STORYBOARD

 

This is an animated storyboard that was created by Pandora to represent our shots, angles, storyline and locations.

'Real Life' research

research made by Amy Purhouse

'Real Life' research: 

• Jeffrey Epstein 
• convicted sex offender 
• Started his career as a math teacher in NYC
• 1970s went to work at the investment bank Bear Sterns 
• 1982 founded J.Epstein and Co
• 1992 he owned the largest private residence in Manhattan
• Known to associate with politicians and celebs in the public eye 

2005

A 14 year old girl reported that Epstein had molested her in his private mansion in Palm Beach 

2006

Police charge Epstein and his two assistants with multiple counts of unlawful sex acts with a minor

2008

Pleads guilty

2015

Virginia Roberts in court and talks about how Epstein forced her to have sex with Prince Andrew and Alan Dershowitz when she was underaged.

2019

Was arrested on July 6 on charges of sex trafficking. Accused of having payed dozens of 14 year old girls to engage is sexual acts with him from 2002-2005

• Found dead in his cell on August 10, 2019 
• Cause of death: Suicide, but conspiracies are made

Epstein had stated that any encounters he had were consensual and he didn't know that they were under they age of 18. Therefore he had pledged not guilty in the trafficking charges

Anouska De Georgiou 

• survivor
• fell trough Epstein's circle of abuse through close friends 
• She wads a teenage model in London in the 1990's
• She met Epstein in London for the first time ( being flown to his private property)
• The grooming was 'subtle', 'persistent' and  'persuasive'
• "If you're a young person walking into a mansion or someone's island and all the people who are present are acting as though this is OK and you're the only one who thinks it's weird, it's hard to say something' -Anouska 

Rachel Benavidez 

• Survivor
•  Fresh out of massage school when she was recruited by Maxwell 
• to put her training to work at a ranch in the New Mexico desert owned by Epstein
• Soon she was directed to massage Epstein
• Turned into a few years of abuse with Epstein
• “He provided me with promises of continuing education and a clientele that's a world-class clientele. And that's kind of how he lured his tentacles into me.”-Benavidez . 

research into similar products

 blog research done by Amy Purhouse

Epstein story idea 

Research into similar products: 

Film: Indecent Proposal, 1993

Director: Adrian Lyne 

synopsis: A married couple's relationship is put into trouble by a stranger who offers the wife 1 million dollars to spend the night with him. The couple go from being economically stable to then their finances take a nosedive.

what I noticed : 

When filming a scene where you can tell that they are upper class-man, the lighting is typically very white and very soft. Suggesting a dream like environment. The camera is steady demonstrating stability in the environment. The background is very blurred out focusing on the two main characters and emphasising the characters accessories. Here in this scene it is obvious that a rich atmosphere is trying to be created. For our scene where the chaperon meets Epstein, the background lighting could be soft indicating a rich environment and a dream state. 

In this scene, they aren't dressed as people who have a lot of money. The lighting is less white and more grey possibly indicating that they lost some of their money. The camera is sort of shaky and moves quite a lot suggesting instability. You can see use of the rule of thirds, this  helps keep the viewer drawn to the character and emphasises their importance. 

The use of the blurry twinkling lights in the background highlight the 'godlike' image the man has. The lights bring out the main person ( the stranger ( man) ). 

Here you can see the girl talking to the man  and is being enticed by him. The camera being slightly angled up showing that the girl is looking up to the man shows the authority he has over her. It also demonstrates her vulnerability. For our scene this would be useful to use to show the chaperon's vulnerability towards Epstein. We can emphasise that Epstein isn't a good character by using different camera angles.

BBFC-the British Board Of Film Classifications

BBFC-the British Board Of Film Classifications

-age ratings trust you

 

Regulation boards

 

-Regulations= laws and rules

-it is an organization that is in charge of setting the rules that control a certain set of product in a specific industry

-the BBFC- The British Board Of Film Classifications-regulates the film industry (only) in Britain 

-they regulate what can and can’t be shown in films in the United Kingdom 

-they give out the age certificates 

-any film that is due to be released in the cinema or on DVD has to go through the BBFC to get an age certificate

 

UK mainstream film certificates in the UK-

-U: anyone can see/suitable for all age groups

-PG: anyone can see/suitable for all age groups

-12A:only cinema release/suitable for children under the age of 12, but only with adult supervision 

-12: only on DVD

-15: to see these films you have to be over the age of 15

-18: to see these films you have to be over the age of 18

 

 

Things that the BBFC consider when they set age certificates:

-Scenes including violence (of any kind)

-Scenes including sex and nudity

-Scenes including obscene/unsuitable language 

-Scenes with discriminatory language

-Scenes of self-harm

-Scenes of criminal activity (of any kind)

-Scenes with dangerous behaviour e.g. jumping of a bridge

-Scenes of drugs, alcohol and cigarettes

-Scenes involving child actors/ characters

-Strobe lighting

 

The BBFC also consider context:

-For example cartoons and animated films will be able to get a lower age certificate despite the violence in them, because it usually not realistic.

