CCR

Here it is, my creative critical reflection for my film opening project:

Film Opening

The opening is finally complete for our film "The Runaway," a teen drama about a stressed out teen that runs away from his school and family problems. Enjoy:

Reflection

Now that the project is finally done, I can now look back and see all the work my group and I have put in for the past couple weeks. Even though we changed the story multiple times due to complications, especially due to the coronavirus, we were still able to complete the project. I think we managed to create a quality project, despite the circumstances, and make an opening that uses good technique and creates an interesting story.

Although I wish we could've still used our original story, it would've been pretty hard even without the quarantine. At first when we started this project we had a lot of great ideas and decided on the story of an actor struggling with addiction. The story had many details and was extensively thought out, but due to our current situation, it didn't work out. After deciding that we would have to change the story we struggled to find something that would be reasonable, but we eventually landed on the story we used in the opening.

Filming of the project was a challenge since we had to do our parts separately in our homes, but since we changed the story it was much easier since the setting was now in a house. Filming took a couple of days, because of the weather and some lighting issues, but I eventually got all the shots done. The editing was soon done by Ryan who did a great job at putting together all the clips and audio. Overall, I think we succeeded in completing the project while still making it interesting and well made.

Filming Update

I have finally begun filming today and got a good portion of my part done, before realizing that the lighting outside was pretty bad due to how cloudy it was. Although it wasn't too bad, I had to postpone the rest of the filming since some parts will take place outside. Some parts of the window scene may also need to be refilmed since most of the lighting comes directly from the outside and the clouds made the lighting very cool colored. The hue of the lighting doesn't go very well with the feeling I'm trying to achieve since the opening has a very upbeat and fast-paced feel to it that would benefit much more with a brighter and more neutral hue to a warm hue. The hue could also be corrected while editing as we will be color correcting almost all the shots to make some of the shots look more visually appealing as well as connect Ryan's footage with mine.

warm (right) vs. cool lighting (left)

Last Steps

Since I will be filming a majority of the opening, Ryan created a quick storyboard to outline the story and some of the shots. From this I can film easier with a clear guide that gives me an idea of what I should be doing. I can also build off the storyboard to add more shots and alter some of the shots. Most of the nature shots will be filmed by Ryan, while the indoor scenes will be filmed by me. With all the planning complete I can move on to filming with the storyboard as an outline.

In preparation for filming, I had to rearrange some parts of my room to better fit some of the shots that we planned in the storyboard, specifically the section with the window, leaving my room pretty messy. Hopefully I can pull off a clean yet deliberately artistic look with the props I have laying around my house. One issue I may face is lighting, since I will probably have to rely on daylight and my single room light, which happens to be a pretty warm colored light, but will hopefully balance out with the daylight and provide good lighting.

Filming Plan

The problems from the coronavirus never seem to stop as we have now realized that none of us will be able to leave our houses in order to film. We originally planned to meet up and film at someones house and briefly outside, to minimize our chances of being exposed to the virus, but we have all decided that it is far too risky and we will be filming at home. Although this does make a dent in our plans, it shouldn't take away from the quality too much, other than the fact that I will have to use my phone to film, since I usually use Ryan's camera to film.

The plan is that me and Ryan will be filming our parts separately with Ryan filming some B-roll and I will be filming the main shots and acting as the main character. We may also need some voice acting from one of my other group members to act as the father yelling in the background, which we can edit in. Once the filming is done, all that needs to be done is editing and the opening should be complete.

Script

Ryan quickly finished a rough script going over the main idea for the film opening, which will no doubt be extremely helpful in our filming process. We plan on filming and editing it sometime next week to give us a good amount of time to make sure everything is perfect. With the story finished, we are one step closer to completing the opening.

The story centers around themes of nature and finding oneself, although much of this wont be explored for too long in the opening, the main character Jordan will go on a journey that is filled with hardship and conflict that will help Jordan find himself. The opening starts with Jordan in his rooms preparing to sneak out from his house with his dad yelling at him in the background. Although the father is hard on his son he only wants to see him succeed, but Jordan doesn't see it that way and only focuses on getting as far away from his father as he can. Jordan's journey of coming to understand his father and himself will be explored in the film, and slightly hinted at in the opening. When Jordan finally gets out of his house he hesitates before running off as upbeat music plays in the background. He finds himself in nature and marks the beginning of his journey throughout the rest of the film.

