Screen Play

 Hey everybody! Today, my and one of my other group partners, Ngoc, worked on the screenplay for our movie opener. We took the lead on this portion of the project. Me and her sat down on a call together to structure this detailed screenplay. We wanted to make sure that we included every small detail, from transitions to camera movement to dialogue, etc. 

Our biggest challenge during this process was balancing descriptive visuals with being clear about what we are talking about in our screenplay. In other words, we had many creative ideas, but it was difficult to fully transcribe our ideas into words. We discussed for over an hour on how to write the beach scene. We wanted to make sure that it was as descriptive as possible but also made sense. Ngoc took charge of writing the basics of the screenplay, whereas I went into detail about everything and made the screenplay more specific. 

Ultimately, working on this screenplay with Ngoc allowed us both to see how our movie opener was going to be as a whole. It is no longer about simply having ideas; we now have a formal plan and structure when we film. While it was not exactly the most ideal thing for only me and her working on it, it was one of the few things we had to compromise on as a group since the other two members were busy, as it is winter break. As a result, me and Ngoc decided to work on the screenplay, and then the editing process will be left for Emijola and Jahzara to do when we finish filming.

Screenplay

 

1.     1.  EXT. BEACH - SUNSET

The sky is a wash of muted peach and lavender. The ocean is vast and teal colored.

Three girls who are best friends in identical white dresses and shoes stand at the water's edge, back to us, holding hands.

They are Emijola, Ngoc, and Raina.

The wind pulls at their hair and dresses. They are standing perfectly still.

A subtle, unspoken movement. Raina (on the right) and Emijola (on the left) each lean their heads inward, resting them gently on Ngoc's shoulders. Ngoc stands straight in the middle, bearing its weight. A silent moment of shared sorrow.

ARC SHOT

The camera begins with a slow, arching movement around the trio.

The camera completes its arc, now facing the three girls from the front. We see their faces, still leaning together.

DISSOLVE TO:

2.     2.  EXT. BEACH - SUNSET

MEDIUM SHOT

The urn is in Emijola's hands. She looks into the horizon. Slowly, she brings one hand to the opening of the urn.

She dips her fingers inside, then extends her hand out to her side. She opens her fingers.

A small stream of fine, gray ashes sprinkles from her hand onto the sand.

 

SLOW PAN LEFT

The camera pans left, away from Emijola's hand, over to the ocean horizon.

It continues over the rushing waves, finding the vast, empty horizon where the water meets the sky.

 

TILT UP

The camera tilts upward slowly, into the hazy, sunset sky.

MATCH CUT TO:

3.     3.  EXT. LOW ANGLE – ON THE SAND

The empty urn lies on its side in the foreground with white flowers lying behind it.

 

PEDESTAL UP

The camera rises upward.

Revealing the three girls walking away from the urn, up the beach, in the distance.

They are walking in three different directions.

Raina walks on a path to the left.

Ngoc walks straight ahead, up the middle.

Emijola walks on a path to the right.

They do not look back at each other. Only the distance grows.

FADE TO:

4.     4.  INT. JAHZARA’S BEDROOM – AFTERNOON TO EVENING (FLASHBACK)

The cold, sterile room. Harsh fluorescent light. A pool of warm afternoon sun streams from the window.

The door opens. Raina enters first, wearing her pastel blue floral crop top and shorts. She stops in the doorway, taking in the sight of Jahzara in the bed.

 

RAINA

(sighing, hand to her temple)

Oh gosh…

 

Ngoc and Emijola follow her in. They move to the right side of the bed.

Ngoc sits gently on the edge of the bed. She takes Jahzara's hand in both of hers.

NGOC

(inner monologue, V.O.)

I hope a miracle shines upon us and you wake up soon...

 

Ngoc rests her head down beside Jahzara's arms.

Emijola approaches slowly from the left side of the bed. Tears already welled in her eyes. She opens her mouth.

EMIJOLA

(voice cracking)

Jahzara…?

 

Her voice cracks. She chokes, unable to speak further. She simply stares.

