the purpose isn't known yet.
Sergio:
A medical school student is diagnosed with a rare undocumented muscle disease and he's got to get into the gym while he's in school and at the same time trying to find a cure to his own disease. He's a very square and organized person while still slowly going into madness from how much he's taking on. The opening would be him in the gym and studying/finding a cure with a voiceover of what's going on in a journal style. His seems to be the most figured and planned out.
What I Walked In With
Notecard with my initial movie opening plan
When I walked in, I didn't have the clearest idea of what story I wanted my movie opening to tell, but I had more of a clue about who I wanted my main character to be. I had an idea that she would either look like the perfect little princess but had a "teenage dirtbag" attitude OR she looked poor and rough but was the sweetest person and just wanted to make her way up in the world. If she ended up being the first option, she would be inspired by the 2020 take on Jane Austen's Emma when it comes to costume and hair design. The music in the background would be completely the opposite though so the audience knows she's something other than what she seems. If she seemed like she was having a rough experience or on the less wealthy side, there would be beautiful classical music playing. This aspect would allude to the fact that she's doing something much different with her life than what she wishes to be. The mystery would be developed by showing small, quick details that make the viewers think "Huh, that doesn't really make sense from what we know of her. What else is going on?" Maybe it would be some kind of money stash or blood splatter on her things; I wasn't too sure.
Advice Given To Me
I told the group that I was also interested in pursuing a psychological drama plot with the trauma convention which I spoke about in one of my past blogs and this was the advice and/or ideas given to me.
- "Instead of the traumatic event happening at the beginning of the movie, it should happen before the start."
- "To give it a more psychological feeling, maybe the viewer doesn't know what happened until the very end."
- "What if the main character doesn't know until the very end either?"
- "Yeah, like how in The Truman Show he slowly pieces together odd parts of his life until he figures out what's actually going on."
- "You should watch Shutter Island, it's on the topic of lobotomies."
- "Just how in the beginning of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Joel has impulsive actions and finds random things he has no recollection of."
- "I know you said you wanted minimal dialogue, but what about a voice-over? It would help with the whole unreliable narrator thing."
- "Do you know what you want the actual traumatic event to be?"
- "I feel like aimlessly wandering or running in a field would fit the cluelessness."
"Yeah! What somebody hung themselves and she's running in the field where it happened and stumbles across a strangely familiar tree, but doesn't really know why."
- "That sounds really good, there could even be different close-ups and eye matches to small things in the grass to show that she's very attentive and innocent since the memory wipe."
What I Walked Out With
After these insanely helpful people gave me much-appreciated ideas, I have a way more precise image in my head for the opening. I want my movie to begin with a girl picking flowers, the chirping of birds, bright skies, and a beautiful field. Then, she pulls out a diary and begins writing as the voice-over begins of her talking about herself and how mundane her life is at home. She gets into talking about how she's never had anybody her age close to her and nobody tells her anything. At the same time, she's shown 'frolicking about' on the field, looking at tiny plants and bugs, and just rolling around aimlessly. At the same time, beautiful classical music is playing. That is until her mother calls her to come back inside and she starts walking back looking unamused by the command. As she's going back, she walks past a tree with half of a noose tied to it and the title is shown with a dark, gothic font. It pans around to her eyes showing a puzzled and concerned face, and when her mother calls her again, she books it.
Conclusion
Overall, I have a perfect image of what I want my opening to look like and am extremely enthusiastic for the production to begin. See you tomorrow, Cambridge!
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