Our Film Opening!!

Finally you guys can watch out film opening! Again a big thank you to you guys, my instructor and my group members. You all rock!!! 

CCR!

Here is my CCR! I hope you guys enjoy this reflection of the past 7 weeks! I had a lot of fun throughout this whole process and I hope our hard work reflects our final product. 

Last Post)):

Before I say my goodbyes, we finally chose our music! We chose the song I get up by John Isaac and I feel like it really suits our opening! (: It has a nice pop beat to it and the guy's voice is absolutely amazing, so that's super exciting.
So everything is officially done, our opening is fully edited and now has its music, I can't believe we've already finished these 7 weeks. I can't wait for you guys to see what we created and I hope you enjoy it!!!!!!
I'll for sure miss (some parts of) this project! I really felt like I learned so much about filming and media throughout this process and I can't thank you guys and my Instructor enough for this opportunity. Make sure to stay tuned for when I post my CCR and film opening! 
Goodbye!!💓✌

Finished Editing!

It has been a only a little while since we finished filming, and as we have been gaining footage, Alan has been editing. And now we can say, we are officially done with editing! My whole camera roll has been saved with videos options Alan has sent us of clips of our opening, son ill be able to regain that storage haha.  Now, all that needs to be done is to find a royalty free instrumental or song to insert in the beginning of our opening to not have it be so quiet.  Its so crazy that in just a weeks time we will be finished with this whole project and it will be on its way for Cambridge to grade it, these past 6 weeks have just flown by. 
Im so excited to see the end product and i'm also relieved to have it be finished so that I can write my CCR this week. Hope you guys have enjoyed this journey as much as I have, sorry this is such a short blog. Ill be updating you guys soon on everything!

Credits!

So today my group and I have been discussing our credit placement and the fonts, and colors we should use to keep them engaging throughout the movie introduction. Juan and Alan want to keep the font very simple with a white color along with a sleek font. I was imagining the font to be basic but with the colors pink and blue to further represent the female and male genders. This would’ve been cool to have the credits show up pink when Juan is shown and blue when I am shown to subtlety symbolize the switch. They didn’t really agree though, they said it was awkward and weird, but it might have just been the shade. I’m gonna see if I can convince them further with these colors haha. Here is a rough draft of our opening! 

More Filming

Today was the last day of filming!! I couldn’t be more happy with the outcome of today’s filming session, we were able to complete our last scene of having the characters call there friends with a split screen saying “You won’t believe what just happened” but said in different tones. This did not take very long as we were determined to have all the footage so that editing can take place this weekend before our last week so we have a sufficient amount of time to draft our CCR. 
As we have been filming Alan has been editing some of the footage but by bit and sending it in our group chat to see if we all agree with the pace, structure and etc. 
I’m hoping he will put the footage into WeVideo so that Juan and I have a chance to edit. But overall, I’m proud of our progress and very excited to see our finished program.

Filming again!

Today Alan, Juan and I met up at Juan’s house to film my characters part in the introduction. Our outline basically consisted of starting by having an alarm ringing as an alarm clock, then getting up extremely drowsily to then realizing that they have switched bodies in a mirror. My waking up scene differs from Juan because his character is much more freaked out and frustrated about the switch while my character is intrested and very calm throughout the situation. 
We were originally going to film in my room but the way that it was set up, there wasn’t enough space to get clear shots, lighting was extremely poor and just the look of the room did not meet our intentions. So Juan had an extra room his sister stayed in that we converted to fit my character. We did this by putting up posters, layering the bed with bright colorful blankets and putting an abundance of teddy bears on top of it. 
We were able to film the waking up scene and my reaction, but this took a while. I thought acting would have been a breeze but I quickly realized how hard it truly was. I felt very awkward having to act and portray typical boy behaviors, but after a few takes we ended up getting the film. We still have more filming to do which we plan to get done by the end of this week. I can’t believe we are almost done!

room before remodeling

Quick Update

After going over our previous filming, we have about 1:15 minutes worth of footage that we wanted to fit into the 2 minute opening time span. One problem, 2 minutes is our maximum...
So, we are going to try and cut down some of the scenes as well as refilm it but a bit faster because as we rewatched it, it seemed a bit slow and could have been at a faster pace which would be more likely to keep an interest within the audience. 
Tomorrow we plan on filming the part where my character wakes up and their reaction to the body switch, and if we have time we will film some of the park scenes. Yeah, I know, I just said we were overtime for footage, but we agreed we should still film the park scene just to be on the safe side. 
Our plan is to finish filming bt Tuesday and Wednesday, the absolute latest. We are trying to give ourselves enough time to edit so that the final product will be ready by this Sunday or the next Monday. This schedule will allow us to have a full week to draft and record our CCR, which our instructor recommended, so as of right now, we are on a good track. 