 

MONTAGE – SUNSET DIMINISHES

A SERIES OF QUICK SHOTS, the camera recording the still room as the sun sets.

1.     Raina is pacing around the room.

2.     Ngoc is in the same spot.

3.     Emijola is still standing there, shoulders shaking with a silent sob.

4.     Raina leaves without looking back.

5.     Ngoc says her goodbyes and leaves.

6.     Emijola leaves.

7.     The pool of warm sunlight shrinks, then vanishes. The passage of time is complete.

 

SMASH TO:

5.     5.  EXT. SCHOOL STAIRCASE – MORNING (PRESENT)

A loud school bell rings.

ESTABLISHING SHOT - STUDENTS WALKING UP THE STAIRS.

 

CUT TO:

6.     6.  INT. CLASSROOM - MORNING

Ngoc's POV (POV SHOT)

She walks into the classroom. Her gaze sweeps across the classroom.

HER POV PANS TO THE LEFT: Raina is already at her desk on the far left side, surrounded by her new, loud friends.

HER POV PANS TO THE RIGHT: Emijola sits alone at a desk by the window on the far right. She pulls the hood of her black sweatshirt up, puts on her headphones, and turns her body fully to face the window, shutting out the noise.

 

BACK TO THE SCENE

Ngoc stands frozen for a moment. Her face showing clear worry.

She takes a breath and walks over to the right side of the classroom. She stops and sits next to where Emijola is sitting.

NGOC

(whispering)

Emi... are you okay?

Emijola does not give a response.

Ngoc continues to stand there in worry.

 

CLOSE UP - NGOC'S EYES

We hold on her eyes. The concern dissolves into a deep, hollow realization of her own powerlessness.

The classroom behind her blurs.

The camera ZOOMS IN slowly on her iris.

The zoom continues until the pupil fills the frame, and the screen is swallowed in blackness.

FULL BLACK SCREEN

Graphic Design and Font Use

Well, hello there, my fabulous people! In today's class, we were asked to consider what fonts and graphics we would use in our film opener. This may seem like a small detail, but in the big picture, the right font can completely transform the mood and emotional impact of a scene. Since our film opener is all about grief, loss, and the fracturing of friendship, we need fonts that feel creative and reflective. 

The first font I chose is Lacquer. This font has a calligraphic and artistic feel to it. In other words, this font looks hand-painted in a way, almost as if someone were journaling in their diary. For our movie opener, this font could work beautifully for the opening credits because it has this expressive, emotional quality to it that matches the weight of our storyline. Moreover, the thickness of the letters gives it attention in a way that is subtle and not too harsh or aggressive. It is bold but still carries 'vulnerability,' which is similar to the balance we are trying to convey in our opener.

The second font I chose is called Shadows Into Light. This font is similar to Lacquer except it has a more casual feel to it. Both of these fonts have a handwritten style as the goal my group is trying to achieve is personal and authentic to the viewers. This font looks like something someone would scribble in the middle of the night when they simply want to express their emotions in perhaps a diary. I chose this font because it has a natural feel to it, as the letters are slightly uneven and have a pencil-like thickness to it. This font would be ideal for moments that show vulnerability, like if we wanted to show the captions on Polaroid memories. Thus, the handwritten style of this font adds warmth even within the sadness of the storyline in our movie opener. 

The third font I chose is called Licorice. Licorice is a cursive script font that has a flowy, elegant quality. The letters connect smoothly, like a pen gliding on paper. The cursive strokes of this font give it a sense of emotion. Thus, this font would work beautifully for any poetic text or meaningful quotes that might appear throughout our film opener. If not for that purpose, this font could also be perfect for the opening title itself, because it has a cinematic quality to it that sets a reflective tone. 

The fourth font I chose is called Bodoni Moda SC. This font is a small caps serif font with high contrast between thick and thin strokes. It has a classic and seamless quality that feels sophisticated, as if it were something you'd see in a high-end magazine. I think this font would be suitable for when we give a brief introduction of the characters. This font is more formal compared to the other three fonts, which helps mirror the similar contrasts we're exploring in our movie opener, such as appearance versus reality. 

