Visual Foreshadowing (Research)

Hello, reader. Welcome to my blog. In this post, I'll be researching foreshadowing, specifically in cinematography. I'll also start planning how to use it in my film opening. Let's begin.

First,

What is Foreshadowing?

Foreshadowing is a technique in which a storyteller gestures to events that will happen later in a narrative.

Different forms of Foreshadowing:

Direct: explicitly describes future events.

Indirect: more subtle, indicates what will happen.

What is foreshadowing used for in storytelling?

Creating suspense

Dramatic build up

Developing anticipation

*We are using indirect foreshadowing. It basically prepares the audience for what's coming without telling them directly. Our goal is to create suspense, and to do that, we need to hook the audience. The audience's attention can be captured by keeping them in a state of anticipation. This tool can be used to create anticipation in a subtle way.

Example of foreshadowing:

Coraline (2009)

How can we use it in our opening? 

I think the best technique for our opening is indirect foreshadowing. In our opening, we already have symbolism. For example, the boy's erratic breathing (recorded handheld) and the shallow focus (we also won't show his face) suggest that something is wrong before we even see the book or show what it represents. This in itself creates anticipation. The audience understands that the object he's holding is important (even if they don't yet know why). I think we can apply foreshadowing with framing and lighting (cinematography foreshadowing).

Then, when the second character enters the bookstore (equilibrium) and subsequently picks up the book, before the revelation, the audience already associates the book with danger/mystery. The tension is created on its own, and the character's reaction would already create foreshadowing.

Takeaway: Indirect foreshadowing in my film's opening works because our goal is to create tension and suspense. And through the visual clues (the boy and the book) –mystery– the audience already senses that something is wrong. By withholding important information, we create anticipation, and this is reinforced by the second scene.

That's all for now, reader. Thank you for reading this collection of thoughts.

-Dragorite