STORYBOARD AND SCRIPT

 Finished Script and Storyboard :)!!

After hours of hard work, I have finally finished the script and storyboard for my film!

I am a perfectionist by nature, and I wanted everything to be like the image I had in my head, so a lot of the time has been spent perfecting that image. I decided to do both simultaneously because I needed the storyboard to write the first part of the script but I also needed to write the voiceover before I drew the last section of the storyboard. 

It has been a difficult journey but I am happy with the result! Here is more detail about both documents :)

The Storyboard!

The film follows a relatable teenage girl who is moving house that day with her mum. It starts showing a daily routine-like montage of the girl getting up and packing certain things. I took the opportunity to introduce certain sections of the plot such as the plane ticket to Australia (which links to her father living in Australia) and the picture of a wedded couple (which is her mum and her new husband). 

Next, there is a clip of the girl looking out of the window as well as flashbacks to that morning and a final flash forward to a scene two months later where she is with the male love interest in a cosy atmosphere sitting on the floor with their backs resting on the couch (shot inspired by the film "Set It Up" (see in the post "Film Opening Ideas: Planning")):

This sequence is, perhaps, the most important one because it reveals a lot about the main character. The voiceover is her speaking about her anxiety which is backed up by the on-screen images. Flashbacks from that morning with her looking at her phone indicate that there is more under the surface than the previous, fairly happy side of the girl that we see in the first montage. This introduces the plot of self-discovery and confronting one's fears that I want to be central to the story. 

Furthermore, the last shot leaves a cliffhanger an introduces the love interest, which will appeal to the target audience (who wants a romantic film and will be interested in seeing the male love interest) and leave them with many enigmas such as "who is he?", "how do they get to that point?", "will he help her?", etc.

The Script!

I researched the script for the film "Joker" to have a clear idea of how, esthetically, the script needed to look like. This gave me an idea of how exactly to write the dialogue and the cuts:

In the script, I included information about the girl, who I described as a "relatable teenager", and used the dialogue to fill in more details about the plot. The mother mentions "Hal" who is her new husband, helping them to move out, and the audience can assume that they are moving to his house because she says that the furniture will be sold.

Furthermore, there is a tender scene between mother and daughter which conveys their close relationship, as well as the girl's reluctance to leave as opposed to the mother's eagerness to start the next chapter of her life. This further emphasises the plotline of them both moving due to her mum's new marriage and how for the girl, that might feel bittersweet and she might have some issues after her parents' divorce.

I would like to dedicate another post to the voiceover alone as well as the film title and the music used, to talk about the central issue I want to portray in my film apart from the warm love story, so stay tuned to find out more about it!

xx Natalia