Cool shots!

So today I filmed a bit more, just the last scene of the introduction.   I came up with a really cool way to get a new perspective on the main character, Robbie.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.  I used a piece of glass over my cellphone to take the shot, which put the perspective of the camera in the drain of the sink where Robbie was washing his face.  I thought this was a really cool shot. Just wanted to share.

Tell me what you think! 
'Til next time!

Updates

So I have been editing the video, only worrying about making sure the video is tight, no loose ends.  I Am going to focus more on audio and overall post-production of the video after I make sure I have all my shots arranged, and the best take of each shot is used in the film opening.  I am seeing some problems, such as inconsistencies in the lighting, even though the first scene was shot in the same room, within an hour or so time.  I think it is because I used the natural light coming in from the window, adjacent to the subject.  I hope I should be able to clear some of that up through post-production.  Things such as sound, I decided to do most of it though voice-over and foley, so I do not have to worry about shotty audio from the built-in mic on my camera.  As far as music is concerned, I will either produce something myself or find some royalty-free, open-licensed music to edit along with the video.  I do not feel like a need any songs, maybe just a bit of transitional non-diegetic music between scenes or during heightened/intense part.  As far as diegetic sounds go, I don't have much to either find royalty-free or I will create the sounds, such as keyboard clicking or chair creeks, door closing, etc.  Anyways, I should have a good frame of video to work with by the middle of this week, I'll post a sample within a few days. 

Anyways, 'Til Next Time! 

Filming!

So I began filming today, here are some frames from the shots I took. 

I think I should darken up the shots a bit through post-production editing, which is going to be my next task for the week.  The location I choose for filming was in my friend Tyler's dad man cave/office which has a bunch of IT stuff laying around, which kinda places my character in the nerdy - computer-driven world.  

The character's clothing was chosen to give a bit of a nerdy/hipster vibe.

Anyways, till next time!  Gotta begin editing!

My character! --- His name is Robbieeeeeeeeee!

Hey, I just wanted to do a little character description to complement my story. So Robbie is being played by Anish Ghosh, a friend, and fellow student.   For this character, I wanted to make him a bit nerdy and a mamas boy.  He needs to be the exact opposite person any that someone would assume would get themselves into this situation.  With that being said, I'd like him to appear on the straight and narrow but the intro takes place on the night he becomes a bit mischievous.  I am going to have him wear glasses and a nerdy shirt during filming, either like a superhero or this chemistry shirt that I know he owns.  Anyway, this just a short post before I begin to film, so Adios!

'Til Next Time... 

Shot list

Just finished up my shot list to organize myself during this week's shoot!  After some collaboration and brainstorming, I have settled on a revised version of my previous story.  I have decided to make my main character a high school student, for obvious reasons because my actor will be a high school student.  I have also decided to focus more on the origins of these emails, as to not confuse the audience. The basic premise of my two minute intro will be about a high school boy who explores the dark web and ends up getting harassed through his email. My shot list is below!

Shot List:

Establishing Shot: Wide shot of boy sitting and talking on phone, with his computer on his lap. 

Close up shot: Clock set at late time 

Medium Shot: Focus on boys face, he is talking on the phone with his friend, who is encouraging him to go on website. 

Over the shoulder shot: See computer and him going on the dark web.

Two- Three shots of him switching between talking on the phone and scrolling through the computer

Close up: He looks at his door as his Mom calls out to him.

Camera follows him as he gets up and closes his light. 

Close up of him clicking off light

Medium shot: Boy sits back down on bed

More shots of him talking to his friend 

Close up of computer: a weird icon pulls up on the screen

Action shot: Over the shoulder closes computer, close up of his face 

NEXT MORNING

Close up:  Bed hair, crusty eyes

Medium shot of him sitting up

Close up: his feet shuffling to bathroom 

Close up: Tooth paste being put on toothbrush 

Close up: brushing teeth

Close up: Splashing water on his face 

Medium shot: walking back to room

Shot of phone: Email notification 

Close up: Takes laptop

Medium shot: Focusing on his face, which is looking at the computer

Close up: the dark web email

Close up: His face paranoid as his Mom calls out to him, looks at door 

'Til next Time!  

