Costume

 I don't plan on doing anything fancy with my characters. Although the film is mainly focused on the guy, the girl character still appears a few times. Costume design is one way to help me show a character's feelings or emotions. The website https://filmschoolrejects.com/clothes-make-character-impact-costume-design/ has a brief article and a short video to help show how clothing can have an impact on a character. Costume design can be used to show a time period, a social class, a place, a feeling, and so much more. In this case, my story takes place in the same time period, 2022, so clothing isn't too crazy. I wanted to use color and style as a way of expressing my character's feelings. I wanted my characters to have feelings that oppose each other and I think that the clothes they wear can really help show the difference in each character's feelings.

For the guy, I wanted him to be shown as a more dark and depressing person, so I wanted to have him wear darker colors. Usually, when someone is feeling depressed or just isn't in the right state of mind, they want to wear comfortable, baggy, and dark clothes. I plan on having my male character wear black or grey sweatpants and a black or gray crewneck. However, in the flashbacks, I want both, the male and female characters to be wearing lighter clothes like short sleeve shirts and shorts with more vibrant and exciting colors like white and blue. I'm not gonna get fancy at all with the clothing because no depressed or sad person gets too creative or fancy with clothes they choose to wear. 

Research and Tips

 I wanted to research the psychological thriller genre a bit more because I'm not entirely familiar with the genre. I found a website that gave me some really good examples and tips to help give me inspiration for my film. The website URL is https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-a-psychological-thriller#3-elements-of-a-good-psychological-thriller and it has a bunch of tips and ideas, backed up by examples to help me fully understand the genre. One tip that really caught my eye was to "craft situations where characters are unable to get the information or tools they need". Instead of using unaccessible tools or information, my film opening involves a girl that the main character is unable to be with. Because the guy is unable to continue to be with his girlfriend, he is overrun with emotions and acts very irrationally, and creates impactful and emotional scenarios for many scenes.

Another tip that gave me some inspiration was to build a backstory. I wanted to help build my character's backstory by using flashbacks and memories to help the audience understand why he is acting a certain way. Without any kind of backstory or representation of memories, my film opening would be very hard to understand and wouldn't make as much sense. I believe that it is very important to build a stable structure and backstory for the character so that they can continue to grow as the story progresses. I love the idea of character development, and although I only have about 2 minutes for my film opening, I think it is very possible to be able to build a background for my character and show the progressive development that he goes through. I wanted to focus a lot on the emotions of my character as a part of the background and I want the audience to be able to notice how his emotions change as time moves on.

Storyboarding

 I drew out some planning and began storyboarding what my shots would look like. I have about 8 scenes planned out so far and I'm beginning to like it. It starts off with a guy driving to his house and parking a little recklessly and then he goes into his home. This is supposed to be my introduction to my film opening and kind of shows the setting for where my character lives. My drawing skills are pretty flawed but it helps me visualize how my project will end up looking. I tried to draw the rain to help me picture it because I want the background to build the emotions that the audience should be able to feel and understand. In all honesty, I want to make the beginning to look like a batman film where it's raining and dark and some low and slow music to build that depressing feeling.

In the coming week, I want to storyboard another set of scenes to help put my film together. I think that the rest of my film will take place in the character's house, mainly his room. I want to include some kind of flashbacks or memories of my character and his previous girlfriend and cut back and forth between settings. I haven't included any notes on how I want to edit or transition my final product but I'm pretty far away from that step. I might want to include some kind of color grading, especially with the flashbacks, but that's all I really know for now. I will continue to work on storyboarding and mapping out my film in the following week and then hopefully start filming some shots.

Shooting Schedule

     I don't imagine that my film could take that long to shoot, but I know that I will have limited time with each shooting session. A fair amount of my project is going to be shot in the dark at my house which should make my life a little easier. I won't need to get any kind of permission or approvals and still have a pretty nice place to film. I think I also want to incorporate rain in one way or another. In my head, I imagine most of the night shots to have rain, and in a perfect world, maybe even thunder or lightning. The only downside to this vision is that unfortunately, I don't know how to control the weather. Realistically, I don't know how likely it is to thunderstorm at night, and if it does, what are the odds I'll be ready to film with everything I need. If I cant put rain or lightning in the video, I'm sure I can find a way to use it in the audio. Quite honestly, all I need to do now is wait for it to rain or thunderstorm, go outside, take a few audio recordings, and possibly some usable shots to add. Google says that there should be no rain at all in the coming week, so I guess that gives me time to film other shots. In the meantime, I can use websites like https://www.radar-live.com/p/thunderstorm.html to help me track weather to hopefully plan out my shooting times

