Further Research

This week we started to really develop our ideas for an opening scene. We started off by researching current media texts and how we can use the conventions of art house films to make our opening look correct.


One of the first things we had a look at were the many news reports which came out when the discovery of Elisabeth and her family were discovered. We thought we could somehow incorporate this into our opening, either by playing it on a television within the scene or by making our own news report and using it.


The concept of using the news report within the scene gave us a new idea. We thought we could begin the scene zoomed in on the television/news report and slowly zoom out. As the camera zooms out we see more of the room; it's dark and bare, the television has children's stickers stuck around the edges. As we further zoom out, a figure is revealed to the audience. A woman, dressed in shoddy, out-of-fashion clothes. We only see her back. The camera finally stops zooming out at a fairly low, medium shot; from the shoulder to the knee of the woman. Due to low key lighting it is difficult for the audience to gain too much information about the woman and her surroundings. The lighting from the television would also create a silhouette which would look really effective. After hearing some information from the news report, about the police looking for Elisabeth Fritzl, the mother of a very ill young woman in hospital, we hear diegetic sounds of a heavy metal door opening and closing, then heavy, shuffling footsteps which get louder. Eventually another figure appears, male, and an arm reaches across to turn the television off, plunging the room into total darkness.
From the black screen the title of the film, written in white, will fade in, whilst non-diegetic music plays of a child's song, which sounds eery, representing Elisabeth and her children's childhoods. 


I made a quick mock-up of the idea using photoshop:

We are looking to adding another scene after the title, possibly a flashback, but have not decided what it will involve as of yet. 


Obviously these are initial ideas, that may well change. We will be looking to create a mood board next, to discover the kind of feel we want to go for and for more inspiration, but so far so good!