Final Final Story

After discussion with my group members, we have decided to use my concept for our final version of the opening. We discussed many different versions and settled one story and Ryan, one of my group members, began writing a script for the opening. The story and overall mood of the film will take inspiration from popular and classic teen movies.

Examples:

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986):
A lot of the mood I'm going for in this opening comes from the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off, in which the main character Ferris Bueller convinces his parents he's sick and needs to say home from school, leading to a grand adventure through Chicago as he evades his high school principal. Ferris embodies the rebellious teen character, and I want to portray this same type of rebellion in my main character as he flees from his house. I also take inspiration from the fast-paced music that plays right as Ferris succeeds in convincing his parents and his journey begins, which can play a similar role in my own film opening.

Thirteen (2003):
Although it is a stark contrast from the previous example, Thirteen shows some inspirations for elements that I could include in my film opening. The upbeat rock music is almost synonymous with teen movies and rebellion, similar to the music Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and can be utilized in my opening when the character is running away from his home. The overall mood is entirely different in this piece, with it being much darker and could be implemented in my opening if we decided to maybe take a darker route. Running away is no easy task for a young teenager, so a darker tone could suit the situation well. One other route is we can combine these examples and start the opening upbeat, until it slowly morphs into a dark film as the character realizes the trouble they are in.

Further Complications

It looks like I may have to change my film opening story again because my story revolved heavily around filming in Markham Park, but the park has decided to close to prevent any large gatherings of people. There aren't many other alternative filming locations as all parks are closing in my county along with Markham Park due to the coronavirus situation. Since there isn't any other place in my city or nearby that has a deep forest or similar scenery, i'd rather come up with a new story rather than make it harder for me.

from Markham Park website

One of the other concepts I had come up with when we were brainstorming a new idea, was a film opening about a teenager who runs away from home into the wilderness to live on his own. Originally it would've ended up in the forest at Markham Park but the concept can be reworked into any other setting. The main story would remain the same and would be a fun and upbeat teen movie taking inspiration from classic teen films. I'll have to discuss and refine the concept with my group members so we can decide on the final story.

Developing a Story

With the decision of Markham Park as the filming location, we now have shifted our focus on developing a story around this location. As I mentioned in the last post, the park gives us plenty of opportunities for different genres and themes that we can represent. After discussion, it seems we have decided to go with the dark and mysterious horror route and create a story that peaks the interest of viewers through its chilling themes. The deep and dark forests provide an infinite amount of possibilities for stories.

One possible story for the opening could revolve around a character walking through the woods, maybe on a jog, the next thing he knows, a screams echoes through the trees. Eerie music builds as the main character goes towards the source of the scream, a dark trail into the woods. Panic builds as he hesitates to enter the woods, but he knows that someone could be in danger, so he finally decides to go in. The music swells as he enters and suddenly the title appears and the opening ends. This could be a basic outline for a much more detailed and complex opening that could include hints at the conflict or maybe even something supernatural, but at this point we are still discussing ideas and making progress.

Possible Location

Over the past couple days, my group and I have been brainstorming different themes and stories that we could use for a film opening. Almost all of our ideas have sprung from one location: Markham Park. The past couple of weeks we have been hanging out more and more at Markham Park and have always found that at night it can give a very eerie feeling. My group and I have always thought that this park would be a great place to film something in, even to film something outside of school. The deep trails that go through the forest give a dark and eerie feeling that could do well for a horror type movie. On the other hand. the quiet forests with sunbeams poking through the trees give a calm and tranquil feeling that could be the setting for a drama or romance film. The park has so many opportunities for filming locations and is also a safe place for filming during this pandemic, since we likely wouldn't come into contact with anybody else.

New Direction

After some discussion with my group, we have decided to start over with our project. Our original idea could've been great, but was a little ambitious for us and especially now with everything going on with the virus. We will be deciding a new story and new filming locations so that we can make a project that is easier for all of us to achieve and safer. I still want to create a quality project that uses good technique and sets up an interesting story, while being more realistic with current circumstances. We also have to factor in that we need to have minimal contact with others to follow social distancing advice from scientists and officials. Overall this decision for our project will save us money, time, and stress for the long run.