Filming Dates Planned out!

So I have found an Actor to play the role of the businessman!  I have scheduled 2 days next week to film, so all I have to do now is finish up my script!  Things are coming together, slowly but surely...

Day #1 - Tuesday 3/20
Day #2 - Thursday 3/22

I will be posting pictures of production soon, stay tuned!

Group Meeting In Class

So today in class, we meet together in groups of five to talk about our projects.  I saw what my peers were doing and I realized that some of them have already started filming and some are in the same stage as me, which puts me in the right time frame for completing the project.  One thing I noticed was that it seems that the other group members had a lot more blog posts than me, so I'm thinking of upping my game in that respect.

When talking over my project, the others in the group had a great idea to make the businessman have a real connection to the plane going down.  They suggested that I make the businessman's wife be on the plane and she leaves a voicemail for him with the details of her flight and how much she loves him.  This really hits him hard so he needs to find a way to stop the tragedy from happening and find the source of the emails.

I really like this idea, and will implement it into the plot.  I thought that the rest of the group members projects had some good ideas that wanted me to know more.

'Til next time!

Drawing Out The Basic Storyboard

Well, I completed my storyboard, Just a basic rough outline of how I want the shots to look.  I still need to create a script, for a more detailed version outlining the shots I'd like to take as well as any lines that the character might say or emotions I want the actor to display.  Besides that, I have been talking to others in the class, and they have been creating a "character design" for their main character, going in depth about their appearance, clothes, personality, etc.  I feel like I should do that too.

I still need to find an actor, sort out shooting locations, and find any props I might need.  So far, so Good.

'Til Next Time!

Updated Schedule - Beginning of Week 3

With week 2 done, the upcoming weeks are the ones that are really going to matter.  I fell a bit behind from my original schedule from last week, not completing the storyboard.  However, having shooting locations in mind for the film opening will help me to draw out my storyboard.  I will still be updating this schedule week by week to help keep myself on task.  Stay tuned for week 4!

Week 3 - 3/12 to 3/18

• GET DONE STORYBOARD

• Start on the production of my film opening, find some actors to play the people in my film.  Scout out locations of the film and get and mise-en-scene elements I might need (like clothing, props, etc.) And schedule my shooting days for the end of this week and the entirety of week 4.  (I could use the first half of week 5 but that would be cutting it close in my opinion for editing time)
• Collect the oddball props that I may need - Not many for this opening, everything that I can think of off the top of my head would be quite easy to get my hands on or I already have it.  For the businessman character, I would like to have him wear formal attire, slacks and a long sleeve dress shirt - nothing too formal though. 

Week 4 - 3/19 to 3/25

• This is the week before spring break. Hopefully, I can get all of my filming done over the course of this week.  This week will be strictly for filming purposes only.
• This also the week of many tests throughout my classes - I need to budget my time wisely here.

Week 5 - 3/26 to 4/1

• Woo Hoo Spring Break!!!  Except it couldn't have fallen out on a worse time since this is the bulk of my project - editing.  I will have to work around the oddball days of fun during this week to really get my editing tight.

Week 6 - 4/2-4/8

• This is the time I will use to finalize and polish my masterpiece and reflect on what I have created.

Week 7 - 4/9 to 4/14

• This is the week I will dedicate to my CCR and my final project will be posted on this blog.
• Everything is due on that Saturday, the 14th.  

So far, I have not come across many obstacles over the course of the past two weeks, but I am bracing myself for the unforeseen problems associated with production.  This can be everything from scheduling conflicts to not having the right lighting (outside stuff - cant control the sun) and things of that nature.  Anyways, 34 days left!  Let's get this done! 

