In Scene 2, the audience is greeted by a long, full-body shot that will show the subject as they enter the frame and walk over to take a seat at their dining table. This shot will allow us to ensure that the audience sees the clothes that our subject is wearing, namely a black short-sleeved t-shirt and open-toed sandals of the same color, and grey sweatpants, paired with long, white socks. This outfit was chosen specifically because it not only falls in line with the typical attire that a teenager might wear in the comfort of their home, but it also provides a direct contrast to the suspenseful tension we've already begun to create with the continuation of the creepy non-diegetic music, which will persist throughout the entirety of our opening, as well as the premise of the film that will be revealed as said opening progresses. All throughout the entirety of Scene 2, the diegetic sound of the television playing in the background is heard, which focuses on a news report detailing the scorching hot temperatures outside, quietening down as the two subjects, the main character and his mother speak in conversation, and cutting off at the end of the scene. The television is shown playing in the background; however, it will be blurred out to hint to the audience that we are obscuring information from them and that not everything is as it seems. During this shot, the name of our production company will be shown to the right of the subject once their entire body has entered the frame. Along with the presence of the title on-screen will also be a number of fruit cans scattered about, a nod to the fact the world in which our primary subject resides in is one nearly devoid of fresh food, as is further asserted in the next shot where a cut occurs to a medium close-up shot. Said shot will show the subject seated at the dining table working on their laptop which is placed to their left and focusing in on the items found on the table, which include an odd-looking, discolored apple on a plate found to the left of the subject, and a bowl of miscellaneous items which is seen to their right. The apple serves as another clue that something is not quite in the subject's current society, whilst the bowl upholds the same point, being that you would typically expect it to be filled with fresh fruits as opposed to knickknacks and junk. Regarding the framing of the shot, we decided to go with a medium close-up being that it would allow us to still incorporate and draw attention to the aforementioned props and because it would also give the audience the chance to take note of the subject's emotions, perhaps even empathize and relate to him as most people have been, are, or will be a teenager trying to navigate their emotions and life in an unforgiving world at one point or another.
Once the audience has had time to take all of the props, background audio, and general set in, the subject will pick up the apple from its plate and exclaim with disgust how repulsive it was. The subject would then pose his mother a question regarding where she obtained the apple from, to which he would receive no reply. What to do after he asked the question was something my groupmates and I mulled over for quite a while. If his mother was to answer the question, then we could provide more context to the situation the subject's family and the rest of the world were in. If she didn't answer the question, then we could this scene as a parallel to compare the subject's frustration with his mother's lack of response to the fear he experiences later on in the opening, when the only thing he wants is to hear his mother's voice and find some sort of familiarity and comfort in what he had assumed to be "home." We ultimately decided that in order to continue to follow the conventions of science fiction thrillers, it would be in our best interest to go with the latter option, as it would give us the opportunity to shroud some details in secrecy, as to pique our audience's interest, and lead our viewers along by forcing them to follow the trail of breadcrumbs we laid out for them, leaving them with just enough information to speculate as we create a cohesive plot and storyline. At this point in time, the subject would then throw out their apple, aiming into a nearby garbage can.
An action-match-cut will then be used along with a point-of-view shot to capture the moment that the apple "hits" the camera, the force of the impact representing the pent up anger built up inside the angsty teen because of the changes he is experiencing internally and the unwelcoming nature of the world around him. Another clue that gives the audience more background information about the status quo of the world in which the subject resides is the blurred out, but, still readable, electrical bill seen in the trashcan before the apple reaches the camera, which will read that his family has reached their kilowatt limit and will contain an extremely high, unreasonable price that many today could never dream of affording, even someone with such a large house like our subject. This then serves as a clear indication of how difficult things are for him and his family despite their presumedly well-off status.
