Planning the Preliminary Task

For our preliminary task, we had to incorporate the 180° rule, match on action shots and shot reverse shots into a film where a character opens a door, walks across a room and says a line of dialogue. 

We came up with the following premise; Joanna is walking down the corridor when she hears a scream coming from one of the nearby classrooms. She goes to investigate, and finds Jemma tied up behind the desk. She unties her, and reassures her that everything is alright now, and she is safe. 

Storyboard

We created a storyboard using post-it notes to represent each shot. This was so  that if we decided we wanted to change the order of the shots we used, or replace them, it would be much easier. The drawings of the characters are not representative of who is playing them as this had not yet been determined. Below are more detailed descriptions of the shots. 

1. Establishing shot of the front of the school, clearly showing the sign with the name "The Knights Templar School"
2. Wide shots of the empty corridors
3. Long shot shows Jo from behind as she walks down the corridor. The camera follows her to mimic the feeling of being watched. 
4. Mid shot of Jo, continuing to walk down the corridor. As she passes a door a scream is heard. 
5. Shots 5-7; shot-reaction shot as Jo looks at the door in a panic.
6.  ″    ″  ″   ″
7.  ″    ″  ″   ″
8. The camera slowly zooms as Jo walks towards the door. 
9. Extreme closeup on the door handle, Jo pushes the door open.
10. Long shot as the door opens and Jo walks across the room.
11. POV shot; pan of the empty room. 
12. Shots 12-14; Jo walks towards the desk, and the camera moves away from her, panning round the other side of the table to show a Jemma tied underneath. Jo sees her and moves closer. 
13.  ″    ″  ″   ″
14.  ″    ″  ″   ″
15. Extreme closeup of Jo untying the rope binding Jemma.
16. Shots 16-18; Jo reassures Jemma that she will be okay. We will follow the 180 ° rule as the characters converse so the perspective remains constant. 
17.  ″    ″  ″   ″
18.  ″    ″  ″   ″
19. The two girls walks out of the room, the camera slowly zooming on them. 
20. Two shot of them standing in the hallway before they part ways. 

Script

The K Block corridors are empty, there is no sign of anybody else. JO is casually walking through the corridors; she is alone. 

A scream is heard from one of the classrooms as she walks past. JO looks shocked and worried. 

The camera shows a closeup of JO opening the door, to reveal a supposedly empty classroom. The walks in and POV shots show her looking around the room to see what the noise was.

Muffled noises come from behind the desk. The camera tracks JO running to the desk, and another POV shot reveals JEMMA, who is tied up. 

            JO: (Confused reaction, worried facial expression) 
                   What the hell happened? Are you okay? Who did this to you? Is it safe?

She looks around, panicked. 

           JEMMA: (Frustrated) 
                         Just untie me!

The camera watches the girls from a high angle. JO is looking around frantically as she unties JEMMA. 

          JO: It's safe now, you're safe!

POV shot from JO's perspective as she is untying JEMMA. A pair of hands with a blindfold cover the camera lens and the screen fades to black. 


Our group split into two to develop the storyboard and script, so the endings are slightly different as we had interpreted the plot differently. We will try and include the ideas of both groups in our final film.