Once we had looked at influences for trailers and planned the narrative of the film. We set about storyboarding the structure and shots in the trailer. We found it difficult to not storyboard whole scenes, but eventually we got used to the idea of having a few shots of the important scenes.
For our first shot, in our trailer, we had the idea to show the clock (links to the idea of time running out). This would also aid the dialogue in the sequence that followed between the character of Eve and her Mother. The close-up would clearly show the time, so the audience would be aware of what will happen later on in the trailer. We did not want music to be included yet, so the ticking could be audible and the audience's full attention would be on the clock.
In order to introduce one of our main character's quickly into the trailer we decided to have the face partly concealed and then revealed, so the audience takes the time to remember the face (due to the emphasis placed on it). Also it would start a bond with the audience and also because unlike an entire film we did not have time to slowly introduce the main characters.
We included a point of view shot, so that the audience would already begin aligning themselves with Eve. The dialogue of her mother on the phone "twelve hours from now" incorporates the idea of time running out, again. But, it also suggests a plan or plot.
So the audience could see the equilibrium just before the disruption starts in the plot we added some interaction between Eve and her mother. The dialogue features Eve identifying her mother to the audience, although simple it shows their relationship is close with the hug that follows.
We considered merging shots 4 and 5 together to reduce the amount of shots, because we wanted to make sure that we were not creating a whole scene. But, we decided to film both and decided during editing.
We used an eye-line shot, so the audience already begins to question "what is she looking at?" and we would want to start fading into non-diagetic music, to make the shot more intense.
This is the reverse-shot of the eye-line shot, showing the audience a suspicious and official looking folder, in order to suggest that Eve's mother is involved in some government department. We simply labelled the folder "logo" in the storyboard to design the logo later on.
After the beginning sequence we would showcase the new logo for Eden Pictures. In our research of codes and conventions, the production company logos frequently came in after a introductory sequence.
After this, we wanted to get right to point of dis-equilibrium. We would have a dolly shot of the camera going behind the heads of students as the teacher disappeared. We knew we would not have access to high-quality special effects and we did not want to make too much of an effect about the adults disappearing so we used the obstruction of the heads as a way for the adults to vanish.
By including more than one adult disappearing it would show that the phenomenon was wide-spread. Also, by using an adult the audience is familiar with, will put them in a similar situation as the characters.
Again, we did not need to use special effects, as they would distract from the point of the film. This shot implies the disappearance of the mother, by diagetic sound of the spoon (she was using) hitting the ground. The slow zooming out and central framing of the door makes it very dramatic, which foreshadows the drama to come.
Using this as a device to introduce Eve's little brother: Alfie. This again leaves the audience in a similar position to him, he is unaware of what exactly has happened.
Again, we considered combining shots 12 and 13.
We wanted to include some form of copy, to explain to the audience that all of the adults had disappeared. Unsure of exactly what we wanted to say, we liked the idea of a question but decided to finalise it later.
Taking influence from The Road trailer, we decided to use a sequence of establishing shots, displaying how empty the world is without adults. We would fit this to music for emphasis.
Using a variety of locations would again reiterate how widespread the problem is.
By using imagery such as power stations serves as a semiotic of themes in the film. The desire for power of Haden.
By using locations that we would be using in the sequences shown of the film, it would help the audience to envisage the area that the film takes place in.
Using a main road, we thought would be very effective at showing the disappearance of adults (as adults are the only people who know how to drive).
By having shots of desolate areas that are usually heavily populated, it would show the harsh reality of a world without adults.
Not all the shots we storyboarded would actually be used especially the similar ones. But, it helped give us more ideas for shots
Originally intending to have copy explaining the plot of the film, we thought back to our influences like The Road, The Hunger Games and Tomorrow When the War Began. They all had copy informing the audience the film was based on a "best-selling novel". This also serves as a unique selling point for the film (USP).
We wanted to use hidden identity in this shot, so people would wonder who Eve is walking with before revealing Michael as the main-character. The cantered angle suggests the world is not right without adults.
By having Alfie enter the shot after Eve and Michael, it shows the formation of the group and the plot starts to take shape for the audience.
Copy would be inserted at this point as a bridge between sequences and to inform the audience.
By including a number of two-shots of Michael and Eve, we thought it would be effective in implying a relationship or romance between the two characters.
We wanted dialogue about the need to adapt to change, although we also considered having narration.
Also, by including more sequences with Eve and Michael, it would show the audience that they were the main characters and it would begin a connection with the audience.