 

They consider how an issue is handled in films:

-for example Drug use:

A film that might show abuse of drugs in a not so negative light will get a certificate (18), but if the drug use is very minimal or it’s shown as a very negative thing, then in this case it might get a lower age certificate (for example 15)

 

The BBFC tend to be more stricter with the age certificates when it comes to DVD, then when it’s a cinema release

 

If a film company is not happy with the certificate the film got, they have the option to reedit the film and resubmit for a review. 

This happens a lot with Horror movies. 

 

 

The opening sequence that me and my group are creating would receive and age certificate 15.

-mainly because of the strange/inappropriate behaviour of one of the main characters.

-also because of the involvement of underaged girls in a sex trafficking organisation

-and also because there may be some references to drug abuse and sex

research task 1 - Prop research

 Prop research:

The car is a very obvious key prop that is required for this sequence. 

 

We had a few options on how to get access to cars. But a few complications have risen. 

 

The Mercedes that we were aiming for at this moment will not be available, because my dad is giving it my sister to keep from next week, and she lives in Birmingham. So this will no longer be a possibility.

 

Our next option is a Bentley sport, which is a four seater with two doors. This car is also my dad’s and he would have to drive it to the school for a day for us to shoot. Also it is not very practical for us to shoot in With a big camera and tripod. 

Also another complication is that we can only use this car if we were shooting in April, since my dad has lost his driving licence until April the 15th. 

 

An alternative is that we could use my own car which is a Peugeot RCZ. This saves us time for someone driving it down to school, because I can drive it there myself. And that gives us unlimited access to it during the day. The only problem with this car would be the space since it is a two door/four seater. This could cause a few complications while filming with big equipment. But overall this car could be more suitable since it is more subtle then the Bentley. 

We might have to rethink the option of getting a different car, either borrowing or renting.

I have found a couple cars that would be possible to rent from a Guilford car rental. 

Research task 1-Character list:

 

Character list:

 

In the sequence there are 4 ‘main characters’ that are going to appear in it and then possibly 1 or two additional characters that we are not sure if we will include them.

 

The main character is a young girl, 

-she is the victim in this sequence

-she’s is underaged (15-17 years old), 

-she has a very innocent almost childish look, she wears ordinary clothes to show that she doesn’t have a lot of money.

-she comes from a unstable family background. 

-she is very quiet 

-moves in a very fragile way 

-she could also wear glasses

-she comes of naive and easily manipulated 

 

 

The next character is a friend of the victim

-she is also and under aged girl (16-17)

-she knows what is going on

-she’s already been exposed to the aspects of abuse

-also has been in contact with the abuser and gets payed to bring him other girls

-she has a role of a chaperone 

-her task is to deliver the victim to the abuser 

-she has nice, more revealing clothes on and abuses the alcohol and drugs 

-she manipulates the victim into going to the abuser by her own free will

-it is obvious that she is a part of the ‘organization’ and knows what she’s doing

-She is in it for the money 

-she comes of careless without any remorse or empathy towards the victim 

 

The abuser is another vital role in this sequence 

-he is an good looking middle aged man

-possibly in his late 40s/50s

-he has an elegant but dark presence 

-he shows no compaction, empathy or remorse

-he doesn’t feel that what he’s doing is wrong

-he’s a psychopathic manipulator

-he abuses his power, money and supremacy to get what he wants 

-he is a paedophile who prays and sexually abuses young and underaged girls

-he comes of arrogant, ignorant but also charming 

-what is happening in this sequence is an everyday situation to him, and he treats it like it’s not unusual. 

 

The driver is a side roll, but still important:

-He is going to wear a nice suit and sunglasses 

-his age could be from late 30s to late 50s

-his role is to safely bring the girls from one location to the abusers house. 