Coronavirus Issue

It seems like the coronavirus has blown up into a worldwide issue, which may complicate some parts of our project. As of now there is some confusion about the continuation of the project, but it seems like our process will continue on mostly uninterrupted. My blog posts should continue as normal, since it can easily be done at home during this pandemic. It looks like I will probably order my costume online rather than risking it and going to a store.

On the other hand, filming might become an issue, as we will have to meet up in person. No public spaces are really being considered for the filming locations, so we will probably film in someones house to minimize contact with others. Over the past couple days, my group and I have been discussing when to film and so far we have not come to a decision. As of right now, filming is not a huge priority as we can get it done in as little as one day and the editing shouldn't take too much time. Even though we can finish on time, we still need to produce a quality opening and we need to sure that everything goes fine.

Target Audience

Since our film opening deals with some pretty mature themes with addiction and alcoholism, I have decided that the target audience for the film should be young adults from 17-25. Of course, this is just for the main audience, with many people of different ages being able to enjoy the opening. I don't want to dial back on any of the themes we are presenting and I want to show an authentic story about a man struggling with addiction. A more mature audience allows us to show the true grittiness and darkness of addiction. Movies that have similar subject matter like Trainspotting and Half Nelson, bot have an R rating for a mature audience.



Sources:

“Trainspotting.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 23 Feb. 1996, www.imdb.com/title/tt0117951/.

“Half Nelson.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 22 Sept. 2006, www.imdb.com/title/tt0468489/.

Problems Continue

My group and I still haven't met up to buy our costumes and make final decisions about filming locations. On Tuesday after class we went to Goodwill to look for clothes, but realized the store was only for donations, so we postponed it for another day. There is a Goodwill about 11 miles away that is not a donations only location, but there might be other alternatives and we could order our costumes online.

Donations only Goodwill

Although we are almost done with preparations, this is one of the last things we need to get done before we can film. Most likely, we will end up getting our costumes separately, without meeting up. To discuss the filming locations and final planning, we will most likely talk on discord or facetime so we don't have to actually meet up.

Meeting Up One Day

So far the project has been running smoothly with the all of the pieces falling into place, for the most part. My group and I have been planning on meeting up to buy costumes, discuss filming locations, and plan the filming process. Although we planned to meet up on Wednesday we postponed it to Saturday so we would have more time. On Friday, Ryan told us that he could not make it for Saturday because he was practicing for an event for another class, so we postponed it to Sunday. Hate to say it, but looks like it wont happen once again and we will have to go tomorrow after school. This time, nothing can come in the way of us meeting because we have to discuss these important topics.

One of my friends suggested we talk over discord, an online voice chat software, so that we could still discuss ideas without having to actually meet up in person. The only problem s that we would still need to meet up to buy the costumes. We plan on going to thrift shops on Monday to find clothes that will fit with the 80s time frame. If all goes according to plan we will be back on track and ready to film.

Storyboard

After some time I finally finished the storyboard for my film opening. The storyboard covers the most important shots of the film and gives my group and I and idea of how some of the final shots will look. I initially planned to finish the storyboard much earlier but I wasn't sure which direction to go with some of the shots, but I figured out a good basis for what we can change or keep while we film.

Storyboard:

The first two boxes make up a good chunk of the opening, with the main character talking with the manager in shadow to add to the tone. In the same shot, the camera moves forward as the main character begins to walk onto the interview set and into the light. It then cuts as he sits down to show the interviewer and Keith sitting next to each other. The interviewer, Mike, gets ready and it cuts shot of Mike with television effects to show it is being filmed on TV. Mike introduces his guest and its cuts to Keith who doesn't look to great. It goes to Mike, this time without the TV effects and he asks Keith how hes doing. Keith looks up and puts on a smile to hide his true feelings and says, "I'm doing great!" At this moment it cuts to the title.