By including shots of the characters grabbing food and supplies, we thought it would add a sense of realism to our sci-fi drama. We knew we probably would not use all of the shots, otherwise it would become a scene. But, we liked the idea of the hand grabbing the camera as a tin, so the hand would plunge the shot into darkness. This idea contained semiotic meanings of fear and darkness.
Bringing the folder back into the trailer would serve in the film's narrative as the "unobbtainium" or the object of desire, like the Philosopher's Stone in Harry Potter. The two groups would be fighting over the possession of the folder, the folder would hold the secret as to why the adults have disappeared and hold the key to bringing the adults back.
A shot of Haden with the folder would show the audience that the bad group has the upper hand and the audience will feel they need to see the film in order to find out how the good group wins it back or whether they do.
This was an alternate shot we had planned to show the bad groups possession of the folder.
We originally were going to have this sequence of dialogue between the characters of Michael and Lana, but we changed our minds, due to the fact that Lana isn't a main character and this may confuse the audience if she had more dialogue than Eve. Also, as stated earlier we wanted to hint at romance between Eve and Michael.
As with the appearance, we wanted Michael to be an unconventional leader, he is a binary opposite to Haden, who needs and wants to lead. Michael does not want to be a leader, but he has to become one to save everyone else- an unconventional hero.
We wanted to include a campfire to show that the good group had been forced to leave the urban areas because of Haden's violence.
By including this shot and dialogue, we wanted to add a sense of urgency to the trailer- time is running out.
But, by including this group campfire shot it shows signs of a teen film. The group seems united and content by the fire.
This was an alternate shot we had planned to introduce the character Lana into the group.
The trailer has a non-linear plot. This sequence would happen earlier in the film. Haden's henchmen chase Michael's group away from the town and into the forest.
The idea of baseball bats shows that unlike in America weapons are not easy to come by, so they have to create their own- this shows more violence that they will fashion everyday objects into weapons to kill.
This shot would be a challenge to film, but we liked the idea as it was reminiscent of deer being hunted and them bounding through the forest.
The group splitting-up would immediately set alarm bells off in the audience's minds and they would know something bad was coming.
Somewhere between these shots Fiona would trip and fall over, we would edit them together so it would fit match on action.
The audience would feel a connection to the good group and Fiona's character looks particularly innocent and the audience would be distressed on her behalf.
By adding a point of view shot, again the audience is aligned with the characters. Due to the spinning motion of the camera, they will feel just as disorientated.
We had planned this shot of Fiona falling and leading to a point of view shot, from the very beginning of planning our narrative, we had sketched it out on some paper. We revisited the sketch when we were storyboarding the chase sequence.
We wanted to include a side to the bad side, so the audience get a sense of omniscience. They would be able to see that all is not well with Haden's group, as he paces up and down. He strikes the magazine out of Selene's hands after he loses his temper. This also would show the audience the instability and volatile nature of Haden.
We would include a reaction shot of Selene, so the audience may find themselves sympathising with her as well, creating a complex relationship between the audience and characters.
Haden would then sit down next to Selene and perhaps put his arm around her. Portraying the sophisticated psychopath archetype- he looks on the outside to be sophisticated but on the inside he is unstable.
We considered Eve having a locket from her Mother that contains a note which would help with the folder. But, we soon scrapped the idea as it seemed too cliché and was not very related in terms of the trailer's narrative.
This shot linked with the Locket shot above, Haden's henchmen telling him about Eve's knowledge of the folder.
We then included quick cut shots that could be used towards the climax of our trailer. Eve hides with her brother and extinguishes a match, the darkness taking over the shot would show how dark the world has become without adults and authority.
Haden's group would emerge from the tunnel, like his name suggests Haden's group would look like they were entering the world as if they had come from the underworld.
On-going there would be non-diagetic music in the background. A baseball bat would be dragged along the ground, implying violence particularly because this one has been customised with nails.
The extreme close-up would show the evil intent on Haden's face and the music would stop and quickly start up again- adding drama to the shot.
Eve and her brother would be running up to the gates of a house (her house), this would also make the audience wonder where the rest of the group is.
Copy would appear with just single words that tie-in to the plot of the film. The idea of single-word copy was an influence from The Road (dir. John Hillcoat 2009) trailer. But, we would use ours to a different effect, in The Road trailer they are used as introduction, but we would use ours as part of the climax.
There would then be a shot of the gate slamming shut accompanied by the diagetic sound.
