Update: Rouge de rage

Before I start with the new version of each post that is essential for my film opening, I have a few words to say. I know that I have changed my mind already two times about my film opening, but these new ideas all take part in the creation process, which for me is beautiful.

I am a person who takes joy in reading, which turned me into a creative person. Because of this, while creating my story, more and more ideas appeared in my mind. Unfortunately, when you are a creative person but you have a limit in what you can create, you have to choose between so many beautiful ideas, which is what I had to do.

As I wrote in my blog, my first idea was fantasy. Then, I had to change my location and some of my script because I didn't like it, so I did. But recently, a new idea appeared in my mind, an idea that I couldn't get out of my head. So... I decided to change everything: the script, the location, the moodboard, the plot. Even though most viewers chose horror as being their favorite genre, I decided to go with something else. Thriller.

This new idea is an idea that I fell in love with. I love everything about it and I hope you'll enjoy it too.

Moodboard:

Every film opening starts with an idea, waiting to take shape. I'm trying to create a world full of secrets and mystery. So, to bring my ideas to life, I decided to create a moodboard that shows the feeling I want to bring into my world.

This moodboard is the window to the world I'm creating. It will help me make the right atmosphere.

So with this being said, let's step into the vision I have.

These pictures have an unique beauty that just seems to lure me into the world of mystery and darkness I want to create.

Pilot, Story and Narative:

Initially, I explored numerous directions for the plot, but considering limitations in budget, time, and resources, I set aside many of these ideas. Ultimately, I chose one of my favorite ideas which I believe is most compelling and best suited to bring to life.

This is one of my sharpest ideas yet. The image is vivid: the room is a complete mess: cracked walls, renovation tools that are covered, clothes scattered around the floor. Anastasia sits on the bed, surrounded by a newspaper, a few makeup items and a small mirror. When the floorboard creaks, she glances towards the doorway. I’m thinking about opening with a one-shot. Let the audience sit in that tension, feel like they’re in her world. The atmosphere needs to be uneasy, an eeriness that unsettles from the first frame.

Therefore, I will continue to elaborate this plot, breaking it down into more detailed ideas. This process will give me a clearer view and also provide you with a stronger understanding of the concept.

This is the final idea: The room is a complete mess: cracked walls, renovation tools that are covered, clothes scattered around the floor. Anastasia sits on the bed, surrounded by a newspaper, a few makeup items and a small mirror. When the floorboard creaks, she glances towards the doorway.

Ivan appears, a cigarette dangling from his lips, dressed in a white shirt and dress pants. Anastasia rises and walks towards him, taking the cigarette from his mouth and taking a drag. She leans close, blowing the first puff of smoke between his lips. Ivan then rubs his hands together, trying to away the last stains of blood.

She returns the cigarette back to him and disappears from the view. He then carefully moves towards the window, avoiding the stains of blood on the floor, and grabs the newspaper from the bed. He continues to smoke, amused as he looks at the page announcing the disappearance of a well-known woman in society.

Anastasia reappears, dressed in a red/black dress. She heads to the bed, applies lipstick while looking checking her reflection in a small mirror, then turns towards him.

She steps closer, and with her thumb, wipes a bloodstain remaining on his cheek. She takes him by the arm, and they leave the room, but not before she snatches a photo from the desk and pins it to the victims' board.

Choosing the title felt like composing a song. I didn’t come up with it. It came to me. I stumbled upon the name ‘Rouge de Rage’, which I believe is a compelling, evocative title that embodies female rage, and actions driven by hysteria. Anastasia is the personification of Rouge de Rage. She idealizes it, romanticizes it, embodies it as her own definition of normal. This is the precise reason why I believe that this title is the most fitting.

New Script:

Rewriting the script for this story was way easier than writing it for the first time.

When rewriting a script, more and more ideas appear in my mind, which can be good, but in this case it's not. Why? Because I have so many ideas and I can only choose one.

Even though I had so many ideas that I wanted to give life to, I had to choose only one, and I chose the one that I loved the most.

There might be slight changes while filming, because I need to adapt my ideas to what's actually possible during filming, but the story remains the same.

Now I can bring this new idea to life and I'm so excited about it.

Storyboard animation:

For this part, I initially wanted to create a beautiful and elaborate animation, but time didn't allow me that. Every single day I had to stay over 8 hours to study and work for my exams and film opening, so I decided to create something quick and simple, just to have an idea of how the shots, body language and actions will look like when I will film my creation.

Location:

Every story begins somewhere, right? For the location of my story, I chose a simple location, a room.

The room is the best choice for this story because it just suits the script and the action that is going to happen.

A room may be a simple decision, but it can say so much about a person.

I tried thinking of multiple locations, but none were actually good and none fitted the script and story as good.

Characters:

The characters of my story remain the same as in the post I did. That is the only part of the story that didn't change..

Props:

In my film opening, there are a few props that are going to be used: a newspaper, cigarettes, a lighter, and jewelry. These props are essential to my film opening since they bring sense to the scene. These props have an important role to my story.

Risks in filmmaking:

Even if I film in an room I cannot ignore the risks that come with filming in any place.

In the room, even if it's mostly safe, since I want my characters have to smoke, they have to be careful not to burn themselves or other stuff. Also, different things could fall down, or the characters could trip. Since there's also blood on the floor, the characters could slip on the floor.

No matter where I'd film this, it's extremely important to make sure that everyone is safe.

Call Sheet:

Before starting to film, I have decided to create a call sheet. Creating it will help me stay organized and follow a strict schedule, know when I want to start filming, and simply help me follow a clear schedule that might seem maybe useless now, but I will be grateful for later.