Annotating An Opening Scene Similar To Mine

Wild Child Opening Scene

Overview of opening:

The scene opens with the view of the sky in a 'point of view' camera shot. The camera takes the audience into the bedroom of a teenage girl where she lays sleeping on her bed early in the morning. The scene is peaceful showing the 'medium shot' of the sleeping girl. She starts to stir slightly and wakes up. The scene suddenly goes from calm to panicked in just a second after the girl realises something which is at first unclear to the audience. The girl jumps out of bed and rushes to get downstairs where she is joined by he younger sister who is making a sandwich for breakfast.

How it will be similar to mine;

This opening scene will be similar to mine as I am going to film the beginning of the scene from a 'point of view' shot, leading the audience into the bedroom of the teenage girl much like the opening if wild child.

It will also be similar to mine as the girl suddenly jumps out of her bed after she obviously has either forgotten or remembered something important. I am adding in a 'jump' out of bed however my character will be startled by a younger sibling waking her up with a loud noise rather than her being woken up by herself.

There is a younger sibling shown in the wild child opening scene which is something I wish to add in as it will help to communicate to the audience my characters family life and the way she acts around them in contrast to the way she acts in school. However I was planning to make to make the sibling younger and possibly a boy as in comedy's there is stereotypically the 'annoying little brother'. I am really trying to include the teen comedy clichés to really exaggerate and get across the genre in the short opening.

Annotating the shots:

1) The scene starts with a still image of a clear blue sky and blue sea which slightly merge into one. This still perfectly sets the scene for the audience addressing them to where the film could be set. A big blue ocean view and clear blue sky's give the audience the idea that the film is perhaps set in a hot location. It also gives the idea that the family that the film will revolve around could be quite wealthy as it appears they have a beach house. The blue sea and sky is the first thing the audience sees, the clearness of the sky and sea could represent that everything is perfect at this moment in time.

2)

The second shot is an establishing shot which zooms to a close up shot in the space of 30 seconds. The 'Mise en scene' gives us the idea that we are looking at a teenage girls room: the room is of a blue and pink colour scheme. The furniture and other use of props that we see suggest that the girl who is sleeping in this bed comes from an affluent family. The camera shot is at a close up by the time the girl opens her eyes and shouts "Shit!". This suggests to the audience that something bad is going to happen and it kills the 'clam' atmosphere that the scene had built up to.

These are key shots as, at first, it gives the audience a 'long distance' shot to let them explore this girls room and pick out certain elements that could symbolise her characters lifestyle or personality before we have even heard her speak. The scene then zooms into a 'medium shot' then zooms in even more to a 'close up'. The 'close up' shot is a very important shot as it shows the expression n the girls face. At first her face has a gentle smile across it which pairs with the still blue sky and sea suggesting that everything is perfect. However her face suddenly turns worried, her eyes widen and mouth drops open, The 'close up' shot helps exaggerate the panic of the character and how suddenly everything doesn't seem so perfect.

3)

In the third shot, the girl suddenly rises from her bed and starts to run around in a fluster. This starts of as a 'medium shot' when the girl rises from her bed but turns into a 'long shot'. The 'long shot' shows the audience the setting of the scene and further presents more evidence that the character is affluent. While the girl is busy charging around her room, the film title pop us up on the screen. The film title 'wild child' is shown at the perfect time in the scene, while the girl is running around her room like a headless chicken. This affect emphasizes the word 'wild' in the title as she is acting very 'wild' in this extract of the scene. These shots are important as it gives the audience a better idea of the lifestyle of this girl and helps explain her 'wild' personality.

What I can take as inspiration:

I have taken many elements of this scene as inspiration. The first shot of the clear blue sea and sky to show location and which was also there to symbolise perfection in a wealthy lifestyle, I have taken as inspiration for my own opening. I want my first shot to be of the sky to mirror a peaceful lifestyle. I also want a shot of the house of my character to show the audience location and address to them that she comes from a wealthy background much like the girl in wild child. This is key in my opening film as is shows status of the character and also guides the audience to think she could be stuck up and snobby as stereotypically most wealthy teenage girls are.