Hello again! Today my teammates and I completed our short film storyboard. As you will soon see, it was a collaborative effort with a range of art styles and drawing techniques (although stick figures do seem to be a commonality)! By working with our storyboard, we can now visualize each of our scenes as they will occur in our featurette. I have also explained each scene below, as to ensure all of the presented information is as clear as possible.
Scene 1:
In Scene 1, we will begin with an establishing, overhead wide shot, as to capture the interior of the subject's bedroom. Their room will be neatly organized to portray the fact that they are a functioning alcoholic, In this scene, three of our opening titles will be shown for roughly two seconds each. Said titles, like the rest in the short film will both fade in and fade out. In this case, the studio name will appear over the subject, disappearing when their alarm goes off. The production company name will appear as the subject rolls over, and disappear once they turn back around in their bed. The actors' names will then appear on screen as the subject makes a move to sit up, fading out once they reach out towards their nightstand. In the same scene, as the subject reaches over to grab their glasses, the film's title will be shown on the clock itself, which will read "7:24." After about two seconds, the clock will change to read "7:25," indicating the need for a cut to occur back to the primary subject once more. At that point in time, another title card will appear above the subject's head, this time regarding who the music is by. Once the subject picks up and plays their voice recorder, said title card will fade out. A close-up shot is then to be used to show as the subject grabs a laminated sheet of paper, which will contain additional details regarding their life, such as their birthday, the fact that they lack immediate family (whether due to personal issues and estrangement or perhaps their passing, which is for the viewers to decide), and the contact information for a trusted coworker in the case that the subject missed work (perhaps due to not having listened to the recording). Once an over-the-shoulder shot of the subject reading said note is adopted, the "edited by" title card will appear, exiting the screen once a quick pan will be used to show a poster in their room that reads the same as what they hear in the recording, telling them to "Live in the moment," an ironic jab since that's all they can do after consistently forgetting the past (twenty-four hours). At the same time, the "directed by" title card will appear next to the poster to ensure that it is visible to the viewers. The scene will conclude with the subject being shown in medium close-up shot framing before performing a cut to their subject in their background, marking the beginning of the second scene.
Scene 2:
In Scene 2, the subject will be shown in their bathroom, where the camera will act as the mirror, reflecting their actions, and facing them. The sink top will contain basic essentials, but nothing overly expensive, telling of the subject's decent, but not exceptional socio-economic status, as well as the fact that they do the bare minimum to take care of themselves and are relatively apathetic towards life in general. This could serve to provide a basis, amongst other things, as to why they are an alcoholic in the first place. In this scene, the subject drinks "alcohol" from a flask, further indicating the extent of their addiction to the audience. As the subject splashed water onto their face, the camera will then cut to the next scene.
Scene 3:
Although the transition from the previous scene does not exactly match the type of action that is used in the beginning of this scene to classify as an action match cut, the similarities between the two shots will be evident with hand placement and a similar close-up framing to make it more seamless. In this scene, the viewers will learn a bit more about the subject, particularly in terms of the type of work they do (customer service), as well as their attitude towards their profession, which is comprised of feelings of annoyance and frustration. Upon answering the phone and smiling as they hear their partner's voice, the audience will come to understand that the only source of joy within the subject's life is derived from the few relationships they are able to maintain with others, even if they may be newly formed (as is the case with their partner) and quickly forgotten by the start of the next day, requiring a daily reminder lest they be (literally) unmemorable. This scene will conclude with another cut, although similar to the transition into this scene, the next scene will begin with some parallels.
Scene 4:
The start of this scene is marked by a medium shot in which the slight smile shown on the subject's face in the previous scene is matched by a larger smile as they are on their bed, listening to the message on their voice recorder the next day. Now, my group mates and I came to the decision, that for time's sake, and to prevent the inclusion of redundant information, it would be best to start the recording's audio at a later point. That way the audience can come to the logical conclusion that the same information is repeated every day and in the case that new details need to be presented, my team and I will make sure to draw notice to them. This scene will end in a cut, and the next scene will begin in the same way with a matched smile.
Scene 5:
As this scene begins, the subject will be seated in an Italian restaurant, clasping the hands of their yet-unseen partner in a medium shot framing. The reason why the appearance of their partner is obscured here is to maintain an air of mystery regarding their identity and allow it to make a greater impact later on. Once the subject takes a sip of the "alcoholic" drink in front of them (playing into their alcoholism), the scene will conclude with a cut.
