Group Meeting

     Whats up guys! This week we had our first group meeting. I thought it was really beneficial for everyone and I learned a lot. We were split into groups of 6 but one girl that was meant to be in my group was not in class.

    I wasn't the first to go in my group, but I enjoyed hearing other peoples' project ideas and seeing where I am at compared to them. Being able to hear other peoples ideas and give them feedback alone helped me put together my ideas more. Also, reading their blogs and seeing what they write about helped me to see how I can better my blog.    

    When talking about my film opening I didn't get many critiques. They agreed with me that the voice over is going to be a challenge and gave me a tip to select very different voices and have them speak in very different tones. I think that will help to distinguish the voice over and definitely takes some stress of me. The only other suggestion that I go was instead of establishing setting in the beginning to do a split screen of the two girls getting ready showing how different they are, and towards the end of the routine they both look at a picture of them when they were little. Then cut to when the preppy girl is going to pick up the gothic girl. This is something I am considering but I'm not sure. I am going to have to weigh out the pros and cons. 

This is similar to how the split screen would be. It helps to infer that these 2 events are taking place at the same time in different places. I think this could look really cool i'm just not sure if it fits as the first scene in the film opening. 

Mice-en-Scene research

Heyyyy!! I am going to be incorporating a lot of mice-en-scene elements in my film opening, so I think it is best that I do more research on mice-en-scene in the romantic comedy genre. 

Setting

The setting in a romantic comedy is typically in a school or workplace. The genre is realism so any typical place fits. The Kissing Booth is a perfect example. While most scenes take place in school, there is still shots in their house, at the fair, the pool, and arcade as these are typical places for teenagers to be. 

Props

Within romantic comedy's, props are not uncommon. Usually love notes, flowers, chocolates, bears; always a naturalistic style. For example, in To All The Boys I've Loved Before, Laura Jean is giving her boyfriend a variety of gifts from her trip. These props contribute to the emotion and genre of romantic comedy. It helps do display the passion she sees for her boyfriend.

Weather

Weather in romantic comedy's would be expected to always be perfect, but it's quite the opposite. It is used to create a specific mood or atmosphere. When obstacles are placed in a film it usually rains or snows, and when there's a happy ending sunshine radiates. But this isn't always the case. Sometimes it's the opposite and when a couple reunites it rains shows their passion. In My Life With the Walter Boys, the rain helps to contribute to the mixed emotions the two are feeling. It adds to the mood the directors are trying to create.

Costume

The costuming in romantic comedy's is usually naturalistic and depends on the setting on the scene. For example, Sharpay in High School Musical has different costumes depending on her setting. 

Here she is seen in a bathing suit as she is laying out by the pool. She is accessorized with the appropriate pool side accessories (sunglasses.) Her personality is also shown through her costuming. Just by looking at her you can tell she is a girly-girl with a big personality. She has a big statement necklace which tells us she is outgoing, pink and sparkly clothed which tells us she is very feminine, and big sunglasses that tells us she is very confident. 

I plan on using a lot of naturalistic elements in my film opening. I'm going to be utilizing the school or shopping center which is a typical place for teenagers to be hanging out. I'm not sure if I am going to be using any props within my film though. If a car counts as a prop I will be using that, but maybe as I am filming I will find that a prop is necessary. The weather is going to be a sunny day as I want too depict the highlights of Florida as it is the 'sunshine state.' The costuming is the most important part of my film. I have to show the contrast of the two girls' personalities. I am going to have to utilize accessories to the max in order to really show the audience each characters personalities. 

Small change...

     Hello! I'm going to change up the order of my blogging schedule just a little and make my story board first, then shots list, and then script. I think this is a better way to organize my ideas and gives me a little more time to think about exactly how I want to characters to be represented and act.  My story board is a little messy but it's just a rough draft and a way to visually see what I want to do.

    Here is my story board:

My Film Openings and Genre Characteristics

    Heyyyy! Now that I have finally figured out what my film opening is going to be about I need to finalize my approach and what characteristics I am going to use from my genre. I just celebrated my birthday this past weekend so I haven't been thinking too much into the logistics recently, but it's time to get down to business. 