Script and Overview

Ryan, one of my group members, made a script outlining the film opening and providing a basis for the dialogue. The script is filled with many interesting pieces of dialogue between the main character, Keith Floyd. and the manager, Cole Pines, as well as between Keith and the interviewer, Mike Merriweather. Although all the dialogue is good, we may run into some trouble fitting it into the 2 minute time span of the film opening.

Script:

The main story of the film centers around a famous actor, Keith Floyd, who is trying to get back into the spotlight after the public finds out about his alcoholism and drug addiction. Still struggling with addiction and the effects of his action, the film opening centers around a press junket he is at to promote a new action movie he is starring in. His manager gives him a sort of pep talk and tells him not to mess up his chance of getting back his fame. When Keith settles in his seat for the interview he is tired and waiting until he gets a chance to feed his addiction, causing the interviewer to ask if he is alright. Keith, obviously not alright, puts on a big smile and says hes doing great, followed by the opening title.

Group Meeting

On Tuesday we had a group meeting activity in class where our groups split up and discussed our progress on the project with people from other groups. This activity allowed us to give our ideas to other people and receive feedback and solutions for problems we were facing. In the group I was assigned in, everyone was able to explain their ideas for their openings and gave me some inspiration for my own opening.

During the activity I told them an overview of my film opening and they gave some good feedback. For the most part they enjoyed the story and found it interesting. One of the people at my table suggested that I delve more into the manager character which gave me the idea to explore the greed behind him and how he essentially is using the main character. This can be hinted in the opening to show how the manager is relying on the main character to make money.

After the activity my group and I discussed some of the ideas we got from other peoples project and suggestions. My group members got suggestions for possible filming locations like the auditorium, but the only trouble I am finding is that we would need to set up curtains for the background which would not be possible for a place like the auditorium. We also got several tips for different shots which we can implement in the opening.

Update Downloading

At this point in our process, the planning for the film opening is leading closer and closer to filming. Only a few parts remain in our preparation and soon we will be able to start filming. Ryan, a member of my group, created the script for the opening, which lays out the events of the opening and how to dialogue should sound. The script is a big part of this process and now gives us a physical outline of our opening and establishes a bit of the tone we are going for. Of course, the script is still up for revision and will most likely be changed during filming process.

First page of script

Now that Ryan has created the script, I was able to get a better idea of how some of the scenes would play out. With this help, I was now able to get started on the storyboard to give the group a good visual aid for the filming process. Although I planned to finish it yesterday, I found it to be much harder than I thought, and changing opinions on certain scenes in the opening interfered with the process. The storyboard is still a work in progress, but since we still are a little but away from filming, it is better to do it right than to rush it.

As we get closer to filming, we are beginning to think about what we may need to buy for the set and costumes. Although we planned to go thrift shopping today, we ended up postponing it for sometime during next week. Thrift shopping will allow us to find some vintage looking clothes that will fit in with the 80s time period in the film. Set design also plays a large role in the opening and we will need to order some supplies. Most importantly, we have to order large bed sheets to act as the background for our interview set and also the print out of the poster of the movie that the main character will be promoting in the film.

Movie Poster

Part of my film opening takes place in a press junket interview with the main character promoting his new film. To make the scene feel more realistic, I decided to create a poster for the movie that the main character is promoting. The film titled "Fatal Risk" is a cheesy, stereotypical action movie with an equally cheesy poster. To make sure I made an accurate film poster for the time I researched multiple film posters from the 80s time period and analyzed the common techniques used throughout the examples. 

Examples:

The Terminator was an action film released in 1984 and became one of the most famous action films from that decade. The poster for this film captures the gritty action genre that dominated the 80s through its use of striking red in the lettering and across the subject. The use of red is eye-catching and fits well with the tone that it is trying to convey. With this in mind, I decided to use red as the main color of the poster.

This poster comes from the 1986 film, Cobra, starring Sylvester Stallone as the main character. Similar to the Terminator poster, this film poster's central focus and subject is the main character, who takes up most of the space in the poster. I used this element in my own poster, with the main character being right in the center of the poster. This poster also includes a red color scheme, this time with a gradient in the background. For my poster, I took some inspiration from the background and included a gradient in the back.