Scene 6:
Once the scene starts playing, the audience will find yet another visual parallel, seeing as the same medium shot framing as the previous scene will be used. This time, however, instead of continuing to smile, the subject will be shown visibly upset and frowning, immediately keying the audience into a change in tone and setting the mood for the rest of the film. During this scene, a heated argument between the subject and their partner will transpire, where their partner will make repeated comments regarding the subject's drinking habits, making them angry (especially with "alcohol" already in their system). Their verbal disagreement will lead to a physical altercation in which the subject will come to shove their partner and make a hasty exit. Now, my group intends to have the sound of the front door slamming as the subject exits match up with the exact moment that the subject's partner has presumably fallen off of their balcony to an untimely death, entirely unbeknownst to the subject. It is at this point in time that tensions will begin to run high and a sense of dread will befall the audience. To keep the audience on the edge of their seats, we plan to masterfully incorporate an action match cut with the slamming of the subject's partner's front door to the opening of the subject's front door to their own home, which is exactly how the following scene will begin.
Scene 7:
Once the subject has opened their front door and entered their house, the use of a tracking shot will serve the purpose of keeping the viewers immersed in the progression of the film, having no choice but to follow the subject's path to self-destruction as they seat themselves upon their couch. During this period of camera motion, a medium-long shot will be used, allowing the audience to discover for themselves how sparse the decoration within the subject's home is (another sign of their passive outlook toward life), along with the fact that the subject regularly drinks alcohol. The latter will be indicated by the fact their coffee table, which is located in front of their television, contains a fancy glass and a bottle of "alcohol," waiting neatly there to be drunk. As a zoom-in to a medium shot framing occurs, and the subject begins to utilize their voice recorder, the viewers will come to find how distraught the subject is. As the subject re-records another message, the camera will blur and their speech will become muffled, with the sound of their throbbing head becoming heard at the forefront. This sound will serve as an indication of the subject's cognitive impairment, enabled by their serious addiction to alcohol. The camera will then unblur and the scene will come to a close with a cut to the next morning.
Scene 8:
The final scene will begin with an overhead medium shot, meant to mimic the establishing shot of the film, but maintain a sense of continuity following the use of medium shot framing in the previous scene, particularly because the location remained consistent between transitions (only time had changed, having gone from night until the next morning). Since the subject fell asleep on the couch, aside from recording a message for themselves, they have not gone through the proper procedure of leaving themself a note to tell them to listen to said recording, rendering them memoryless of the previous day. Seeing as they have fallen asleep on the couch in front of their television, it is only natural that they would turn it on and watch something on the news before officially starting their day. Once their partner (who the audience had seen earlier during the argument that had escalated into a fight within said partner's home), appears on the television screen as being deceased, there will be no sense of recognition from the subject, they will simply make a comment regarding how shameful it is for them to have died. Hence, when the short film ends and the police knock on the subject's door, the ending will be far more impactful for the audience since they already know what is in store for the subject, whilst the subject themselves will be oblivious to what has (their partner's accidental murder) and is (their arrest) going to occur.
Short Film:
In total, we estimate that our short film will last for the entirety of our given five minutes. In terms of how long each scene will be in order to meet our time restraints, they will likely need to be around one minute and a half give or take, depending on how we reallocate the time for scenes that require fewer shots. In any case, if we do run a bit over time, we can always resolve the issue in the post-production editing stage or during production by refilming a scene in a different manner to make it shorter.
Storyboard:
Our actual storyboard has been attached below:
Clarifications:
- As things currently stand, our titles will enter and exit the screen with the use of dynamic fading that blends them into the motion occurring throughout the rest of the scene. With that being said, we still have yet to decide on the font type, color, or size we will be using for our film, so it is likely that this will be decided as we progress through filming and see the tone we are able to achieve with each of our scenes.
- Cutting is our primary transition given that with the thriller genre, it is essential to preserve tension, as such lingering for too long on a transition can cause feelings of suspense to dissipate and counteract the tone we intend to set.
- Since our storyboard was so lengthy, we were not able to add as much detail as we may have liked, so it is relatively devoid of color. However, as mentioned prior, color is included when necessary to denote camera or subject movement, title placement, as well as important audio effects.
- Seeing as our short film will be shot entirely indoors, any lighting will include will be artificial.
- Make-up and jewelry will only be used in certain scenes, particularly those involving the primary subject going to work, going out on a date, and returning home following said night out.
- Any mentions of alcohol above only serve to indicate the way in which certain substances will be appearing to the audience, as opposed to what the actors themself will be drinking, which is solely restricted to non-alcoholic beverages.
- In our storyboard, there are a number of different colored arrows, dashes, and boxes. To make the purpose of said symbols easier to understand, I've condensed them into a visual chart below to be used as a reference:
Closing Remarks:
My teammates and I strongly believe that the fact that our viewers will be given the opportunity to piece the story together as it progresses and come to the conclusion before the primary subject themselves does will be an interesting aspect of the thriller genre to explore. With the current layout for our short film, we have high hopes that we will be able to execute that endeavor successfully, especially now that we've completed the final step in our pre-production process, and are finally able to start filming. To that, I quote the Imagine Dragons band and say, "It's time to begin, isn't it(?)" (2011).
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