Color

 I'm trying to think of other ways to add more detail and meaning to my film. I wanted to use color in my film to build on the detail and emotion of my opening. I wanted to look up what certain colors meant in film and how they should be used. This website showed a bunch of examples and guides of the meanings of each color. I wanted to switch between some colors to show a change in emotion throughout the course of the film. 

I really wanted to use the color red in my film because it includes all meanings and ideas that my film is supposed to represent. The love the character feels, or the lack of it. He feels angry which could easily turn into violence. This violence could give my character a sense of power that he may try to take advantage of until it hurts him instead.

In addition to red, I wanted to incorporate some blue colors in my film. Some kind of space blue color can give the idea of isolation that the character lives through. It gives the idea of loneliness and a cold dark feeling. I have LED lights so I was thinking I could use those somehow, or possibly use the clothes to help use color.

Acting

 My plot sounded really good to me and I liked my plot until I realized that I'm the one that has to act it out. Every time I have done some kind of film for my classes, I've been the cameraman or editor. I have no experience or idea of how I'm supposed to act. I chose to do a psych thriller, which includes a ton of emotional scenes, which is going to be a pain to try to act. I'm not the most outgoing and extroverted person in the world, so I'm sure acting is going to be a little outside of my comfort zone, but I'll get over it. I tried to look up a couple ideas to help me with my acting because I need to include a lot of emotion and feelings in my film, which really isn't my specialty. I found this website which gave some very basic, yet pretty helpful tips.

Although my film opening is supposed to capture the emotions of my character, I need to try not to force it too much. I'm not always the most emotional person, but I feel like I can make it work. I need to be sure to not make it look so forced and make it more natural so it doesn't look weird. I want everything to flow well so I need the acting to look a little more smooth and well flowing. Instead of my facial expressions, I want to use my mannerisms to capture my emotions. I used one or two close-ups of my face to show my facial expressions, but the rest should show my body as a portrayal of my emotions. 

Fonts

 I honestly had no idea what kind of fonts I should use for my film. I hadn't thought too much about what the font of the credits and title should look like. Due to the fact that I have very little experience with credit and title fonts and I didn't know what I wanted, I decided to research it a bit. This website gave me some information about what I should look for when using fonts. One of the biggest notes I took from this website is how important details are. Although it's a very small detail, a choice of font can either fit very well or completely throw off the whole opening.

If a dark and serious movie like The Batman used a cartoony and funny-looking font like the one from Family Guy it would look very strange. I wanted to choose a pretty bold yet sharp-edged font to make it look cleaner and more serious.

I found this font on the website and I really liked it. It's bold but everything is even and sharp-edged. it looks very clean and proper to avoid the funny-looking bubble letter idea. This shows that the story isn't funny and some kind of comedic story, it's more serious and clean.

Finding A Title

I wasn't really sure where to start when trying to discover a title for my film so I found a website that gave me some extra tips. One of the main things I focused on is first impressions. When someone first sees or hears about my film, they will be introduced to the title before anything else. Using a good title is key to building a strong first impression to give the reader a general idea about what the film is about. I didn't want to overcomplicate the title so that it could be easily remembered and identified. A title like "The Woman In The House Across The Street From The Girl In The Window" (which is a real title) is way too complicated. It's incredibly likely that viewers and potential viewers could easily forget or confuse the title. 

I also wanted to make sure that my title was relevant to my plot and made sense with my story. I wanted to use a one-word title that reflected mental health issues like Bipolar Disorder. My first idea was "Manic", which I really liked, but that's been used. So was "shifts", "masked", and "facade". I came up with "Episode" because it's fairly simple while still reflecting my story. 

The word "episode" can be used as terminology for an illness, so I felt that this reflected the idea of mental health very well. Something that comes and goes and can completely change a person's feelings for any random amount of time. Nothing is finalized, but I think this is a top option for me

Group Discussion

 After discussing with a group in class, I learned some extra ideas to help me with my project. Although I didn't have much time to discuss my project with my classmates, hearing about their projects and some possible issues they encountered can help me work on mine. A few of them had issues with finding which music they want to add to their film and where they want to use it. I have since been thinking about what music I would like to use for my film. I was thinking about using some kind of slow-tempo instrumental song to play in the background. Something that gives dark and gloomy vibes to it to help build the emotion of the character. 

Some other classmates had issues with the development of their plot and where they want to film. For me, I wanted to shoot my film inside my house so that my character would stay in one spot. I wanted to focus all attention on the character himself rather than the area around him. Having him in his room also builds the idea of isolation and being alone, away from everyone else. I have completed the majority of my story completed, I still need to work on an ending. They mentioned some cool ideas about different perspectives of the character so the film could show the character from a different point of view. I had also heard about other groups trying to decide a title for their films, and I am yet to come up with one. 

