Storyboard Concept & Ideas for Short Film

In my notebook I have finalised a concept for the story behind the short film I want to produce for my FMP. I wrote down the summary of the idea which is based on my inspiration for the cover song; which is my real life experience about a troubled relationship with someone whom I loved very much, but was struggling a lot with her own mental health as well as personal issues within her family which she was very reluctant to share with me understandably. I was trying to do good by Jane and show her how much I cared; but nobody in her life had ever cared about her the way I did; and it didn't feel right to her so she didn't fully trust me; and pushed me away without realising. Generally speaking, she also is pretty shy and insecure, though I thought she was perfect, of course. This story is essentially what my film is based on, although told in different way.

On the first double page spread I included the summary for my short film (as mentioned earlier), a mind-map with some key ideas for the project I wanted to incorporate, as well as panels 1-6 of my own storyboard for the plot. The second double page spread has panels from 7-14 as well as some ideas I've brainstormed to create poignant and gripping ending. I want the person to watching to feel shocked and emotional by that point, so that they won't forget the message the whole video and recording is trying to send.

Ideas for shooting mind-map + bullet points

After creating the storyboard I had a think about how I would film what I've got, as well as extra ideas for some shots I could take. I talked to my friend who gave me a few interesting ideas which I jotted down for some shots that weren't necessarily connected to the overall plot as such but instead conveyed some sense of emotion.

Such as (below) the character splashing her face with water; which could show any number of feelings that she is trying to get rid of/or forget. I wrote this down as I think this could be a good idea to have this shot as not something that actually happens in the plot but an idea or emotion expressed by the character instead (see the Filler Shots section below for an example of what I mean). Essentially the shot is presented like a flashback, but it is not something that has happened in the context of the plot.

There were also some new ideas I decided to underline as well introduce following the peer review session which include things that other people suggested. Some of the additional ideas mentioned were also similar to other ideas I had come up with but not mentioned in the session, however it was a valuable experience to see others taking an interest in my work and putting themselves in my shoes. In essence I thought this list was useful as a summary of important points.

The new ideas I especially thought about were the last two. The bullet point about scenic shots as well as flashbacks to enhance the quality of the film and create an atmosphere is where my current footage comes into play, as I was experimenting a lot with camera position, angle, different types of shots etc. (mentioned in my earlier blog post: https://2011545.wixsite.com/yadavhtestblog/post/experimental-video-takes). This involved a lot of thinking outside the box. An idea which I think which was rather obvious; but something I overlooked to a certain extent; was using a grayscale and maybe high contrast filter to convey a sense of moodiness/gloominess throughout bits of the film.

Filler shots (testing ideas)

About the shots of people training at the gym, I thought these could be fast paced, sort of 'filler shots' to build tension, so how this would work is that the character would freeze for a second in slow motion, and the snippet would play quickly and in black and white to show to create a build

up; like a flashback, but not exactly like one as it doesn't relate to the plot. Here is an example of the kind of shot I meant (shown in panel 5 on my storyboard);

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c3a0a6_3369ce3c4e0c47b7a3b9e364be718654/1080p/mp4/file.mp4

The effect of the connecting shot is supposed to build tension. However this was just testing an idea that I maybe could have used. I eventually decided not to use this idea as I thought it would be too distracting and a bit random throughout.