Changes Within 'Black Sands'

Whilst filming my short film opening 'Black Sands' I had a few ideas which have marginally changed the way the film opening will look. I have heard many times in interviews with film directors that films don't always go to plan as you had predicted them to at the start of filming. This is definitely what I have encountered.

The first thing I thought that would be interesting is what if I set this in the past instead of the future. I think this would give it a new twist because I would like to set it in 2014. This is because it would be fresh in the audience's memories - having only happened two years ago - and would make more sense with the character's clothing styles.

Secondly, I have changed the beginning to before the title as if the three main characters (Skadi, Rowena and Alys) are being watched by someone...aka Black Sands!

Also, I have had to change the script for my characters. Although this was a set back whilst filming I think we have managed to overcome it very well. I have decided to get rid of the monologue at the beginning of the film. Even though it sounded good during my planning, it did not sound right when I tested it over the film opening itself. Instead I have come up with the idea of another person talking. It would be a short piece of dialogue but this also meant the introduction of a new character. After some research I came to the conclusion that I was going to use a new powerful female character as the person speaking. I wanted it to sound mysterious but I also wanted the audience to know that she was a highly ranked woman within Black Sands. I took my main inspiration from two specific characters being: Ava Paige from the Maze Runner Series and Lorelei Singh from The 100. However it did not mean the introduction of just one character but of two! This was because I liked the idea of whilst Black Sands is watching the characters to have a highly positioned operative talking to a colleague or a lower down worker who will do her bidding.

I then set out to develop these two characters. I decided that the high positioned woman (who I named Ruth) would be very self-confident and seemingly without fear of what her actions might bring. Whereas, the other character I liked the idea of being ranked lower than herself (who I named Tris). I soon wrote the dialogue and it turned out as something like this:

Ruth: Has the patient been vetted?

Tris: Well enough

Ruth: Then we mustn't keep his family waiting. They must be dying for him to return.

So now it's back to editing the film opening...

Casting Adjustment

Previously I posted my audition results for my film opening 'Black Sands' however there have been some minor adjustments. Due to issues with getting all three of my actresses together on the same day I have had to make sure that I have an extra for the role of the character Alys West.

Auditioning

Recently I conducted auditions for my characters in my opening sequence. It was extremely difficult decision but I can happily announce the results:

ROWENA HEMLOCK

Emily Thomas

SKADI STORMBORN

Harriet Firth

ALYS WEST

Georgia Bowman

So there we have it! My cast is official and now it's back to the drawing board to finish the preparation for filming!

Characters And Personalities

As we have now begun planning for our opening film sequence I decided that I needed to know my characters before I could start detailing my synopsis.

 I decided on a selection of teenage characters because that would appeal more to the age range that I have chosen for the film's rating (see this post). I then decided to have an all female cast because girls are easier to sympathise with in difficult situations instead of boys.

I then began gathering ideas about my characters. I knew that I couldn't have a lot of characters because it would confuse the audience and be too overwhelming at the beginning of a film to meet so many characters. That was when I came to the conclusion of 3 characters. It would be easier to direct with a small cast and also I would be able to work on the detail of the characters in more depth.

I started to focus on teenage characteristics and decided that I wanted to use a variety of different personality traits, making sure that none of the characters were the same. Of course, they needed to have similarities but I thought I would use this variety of characteristics so that it would be easier for a wide range of the audience to empathise with.

I therefore came up with the following characters:

ROWENA HEMLOCK

SKADI STORMBORN

ALYS WEST

I then explored their personalities and traits so that I could focus on how they would behave in the story in order to show how they would act in the situation that they are in. This was the outcome:

ROWENA HEMLOCK

(pronounced row-e-na)

Rowena is a troubled teenager who likes her solitude. She, along with Skadi and Alys, is one of the few survivors from her clan. When she was ten, her mother was infected and Rowena blamed herself for her mother's condition. She eventually shot her mother and this haunts her everyday making her very conscious of her actions. She is an intelligent individual and taught herself to read and write from books she found in the old libraries. 

SKADI STORMBORN

(pronounced scar-d-ee)

Skadi is a force not to be reckoned with. She's a stubborn, badass teenager whose tomboy attitude constantly gets her into sticky situations. She and her family joined the clan when she and Rowena were young but once they became infected her aim was to protect her younger cousin, Alys.

ALYS WEST

(pronounced like Alice)

As one of Skadi's only remaining relatives, Alys has always lived a life in the shadows, protected from the creatures of the day. Due to this she is generally a shy individual who is normally too scared to voice her own opinion. She never knew her parents as they were killed when she was young and was raised by her Aunt. She is very dependant on the other girls, especially after her brother, Nimrod left camp and never returned. 

These are just the basics of my characters and I may develop them further. However I believe that this will help design my storyboard for the opening sequence due to my understanding and knowledge about my characters instead of making their stories up as I go along. 

Back to the drawing board!