The Approach

    In the beginning I was thinking of taking the establishing background and setting approach, and I am going to stay with these choices. I am going to be utilizing establishing background using heavy mice-en-scene elements with what the girls are wearing. (I need to come up with some names) I want to show their personalities through their clothing and makeup. One of the girls will be more preppy and girly while the other more gothic and less feminine. From head to toe I am going to try and incorporate these aesthetics. The girly girl will be seen in perfectly white sneakers, a skirt, and a cool colored shirt. She will have light makeup that looks effortless and natural and her hair done. The gothic girl will be seen wearing combat boots, black pants, black top, dark makeup, and dark messy hair. These looks will help to build context to the girls' personalities. I am also going to be utilizing voice overs. In these voice overs the girls are going to be talking about themselves, and the way they think on other people/things. This will help to show (again) their personality and who they really are. I am going to be utilizing establishing setting a little, (but mostly establishing background.) I am going to use pans and tilts slightly in the very beginning of the film opening to build a little context as to where the film is going to be taking place. I will use iconic representation of palm trees, pools, and the sun to help show the film is taking place in the sunshine state (Florida.) 

Genre Characteristics

    My earlier research helped me to see characteristics that are often used within the romantic comedy genre. One thing I noticed was the use of close-up shots. I plan on utilizing to help show who is speaking when a voice over is present. It will help show emotion as well. Fast paced cuts are also used when it is a teenage film. Since my film is based off high schoolers, I want to use fast paced cuts in the beginning while establishing setting. A big characteristics that is used in the beginning of a romantic comedy film opening is the type of music used. Romantic comedies often use upbeat music in the film opening, but it matches the vibe that is shown on screen. I am going to use a song in my film opening, finding one is just going to be difficult. 

    I'm super pumped to start working on this project and finish up with the planning phase, but I still have a long ways to go. I think it's going to be difficult to really display the girls' personalities using mice-en-scene, but I am up for the challenge and can't wait to see it come to life. Matching the voice overs to the girl so that the viewer understands is still a concern I have. I think it'll always stress me out until I get some friends and family to watch it and see if they understand. I'm pretty confident in being able to out together fast paced cuts and pans/tilts. I have been practicing that for a while now, but finding the perfect song will be a journey. If I don't have the right opening song, the entire film opening will look weird and out of place. So, i'm definitely most worried about choosing the perfect song. I'll keep you guys updated on that. Overall, i'm pretty confident in the choices I am making due to the research on my favorite romantic comedies. I'm SUPER EXCITED to get out of this planning phase but I am also trying to just enjoy the process.

What Should my Film be About?

     Hiiii! Now that I have a set genre that I am going to be working with it is time I decide on what my film/film opening is going to be about. For some reason this has been very difficult for me. My last idea was a bust. I don't think i'll be able to execute it well and it just won't work out. This is a vital step for the project so I need to make sure I pick something good.

    After talking to my family and friends I think i've finally came to a conclusion on what my film opening should be about. "Three's Company" is the name I think I am going to use. It's going to be about a love triangle. The film will be about two (girl) best friends who both fantasize over the same boy. There is an added tension between the two friends as they don't want a boy to get in the way of their friendship. 

    I definitely want to start with a background fading into the first scene with some credits over it. I was thinking maybe the sky as it tilts down to the street. I want to do what clueless did as well with the voice over and the use of cars. But, I want the two girls to be in the car together and the voice over be their thoughts and less of a narration. I think making sure the viewer understands who is talking with the voice over may be tricky but I really want to incorporate this. I'm not sure if the girls will be similar or polar opposites. I think using mice-en-scene elements I could make the characters personas very cool if they were polar opposites, but i'm not sure if that would be fitting as they're suppose to be best friends. But maybe I could work out a story line to make the idea come to life. 

In clueless the producers some how made the two best friends similar yet so different. Maybe I could do something like this. Another idea is that the two girls could be friends since birth but now that they're in high-school they'e gone down two different paths but are still close. Again, not sure if these ideas will really work out but I think using mice-en-scene they could come out looking really cool. 

    I also want to do a slow-motion walk with the staring male to help emphasize his "glory." I have to start looking for a song to use for the film opening and think of names for characters. I have no idea how I am going to convince my friends to do this, lol, but I need to start thinking of casting too. I'm going to start to put together my ideas and make a story board, but for right now these are my ideas. I'm super excited about this idea and can't wait to start putting the peaces together!!

Credits

    Heyy! Before I get started on my project I wanted to research one more element. Credits. Within the romantic comedy genre, opening credits are usually shown sporadically throughout the opening. I've researched a few openings and would like to share my findings. 

13 Going on 30

In this film opening, at the start there is the distribution company logo, and for about 30 seconds names pop up with the background fading into the first scene. Throughout the duration of the entire opening names are popping up with placement so it's not in the way of the shot and so it's pleasing to the eye. I like that the begining has some of the most important names as the background was fading. I thought that was a nice way to get the film started without just jumping right into it. They were able to take advantage of this and add some credits in. This is something I may consider using in my film opening.

