Planning Shots, Part 1

PRE SHOTLIST:
Shooting is getting close, and I have to start really finalizing everything. I'm 100% finished with my script, so now I have to work on planning out the shots. Cinematography isn't exactly my forte, so this is a step to my project I'm not particularly looking forward to. However, I am looking forward to overcoming the obstacle and hopefully getting my film to look nice in a way that makes all of my shots contribute to the meaning of my piece.

POST SHOTLIST:
I first had to think about how I wanted to frame the shots leading up to my two characters heading into the elevator. The very first thing I knew I wanted - before I even started writing my script - is for the very first line of the film to be "I'm gonna start taking scuba diving lessons." - and for that line to be said while the screen is still black. The next line - "What?" - would be when the picture appears, and the shot will be a long shot of the two characters walking down the school hallway towards the elevator.

This is for two reasons: firstly, it also functions as an establishing shot, showing the setting of the schools and generally depicting the two characters; secondly, it also works to set up the pattern of shots I decided the walk to the elevator would be like.

In each shot, the two characters will walk towards the camera, and eventually pass it, leaving the last frame of each shot the back of the characters. The reason for this is that it visually describes how the audience should be feeling: as though they're constantly behind the chain of events/dialogue of the introduction. This is because my film is supposed to confuse viewers - hopefully not so much to the point where they don't understand the commentary, but enough to make them cock their head, knit their eyebrows and go "... Wait what?"

The dialogue is intentionally obfuscatory and confusion-inducing; or, in essence, absurd. This is because it's a primary element of my genre, satire. Absurdity is a necessary feature of any satirical story because it lets the viewer know that the content isn't literal - it's supposed to be funny. We're mocking the vices and folly of humanity and society, hilarious!