Sunday, February 19, 2023

Hey guys,

So, today was a bit of a busy day but after speaking with my partner we shared some more ideas on how we plan to put our film together. In order to make it the best we possibly can, an idea Sydney and I shared was having a teenage girl that is running  down a hallway with several jump cuts edited into our film so that footsteps are the only thing that would be heard and breathing before anything is shown to the audience. 

Since foley sounds are such an uncommon topic of discussion but such a prevalent part of the filming industry and have been an important part of this course,  my partner and I plan to create our own foley sounds throughout the entirety of our film. Whether it is created  with shoes clapping  back and fourth to create a sound of someone running, or blowing into a straw to make breathing sounds, we plan to evoke a sense of fear.  This is used to create suspense in the audience and a sense of fear. 

Some ideas for our production.... 

We plan to take advantage of dark lighting to make it more scary and edit several of our foley sounds like breathing or even sounds that create heart beating noises into the film to make it more intense. Additionally, another way we can create foley sounds would be using  shoes and hitting them against each other. We plan to have the main character be a teenage  girl that runs through the dark highway and does everything she can to get closer to the door at the end of the hallway, however it is locked and we plan to create a killer or a monster (we still are not sure yet) chasing her and then editing a jump cut  to someone waking up in their down thinking it was a bad nightmare. 

Planning our set...

Saturday, February 18, 2023

Hey guys,

After figuring out where my partner and I are going to film our project, we decided we are going to film on the University of Miami campus. In order to ensure our elements of mise-en-scene create a sense of fear in our target audience (15-25-year-old males), there are certain color schemes and props we are going to utilize. 

I needed some inspiration, so I decided to go on Pinterest to find some color palettes that I feel would best match the aesthetic of our film project. Additionally, I went on canva and created a little mood board documenting images of things I plan to incorporate into our film.

Since it is only the first week of the project and we still are brainstorming ideas on exactly what we want to include in our film, I feel like the more I create mood boards, the easier it will be to pin down my ideas.

Through a dark color scheme, we are hoping to convey fear, curiosity, and suspense. Although we are not entirely sure about the plot of our story, we want to have a female as the main character that is fighting some sort of mental disorder and is struggling in some way. 

Be back soon with more information!! Stay tuned...

Lugz Stagger High-Top Work Sneaker - Free Shipping | DSW. https://www.dsw.com/en/us/product/lugz-stagger-high-top-work-sneaker/549570.

“Dark Soldiers Color Palette.” Color Hex Codes, https://www.color-hex.com/color-palette/2610.

“Dark Hallway.” Dark Hallway - Vietnam, https://www.twoguysaroundtheworld.com/photos/vietnam/photo587.html.

“Wallpaper Flare.” Photography of Forest at Night Time HD Wallpaper | Wallpaper Flare, https://www.wallpaperflare.com/photography-of-forest-at-night-time-wallpaper-169760.

Get Anxiety Treatment | Zocdoc. https://www.zocdoc.com/doctors/anxiety-treatment. 

Thoughts...

Friday February 17th, 2023 

Hey guys,

So today my partner and I felt by creating a google document we could add some ideas of a particular location we were thinking of and add days that we had other commitments to schedule days that we are available.  We felt this was the best way to organize our thoughts so we collaborated on a google document and listed some possibilities. Below is a location, and ideas we plan to incorporate into our film.

Did this help my partner and me out? 

100% although it is short and sweet, I now have a better idea of exactly where we are going to possibly produce our film and the dates that I need to mark off to prevent filming on those days. This allowed my partner and I to be on the same page and to have a better idea of how we plan to go forward.

• We cannot film on the 7-10th or 16-19 as Sydney isn't available
• We have a location!  
• Sydney's sibling attends the University of Miami and since we are producing a horror film dorm hallways always carry a little suspense in them 
• We are going to research some songs and contact any production company for those songs if needed
• We are thinking of utilizing songs with suspense 

P.S. As of now we do not have a camera, so I am practicing on my phone to capture shots and improve on my photography skills!!

The Horror Genre...