This movie poster is from the film "Die Hard" and was released in 1988. A common technique shown throughout these posters, is the inclusion of a cheesy tagline usually written in white and lowercase, while the title is in all capital letters and red. I took inspiration from this technique and included it into my own poster, which helped to make a truly convincing poster that seems like it could be from the 80s. The use of red and capital letters in the title really pop out to viewers and are iconic to the action film genre, especially in the 80s.

Result:

After compiling elements from the different poster examples, I was able to create a realistic depiction of what an action movie poster from the 80s would look like. I included a mainly red and blue color scheme like the examples and even included a cheesy tagline. Manuel, one of the members in my group, is the main character in both the opening and this fictional film, so it was essential that he was the main focus of the poster. The poster took much more time than it should've, mainly because I had a lot of trouble cutting Manuel out of the picture he sent me. The picture he sent was slightly low quality and getting a detailed cut out of his hair was a nightmare, but I was able to solve the problem and in the end it worked out.

Junkie Junket

A large part of our film opening will center around the main character arriving at an interview/press junket and showing his signs of addiction and conflict. To sell this scene, not only will it require good shots and lighting, but also good set design. After discussion, we have decided the character will be a famous actor doing an interview for an upcoming film and his signs of addiction come up and cause an awkward encounter with the interviewer. Although we at first thought of doing a late night show type interview, a smaller one on one interview would be much easier to film and design. The scene would mostly consist of two people sitting across from each other in a room. To get the most accurate depiction of an 80s interview, I researched several examples of 80s interviews to get an idea of how an interview would look from that time.

In this interview from 1987, Robert Downey Jr. sits down with ET after his rise to fame in movies like Less Than Zero and The Pickup Artist. The interview is set outside with the interviewer sitting directly across from Downey. This shows the possibility of using outdoor sets rather than an indoor one. The format of the interview also shows that we could use over the shoulder shots to show the dialogue between the interviewer and actor.

This interview with Jack Nicholson from 1982 takes a different approach and goes indoors rather than outdoors. The set design is extremely simple with just a beige curtain behind the interviewer and Nicholson. The whole design doesn't take up much space so we could use this technique in our production to film in almost any room. We could experiment with different curtain colors to illustrate certain moods and manipulate light in the set to also get this effect.

To pull this off, my group and I are thinking of ordering large curtains or bed sheets to act as the background of the set. The set will be in one of our garages so we cant leave any spaces where you would see the garage. We would also try and give the illusion of a large production with a camera crew and lighting figures. The only thing we are having a lot of trouble with is the search for good seats for the interview. Almost any armchair will work but would look much better if they are both the same. This could pose a large problem since chairs are very expensive, making buying a chair out of the question. To solve this problem we will probably ask our friends to borrow their chairs if none of us can get any chairs.

Leg Warmer Decade

More progress has been made with our film opening and we have decided to make the film take place during the 80s, which provides accuracy as there was a large cocaine epidemic in the 80s and it will allow for an interesting art direction through costume and set design. The 80s was full of interesting clothing movements that could be shown with the different characters in the opening. Along with this, the decade included many bright and unique color schemes and patterns that can be used in the costumes and set design.

For the clothing, there are countless fashion trends from the 80s, both great and not to great looking, that can make their way into the film. One of the largest trends, denim saw a huge rise in popularity with people wearing dad jeans and even pairing it with a jean jacket to double down on the denim. Casual clothing was the big thing during this decade with famous actors and musicians opting for a crew-neck t-shirt under an oversized suit jacket rather than a button-up.

Carrying over the popularity of punk from the 60s and 70s into the 80s, leather jackets were a popular trend that showcased an edgy bad boy vibe that could work especially well with the addict character. At the moment, we are not sure what the main character is famous for, but he will most likely be either a musician or an actor, so the costume may vary slightly depending the route we go with. A casual suit paired with a printed t-shirt may work well for an actor, while the punk leather jacket paired with jeans could work well for a rebellious musician addict.

Often associated with fashion trends, the 80s brought an incredibly unique movement with color based around bright neon colors and patterns. Pastels and neon colors dominated the 80s and made their way into t-shirts, dress shirts, and even decor. The use of these bright colors can bring a striking contrast between the dark themes and tone given from the characters addiction and conflicts. The colors would also provide a very eye-catching element to the opening that will bring people in visually and get them to be more interested in the story. 