She's All That

The film once again opens with the distribution company logo. I may have to create my own logo for my film. That may be cool.  As the film opening continues the use of elements helps to show the credits. They make the names fit in with what is going on on-screen using transitions. The credits keep pace with the fast, up-beat music making this film opening engaging. I really enjoy the use of music and different elements to help blend in the credits with the opening. It helps to make the credits feel less random. I also like the use of transitions, I think it adds a nice touch. 

I like things that both 13 Going on 30 and She's All That opening do involving credits. I am going to try and do a fade into the first scene to add credits over that like 13 Going on 30 does. I am also going to try and incorporate the same pace-match and engaging elements that She's All That uses. I am going to work hard editing my film editing so nothing feels random and so my opening stays engaging throughout the entire two minutes. 

Blogging Schedule

 Hey!! I just wanted to quickly hop on here and share what my schedule is going to look like for blogging. Obviously these dates aren't set in stone but as of right now this is what I plan to blog about and when.

2/16/24- Analysis of how credits are intergrated

2/20/24- Story outline and brainstorming

2/21/24- Film openings and genre characteristics I am going to include

2/25/24- script writing research/ script and development

2/27/24- first draft of shots list

2/29/24- storyboard

2/30/24- discuss edits made to plan

3/5/24-  any updates on research

3/7/24- Mise-en-scene elements being used

3/9/24- update on filming process

3/12/24- update on filming process (finished?) 

3/13/24- update on editing

3/15/24- Research response to creative critical reflection

3/19/24- update on editing process 

3/21/24- Research response/update on creative critical reflection

3/24/24- summary on peer feedback

3/26/24- Research response/update on creative critical reflection

3/28/24- document development of creative critical reflection

3/30/24- summary of response to creative critical reflection 

4/1/24- Project reflection/ final project link and creative critical reflection links

I'm supper excited to dive into this project and can't wait to document it all on here!

Genre Characteristics

     Hey guys. I've been thinking a lot recently about what genre I should choose for my film opening and I decided on a romantic comedy. I really enjoy watching them so I think I would have the most fun creating one which in the end, what make my film opening better. I then decided to research what a typical film opening includes for a romantic comedy. They usually create humor and an awkward tension between the two potential love partners by outlining an initial confrontation of beliefs or personalities, an embarrassing situation or an introduction by a funny misunderstanding or identity mistake. These are seen in many of my favorite romantic comedy's that I decided to further dive into.  After looking at a few different film opening these two stood out the most. 

10 Things I Hate About You

This film opening shows a confrontation of personalities with the contrast of music between the fun possibly "popular" girls and an angrier girl by herself (who we later learn is the main character.) I notice that a lot of emotion is used to help develop characters in the opening. There is a lot of close-up shots which is something I may need to use within my film opening. The opening also develops location by tilting and panning the location. I really liked how they showed mixed personalities of the girls and this is something I am going to considered using in my own project. 

Clueless

Clueless opening with a series of clips of what appears to be the main characters life. It then starts with a voice over of her explaining a little about her life. I like this mixed approach that the filmed used. It helps to keep the audience engaged which is important to keep in mind when developing my film. In the beginning the use of fast paced cuts is predominant to help show the teenage vibe of the movie. This is definitely something to consider when creating my film opening. Music, once again, is a big aspect of this film opening which may be an issue for me as I cannot use copy righted music and if I want to would have to try and get permission. 

I really liked the contrast of the two personalities that was used within 10 Things I Hate About You. I am definitely going to incorporate a bunch of close ups like they did with 10 Things I Hate About You. I don't know if i'd realistically be able to effectively develop location while keeping it entertaining so I think it's best to steer away from that. I really liked the mix of approaches that was used in Clueless. I'm for sure going to try and incorporate that into my film opening as-well as the use of fast-paced cutes. Overall, researching really helped me to see the elements I need to incorporate into my film opening to convey the genre of a romantic comedy. I saw somethings I liked and didn't liked an learned a lot.

Transitioning to the Portfolio Project

 Hey! After finishing up our music marketing project, in class we started to explore and learn more about the portfolio project for the exam. The portfolio project is 50% of the exam grade so it is important that I really understand what is expected of me and what elements I need to incorporate to have a good project. Last class, we learned all about film openings. This includes characteristics that a film opening needs to include like illustrating genre, credits, a title and to develop purpose. It is apparent to me that starting my project it is important to develop the tone of my film opening. We also learned about the different approaches to a film opening. Two that caught my eye and sparked interest in an idea for my project were establishing background and establishing setting. We also learned about developing conflict, creating mystery, and using technical elements, but none of these really got my excited like establishing background and establishing setting did.

