Foundation Portfolio - Main Task Brief

Main Task Brief

Our Task:

Film the opening sequence of a new fiction film, including titles and soundtrack to last approximately two minutes.

To plan this opening sequence my group and I created a story board for the opening sequence which shows a rough outline of the direction we wish to take the sequence in; for example, it includes camera shots, locations, character marks and props. We will also add soundtrack notes to give a general idea of what sounds we would like to use in this sequence. 

This opening scene needs to give enough story to give the viewer an idea of what the whole film would be about, but it can't give away too much story as it is only meant to create suspense and draw the viewer into the film.

This sequence needs to include a variety of camera shots to show the skills that our group has picked up; we also need to show off our editing techniques by making sure we follow certain rules like the 180 degree rule or the Rule of Thirds.

My group pitched our idea in front of our class. We gave what is called an 'elevator pitch' which is essentially a brief synopsis of our opening sequence that we can present in a short space of time. This pitch gave the story to our opening sequence, we also provided a mood board that is filled with pictures that describe the atmosphere we wish to have in our opening sequence. 

After we gave our pitch, our class asked us questions about the opening sequence such as:

Where will the film be set?

 It will be set in various locations, but we have an idea of what we need. We need a dark alleyway and possibly two rooms the the two main characters reside in.

How many people will you need to act in the opening sequence?

We only need two; a man in a suit and a mugger.

What vibe do you want your opening sequence to give off?

We would like our opening sequence to give off an eerie vibe that sets up a mystery/thriller type story, similar to Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners.

We are still currently working on the script for the opening sequence and we are yet to finalise every aspect of the sequence itself, the creative process is a difficult one as all the members of our group have diverging ideas and opinions; although we agree that they are good ideas, it is difficult to fit these into the same opening sequence as they give off different vibes and change the story quite a bit.