Today in class we had discussions in a group of five. We all pitched our ideas and aided each other with more ideas to incorporate into our individual productions. Personally, I didn't get too many new ideas but it helped me think of important aspects of my opening that I need to focus more on. Bianca's idea of a mad scientist helped me to capture a new perspective of Will's character. Especially his insanity. Sabrina reminded me to use color to my advantage. This will help to separate scenes of Will alone compared to him interacting with others. When talking about Camila's idea I realized the importance of other characters in my opening. Mainly I need a bit more focus on the cat.
Insanity
The one feeling I need to focus more on is Will's insanity. At the beginning of the film, Will is in a depressing state of mind. He can't eat, sleep, or find any excitement in his life. He goes through his day pessimistically and doesn't believe in his own capabilities. This mindset works to almost drive Will mad but the crazy thing is that Psycho's madness is what saves Will at the end from his own insanity. It's almost like a circle of suppressed, crazy feelings shared between Will and Psycho. Will created Psycho based on his own crazy side but writing Psycho's fun adventures drains him of his own adventurous needs and he has to get the crazy stories to come back into his life through Psycho. This comes to fruition when Psycho appears. Psycho being a villain makes this seem like a horrible situation for Will, but it's all in Will's head. The adventures Will goes on with Psycho are really by himself. Riddled with anxiety, Will learns once again why he threw away his high-risk lifestyle and he gets to learn from this experience that gives him the inspiration to once again continue his comic. Obviously, I can't fit all of that in the two-minute opening although using color techniques and the cat character I can hint at details like this to give the scenes more depth that dives into the story as a whole.
Color
I mentioned using color before, but I haven't truly incorporated it into individual scenes. I want contrast between the dark, gloomy color and lighting in lone scenes of Will and the bright, color-filled scenes with Psycho. I also want to include glimmers of happiness that he feels when interacting with things he likes (for example, his cat). I can do that with less vivid, but still noticeable color differences. To make my ideas more clear to those reading this I can explain them this way. There are four levels of color and lighting that a scene can have. The lone, depressing scenes of Will are the darkest, most grey scenes. Scenes, where Will interacts with something he likes, will have natural lighting and color to give a sense of normality and reality. Scenes that hint towards Psycho's existence without actually including Psycho will be vibrant to a degree. For example, the scene with the clock will have bright colors illuminating only from the clock. Finally, the most vibrant scenes are the ones with Psycho. These clips will have the most exaggerated color.
Cat
Will's cat wasn't planned to be too important to the scene, but now I see its potential. I now know I can use the cat as a good example of something natural that gives Will happiness which is mainly important for the end of the film where he realizes that his normal life is a good life. Other than that there is an important aspect to the film I wanted to capture in the opening but wasn't sure how to. Since I've officially decided to go with the idea that Psycho's appearance in the real world is just in Will's head, I need a way to show that even if it's small. The only way to hint at this in such a short time is through the only other character in the opening, Will's cat. (I guess I should give it a name so I'll go with Swiggy just because.) The idea is to have Swiggy either walk past or walk through Psycho like he doesn't exist because he doesn't. This lack of interest would be strange for Swiggy because cats are known for their curiosity. It may help to put in some dialogue somewhere that talks about that curiosity. Anyway, it's a simple idea but it's important to establish Will's partial insanity as soon as I can and as much as I can in this little amount of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment