This post is written by Maroosh, therefore if you don't like it, it's her fault. Note: this is slightly edited.
After presenting our film opening idea to the class, we met (after much struggle because everyone was busy) to make the idea much worse, not to mention the fact that we still thought we made it “better” and were very “excited” to show it to our teacher. (I still don’t know what we were thinking:( )
Tashfa was taking notes as we all brainstormed new ways to improve our idea.
A blurry picture of us discussing our idea
The first change was the location, because it was nearly impossible for us to find an abandoned train station in Lahore and film there at night. We decided to film the opening scene of our film in a hospital (we actually shot it at our school because it looks exactly like a hospital; but that’s another story). We also changed the concept slightly because we couldn’t show a churail exiting a train and walking through a train station. In addition, we added two doctors to make it look more like a hospital.
We were not joking when we said our school resembles a hospital.
After much deliberation, we came up with the idea of showing a girl (who the audience would later discover is dead) sitting on the hospital benches near the reception, moving her hands in time to the non-diegetic sound of the bomb ticking, with a vile smirk on her face. We’d use close-ups of the girl’s face and hands, as well as shots of the area (hospital) around her, such as CCTV cameras or warning signs. During these establishing shots, the opening credits (in white), as well as the film’s title, would also be shown. We would then use an over-the-shoulder/mid shot to show the empty corridors behind this girl, while also demonstrating depth of field. During this shot, we will see two doctors approaching this girl while discussing a “bomb blast at a train station” (this would be a voiceover). We’d then show them walking past this girl as if she wasn’t there, foreshadowing her death, and while the doctors are walking past her, we would show the girl’s facial expressions; she looks at them abruptly with an evil grin on her face. The shot would then be changed to a long shot or a mid-shot. The doctor is shown approaching and then sitting at her desk. She then opens the file and fills out the death certificate form; the shot then shifts to a close-up of the certificate as the doctor fills it out. The shot then shifts to a wide shot, showing the dead girl approaching the doctor and peering over her shoulder at the death certificate. This is where the film opening ends.
This was the fake death certificate form that we used
“The Lost Track” is the title of the film (I never thought thinking of a title would be more difficult than the entire shooting process). The only sounds that will be used are the ticking of the bomb and the voiceover. For editing, we were to use cut shots as well as fade-ins and outs at the beginning and end of the film opening. For the horror and mystery elements of the film’s opening, the colour scheme would be grey tones and black. Furthermore, for the dress code, the girl would be dressed in a hospital gown while the doctors will be dressed in lab coats (that I stole from my friends who take science subjects).
We started filming within a few days of developing our idea so that we could move on to our next preliminary tasks because we thought we were running out of time!
Our reactions after watching our “masterpiece,” which I named “I Hate This” for obvious reasons (you’ll soon know why).
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