Random Thoughts...

Happy Saturday!

I've been at competition practice all day today, but I'm finally able to sit down and write an update for the blog! 

I'm coordinating with some friends who are in drama, asking if they want to act in my film opening. But I've been thinking about the aesthetic I want my characters to portray. And with costume design, I'm a bit confused on what I should do. 

I was thinking of having the Boyfriend character dress in blue tones and Girl #2 dress in pink tones to symbolize her confusion about being attracted to the male or female gender. But is that regressive???

Gender is a social construct, and assigning the color pink to females and blue to males is outdated!!!! I want these two characters to visually symbolize her questioning of her sexuality, but I'm not quite sure how to show it. I think I'm going to ask some classmates and fellow TV and film connoisseurs for a second opinion.

I'm a really big fan of the vintage, retro color palette I've been seeing in films and TV shows recently. I've always loved the aesthetic as well.

These two color palettes from Quentin

Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood 

are a really good example of the colors 

I want to include in my film opening. 

This is a stylistic choice, 

hopefully this will not be taken in the wrong idea. 

Once I create deeper background for my characters, I think I will try to include color hues and tones that will symbolize their personas.

Hello Again!

I've come up with a rough draft outline of my film opening.

Video Handheld long shot of Girl #2 Handheld medium shot of Girl #2 Handheld close up shot of Girl #2 Medium, high angle shot of Girl #1 in bed Close up of Girl #1 as she sits up in bed Graphic match transition to medium shot of Girl #1 walking on street Whip pan to long shot of Girl #2 and Boyfriend waving Whip pan to medium shot of Girl #1, Girl #2, and Boyfriend Close up of Girl #2 face Close up of Girl #1 face staring in awe

Description Barren setting with natural lighting; dressed in long, white dress; purple smoke; her face is not fully revealed Looking at camera; beckoning with her finger Girl #1 jumps out from a dream, checks underneath the covers to see she’s got a mess in her pants Title pops up Credit sequence starts here; Girl #1 stops and stares forward worriedly Boyfriend has arm around Girl #1; Girl #2 says something to Girl #1 Looking radiant and angelic

I've got to decide what other shots I can incorporate as well as any transitional shots I want to use. I'm thinking of making the opening Scott Pilgrim vs. The World -esque in that its style is wacky at times. We'll see how it goes!

5th Post for Film Opening

Welcome to the fifth blog post for my film opening project!

I came up with an outline of the production schedule. I'm going to try my best to follow the schedule. In the second week of March, I'll be in Washington, D.C. for the Student Television Network Convention! I'll be competing with my school's TV production program! I'm really excited and nervous and stressed all at the same time ahh!! Partly because I'll have to keep up with this project while spending 5 days in D.C., not to mention all the assignments I'll be working on for my other classes. I gotta do what I gotta do!

Schedule (not including my blog posts, which I need to keep up with every week regardless):

• February 24 - March 8: Create the outline/storyboard for the film opening. I'm aiming to have my ideas organized and ready for production in this time frame.
• March 9 - March 15: Go to STN.
• March 16 - March 28: Begin production.
• March 28 - April 4: Begin post-production and any last-minute production adjustments.
• April 5: Finalize everything for submission!

On the weekend of March 20, I'll be out of town. The following weekend, I'll be in Orlando. I need to try to accomplish as much as I can with this in mind. I also need to work out the schedule with any actors I bring onto the production. 

I GOT THIS!

The Plot

This was me this week, trying to figure out the plot for my project. BUT I THINK I HAVE AN IDEA! I want my project to be about something I have experienced. Do what you know, right? 

Lots of people go through this phase in their life where they are confused with who they are. That was me...with my girl best friend (at the time)...confused about whether or not I had a crush on her or not. It's happened to me twice with two girl best friends. I'm not confused anymore! But back then, I was afraid about having crushes on them. Looking back, remembering what used to go through my mind, I definitely liked them. I was too afraid to pursue anything because I always thought I was heterosexual. Yay boys! But, deep down I know I thought of these two girls as more than my best friends. 