How To Film a Psychological Thriller

 Previously, I did research on the plot of a psychological thriller and what the story should include, but I also wanted to research what kind of shots, angles, and editing techniques I can use to benefit my film. I found this website which included a lot of tips with plenty of examples to help me choose my shots. So far, I have put together a general idea of how my story will progress, but I haven't thought too deep into what shots I should use to capture each scene. One of the main tips I noticed on the website was to use a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups. This tip was recommended to me by both the website and my teacher. 

Since I learned about the impact of close-ups in a psych thriller, I have started to draw them out on my storyboard. I want to use this to build a lot of drama and intensity in my shots to make them more emotional and detailed. A close-up can encapsulate a sense of emotion or drama better than any other shot so I really want to utilize this. 

In regards to angles, I think high angles can be used the most in my film. I want my character to be portrayed as an almost powerless and weaker character who is battling a fight he isn't winning. High angles can help make my character look inferior to his conflict. I have already added a few high-angle shots in my storyboarding and I plan on adding a couple more where I see it could fit. 

storyboarding ideas

 So I have storyboarded up until the main part where my character is in his room. The goal of my next scene is to encapsulate a mental breakdown of a teenage boy. I need to make sure this scene doesn't look too "montage-y". To avoid this, I need to make sure there are clear transitions between the character's actions. The cut between the character and the flashbacks also needs to be quick yet clear to avoid it looking like a montage. I think I'll have my character do 3 different actions that kind of show his whole breakdown. A typical rage-filled teenage boy loves to punch walls and throw stuff and act like a toddler throwing a tantrum, so that's how I will shoot it. 

I want this scene to show my character freaking out and doing stuff until he exhausts himself, mentally and physically. I want him to go from 100% energy freaking out until he just exhausts himself and just kind of hits that realization period and just lays down and stares blankly. It's hard to write it out, and even harder to draw it, but this gives me a general idea of how I think this scene could look. I need to make some stuff speed up a bit because my film is beginning to look a little long so I might cut some stuff out. My goal is to film everything and then cut out what I need because I would rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it. 

Storyboarding PT2

I just finished my second storyboard paper, there is a lot of shots but they will all be pretty quick because I already have a lot of shots and I barely got to the main part. I may cut and add certain parts to my film, but this can help me get a basic idea of the story. My drawing skills are awful so it is hard to see how my story is supposed to look, but at least I have a general idea. I tried to include some little add-ons about music, transitions, editing, and actions. Although most of my opening has been my character just going somewhere, I want his emotions and mannerisms to add to the story. I will probably end up having to act because I have a very specific image in my head of how I want it to look and I don't know how to explain to an actor exactly how I'm thinking. 

I have no idea how to act, but I think I can make it work. I'm hoping my cinematography can look good enough that everyone disregards the acting. From here, I think I take the rest of the story inside the guy's room. I kind of want to have him hit a wall of realization and just freak out and get all emotional, even though I dread the day I have to act it out. I'll cut some onions and think about the Miami Dolphins playoff chances which should help me cry and get angry to help me act out the role. I am going to start drawing out the third storyboard paper and possibly start filming this weekend. 

Character Development

 My film is going to fall into the psychological thriller genre so I know that character development is incredibly important and can become quite complex. I wanted to research some tips or ideas on how to really build my character's personality. Characters are almost always introduced in the opening of a film and this is the time when the audience gets a "first impression" of the character. To get some help, I used this website which gave me some extra help. One of the most important tips/ideas I noticed was to give the character a purpose and inner conflict.

This idea of giving my character some sort of purpose or conflict can help me build the story for the future. Giving my character some kind of battle to fight, which in this case is emotions, helps build his character because it shows how he deals with conflict and how his actions reflect on who he is. 

As I noted earlier, I think it is very important to create a very detailed and well preformed first impression of my character. My character only gets one introduction to the audience so it is very important that it is shown well.  The costume, mannerisms, tone of voice, and facial expressions can help me build an idea of my character's personality. I wanted to show my character with some kind of emotional battle, something like bipolar disorder, so this first impression could make or break the rest of my opening.

Sound

 As I begin to finish my second storyboarding sheet, I started thinking about what kind of sound I wanted to include in my film opening. I'm pretty sure I want to use rain sounds when outside, and maybe some faded and muffled rain sounds even when the character is inside the house. I also wanted to play music really loud when I drive the car in the beginning so the camera can pick up some bass sounds and faint music without actually using any clear songs. The Los Angeles Film School is a website that talks all about how sound can affect a film. In one art of article, they mention that there are three types of sound in films.

I don't think I will be using any music in my film, if I do, it will be without any kind of lyrics and will just be some sad musical notes. I definitely want to include some kind of sound effects, primarily the use of rain, but maybe some small and quick sounds when transitioning from flashbacks to the character's normal time. I didn't plan on adding any type of dialogue in the film but if I did, it would probably be some kind of yelling or discomfort. I had an idea of a scene where the character was trying to yell, likely a curse word, that would be abruptly cut off by another flashback. I haven't thought too deeply into what kind of sound I want to add, or possibly take out of my film.