More copy would then appear quickly letting the audience know what to expect from the film.
The groups would oppose each other on the beach and then surge forward into a fight.
As part of the montage we were thinking of including a shot of Haden attacking Michael when the adults first vanished in the School/college.
We were then going to include shot/reverse shot between the two leaders of each group to add an increased sense of rivalry.
The imagery of a clenching fist would suggest the strain and will to fight.
The idea of trust would be incorporated into the trailer.
Eve and Alfie running away, this would then cut to the next shot.
The next shot would have a close-up of Eve and Alfie holding hands as they run, showing the bond they share and the trust between them.
There would be a close-up of Eve as she checks behind her and her brother- looking out for his safety.
More copy would link to the next shots about the fatality and need survive in the post-apocalyptic world.
A shot of Haden slamming the nail baseball bat towards the camera and the scream of Fiona would imply the death of her character. This would let audience's know the film is not for younger viewers so a 12A certificate would be a minimum for the film.
Then we planned to include various shots of the good group trying to scavenge food to survive.
The copy would intrigue the audience as to which character is the "traitor".
Although the location was not definite, we considered using the arches of a nearby church to have a long-shot/over the shoulder shot of Haden's group being approached by a hooded person (hidden identity) so the trailer did not give everything away.
There would be a shot included of Haden holding Alfie back, and then fading to a shot at the beach.
Linking to our ideas for the poster and our influences for posters Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 (dir. David Yates 2011).
We decided that we would improvise much of the fighting shots at the beach. This was because we found it was more natural and also the location would enable us to decide what kind of shots we wanted. We knew we would want the shots tightly framed so if there were any members of the public on the beach they would not be seen and also to make the action more dramatic.
We wanted one of the final shots being Haden slamming Michael into the ground, so it looked as if the bad group were winning and the audience would want to see how Michael would survive and want to see the film.
We then were inspired by the trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (dir. Francis Lawrence 2013), when a shot of the heroine being powerless and dragged away is shown. We wanted a similar effect of ever being dragged away screaming by Haden's henchmen.
A shot of Selene pulling Eve's hair is shown and we later came up with the line "Watch them die". This implies that a fight between the two female characters will take place. This can be seen as catering to the Male Gaze- under the premise that it is exciting to see two women fighting each other.
The title chosen for the film was "TIME" this has obvious links to the plot that time is running out. The title is one of the final things seen by the audience so they remember the name.
The final shot would be the release date for the film, again so the audience remembers when to expect the film so they can see it. We were planning on including a thunder-sound I had already recorded. Lizzie suggested we use it in our trailer for impact.
During filming we did not stick directly to the storyboard, we did not want to be restricted. If we had difficulty filming a shot or thought of a better one, we knew we could explore other possibilities and then select the best when editing. We also knew that much of the trailer was like scenes, but we knew if we filmed them as scenes (like a real film) then we could edit them in a way which was more conventional to a trailer.
These were originally part of the storyboard but were scrapped, due to the repetitive quality of them and they added nothing to the narrative of the trailer, I have included them in the blog as a way to show our thought-process when storyboarding.
After we had finished our casting of characters we knew that we wanted the main two villains Selene and Haden to have a sophisticated look. So, we decided to incorporate elements of sophistication and richness into their costumes. Haden would wear dark clothing and over the top a broad grey pea-coat. This coat looks smart and my hair would be swept back in style to add to this. Clare (as Selene) would wear a navy blue pea-coat that was more fitted, this was a more feminine take on the sophisticated look. Underneath the coat she wore a black jewelled necklace which added to the extravagant quality. We also had her wearing dark eye make-up (semiotics with evil), the make-up showed she could still wear it even at the "apocalypse" Haden's group had taken control of the town and so she was the only female in the narrative who wears make-up. Selene's hair goes through a number of stages, we wanted to show a metamorphosis of character. In some scenes we wanted her hair pulled straight back into a severe and functional pony-tail, in others she would have her hair curled into a classic and sophisticated look and then towards end of the narrative we would want her hair looking most natural to show even the "bad" group is suffering. Michael's group was different. We suggested that even though the group was "good" they should still wear relatively dark clothing to reflect the genre and the story. We made an exception with the character of Eve. Eve was meant to symbolise purity and so on top of the archetype of blonde hair and blue eyes we also suggested that she should wear white to add to the sense of innocence and possible naivety. The people in Michael's group were also agreed to have much more natural hair and the girls should wear little or no make-up as stated earlier. 
