What's to Come

     Hello everyone! Hope you all had a great weekend. I am hopping on to give you guys a preview of what's to come in the next few days. I'd be excited if I were you hehe. So as you know, in my last post I published the mood board for me and my groups film opening! and since then we have already started our shot list and story boards! While Thiago is working on the script. Larissa and I are working very hard on finishing our story boards to have them done in the next few days. We are all spot checking each other to make sure everything is going smoothly and we are all on the same page.

    We plan to have a group meeting tomorrow after school to continue working hard and talk even more about the details of the opening! We plan to have a shooting schedule done by the end of this coming week and hopefully start shooting as soon as possible. We are still looking for actors but other than that everything seems to be sailing smoothly but for now, I think we are done for the day. I hope you guy have a good day tomorrow, talk soon :)

Mood Board!

     Hey guys! I am hopping on here to share my teams newest progress! After my last post of describing our outline of the plot, my team and I decided to create a mood board. We did this because we feel it will further prepare us to ensure we create the tone we intend to for our audience. We also believe it serves a visual for our writing stage of this whole process!

 

    Here it is! So the images we have here coincide with what we want to be in our opening. I carefully picked out some pictures that I believe captured the genre we are going for, coming of age/horror. In the bottom left you can see we have three teen best friends from what is one of my favorite coming of age films, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The board also has one of the main characters, Charlie, standing in the back of a truck in another image. This scene is one of my favorites ever and truly captures their youth. The majority of the other images coincide more with the horror factor. We have the blood spiraling down the drain which we will of course have a clip of and an unknown figure in  a hood. This represents the fact that we are not introducing the antagonist in our opening but we are making his presence known with a shadow. The other images in the board are details that essentially are ones my team members and I want to keep in mind while both filming and writing! I hope you guys like it and are excited to see what's coming soon! Happy reading :)

The Plot!

    Hello! Today’s post is going to be filled with all the details regarding the final plot and outline for our opening!! So after tons of conversation and brewing of ideas this is the plan.

    Like I have mentioned before, we are going to have three main characters, Betty, James, and August. Three teen best friends. We plan to show them in the very beginning of opening in the first clips. We want to show fast paced cut clips of close ups of their faces looking down. We really want to do this to show the fear and confusion in their faces and increase the intensity of the situation. We want this to reflect on to the viewers and transmit the characters emotion through the screen. We also want to show clips of their hands with blood on them. The location they are in is a bathroom staring downwards towards the drain and blood spiraling down (much like Alfred Hitchcock’s infamous shower scene). This would hint to the audience that there was some sort of murder or death and the teens are exposed to it. Following this we were thinking of  including a scream from one of the characters and cut it off after a few seconds to a black screen where we'd display the title. 

     We then plan for there to be some sort of flash back and after that clip comes on we'll have text at the bottom saying "four days prior". That scene would go straight to the rooms of one of the characters getting ready to hang out with the rest while listening to music (which my team member Thiago already emailed an artist for!) and maybe a shot following them outside to the car with the others. My team members and I want to also get a shot from inside the car with the characters talking and laughing; essentially being best friends. We do not want to reveal the antagonist in our opening but we do want to hint he is there by maybe showing his shadow. We are still missing some of the details and of course mise en scene but stay tuned for that next week!

    For now, I hope you guys our essential plot so far and can't wait to bring you guys along for the rest. Talk soon :)

Digging Even Deeper (Sound Edition)

     Hey guys! So I know I know, I already posted about 'digger deeper' with some of my research, but I want to share everything we do to create this film opening and research is a huge part of that. Today's research is a little different from the one before. I am going to touch base with more information regarding how to prepare before creating our film.

    Through our research we were already familiar with most of what we found. This includes knowing the concept of our film, writing/planning a script, storyboards, etc. but while searching online we completely overlooked the sound element for our opening! By this I mean we know what kind of sound we want but are now on a search for the perfect one. We just now spoke about seeing if we can email an artist to see if we can get the rights to use their music. I personally would LOVE to use Shepard Tone. If you are unfamiliar with what Shepard Tone is, it's a sound illusion that seems that it's getting higher in pitch but isn't. This is used by many famous directors to increase the anticipation and intensity of a scene which I think would be perfect (I left a link at the bottom of the post for you guys to listen to Shepard Tone and an explanation of it if you're interested!). As for the rest of the opening we want to use upbeat/happier music to essentially demonstrate a dramatic switch in tone from their present and what led them there. Most likely something in the pop genre but nothing super crazy or loud. 

    That's all I have for you guys today but let me give you a little taste of what's to come this week. We plan on giving you guys the final outline of our plot and opening in the next post, a possible mood board, and much more :) Get ready for next week where you'll I'll be sharing a bit of our shot list and a sneak peak of our story boards! Thanks for reading and stay tuned, have a great day :)

Shepard Tone: https://youtu.be/RQlrSvnG3dg

First Steps!

