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Opening scene features and criteria

Daniel Grimley

Male protagonist- The ex-husband in the scene is in a deep state of depression after losing his wife and son. This needs to be portrayed in the scene. The character will be sat on his own with the television on, representing his lonely state. The table next to him will be filled with empty beer bottles, a bottle of whisky, an ash tray and lines of cocaine. These props will show he is depressed, and is resorting to drugs to cover up his pain. His gesture code will not change whilst his ex-wife is talking, he will be seen in a state of complete isolation and separation from everything around him which will intensify the loneliness impression. His wallet will be unattended on the sideboard and holding little money. This is to show he is irresponsible and is without a job and money.

Female protagonist- The ex-wife in the scene needs to be shown as a more successful character but not so successful that she wouldn’t need the maintenance money. Her outfit should be smart, with a pair of stilettos to show she is still ‘trashy’ enough to break-in in need money. She will need to walk in an angry manner to portray her feelings toward her ex-husband.

Mise-en-Scene

Inside- There needs to be dimmed lighting to convey the depression and the only real source of bright light will be from the television. The background needs to be dark and gloomy to indicate the character has had a similar background himself.

Outside- The scene needs to be filmed on a sunny day as it is the best natural lighting. It will also show the constriction of the ex-husband’s pupils as he leaves his home. This shows the audience that he has been cooped up inside for while.

Male protagonist- The ex-husband, in his solitude, needs low key lighting as he is the one in the gloomy slump. His face should not be seen at first as this creates mystery about his identity, it can be covered by a dark patch or shadow over his face.

Female protagonist- The ex-wife can be shown in high key and brighter lighting as the audience needs to witness her outfit, body language and gesture codes. This brighter lighting is also a way to represent the fact that she is ‘better-off’ than her ex-husband.

Lighting

First shots- There needs to be an establishing shot of the house as it gives the audience an idea of the filming location from the outside. The female protagonist can then enter the scene during this shot as this will make the scene run more smoothly and it will be easier to cut to the next shot whilst keeping the ‘match on match action’.

Female protagonist- The female protagonist initially will need to be filmed as the empowered character. This can be done by getting low angle shots to show her power and also intimidation. This will also gives us the chance to show her outfit to the audience, such as her stilettos, which is important to represent her personality as I have mentioned in the ‘mise-en-scene’ slide. Once the female protagonist is in the fight she will need to be shot at high angles and close ups as there is a power shift when the ex-husband attacks her. This is because she needs to be seen as weak and defeated.

Male protagonist- The male protagonist will need to be filmed in wide shots at first as we need to keep him in the dark and a wide shot will show him to the audience in his natural environment. Then when we see his identity close up and mid shots will be used to show his gesture codes and body language.

Camera angles/shots

Diegetic sound- The diegetic sound in the scene should be the character’s dialogue, the sound from the television in the background, footsteps, the door (knocking, opening and closing) and the reminder alert on the male protagonist’s phone.

Non-diegetic sounds- The non-diegetic sounds will obviously be the sound effects and the soundtrack but we may also add some birds singing during the establishing shot or some cars in the background. Also there will be a voice over at the end of the scene which will be said by the ex-husband directly to the audience.

Sound effects- For the fight scene a punch sound effect will need to be added as the actors can’t punch each other for real.

Soundtrack- For the first cut of the establishing shot and the woman approaching the door, we will add an upbeat and tension building song which is synchronous to her footsteps. The soundtrack could be a bass guitar riff with some drums to back it up and some electric guitar to supplement it. I will need to get together with my band to write a short piece of music.

Sound