        However, not every single shot needs to be at night in the rain. I want to have a bunch of shots inside my room while I try to capture the emotions my character goes through. I had planned for part of my film to show the guy character go through some kind of panic attack/rage/depression, and I definitely have no acting skills...like at all, so I wanted to include some very quick cuts between shots so that my horrendous acting wouldn't be noticed. Because my character is going through that emotional breakdown, I think I want to wait for my family to be far away from the house when I film so they don't think I'm going insane. My dad is going to the NFL combine next week (only mentioning because I'm jealous) so that should give me the loneliness I need to embarrass myself in front of my camera. So most shots of me in my room should be at least started next week and then I just have to wait for the rain. I'm pretty thankful I don't have to drive 100 miles to get the shot I pictured because it makes my shooting schedule much more reasonable.

     

Character

Name TBD - male

This character is the more sad and dark character in the film. The whole idea of my film is two characters who were in a relationship, handle the breakup very differently. The guy is more depressed and gives off a sense of emptiness and numbness in the beginning. I want to kind of develop his personality throughout the 2 minutes I have. My goal is to go from numb and emotionless, to sad and depressed, then to anger and rage, then maybe regret and realization. I know it seems like a lot to show in only 2 minutes, but I think it's possible. The numbness would be shown when he is laying in bed and just zoned out. The sadness would come from the late-night drive in the rain, the anger would come when he speeds up at night and plays loud music, and the sense of regret and realization would come from the scene where he stands watching his old lover thinking about what he lost. I know it's cheesy, but some inspiration from this character comes from Nate Jacobs from Euphoria. He deals with a lot of emotions, but because he needs to fit the male stereotype, he can't express any emotions and lets it all 
build up. I want this opening to express the stages of emotions that some guys go through in which they hide their emotions and let them build up until it comes out all at once and affects them. 

Name TBD - female

This character is the complete opposite of the male. This film shows two characters moving on from their past together and so I think this would probably take place about a month after their breakup. After a month, the girl is completely over it and it is no longer affecting her, which is a huge contrast from the guy. She will be shown in brighter lights and more vibrant colors to further build that positive and happy feel. Usually smiling, never in the dark, and just the complete opposite to the guy. She won't be as important as the other character and will probably be a side character, but she would probably be the main conflict in the story. He is feeling terrible and can't understand how she isn't affected by it and how she has no problem with their separation. She'll probably be in shots of his memories and in the end in her room window in the light of her room.

   

Genre Research

 Drama Research

Slowly but surely, I'm straying away from the action and thriller genre and moving towards drama. I really want to use that emotional element to the story and I think it could work out pretty well. That being said, I can still take some inspiration and ideas from the country genre to help me in my drama film. I want to do some research on the drama genre so I know how to really build an emotional element in the story.

After researching sub-genres of drama, I think I want to make my film a psychological drama, also knowns as dark drama. I may also want to combine that with the psychological thriller genre. Combining drama and thriller with a psychological element honestly sounds like something I would watch.

Psych Thriller - common themes: death, existence/purpose, identity, mind, perception, and reality. psych thrillers often focus on story, character development, choice, and moral conflict according to director John Madden. Characters usually deal with an internal battle, oftentimes including mental health issues like depression and anxiety. Psych thriller is a bit different than psych drama because thriller includes more plot twists, it's a bit more action-based and just a bit more exciting than drama.

Psych Drama - psych drama is a sub-genre that emphasizes psychological elements. It is very common for psych drama and psych thriller to intersect with each other so I am pretty confident that the continuity of the plot won't be compromised. Psych drama typically includes a more mature and serious tone. It typically explores more thematic elements like abandonment, denialism, mental disorders, and social issues. 

After researching, my idea for my project fits pretty well into my genre. The whole idea of two people who handle a breakup differently could definitely fall into psych drama and thriller. Nothing is set in stone, but I think this is the route I want to take.