Now that I have discussed the fonts we plan to use in our movie opener, we also have options for the graphics we will use. So, for our fifth element or graphic that we plan to use is a subtle, grainy texture (possibly a specific font) to give the film a reminiscent vibe. The grainy texture would make it seem as if the moments in the film were footage from an old digital camera. This adds a layer of nostalgia and makes the scenes feel more like memories being replayed rather than events happening in real time. It is almost like we are looking back at these moments through a lens of grief and remembrance. Likewise, the grainy texture will also soften the image slightly, which helps create a dreamlike quality that my group is going for. For example, the font below is known as Margarine. As shown, this font has a subtle graininess to it, just like sand. The font is not too grainy but still has somewhat of a fuzziness to it. This font may be used in our movie opener during the beach scene as an overlay to show the inner thoughts of each character.

Lastly, another graphic idea that we plan to do in our movie opener is that since we selected multiple fonts, we will use some of those fonts as text overlays, like I mentioned before. In other words, throughout the movie opener snippets of text will appear as an overlay as if they were thoughts or memories of the characters. These could be brief phrases like "What will I do without you?" or "I need to stay strong." These phrases will help give insight into the characters' internal struggles without needing dialogue. 

Preparing to film

 Welcome back, my lovely audience! Now that my group's storyboard and mood board are almost in the process of being finalized, the next step is preparing for filming. When it comes to filming, there are a lot of things to consider, such as the actors, costumes, props, locations, dates/times, and film equipment. Some of these things are relatively easy to prepare and manage, whereas some of these things will be much more difficult to consider. If you have not already guessed it... Today, I am discussing the easy and hard things for my group to consider while filming this movie opener!

1. Actors

The actors in our film opener are the four members of our group, including me. Each of us plays a character that closely aligns with our personalities in real life. This will allow us to make our performances/acting feel more natural and authentic to the audience. Emijola plays the friend who is visibly depressed and emotionally withdrawn. We selected her to play this role because it will reflect on her ability to express intense emotions through even the most subtle facial expressions. In contrast, I play the friend who masks her grief by acting nonchalant and distracting herself through socializing or partying. I was selected for this role because it closely matches my outgoing persona in real life. Ngoc plays the mediator of the group, which reflects her peaceful nature and tendency to keep people connected. Lastly, Jahzara appears as the best friend who died because her presence is essential to the emotional weight of the story. In other words, all four of us are friends in real life because of Jahzara. Jahzara was the one who introduced us and brought us together as a friend group. Thus, by having her be the friend who dies, it makes it more realistic and authentic. Overall, choosing the actors was relatively easy to consider because we are all playing a similar version of ourselves. 

2. Costumes

For our costumes or outfits, we plan on wearing white, flowy dresses for the beach scene where we scatter Jahzara's ashes to symbolize purity and peace. For the school scenes, we will wear casual everyday outfits to represent how we would usually dress in real life when going to school. This helps us connect with the viewer as we make it seem realistic. Likewise, the differences in costume will also help visually show each character's emotional state. For example, besides the beach scene, I will mainly be wearing bright colored clothing to represent 'happiness', whereas Emijola will mainly be wearing baggy and dull clothing to represent isolation and sadness. Overall, this aspect of preparation is also relatively easy to consider because the costumes are simple. Worst-case scenario, if needed, we can purchase our outfits cheaply from Shein or find options at thrift stores. 

3. Props

For our props, we are trying to keep it simple and minimal. Our main props that we will use are the urn and flowers. The urn will represent the death of Jahzara, and the flowers will symbolize peace and closure. These props are important for conveying our storyline emotionally heavy, especially in the beach scene where we scatter Jahzara's ashes. However, this aspect will be slightly more difficult to consider because none of us currently has an actual urn. We will need to purchase one before filming or find a substitute, such as a container for it. 