         Hey everyone! In this post I am going to talk about the steps my group and I are taking to get this show on the road during the following week.

    So after talking with my group, we have come to conclusion about what each of us are going to do. So we know the first thing we are going to do is come up with a shot list. We plan to collaborate together on  that because we really want all of our ideas to show in the final product. Thiago is then are going to work on the screen play which we feel is best due to this genre being his favorite. Larissa and I are of course going to give input and spot check but he is really excited to get work. Larissa and I are going to simultaneously work on the story boards. I personally love doing story boards and am very exited to work with Larissa on them! As for the editing process we have the intention to (SAFELY) meet in person to edit everything but of course with covid it will be difficult. Regardless we will all be editing together!

Thanks for reading! stay tuned for more :)

A Little About the Plot

     Hello everyone! Hope everyone is doing well. In my last post I said I was going to touch base on the plot and this is what my team and I have so far.

    As I mentioned before we already have an idea of what who we want our characters to be. Though we are still developing their personalities we are clear about certain things for sure but today we are going to talk about what we want the opening to look like. After sharing our ideas with one another we have decided on having the opening portray either a serial killer going after the characters or something supernatural. We think this would we a cool element and something unique for the project. Our vision involves back to back clips in the bathroom of closeups of the characters faces all looking down. We want the fear and anticipation in their faces to transmit on to the audience to further portray the fear factor of the genre. We then want their to be a shot of the bath tub they are looking at with blood going down the drain. I personally would like these clips to be somewhat fast paced to increase the intensity of it. 

    After these shots, Thiago had the brilliant idea of adding a voice over from one of the characters saying something along the lines of "You're probably wondering how we got here, let's rewind" and then that is where the movie would start. It would 'rewind' to the beginning of the plot and show the progression of events that led them to that bathroom with blood. Nothing is set but this is the premise of what we want to do. I am so excited to bring you guys along for this journey. Stay tuned for next time where my group and I will start taking the steps to bring our ideas to life!

Character Development

     Hey guys! So today my peers and I decided to talk about our characters for our "movie" and how we want their personalities to reflect within the opening we create. 

    So what we have in mind includes having three characters. A boy and a girl named James and Betty along with a possible non binary character named August. We want to be very inclusive to our audience and ensure we represent people from all communities. This is of course subject to change due to casting issues. Due to the pandemic if we cannot find someone to play the role, whether it is because of the pandemic or they do not match our character description, we do not want to film them. If this is the case, August may change to another female character but anything is possible. As for their personalities, we are still in the process of figuring them out. So far we know we want the ages to be 17, 17, and 15. This is because we want their to be a romance between two of the characters and make sure they have an age gap to show the immaturity of the younger one. Our plan is to reflect that in the opening and show this without needing dialogue. Making the audience think without them knowing.

    This is sadly all I have for you guys today but stay tuned for more. Next time I will be touching base with the plot!

Digging Deeper

    Hey! So in todays post I want to share some of the research I have been conducting regarding our film opening. As I mentioned in my previous post, I mentioned how my group and I decided to create an opening working with the genre of horror. We have now decided we also want to incorporate elements of coming of age films as well. The reason we settled on this is because we love the character development/psychological growth protagonists take in coming of age films and we genuinely just enjoy what the element of horror can bring to a piece. We think this will allow us to achieve a successful and captivating clip for our audience. 

    Because we are of course still figuring out what exactly we want the content of the clip to be, we decided to dig a little more and conduct some research and start making plans!

RESEARCH

 

   While conducting research, we found that the film CARRIE is a perfect piece to get inspiration from. The films opening segment is not uncommon compared to traditional horror films. Its opening shower scene is what we were drawn too. The soft music and blissfulness of the scene is soon taken over and somewhat destroyed as Carrie gets her first menstruation. This helped the audience get a taste of what is to come in the film. My team members and I want to incorporate some of the elements in the clip like the use of sound and diffused lighting to both establish the tone of the scene but also introduce our characters.

 

    Another film that my team and I believe we could draw inspiration from is from the film My Friend Dahmer. This film is focuses on the origin story of one of the most well know serial killers of all time, Jeffrey Dahmer. The opening segment of this piece is unlike one I have seen before. It shows Dahmer begin an obsession with a jogger who takes the same route every day on his way home from school. Every clip shows the progression of his obsessive behavior with the jogger. This simple act already tells the audience that Dahmer has obsession issues and this side of him is only growing. This works to tell the audience something without using any dialogue which is something my team members and I love about it. 