Filming day 1

Today Juan and Alan were able to meet up to film for Juan’s opening scene where he wakes up and goes about his morning routine before realizing his reflection. I feel bad I wasn’t there to help with filming but I had a bit of an emergency friday night, but I trust them to create amazing shots. 
They told me that before they started to film, they had the idea of making Juan’s room look messy to further, follow in representation of a disorganized and messy teen. I thought this was extremely clever and a very small yet important detail to incorporate within our opening. Even though these details may go unnoticed when real teenagers watch films, they still add context whether the viewer realizes it or not. 

Wardrobe!!

Because we are embracing representation and stereotypes within our main characters, our wardrobe choice needs to reflect that. Though people say "Don't judge a book by its cover", in this type of situation, we want exactly that. The clothes reveal so much about each character and this is how we plan on doing such.
For Juan's character, he is going to portrayed as a typical jock. For this, Juan should be dressed in basic athletic clothing and more on the preppy side. The colors should be very basic like reds, greys, and navy blue to continue this "normal" personality. The red could be used to represent the power he believes he has. Within jock representation, these characters are supposed to be concieted and popular so this red will portray that power. 
We are also going to have Alan have a cameo, in this opening and his outfit should be similar to Juans. His character is one of Juan's close friends that he turns to, to reveal he's switched bodies. So his personality should match Juan's as his wardrobe choice. 
And as for my character, I am supposed to be portraying an outcast whos shy. So as for my wardrobe, it should be kept extremely mundane and dark to reflect my characters life. So for the outfit, it would consist of jeans and a dark black t-shirt. 

Scene outlines

Here we have my groups basic outline of how we would like our film opening to go with our credits incorporated and some editing techniques we are interested in. We are all added on a google doc together where we are able to share our ideas and agree on which is best, and this outcome is our favorite so far. Though the editing we chose to incorporate looks difficult, Alan has the software and we are all willing to learn to create these text bubble appearances on screen. They seem much more engaging than having to film a phone screen, which could also be very unpredictable. Originally we wanted to film the characters first interaction at school but this is a short school week followed by next week being spring break, so we had to find a new place for the characters to meet. So to fix this, we are having one of the main characters confiding in their friend to these changes and having the friend believe its just a prank or a joke, being in denial. The reason why we chose to shoot this at the park is because Juan's "mind" is inside of my body and his persona is the classic popular jock so it would make sense to have the character want to be somewhere they are familiar with (The place where all the sports events and practices are held) because they are in a body they are definitely not familiar with. 

Realization

Earlier we were having a problem with casting and finding a way to have our actors schedule correlate with my groups. But now that we changed our idea from two females, we will no longer need to cast for them. Instead I could play the role of one of them, and Juan can play the role of the male. Though I didn’t want to appear in the opening, it would overall make it easier for the group to meet up and get the work done. This also helps us because rather than communicating to the actors on how to play the role, we can play the role with ease because we have been discussing each of the characters personality extensively.
The male role will be “popular” one of the two main characters, we want to embrace representation by portraying him to be a well known, not so smart jock. This will be seen through many shots of trophies and awards as well as photos of friends hung around the walls within the room. For the female role, she will be more shy and kept to herself to be a direct contrast of the male lead. Rather than being into athletics, her main focus could be just schooling and not having time to socialize. We plan on creating our script in our next class so that filming can start as soon as possible. 

Group Meeting

Today instead of continuing with the instructor meeting, the class was randomly put into groups to discuss our progress within our projects. I really enjoy this activity that Mrs. Stoklosa has intoduced to us because it enables us to get multiple opinions from a students point of view. This especially helps my group because our target audience is teenagers, so getting their opinion would help us to shape to create the best opening we could possible produce. 
I didn’t get much critique on the plot but they really enjoyed the idea of having a male and female character switch bodies rather than two females so that made me feel more confident in having those roles in our opening. They also asked how we would show that the event of waking up in each other’s body would be portrayed and I explained it would be through parallel editing. They thought it could be a bit confusing to go back in forth so during the editing process my group and I will have to keep that in mind. Sorry this was such a short post, just wanted to make a posting about this meeting. I’ll keep you guys updated tomorrow.

