Monologue and Performance

Above you can watch the section of my opening covered by a monologue, here I will explain the reason behind each shot and the use of words.

Monologue

"Curiosity is the lust of the mind, it has the power to invade your thoughts making you wonder where you're going to be in a few years or who you may meet that will have the power to influence your life and the way you live it. Life unfolds in ways in which you would never expect, there are dreams and wishes, fears and nightmares... but the real question, how do you separate whats in your head from reality and how do you know when to stop?"

The underlying base of my storyline is about curiosity, without giving too much away in the monologue I wanted the audience to be introduced to this underlying base as curiosity is a common theme, and following the audience research I found people believe it is better to give a little bit of insight into the film rather than none or a lot.

The curiosity within Hazel (the main character) originated with her wanting to know where she was going to be and people she may meet in her life that could change it, for example bosses, managers, friends and lovers, this is why she couldn't put the book down, although the audience wouldn't fully understand this until later in the opening/film.

After reading the book Hazel found her future life unfolding in ways she hadn't expected, the majority of the reason being anything this evil book said that she read, would come true. Her dreams and wishes and hope of them coming true kept her reading the book whilst her fears and nightmares both coming true and still in her mind were causing her to stop.

If this opening was a real film the idea would be that Hazel can't really separate whats in her head due to what the book is telling her, from the real world and what life would be like without it. She can't tell if bad or good things are happening to her because of the book or because they would have anyway.

The reason I paired the girl throwing away this book with this monologue is because its symbolic, Hazel is talking about her past situation, she is throwing away the thing that caused the entire story to happen right at the beginning - they are opposites, yet the audience doesn't know it. I think it is a good twist. As well as this, I like the idea of the film being in reverse order just for the beginning as seeing the ending without knowing the beginning or middle is very enticing and boils up a lot of questions such as "why is she throwing the book away" "why is her tone apprehensive" "what happened".

This brings me onto the tone of the voiceover, it isn't jumpy or happy, instead it is "numb". Hazel has been through a lot over the course of the film and now she is uneasy but accepting, not happy, nor sad - almost dazzled and coming to the realisation she was sucked in by 'curiosity'. I aimed to lower the tone of my voice as I was talking about darker things "fears and nightmares". I have included some noticeable deep breaths in or out in the voiceover too in order to add to the tense atmosphere, this is another reason for there being short pauses between sentences for example "you can go for them...or you can hide from them" there is a breath out for the last bit because hiding seems more of a relief. There is also a very obvious breath in on the last line "..and how do you know when to stop?" this is because the idea of no longer reading the book makes the girl anxious because in a twisted way, it gave her a sense of security that she may know what will happen to her and be prepared for it, however at the word "stop" there is a breath out as it symbolises that she has stopped and that it has lifted a weight of her shoulders and there isn't as much tension - relief.

Performace
The first you can see the actress Kerry Hardesty (as Hazel) is at the first line of the monologue, as she looks into the book whilst standing near a lake and looks away at it and begins to make her journey down. She is thinking as she holds onto the book, looking up into mid air and trying to decide what to do. As she is looking into the book the wind blows in her hair and she pushes it out, this wasn't planned however I included it into the film as I believe it adds realism, the weathers mood can also symbolise hers and rather than the film opening being absolutely perfect with no hair or clothing out of place, I wanted it to be relatable and like I have said 'real'.

The idea was that the actress would slowly walk down this hill. showing her hesitation and the fact she wanted to take her time in the decision as to what she wanted to do with this book. As she reaches the bottom of the hill she looks down at the floor, showing a sense of insecurity, vulnerability and anxiousness but she looks up at the lake still thinking about what to do and then slowly looks back down at the book holding it tightly with both of her hands. This is to show the one way, twisted attachment she has developed with this book, due to the security and knowledge she thinks it has given her, and the fact she doesn't really want to let it go but she knows it is for the best - hence why she is at the lake.

Hazel opens the book for one last time to remind herself why she is throwing it away, opening it on a page that scares her the most and immediately shuts it. She then remembers some of the good things it tells her but knows if she follows her dreams in the way this evil book is telling her, it will only end badly. As the voiceover says "you can go for them" (the dreams) she very slightly smiles in a bittersweet way because even though she believed this book could make them come true for her - she knows its not the right way.

Finally, last but not least, Hazel finally throws the book away, after she has thrown it she looks at it for the last time for a couple of seconds and knows it is all over as she looks away from it with bittersweet emotions about what she just did, but overall relief.