A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS

After meeting up with my classmates today, I received valuable feedback on my idea for the project. To begin with, I only then came to notice how underdeveloped my character was, and how, all at once, I gave the audience the entire plot of my creation. As one of my colleagues said, "the biggest twist is the character descending into madness." That is the purpose of this specific "subgenre," after all. And so, I must hold back, so that throughout the rest of the movie a greater change must happen, and the viewers get a satisfying plot-twist at a point later in the story. 

 

Moreover, this beginning will rely heavily on the mise-en-scene to establish context. That does not mean, however, that everything should be explicitly shown onscreen. During the call, I was suggested to include some interaction to show how the scientist is ignoring others' advice, and setting herself an unrealistic standard - one physically impossible to achieve. "Maybe someone could call her," one classmate proposed. Though that could provide me with with the "social interaction" aspect seen in my drama case studies, I suppose the advisor I had envisioned would be more like Pi's Sol - Max's instructor, who told him time and again to refrain from pursuing the pseudoscience. This person, however, would not appear until later in the film - the first two minutes will not focus necessarily on their interactions, though I can hint at a possible connection through notes and other minute factors. Yet another suggestion - and this I thought quite helpful - was to include an outside perspective of my protagonist "escapade." This could be done through newspaper articles, building up not only to the expectations for scientist, but showing how some are explicitly against her controversial idea. 

All in all, considering the feedback on my idea, I have also gone back on my take for the opening. By making the opening a singular "study session," the obsession may seem to already be full fledged, and that is not my intent since the downfall will occur only gradually. I will toy with the idea of making it different days - maybe even change the song to a more intense, faster one - by changing the character's clothes and repeating the same shots, but with different details to illustrate the passage of time and the slow, but certain, deterioration of the protagonist's sanity. 

Overall, the feedback has helped me rethink how to approach the opening, and helped me even more in developing the storyboards, which, until now, were quite vague. For the next couple of posts, I intend to include a full character description - beginning with finding a name, a task I had been avoiding to do for a long time - and a clearer yet view of the scene, in addition to storyboards. Throughout the next couple weeks, then, I will begin arranging props and the appropriate costuming to begin filming. It's a lot, but necessary steps in order to make the final product satisfactory.