Instructor meeting

Today Juan, Alan and I were able to meet with Mrs. Stoklosa and discuss our story line and progress for our film openings. She offered great suggestions such as rather than having two females switch bodies, have a male and female. This route would allow us to create a comedic aspect to our opening but it would also force us to disregard the storyboard we made for our original story. But since she suggested this and we have full trust in her knowledge, this is a sacrifice that has to be made. The reason we needed to change the storyboard is because as I mentioned in a previous post we wanted the girls to complete their full morning routine before realizing they had switched, and obviously when you switch genders... you can tell “somethings” different rather than two people of the same gender. 
She also gave us advice on editing techniques, that we should include parallel editing as well as a split screen when they reveal their initial appearance. Since I don’t know much about editing I found an in-depth YouTube video on how split screen editing works. I wanted to learn this techniques before we film so that when everything is recorded, I would already be familiar with the editing process. The schedule for next class has us conducting another instructor meeting, so I’m excited to receive more feedback. 

Because we decided to follow a character in the beginning of the film, the question came up of if we should utilize a voice over or not. This could provide a better understanding to the plot and give insight to the characters personality and inner thoughts that a loner doesn’t typically get to show but it comes with complications. Voiceovers may look lazy and that we couldn’t portray the story with meticulous production design choices and acting. I also feel like it could come off as cheesy since most teen movies have these types of voiceovers that give off so much of the plot, that it doesn’t give the audience a chance to think for themselves.
We just don’t want the opening sequence of the morning routine to seem unengaging since as of now we don’t know what audio to put in place. An idea we could continue with is to have a pop like instrument play with a cheerful tone play as she gets ready. (Maybe a close up of her hand turning on a radio to show where the music is coming from, making it a diagetic sound?) But I think overall we will find multiple instrumentals as well as record the voice over so that we have options when editing the final project together. I am leaning towards the idea of having an instrumental play but I still need my group memebers opinion on this.

Casting

So one of our biggest dilemmas is finding actors to play our characters that are good at portraying the part and has an abundance of free time. In my neighborhood, I have a small group of friends that could help in playing the main roles and extras if we need them. Two of my friends in particular that we could cast could be Allison and Maggie because they are the most opposite of eachother appearance and personality wise. They both have very distinct styles where Maggie is much more girly, where Allison is much more of a tomboy. So to follow representation Maggie would fit the role of the typical popular girl while Allison could play the lonely outcast.
Most days we all hang out after school in our community clubhouse and instead of using that time to mess around, they agreed for certain days that we could shoot for the film. Remember how I mentioned we might have a problem? Well, spring break is slowly approaching and this week could help us with a great deal of filming since we are off of school for a week with plenty of time. But Maggie might be going on a roadtrip with her family so we don’t know how to go about filming without her. Another obstacle is if we want to film in school, how are we going to find time to do so with our differing lunches and study halls. We could probably see if we can film after school but with security becoming tighter, that may not be an option.
I hope we don’t have to change our opening because of this, but it might happen. I’ll try to keep you guys updated on that as I continue to post on other subjects.

Incorporating Credits

Now that we have a set idea for the opening, my group and I started to discuss how we wanted to insert our credits. We need the credits to match the style of the film so since we are producing a teen film, the credits should be fun and bright to resemble that. We came up with the idea to have the credits incorporated into different actions, let me explain. For example, a credit can appear over the alarm clock as its beeping and then the characters hand can “hit” it away just like hitting the alarm clock off. Another way we can insert the credit is by having the credit on the carpet and as the character gets out of bed, they step on the credit to where it disappears. We will incorporate this throughout the whole morning routine. Alan then suggested we could add a glitching effect to the credits, like they would start First name Last name, then glitch to last name first to symbolize the switching of the bodies. I really liked this idea because it will contrast the slower and calmer beginning of the character getting ready before realizing their new appearance, so this will draw more attention to the credits. Alan said he has an editing software that is capable of creating this effect called Premire Pro Simply. Soon I’ll have a post dedicated to our editing ideas for later in the film but for now this is what we came up with.