Concept of Film and Plot of Opening Sequence

Okay, so I have been brainstorming an idea for a plot for the last couple of days, and here is my final choice.

A busy businessman begins to get a string of emails that forecast future events (usually bad ones) and now he needs to find out why him and how to stop these events before they happen.

Now that was just the general plot and conflict of the entire film.  For my film opening, I have detailed the introduction plot so I can begin a storyboard of events.

Introduction:
A businessman is on the way to work, and he is listening to talk radio in the morning.  They are commenting on a large crash in the stock market, almost as bad as the great depression.  However, the businessman looks happy, because he got a tip to pull his assets from the market before the crash.  Flashback to his computer shows the audience that he has been getting anonymous emails about things that he should do to benefit him, such as pulling out his assets before the crash.  Cut to him at work, he goes to read the newest anonymous email of the day, however, it is something terrible.  It reads "12 people die in a violent terrorist attack on Easter Sunday."  The businessman disregards the email, thinking of it a hoax, and gets back to work.  Two days pass and the businessman is on his way to work again, he listens to the radio and hears about the Easter Sunday tragedy.  The businessman is terrified.  As soon as he gets to his workplace, he checks his email once again.  The new anonymous email says, "Delta flight 1843 from Salt Lake City to Boston crashes into the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, all 145 are presumed dead."  He stares at his screen in disbelief.  He goes outside for a smoke break to try and alleviate his emotions.

Again, I have not named the businessman, given him a workplace, or anything of those sorts, because they are not important to the plot, I will add those later.  However, I made sure to add in key elements into my plot.  First, I juxtaposed the businessman with the feat of saving lives.  Second, I made sure this is a character-driven plot, the audience will get to see the human emotions that come along with his predicament.  Most importantly though, I made sure that this is a believable plot.  This might actually be true, it is not so outlandish that it causes people to feel like the plot is forced upon the film.

Sources:
Screenwriting Strategies: How to Write Original Content. (n.d.). Retrieved March 9, 2018, from https://www.universalclass.com/articles/writing/screenwriting-strategies-writing-original-content.htm

How to Write an Introduction to a Film - According to the Internet

The way a film opening starts sets the whole film up, either for disaster or success.  Here are some ways, according to www.moviemaker.com, that I can begin my film opening: teaser, introducing the theme and tone, and explaining a character and his/her backstory.

A teaser is a type of introduction that is "intended to hook the audience from the get-go by generating curiosity and/or conflict that leaves the audience wanting more."  Many films employ this such as Steven Spielberg's Jaws and as I have talked about before, Christopher Nolan's Memento.  In Memento, the teaser is the mystery behind why everything is progressing in reverse and who is the dead man.

An opening that introduces the Theme and Tone does exactly that.  A great example of this would be in the film Goodfellas.  The introductory scene sets up the theme of life as a gangster as well as the dark tone that will persist in the movie.

The film Raising Arizona introduces one of the main characters and his backstory as a repeat criminal through a voice-over narration.


However, as the article explains, most opening sequences use all of these tactics in conjunction to create a complete story. 

I have noticed that in mystery movies, they use a teaser to draw in the viewers as well as setting the tone of the mystery and the theme of the story.  Sometimes they introduce a character, but more than likely not. 

A move such as Memento uses purely a teaser, however, an implied dark tone is apparent throughout.
The film Se7en's opening scene is a combination of extreme close up shots of seemingly unrelated actions, yet the teaser shots in this sequence help to create a sense of mystery behind the meaning of all of these shots.
Even in the film Pyscho, a teaser is used to make the audience ask the question, who is the woman, why was she killed, and who did it. 

So it seems that I should definitely go the way of a teaser in the writing of my opening scene.  By next post, I should have a plot written out and will be working on a storyboard to post.

Til next time!

