Narrative of the Teaser Trailer

Our trailer will be pretty much broken down into four sections, all of which will surround a young schizophrenic girl's life and how her illness deteriorates after being discriminated and judged by another character. It will feature the symptoms of the illness including, hallucinations and delusion as well as social isolation.

The story will begin with the characters life being pretty stable, however she is starting to experience some of the symptoms of schizophrenia, through random flashbacks as well as voices and disorientating noises in her head. In this first section we will feature the discrimination that the character faces from another:

• We will use a time-lapse of the character sitting alone in a field with the sunset behind/in front of them to begin with, in order to convey her reflective and thoughtful nature, as well as to easily put across how she is a fairly introverted person. 
• Then, we will feature the character being judged by another character. After intensive research, I have found that many people are afraid of victims of mental illness and so we will try and display this in the actions and expressions of another character. 
• The scene will be set in school/college as it is around the ages of 17-19 that the symptoms of schizophrenia usually arise in people. Therefore, the discrimination scene will take place potentially in a school library. I thought this would be effective as it will back up the reflective, intelligent nature of the character. As well as this, due to the silence of a library the actions of the characters will be emphasised. 
• We can utilise some close-up shots of the protagonists' hands running over books in the library.
• We can feature the protagonist starting to experience some of the symptoms of schizophrenia  in the library, using jump cuts of patterns and disorientating non-diegetic sounds which can get increasingly loud to show their unstable state of mind. The character will be visibly distressed in the scene. 
• Then, contrast this with the POV of another character, where the silence of the setting will come in handy as a juxtaposition to the previous shot. The other character will be slightly wary and look towards the protagonist with a judgemental expression. This close-up of the character can be used as a cutaway later on in the trailer to emphasise how the protagonist is haunted by the discrimination of other characters. 

The second section will run throughout the film and will be of the character having hallucinations and imagining a friend, who will talk to them and make them do things. In my research into schizophrenia, some people have discussed how they can experience 'imaginary friends' who cause them to feel inclined to violence. This is especially prominent in child schizophrenia. 

• This section will be all filmed with a green screen in order that we can change the background, and use the same actor for both parts which will make the trailer more surreal and therefore more effectively reflect the symptoms of the illness.
• We will begin with a fairly calm shot with the characters sitting by one another but the imaginary character will have to wear clothing which will obviously distinguish them from the protagonist. The imaginary character will remind the protagonist of the expression of the judging character and tease her about it, causing them to become obsessed with the victim.

The third section will incorporate aspects of social networking as well as privacy and CCTV. We will show how the protagonist is deteriorating and becoming obsessed with the other character by featuring them stalking them through website, and hacking into their webcams and phone cameras. 

• We will feature a shot of the character whom judged the protagonist in the first scene wandering around their room privately. 
• Then, we will use a panning down shot which will show the character's laptop/pc on the opposite side of the room.
• Then, we will use a close-up of the webcam turning on with the light appearing. 
• Following this, there will be shots through the webcam as well as close-ups of photos and the character's facebook profile. 

At this point, the pace of the trailer will increase and we will continually return to cutaways of the second section with the imaginary character, as she fuels the protagonists' anger and obsession. 

• We will show more surreal disorientating close-up shots (perhaps canted) of the protagonists' mental state deteriorating, showing their state of panic.
• We will include some shots which feature the imaginary friend as threatening, through low-angles as well as including two shots of the imaginary friend strangling the protagonist and screaming at her in order to force her to do things. We can include close-ups of the antagonist's hands clamping round the protagonists neck, as well as jump cuts of the antagonists face.
• This part of the trailer allows the audience to know that it is the protagonists' condition which leads her to do the things that she does to the victim. We are shown two sides to the story as we see what causes her to act in the way that she does and so we feel sympathetic towards her, yet she also scares us when we see shots of her stalking the victim. This makes for a complex, psychological plot. 

These parts of the trailer will be cross cut with the shots of the protagonists' stalking and aggressive behaviour becoming worse. 