Another aspect the use of this time frame for the film opening provides, is the draw of nostalgia for the audience who may have lived through this decade. Recent TV shows and films like Stranger Things have proven that the nostalgia from the 80s can be a driving force for interest in a production, with the costumes and references in Stranger Things giving the show an interesting aspect that differentiates itself from other shows. Not only is this show to work with people who lived through the 80s, but also with those who were born after who can still appreciate the art direction and almost share a sense of nostalgia. 

Sources:

Williamson, Lauren. “1980s Fashion: 10 80s Fashion Trends for Men.” Men's Health, 18 Apr. 2019, www.menshealth.com.au/80s-fashion-trends-for-men.

Brewer, Taylah. “80s Fashion for Men (How to Get the 1980's Style).” The Trend Spotter, 28 Aug. 2019, www.thetrendspotter.net/80s-fashion-men/.

Pieces of a Puzzle

Now that we have decided a general route for the film, I have began thinking about different specific story lines and conflicts that could make for an interesting opening. After discussion with my group, we have come up with the idea to make this character study about the life of a famous figure who succumbs to an addiction that sends him into a downward spiral. Addiction is not an easy topic and must be handled with care. Research is vital to convey a believable and insightful performance of an addict that will capture the life of an addict accurately. In my film opening we are thinking of telling the story of a cocaine addict, so the research will mainly focus on cocaine.

To produce an authentic performance I researched symptoms of cocaine use that can be recreated through makeup and acting. Symptoms include overconfidence, over-excitement, paranoia, runny nose, sniffling, mood swings, and depression. All these factors can be explored in the opening or at least alluded to. Depression can be a driving factor of the film, providing many opportunities for deep and complex analysis of the characters emotions. Also, the over confidence and over-excitement can be conveyed through acting and quick edits giving a frantic feeling. This acting will provide many interesting possibilities for interactions with other characters.

Several symptom of cocaine use

Although, these large themes and actions are very important for conveying a realistic portrayal of an addict, small details bring all the elements together to really create a believable performance. The main character can do small actions like sniff and clean their nose while acting frantic and moving quickly. The paranoia and mood swing aspects of cocaine addiction can also make for interesting changes in the characters behavior and actions. When the character is feeling paranoid the actor can act quickly, look around, and maybe cause conflicts with other characters. The mood swings could very quickly change the actions of the character and change them from happy and confident to sad and angry, a difficult performance for the actor. All these small actions give incredible insight into the characters emotions and how their addiction affects them and others around them.


Sources:

“Cocaine Symptoms and Warning Signs - Addiction Center.” AddictionCenter, www.addictioncenter.com/drugs/cocaine/symptoms-signs/.

American Addiction Centers Editorial Staff. “Cocaine Abuse Symptoms, Signs and Addiction Treatment.” DrugAbuse.com, 21 June 2019, drugabuse.com/cocaine/.

Laying Foundations

After discussion, my group and I have finally made progress on a more specific story and we have decided to create a character study and tragedy. Character studies are stories in which the conflict is not focused on physical troubles, but character development through emotions, thoughts, and how they react to outside conflict. The drama genre works especially well when it focuses on characters and their emotions to drive a story. Examples include Nightcrawler and Taxi Driver which focus almost exclusively on the main character and the conflicts they face. I believe a character study type film opening could open doors for a suspenseful and intense tone and the use of interesting editing techniques. To better learn how to make a successful character study I researched some films that deal with this type of focus.

American Psycho: This film delves into the life of a wealthy businessman, Patrick Bateman, and his secret psychopathic alter ego. This film provides a great example for a character study as it shows a thrilling character study that keeps the attention of the audience well through its story of the main character. Bateman slowly begins to go crazier as the story continues and ends him in serious problems, a factor I would like to include/allude to in the film opening. Character studies like this film make sure to convey the complex inner emotions and thoughts of the character to give audiences an insight to the character and gives the film a very interesting aspect. 

