Changing my Idea

I have filmed all of the shots in my storyboard for the first half of my opening which I wanted to be a monologue. I still want it to be a monologue but have changed my mind on the idea of having many different flashbacks whilst the monologue is taking place.

During the editing process I found that very short and fast clips didn't fit in with the tone of the monologue itself, it was very distracting and unfocused in the way that the audience may have been confused especially due to the fact some of the shots were very different - in some Hazel would be crying and in others shed be happy and intrigued. Although they all followed a pattern of emotion of how the girl would feel after reading the book, they were all focused on different parts and steps of how she felt and I felt - especially after my audience research- that this could be too revealing and less enticing.

I decided that if I made the opening focused 100% on the end of the story around a lake where the girl would throw this book away, it would not only entice the audience as to why she is upset or why she is throwing the book away, but it would also fit better with the voiceover in terms of mood and atmosphere and it would just look more professional in general.

I decided to heavily focus on angles and mise en scene for the clips in the monologue section, which I will explain to you in another post. I did this to emphasise the emotion, there was more room to experiment with this when the all of the shots in the background were focused around one thing with many elements to it rather than where scenes cut from places to different emotions with each clip lasting around 5 seconds long.

I have also decided that the beginning of the film could be seen as present day, where Hazel throws the book away and at the end of the monologue we are taken to the past and shown how hazel gets the book. If I was making this into a full length film the narrative would be taken in a cycle, the beginning shows hazel throwing the book away in the present day, and the rest of the film would be catching up with that, so it ended the same way.