As the time for filming is slowly approaching, my group and I decided on a basic outline of how we want our intro to play out. Soon we will create a storyboard that will best replicate how we want to portray our film. So first we wanted to start the film with the two female characters already been switched, following one of them in their morning routine, but without showing their face. An idea of this would be a close up of an alarm clock beeping then the characters hand abruptly shutting it off, cutting to a close up under the bed of the characters feet hitting the floor showing they’re getting up. We decided to start like this so that when the audience sees her face for the first time, it will be like the character is too, since they’re in a whole new body. A way we could portray this is by them reaching to open the mirrored door cabinet in the bathroom not realizing their reflection at first and then quickly going back to look at themselves again in shock. 
The switch we would be following in the beginning is the “popular” girl switching to the loners body. We decided to go this route because it would give us more options on how we could later continue the opening. So after the girl realizes her reflection it cuts to her at school, scrambling around to find her friends. But of course they will recognize her as someone different and push her away. We will have a series of shots of her just roaming the halls to then bumping into her “original body” and we will cut there. 
So that is our basic idea of how we want to portray our opening, it is of course subject to change but for the most part I really like this outline. I can’t wait to see how it turns out with filmings starting so soon!

Tomorrow's Agenda

Tomorrow I get to see Juan and Alan in class and we decided to use the whole period to delve deeper into our plot and characters. We realized that before we can continue with our project we need to work out all the quirks within our storyline. So after our recommended viewing, we are going to get into groups and research more characteristics of teen movies that we can incorporate into our opening, establish our main characters and finalize our plot. In order to be prepared for filming, which we will be starting possibly the end of this week and all of next week, we need to understand our concept. So by utilizing our time wisely, we will be able to put all this information under our belt. Then the class after that we are going to create a storyboard so that the filming process can be as organized as possible and so that we don't waste our time figuring out what needs to be filmed. By Wednesday our schedule and storyboard should be established, the only thing I am worried about is that Juan and I have jobs so it may be difficult to find days for us to all work together. But if we are able to film during class, we will definitely use it to our advantage so we don't have to meet up after school hours as much. I'm excited to get to work in class tomorrow because nothing feels better than being prepared and well organized, especially in a project of this importance. 

Research Continues..

So I've decided to dedicate this week into conducting more research towards our film opening to ensure my group and I are making the steps towards preparing to plan and shoot for our opening. Juan, Alan, and I are thinking of maybe having the setting of the film take place at school since we wast-, I mean spend so much time there anyway. If we continued through this route we have to take representation into consideration. Our film would be considered a teen drama so our characters should accurately represent typical teenagers in today’s age. We were thinking of having a popular, arrogant teenage boy switch bodies with a shy, more knowledgeable girl, but nothing is set in stone until casting. Though the change in genders would cause for some funny jokes.

This article talks about how typical teenage representation in Hollywood is exaggerated and too cliche, I tend to agree with this. I don't seem to find most teenage movies and shows too relatable because their of their portrayal or also the fact that most actors that play high schoolers are past high school. So my group and I wish to challenge this by not only having real high schoolers play the part but also have more realistic representation within our cast. Since our target audience for the film would be teenagers, this idea of providing realistic representation would spark more interest in the film and lead the audience to become more interested as the film progressed.

Wilson, K. (2017, September 1). Teenage representation in media. Retrieved from https://chsprowl.com/1961/a-e/teenage-representation-in-media/

Finally Chosen!

In class today, all the students were split and put into groups to discuss possible ideas for the portfolio project. When my classmates began to discuss their ideas, I felt very behind because my group and I had not yet even chosen a genre. As time went by and we each expressed our concerns and schemes for this project, I was already gravitating to the drama genre. 
Within my group, my classmates and I took notes on how to improve our plots. The plot I had begun to become attracted to was the idea of two strangers within a school or job environment switching bodies and having to figure out who they have become and how to switch back to their original body. I had pulled inspiration from the film Freaky Friday as well as the show Drop Dead Diva but I wanted to put a twist to the story. I thought the idea of having the two characters be strangers would create a fun mystery and provide a tension that would keep the audience engaged to see if the characters are able to switch back to their original selves. 
So after class, Juan, Alan and I began to contemplate each other's ideas. Juan had an idea of two childhood friends in love losing touch, then reconnecting as adults and finding love again even though one of them is married with children. Then Alan's idea was about friends on a live streaming platform experiencing paranormal activity while playing haunted games such as an ouija board. In the end, we had agreed on my proposal. We still have more details to work out but as of right now we came over our biggest obstacle of agreeing on a plot. My group and I are going to continue to research Dramatic elements and representation tonight and I will make sure to update you guys tomorrow on our progress! 

