Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Research

Our two minute film opening has a comedy drama genre, which is a serious issue presented in a light hearted way. The serious issue we have chosen to portray is OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and we felt it necessary to fully research the issue to get a better understanding, and in order to convey our protagonist correctly. 


Through the research, we found that sufferers can find themselves helpless to 'irrational urges'. These could be numerous things such as obsessive cleaning or continually checking the doors and windows are locked. This is defined as 'anxiety disorder' and adapting this idea to our character, she would show distress over the smallest of things.


There are 5 main types of OCD sufferers. These are;
WASHERS - those who wash compulsively.
CHECKERS - those who check things (in our case a picture frame not straight) over and over.
DOUBTERS - those who doubt that something bad will happen.
COUNTERS - those who count things or line things up in order
HOARDERS - those who hoard things away for fear of something bad happening.


After further research, we have decided that our protagonist will display symptoms of a checker, a counter and potentially a washer.

Filming Half Term

Over half term, Jess and I rented out a school camera to begin filming our two minute film opening. We planned to get all of the filming done in two days, the wednesday and the thursday. We hoped that we would film all of the footage needed so then our next focus would be the editing.

Day One - Wednesday 15th February

This day was spent filiming the opening sequence to our two minute film opening. Following the story board our first shot was the calander scene. Jess found a calander we could used however we had alot of trouble trying to stick the calander to the wardrobe. After we had managed that, we filmed the same shot at various angles and hopefully we have some good footage to use.

The main scene we spent alot of time on today was the bathroom scene. We had to position the camera in such a way to be able to film through a mirror without actually seeing the camera and we managed to do this succesfully. Our next obstacle to overcome was how we were going to have our character appear one screen one minute, go of camera and come back onto the screen wearing a shower cap. We did this by pausing the camera after filming the first shot, and when our character was back in position, we carried on filming. Overall today was a successful day for filming.

Day Two - Thursday 16th February

Today was spent filming the remainder of our footage, and some of the more important scenes. One of more successful shots was that of the fruit. The naturalistic lighting spilled through onto the scenes through carefully angled shots which made them look very effective. We filmed a variety of different angles to make sure we had useable footage. As we wanted an over the shoulder shot, we had to be very creative in getting the camera position correct so had to attach the camera to a broom which then rested over the shoulder of our character.

We spent a little time making sure we had the stair scene sorted, however we had trouble with the steadiness of the camera and the lighting so this scene may have to be reshot. We then recorded the talk at the breakfast table and after a few outtakes, we managed to successfully get our shot. The one scene we was dissappointed with was when the OCD girl had to burst out crying. The angle felt slighting unstable and the lighting wasnt great so we will have to think about re-shooting these scenes.

Location

Previous experience with our preliminary task showed us that filming outside wasnt neccessarily a good idea. With the ever changing weather, issues with sound and lighting we decided to choose a different route. Our two minute film opening will all be shot indoors, in Jess' house as here we will be able to control the lighting and sound. We will use a variety of rooms including the bedroom, the bathroom, the stairway, the kitchen and the dining room. Our two minute film opening will be predominately shot in the kitchen and dining room as here is where the most important aspects of the opening will show.

Casting

Casting

For our two minute film opening, we need to cast four people to portray our characters. The characters include, a mom and dad, a younger 'rebel' sister Ivy and most importantly of all the, the OCD protagonist daughter Lily.We had to choose carefully on who would play which role as they needed to be able to get across the comedy element of the genre, but also the drama aspect. They needed to be able to portray the role of the characters, especially Lily, so the audience felt that they were genuine and realistic.

Louise Weaver and Ruby Harris are both currently studying drama at A Level so we thought they would be perfectly suited for the roles. Advised by Louise, we cast Joe and Paige as the mom and dad.

Lily (OCD daughter)- Louise Weaver

 

  Ivy ('Rebel' sister) - Ruby Harris

Mom - Paige Woods

Dad - Joe Poole

Shooting Script

SHOOTING SCRIPT
5	Camera Angle	Description	Time
1	Close Up	A close up shot of a calendar, where the character will then cross off a date.	5 seconds
2	Over the Shoulder	The camera will already be in position and Lily will walk into the bathroom and then fuss around in the mirror. We will be able to see her reflection in the mirror.  The character will then, bend down to wash her face while exiting off the screen. She will then come back onto screen wearing a shower cap.	5 seconds
3	Close Up	Lily will open the wardrobe door, open one of the draws, select an item of clothing and then close the wardrobe.	3 seconds
4	Mid Shot	The camera will focus on a picture on the wall, which is slanted, the camera will then zoom out and Lily will walk down the stairs. She will walk past the picture, notice it is slanted and put it back in position. She will then walk down the stairs and off camera.	7 seconds
5	Over the Shoulder	The camera will then track Ivy, the sister as she walks down the stairs and knocks the picture.	4 seconds
6	Mid Shot	The camera will then be at the bottom of the stairs in a mid shot, focuses on Ivy the sister as she walks off screen.	3 seconds.
7	Aerial Shot	This shot will focus on mainly Lily’s hands as she prepares some fruit. She will cut two apples.	7 seconds
8	Aerial Shot	This shot she will quickly clean over the board emphasising her OCD. She will then take out 3 strawberries and place them on the board.	4 seconds
9	Close Up	A close up shot over Lily slicing through a strawberry and cutting it up.	3 seconds
10	Aerial Shot	The last aerial shot of the girl picking up the slices of chopped apple and putting them in a bowl, and then wiping the board clean.	5 seconds
11	Over the Shoulder	This will be an adventurous shot. The camera will be placed behind the family sitting at the table. You will see the backs of the mom and dad, and through the middle of them Lily sitting across the table. You will then see Ivy sitting on the right side of the table. The parents will discuss their divorce.	12 seconds.
12	Close Up	The camera will focus on Ivy, looking worryingly to her sister.	5 seconds.
13	Extreme Close Up	An extreme close up of Lily’s face as she breaks out in loud, uncontrollable sobs.	12 seconds
14	Long Shot	A long shot focusing on the girl sitting at the far end of the table. She will still be crying. The camera will then pan upwards onto a blank wall as the titles appear on screen.	7 seconds.
15	Close Up	A close up shot of the blank wall. Using editing we will make the name of the film appear on screen.	5 seconds.

- We realise that our time amounts to only 1 minute 20 seconds, however we are going to add a few freeze frames in to allow our titles to appear on screen make up the time. Our film company name will also be adding onto the beginning of the opening. 

Story Board

Script