Planning out what the storyline will be- planning

When making our script I wanted to take inspiration from a great film called Knives out. The way that this opening is formatted is perfect for the genre that we chose (murder-mystery).

OPENING SCENE | KNIVES OUT

In this scene we see that in murder-mystery films especially ones filmed at a house we need to give the audience visual cues on who the person was and their behavior. From this scene alone with the cup, we can tell that the victim was most likely a strict person as the writing on his mug suggested that.

How I want our film to be set up

Setting and Props

Until the Victorian style house seen in Knives Out, we wanted to give a more modern suburban vibe to our movie. So, we are going to get introduced to a house party laying out visual cues like the "red solo cups" as seen in many movies as well as board games laying out. For the board game we are mainly going to focus heavily on the clue board game giving subtle hints that something isn't right and indicate that they are dead. But we are going to hint at this because as they call out the victim's name, they are going to be met with silence adding onto the tension of the scene.

Audio

In the murder mystery genre, we get to hear lots of string instruments. So, for our movie I wanted to do a buildup. At first you can only slightly hear the sound of the string instrument but as they get closer to finding the body it gets louder, then at the loudest section will be when they find the body. Before it cuts to the title screen ending the non-diegetic string instrument sound.

Clothing and Makeup

Unlike the more rich vibe characters in some murder-mystery films give we wanted a more modern calm vibe. So, the characters will be dressed in casual clothing with minimal makeup. The only person that could possibly be wearing less casual makeup is the host of the party.

Plotline

At the beginning of the party most of the guest are leaving out when all of a sudden, the best friend of the victim comes in. They ask the host if they had seen them as it was time to go home. The host is mildly annoyed but still insists on helping look. They search around the house when they see a door open that should not be open and get a little creeped out. They walk in only to see the person dead. They scream as it cuts to the title card.

OR

After everyone leaves the host is alone cleaning up the mess. They look a bit tired as they sluggishly clean inside of the house. Where we see the board game giving us a clue into who died. We follow this character as they walk around the house cleaning (giving an idea of setting). When we follow them into the backyard where the outside bathroom light is on. They think that this is odd because no one had been in the pool so there was no need to go in there. Feeling a bit irritated thinking that it was just the friends being annoying as they always pull these types of silly "pranks" they walk in. Only to see the victim dead and then cut to the title scene after we see their reaction to the body.

After careful consideration with my group, we have decided to go with the second option.