Sources:
How to Start Your Script: A Killer Opening Scene is the Hero Your Screenplay Deserves. (2016, October 04). Retrieved March 08, 2018, from https://www.moviemaker.com/archives/moviemaking/screenwriting/opening-scene/

Tenatative Schedule

With week one out of the way, I figured I will try to schedule myself out for the next 6 weeks.  I will post a new updated schedule every Monday night that is more detailed and updated with what I have done and what I still need to do.  But in the meanwhile, here is my tentative schedule for the next 6 weeks: 

• Week 2 - 3/5 to 3/11
• I hope to nail down a general outline to a plot for my opening sequence as well as outlines/storyboards to help visualize the sequence of events. 
• Week 3- 3/12 to 3/18
• Start on the production of my film opening, possibly find some actors to play some of the people in my film.  Scout out locations of the film and get and mise-en-scene elements I might need (like clothing, props, etc.) And schedule my shooting days for the end of this week and the entirety of week 4.  (I could use the first half of week 5 but that would be cutting it close in my opinion for editing time).
• Week 4 - 3/19 to 3/25
• This is the week before spring break. Hopefully, I can get all of my filming done over the course of this week.  This week will be strictly for filming purposes only.
• Week 5 - 3/26 to 4/1 
• Woo Hoo Spring Break!!!  Except it couldn't have fallen out on a worse time since this is the bulk of my project - editing.  I will have to work around the oddball days of fun during this week to really get my editing tight.
• Week 6 - 4/2-4/6
• This is the time I will use to finalize and polish my masterpiece and reflect on what I have created.
• Week 7 - Everything due by 4/14
• This is the week I will dedicate to my CCR and my final project will be posted on this blog.

41 days until completion... 

Genres - Research to Guide My Choice

Today I feel like going over some of the characteristics of the genres I had been throwing around in my mind. 

So, I found this site that outlines the main characteristics of film genres, not so unlike what we had done in class a while back.  The two genres that I had been thinking about doing were either a satire or a mystery film.  On another page the site, I found a chart that categorized a bunch of sub-genres into the broad umbrella of the main genres of film.  

Satires, as I would expect fall into the category of a comedy, are characterized as through their use of "a humorous or anarchic take-off that ridicules, impersonates, punctures, scoffs at, and/or imitates (mimics) the style, conventions, formulas, characters (by caricature), or motifs of a serious work, film, performer, or genre."

Some of my favorite movies are satires, such as Mel Brooks' Young Frankenstein, Spaceballs, and Blazing Saddles.  Other examples include Airplane!, The Naked Gun Series, and the Austin Powers series.  However, some say that comedy is a bad genre to make a first movie with.  This site outlines just why it is such a bad idea to do exactly that.  The author argues that comedy may seem like an easy way to go, since all you have to do is have a good sense of humor.  Well, that is also the bad part, many people believe they are funny but just are not funny at all.  If anything, I'm not funny, just funny looking. *insert laugh here*

My second film genre that I had in my mind was a mystery film.  Mystery film plots are characterized though "focus[ing] on the unsolved crime (usually the murder or disappearance of one or more of the characters, or a theft), and on the central character - the hard-boiled detective-hero." 

Some examples of these films would be Murder on the Orient Express, The Big Lebowski, and Memento.  This website concurs that comedy is a bad idea due to the reasons stated above, however gives the green light for basically everything else (except for drama...).  The article outlines what genres work in the indie film world.  The article specifically outlines that, "Thrillers work.  So do action films, horror films, and family films."  If anything, this article just helped to bury the hatchet in my satirical dreams.  

So, with the research I have done on my genre choice, Mystery, I think I can go ahead and start looking at the openings of these types of film to give myself ideas of how to write my script.  

In my next posting, I will schedule out the project so that I can leave enough time to film, edit, and polish my project.  Til next time!

Some Strategies to Start My Film

Due to the overwhelming amount of directions I can go within this film opening, I tried to develop some strategies to narrow down what I will choose to run with.

