Group Storyboard - Miss Miller

Group Storyboard

 Introduction

This project is done in groups which means it is crucial for it to work properly. It needs to be able have a number of different opinions and ideas added to it, without it being a solo project. To do this we needed to combine our individual storyboards to eventually create something that would equally have a share of ideas into it.

We had to go through each storyboard and individually assess each one of them. We was able to pull out successful features from each one and successfully add different perspectives of what we want our final opening sequence to look like. 

The first ever shot, demonstrated in frame 1 was taking from Claire's original storyboard we all agreed that having him walk towards the camera prolonged the scene and the walking which built up tension and fore-shadowed his death. This use of cinematography was a long shot which means we are able to see the long corridor that is also represented in the scene and adds to the suspense of the prolonged walk. In addition to this we see him dragging the long rope and chair which was iconography taken from all of the groups storyboard as we all agreed these where the best props to use and the audience may begin to question where he is actually heading, resulting in them feeling anxious towards for the character Cameron his body language here also indicates that his giving up so the audience know wherever he is heading he is not going to be safe and enjoying  it.

In the next scene we see a combination of both mine and Claire's idea of how to build enigma before he jumps. In Claire's scene she focused on using a close up of his face whereas in mine, I have continued to use a median shot which also began to pan out. The aim we had was to combine our frames together and create a zooming out shot that started focused on his facial expressions then zoomed out to his body, for the audience to see the rope wrapped around his neck. This overall is a much more effective use of cinematography as we decided it focuses on the two most important things. His facial expressions and his body language, with the iconography present. This is conventional to a thriller as the audience are able to see the two most important things in this scene his facial expressions and body language as well as the iconography used which is the rope. Leading the audience into knowing what he is about to do. This idea was taken from Shutter Island as in my own storyboard I said about how close ups and facial expressions are crucial when trying to connect the audience to our characters.

Above we are able to see the start of an idea from Claire and myself. We where able to figure out a way to add a range of our different shot techniques but still save time and not spend too long on separate frames. We decided to add a 'montage-like' type of footage. We decided to have a numerous amount of angles portraying the mothers death but then turn it into a very fast scene with a lot of impact. The transitions will be almost like a flash racing across the screen and each frame will last about 3 seconds. We also thought it may be a good idea to piece together a range of blackouts during the 'montage' to create even more suspense within the scene. After the mothers death we then go on to introduce the title. This is when Jake agreed that this was a good idea to play our soundtrack - Tip Toe Through The Tulips.

The final shot was taken from my own storyboard in frame 24 we decided to leave it on a cliffhanger and decided this was the best way to do it. The way that the character Cameron lingers in the background, but the focus is not on him will cause uncertainty towards the audience. The audience will question his body language and facial expressions as they will remain unclear. The fact that the only facial expression to be seen will be Harmony's will remain very frightening for the audience to watch as they may be unsure as to what is going to happen to her as a character. The build up to this shot it complimented by a range of different panicking frames. In frames 20, 21, 22 and 23 They all remain to focus on different things such as her feet moving uncomfortably and the audience being able to see her panicking through frame 23. All these techniques where chosen by all of us as a group and we have worked together to achieve a number of shots that imply that the character Harmony is weak and vulnerable and appears to be being 'watched'. 

Conclusion

We had to compromise on a number of things through each stage of completing our plan. When we first thought of our group narrative we had a range of ideas and settings that we thought we could use. Initially we wanted a very dark, dirty room to be used for the suicide and wanted to use Claire's cellar. Unfortunately this wasn't possible due to the fact that the space was to small to film and there was to many of us to all contribute into making this scene as perfect as possible in such a small space. So while drawing and creating our storyboard we evidently came up with the idea of having to use a staircase on the school premises. Doing this meant that the lighting and atmosphere may not be as we planned but in editing we are going to add filters that will hopefully create more erie lighting. If I where able to change any elements of our storyboard it would be to maybe prolong the beginning. Maybe add more shots and longer time frames to prolong the suicide even more. This would build the overall feel of the opening sequence and contribute in creating a successful thriller opening.