My Plan So Far

The idea that I have chosen to do is focus 2, idea 1. The basic idea of this is finding something normal in a normal place, but the object's nature and the location don't match up. With this, I have thought about using a pair of shoes, and potentially something with it like a briefcase. I wanted to have these in a train station, for a number of reasons - it's a normal location, a lot of people visit it, and I already have a few ideas of different shots I could do incorporating features of a station. It's also an interesting place for someone to leave something like a pair of shoes and a briefcase, as it's not very likely that they would have taken off their shoes while waiting for a train and forgotten them when their train comes.

I am working on my own for my film opening, as I think it makes things quite a bit easier. It allows me to create a piece of work that is entirely my own - I don't have to compromise on any ideas that my group may not agree on. It also allows me to work on my own schedule - I would only have to arrange filming around when my actor(s) are free, not when the actor(s) and my group are. Also, working on my own allows me to improve skills in all areas of making a piece of film - when working in a group, one person tends to film, someone else does the editing, someone does the casting and planning etc., meaning that not everyone gets a chance to practice everything. However, working on my own allows me to do this, as there's nobody else to do it for me. Finally, working on my own meant I had to do all the research on my own - I think this is a good thing, as if you split the research, it's really just a case of copy and pasting half the work onto your blog, whilst working on your own means you have to do it all and therefore probably have a deeper understanding of everything. However, there are drawbacks to working on my own. The main one is the sheer quantity of work I have to/will have to do by myself, as I have nobody to split it with - although overall, I think it's a good thing in terms of understanding, it's a bad thing in terms of the fact that I might struggle to meet deadlines while concentrating on my other subjects. The only other drawback I think could really affect my work is the fact that if I struggle with anything, be it coming up with ideas, or having problems during the actual filming process, I will have nobody to help me. However, I don't think this is too big of a problem, as I will have the person I cast as my main character, and potentially a few people I bring along to film with me.

I think, based around my initial ideas for the plot and where it could potentially lead, I am going to create it in the style of a drama film. I think it'd work best in this style, as it's based around a situation that could happen in real life, and doesn't have any elements of action, romance, or sci-fi etc. I also like the fact that it's a drama opening because it's a genre I know quite well - I have watched a lot of films in this genre, and so along with my research, I have a reasonably good idea of the conventions of a drama film.

My narrative will be mostly linear, but I am thinking of including a few cuts to other things of an ambiguous time, to show off a bit more about my character and also to break up the structure into something more interesting. However, I'm going to keep these short and unspecific in terms of what time they are at, since they are purely used to convey information about the character, and not about the plot.

In my film opening, I am only looking to use one character. This is mainly because I think it would fit better with the plot, and it would make it a lot more effective as the main character is meant to come across as boring and lonely. However, it is also partly because of ease/effectiveness in terms of the quality of filming - if I had two characters, it would be a bit strange not to include some sort of dialogue between them, but having it at the train station would mean there's a lot of background noise, which would make the quality of it bad. Also, I think it would be a lot harder to find two characters of that age (so they look connected in some way), who I can co-ordinate to film at the same time/same place.


If I end up sticking to my plan, I am going to be using a train station, Norwich Road, and Long Stratton Road. I have decided to use these roads as they are long, relatively plain and straight, and they are often not hugely busy. All of these things are important as they are things which won't distract the audience, and they are also kind of reflective of the character's personality/life. I might also include a coffee shop or a kitchen of some sorts, just to include for a few seconds.

I know that I will definitely not use dialogue, due to the reasons that I have included in my dialogue research section. Also, as said above, I know that I don't want to use more than one character, due to dialogue, casting, availability and plot reasons. However, I am definitely going to either record a soundtrack myself, or use an already made one over the top. This is because, especially due to the lack of dialogue, I need something to fill the silence, as if there is nothing it'll probably be quite boring. I know that the soundtrack I am going to use won't be fast or very upbeat, as I want something that will emphasize the mood of both the character and the scene. Also, for this reason, I don't want to break the fourth wall, because I don't think it will carry on the mood I want to portray. However, I think I want to have a little bit of narration, but it really depends on if I can get the right person - if they don't have the right voice, it probably will take away more than it adds.

There are quite a few shots and angles that I have in mind, although when it comes round to filming, if they don't fit in with what I am doing, or if they look wrong in the editing process I don't mind leaving them out. This means I will have to be quite careful to film the same part from a number of different angles/distances, so if something ends up not looking great, I can redo it.