Thursday February 16th, 2023 

Hey guys,

So this week, I was looking for a partner to work with and I finally found her!  After we both communicated, and spending some time researching different genre's, we decided that we want to do a horror/ psychological thriller film. We both agreed that we want to make our audience feel a sense of uneasiness and fear. So, what better way to do that than create a film with a horror/thriller genre? 

What exactly is a horror film? I know you are probably thinking one to only make you scared, but these films have so much more hidden meanings behind them. Aside from jump scares, gore, and gothic elements horror films are able to deliver such powerful messages through these little sprinkles of intensity and fear. The target audience of a horror film are males that range from 15-25 years old and paranormal horror is seen to be  distributed among both of the genders.  Although we have not figured out exactly what we are going to do, we want to truly create a film that will leave our audience not only thinking but feeling a sense of curiosity and suspense.

Here are some films that helped spark that interest and gave me a better idea of the feel I want to create with my chosen genre!

 Watcher (2022) 

Directed by Chloe Okuno

A great example of a horror film would be  the Watcher (2022). This film is about a story of a serial killer that stalks the city and is fixated on a young actress who just moved to Bucharest, with her significant other. This film is not the typical paranormal film but tries to cater the male audience and having a female ultimatly fight off her stalker.

The Shining  (1980)

 Directed by Stanley Kubrick 

 The Shining (1980) is another great example of a horror film and is about a gifted psychic named Danny and his abilities to read people are labeled as "shining".  Jack Torrance who is named (Nicholson) is recovering from alcoholism who had accepted a position at a hotel and the manager Stuart Ullman advises Torrance that his family had been killed in the same hotel.

 

Skinamarink (2022)

Directed by  Kyle Edward Ball

 Skinamarink is a Canadian experimental horror film in which uses a child's fear of the dark and produces a paranormal film that contains shots that are captured showing dark hallways allowing the audience to question what they are seeing and why they are seeing what is right in front of their eyes. It creates a sense of confusion and uneasiness in the audience as they are not entirely sure what to expect next.

“Skinamarink.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Feb. 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skinamarink.

“Watcher.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 3 June 2022, https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12004038/.

Michel, Lincoln. “The Scariest Horror Movie of All Time Is on Netflix.” GQ, GQ, 22 Oct. 2018, https://www.gq.com/story/the-shining-netflix.

Olivia's Writers Block

 Sunday, February 12, 2023

Hey guys, I'm Olivia !!

    Today is the start of one of the longest projects I have ever taken part in throughout my entire twelve years in high-school but I am honestly so excited. Although right now, I can say that I have absolutely no idea what I want to do and how I plan to do it, but this will surely be an experience I will always remember. I am thrilled to begin and so excited to take you guys on this long but beautiful journey. The goal here is to put my heart into this project to make the audience think to themselves  "OMG, this is incredible!"
    I am going to conduct some research on some genres I am considering to narrow it down to the one that will suit my project best! With that being said, this week, I intend to consider, investigate, and select one of the project-related ideas I may have. I am going to have a few of my friends help me brainstorm the best direction to go with my project and use their perspectives to help build upon mine. 
    I'll have a pretty clear vision of the movie after doing so, and I'll be able to start the additional work such as the storyboard, looking for the greatest soundtrack, and writing the script and of course, updating you guys every week... Disclaimer: I will probably struggle and encompass failure but it is all apart of the process. Stay tuned for what is to come next...

See you in a few!

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 Feburary 8th, 2023

After my group and I got together to discuss how we plan to do the project, we created a group chat so we could communicate quickly and effectively which worked out very well for us. When one of us had a concern or comment like, for example, how we plan to decorate the presentation we all wanted to make sure we were on board with the theme of our project to appeal to our audiences, a quick message went a long way and allowed for us to all be on the same page.  Each of my group members, Miguel, Hayden, and Abhiram  answered quickly and knew exactly how we were all going to contribute to the project and ensured we all did our parts.

