Researching Anxiety

The main character in my film, Hazel, suffers with mild anxiety. She is a quiet, shy and insecure girl who gets sucked in by curiosity to an evil book. The book causes her many problems which turn her mild anxiety into a severe form. Even though my opening isn't being made into a full film, if it was, anxiety and how Hazel deals with it would have been a focus. However, due to the fact Hazel has mild anxiety and the fact the beginning of my opening features a flash-forward to the end of the film, I feel like its important to widen my knowledge of the issue and how it makes its victims feel so that I can portray it in a genuine and unbiased light and direct the actress on things like body language in order to make my film as real and relatable as possible.

My two sources to finding out more about anxiety are...

1. The Internet
2. A close friend of mine

The NHS ( http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/anxiety/pages/introduction.aspx ) website tells me having anxiety causes you to feel anxious about many situations, and that it can be mild or severe. It says people with anxiety are rarely relaxed and that it can cause physical symptoms as well as psychological ones which lead to the 'patient' being restless, having a low concentration span, and being tired due to lack of sleep. This website tells me some other psychological symptoms of anxiety are feeling irritable and feeling on constant edge whereas physical symptoms are feeling sick, headaches, shortness of breath,  and trembling or shaking.

Sometimes the cause of anxiety is unknown, however if its the result of a phobia, the sufferer will usually know why they are feeling anxious.

My close friend suffers with anxiety and I asked her to give an account of what living with this illness is like, you can see this below...

"Living with anxiety isn't easy, I usually feel on edge even though there's nothing around me I have a fear of, I'm not as confident as I would like to be because of it and it makes little things like just talking to people feel like the biggest task. The worst part about anxiety is having panic attacks, they can spring on at any point and I find if I think about it too much I begin to get myself into a bit of a state. I would advise anyone suffering with this to talk to someone because even though that in itself can make you feel sick to your stomach, it will also make you feel so much better and happier in yourself. I'd like to say that anxiety completely fades away and that its just a phase, but unfortunately its not, you just learn to deal with it and cope. You learn your limits and realise there are some situations you simply have to avoid, but you should slowly push yourself to keep braking these limits. There might be days where you just feel anxious, but there are so many things you can do to keep your mind occupied - go for a run, do exercise, have a relaxing bath, go shopping, or just spend time with people you love. There is always light at the end of the tunnel, dealing with this alone is so dark and if you don't seek help can lead to a downward spiral, so if you have anxiety; talk to someone."

 

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From my research into anxiety I have learnt that living and dealing with it can be very hard and lonely, I have also learnt a lot about the symptoms sufferers experience and how this makes them feel. I will incorporate some of these characteristics into Hazels character to give a true representation of what anxiety is like, even though because I'm just making an opening two minutes, it might not seem completely apparent to my audience that Hazel suffers with this. Nevertheless, I think its important to start as you mean to go on, and if 'HAZEL' was being made into a full feature film, anxiety would be a focus.

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.

Props

There are three props in my film opening, all with great significance and below you will see why.

The Book

This the dark and evil book containing all knowledge of hazels past and horrific lies about her future that become true as she reads them (as explained in previous blog posts). I have a lot of old books at home so I chose one that was relatively thick and sturdy to use whilst filming and covered it in little almost triangular shapes of black paper. The reason I decided the book would be fully black with no title is because it adds to the mystery of it, it is what attracted Hazel to the book in order to cause this rollercoaster story. The layers of black triangular paper adds to its texture making the book stand out whilst its the darkest colour and giving it a rustic feel which is what I was going for.



The Failed Test Paper

The failed (F) test paper is the reason Hazel goes to the library as she decides she needs to books to help her study properly. This leads her to finding the book in the first place and due to this is a very significant event as, if she had passed she would not have come into contact with it.



Grandmothers Engagement Ring

This is Hazels grandmothers engagement ring she passed down to her for her eighteenth birthday, this is a hugely important prop as it is what makes Hazel finally realise she is the character in the book.

My Script #1

I have come up with a script and monologue for my film opening. Like I have said before the monologue will run over flashbacks in the girls life which the story will be about. The script you will see below is one I am very happy with, during filming the actors  may slip up with their exact lines however as long as it delivers the message I am aiming for and the acting is to a good standard, I shall keep it.

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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 mysterious ways, ways in which you would never expect, there are dreams and wishes, fears and nightmares, you can go for them, or you can hide from them. My story's a little more complex that that..but the real question, how do you separate what's in your head from reality? and how do you know when to stop?.