First the genre, I had already briefly talked about some of my ideas in my previous posting sharing my initial thoughts on this task.  Without mentioning genre types, I need to brainstorm what genre relates to me the most.

In other words, what genre will be easiest to express myself through?  

This essential question will help me get through my next task of creating a plot.

Creating the Plot involves a lot more than how the story goes down.  As this is just the opening of a film, I really have to only focus on the fine details of an introduction.  However, having a general idea of the concept of the film and what my film is set to explore will aid in introducing the right material in the opening scene of my film.

This blog here analyzes what director and screenplay writer Christopher Nolan decided to introduce during the first two minutes of his film Memento.  To sum up, Nolan introduces the ideas of mementos though the first shot of the film title superimposed onto of a closeup of a developing image.  What catches the eye next is the fact that as the man shakes the polaroid, the photo seems to un-develop.  This starts the idea that this film starts at the end of the story, and finishes at the beginning.  The key thing that gets introduced here is the first mystery, the photograph depicts a dead man with blood all over the ground and the walls around him.  This gets cleared up quickly with the following sequence of scenes where we learn the man who took the photograph is also the murderer.  However, this just leaves the viewer with more questions.  Like what is the connection between the murderer and the murdered?  And why was the murder shown from end to beginning?  These questions are some of the topics that are addressed later on in the film.  But that doesn't matter.  What matters is the fact that this introduction led viewers to want to see more.  That is what a great introduction will do.  This is what I need to do. 

Creating a character that draws people to want to know more is another challenge in itself.  The character that will be featured in the first two minutes of my film will have to be the main character, for most obvious reasons.  This main character could either be the "good guy" or the "bad guy."   It really doesn't matter, as long as the plot and the character can work together to make the viewer want to find out more.

Using the same example as before with Christopher Nolan's Memento, the first person we are introduced to is a murderer.  Or is he?  The scene is not clear on why this murder was done, therefore it leaves a mystery to who the character is, which will be explained throughout the film.  The character might be a crazed maniac who shoots his victims in the head and takes photos to fulfill his sick, twisted pleasures or he might be avenging the death of someone else.  We as viewers do not know, and that is key to creating a character that can develop in a mystery genre.

With all this talk of a mystery genre, this might be the direction I go in.  We'll see...

Before I forget, the setting of my opening will be an important part of how my film opening is presented.  My setting could be anywhere, yet it needs to fit within the genre and with the plot. 
If anything, through typing this whole thing out, I have come to a deeper understanding that everything is interlocked, every component of this film opening has to fit within the other otherwise it will be garbage.

Final thoughts - Whatever I do choose, I must stick with it.  There is no turning back with such a short time frame of six weeks.  It is all or nothing.

Starting Off - Initial Thoughts

As a first thought, this will be my first blog and the first film that I will be creating.  And quite honestly, I am not sure where to begin.  Having such an open-ended project can be a blessing and a curse, depending on the type of person you are.  For me, this is a curse for quite a simple reason: I am indecisive.  However, with the time ticking away, I need to brainstorm an idea, decide which direction I will go regarding genre, and write the script.

My first thoughts are to try and recreate some sort of a satire such as This Is Spinal Tap, Idiocracy, or The Truman Show.  However, the way these movies are presented are vastly different from each other as This Is Spinal Tap is presented as a Mockumentary Satire, Idiocracy is presented as a comedic satire, and The Truman Show is presented as a dramatic satire.  Of course, all three of these movies poke fun at different areas of society but still do a great job of exposing the faults in our society and people, whether it be through the way rock stars act, the dumbing down of society, or the way the media manipulates people's lives.  

I also feel that I could go the way of a mystery genre.  It would seem easier, or at least not as difficult to create an intriguing plot for a mystery film than a satire due to the nature that a mystery will naturally draw people in faster than a satire.  Either way, I must decide and decide soon.  As of today, March 1st, I only have about 6 weeks to complete one of the largest school projects I have ever been assigned.

So let's get crackin'!