-he has a natural presents almost a bit mysterious and very distant. 

-it’s not obvious on what his thoughts are about the situation. 

-he is an employee of the abuser 

 

Additional character: 

Gardener 

-he is the least important in this sequence

-we haven’t decided if we are even going to include him

-he is a middle aged man 

-he is wearing his work clothes 

-he has his work shoes on 

-he would be using a pair of hedge cutting scissors

-he seems to know why those two girls have arrived 

-he stays silent the houl time  

 

we have already started to think about possible actors for these roles. 

online meeting

We have more or less established the main elements and now we are just adjusting the details and breaking down sections into separate shots. 

These are the main sections we are breaking down at the moments:

 

-Chaperone/friend walks in-girls looks out the window and see car arrive 

-Driver opens the door and girls get inside the car 

-Shot inside the car 

-Girl fiddling with a family ring (sentimental) - Chaperone/friend is on her phone  

-Big gate opens 

-car drives up to the house on the driveway line (camera is positioned on the road) 

-driver opens the car’s door- girls get out  

-shot of a gardener cutting hedges + looking over to the girls 

-girl looking around/admiring the house  

-driver opens the front door to the house 

- Chaperone/friend walks girl to the door/ looked in arms (friendly way) 

- driver points towards a room inside/ girl walks alone towards the room 

-‘Jeffrey Epstein character’s standing by the window looking out (we can’t see his face) he has a sheet on over the bottom half of his body. 

-he turns to the girl ( still can’t see his face ) 

-we see the regret in her facial expression  

 

So far we have broken down 3 points into detail:

 

1.    Chaperone/friend walks in-girls looks out the window and see car arrive 

-plain shot of the victim, zoom in/over the shoulder shot; 4-5 seconds

-girl/chaperone walks in the door; we can still see the victim in the shot and the chaperone is at the back of the shot,2-3 seconds

-victim looks outside the window to see a car; we see her head in the shot and the car is in perfect exposure and is the main focus of this shot, it’s a kind of POV shot from the girls POV; 2-3 sec

 

2.    Driver opens the door and girls get inside the car 

-victim walks out the house; POV shot from the car/driver; 5-6 seconds

-girl/chaperone locks the front door; wide shot; 2-3 seconds

-close up of the lock ; close up; max 2 sec

-camera towards car/girls get inside the car; wider shot; 3-4 seconds 

-camera follows the door shut; 1-2 seconds

-close up on door lock; 1-2 seconds

 

3.    Shot inside the car 

- girl/victim looks out the window/car starts to drive; 3-4 seconds

-wider shot of the victim looking down on her ring, 2-3 seconds

-close up on her fiddling with it; 2 seconds

-victim turns to chaperone/friend- awkward smile; 2-3 seconds

 

Also as well as focusing on taking these parts apart, we are also starting our research tasks.

 

 

Meeting updates

Today we talked to Adam and Luke about the story board we created. It was a first draft storyboard that I did. We decided that I would create the first one since my artistic skills aren’t as amazing as Pandora’s and Amy’s. We had very good feedback on it and got told to just make it a bit more formal. But that it’s a very good start and that we just need to go forward with the idea. Adam and Luke told us to ‘to take apart’ the story board and workout what shots and angles we’d use. Our teachers also suggested that there is no need to show that the victim was forced into anything. That we should per portray it as if she was doing it all willingly. Also that the gardener/worker character was a bit unnecessary and could be easily takes out completely. Adam also said to make it obvious to the viewers that the girls who’s the victim feels very uncomfortable and is underaged. the idea of drug abuse was also brought up. 

 

Luke suggested we cut out the beginning of the sequence when the girl gets picked up outside her house and start straight to in the car instead. We have to work on how to make the carried more interesting to the audience. Alcohol and drug abuse could be one of the solutions. 

We have to carefully manage the time frame of the howl sequence which is approximately two minutes. 

what is storyboarding?

Storyboarding is a technique that is used to pre-plan the shots and added details for the shot and also manage the time better when it comes to actually shooting the shots. This technique of storyboarding is a very crucial step in the planning and should be takes seriously and creators should take their time and go into as much detail as possible. 

Almost every single film production company uses the storyboard technique. It can be approach in different ways. It can be hand drawn and written, or a combination of a digital template and drawing. Or animations made on a compute software. Dialogue can be also included in storyboards if necessary. 

example of a storyboard template:

example of a storyboard: