Mise-en-Scene

Costumes

The main character, Bella, wore an all-black outfit to bury the body at the beginning of the film opening because she wanted to be unrecognizable. Her outfit was inspired by the murderer, Joe, in the show, "You."

When she arrived home, she changed into more professional clothes to match her new sophisticated look. She changed into a jet black bob wig, and wore a bright red lipstick with eyeliner. She wanted to give off a new, mature look. 

When Bella arrived to Ibiza, her new location, she changed into a t-shirt and jean shorts because she was alone in her home, and she was not expecting any visitors. Juliana, the girl who was buried alive, is wearing typical teenage clothes, with a Victoria Secret sweater and black flare leggings. At the end of the film opening, Juliana is wearing different clothes to acknowledge the time and location change. Juliana changed out of the clothes she wore that had dirt on them from being buried.

Set design and location

The beginning location is in a dark corner of my friend's backyard. She had a grassy area with dirt. The location represents a grassy field in the middle of nowhere. Bella wants the body she is burying to go undetected. I was inspired by a burial scene from Pretty Little Liars, which took place in an abandoned area at night. One character was burying another one alive, unknowing that the person she is burying is still breathing.

Afterwards, Bella enters through the door of my friend's home, signifying Bella lives there. However, the scenes following are in my own house. My house was a more convenient location for filming because the bathroom was similar to what I wanted to show in my film. Then, Bella leaves to go to the airport from my friend's driveway so that the outside of the house still looked the same. Bella flew from the airport to her new home, which was still my own house. My driveway and front door had not been shown before, so it was shown to be her new home. I filmed the scenes of her in her new home at my house as well because I shot at different locations in my house, making it difficult to tell it was the same home. I did not make any changes to any of the locations, except I took down some decorations in my house so that Bella could put them back up, indicating that she just moved in.

Sound

Music is playing for the majority of the film opening. However, there are a few scenes where the music will be lowered so that sound from the video can be heard. These instances are when an Uber driver speaks to Bella, when the doorbell rings, and when Juliana talks to Bella. Sound effects include an airplane noise to indicate that Bella is flying somewhere else. A lightning strike sound effect is played at the beginning burial scene to set the mood of a dark and stormy night. While Bella is changing her appearance and packing, a determined music will be played to show how she is on a time crunch to leave. After she moves to her new home, the music will change to a more relaxed beat because she believes she is safe from incrimination and her past now. To support the transition to relaxing music, Bella takes a sigh of relief when she enters her new home.

Movement and blocking

The beginning of my film starts with a close-up shot of a dead corpse. This is because the corpse will be relevant at the end of the film opening, and it was important for the audience to recognize the girl. I used a POV shot of Bella getting into an Uber. The camera shook up and down to indicate Bella nodding her head. I did not explicitly show the main character's face so as to create suspense. Bella wanted to leave for the airport undetected, so I did not show her face to indicate that she left without being spotted. 

I also used a jump cut to indicate Bella changing appearances from her old self to her brand new self by showing her in a spinning mirror. This transition was inspired by a social media trend on TikTok from 2021.

I also used tracking shots because there were scenes of Bella walking away, and I did not want her to be too far away from the camera.

I used an insert shot to show the audience that Bella was grabbing her new British passport, identification card, and plane ticket.  This shot gave the audience clarity about what the main character was actually doing.

I used a match cut when Bella opened the door to her new home with the camera filming from outside to a cut with the camera now filming inside to indicate she is now safe in her own shelter.