    After conducting some of our research, we play to use elements from these films and others to creat an opening for our film that truly expresses the genre of horror/coming of age. We can't wait to continue working. Stay tuned for my next update :)

 

News pt. 2

     Hey guys, so I am back again with an update for you! So me and my group members have decided to go with a thriller/horror theme for our opening. We have already begun our research hehe. Thiago mentioned some great Youtube videos he watched for me and Larissa to check out. They are supposed to give us even more tips on how to create the mood of the opening. We plan on lighting to be a huge factor.

     Starting tomorrow we will be working in class on it and start going in depth on what we want to do. This will include figuring out what exactly we want the content of the opening to include and then a shot list which will hopefully be done within the next three days. We really want to make it perfect!

     I promise to keep everyone up to date with the whole process of our creation of the opening! Stay safe everyone!

    

I have news!

     Hey everyone! Hope everyone is doing good. I am here with some news about some future plans about a new project involving creating a film opening. I am working with some peers from my class and what we have brewing is very exciting.

    I am going to be working with Thiago and Larissa to do this project. We are still figuring out what kind of vibe we want to reflect on to the audience. We are thinking we want to do a sort of horror/thriller genre for our opening since we all love watching these sorts of films, but again anything can change. We want to make sure sound and lighting are things we incorporate a lot just because we want our viewers to feel the intensity and anticipation of the scene. For now we are still pulling inspo from our favorite movies and shows to figure it all out but I am excited to bring you guys along for the whole process and put what we have learned to work!

    Talk soon :)

Music Marketing pt. 2!

     Hey guys! Checking in to update you guys on my Media Marketing Project. Last time I was here I mentioned how we had already done the case studies to really gain insight on the world of music marketing. The next steps of the project involved finishing the shot list to film the music video and create our presentation to "potential investors and consumers" and here's how it all turned out!

    After we spoke for days we settled on the idea of doing a story telling music video here the main character is trying to climb the metaphorical mountain that is the grief she feels after her best friend passes away. We felt this idea would be a good way to connect with the fans as it is something they can relate too. 

    To make this story come to life we had a few shots of the funeral and the struggles she deals with. This included eating and even getting ready in the morning. With everyone's input we proceeded to create the shot list for the video and finally felt ready to film when it was finished. My team member Cristy stepped up as direct since she has the most experience with film and acting and she did not disappoint. Here's a link for you guys to check it out if you feel interested! 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cvZvMhMr995hjI3Qpy1eS9K6Yjm8QiHw/view?usp=sharing

    While we were simultaneously working on the video, we also were trying to figure out who we wanted our band to be. I gave the idea for our band to be called Kings & Queens. We went with a dark aesthetic with gold to compliment the name and included decks of cards in their logo to create their image. We also worked to give them a backstory so they could really come to life. We felt this was necessary for the investors and consumers to know who they were listening too. We described the band and their back story by mentioning how the group of best friends, Laura, Diana, Nick, and Noah started in Brooklyn, New York. They would spend the majority of their time making rock music with the fantasy of becoming big one day. The fantasy fell through due to them attending college because of their parents but it wound up not working out. When they met again they decided to defy the norms and drop out to pursue their dreams and conquer the world on their own terms as Kings & Queens. We made sure to include this on the second slide of the presentation to ensure it was the first thing we talked about.

    Here you can see we had bullet points describing who they were but of course went into much more depth when presenting to really sell the band. We also included tons research to support our marketing techniques including the work of Twenty one Pilots and Panic! At The Disco marketing teams. These bands have a huge online presence and we wanted ours too as well as it is one of the best ways to promote the band and stay in touch with fans so we made our marketing plan focus on this the most. My team members and I wanted our project to focus on the bond we want our target audience to have with the band and to do this we wanted to create tons of cool merchandise. We also ensured fan interaction was one of major selling points as the band would be very active on social media. They would possibly respond to comments under their posts on Instagram or Twitter and even do fun live streams on their Instagram to talk to their fans. The band will also be creating a TikTok account and posting fun videos as it is one of the most used social media apps today and we believe it is the best way to reach listeners. Kings & Queens truly wants to ensure that their fan base gets to know them on a more personal level.

    This section of the project was really fun as it allowed my team to be as creative as they wanted. We all got to give different ideas and work together to bring them to life. I think this project was overall fun and taught me a lot when it comes to the music industry; specifically marketing which is what I want to major in next year. Even though we had some obstacles along the way, including being online or some members not being cooperative, we were able to create a unique project that we are pleased with. This project allowed me and my peers to gain insight on techniques and the activities companies undertake to promote their brands and products. 

    I believe this project will be useful when creating my Cambridge portfolio as it is one of the biggest project we have done this year and possibly our best one. I feel it would look nice on a portfolio and be something Cambridge would love to see there.

 I hope you guys enjoyed this post, talk soon!