4. Locations

My group plans to film in three main places: the beach, the school, and Jahzara's house. The beach is essential for the emotional opening scene of us scattering ashes. Moreover, we plan to film in school areas to show how everyday life continues even after a loss. Moreover, Jahzara's house is important and will be used for the flashback and discovery scenes. In other words, in the storyline, we first find out that Jahzara is super sick and on the verge of dying when we decided to visit her at her house. This scene is essentially a flashback of the three girls being in her house, mourning her initial death. Overall, the locations we chose to film are relatively simple but are still difficult to consider in some aspects. This is because we need permission to film at some of these places, such as school. Moreover, filming outside, like at the beach, depends on the weather and lighting. 

5. Dates and Times

Scheduling to film is definitely one of the most challenging parts of preparation to be considered. As a group, we need to coordinate a time when all of us are available, especially for the scene where we visit Jahzara, as all four of us need to be there. Moreover, for the beach scene, it must be filmed around sunset to achieve the soft, warm light we planned in our storyboard. With these restrictions in mind, it is also important to consider that all four of us have very busy lives, so meeting up will not be easy. For example, I am rarely free after school on weekdays. This is because I have club meetings after school and other extracurricular activities outside of school, such as tennis practice. Thus, the only time I am free is on weekends and school breaks. Likewise, Ngoc has issues with transportation as both of her parents are always at work, meaning she has no ride, and it will be difficult for her to meet up. Thus, scheduling dates and times is one of the most difficult aspects of preparation, as it requires balancing everyone's availability requirements. 

6. Film Equipment

For our film equipment, we plan on using a professional Canon camera to ensure that our movie opener is high-quality. Using a professional camera will allow us to capture sharp and clear video clips to create a more cinematic look. This cinematic look is extremely important for our beach scene and the close-up shots that we plan to do. However, this aspect is somewhat difficult to consider because although I own a professional Canon camera, none of us has much experience in using such a high-tech camera. As a result, learning how to use and operate it correctly will take a lot of practice. Likewise, the SD that I currently have in the camera is low in storage. This might limit how much footage we can film at once, and thus, we might have to buy another SD card. 

Mood board

Hey, my beautiful readers! Welcome to another post of the week. Last week, I explained the storyboard for the film/movie opener that my group is doing for the final project. Today, however, I am excited to share with you my mood board that will serve as an inspiration. 

First things first, the mood of my group's movie opener is reflective and melancholic. It has strong contrasts between "together vs. isolation" and "appearance vs. reality." The goal of setting this mood is that we want the audience to immediately feel the weight of grief, even before they fully understand the storyline. Many of the images focus on soft, natural light, sunsets, water, and shadows. Each image in my mood board represents either a stage of grief, a character's coping mechanism, or a symbol of loss and memory. A main feeling I am trying to capture is how the loss of someone you truly love affects people differently. Even though all three girls experience the same death of their best friend, my mood board reflects how each character emotionally responds in her own way.

As a group, we chose to evoke a reflective mood because our film opener is centered around the emotional aftermath of losing a best friend and how that loss fractures a close friendship. I want to show the contrast between the different pictures in my mood board, from peaceful, such as the beach and doves, and darker imagery, such as drowning and isolation, which reflects the emotional instability within the friend group. Now, to be more in-depth, I will explain each image and my thought process behind it. 

For the first picture with the open book lying in grass and flowers, this image represents memory and story. The book symbolizes our shared history, while the flowers and sunlight suggest nostalgia and reminiscence. In other words, this image reflects that the life of the friend who died (Jahzara) is a story that has ended too soon. However, the book is open in the picture. The book being open reflects on the idea of new beginnings, as in that even without her, life has to go on.

For the next picture of the doves flying, the doves are a universal symbol of peace. The doves symbolize peace that is yet to come. At the beginning of the film, the characters will be overwhelmed by grief, but this image represents a new idea that healing takes time and is a future goal that has not been achieved yet. The two doves show that peace will come eventually, just in a matter of time. Next, in the picture of the girl in a white, flowy dress walking around the shoreline, this represents purity (white) and letting go. Similarly, in our movie opener, we plan to also wear white dresses that are flowy on the beach while throwing Jahzara's ashes into the ocean. We plan to do this to perfectly represent the concept of new beginnings. 