• We will use long shots of the victim walking down the street, and then the protagonist following, followed by the close up of the protagonists' aggressive expression as she stalks her. This shows that her obsession has worsened dramatically as the stalking has begun to take place in real life as well as through social media/CCTV.
• We will also use disorientating close-up high angle shots of the victim curled up on the floor in their bedroom and screaming as the protagonist threatens to hurt/kill her, however these shots will be extremely fast paced and tense in order that the audience can't fully see/understand what is happening and who is hurting the victim. This keeps part of the ending of the plot a mystery. Perhaps these parts of the trailer will be filmed by hand rather than tripod in order to give a tense, shaky effect to the overall shots. 

Initial Storyboard

Here are the initial storyboards for the different parts of our trailer. 

Location Research and evaluation (Bedroom)

For part of our trailer, we will need to utilize a bedroom for one of our actors. It is important to review which rooms we have available and consider what mise en scene impacts there are. I have evaluated the rooms below.

I think the room above will be a good choice for us because of the pale decor, it allows us to have a blank slate and can add extra colours to connote parts of the character's personality if necessary. I also can see a possible place that we could have a laptop positioned which is where the privacy part of our trailer comes into play. If necessary we would also be able to shoot the laptop on the shelf without getting the books above on the shelf in the same shot if they were going to conflict with the personality of the character. 

This is a good desk area however due to the space of the room it could be quite difficult to film in. Although this would be a good space for a laptop to be placed and allow us to focus on the privacy aspects, we would have to remove all the items from the desk due to mise en scene, which wouldn't be fair on Danielle. It is still an option though. 

All around this bedroom on the walls out of shot it a continuous photo wall which could not be removed, which takes out the possibility of using the desk area in this room. In addition to this there is a huge number of colours, including the walls, which could convey the wrong message about our character when analyzing the mise en scene. The only way this room could be used is if the laptop would be placed on the bed, however this wouldn't be so practical as the laptop could wobble in shots as there is no stable surface for it. There is also limited lighting in this room. 

This bedroom could be a possibility because it has a good desk space next to a window, meaning we would have a good light source. For shots of the laptop we wouldn't have to worry about mise en scene too much because we could easily remove the items already there, however the mise en scene throughout the rest of the room may be an issue, such as the red walls and American flag. This would not fit with the personality of our character in question and may lead the viewer to be confused about the personality we are portraying them to have.

When evaluating these possible options, I believe the first one is the best choice because it is most like a blank canvas which we can make fit our character easily. The other rooms would all need a lot of work to see if they were usable, such as removing an entire photo wall, space limitations and moving lots of personal belongings which wouldn't work in our trailer. 

Mise en scene we could incorporate:

-Books (linking to the library scene

-Note pads - expressing their thoughtful nature

-Fairly plain decor - so we can add any small details with elements of colour if necessary.

-Pens and pencils

-A laptop

Items we can NOT include in shots

-Photographs

- Clutter

-ornaments

-Cups

-Beauty product bottles etc

Enter the Void Deconstruction - Scene 3 - Linda's reactions

Part 1 - Linda lying down
During this scene we see Linda try to continue with her job as normal but she appears to have a slight breakdown half way through. A low angle shot followed by an aerial shot shows Linda from above dancing, the increase in height above her makes her seem much smaller and very vulnerable now she no longer has Oscar in her life. She has lost all her family. Linda's surroundings represent her emotions, unlike the yellow colour which surrounded Oscar in most of scenes, this has been juxtaposed with Linda as she is seen in a very colourful environment. There is no diegetic sound in this part of the scene, instead non diegetic sound has been used to play a high pitched continuous sound - it could be representing a scream and how Linda feels inside. Linda is wearing a black bikini in this scene showing her suffering from Oscar's recent death. It also shows how she could appear white mysterious to passers by who do not know the extent of her story. When she is seen wrapping her arms around her body is again emphasizes how vulnerable and lost she as become.

Part 2 - Spinning room
An establishing shot has been used here to show us a room similar to Oscar's apartment, due to the distortion created by visual effects in the editing stage it is unclear whether it is in fact his apartment. However at the end of this part we see a blurred face which could be Oscar laying on a bed - again more visual effects were used to create this and demonstrate the effects of drug use, a major theme for this film. There is no diegetic sound in this part, telling us that drugs take you away from reality and make the user become very isolated. The non diegetic sound is make up of a low fan like sound, similar to the wind like sound previously in the film. The dark surroundings and blue curtains suggest the occupant of the apartment is usually very masculine and therefore strong, however this has been juxtaposed with their physical state while on drugs.