Joker: Similar to American Psycho, Joker follows the downward spiral of the main character, Arthur Fleck, into his insane alter ego. This film gives the greatest insight to Arthur's character whenever he interacts with other characters, showing his true nature and inner desires. This technique can be used in my film opening as a source of conflict for our main character, as they interact with another person and a conflict between them arises and allows the main character to open up and show their personality. Joker does an excellent job at communicating the inner workings of the characters through facial expressions and music, factors I especially want to focus on. If I were able to pull off these techniques, it would enhance the film opening to another level.

Sources:

“American Psycho.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 14 Apr. 2000, www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0.

“Joker.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 1 Oct. 2019, www.imdb.com/title/tt7286456/?ref_=ttls_li_tt.

The Drama!

After finally deciding the genre as drama, my group and I can now move into researching examples to help us along the start of this project. The drama genre is very versatile, with characters having a wide variety of conflicts often ranging from conflicts with themselves, others, and their environment. There are countless examples of great drama films with amazing openings and here are just a couple I used to get ideas.

Example One: The Shape of Water
This film opening comes from a Best Picture winning film that shows some of the best parts of a traditional drama film while also showing the versatility of the drama genre. The stunning underwater visuals automatically capture the viewers attention, a very important part of a film opening that I am trying to focus on in my own opening. Of course, effects on the level of this film are impossible for my group, but the idea of grabbing the attention of the audience with interesting visuals and colors remains. The use narration provides a glimpse into the tone of the story as well as parts of the story including love and a monster. This use of narration provides an example of a technique that I could use in my own opening to set up parts of the story and to further grab the audiences attention.

Example Two: Dunkirk
This film opening comes from the historical drama Dunkirk and almost immediately puts you in the middle of a gun fight to grab the attention of the audience. The use of text provides historical context and gives the audience a better idea of what is going on. I could use this technique in y film opening to quickly provide the audience with context behind the story instead of having to film it all for the opening. This example gives me a good idea of how to build suspense through the use of music and imagery especially with the wide open spaces.

Example Three: Baby Driver
In this example, the first half of the opening almost fully relies on the use of music and sound effects to create an interesting film opening. This shows me the importance of audio in a film opening and it will surely be a large element to consider when I am making my opening. The example then goes into a fast paced car chase that makes use of quick editing paired with the fast song. This shows me the importance of editing in the film opening process and how much of an impact the editing can have on a film. For this scene the fast paced editing helped to grab attention, a large focus of my film opening, but can also be used in different ways other than a fast paced car scene. With the versatility of the drama genre I have a large selection of unique techniques at my disposal.

The Beginning Struggle

My group and I have been tasked with creating an original fiction film opening and I'm confident we will do a good job, but not without a lot of hard work. Over the past couple of days, we have been preparing for our film opening project by discussing different ideas and stories. The most important step in this process is to decide on the genre that we will be focusing on for this film. Several different ideas for a genre have been thrown out ranging from crime to even a dark comedy. This part of the process has proven to be more difficult than any of us thought and has taken a long period of time.

We meet in person to discuss ideas further, but found it very difficult to agree on a single idea or genre. After meeting in person we continued to talk in a group chat and we began to brainstorm more complex stories that could span across several genres. To narrow it down, my group and I decided to settle on the drama genre as it is an extremely versatile genre with plenty of sources for research.

With the genre finally decided we could discuss more specific stories and themes. I had ideas to incorporate suspense elements that could even cross into suspenseful horror, but I decided to step back more towards more complex drama story lines. I still hope to include elements of suspense as well as deep themes and symbols to create a visually pleasing and complex film for this project.

Music Marketing Project

For this project, my group and I created a fictional up and coming alternative rock/art rock band named Echo Park that makes use of several elements and trends seen in other alternative bands. Alternative as a genre is a popular form of rock music that aims to separate itself from the mainstream and be something unique. For example, our band Echo Park establishes its distinction from the mainstream by using deep meanings through symbols and interesting imagery that begs to be explored and dissected.

