Though my film had a solid plot, the real question was now how to present it in a span of 2 minutes.
1. The detective has breakfast/lunch as we pan around seeing his family and house. He then leaves to perform the interrogation. After the interrogation he comes back, tries to call his wife only to be obstructed by a haunting ringtone and her lifeless corpse.
2. The detective leaves the house and the murder takes place (which is shown to the audience). The murderer is kept anonymous in this opening, similar to that of Zodiac's. His family screams for his help but by the time he arrives, it's too late.
Evaluation: -UNRESTRICTED NARRATION used as the audience can see the crime taking place.
- Creates a sense of empathy to the audience as they can see the struggles of his family and their desperation for him to save them. This can also make the audience either like or loathe the main character. Even as a beacon of justice, he is unable to protect his own loved ones but could add an emotional touch to character development.
-Diverts the plot of the film. Taking this for the opening would mean the plot will revolve around a "cat and mouse" chase between the detective and the suspect as he commits more murders.
3. The opening starts off at the police station in his office right before the interrogation takes place. During it, he acts unsympathetic to the suspect but acts as if he was pressured to do so. The interrogation ends with the suspect's shady expression (Enigma code). After the interrogation, the detective receives a message from his wife saying that she's cooked dinner (steak). He goes home finding the house in a very lifeless and abnormal state. He then messages his wife seeing a "read" notification, devoid of replies and calls her out of panic. Another phone's ringtone can be heard, leading to the discover of his family's demise.
Evaluation: -Context is given without the need to change settings eg: We can know he has a family via pictures on his desk)
-High amounts of tension can be created with the right shots taken.
-The Enigma/hermeneutic code used can bring out the audience's curiosity.
-In reference to the movie Psycho (1960), Mr Harrison suggested that death could be revealed in a more subtle way. Instead of a dead body, there could be blood dropping down the drain or a close up of the dead character's hands, face or significant prop.
-The repetitive ringtone can create quite a haunting effect. As a diegetic sound, its volume could increase as the character got closer to the source.
4. This plot takes place before the interrogation and murder- Other people involved in the crime (oligarchs) are seen talking to the detective telling him that if he allows the other suspect to be proven innocent, "bad things will happen and you will be helpless and alone".
Evaluation: -The murder could be put later in the film to act as a disruption in Todorov's theory.
-This might confuse the audience on what the film is really about (the detective or the oligarchy?????)
5. Only the interrogation scene is shown so that not too much information is revealed. It ends with a cliff hanger (the suspect smirking in the darkness).
Evaluation: -RESTRICTED NARRATIVE RANGE (we learn simultaneously with the character).
-Not much tension can be created in this scene.
It was quite hard to come up with a conclusion but in the end I went with the 3rd idea as it wouldn't take too much time and some pieces of information (the fact that he has a family etc) can be revealed by the use of mise-en-scene.
I came up with several ideas including:
1. The detective has breakfast/lunch as we pan around seeing his family and house. He then leaves to perform the interrogation. After the interrogation he comes back, tries to call his wife only to be obstructed by a haunting ringtone and her lifeless corpse.
2. The detective leaves the house and the murder takes place (which is shown to the audience). The murderer is kept anonymous in this opening, similar to that of Zodiac's. His family screams for his help but by the time he arrives, it's too late.
Evaluation: -UNRESTRICTED NARRATION used as the audience can see the crime taking place.
- Creates a sense of empathy to the audience as they can see the struggles of his family and their desperation for him to save them. This can also make the audience either like or loathe the main character. Even as a beacon of justice, he is unable to protect his own loved ones but could add an emotional touch to character development.
-Diverts the plot of the film. Taking this for the opening would mean the plot will revolve around a "cat and mouse" chase between the detective and the suspect as he commits more murders.
3. The opening starts off at the police station in his office right before the interrogation takes place. During it, he acts unsympathetic to the suspect but acts as if he was pressured to do so. The interrogation ends with the suspect's shady expression (Enigma code). After the interrogation, the detective receives a message from his wife saying that she's cooked dinner (steak). He goes home finding the house in a very lifeless and abnormal state. He then messages his wife seeing a "read" notification, devoid of replies and calls her out of panic. Another phone's ringtone can be heard, leading to the discover of his family's demise.
Evaluation: -Context is given without the need to change settings eg: We can know he has a family via pictures on his desk)
-High amounts of tension can be created with the right shots taken.
-The Enigma/hermeneutic code used can bring out the audience's curiosity.
-In reference to the movie Psycho (1960), Mr Harrison suggested that death could be revealed in a more subtle way. Instead of a dead body, there could be blood dropping down the drain or a close up of the dead character's hands, face or significant prop.
-The repetitive ringtone can create quite a haunting effect. As a diegetic sound, its volume could increase as the character got closer to the source.
4. This plot takes place before the interrogation and murder- Other people involved in the crime (oligarchs) are seen talking to the detective telling him that if he allows the other suspect to be proven innocent, "bad things will happen and you will be helpless and alone".
Evaluation: -The murder could be put later in the film to act as a disruption in Todorov's theory.
-This might confuse the audience on what the film is really about (the detective or the oligarchy?????)
5. Only the interrogation scene is shown so that not too much information is revealed. It ends with a cliff hanger (the suspect smirking in the darkness).
Evaluation: -RESTRICTED NARRATIVE RANGE (we learn simultaneously with the character).
-Not much tension can be created in this scene.
It was quite hard to come up with a conclusion but in the end I went with the 3rd idea as it wouldn't take too much time and some pieces of information (the fact that he has a family etc) can be revealed by the use of mise-en-scene.
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