After a mini creative crisis earlier this week, my ideas have morphed yet again. I am now proud to say however, that I’ve a narrative I will be committing to! It still revolves around a girl’s birthday party, expectations, and the dynamics of a family unit.
Logline: A girl’s grandmother passes away on the week of her birthday. Her party plans are at stake in the wake of her grandmother’s death. Underlying her adamant desire to still celebrate her birthday, is a hint of childlike denial as she struggles to cope with the unexpected death of a loved one.
Here is the current script:
I feel I will have to improve on my dialogue and the narrative flow.
Scene Analysis
I have selected the scene in the Bedroom to rehearse, in which Ah Ma reappears to the girl (after her death) and dresses her up in her birthday gown and other trinklets.
This scene is pivotal because the girl is at her most vulnerable state. She collapses into a childlike state, and fantasises that her Ah Ma is still very much alive. Her Ah Ma pacifies her, dresses her up; reassuring her as though she was a little girl again. For a moment, the audience may even be lead to believe as well that this could really be reality, and that the girl may be able to have her party after all.
I pictured this scene would be made coherent, largely through the editing (Post-prod). Thus, we would shoot one perspective (in MS and MCU) where we witness the girl and Ah Ma back together; almost suspending the audience’s disbelief that the Ah Ma really was still alive. This scenario would then be intercut or concluded with a wider shot of just the girl alone in the room – revealing the sad reality that the Ah Ma has indeed passed away, and it is merely in the girl’s imagination that she is still present.
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Post – rehearsal/workshop takeaways:
During the workshop, I rehearsed only one scenario: in which Ah ma and the Girl are both concurrently in shot. It became evident that in order to properly communicate this apparition, I may have to decide whether the girl fully acknowledges Ah Ma’s presence (with eye contact), or actually looks forward while talking to the apparition of Ah Ma beside her (such that it is more obvious that representation of Ah Ma is merely a visual extension of her imagination).
There is much to think about. Hahah blocking and camera position is also going to depend largely on the location I feel.
Godspeed to all of us hahaha