Possible Plots

After our lesson on Film Openings, I was very drawn to openings that establish the background first. Personally, I find these to be the most entertaining and engaging because the viewer is immediately introduced to the plot and can determine whether they wish to continue the film or not right then and there.
An example of this type of film opening we saw during the lecture was Children Of Men(2006), and wow after viewing it, I still think about it to this day. The idea of the human race slowly dying due to infertility was extremely intriguing especially since the movie was supposed to be taking place in the future where you would assume humans to be thriving. It had very neutral mise-en-scene which kept me wondering why and how the world managed to get to the state. I would like to incorporate this sense of mystery into my film opening because I feel as though it is most likely to leave the viewer wanting more.  
Throughout this next week, my group members and I will be conducting more extensive research to determine which genre and plot will give us the best result for our film opening. I remember first hearing about this project when I entered the course and being worried about the difficulty and challenges I would have to face during this portion of the exam. But as the date gets closer to more researching, preparing and filming, I am feeling more confident in how this opening will turn out. With all the notes we have taken throughout the year and the more research we have to conduct, my group and I will definitely be prepared for the challenge coming our way. 

More Genre!

So my group and I have been having trouble deciding what genre we want to make our film, so we all decided to research and familiarize ourselves with each major genre. From that, we will be able to narrow it down to what genre suits us best. So the genre I am researching next is a mystery.
The typical content presented in these films is having the main conflict, usually murder and having to solve it with various clues. There is usually an element of suspense and it is conveyed by having different, much smaller problematic scenarios throughout the film while uncovering the main issue. This tactic keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats and has them wondering if the main character will be able to solve the problem. 
There are specific production techniques used in these types of films and they are all used to build up suspense and further exaggerate the mystery behind the plot. Close-ups are most commonly used to highlight the emotion a character has. Another common shot is the high angle shot because this accentuates the vulnerability the character has during the conflict. Along with this, fast editing is used to further create an anxious tone within the scenes, this all works together to build up suspense leading to the main conflict.
To provide a better understanding, Get out(2017) is a mystery movie. It is so because the plot has along with the built-up conflict and suspense it has throughout the movie. The main character is challenged with various scenarios and has to try to escape a hostage situation. Many close-ups were used throughout this movie, especially on the main character to present his emotions and reactions throughout the conflicts in the film. 
Some more examples of mystery films are
Se7en(1995): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114369/
Psycho(1960): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054215/
Mystic River(2003): https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0327056/

Music Marketing Campaign

Hey guys, so I've taken a break from researching movies and moved onto music. We were challenged to create an entire music campaign for an upcoming artist. So for my project, my group and I chose the song ‘We Are Young’ by Fun. Though this song has a lively pop beat, the meaning was dark and about a Domestic Abuse relationship. My group and I wanted to convey this and promote awareness of this issue so that others finding themselves in that situation can get out safely. So together we had to come up with a marketing and distribution plan to ensure success for our created artist Ashton Stone, and I’m going to tell you how we did it.


Since we chose a pop song, we had to break up the research to fit the target audience and move on from there. We focused on two specific artists and their marketing tactics, Ariana Grande and One Republic. They are both pop artist with a large following because of their social media presence and advertisements. From Ariana Grande, we decided to follow her idea of regularly promoting her new singles via Twitter and Instagram. This alerts the followers when the music will be released and ensures that her fans are aware of the release date, making the video have a higher chance of getting viewed and spread to others. So when we created our music video for Ashton Stone we included tweets of behind the scenes shots and a countdown so that more people are aware of the release. Then we were inspired by One Republic’s song Connection appearing in various jeep commercials. This had viewers associate the song with a higher class car, making them more inclined to enjoy the song. So we chose to be open to partner with brands to have Ashton’s song played in the background of the commercials.


Moving on, our marketing idea was to first gain a strong local following with free live shows and social media interactions. In order to gain a national following, we would first need to gain the support of local people just like Jake Miller did with the city of Weston. To ensure this, flyers were made to alert residents of show dates. These would be hung up at local grocery stores and hang out spots where teenagers are typically seen. We then made Ashton an Instagram, website, and Twitter, which he will be using the most. We wanted to make him available on the most popular platforms for his target audience but more specifically twitter because of its ease to quickly reach fans. Merchandise like phone cases and shirts were made so that once he gained a large enough audience people would be able to promote Ashton through their clothing and spark the curiosity of who he was.





Overall this project taught me how much thought and work goes into promoting a new artist. But these methods won't be limited to just music. When my group and I begin to shoot for the film opening, we can use some of these techniques to market the movie. This project also taught me how to work more fluidly with other people and how we can work around our busy schedules. Because of all the effort we put into this project, it gives us a sense of what filming is really like for a serious video. Soon I’ll be starting to prepare for this movie trailer and because of the materials we used and learned during this marketing campaign, I feel confident to start the film trailer opening.


The website we created- https://officialashtonstone.weebly.com/