Outlining our opening

Our idea finally got approved! Now, we can go full-force into developing our opening and storyline. So, we're going with the idea of doing a coming-of-age movie about a deaf character. We want to create a "typical" coming-of-age opening, but provide tiny details about the character's eventual conflicts (external and internal) they will face. Our story will be about a deaf character who's been mainstreamed (deaf term for being put into "regular" schools instead of deaf schools). They are isolated/protected by their family, particularly mother, but they befriend another deaf student who transfers from out of town. The conflict will be the main character becoming enlightened of a life outside of restraint (that the secondary character showed them), and how their family reacts. We want their relationship to be platonic so the focus can be o the main character's development and acceptance of their differences in society. In the opening, we plan to develop the main character and their personality by showing their room. We also will include music that pertains to their personality to further develop the character. We will introduce their sibling (who is "perfect") as being opposite the MC in terms of personality. Then, we plan to include minimal "dialogue" (signing), to let the audience know the character is deaf. Here is a basic outline of our opening:

1. Starts with black screen (a ___ production)

1. Music beings playing while screen is still black

2. Sibling getting ready. Show parts of the room, typical coming of age (like the example we watched).

3. Cuts to MC getting ready and sound/music is muffled (indicate loss of hearing). Sibling comes behind MC and talks to them but MC does not turn around. 

1. Close-up shots of MC's room: posters, record player, pictures with family, decorations

2. Show extreme close-up of flier (football game that night/any public outing for school)

4. Sibling comes into MC's rooms and turns off record player, music also stops playing (synchronous sound)

5. Sibling tells MC they're going to leave for school (??)

6. MC goes into kitchen with flier and shows it to mom. Mom refutes the idea, tells them to be home straight after school (show how protective mother is).

7. MC is upset but hides it; walks out and slams the front door. Title shows up when they are walking/getting into the car.

8. Sibling and MC in the car (??) Music is still playing (asynchronous).

9. Getting out at school…maybe or we end before that

This is just a basic outline of our opening. We have a broad idea of how we want it to go, now we will being storyboarding and tweaking our outline as we go. As seen in the question marks, there are certain parts where we don't know which direction to go in. Signing is a big part of this opening and story, BUT we don't want to bore our audience by constantly having to read subtitles. To help this problem, my partner and I will begin the casting process soon, so we can have an actor that will be emotive and exciting to watch when signing. Casting is essential to this opening and we will detail this process and decision later. But because our casting is so limited and specific, we will have to tweak our story after casting; so we cannot determine whether or not the main character is male or female until after we cast, same for their sibling. 

For now, here are some things that we definitely know we are doing for the opening:

• We will include the credits as we show close-up shots of the character's room(s) and content of their room(s).
• Our title will appear at a wide shot of the main character walking to the car.
• The appearance of the title will be synced with the music we choose.
• The music will cut/be muffled in a certain part