As soon as the camera cuts from that shot, a shot-reverse-shot with medium framing will be used to simulate the natural flow of conversation, which is not one-sided this time as his mother actually answers. Therefore, there is no need to focus solely on our subject and his reactions, so the camera can switch between showing the subject behind their laptop with medium close-up shot framing and the empty kitchen with an over-the-shoulder shot behind the subject pointing in the direction of his mother. The absence of his mother from the room and the audible distance heard in her voice is meant to signify the detachment the subject has from his mother, indicating that they may not have the best relationship, perhaps due to the lack of respect, he has as a growing teenager, as is illustrated during their conversation with his inconsiderate remarks, or maybe because she is under the strain of being tight on cash and struggling to pay the bills to support her son and husband (whose existence is revealed in a later scene), who also seems to be working to try to make enough money to keep his family together and afloat, to no avail it seems. This leaves the audience to wonder if the subject's mother and he will ever reconcile, and as will be seen throughout the progression of the opening, the subject will lose his attitude, becoming forlorn when his mother is no longer by his side. Now, as the camera switches back and forth between the two shots, the actors' names will be revealed depending on the direction the camera is facing and essentially who is talking. Once the conversation has ended, the camera will settle for a moment on a close-up medium shot facing the subject from behind their laptop. A cut will then be used to show a stationary over-the-shoulder shot in which the title of the film is shown on the subject's laptop screen as they shut it, grab it, leave the dining table area, and consequently, exit the frame. The entirety of Scene 2 will last for thirty seconds.
In Scene 7, the same medium-long shot will be used to show the subject as they emerge from their closet holding the very same red jacket that they went in search of. At this point in time, the name of the person who devised the premise of our film will be shown in the upper, right-hand area of the screen. The camera will then cut to a point-of-view shot as the subject walks towards the center of their room and stops quite abruptly, almost as if he had been taken aback by what he had seen. Once the camera is positioned in the center of the room, it will begin to pan and tilt around the room using the same point-of-view shot, so that the audience themselves can begin to look around and attempt to determine what it is that shocked the subject so much that they felt the need to stop in their bedroom, a room that they couldn't have cared about it, given its originally messy state and how quickly they had navigated through it to reach their closet. The camera will not pan or tilt too quickly, giving enough time for the viewers to take in their surroundings and notice that the subject's rooms is now clean and organized, their laptop and guitar are missing, they now have white bedsheets, and have a different poster up in their room. The camera will then cut a medium-long shot in which he will per outside of his bedroom door and yell out to his mother, likely hoping to receive an explanation when she replies. This never happens, of course, as when "his mother" does respond, she calls him by an entirely different name, something that surprises both the audience and the subject as they both begin to wonder what's happening. To confirm his suspicions that things aren't as they seem, the subject then leans out of their door and finds that the name on their door has also changed to the very same one that had been called out moments ago. The subject non-verbally expresses his confusion, mouthing, "What is going on(?)," (a change from what we originally had in our script to save time).
The camera then cuts back to the subject inside of their room, adopting a medium shot framing this time, as he attempts to consider a possible explanation for his situation and ends up reasoning that heading back into their closet is their best bet. At that point, a tracking shot is used, which illustrates the connection between the audience and the subject, with the viewers simply being the spectators who follow along, trailing behind him and catching on to things once he already has, being either out of step, in front of, or completely behind the subject in their awareness of certain things at times. The tracking shot will stop right outside of the closet door, which the subject will shut as he walks all the way to the back. The name of the film's writer will appear on-screen in front of the closet door. Now, the closed closet door and the obscurity of the subject inside of the closet the last time it was shown (due to its interior being dark), despite it being slightly ajar, leaves the viewers wondering if there may be something that the subject does unintentionally within the closet that caused whatever is going on to happen, or if it all has to do with the number of times the lights flicker, which is three times in this case. As the lights flicker, the non-diegetic music (which has been playing in the background the entire opening and will continue to do so) will quicken. The same shot will be used as the subject exits his closet, still holding onto his red jacket to capture the uncertainty on his face.
A cut will then transition the audience to another point-of-view shot that will show the room in its original state, with the subject's laptop also lying on their bed. After what's just happened, it is unsurprising that both the audience and the subject will be cautious of accepting this as their true reality, but that non-diegetic music will soften in an attempt to convince the audience that everything is fine and there is nothing to worry about. However, since the subject can't hear the music (it is non-diegetic after all), he must resort to his own methods of quelling his fears and worries. The camera cuts to a medium shot of the subject still in their bedroom as they call out to their mother and receive no response. At first, the viewers may come to believe that the mother is simply choosing not the answer the same way she had earlier, so while there is no immediate cause for alarm, both the subject and the audience may still feel a bit perturbed, which is the exact feeling that we're going for. The aforementioned medium shot becomes paired with a tracking shot that films the subject from the front as he walks towards his bedroom door. This scene will unfold over the course of forty-one seconds.