So...the plot of my film is going to be about two girl best friends. One of them is confused about her sexuality, unsure if she has intimate feelings for her best friend or not.

Silent Film?

I'm thinking of making my project an opening for a silent film...



I think silent films are really powerful, and it's challenging to tell a story and produce the right tone and mood without audible dialogue. A really good silent film has a story that speaks volumes. With my film opening, I really want it to be filled with emotion, to the point where it's overwhelming. I want to try to mimic how I feel right now. I've been dealing with a lot of things lately. I want to express myself. The other day in class, I was going through my head trying to think of any ideas to make my film opening stand out. We were about to leave class, the bell was going to ring in 1 minute. But the idea to make my project a silent film opening popped into my head and I had to note it down.

I know that silent films are not as popular nowadays, not many of them are being produced or receiving awards at the Oscars...but, I think a silent film will really test my storytelling and production skills. I think it will teach me a lot, and I want to be able to incorporate aesthetic, symbolic visuals because that's my style. I think I could have fun with it, too.

I'm a part of my high school's TV production program, and every year we participate in competitions. We compete with the Student Television Network, which is a national competition. Last year, my friends competed in the Silent Film category. I could get some pointers from one of them. For now,

I researched tips for making a good silent film, and I found some helpful pointers:

ACTING: The actors play a big role in correctly portraying the story, using their body language and facial expressions to do so. Since there is no dialogue, it'll be difficult to effectively depict the storyline without something being lost in translation.
STORY: The story is told through visuals, so prepare, prepare, prepare. Be detail-oriented and carefully plan out the story.
TECHNIQUES: Because the visuals are what illustrate the entire story, think heavily about camera shots and angles, color, camera movement, locations, lighting...
MUSIC: Instrumental background music can complement the aesthetic visuals of the film, but choose carefully.

https://www.raindance.org/making-silent-films-today-8-tips/

More Drama Genre Research

It's day two of genre research! I've been looking at examples of teen drama films. Many films are about teenage romance, while others are about teenage life overall. 

💫 The Fault in Our Stars 💫

The Fault in Our Stars directed by Josh Boone & based on the novel written by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars (2014) follows many genre conventions, while heavily focusing on an intimate relationship between a male protagonist and a female protagonist. What drives a knife into the hearts of all the viewers is that both main characters have terminal diseases: Hazel Lancaster has thyroid cancer that spread to her lungs and Augustus Waters's osteosarcoma caused him to lose his leg. The emotionally charged backgrounds of the characters drive the drama convention. The deeply emotional and tragic story surrounding two introverted, indie teenagers classify this film as a teen drama, but other factors come into play. The film shows many elements that represent or are typically used to portray love

like flowers,

beautiful settings (this film does not show much of any school setting as the main character has to stay at home because of her illness), 

and heartbreaking moments.

The male protagonist, Augustus Waters, is portrayed as a young, apathetic heartthrob. This is the type of character that highly appeals to teenage girls. He is charming and, in actuality, caring, underneath his bad boy image. He, like most male teenagers in romantic teen dramas, says quotes that make his character seem philosophical and wise, some simply just attempts to melt the hearts of the viewers.

(I cannot forget to include the most iconic quote from the movie.)

💀 Lady Bird 💀

Lady Bird directed by Greta Gerwig

The film Lady Bird (2017) depicts the teenage life of Christine "Lady Bird" McPherson. Lady Bird has a plot that is not exaggerated and romanticized as opposed to other teen dramas. It does show conventional ideas such as the clashing relationship between teenager and parent, trying to fit in and losing yourself, breakups between friends, teenagers who only care about getting someone into bed, finding true identity (personality, religion, sexual orientation, etc.), struggles with high school and college, being young and ignorant, and teenage culture in general. The film does a wonderful job of depicting struggles and hardships that teenagers commonly deal with.

I think for my film opening, I want to focus on creating something more similar to Lady Bird than The Fault in Our Stars. I'd like to focus on a melancholic tone, it's a feeling lots of teens such as myself can relate to. I still need to think of that big factor that will make it different from typical teen drama movies...

https://www.slideshare.net/radineurope/the-fault-in-our-stars-62709929

The Beginning...