Part 3 - Beige Hallucination

A graphic match is used to join the spinning room to this hallucination, where a light bulb is seen dissolving into a beige pattern. Full shots have been used to show the bright lights and patterns, again accompanied by no diegetic sound, but a sound bridge has been used so the viewer hears the same low fan sound from the apartment scene during this hallucination. The colour of this hallucination remains practically the same throughout, suggesting a much more fixed frame of mind. From this we can deduce that the person, likely to be Oscar is feeling impatient and excited - both of these ideas can be supported by the pace at which the bright lights flash very quickly. The hints of yellow tell us that the drug user must be getting some kind of happiness from taking the drug.

Part 4 - Bruno and Mario's conversation
There is an aerial shot panning down to a medium shot of Bruno and Mario showing how they first appear to be vulnerable but perhaps with their knowledge of Oscar's death they have some power. Continuity editing has been used here to show time passing since Oscar's death and how the characters are reacting and carrying on with their lives. The sound in this part of the scene varies, there is another sound bridge from Linda's part in this scene, however it is also accompanied by the diegetic dialogue from Bruno. He states "I got rid of my entire stash, I just hope Oscar didn't give my name to that slime boy Victor." This shows how there is an issue between some of the character's since Oscar's death, and how they are all for themselves instead of wanting to protect others. The changing colour of the lights on the bar and surround area shows that the situation could change and again their emotions are all over the place.

Enter the Void Deconstruction - Scene 2 - Flashbacks

Part 1 - Bedroom

In this scene I deconstructed, I first decided to focus on the flashback which occurs in a bedroom where Oscar and Linda are children. It is a reoccurring scene and is often quite distressing. An over the shoulder shot is used to look over Oscar's shoulder, again we see things from his perspective in the flashbacks, but from a slightly greater distance. Visual effects have been used in the editing stages of this scene to create a flickering effect to make it clear that it is a flashback and signify that it is not a permanent state. The non diegetic sound is composed of a very low eerie tone in the background, which is overpowered by Linda screaming loudly out of shot. The beige walls of the bedroom are very similar to the ones in Oscar's apartment, this acts as a colour bridge indicating places he has felt safe during his life. It also suggests that in this bedroom he had a lot of time to talk to his sister and decide how they were going to move on from their parent's tragic death.

Part 2 - Park 
The time in the park is shown through over the shoulder shots from behind Oscar, and then a two shot of the siblings. To make it clear that this memory is from a long time ago, jump cuts have been used to edit together a shot with, and a shot without Oscar's parents in the background, perhaps suggesting they still liked to visit this place after their parents had died. We learn about the relationship between Oscar and Linda here, and how they rely on each other. Through the use of diegetic dialogue, we hear Linda ask Oscar, "Oscar do you love me?" which is accompanied by sinister high notes starting to play as non diegetic sound. This signifies how the sibling will have to stick together and perhaps their future isn't as bright as it seems. The mise en scene in this section is important, it becomes apparent that Oscar is always in shadow in the flashbacks showing suffering and mystery. Both of these connotations suggest that Oscar perhaps struggles with having to almost bring up Linda and has a weight on his shoulders - perhaps indicating how he ended up being involved with drugs.

Part 3 - Picnic Table

During the picnic flashback, an establishing shot is used to show the once happy family enjoying some quality time together, juxtaposing with some of the other more distressing flashbacks. Montage editing is used in this section to distribute the different flashbacks in the scene. There is obvious diegetic sound in this flashback, we hear the family quietly chatting amongst themselves as we continue to see from Oscar's point of view. There is also an non diegetic sound running continuously behind the flashbacks involving a low ominous tone. The mise en scene reveals a lot about the family dynamic at this stage in their lives. The sibling's mother is wearing a yellow skirt, and all the plates they are using are yellow too. This again ties in with yellow being a colour that surrounds Oscar frequently throughout the film, and also signifies that this was a very happy memory. The weather also creates a yellow tinge to the clip, this could have been added using visual effects, but it again adds to the happy vibe of this shot.

