Updated Storyboard

 Hiya guys!

    As you know, when we first started the project a few months ago, my group and I made a storyboard so that we could somewhat envision what our movie opener would look like. Well... I have made the updated storyboard for my group now that our movie opener is fully complete. 

    Today, I will be discussing the changes we have made in our film that have caused me to change our storyboard. 

The first thing that was tweaked just a bit, but mainly kept the same, was the scene 1, shot 1A. This scene is still an establishing shot of the beach and 3 girls (Emijola, Ngoc, Raina) holding hands. However, in this current storyboard, I added the song that will be playing in the background, Ocean Eyes by Billie Eilish, and the flowers that Raina is holding. I also added in the storyboard that Emijola and Raina will lean their heads onto Ngoc's shoulder. As for the next shot of scene 1 (shot 1B), it is still presented as an arc shot from 1A to 1B. The 1B shot is also still a front view of the three girls with palm trees and buildings behind them. 

The next change that was made to the storyboard was scene 2, shot 2A. The change that was made was that instead of it being a fade to white to this scene, it is a dissolve. Specifically, it's a dissolve from the present (beach) to the past (flashback in Jahzara's bedroom). In this shot, it is still Jahzara dying; however, I added details such that it is specifically Raina, Ngoc, and Emijola walking into Jahzara's bedroom to see her lying there, about to die. Raina says out loud, "Oh my gosh!" I wrote on the updated storyboard that there is a dark filter with low exposure and saturation. The song continues to play in the background. Moving on, originally scene 2, shot 2B was when the timelapse happens, however, on the updated version, shot 2b of scene 2 is when the camera pans left, and the 3 girls surround Jahzara's bed, Emijola says "Jahzara...!" Ngoc and Emijola are shown on the left side of the bed, but Raina is on the right side. I also wrote on the updated version that now a heartbeat sound is heard beeping in the background. Scene 2, shot 2c and shot 2d were also completely changed. In the updated version, shot 2c is introduced with a blur wipe transition to a montage of jumpcuts. There is a bed with Jahzara lying on it, Raina is pacing back and forth in the room praying, Ngoc holds Jahzara's hands, and Emijola is heard visibly sobbing. The heart rate/pulse is slowly increasing. In shot 2d, the heart rate is beating even faster. Raina and Ngoc are both praying now, whereas Emijola is still crying. Scene 2, shot 2E is still part of the flashback, and it's another jumpcut, but of Ngoc resting a plush on Jahzara's bed, right beside her. Whereas Raina and Emijola are resting and praying with their eyes closed on the side of the bed. Shot 2F is when the heart beat stops, and the monitor flatlines. It is a jumpcut of Ngoc praying, Emijola sobbing, but Raina exits the room. Shot 2G is the next jump cut, but of Ngoc leaving the room, and shot 2H is a jump cut of Emijola leaving. 

After the flashback, there is a dissolve transition to the beach again. This transition back to the beach is scene 3, shot 3A. This shot is back to the present, where Emijola scatters Jahzara's ashes into the ocean/sand. I wrote that the sound of waves and wind can be heard, and the song is still playing in the background. On the updated version, I wrote camera pans left to the horizon and dissolves to scene 3, shot 3B. The camera then slowly tilts up, revealing an empty urn with flowers behind it. This shot was not in our original storyboard, as we did not originally plan to record this part. This shot, however, is of the 3 girls with their backs to the ocean walking away in three different directions. 

Likewise, it then goes to a smash cut into scene 4, shot 4A. This shot essentially has the same concept as our original storyboard, but just with more details. It is still an establishing shot of students walking up the stairs to class. The only changes I made to the updated storyboard were that I wrote specifically that there is a j-cut sound of the bell ringing from the last scene of the beach to this staircase scene. 

Lastly, there is an invisible cut from the staircase scene to classrooom scene, which is scene 5, shot 5A. The visual of the scene is the same from original storyboard; however, the camera movements and transitions are different. In the updated version, the camera pans left, then right, in the point-of-view shot of Ngoc. Ngoc essentially enters the class, and when the camera pans left, she sees Raina with her new friends, and when the camera pans right, she sees Emijola sitting alone in the corner. Shot 5B is a continuation of the point-of-view shot, but now, Ngoc is walking towards where Emijola is sitting and sits at the desk in front of her. Ngoc asks Emijola, "Emijola, are you okay...?" but Emijola gives no response. This is different from our original storyboard in that in the original, Ngoc sat in the middle of the class and looked to Raina in the front of the class and to Emijola in the back of the class. Moving on, shot 5C in the updated storyboard is also a continuation of the POV shot. The camera pans right and left subtly, like in a swinging motion. Eventually, the camera completely pans away from Emijola and shows the rest of the class again, with Raina on the side talking to her friends, with Ms. Beruty at her desk in the corner, and a few classmates spread throughout. In the updated version, I also added the detail that there is a circular blur of the camera frame in this shot. In other words, the left and right sides of the frame are blurred, and only the center of the framing is clear. The class audio fades, and only the music keeps playing in the background. This is our last shot, so the scene simply ends with a black cut. This is very different from the original storyboard, because in the original, we drew/wrote that it was supposed to be an exit out of Ngoc's point of view shot and into a close-up of her eyes. Then, the camera would slowly zoom into her eyes into pitch-black darkness. We changed this on the updated storyboard, though, because we thought that ending seemed too much like a movie trailer ending rather than an ending of a movie opener.