I'm so nervous! My class and I are starting our film opening project. These next couple of months for me are jam-packed, but I just need to put in the time and effort so I can create an opening that I will be happy with.

First, I need to decide the genre of my film opening. I want to base my film around a feeling or theme that I know; something I can relate to. That would be easier to produce, but I also like when my work reflects and expresses how I feel. I'm thinking of indulging in the drama genre. More specifically, I'm thinking about teen drama. I'm afraid of looking too cliche and unoriginal, but any ideas that come to mind mirror my teenage mentality. I can't help it! I also really want to make my opening about teenage feelings, it's just what I see in my head when I think about this project. I just need to come up with an idea that doesn't seem as cliche and typical. Something that will make it different from the films out there. That's gonna be difficult... But that's life, right?

Teen dramas are typically based on real-life teenage experiences and lessons, like bullying, peer pressure, relationships, and more. Because teenagers are known to be dramatic, dramas are highly emotional and exaggerated.

Teen dramas usually take place in school or around school, since they depict teenage life. Other aspects of mise-en-scene like costume design and lighting are tailored to fit the lifestyle and culture of the teenage scene. Protagonists are depicted as "losers" or individuals cast out from the popular group and big crowds in general.






https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/movie-genres-list/#drama-genre
https://www.slideshare.net/mediaa297/codes-and-conventions-teen-drama

Music Marketing Project

Still from the music video for "Me and Your Mama"

My group and I were assigned to create an entire campaign for a made-up artist in the "hip hop funk" genre. Of course, we were ecstatic to work in this genre as some of our favorite artists' music is categorized into this genre. We found that a lot of artists in this genre heavily rely on their music videos to further market their song, of course focusing on social media presence as well. Our case studies use stylistic and aesthetic visuals and images to mirror their brand as well as their music. Their target audience includes both males and females classified as teenagers and young adults.

My group and I wanted to focus our target audience on teenagers and young adults. From living and breathing the Internet and media world, we found that a majority of youth are attracted to artists like Tyler, The Creator and BROCKHAMPTON. This helped us create the brand for our artist, Third Eye. 

Still from the music video for "Me and Your Mama"

We wanted Third Eye to be real and resemble a chaotic, aesthetically surprising image that similar artists, like Tyler, The Creator, have. Having a pleasing aesthetic grabs attention from lots of young people, so we made sure Third Eye branded that to the music and media world. Third Eye is supposed to be real, not portrayed as a robot from the music industry but a real-life individual. So, with an amplified social media presence, Third Eye is able to establish and maintain her brand. This was done through her Twitter, where she posted whatever she wanted and said whatever she wanted, along with her Instagram, which again provided content curated specifically by Third Eye.

To help further market the song "Me and Your Mama" as well as Third Eye and her campaign, we created a music video, merchandise, and a vinyl record of her upcoming album. The music video is a visual representation of Third Eye's personality and music, and it is filled with easter eggs for her new album to create a discussion with viewers and fans. It is uploaded to YouTube as it is the #1 platform for viewing music videos. Almost all youth live on YouTube, so it is the perfect way to engage with the audience. The merchandise puts listeners right next to the artist and provides promotion. Besides digital distribution through streaming services, like Spotify and Apple Music, we wanted to create a vinyl record as it has risen in popularity amongst the youth. Vinyl record sales sky-rocketed in 2019.

Still from the music video for "Me and Your Mama"

Working on this project has taught me a lot about the development of a marketing campaign and production of a music video. A marketing campaign should include elements that make it and the artist stand out amongst the music community. Trends follow the same path, and it does lead to success, but it is vital to be unique and representative of something unique. It is not easy to produce an entire campaign, but taking the easy path by following what every other artist is doing will not result in fulfillment and true success. Producing and editing a music video for an entire song is not easy either. That alone requires days of production and days of editing. It should be visually stimulating and entertaining to honestly gain attention and potential fans.