So I think I have a set opening visual now, here's what I see happening:
The first scene that I described with my super awesome clearly extremely amazing mini storyboard in my post "The Power of Walking Your Dog" will be filtered with shots of a conversation between Young Charlotte and her mother, Bridget. This conversation will be a combination of song and line, similar to the conversation between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel in the Disney movie "Tangled" after Gothel sings the song "Mother Knows Best."Towards the end of the song the two engage in a little bit of dialogue that fades back into song. This exchange can be seen from 1:57 to 2:34 in the video below!
One of the things most apparent about this scene is how it starts in a mid two shot which transitions into a shot-counter-shot over the shoulder conversation where Gothel is shown in a low angle and Rapunzel is shown in a slightly less intense high angle, suggesting that while one may think the two are on equal playing fields, 1) they are not and, 2) Rapunzel believes that she isn't as inferior to Gothel as she actually is. I plan to do similar things with my shots but I don't aspire to create the same dynamic between my characters. Bridget and Charlotte are on a different playing field, Bridget trying her best to uphold the Puritan belief and transport the same into her daughter, but it's much less sinister and should create more of a lowkey authoritarian parent vibe.
Another thing that I love about this interaction is how the light piano comes in after Gothel leaves the screen, just Rapunzel left with the lights out around her, her face downcast. Aside from the fact that her character in this movie is literally a source of light (if you've seen the movie you shoulder get both my reference to her ability, her change in physical appearance, and the duet between her and her love interest later in the movie), this visual establishes her loneliness. The area around her is barren and almost dismal, the piano floating in to reaffirm the sad tone. The softness of the piano and the fact that it plays a simple melody with no other instruments or notes behind it draws a connection between the sadness and Rapunzel herself, already established as a gentle soul. As I was already planning to utilize darker colors in my intro (my vision's very similar to how the trailer for the most recent production of "Carrie" used darker colors), this excerpt is what I plan to use as inspiration for the official opening of my film.
The utilization of instruments to push a protagonist onward after their dreams have been boxed in also reminds me of the song "Out There" from Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." This scene is very similar to the one we just watched, the only difference is that the music pushes the protagonist, Quasimodo, into a full solo. I've linked both the Disney cartoon and the musical version of the song below. (Check out 0:00 to 1:21 in the first video and honesty, just listen to the whole version of the second because Michael Arden is ridiculously amazing oops.)
In my song's pre chorus, I do something similar by having the amount of instruments grow in volume, the tempo seemingly pushing the song along before Charlotte pushes all of it back to say something she doesn't need anything else behind her to say, coming directly from her heart. Also, the tempo slows down and the time signature transitions from the pulsing waltz of 3/4 to her own heartbeat, emulated by 4/4. I wanted to Charlotte to have a moment unguided by rhythm and percussion (at this point in time I've removed the eighth note of percussion), only assisted by the cello, before a few more instruments begin to join her, Charlotte gaining momentum and rhythm as any nervous energy is left behind, excitement filling her.
Okay, so now I'm in the car on the way to the port. Time to create Bridget & Charlotte's opening!
Bridget and Charlotte are walking home from church. There is clear distance between the two but they still walk in perfect sync. The pair is shown in an establishing long shot.
Bridget: Mary said that we ought to check on the ripeness of the potatoes. She said hers were perfectly ripe for yesterday’s meal.
Charlotte nods.
Bridget: I know you were caught drawing again in the churchyard.
Charlotte is silent. She won’t meet her mother’s eyes.
Bridget: You know that taking pleasure from such an act is frowned upon, do you not?
Charlotte is silent.
Bridget: I expect not to hear of any sort of frivolous activity like this again. Is that clear?
Charlotte nods.
Bridget finally breaks their distance by looking down at Charlotte, her face seen scowling.
Bridget: I said “Is that clear?”
Charlotte matches her mother’s gaze for the next line and then breaks eye contact.
Charlotte: Yes, mother.
While the conversation between the the duo is occurring, shots of their conversation will alternate with those described in my mini storyboard while the dialogue remains heard at all times. Charlotte’s lines may or may not be assisted by instruments. Here’s how I imagine these scenes to unfold:
Bridget and Charlotte are shown in an establishing shot on a dirt path. There is a close up of their shoes moving in sync as Bridget begins her first line before it transitions to a mid shot of Charlotte. As Charlotte nods there is a lack of sound present. The first shot of her looking at the woods is shown. When Bridget begins the next line she sighs first, pulling the focus of the camera back to Charlotte with her mother in a mid two shot. As Bridget finishes the line and there is silence, there is another cutaway, this time to the close up of the side of Charlotte’s face, her face taking up the left third, the woods taking up the right. The distance is similar to that established by her and her mother, which is shown directly after by another mid two shot. There is a close up of Bridget as she snaps her head towards Charlotte, still keeping her head up as her eyes look downward at her daughter. There is a close up of Charlotte as she lifts her head up before there is a cutaway to Charlotte glancing behind her before heading into the forest. As the shot zooms in from mid to close up and Charlotte turns back towards the forest, the previous angle from the earlier close up of the side of her face shown, the line “Yes, mother,” is heard as she grins a little bit and dashes into the forest, the camera cutting to a long shot of her before showing her face in a close up as she starts climbing through, the song beginning.
While I do apologize for the lack of storyboard, I’m literally in a car at this moment in time and will do my best to produce on later.
Until next time, I suggest listening to all of Tangled and (the musical version of) Hunchback!
AICE Media Portfolio Project. (2018, March 23). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://amandamelissamedia.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-power-of-walking-your-dog.html
J. (2013, April 04). Carrie - Official Trailer #1 (HD) Chloe Moretz (2013). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdoVioPv0fs
T. (2016, January 22). Hunchback of Notre Dame Musical - 3. Out There. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb5OGU8I04U
S. (2011, March 02). Mother Knows Best - Tangled [Blu-Ray 720p]. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTJvlsHlSpo
Mother knows the best. discovered by ready to rock. (2018, March 06). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://weheartit.com/entry/134925523
Out There - The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (2014, January 21). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxFD7Tk8Kps
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