Plot Brainstorming

 I still don't have a plan for what I want my project to be on. I know I probably want to do something with action, but I kind of want to add an emotional aspect to it. I kind of want to involve a more depressing and dark element in the story. I really don't know how well these 2 elements will mix, or if they'll mix at all, but that's kind of where my head is going. I was thinking about using rain to kind of build that depressing element. This could be a challenge because unfortunately, I don't have the ability to control whether yet. I have like some very faint ideas that I don't know how well they will work but I'll try to draw it out real quick.

So... I want to start off with a low-angle shot of my house in the rain at night, kind of like an establishing shot to build a set for the story. It's a low angle in the rain from the gutter where the rain is constantly flowing into the drain which definitely builds that depressing aspect. It would then cut to me laying bed with a blank stare at the ceiling. Probably wearing darker colors to again add to that sad element. Then there would be some shots of me going into a car, and driving in the rain. I may want to include a sort of love interest possibly, and luckily I have a girlfriend who would be more than happy to act if I buy her a dinner or something. I was thinking that these two characters could have 2 different lifestyles. The guy would be sad and kind of numb to everything, and the girl would be all happy, sunshine, and rainbows. 

So the guy is driving in the rain with his sad music, and whatever shots I take of the guy driving in the rain, I duplicate with the girl driving in sunny weather. The girl is happy and talks to all of her friends, but the guy is pretty alone and is pretty depressed. I am straying away from the action idea, but I would still like to use car shots to help my film. My mom's car is pretty loud and fast so I could use that. Quick shots of the car driving by, followed by some loud car noises can kind of build the idea that there is an internal rage that comes from the sadness. In Euphoria, there's a scene where the guy, Nate, is driving at night really fast and he's drinking and it gives the audience the idea that he's hurt and in a bad state of mind. I would like to use that as a kind of inspiration, but I obviously wouldn't include the drinking and driving part for clear reasons. I want my character's feelings to go from numb and empty, to depressed and sad, to a rageful feeling, and then maybe a sense of realization.

I think I want the guy to be driving to the girl's house at night and maybe at the end, it could be an over-the-shoulder shot of him looking at her in the window as the focus of the camera changes to her all happy and smiling. Maybe it could tell the story of ex-lovers who are handling it very differently which could open to an incredible film that would later progress. I think this idea is very possible and I kind of like how it sounds.

Plot Aspects

 Plot aspects

I still don't know what I want to do for my project, but I do have some ideas to help me make it unique. I already know that I want to do something in the action genre, but I want to incorporate some kind of interesting factor to set it apart. One idea I had, which is quite a long shot, is using animation, stop motion, or maybe even special effects. I had a weird idea to swap between animation, stop motion, and live-action while the scenes progress. The plot and story would stay the exact same, but it would just change between film types for different parts of the opening. I know it's a weird example, but I want it to look like it did in the Spongebob movie when they went from animation to live-action with David Hasselhoff.

Like I mentioned in my genre posting, I want to make it fast-paced and action-based(rhyming unintended) and possibly something to do with cars. Although the Fast and Furious movies are incredibly cringe and bland, nobody can confidently say that it wasn't entertaining to watch a car drive really fast and off big jumps. Obviously, I don't have the budget or superhuman abilities to drive a car off a roof for my project, but that's when I can use animation or stop motion. I don't think it's a terrible idea, as long as the cuts between film styles look natural. Just brainstorming of course, but in my head, it sounds like a really cool and fun idea.

Genre

 Genre

I think as of now, I want to do something in the action drama. I think a fast-paced and adrenaline-rushing film opening is my best bet. I haven't thought too deep into it quite yet. I was thinking maybe something with cars, some kind of sport, maybe some kind of weight lifting thing, I'm not sure. I know it sounds very typical for the high school boy to want to make an action film about weight lifting but I think it could turn out really cool. I've grown up watching the action genre so I know a fair amount about how it should look. I want to do something that's fast-paced with a bunch of shots in a short time period for my film opening because I think that is the most exciting.

While it is very possible to tell a whole story in just 2 minutes, the point of the film opening is to introduce the new hypothetical show and I want to grab the audience's attention. I'm trying to put myself in the audience's perspective because if I started a random show and immediately, there were loud noises, fast cars, and quick cuts, I'd be pretty interested. Maybe it's my Gen Z attention span or just my masculine stereotypes talking, but I think that an action film opening could be quite successful. I have access to cars, weights, footballs, basketballs, and a bunch of other testosterone-filled activities, so I think that action is my best bet.