Establishing Background

To establish background you have to develop context using Mise-en-Scene elements, incorporate scene elements, and possibly dialogue. This technique provoked me as I like the idea of building up to a story as it allows for a lot of creativity for me and to create a character. I can go into detail about a characters life which can tell a story. Telling a story is something I think i'm really good at and something I have a lot of interest in. 

Establishing Setting

To establish setting you need to rely heavily on details, focus on costume design, and incorporate iconic representation. This one allows you to build context as to where the film would be taking place. I thought this one may also incorporate into my idea. A pro to this idea is that it's very do-able. I'm not to confident in my film skills so I want to keep my ideas practical but yet something I will enjoy creating. 

My idea for this project came straight to me when we started to discuss it. I wanted to do a film about JAPs. A JAP is a Jewish American princess. I was almost inspired by the movie "You're so not invited to my bat mitzvah." I like the idea of telling a story about spoiled girls who live a lavish life style at such a young age. Going to temple to be holy while they do some un holy things there. The life of a JAP is just so much more entertaining than most people know. It also is do-able for me as I know a lot of JAPs and live in a jappy community. I don't know if this is the best idea and how I would be able to follow through with it, but it's just the first one that popped into my head. 

Music Marketing post #2

 Hey! Now that I have completed my Music Marketing project I thought I would reflect on my time working on it. While working on this project some things came easier while some things came a lot harder to my group and I.

Notes Chart

To start the notes chart. Looking back, we spent a lot of time finding which production company to research when we honestly shouldn't have taken that long. We wasted a good amount of time putting a lot of thought into a production company and spent less time researching. The research felt a little rushed, although I don't think it was reflected in our work. Once we finally decided on 2 production companies it was easy to get the information and learn about marketing techniques. Overall, we should have spent less energy on finding a company and more time on going into in depth research. 

Brainstorming

Brainstorming was especially difficult for my group and I. Picking one song out of the three was a challenge. Once we picked one, coming up with an idea for a music video based off the song was hard. We chose "Tonight" by Phoenix. We couldn't think of anything. We didn't even know what approach to take. We settled on a mixed approach, storytelling and promotional. To match the vibe of the song we wanted it to be fun but still filled with a pool of emotions. We decided to tell the story of a girl being stood up on a date. We also had the promotional portion wear the band is singing in the grocery story to help make it fun and bright. In addition, we created a shared word document wear we could add all of our ideas on how we should create a brand for the band we were creating. These ideas include color, marketing techniques, and samples of social media. Coming up with a name for the band was possibly the hardest part of the project. For some reason we found it extremely hard to come up with a name for our band. After way to much time was spent on brainstorming a name we just settled on "The Romantics" as we couldn't waste all our time on the name and there was more important aspects to focus on. We decided if as we were working and came up with a new name, we'd change it. Here is our shared document:

Here is the song: Tonight by Pheonix

Planning Production

Planning out our shots/angles/composition was easy for us. Once we knew what we wanted to produce putting together the technical elements were easy. Creating our story board took a few re-writes but never the less, we got it done in a timely fashion. Having such a detailed story board helped us when filming. We were able to not waste any time while filming. We knew exactly what to do and did it. 

Post Production

I edited the video and it wasn't to difficult. I added a higher saturation to the promotional clips and a lower saturation to the storytelling clips. I also wanted to include jump cuts, so I split up the clips and cut some out to create those jump cuts. I also included a zoom to help emphasize smaller details. For example, the text message. I tried to line up certain points so it would flow and I think those parts ended up looking really good. The editing aspect was pretty easy as I mostly just had to put together the clips and make a few subtle editing changes. 

Here is the music video:

The Presentation

Creating the presentation was easy as we had our shared word document. Really all we had to do was transfer our information from the document to our presentation. Of course we had to design the presentation with our color scheme, fonts, and logo, but other than that there wasn't much to really struggle with. Having the document really helped us to easily create the presentation. Adding elements into the presentation and making it look nice was probably the hardest part of the presentation but that wasnt even hard. I made 3 samples of the social media pages. That was the most fun for me as I got to be creative and also make something that I enjoy and use every day. 

Here are the samples:

Reflection

Taking part in this project I learned a lot. I learned on how to market in a way that is actually successful and will reach the target audience. I learned how much thought actually goes into the things we consume. I think my group and I spent a lot of time focusing on little-less important details while we should've focused more on the things we overlooked. I think we did well on the preparation which helped us in the long run. This project is going to help me drastically on my Cambridge portfolio project. I now know the best ways to market and create a brand where everything lines up. I am going to take the things I could've done better and learn from them, and continue to do the things I did well, like the planning. Overall, this project was beneficial to me in many different ways and as a student, improved my understanding of the way the world works.