In the following picture of the bright yellow daffodil against a completely black background, the strong contrast between light and dark represents hope existing within grief. The yellow daffodil symbolizes life and optimism, whereas the black represents mourning and emotional darkness. This image reflects how, even after Jahzara's passing, small moments of hope are blooming within the shadows. The next image, which shows a girl underwater who appears to be drowning, symbolizes feeling overwhelmed by grief. In this image, I am trying to connect it to the character who is visibly depressed, as it represents how she feels trapped beneath her emotions. 

Next, I chose to include the picture of the two people sitting and staring into a field, with one of them faded away in my mood board, because this helps represent absence and loss. The faded figure gives the idea of the missing friend in the group. In other words, we want the audience to fully understand how Jahzara's absence is constantly felt among the three girls. Moreover, I chose the pictures of a girl partying with her hands raised and the red solo cups because this represents the concept of denial and distraction that me and my group are trying to convey within girl 1. (Girl 1 is the one who copes with grief by acting nonchalant and surrounding herself with loud environments to avoid facing her emotions. She is avoidant.) I then selected an image showing a collection of Polaroid pictures because the Polaroids represent memories that are frozen in time. The pictures right after are an extreme close-up of watery eyes and a dark bedroom. Both of these pictures demonstrate the emotional and sad aesthetic that my group is going for. 

To clearly represent an important prop of our movie opener, I chose a picture of an urn to include in the mood board. In the picture is an urn surrounded by flowers. This directly symbolizes the death of Jahzara and, in a way, a sense of closure. This connects to the scene where me and my group plan on throwing or scattering Jahzara's ashes into the ocean.

Last but not least, I chose two pictures of a few girls sitting together in a landscape, one being on a hill and the other on a rock by the ocean. I chose both of these pictures to help convey the feeling of mourning and reflection to the audience. This is because in the pictures, the girls are always looking above or beyond somewhere. Looking toward the sky represents heaven and the connection the friends still feel to Jahzara, even after her passing. 

Project storyboard

 Hey, my gorgeous readers! The planning is getting real... we have finally moved on to drawing our storyboard for the film opener, and I wanted to share a peek at it with you guys. This storyboard is essentially our whole vision, shot by shot, of our ideas. 

In box 1, it all starts on the beach at sunset. The first drawing is a wide shot of us (the three friends) from behind. We are holding hands, looking out at the horizon and the sea. It is just our backs and the vast ocean. Then, in box 2, we drew an arrow to represent an arc shot. The camera arcs around us. The sketch shows our faces from the front just as we release the ashes in the urn. You can now also see our expressions and the raw emotions we are all individually feeling. The city skyline and the tops of the buildings are visible in the background of this shot. 

In box 3, however, there is a flashback to us being in our friend's bedroom, specifically the friend who is dying or about to die (Jahzara). In this box, it is a medium full shot of the bedroom. You can see our dying friend in bed, her mom sitting beside her, and the three of us gathered around. The drawing shows two light sources, one of them being the soft, warm natural light from the window. The other being the harsh, cold lines of the ceiling fluorescent light above the bed. This clash represents the moment of natural warmth in love and memory vs the artificial cold reality of sickness and illness. In boxes 4 and 5, we drew the same bedroom scene or setting to show a time-lapse montage. This montage is a fade out of the characters as they leave the room. In box 4, the 'party' friend gives a final goodbye and leaves with the mom first. Then, in box 5, the mediator leaves more slowly and looks back, but eventually leaves as well. In the 6th box, however, the depressed friend is left alone in the room for a final intimate moment of sadness. In this box, there is a close-up of the depressed friend's face. It shows a tear drop streaming down her face. In addition, this box shows dimmer lighting to represent the sadness of the atmosphere. 

