A little peer review...

Today in class, I talked with some of my other classmates about my film opening and they gave me really good ideas that I hadn't even thought about. One idea that stuck out to me that one of my classmates had mentioned was timing. From the story that I am trying to carry out, they mentioned that there is just too much information that I am giving the audience just for the opening. When I first discussed the story line with my partner Ariana, I was more focused on how to conform with our thriller genre and mostly thought of details that can make the story juicer. But only with two minutes for the film opening, all of those little details can add up. After talking with my peers I realized that there are just too many scenes in a short amount of time, so now I am thinking about cutting some scenes out, therefore, giving Ariana and I more time for our film opening. I am even considering taking a whole day with my partner just to focus on how we could carry out our video just in case some ideas we have do not end up working, for back up.



My classmates also mentioned the use of props. There were many unrealistic ideas that I had, and I didn't really think about how hard they are to actually carry out. For one of my ideas, I wanted to get a cop or a group of police officers for the ending scene, but realistically, I do not know where I would find a cop to be in my video at the specific location I need them to be in. So, my classmates gave me some prop ideas and said that I should use blue and red flashing lights to indicate that there are police without actually having any there.

The Shots...

Today, my partner Ariana and I came up with the shots list for our opening video and correlated them with each number on our story outline. We carefully thought about which specific camera angle/ shot would interrelate with each screenplay. We both discussed and thought about so many different camera angles that can fit into each shot in order to enhance our thriller like story. We even wrote multiple camera shots in one line, so that when we film we can take those camera shots and see which shot we would like to have in our film. Down below is a picture of our shots list.





We correlated the shots list with our story line by having a certain parts of a scene have the same number as a specific shot with the same number. Some numbers of the list will have multiple shots because while we're filming we want to take as many shots to see if it can make our film more engaging. This number also allows us to know what happens chronologically throughout our entire film opening.



STORY LINE





SHOTS LIST






Now that we have our shots list and our story line done, our next step is to work on our storyboard using the shots/camera angles listed above.

Plan Plan Plan...

A couple days ago, I asked my friend Vernie if she would like to be an actress in our film opening and she said yes. I specifically asked her because she is on scholarship for a theater program at her private school. So today, while planning with my partner Ariana, we have created a story line outline for our film opening. In the story line, we have included my friend Vernie and outlined exactly what she should be doing throughout the video. Down below is a picture of our story line.




For our film opening, we wanted to introduce creepy, suspenseful elements for our thriller genre opening and we thought... why not introduce a stalker to the film? At first we were thinking about having the stalker be a guy, a typical guy stalking girl film opening. But then after talking today about it, we wanted to change how fundamental our scene was. We thought about changing the male stalker character to a female character. Switching up the normal standards on what gender is expected of a typical stalker.


Tomorrow, Ariana and I are going to make a "shots list" that corresponds to each number that is on our story line outline. After we are done making the shots list, it will be feasible to proceed to work on our storyboard.

Research

Another film opening that truly inspired me was the film opening to the movie JAWS directed by Steven Spielberg. The link down below is the film opening to the movie JAWS.

https://youtu.be/yrEvK-tv5OI







From the film opening I could tell that Spielberg took a lot of innovating to pull one of cinema’s most famous opening. Spielberg used a lot of planning and special effects in order to portray a monstrous, great white shark. The actress Susan Blacklinie had hooks attached to her legs so that divers could pull her down to get that "jerked by a Great White" effect. In my film opening, I am definitely using special effects and stunts to portray something greater than normal, could be a creature of some sort or an extensional crisis. I am also going to do a lot of innovating (exactly what Spielberg did) to really have my audience engage in my film opening. I am already planning some ideas that I should follow and stay consistent with throughout my opening video:


Film opening planning ideas:

1. Use of special effects to portray something greater than normal

2. Use of stunts to portray something more realistic and exaggerated

3. Use of high/low angles to portray greater/smaller characters


Spielberg also used amazing camera shots and angles to portray an effective "predator’s eye view" to put the audience inside the point of view of the hungry mind of the Great White shark. In JAWS, Spielberg’s camera mostly occupies the perspective of the creature. In my opening, I might want to do a point of view shot to have the audience see in the eyes of a character to create more intimacy between the audience and the film.




In Peter Benchley’s bestselling book "JAWS" a few of the opening lines reads,


“The great fish moves silently through the night.”


“At first, the woman thought she had snagged her leg on a rock or a piece of floating wood”


“There was no initial pain, only one violent tug on her right leg. She reached down to touch her foot, treading water with her left leg to keep her head up, feeling in the blackness with her left hand.”


Then comes the realization...


“She could not find her foot.”

-Peter Benchley





I would love to have this type of anticipation in my film opening. This movie includes a lot of anticipation and wanted expectations that really helped me come to that decision.

The Research

To create my film opening, I have decided to do some research into what kind of genre I would like to include. Since I had done previous research on Comedy's and Action genres for films, I have decided to research another genre (horror genre) in order to know what feel I exactly want for my audience. Aside from comedy's and action movies, I have researched the horror genre to step a little out of my comfort zone and dive into a whole different area of entertainment. Through my research, I have learned that horror films are designed to frighten and to invoke our worst fears. Horror films often provide a cathartic experience and the use of a terrifying and/or shocking beginning, in which I want to do for my own film opening to truly engage my audience. Horror films are also very flexible films in terms of story and genre which makes the process more feasible, which means I can basically pick out a random setting for my opening, any setting I want, and just have to make it somewhat suspenseful. Most traditional horror films include certain themes such as serial killer films, zombies, murder films, and traditional folk tales such as sea monsters and vampires. I wanted to step outside of those traditions and do something raw and new.