Scene 1

TEACHER: *places bad test paper on the desk* How about you come and see me at the end of the lesson?

HAZEL: *sighs and nods*

TEACHER: Hazel, I know you're trying hard but look, here's a list of some books that could help you leading up to the exam, you might find them in the library.

HAZEL: Ok, thanks

TEACHER: Alright, have a nice weekend.

Scene 2

*Hazel walking up into the library then looking through books*

LIBRARIAN: Oh hello there Hazel, can I help you with anything?

HAZEL: Oh I was just looking for some books

LIBRARIAN: Alright, we have a box full of old ones over there, you can have a rummage if you like

*Hazel walks up to and rummages through the box*

HAZEL: Umm, could I take this?

LIBRARIAN: of course! Take as many as you like they'll all be thrown out by tomorrow

HAZEL: thanks *walks out putting book into bag, leaving teachers list in the library*

Scene 3

*little montage of Hazel reading the book*

HAZEL: *reads passage from book* ..and on her 18th birthday she was given her grandmothers old engagement ring...

*Hazel immediately stands and rummages through her belongings to find the engagement ring her grandmother gave her*.

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Above is the full script along with some directions, I may film some extra scenes just in case the film opening is under 2 minutes, if I do it will all be posted on here.

Storyboard

As I have come up with a plot and an idea of what I would like my film to contain I have made a storyboard for it, I had many ideas for this, for example the order in which I would like to show the flashbacks or how many clips of a flashback there would be, however I have come up with a storyboard that I will use when filming that I feel like I would be happy with.

I shall film all of the scenes in this storyboard and if I later decide I do not like them for whatever reason or that they don't fit, I shall cut it.

The first scan of the storyboard that you can see below is all going to be under a voiceover, they are all flashbacks as the girl in the voiceover is in the present.

Like I have mentioned I have planned the flashbacks to be in reverse order, from the girl throwing the book away right up until after the voiceover when she receives it.

The first frame is of the girl looking relieved but feeling bittersweet as she throws the book away when she comes to realise the only way forward is to do so. The second is of the girl actually throwing the book away, the black square is the frame I will be focused on however I have drawn the rest of the location in so you can see its a lake, and I shall incorporate that into the clip, after that I plan to have a close up of the book falling into the water to make use of the angles I have learnt about during the year.

The third frame is of the girl crying because of her own actions that the book has lead her to do, she sends a mysterious text telling somebody that she is sorry, this is the point where she comes to realise she needs to dispose of the book. I also believe this scene would be enticing to the audience because they would be curious to find out what happened to the girl and why she is sorry.

The fourth and fifth frames are simply the girl reading and being engrossed in the book showing facial expressions to express how she feels about what she is reading.

I then had an idea to do a rewind of all these flashbacks inside the girls head and coming to an abrupt halt with the book closing, this would build tension and I feel would entice the audience massively.

Moving onto the second half of the film opening, there is no longer a voiceover or narrator and its as if we have gone back in time and are about to relive the girls story - like the titanic.

The first scene here would be the girl finding out she failed her test as the teacher places it on her desk and tells the girl to see her at the end of the lesson. In the second frame you then see the teacher giving the girl a list of books that may help her revision for her upcoming exam, telling her she may find them in the library. The girl then walks into the library. In the third box you can see the girl in the library looking through books when the librarian offers her help telling her about a box of free books. The girl then looks through these and in the second half of this box you can see her reaching out to grab a black one she seems the most intrigued by.

In the fourth you can see the girl holding the book and walking out of the library with it. I then had an idea for there to be a quick montage of the girl reading the book whilst sitting in school, walking out of school and finally reading it whilst in bed. In the final frame the girl realises she is the main character in the book as they are both linked by the same object and life story and we see her rummaging through her belongings to find it and then finding it with a look of worry on her face. That marks the end of the opening.

DISCLAIMER

• The angles I have drawn in the storyboard above are minimal, during the filming process I plan to take many different videos from different angles of the same thing, and piece them together during the editing process.
• I shall film all of the scenes above, however if they don't fit with the film or I feel like I could slightly tweak it to make the opening better, I will.

Characters for my Opening

I have an image of each character and a representation of how they will be, therefore I have put together a 'Prezi' in order to show you how I want each character to come across, and characters from other films I expect them to be like. The link to this prezi is below.

In this prezi you can see the characters I expect to have in my opening, their profiles and biographies as well as clothing styles.

https://prezi.com/qpzeixwwsloq/characters-for-my-film-opening/

Audience Research feedback

I have summarised all the research gathered in my audience research and spoke about it in the video below.