Part 4 - Bathroom
All scenes in the bathroom show an advance in time each time they are shown through linear editing. We see a medium shot of Oscar's mother with him and Linda in the bath at an intimate proximity showing that she was a caring mother and loved her family very much. The sound used in the bathroom scenes creates a very calm atmosphere, as gentle diegetic water splashes can be heard, as well as the use of diegetic dialogue from Oscar's mother, when she says 'Hey' to the kids in a friendly manner. The bathroom appears to be a sanctuary for Oscar and Linda, and provides them a lot of time with their mother. Oscar's father appears much less than his mother. The decor in the bathroom is mostly white suggesting that it is a place of innocence and purity, the children are at a stage in their lives when they cannot do any wrong.

Enter the Void Deconstruction - Scene 1 - Opening Scene

Part 1 - Opening conversation

The two characters, Oscar and and Linda have a conversation about Tokyo and one of Oscar's friends, Alex. In this part of the scene, a close up shot is used to show what Oscar describes as the 'Tibetan Bible', and it is all about what happens to you after you die. This sets a theme for the rest of the film because we see it from Oscar's perspective, however, at this point we only see Linda through a continuous medium shot. The editing used during this conversation uses point of view shots and visual effects to create the appearance of Oscar blinking, which is a good concept and we could perhaps use this idea in parts of our trailer, such as when the protagonist is running their hands over the book. There is only diegetic sound in this part of the scene, and the dialogue 'he's not your friend' from Linda could be seen as a warning or hint about the rest of the film. In the background you can also hear the sounds of the city, such as laughing, music and chatting from nearby clubs. The mise en scene is constructed to make the apartment seem very cluttered and disorderly, perhaps an indication to Oscar's state of mind and his situation in life. The overall colour of the apartment is also the same, it is dark yellow in colour with bad lighting, and Linda, Oscar's sister blends into the walls. This use of colour suggests that Oscar is happy and feels secure in his apartment and with his sister for company.

Part 2 - 'Enter the Void' Sign
When Oscar is alone in the apartment the whole scene changes, through a series of cutaways we sense Oscar's change in mind as he starts to inhale a drug. Visual effects have been used in conjunction with the cutaways to create the effect that he has his eyes shut for a few seconds at various points. An extreme close up is used to show Oscar lighting the end of the drug, however, the focus switches between this and the 'Enter the void' sign across from his apartment. This sign becomes the dominant part of this section because of its bright lights juxtaposed with Oscar's very dark apartment. The colours of the sign reveal a lot about the building it has been placed on, the white letters with a yellow border (they are lit up) reveal the building contains a happy and exciting atmosphere, while presenting a blank slate for anyone who enters. The diegetic sound in this part of the scene gives us an indication of how close the club is to Oscar's apartment, again the sounds of laughing and music can be heard, as well as the lighter Oscar is using. The absence of non diegetic sound makes Oscar seem very isolated and causes the viewer to focus on and analyse his actions.

Part 3 - Out of body experience
After Oscar has inhaled the drug, the effects start to take their toll on him and he has an out of body experience. This is noticeable because the camera shots use change, up until now we have seen from his perspective, however now an aerial shot is used as the camera tilts up to above him laying on the bed. The shots are joined by jump cuts to his hallucinations, and once they focus on him again the camera twists continuously suggesting how Oscar feels and cannot focus on anything while under the influence of the drug. In contrast to the rest of the scene, no diegetic sound can be heard through this experience of Oscar's, instead an almost wind like sound can be heard, perhaps symbolizing how time is flying by without him being fully aware. The room fills with a green tint, this indicates the imbalance in Oscar during his 'high' and also signifies how he has taken a drug - which are generally connected to the colour green.