Intro to Portfolio 2/13/22

 As I begin my portfolio project, there is a lot that I need to think about and consider. Time is the main thing that I need to be considerate of when planning out my project. First, I need to brainstorm what I want to do for my project, which ended up being much harder than I anticipated. I think I want to work with a team of maybe 1 or 2 other members. I really want to have 1 other partner to help me with brainstorming and completing the project. I think I would rather have only 1 other partner because I think that 2 brains are better than one, but I also agree with the idea that "3 is a crowd". 

    I think my first goal is to think of an idea, create it on a storyboard, and then start to plan from there. I want to storyboard first with just ideas of certain scenes, then add different shots and angles to each scene. I want to take more time planning out my idea and I need to genuinely love it before I start thinking about the different shots I want to use. 

    I really want to find some kind of unique feature that I can use in my project to set myself apart from others. I started thinking about how I can use cool editing techniques to make my project interesting. I think that color is one thing I can use to make my project intriguing. Bright lights and vibrant colors could definitely give my project that extra touch I'm looking for. 

I need to find a partner to work with that is creative and has good ideas about what to film because that's where I struggle a lot. I know how to film shots really well, know what shots to use, I can use good camera movement, I know how to use sound, I have pretty good editing knowledge, but sometimes it's hard to think of an idea for how I want my project to look. I don't know exactly what I want to do, but I think I want to do some kind of action short film. I know it's a very cliche for the high school boy to love football, but I think making a film about football could be really interesting. I have a while to go, but I really want to at least think about what idea I could use.

Music Marketing Project Reflection

    To follow up on our Music Marketing Project, we finished a couple days before the due date and we ended up managing our time very well. I feel that we did well in some areas, but we definitely could have improved in many areas. Our research was pretty good and I felt like we all knew a lot about or genre and its market. We researched a lot about the effect of social media on the genre and how helpful it can be to utilize social media. I think we should have been a little more specific about what social media to use and how to use it. We should have stuck with one or two platforms to start off with and focus all our effort on that rather than trying to use 5-6 different platforms. 

    We had a little trouble with our ideas and because of this, our video wasn't the best it could have been. We had all of our stuff planned out pretty well and gave ourselves sufficient time to complete everything without rushing last second. We should have spent more time brainstorming ideas to be more unique than others. I'm not saying any of our ideas were bad, but I know that there was definitely more we could have done. We struggled coming up with unique ideas to set our artist apart and I feel like we just tried to follow a rubric rather than thinking for ourselves and creating a more interesting and unique artist with better and more efficient marketing strategies.

    Our music video was very average. Honestly, our story for our music video was very simple and definitely needed more to it. The shots were very basic, we didn't use many editing techniques, the story was pretty boring, and I feel like we just tried to rush it and get over it rather than spending time trying to perfect it. There was nothing fun or unique about our video and honestly, it just seemed pretty boring. We tried to split up our project which definitely was not the right idea. One team member worked on getting some shots at home, I edited the project, and one team member perfected the Powerpoint. We all should have contributed more ideas and effort to our filming so that we could have had a more unique and exciting video. We all contributed to the presentation, but some members prioritized the presentation, some prioritized filming, and some did editing, so everyone was just on separate pages. 

    I edited the project and I'm not incredibly proud of it. Many of the shots were accidentally filmed vertically so I had to wait for them to be reshot before I could edit it. I didn't use any special kinds of editing techniques or effects besides some simple transitions, slowing some stuff down, and changing color a little bit. We didn't have a crazy interesting idea so I didn't really have much to edit. I would have loved to do more with the editing because I really enjoy editing projects, especially with Adobe Premiere so I'm pretty disappointed in our outcome. We should have added more excitement to our project and I definitely regret not spending more time thinking about ideas for it.

    Our presentation was pretty good. I felt that we were a little bit shy, but that's to be expected. We didn't freeze up too much and we all had pretty good knowledge about who says what and when they say it. We just seemed a little uncomfortable speaking on stage and so our information wasn't presented to it's full potential. Presentation itself looked nice with good colors and graphics.

    Overall, I feel like we could have done more. A lot of our project was very broad and I wish we went further into detail. It was nice to be able to see where we can improve on and get influence from other projects to help me in the future. We needed better and more creative ideas. I need to learn how to find a unique and interesting factor and use it. We struggled a lot with brainstorming ideas for our video and parts of our presentation. I wish it was more interesting and exciting to actually intrigue the audience, rather than just getting it over with for a simple grade.