Design Process

Synopsis

I decided to base my short film on the love between two sisters, from the older sister's narrative, it will be an emotionally heightened melodrama.
Elyse and Annabel are sisters, although Annabel is 10 years younger than Elyse they are closer than ever, Elyse is now Annabel's legal guardian following the death of their mother the previous year and they both now live each day as it comes finding happiness from the small things in life. That is until a cruel twist tears Annabel from Elyse aswell, leaving her alone.


Here is my originally planned script for my short movie.

 Letters To Annabel

Written & Directed

By Hayley Bassett

TITLE SEQUENCE

START OF SEQUENCE A

EXT. FIELD/WOODS – EVENING.

LONG SHOT of ELYSE in a hooded top, walking slowly through a field.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of the back of ELYSE walking towards the trees/water.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE stood at the edge of the water looking down and holding a letter visibly in her hands.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE opening the letter, quickly scanning it, folding it back up and ripping it into pieces.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of ELYSE stood at the edge of the water, sprinkling the paper gently into the water. She bends down to pick a flower.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of ELYSE’S hand picking the flower.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE holding the flower and then dropping it into the water.

CUT TO:

EXTREME CLOSE-UP of the paper and flower in the water.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of ELYSE looking at the water and sighing gently.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of ELYSE walking away.

FADE OUT.

END OF SEQUENCE A

FADE IN.

INT. GIRL’S BEDROOM – AFTERNOON.

V.O. THROUGHOUT

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE sat down writing in a book.

FADE OUT:

FADE IN:

INT. LIVING ROOM – AFTERNOON

LONG SHOT of ANNABEL sat on the floor while ELYSE, who is sat on the sofa plaits her hair

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of ELYSE plaiting ANNABEL’S hair.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ANNABEL turning to hug ELYSE.

CUT TO:

EXT. STREETS – AFTERNOON

LONG SHOT of ELYSE and ANNABEL walking down the street holding hands. They turn to look at each other, smile and then start skipping.

CUT TO:

INT. KITCHEN – AFTERNOON

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE and ANNABEL sat at a table painting, ANNABEL holds her painting up for ELYSE to see.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of ANNABEL’s painting of her and ELYSE.

CUT TO:

INT. LIVING ROOM – AFTERNOON

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE rocking one of ANNABEL’S dolls and smiling at ANNABEL.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of ELYSE preparing food for ANNABEL.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ANNABEL hiding under the table.

CUT TO:

INT. STAIRS – AFTERNOON

LONG HIGH-ANGLED SHOT of ELYSE walking to the bottom of the stairs, looking up and smiling.

CUT TO:

LONG LOW-ANGLED SHOT of ANNABEL stood at the top of the stairs, hands on hips.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of ELYSE kneeling on the floor, giving ANNABEL a hug.

CUT TO:

LOOP OF SEQUENCE A

EXT. FIELD/WOODS – EVENING.

LONG SHOT of ELYSE lay writing in a book at the side of the water, ANNABEL sat colouring beside her.

CUT TO:

OVER THE SHOULDER SHOT of ANNABEL looking into the water.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN.

INT. GIRL’S BEDROOM – AFTERNOON

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE sat writing in her book again.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN.

INT. GIRL’S BEDROOM – NIGHT

MEDIUM HIGH-ANGLED SHOT of ELYSE sat on her bed writing in her book.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of the anguish and sadness in ELYSE’S face as she writes, ELYSE then turns to look at the paintings on the wall.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of the painting.

FADE OUT.

FADE IN.

EXT. FIELD/WOODS – AFTERNOON.

LONG SHOT of ELYSE in a hooded top, walking slowly through a field.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of the back of ELYSE walking towards the trees/water.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE stood at the edge of the water looking down and holding a letter visibly in her hands.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE opening the letter, quickly scanning it, folding it back up and ripping it into pieces.

CUT TO:

LONG SHOT of ELYSE stood at the edge of the water, sprinkling the paper gently into the water. She bends down to pick a flower.

CUT TO:

CLOSE-UP of ELYSE’S hand picking the flower.

CUT TO:

MEDIUM SHOT of ELYSE holding the flower and then dropping it into the water.

CUT TO:

EXTREME CLOSE-UP of the paper and flower in the water.

FADE OUT.

END CREDITS.

Storyboard

I have fore-planned all of my shoot and camera angles I will use.


Moodboard

I also created a moodboard of my film ideas, this helps me create a collage of images that all relate to my film and help me be in-keeping and consistant with the themes and key elements of my film

As you can see I have included both happy and sad pictures such as: flowers, paintings, holding hands and a young sat crying, these represent the themes of the film. I incorporated a lot of sister images as this relates to the main characters and have also included an image of a canal, resembling the place where the young sister falls in. I have used paper and people writing as this is relevant to the letter style thoughts of the main character. I wanted to use the quote 'The best friend a girl can have is her sister' because this sums up the film as a whole and reinforces the despair it is when she loses her sister.

Shooting Schedule

Here is my shooting schedule for a segment of the itinerary, I was extremely organised and kept to my time schedule strictly.

Date & Time                   Description of the scene              

15/3/12                       Elyse walking down to the lake        

10:15am                         and throwing the letter in                             

 Cast                                   Location & Props

 Elyse              A lake surrounded by some trees.  *Letter*

Date & Time                   Description of the scene 

15/3/12                          Elyse sat writing in her diary      

12pm                                                                                                     

 Cast                                   Location & Props

 Elyse                A girl's bedroom  *A pen and a diary*

Date & Time                   Description of the scene

15/3/12                   Annabel sat reading a book while     

12:30pm                        Elyse sits plaiting her hair                  

 Cast                                   Location & Props

 Elyse                                    A living room
Annabel                        *A book and a hair bobble*

Date & Time                   Description of the scene

16/3/12                     Annabel and Elyse sat painting     

1:00pm                                    

 Cast                                   Location & Props

 Elyse                                        A kitchen
Annabel                        *Paints, brushes and paper*

Date & Time                   Description of the scene
16/3/12                     Elyse walking Annabel to school
3:00pm
 Cast                                   Location & Props
Elyse                                           A street
Annabel                                *A school bag*

                                          

I have learnt from my experience that the original script is not what your final film will end up being. It's improvisation that can make your film a lot better without even trying or not being able to achieve what you wanted and so you develop your ideas to suit the film in a better way. 

A lot of my smaller scenes involving Annabel and Elyse doing active things together had to be changed or tweaked slightly to suit the needs on the day. I.e. if it was an outside shot I changed it to an inside shot.