Poster

 Me and my group decided that a prop we were going to use was a big poster saying ‘last day of school’. The poster is going to be hung up on the wall when Maddie is passing through the halls. We wanted to put the poster for two main reasons:  

Firstly, we wanted to make some kind of contrast between the school spirit of summer starting, and Maddie's lack of emotion and excitement for Summer. Maddie is going to walk, kind of depressed and upset through the halls with her backpack and her dark outfit, and she passes by the sign, but she doesn't give it any attention. We want to emphasize that Maddie is dreading for school to be over because school being over means she has free time, but she doesn't have any hobbies, sports, or social life to have fun in summer. 

Second of all, the poster is there to help the viewers know the setting and time of when the movie takes place. The movie taking place in summer is a very important factor to the plot because it helps highlight to the audience how lonely Maddie is. 

Overall, although this poster is going to be shown for a few mere seconds, it’s a very important part for the plot and helps the audience understand the movie better. 

First Day of Filming

 Our first day of filming was in school. It was in the last 20 minutes of class and me and my group decided that we wanted to quickly get over the scenes that took place in the hallways. So, we set up Fatima’s camera, but it had very low battery, so it was kind of slow. We were out in the hallway for 5 minutes trying to get the right angles until in the middle of a scene, the camera died.  

Then we were pondering what we should do next, we couldn’t charge the camera because Fatima hadn’t brought the charger, and we didn’t want to use the phone because we wanted to have the best quality possible and we also wanted to keep the quality the same and not downgrading it as we continued to film another day. 

Personally, a problem I think we should fix for the day we film the rest of the movie, is that we should get a camera stabilizer or a tripod because since I was the one filming, I felt my hands getting shaky at one point. However, when we looked at the clips before the camera shut down, they looked good, but I’m still a little bit hesitant. 

Overall, I think we did pretty good for our first day but there’s definitely room for improvement. 

Our Script

To help filming run smoother, me and my group have decided to write a script so there's something to follow.

FADE IN: 

EXT. HIGH SCHOOL - DAY 

(CREDITS FADE IN AND OUT ACROSS SCREEN) 

 

The final bell rings. Students leave and go out of the school, laughing, hugging, making summer plans. The energy is high—except for one girl, Maddie (16). 

She walks alone, her movements slow, her face expressionless. An EXTREME LONG SHOT shows her making her way to the parking lot. Friends huddle together, parents pick up students, but Maddie is alone. She gets into the backseat of a car, closes the door. Two GIRLS are sitting in the front, talking excitedly. The car pulls away.  

The car starts. NON-DIEGETIC SAD MUSIC begins to play as the car pulls out of the school parking lot. The opening credits appear while the camera shows shots of the route home, passing through streets and endless rows of houses. 

 

INT. MADDIE'S HOUSE - AFTERNOON 

The front door opens. Maddie goes in. The house is dark and silent. She closes the door behind her. 

MADDIE

Mom! I’m home! 

Silence.  

She opens the fridge, the light harsh against the dimly lit kitchen. She grabs something to eat—nothing special, just a quick snack. She walks to the counter, opens her phone, and scrolls through messages. She stops at a text thread with her friend. 

She types "Hey, do you want to hang out?" but pauses before hitting send. Instead, she opens Instagram. Her friend’s latest story plays. The friend is laughing with other people, a group of happy faces. Maddie’s gaze falls, her fingers hover over her phone. After a long moment, she deletes the message in the text box. 

 

INT. MADDIE’S BEDROOM - AFTERNOON 

She throws her backpack on the floor, and lays on her bed. She goes on her phone and scrolls through social media. Videos and pictures of her classmates pop up, their all laughing, hanging out, enjoying life. 

Her expression falls. She sets the phone down, turns away from the screen, and pulls her curtains shut. 

ON SCREEN: The title "Dear Diary;" slowly appears and fades away. 

Maddie turns on her nightlight. The glow is soft, barely cutting through the darkness. She reaches for a notebook labeled "DIARY" and a pen. 

She hesitates, lying back, rolling onto her side, then back onto her back. Something is weighing on her. She finally starts writing. 

As she writes, a distant sound interrupts—maybe the garage door opening. She freezes for a moment, then continues. 

FOOTSTEPS. Growing louder. Her bedroom door swings open. 

MOM (40s) walks in, flipping on the overhead light. She pulls open the curtains. 

MOM

Come on, Maddie. Let’s go. We’re going out. 

MADDIE

(softly)

I don’t want to. 

Mom sighs, walks over, and tugs at her arm. 

MOM

Enough. Let’s go. 

As Maddie stands up, the diary slips from her lap and falls open on the floor. 

CLOSE-UP: The page reads, "Dear Diary, I’m not even sure if I want to live this summer." 

Mom doesn’t see it. She guides Maddie out of the room. 

 

 

Maddie's portraits

Me and my group’s credit sequence is going to feature elements of Maddie’s ‘past’ life in her house. Old pictures with her best friend when she was happy, a picture of her mom and dad with her on vacation, and more pictures like that. We wanted to portray to the audience that Maddie wasn’t always depressed and alone, she used to be a very different child and being a teenager has changed her.  

One picture we, for sure, want to include is a picture of her and her best friend when they were younger. Her best friend had moved away to another country and had left Maddie all alone. So, I wanted to add a framed picture of just them two smiling and enjoying the moment, showing Maddie’s once happy self. 

Another picture we 100% want to also show is a picture of Maddie with her parents when she was young. It doesn’t really matter where, it’s mostly to show the family dynamic and demonstrate to the viewers how Maddie’s family lives. I want Maddie to be young to emphasize how they’re not that close anymore and how she’s isolated in her own household because she has no siblings. 

Overall, I want the pictures to show a younger Maddie and not at the same age as when the movie takes place because the pictures were taken when Maddie was happy and let other people take pictures of her. Now, she doesn’t leave her room and escapes a room if a camera is pulled out.