Then, in box 7, there is a harsh smash cut from the quiet bedroom to the first day of school. The sound of a loud school bell punches us into the scene. In other words, we used the sound of the bell ringing as a transition from the flashback to the future or present day. Box 7 is a scene of students walking up their staircase to their class. Likewise, in box 8, it cuts to a point-of-view shot from Ngoc's perspective (the mediator) in her 5th-period class. Class has just started, and everyone is settling in and choosing their seats. Then, in box 9, from Ngoc's POV still, the camera pans across the classroom. In this sketch, it lands on the party friend. She is already sitting down, laughing and giggling loudly with a whole new group of people. She is fully immersed in her own thing, acting like it is just any other day, as if her best friend had not just died. In box 10, without cutting, the camera pans further. It is a drawing that shows the depressed friend. She is sitting alone at a desk by the window, just staring blankly, and has shut off from the noise. Box 11 shows Ngoc walking over and sitting down next to her depressed friend. She asks the depressed friend what is wrong, but the friend doesn't even look up. She is simply staring off into space, too lost in her own sadness to even hear the question. Last but not least is box 12, which exits from Ngoc's POV and enters into a close-up of her face instead as she sits at the desk. She is not looking at either friend anymore, rather, she is staring straight ahead to the front of the class. Her expression is a mix of sadness and exhaustion. She is starting to realize that the friend group is crumbling and broken, and has no idea how to fix it. 

That is where our movie opener plans to end. This ending is similar to a cliffhanger that opens the chapter at the beginning of a story. 

film inspirations

 Hey beautiful people! Welcome back to another one of my posts. After discussing with my group the genre conventions we are going to include to fit our film in the genre of drama, we all decided to brainstorm our own inspirations.

One of my biggest inspirations is the TV show, The Summer I Turned Pretty, specifically in how it handles the different ways people grieve. I am less inspired by the love triangle and more by the quiet aftermath of Susannah's death (the mother of Conrad and Jeremiah). The show gives us a perfect blueprint with Conrad and Jeremiah. Conrad shuts down completely as his grief is a heavy, quiet storm that he tries to carry on his own. Whereas Jeremiah is the opposite. Jerimiah becomes the life of the party, using noise to distract himself from the pain he is facing. Similarly, these two characters are parallel to the way we are representing one of us as the one who is visibly depressed with the friend's death, and the other who is acting as if nothing happened. Then, in the TV show, there is Belly. She's caught in the middle, trying to hold space for both brothers while dealing with her own loss. She is known as the connector or balance, even when she is breaking internally as well. This is a perfect model for our third friend, Ngoc (Tina). Ngoc is the one trying to keep the group from fracturing completely. She checks in on both sides, often putting her own grief on pause to be there for others. 

A few other inspirations I have in mind are the movies Up and Five Feet Apart. With these two movies, I had hoped to use them as references to capture the intimate and heart-crushing feeling of a last goodbye. The opening montage in Up, showing Carl and Ellie's life together, says more without words than any script could. We want that same emotional aspect in our flashback to our friend's bedroom. In our movie opener, rather than doing it in a hospital bed, we are doing it in her personal space, her bedroom, to make it more personal and sentimental. It is a sacred space filled with things that remind us of her, which makes saying goodbye there so much harder. However, to visually capture that intimacy, we are looking at the close-ups in Five Feet Apart for inspiration. In Five Feet Apart, a lot of the camera time is spent on the characters' faces, capturing every glance, tear, and smile. It makes you feel as if you are in the room with them. That is the feeling we want for our bedroom scene as well. We plan to use extreme close-ups of our faces and focus on the small details in the room that tell a story about our friendship. We want the audience to feel the weight of the silence and the unsaid words in that final moment. 

Last but not least, for the visual tone of friendship and loss, I planned to use inspiration from the blending of the aesthetics in The Summer I Turned Pretty (TSITP). In TSITP, there are several beautiful, wide, and cinematic shots of the beach that perfectly fit the vibe me and my group are going for. Specifically, in the show, we are inspired by the soft, golden-hour lighting on the beach, and the way it uses wide shots to make emotions feel big and landscapes feel personal. We want to use that same warm, cinematic aesthetic in our opening beach scene to make the moment feel important and genuine. Not only that, but we are also inspired by a slightly different kind of scene. We are inspired by the scene of the quiet, heartbreaking moments in Susannah's bedroom when she is sick. This scene takes place in a soft, sunlit room that feels peaceful but is incredibly sad. The camera stays close, focusing on the raw emotions of Belly and Susannah as they talk. The light is gentle but also feels heavy at the same time. It is about capturing love and sadness together. Similarly, that is the atmosphere we want to create for our flashback scene in our friend's bedroom as we pray that she is okay. 

