I am a proud advocate of Canva, i use it for EVERYTHING, and today i discovered they have storyboard templates!! I mean of course they do, they have everything and its FREE. I made a draft storyboard to start getting my ideas out of my imagination.
On the first scene I want a drone shot of the train station as an establishing shot, and also for the title of the film.(still thinking about that one) faint modern music can be heard (maybe Farmacos, have to ask for permission)
I want a close up of feet walking and people waiting for the train. Man starts reciting poem (voiceover)
We can see the owner of the voice, he has headphones on and takes them off as he arrives to wait and sees something going on next to him (music stops, voiceover continues)
Classical ballet music can be heard and the feet of the dancer can be seen as she dances to the melody
She moves along the station (long take medium shot following her) as she gets into the dance more and more (passionate).
So, I've been rewatching movies by my favorite directors because of the project, and obviously the Oscar season. I noticed, that many directors of indiesque films, have a tendency to do two kinds of shots: long takes room to room, following a person, and close ups of their action. In Roma, Cuaron starts the film with Cleo washing the floor of the garage, but you can only see a portion of her action from a high angle. Here's a clip:
There you can also see the long take from her turning off the lights and the camera follows her from room to room. Of course i couldn't do this post without mentioning Wes Anderson, because it wouldn't be my blog. In Moonrise Kingdom's opening scene, the same technique is used to introduce the family to the audience, as well as their family dynamic:
Damien Chazelle did the same long take shot for the "Someone in the Crowd" musical number in La La Land:
Peter Hoar, does his own take with this technique in the first episode of The Umbrella Academy, by showing the house completely, and therefore all of the characters at the same time, but also showing individual shots of each one. Due to my resources i wont be able to do this but i still thought it was worth mentioning:
I believe this creates a very personal "following the characters" feel, which is what i want to achieve with my opening scene. My film needs to feel like a peeping into their life, day to day life, to make it raw and vulnerable, and i believe drawing inspiration from this shot will help me do that.
The use of close ups is something i really want to use in my film, because again it creates a vulnerable, personal connection with the audience, if used correctly.
In this clip of 2016 close ups, we can see shots from Moonlight, Arrival, 10 Cloverfield Lane, etc. It is evident the strong effect this shots can have on films and how interesting they can be. I've now decided on having a girl dancing in the train station for money, preferably ballet, and doing a close up on her feet and the coins hitting the cup, as well as her eyes. I've been obsessed with eye and sky shots so i want to include them in my scene.
st!
Moments, Musical, director."Someone In The Crowd" La La Land (2016 Official Movie Clip).YouTube, YouTube, 10 Apr. 2017, www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7RmBgq4tT4.
Today, my partner Mateo and me talked about our schedule for the following weeks to set the dates we will shoot, talk about the process, edit, etc. To make it easier, we created a Google Calendar , where we can create events and reminders of our due dates and our conflicts. I use this google gadget on a daily so i thought it would be the most effective way to keep us organized and make sure we have everything planned out on time. We decided to shoot Sunday, March 17th, because is the day we both can. Weekends are better for both of us since I have track practice every weekday, an Mateo works almost every weekend but this one he is available. We are planning on starting early in the morning so that we can shoot everything in one day, at least the train station scene, so that the lighting and such stay the same. I plan on calling both train stations (Hollywood and Miami) next week to make sure we can record there, and see if we need permission. I also have to contact James Guarasci from BECON, he offers equipment for Broward students. I have borrowed the equipment before for another project and it is AMAZING, so hopefully he has equipment available for that date. Last time I used the SONY A7III and it worked great, so I'll probably ask for that one again. I need to ask for lighting equipment too, so that if the light is not good we can fix it. We also have to think about who will our actors, and if they can that date, so it is safe to say that that date is subject to change. If anything we have spring break to work on it, so it should be fine. We just don't want to leave everything last minute and end up rushing to finish. Going back to the actors, we want to ask someone from theater and our Spanish friend to do the voice over. I just feel like they will bring our idea to life better. Hopefully our schedules sync! st!
I started researching train station scenes and I'm more sure now of my decision. I believe that keeping it in one location will build the tension and intrigue for the opening scene, nevertheless, i have to keep the shots interesting to make sure my audience does not get bored. I watched the film Brief encounterover the weekend and I really liked the classic romance. The train station scene is iconic, and i would like to pull some ideas from it like the waving back to his lover, but i don't know if it's allowed so I'll have to find out. The storyline is also similar to what i want, since the lovers can't be together because of difficult circumstances. Of course i could not make a post about train station scenes without including Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat by The Lumière Brothers (1895). Hopefully my audience doesn't run screaming out of the theater (get it?). Even though I believe the one shot worked perfectly for this film, for mine i don't think it would be a good idea since it would feel static, and i plan on having some dialogue. Not a lot though because i want to keep some mystery going. I also watchedSome like It Hot's train sceneand the shots are amazing. I LOVE the shot if the feet moving, I absolutely want to do one like that, which is something i wanted to do with my old story in the airport like before. I also want the girl in the film to be dressed super fancy, and have an attitude like Marilyn in the excerpt. I decided to start looking at some pictures of urban Train stations to see how i would like to organize my shot list. Here are some that i liked: This one could be where some dialogue takes place. I liked this because I could maybe introduce a character. This one could be used to introduce the setting. Here are some i think would not work for me because of my location, resources or aesthetic: Sadly there are no underground trains/metros near me. I would've loved a scene like Gossip Girl's first scene, but theres no grand central station near me, or anything like it. st! Day, Pippa. “7 Most Iconic Train Stations in Cinema.” WOW247, www.wow247.co.uk/2014/07/10/most-iconic-train-stations-in-cinema-86795/. VideoJordan. “Favorite Train Scenes from the IMDb Staff.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 12 Oct. 2015, www.imdb.com/list/ls000292369/ Kai, JAMES, director. EXCERPT FROM 'SOME LIKE IT HOT". YouTube, JAMES Kai, 22 May 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbQqnJw7xL0. Romleydavies, director. Brief Encounter. YouTube, Romleydavies, 13 Jan. 2011, www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGDCTlVWduk Subtletybleighton, director. Gossip Girl 1x01 - Serena's Back!YouTube, Subtletybleighton, 1 Dec. 2008, www.youtube.com/watch?v=8e7ABbeWxr0. Lumiere Brothers, director. Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat (The Lumière Brothers, 1895). YouTube, Raphaeldpm, 27 May 2006, www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dgLEDdFddk
This one could be where some dialogue takes place.
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This one could be used to introduce the setting.
Sadly there are no underground trains/metros near me.