Image from the "15 Step" music video making use of symbolism through color

Alternative bands like Foster the People and Vampire Weekend share similar marketing trends and these trends are evident throughout many other alternative bands. Both of these bands make use of social media like to connect with their target audiences which mostly range from 19-21+. Because of this, Echo Park makes use of the social media trend through Instagram, YouTube, and its own website. The website is another common trend in almost every genre but can be seen especially with alternative bands like Vampire Weekend, who use their website to promote merchandise, music, and events. Taking some inspiration from them, the Echo Park website immediately opens to show the home page with a picture promoting the new "15 Step" single and the accompanying music video which both can be accessed from the website.

Home page of the Echo Park website 

Another common trend with alternative bands is the use of iconic and eye-catching imagery that draws in audiences. From posters to album covers, bands like Foster the people use interesting illustrations to peak the interest of fans. Color plays a large role in this method, with color establishing the overall tone of a band and giving viewers a hint at how the bands music may sound like. Cool colors may evoke a darker, mysterious, and moody tone while warmer colors evoke a happier, playful, and energetic tone. Foster the people uses bright warm colors like reds and oranges accompanied by illustrations to catch the eye of viewers and attract an audience who may be more interested in the energetic, happy feeling that the colors evoke. Echo Park plays with this technique in the website which uses dark and cool colors to evoke a mysterious and dark tone that attracts people who visit the site to learn more about the band and their music.

Example of an illustration on the Foster the People Website

Using our research, my group took inspiration from alternative bands to create a unique brand to set our band apart. A common trend in alternative bands is to try to deviate from the mainstream, which our band tried to achieve through its themes and imagery. This is where colors factor in again and help to establish a sense of the overall feeling of the band. Through the music video and website, our band makes use of dark colors and themes to give a mysterious and complex feeling to the band. The story throughout the video is dark and serious, but leaves room for viewers to think and dissect the themes and symbolism in the video alluding to themes of escapism, anti-establishment, and self fulfillment. Our band plays with these topics to peak the interest of our audience of young adults who can likely relate to the themes in the video. Although the subject matter is serious, our band presents these themes with an odd yet playful persona, seen mostly through the posts on the official Instagram and the pictures on the website. This persona appeals to our audience by showing viewers that the members of the band have personalities and humor while still trying to present a deep message.

About the band section of website with a playful picture

A number of products were made for the band and expanded on the band's unique and eye-catching imagery. An album and single cover where created for the fictional future album and the newly released song "15 Step" by the band. The album and single covers use simple and clean imagery to attract viewers and establish the tone of the music. The artwork can be repeated on vinyl covers, cds, and cassettes to further increase the amount of people who see the work. The wide variety of physical copies of the music also allows more people to gain access to our bands music.

Album cover of vinyl for sale on the website

Alongside the artwork and copies of the music, more merchandise was created to further spread the word about the band. Shirts displaying the sun image as well as the hills from the album/single covers are sold on the band's website and work as walking advertisements, as people may notice someone who wears the merchandise, which could lead them to discover the band's music. A poster featuring an altered version of the album cover is also sold on the website and acts similarly in spreading the band's artwork to attract fans with interesting imagery.

Shirt for sale on the website

Through research and trial and error, this project has taught me much about production and marketing with music videos and campaigns. The production of the music video taught me that it is especially important to recognize your target audience and develop a well made yet interesting story. Only with interesting visuals and storytelling in our video can our band hope to attract people to listen to our music. Much of the project relied on research and it taught me not only valuable lessons about genre conventions, but also the importance research plays in developing a good marketing campaign and music video. Research of the alternative genre gave me and my group clear guidelines for what is expected of a music video from this type of band and common techniques used in marketing campaigns for similar bands. Knowing our audience influenced us to use more complex themes and symbols that would much better relate to the target audience of young adults rather than other genres like pop which could include a younger target audience that may not understand or relate enough to the topics presented in the video. My knowledge of the music industry and its increasing reliance on social media definitely was a driving factor for the majority of the marketing campaign. A large part of the marketing depends upon social media especially Instagram to attract fans and it follows with the trends not only in the alternative genre, but in the music industry as a whole. Through the use of research and the knowledge gained from our production, I believe my group and I were able to create a unique music video that keeps the curiosity of viewers and a successful marketing campaign that attracts the target audience well enough to have the band succeed.

Echo Park group photo