Something of a Plan?

I actually have an idea to what the intro of my film is going to be like! At last! Rejoice!  This is a really rough sketch of my story. Extra emphasis on really because my hands were not created for the purpose of drawing.

So the story begins in a room. There is a wide shot of the window with a couch that has several articles of clothing thrown on top of it. There will be high key lighting coming out from the window. As the scene progresses, it then shows a girl sitting on the floor of her closet. There will be a definite contrast in the way it was before with the lighting. Compared to earlier shots, the ones of the girl will be darker in order to create mood. Close ups of the girl reveal that she is shaking. However, the audience does not see the girl's full face since her hair will be in the way. A point of view shot show the girl's hands are also trembling with her nervously moving them. This is followed by a close up and then a shot of some of the things in the girl's room like books. Another close up, this time extreme, leads to the still shot of a poster on a wall. These seemingly random shots of the objects in the girl's room are meant to elucidate more on what this character is like. It could also serve to connect the audience to the main character since it is demonstrating her personality within the items featured.

The rest of the time remaining will exhibit what it feels like to have a panic attack. With the reliance of sound and camera shots, I'll be able to create a realistic portrayal of what it is like. I was also thinking of going a formalistic route by creating a character that would represent the girl's anxiety and depression. As for the end, I have two different scenarios that require further thinking of. One is where the end would be her continuing to have a panic attack. The other idea is to have the main character walk out of the room and look completely happy. 

The former ending to the intro would be used to show that mental illness can hide even in people who look "normal." I put the word normal in quotations because normalities are relative to each individual's perspective. However, I want to challenge the general stereotype that people with mental illnesses are sad, weird, and crazy all the time because that is simply not true. Nearly one out of five Americans, about 18.2%, suffer from a mental disorder. It's more common than people would think. The reason being that most people hide their disorders because of the stigma that comes with it. With my film, I want to break the stigma that has followed mental illnesses for a very long time.

 Bekiempis, V. (2014, March 04). Nearly 1 in 5 Americans Suffers From Mental Illness Each Year. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from http://www.newsweek.com/nearly-1-5-americans-suffer-mental-illness-each-year-230608

Hedgcoth, C. H., Jr. (2016, July 17). Hiding Behind a Secret: The Stigma of the Mentally Ill. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from https://psychcentral.com/lib/hiding-behind-a-secret-the-stigma-of-the-mentally-ill/