I have looked into one horror film in particular, and its film opening truly inspired me. After watching the film opening from the movie IT directed by Andy Muschietti, this showed me that I should really have my audience on their toes for my own film opening. The link below is the film opening for the movie IT.

https://youtu.be/DJWJ6RP55nU



In the video above, I could tell that Muschietti gives away little hints that the young boy is going to be in a lot of trouble, but it doesn't verbally state it so that the audience can ask questions as they are watching the opening, thats what I would like to incorporate in my own film opening. In the film opening for the movie IT, it shows that there is a helpless young boy gracefully running down the road to get his little paper boat that he made. The audience can tell that he is so nonchalant because he doesn't know what is about to happen to him by the way he smiles and runs down the street laughing and skipping. The rainy opening scene gives a bit more to the gloomy and sad state that the little boy will potentially be in. When the little boy notices that his paper boat floated down a drain, there is a close up scene of the boy trying to look down the drain, showing that there is something else that is in that drain besides the paper boat. I can tell that there is something else down the drain by how the music suddenly stops, and I can only hear the diegetic sound of the rain in the background, focusing more on that rain and the trouble it may bring forth. And yes, it does bring forth trouble when you see a creepy clown step out into the faint light from the drain, eventually grabbing the little kid and taking a chomp out of his arm.

This film provided an out of the box opening with its sounds, lighting, and close up camera angles in which I would like to include in my film opening.

Representation

A group that I want to present within my project are gay/homosexual people. Over the years, the dispersing of awareness for gay rights and gay pride has dramatically risen. In the past, no one would ever mention gay people, and people who wanted to come out to the public wouldn't because they have a fear of unacceptance from others. On television, gay people are perceived as a different type of group within their own personalities. The personality of gay people are very feminine which makes them diverse from every other group or individual in the cast of a show or film, especially characters who aren't gay. With their costume design, they are presented as having a sense of cleanliness and organization by having a clean cut outfit on, and are very precise with their point, which makes them very outgoing and sometimes loud with what they're stating.

          In the show Modern Family, there is a gay male couple who are seen as more outgoing and overjoyed than the other characters within the show. On social media sources, like twitter and Instagram, there are various pictures of gay people being happy and taking in their pride and awareness. There are also pictures of promotion of gay awareness such as posters and people holding hand made signs saying that love is equal among everyone. They bring forth a very peaceful environment with their big pride and spirit. In both medias, gay people have a trait that represents themselves and makes them stand out from the other people.

           Because I am growing up in the century where  more people are coming out, in today's society i view this as something that is of norm. The way people and medias represent gay people do represent some gay people, but not all. I have met many different gay people with different personalities of their own. I don't think that every gay person is of the feminine side because some aren't, and it really depends on the type of person. I wouldn't retain any of the characteristics since they are very stereotypically represented, especially in media sources.

GENRE-ACTION

GENRE- Action

GENRE CONVENTIONS- Action films usually feature high energy, physical stunts and chases with rapid pacing, often created from fast editing. Action films tend to be full of adventure and often includes multiple locations. Characters within these films are generally two dimensional and have copious stereotypes. Action films are designed for escapism and can also feature fantastical action. Spy films also fit into this genre as well as superhero films, material arts films and disaster films.

INSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS (PRODUCTION TECHNIQUES)- Showing action/reaction shots help audiences build anticipation for what's about to happen next in the film, even if it's only built up within the moment between the two shots. Additionally, instead of slowing down footage down in order to be able to see punches and kicks, a typical action hero may need the few frames before impacts sped up in order to make them seem more hard-hitting. Furthermore, action producers cut frames out of an impact. Instead of slowing down the frames, they just cut frames out all together to make them more intense. Producers also add filters to sound effects because It's not enough to drag and drop sound effects into a timeline to sell the illusion that people are getting fought on screen. Because of this, producers add some filters to them to make them sound as though they were recorded on location, otherwise it won't be convincing.

INSTITUTIONAL CONVENTIONS (HOW IS GENRE MARKETED)- When marketers try to put out an action genre out, they try to incorporate something remarkable to the film, such as big oversized props and publicity stunts that seem entertaining to the public eye. Letting viewers experience the story of the film is also another way action films are marketed. For example, The Hunger Games had one of the biggest digital marketing campaigns of the decade. The most innovative aspect of their strategy was their ‘Virtual Hunger Games’, where users could join a district and compete against other districts, just like in the film. This virtual game allowed viewers to experience what the characters in the film experienced while engaging with other fans of the film. Also, most action films include actors that correspond to the overall “action theme” because they star in only/mostly fun action movies, like Tom Cruz. Posting a picture of his face on a big picture, with everyone already familiarized with him can let the target audience know that it will be a good movie with a good actor starring in it.

FILM SAMPLE #1- The Avengers. The Avengers demonstrates a perfect representation of the action genre because of its fast paced action packed scenes. There are a lot of high energy and jump cuts while the avengers are all fighting crime. This includes fast paced cuts throughout the film to show that there is a lot of commotion and violence going on. There is fiction-like action when each avenger brings out their superpowers to the person or group they are fighting with which makes the audience “jump out of their seats” for almost every scene presented.

FILM SAMPLE #2- The Terminator. The Terminator presents a futuristic approach to the world. There is a cyborg assassin disguised as a real human being entering 2029 in order to kill someone. There are many abrupt scenes in this film such as explosions, bombs, and an abundance of reckless car crashes from many fast-paced car chases. Additionally, there are a lot of physical stunts and actions that the Terminator incorporates into his daily regimes in order to focus on killing the person that he was ordered to assassinate.

ACTION GENRE EXAMPLES: Wonder Woman, Black Panther, Mission Impossible, Venom.