CREATION OF MY OPENING DREAM SCENE (including progression)

According to the screenwriting expert Syd Field, the opening image in a screenplay is vital and it should summarise the whole film and its key themes. Therefore, I tried to focus on representing Kate's unconscious fears and worries through the nightmare, which will be the key ideas of the film.

OPENING NIGHTMARE SEQUENCE: 

I received feedback from a friend over the first scene of my script, suggesting that I should enhance the nightmarish quality. Upon re-reading the opening nightmare sequence of my script, I also felt that I could create an even more dramatic and horrifying atmosphere that would immediately introduce the audience to the psychological nature of the film. I re-visited the works by Salvador Dalí and Freudian theories to help me dramatise my first scene. 

FIRST SCENE DESCRIPTION INITIALLY: 

At a circus, a nude woman crouches on stage, trying to cover herself, by folding her hands across her chest. There are bright lights cast upon her. Watching her are monstrous creatures, who loudly chat and laugh among themselves. 

In order to convey, a more horrific atmosphere, I looked at a key features of the traditional circus and transformed them into terrifying features. 

CHANGED TO: 

At a circus, a nude woman crouches on stage, trying to cover herself, by folding her hands across her chest. It is revealed that she is trapped within a cage. Her body remains still but her eyes begin to wonder round. She sees the monstrous creatures forming the audiences, who laugh at her. There is a particular focus on a monstrous woman. There are monstrous creatures on trapezes, high in the air, who swing back and forth and throw juggling balls at her. There is a fire breather, breathing fire in very close proximity to the cage. There is a monkey crashing symbols. Eerie and high-pitched circus music fills the air. The colour red is predominant in this scene, reflecting how the woman feels threatened within her surroundings. 

**NOTE- I marked the new aspects in green. 

JUSTIFICATION OF CHANGE: 

I am much more satisfied with my opening sequence now, as it identifies more closely with the psychological genre and Freud's theory. It more effectively visually and audibly reflects the horror within Kate's mind that I wished to display. Psychoanalysis can be used as a tool for interpreting this scene.

·         Monstrous creatures on trapezes: symbolic of how she feels intimidated by people in real life. It draws focus on how she feels insignificant in her life.

·         Juggling balls are thrown at her: Symbolic of how she doesn’t feel integrated within society; the way in which she feels like the world is against her.

·         Monstrous audiences: symbolic of her fear of being judged

·         Special focus on woman: her intense fear and worry of judgement from her mother, which becomes an apparent theme in the film.

·         The spotlight: this is associated with the prevalent term in psychoanalytical theory:  ‘spotlight effect’. In the nude woman’s mind she becomes the central focus for other people, leading to her anxiety, hence the reason why she looks embarrassed and humiliated. The fact that she is nude also signifies how she feels vulnerable to judgement.

·         She tries to cover herself- she is repressed; this could relate to sexual repression or even more so how she suppresses her own voice.

·         The fact that she is in a cage- further reinforces her psychological distance from the world

·         Fire-breather- She is threatened by some people's presence.


    Kate's anxieties, fears and worries are re-occurring themes throughout the screenplay. Therefore, I think I have been successful in listening to the advise of Syd field, by introducing the main concepts of my film in the introduction. 


r