Our full idea (finally)

 Hey everyone!! last class, we discussed the full vision for our film opening and the broader story it introduces. 

Our opening focuses on the first 2 minutes of the film, introducing our protagonist Halley (named after Halley's comet). She's going to be the central character throughout the film, with the whole story revolving around her personal journey.

As described before, Halley is characterized as someone who appears not to care about anything around her. She's supposed to be shown as kind of unapproachable and in her own world. This stems from her underlying depression and anxiety, which has led her to build this apathetic persona as a defense mechanism. While we won't explicitly reveal all this in the opening, her behavior will definitely imply it.

The opening, as shown earlier, takes place at a gas station, where Halley buying some food and going about what seems like a normal day's errands But as she's shopping, chaos gradually descends among other shoppers, people begins to run out in a panic but she doesn't seem to notice or care, she continues to shop with her headphones on.

When she finally walks outside, she sees a planet concerningly close to Earth. Instead of panicking, she just looks at it with mild curiosity. It's only when she gets to her car and turns on the radio that she learns the truth: this planet is on a collision course with Earth, and humanity has only about five months left. Though she briefly shows concern, she simply turns off the radio and continues with her journey, leaving us wondering what will happen next.

Inspo shot from Melancholia (2011)

The title we chose for our film is "Ataraxia,"(we argued about it sounding like anorexia for like 10 minutes straight) which perfectly captures both the cosmic theme and the emotional journey. It' means a state of complete peace and freedom from emotional disturbance, essentially the opposite of where Halley begins. We wanted something that sounded cool and sci-fi while also hinting at the emotional arc of our protagonist.

As for the rest of the film, Halley meets someone who contrasts completely with her, an opposite who helps her recognize the importance of life and work through her issues. Their journey together would continue until the planet eventually hits Earth, but by then, Halley would have found peace and happiness, having overcome her struggles with this person's help.

one of my group members found something eerily resembling our opening

We're aiming for a wholesome, drama focused story where the sci-fi elements serve more as a metaphor and catalyst for character growth. The planet becomes a deadline that forces Halley to confront her feelings and learn to appreciate life before it's too late. It's less about the apocalypse and more about finding beauty and acceptance even in inevitable bad moments.

That's the overall vision for our film! The next post will probably be either the storyboard if it's finished by then or something about music (currently panicking about that). see ya later :)