The screen and first shot of the opening will slowly fade in from black. It will commence with a long shot of a swing in the park, gently swinging back and forth. The creaking and screeching of the swing can be heard as it does this action. An arch bridge can be seen in the background of the shot, with a figure walking slowly over it. The camera then makes a cut to a long shot of the person walking over the bridge, and then to a tracking mid shot of the walker from behind. This then cuts to a mid shot of the person (our protagonist in our opening, 25 year old male Barney) from the front, once again it is a tracking shot.
Only diegetic sound can be heard, for example; the footsteps of our protagonist, the creaking of the swing (which will stop as soon as we cut away from the shot of the swing) and natural sounds, perhaps from insects. In addition, weather conditions may have an impact on the sound. As we are filming in the night time, harsh winds may be heard. If this is the case, that will be fixed during post production, otherwise it will overpower the subdued mood that the opening scene is aiming for and ruin the intensity.
The camera continues to follow the protagonist face on as he turns into a bollard on the bridge. As he turns into the bollard, it cuts to a shot of the camera hidden in the trees near the river, to give the feeling that the protagonist is being watched. He places his hands on either side of the bollard. He produces his phone from his pocket and the camera cuts to a close up of the phone. As he turns his phone on, it says that he has no signal. The camera remains focused on the phone as the protagonist tries in vain to find reception, moving the phone up and in different directions. A close up of the protagonists face depicts his frustration. He throws the phone into the river below the bridge. The audience hears a splash but does not see the impact of the phone hitting the water. The camera then cuts to the phone in the water, floating away to symbolise that his only means of communication are gone. This is a common convention used in horror films and makes the protagonist extremely vulnerable.
The camera then cuts back to the shot within the trees. However, this time it is moving forward slowly through the trees to the water to signify whatever or whoever is in the trees, they/it is on the move.
Cutting back to a close up of the protagonist's face reveals that his anger has subsided. Suddenly, he hears something moving around in the water. An extreme close up of his eyes shows them shifting from side to side, trying to deduce where the sound came from. The camera cuts back to a close up. 'Who's there?' he shouts. There is no reply, and when he hears someone moving in the water again, he decides to investigate. He exits off the left side of the bridge, the camera shows him leaving the bollard and in the next shot, shows him exiting the bridge and entering the shallow water. He starts to look all around him for signs of the source of the noise. As he peers under the arch to see if the mysterious cause of the noise is under there. The camera cuts to a long shot from behind the protagonist. An unknown assailant steps into the shot with her or his back facing the camera. The camera then cuts to a close up of the protagonist again, his face slightly relieved as he sees ni sign of danger. As he steps backwards away from the arch and out of the water, the assailant steps forward with a rope in their hands and pulls it round their victims neck. A deafening scream is heard and the screen goes to black and the title of the film 'Maisie' appears.
During the shots in the trees, non diegetic sound will be used, and we will create a score. The music will be brooding and ominous. The instruments that may be included could perhaps be a piano, drums or violin. The score will continue when the camera cuts back to the victim's face, but the music will be less prominent and noticeable. However, when he enters the water to investigate, the music becomes more prominent. It eventually builds to a crescendo when he is seemingly murdered, but is cut off immediately when the screen fades to black.
Titles will be included in the opening. The font will be lower case and scratched and in white, as it will stand out against the darkness. 'Produced by Cling Films' will appear during the shot of the swing, and other credits including who stars in the opening, director etc will all appear during the opening.
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