Storyboards

Narration

Narration is a voice over or commentary used to accompany a film. It helps to tell a story through a particular characters point of view or can inform the audience of an event. Narration is mainly used in comedies, dramas and romantic films, it is very rarely used in horror films.
Here are some examples of narration in certain genres:

Trainspotting - Drama/Black Comedy

Trainspotting is a film about a group of heroin addicts and their life in a run down Edinburgh. Ewan McGregor plays Mark "Rent Boy" Renton as one of the heroin addict and its this character that provides the narration throughout the film as it follows his and his friends lives. The use of narration in Trainspotting allows the audience to more clearly understand the thoughts of a heroin addict and also aids the story telling.


The Wolf of Wall Street - Comedy

In The Wolf of Wall Street Leonardo Dicaprio plays Jordon Belfort as the film recounts his years as a stockbroker in New York and his rise to riches. Narration is used in the film to help tell the story of Jordon Belfort's life and to try and give a more personal feel to the accounts given.







Layer Cake - Action

In Layer Cake Daniel Craig plays a successful cocaine dealer who gets two tough assignments on the eve of his retirement. Narration is used to show the feelings of Daniel Craig's character and how he wishes to get out of crime and lead a normal life. The narration helps to tell the audience information or feelings that may not be as easily conveyed through normal screenplay.



Zombieland - Comedy Horror

Zombieland follows geeky teenager Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg, as he travels and try's to survive through a zombie apocalypse. Narration comes from the main character Columbus and talks us through his weird and structured instructions to surviving a zombie apocalypse. It helps to tell the story and gives a weird and quirky way on looking at a zombie apocalypse that adds to the comedy element of the film.



Up in the Air - Romance

In Up in the Air George Clooney plays Ryan Bingham an isolated downsizer who falls in love with a fellow frequent flyer and how this makes him question his lifestyle that before he was so happy with. The narration in this film helps the audience to see Ryan Bingham's feelings as his views on life change with his newfound feelings.





A good voice able to convey emotion and passion is needed for some good narration. This is because often narration shows a characters feelings or view on a situation. A very good script and purpose is needed for every piece of narration to ensure that it has a good effect on the audience and actually aids the film.
Narration is something I will be using in my film opening because my film will be a drama film, a genre which commonly uses narration. Furthermore I believe it can be a more effective way to introduce a character than normal dialogue. Also my film is about a troubled teenager growing up in a rough society and I believe narration is very good way to convey personal opinion of tough and real life environments that people live and grow up in. I will need to make sure that the narration spoken is written to a high standard to make sure it is effective and also to make sure I get some one who can speak the narration in a way that will fit my film style.

Script - Final Draft

My opening contains dialogue therefore the script is simply directions for the actor.

Character

Characters are one of the most important parts of a film, often films are driven by the leading and supporting characters and their personality, for example the film Big Fish is a film in which the narrative is completely driven by the main character Edward Bloom. Characters can either lead a narrative or support, improve and add to it greatly.
Here are some examples of iconic characters in films and what they add to the narrative:

Lou Bloom  (Jake Gyllenhaal) - Nightcrawler

Lou Bloom is a former thief who starts filming crime scenes selling the footage to local news channels as a stringer in Los Angeles. Lou Bloom is a very determined and riven yet quite creepy and mysteriously dark character that has a noticeable lack of empathy. This dark and very creepy persona is what makes Lou Bloom such an iconic character. To all but the audience for the majority of the film Lou Bloom can be seen as a driven and slightly nerdy, weedy character when in fact he's a much more twisted and dark character who won't let anything stop him from achieving what he wants. Lou Bloom as a character adds much to the narrative of the film, his complex character and the dark things he is prepared to do through his lack of empathy adds a lot to the narrative. Without the character Lou Bloom in the film the film would have no sort of narrative. Within the first 2 minutes of the film you straight away get an idea of what he is like, you seem him trying to steel some copper wiring. He is found by a policeman and he beats down the policeman and takes his watch without a blink or sight of remorse. Within the first 2 minutes you straight away know that he is quite a dark twisted character with a lack of empathy and emotion who is prepared to do pretty much anything to make money.

Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) - No Country For Old Men

Anton Chigurh is the main antagonist in the film No Country For Old Men. He is a cold hearted psychopathic killer hunting down Llewelyn Moss to retrieve a satchel containing $2.4 million. His extremely cold and psychopathic character is what makes Anton Chigurh such an iconic character. He is also particularly iconic for his short and clever word play. In addition he is iconic for flipping a coin when deciding to kill someone or not. He has a twisted sense of morals and his cold personality adds a lot to the narrative. This cold psychopathic character he has helps to emphasise the fear experienced by Moss when being chased by him. Without this character the film wouldn't have as much of a thrill to it and the character of Anton Chigurh is definitely one of the main components in the narrative. In the opening not much is given away about Anton Chigurh, you simply see him put into a police car whilst some narration plays over the top, you do however through the narration find out within the opening 2 minutes that he is a ruthless killer.