Part 4 - Hallucinations
The hallucinations part of the scene doesn't really use a particular camera shot, it is just a continuous full shot. Visual effects play a major part here, as we see a series of star/snow flake like patterns on the ceiling of Oscar's apartment, however after a while the ceiling seems to disappear and only the patterns are visible. This should be of particular interest to us for the green screen section we wish to incorporate into our trailer, and could be used as inspiration as to what our character with a mental illness sees. In this part of the scene, there is a very faint ambiance of diegetic sound from the club, so laughter and music can be heard, however the non diegetic sound from the out of body experience can still be heard - indicating a sound bridge, so we know where Oscar is even though the ceiling can no longer be seen. This eerie sound is accompanied by a series of colours used in the patterns, ranging from red, gold, pink and blue. Instead of focusing on the individual connotations of these colours, it should be viewed as a mixture of emotions that Oscar is feeling, it shows he cannot pinpoint one emotion and the drug is effecting his mind and current mental state. An important factor to remember when filming our trailer.

Girl Interrupted Trailer Deconstruction

Part 1:

In this part of the trailer, establishing shots are used to set the context of the film and make it clear what historical events are taking place. Montage editing has been used to emphasize the changing times and gives the viewer an idea of all key events occurring. There is a non diegetic narrator on the opening half of the trailer, informing the the viewer of the exact year, 1969. When looking at the mise en scene in this part of the trailer, it has all been made to fit this era, the people seen in the establishing shot are all wearing bright colourful clothes, as well as those seen in the medium shot with a colourful backdrop. This tells us of the different ideas about at the time and general excitement and happiness. However, the green brown tinge which is on one clip of the war highlights that all is not so well, the green indicating corruption in the happy time.

Part 2:
The arrival of Susanne at the mental hospital is quite important as it marks a change in her life and also a change in her character. We see her emotions through medium shots used during the car journey to the facility, and also we get a glimpse of what it is like there via establishing shots. At this stage a very confident character is the dominant as she marches around and pushes others in her way. She has a very bold haircut and is shot with a slightly low angle shot, showing the hierarchy among the patients. The typography used when Susanna has arrived is very important, as the word 'Claymoore' is in red capital letters, which could suggest to outsiders there is some sense of danger, however the underlying message could be that the staff are taking action to help those inside. The diegetic sound in this part is made up of little dialogue, "Welcome to Claymoore, Susanna" - because it is all that is said it shows the big impact on Susanna that this is having on her and the change which is going to take place.

Part 3:
We get an indication of how 'sick' the patients are by the number of drugs they are given regularly, this is shown through an aerial shot of the tablet trays being filled. Patients do not seem to take their time at the facility very seriously and this is shown by the introduction of Lisa, who is wearing a bright yellow shirt and has a cat puppet. This shows a very childish nature, especially with the addition of her diegetic dialogue "Look at me!" Wanting attention and playing with the puppet, however the mise en scene suggests that she is probably happy if not excitable. An eye line match is used to juxtapose Lisa and Susanna, as she comes across a very dull and quite person who doesn't fit into the loud atmosphere she is now surrounded by. This is supported by her lack of dialogue in return to Lisa.

Part 4:
Linear narrative is used heavily at the end of the trailer, helping to increase the pace and add a little suspense just so that the viewer wants to find out more of the story. We see lots of medium shots of the characters who are at the mental hospital and visual effects have been used to slow down some scenes very slightly so we focus on them a little more and see how happy they are even if there does seem to be a prejudice against them outside. In this sequence there is also a very important scene between Lisa and Susanna. An over the shoulder shot is used from behind Susanna to show them looking at each other through the window on a cell-like door. This highlights the confinements patients are kept in to 'heal' them, we can see evidence of this by the white wall colour which connotes sterility and purity. However, white also connotes the idea of innocence but in this case it is acting as a negative barrier between Lisa and Susanna, showing their friendship and concern for one another. There is no diegetic sound at this point, however the non diegetic soundtrack which acts as a sound bridge for the entire trailer gives an important message of "Take a load for free... put the load on me" showing how patients are desperately trying to help each other, especially Lisa and Susanna at this point.

The idea that Lisa is quite isolated is conforming to the idea that those with mental illnesses are separated and cannot always mix with everybody else due to the prejudice against it. We should consider this greatly when filming our trailer as we need to get across the idea that our protagonist is different but it shouldn't mean they cannot mix with others as it may do more harm than good.