Genre Conventions

 Hey beautiful readers! Another day of planning for the final project, and my group and I have fully decided on pursuing the genre of drama. In order to adhere to the genre conventions of drama, we will utilise natural lighting to create an authentic atmosphere throughout the movie opener. For example, in our opening beach scene where the three friends scatter the ashes, we will film in the late afternoon. The soft, diffused warm lighting will add a layer of intimacy and sensitivity. Moreover, we will use natural lighting to create visual representations for each character's inner states. For the friend who is partying and acting normal to cope, we will place her in scenes with bright and harsh light, such as flashing party lights. This wild lighting will match the internal chaos that she is truly feeling mentally. For the friend who is really sad and pulled away, we will shoot her scenes in more low-key lighting, such as a room with blinds fully closed. This will reflect on her mental state of feeling lonely and depressed. 

Next up, we were brainstorming backtracks and sound effects for the film opener. The genre drama relies on making emotions feel raw and real; thus, we are going to keep most of our sounds natural and diegetic. For example, at the beach, you will not hear a big, sad song over the top, but rather, we will use the sound of the waves and wind in the background. We will also possibly add the sound of someone quietly crying during the scene to make the grief feel immediate and personal. The only exception where we will not be using diegetic sounds will be our choice of song. We have decided to use the song called "Constellations" by Jade LeMac, but in a way that creates dramatic irony. On the surface, it is a song about intimacy and memory after someone is gone. We plan to use it only in scenes with the friend who is partying to cope. For example, it will be blasted during a party scene to match the upbeat tempo, but it will contrast painfully with her real emotions. The lyrics in the song state, "gone in the blink of an eye." This line will take on a completely different and sadder meaning for the audience, because we will know she is thinking about her lost friend. In other words, playing this song in a party scene with the "happy" friend shows a way of how she is using loud music and crowded spaces to hide her pain, even though the song itself is about losing and missing someone. 

When it comes to the mise en scene, we are going to use it to quietly tell the story of where each character is emotionally. In other words, a key convention of drama is using realistic, everyday settings and details to make the characters' lives feel relatable or authentic. Thus, our locations, like the beach, the school, and the bedroom, will all feel real and recognizable. Now, for how we will use mise en scene to portray the characters, is that for the friend who is partying, her look and space will feel a little off. She will wear bright and floral-patterned clothing, but her eyes will always have a hint of sadness and darkness to them. The mediator friend will be dressed neatly and put together. In a majority of scenes, she will be framed in the center of group shots, visually holding the space together. As for the friend who is depressed, she will be wearing baggy and dull clothing. Her bedroom would feel "frozen" in time. For instance, her room will be messy, and it will consist of old photos of the friend group together.

Finally, we are planning our camera shots, angles, and movements to fully draw the audience into the emotional meaning of the story, which is essential in the genre of drama. For our very first shot at the beach, we want it to feel peaceful but not too heavy. We will start with a wide shot of the three friends from behind, holding hands and looking at the ocean. Then the camera will slowly dolly in toward them. This gentle movement pulls the audience into the moment, like we are quietly stepping into their private grief. Then, the camera will arc around them in one smooth move, revealing their faces from the front. This reveal will take us from seeing them as a united group to showing their individual raw emotions. From there, the camera will match each friend's coping style. For the one who is partying, we will use more energetic and possibly shaky handheld shots in her scenes to match the chaotic environment. For the friend who is visibly depressed, we will use still, quiet shots to make her look alone, even in a crowd. In the flashback of us surrounding the near-dead friend's bed, we will use close-ups on their faces to make that last moment with her feel intensely intimate and heartbreaking.