Han Solo (Harrison Ford) - Star Wars episodes IV, V, VI and VII

Han Solo is a smuggler, pilot and hero in the Star Wars series. He is a particularly iconic character in the Star Wars series due to his sarcastic and often funny personality. He is also particularly well known for being a bit rebellious and very reckless. He isn't the kind of character that you would usually see as a hero but through his almost accidental involvement in becoming tied up with the rebel alliance ends up becoming a big hero. He also very famously falls in love with the rather innocent looking Princess Leia. Although Han Solo isn't one of the main characters he does have a reasonably big role in all the films he features in and is often considered on the greatest Star Wars characters ever. Han Solo definitely adds some wit and sarcasm to the Star Wars franchise he is also a very likeable character in the series and is one that as a viewer you always want to come out on top. Han Solo adds a much needed role in the narrative to the Star Wars films as an almost accidental hero. Han Solo isn't featured in the opening 2 minutes of any of the Star Wars films, he is first introduced part way into episode IV. You do hear his voice as he speaks to Luke Skywalker through a transmitter in the opening 2 minutes of episode V, however you don't see him and it doesn't give away any thing more about his character as you already know most things about him from the previous film.

Script - First Draft

Due to my decision to have no dialogue in my 2 minute opening my script is very minimal, it only contains brief directions on what my actor should be doing physically.

Location Research

These are some images of the location that I am going to film my film opening at. I am also going to use a friends house to film the beginning of my opening however I knew for definite I was going to film there. These images are of locations I found whilst researching and looking for a place to film my opening. These fit perfectly with what I want to do as its quite a run down dark looking area, especially at night in the dark which is when I wish to film the majority of my opening. The run down look that this area has portrays what I want it to perfectly, as soon as you see the graffiti and dark underpass you think of a rough place, you think of a deprived social class and even of poverty. This is exactly what I wanted the setting for my opening to represent. I wanted it to let the audience know that the film is about the dark, gritty life of youth in deprived areas of England. Also the graffiti in the area  fits in very well with the youth culture that I am also trying to portray in my opening. I feel this location sets the mood for my film very well.
Weather isn't too much of a problem as I plan to film at night so as long as it isn't raining or incredibly windy the weather shouldn't effect filming. There are also many other similar locations around this location so if I have plenty of areas to work with if I need more or there's a sudden problem with this exact location.
The location is called Anglia square and is an old shopping centre located near the centre of Norwich. It is very easy to get to for both me and my two cast members, it is just a short bus journey which was a big benefit to the location.
Apart from the very start of my opening set in one of the characters houses and the underpass that a quick scene will be shot in all my filming will be done in exterior locations. This is because the portrayal of youth I am showing is that of 'life' on the streets and the classic image of youth culture that this entails. Therefore the most effective place to show my characters is on the streets doing as they please. However I am making sure the film starts at one of the characters houses to show that often this negative image that comes of teenagers on the streets can stem from problems or trouble at home and this is one of the themes that would be explored if I was to make the rest of the film.

My Finalised Idea

I am just about to start filming my opening and my idea for my film has changed. My original idea was to start the film with a teenager going to meet some friends and being stabbed on the way. The rest of the film would have been set up to be a crime thriller about catching the criminal. As I came closer to filming my piece decided that this idea be quite hard to film effectively and to a good standard. Also looking at it more in depth made me realise that it wasn't a very powerful or engaging opening to a film or a very realistic one. My idea now is much more realistic and will focus on the life of a troubled teenager as he battles with the harsh realities of life on the 'streets' and explores into drugs and drink. The opening will simply be my main character leaving his house to go skateboarding (like my original idea) however during his journey I will put some narration over the top of the characters voice introducing himself and speaking briefly about his exploits in drugs and alcohol and displaying his 'don't give a fuck' attitude. This combined with some good and varied camera shots and angles of him skateboarding can be used to great effect in the opening. If the film were to be carried on it would follow the character and his experiences and the theme of problems at home effecting choices made out of the home by teenagers in this age. This is an idea I believe I can achieve more effectively and to me would appeal more as a realistic and engaging opening to a film.

Shooting Schedule

All Filming Will Take Place on the 28th of January.

28th January:
4:15- Start filming bedroom scene and Reece leaving his house. Filmed in Hethersett at my actors (Jack Cooper) house.
5:00- Go into Norwich to film all outside scenes (underpass scene and skateboarding around). All outside scenes filmed at Anglia Square and in the area around Anglia Square, which is located in Norwich.


I organised this so that as soon as we had finished filming the few shots at the house in Hethersett we would get the bus into Norwich where we would walk a short 10 minutes to get to Anglia Square to film the skateboarding scenes.
This wasn't too difficult to organise as both locations where very easy for me and my actor to get to. Furthermore due to it being January it got dark fairly early which was good for me because the skateboarding scenes needed to be shot whilst it was dark. This meant that filming didn't need to be filmed very late, therefore making it easier to organise as it gave me and my actor more time to film in the city.  The only difficulty i found in organising it was having enough time to film at the house in Hethersett before it got dark as it needed to be light for that scene.

Attracting My Target Audience

My  target audience is older teenagers and young adults, so around the ages of 16-30 year olds. I am going to try and attract my target audience by making the film a harsh realistic story of youth in which i will include aspects of youth culture that my target audience may have experienced. I am going to try and make my main character (Reece Scott) one which is quite relatable to my target audience. I will try to make him a character that many of my target ages may find familiar. I will also make my film a gritty and harsh tale yet try and be realistic to attract my target audience. Hopefully the themes of my film will appear as not only familiar but realistic to my target audience and i will hope this will draw them in to come and see my film.

Based on My Idea so Far

What ways would your target audience ideally be able to consume your film?
Hopefully i would be able to bring my target audience to the cinema to consume my film. However due to my film being targeted at young adults and older teenagers (ages 16 to about 30) i would release it on DVD but also make sure it is on streaming and online websites such as Netflix as this is how many of my target audience will watch films.