Additionally, when creating a storyboard as a group, it gave us all the chance to collaborate on how we plan to incorporate  the shots in the most effective way without confusing our audience.  Since the plan was to incorporate various shots into a music video, some of the shots some of us including Hayden and I had in mind differed from the way Abhiram and Miguel perceived it so we made sure to collaborate as much as possible to prevent any confusion or conflict.

By drawing different shots on our storyboard paper, it allowed for us to truly see what suits our message the most and which can convey the most powerful message. Our storyboard was one of the many ways we approached and planned this project and truly gave us a visual representation on the way we can begin recording our  video. This allowed for an effective yet engaging way of all shots to be designed and written out to later be created in real life. We decided to create visual mediums that could strongly represent and depict our story without confusing the audience. Sinc, all of the lyrics to  our chosen song, She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5, had various different messages behind it, we decided to create a story of a how a guy so infatuated with a girl that was so fixated on another guy which corresponded with the music video to convey a strong yet meaningful message. 

We wanted to build our brand to match Maroon 5 but instead we named ours Maroone 4 and began to film and had two guys in the video along with an 18 year old girl. Since our brand is targeted towards 15-25 year olds we wanted to make it as a brand teenagers or adults could relate to. We customized a brand and designed merchandise to match our brand so others could wear it and show it to their friends. We made social media posts to promote our brand and upcoming songs that would be releasing so everyone can come on board and enjoy our songs!

As we planned and brainstormed together how we plan to organize ourselves, we made a schedule of due dates to ensure we stay on track. I felt this was the best way to stay on track to ensure that our group is not procrastinating and to make sure we are all able to come together during days that are most feasible for one another to truly work together. Some of the issues we encountered were finding days where we could all work on our project together, however we were able to accommodate each other's needs. After, we needed to combine all the footage and put it into a music video along with creating a visually appealing presentation to present to our consumers in the best  manner we could.

    Ultimately,  I learned a lot from working on this project with my group. I learned how to move my schedule around to accommodate the schedule of others and to be more flexible in general. I have always been a very structured person, but I have learned to be more flexible with myself and with others. I have learned to take my time and trust the process! At first it almost felt like this project was going to be very very difficult but in the end, it was really fun and I really enjoyed working with my group and filming. I also learned how to become more comfortable behind a camera, I have never really been used to it but now I could say it's not as bad as I thought.  I feel the aspects that would be the most beneficial in developing my Cambridge Portfolio is truly the ability to be myself behind a camera and not try to be someone Im not. Additionally, the ability to work with others and become more flexible will allow me to be patient with others and myself to produce the best project to my ability.

Our Schedule:

Storyboard and Chart done by Monday January 23rd

Record video 1/28/2023

Finish editing video 1/29/2023

Finalize presentation 1/29/2023-1/31/2023

Practice presentation  once finished 2/1/2023

Research Chart:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yx3XmdKNrqDerKsulGw5BY1LzzRLR6_5iyVyz0i_7to/edit#heading=h.llpbleo2yfn7

Music Video: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AN0SdfnN77iAzZ7q31iZJAgUkpmZfdYa/view?usp=drivesdk

Music Marketing Blog Post #1

 January 28th, 2023

Today, I will discuss how my group and I approached our marketing group project for our class (AICE Media Studies AS level). It began with us being assigned the Pop genre and we were given a chance to choose from three different songs. We chose "She Will Be Loved" by Maroon 5, and immediately got to work brainstorming how we will approach our project. Hayden, Abhiram, Miguel, and I began to work on a shared google doc and began to create a schedule on how and when specific parts of the project will be completed.  We chose a storytelling music video and dove right into conducting research to input onto our research chart.

Additionally, we created a storyboard on how the shots we wanted to incorporate into our music video would look like. Through 20 different shots, our storyboard consisted of different shots we learned prior and how we plan to utilize a variety of shots and angles. Through an effective yet engaging way, we decided to create visual mediums that could strongly represent and depict our story without confusing the audience. The lyrics of our chosen song and the shots corresponded with one another allowing the music video to convey a strong yet meaningful message.

As we planned and brainstormed together, some of the issues we encountered were how certain shots could be visually represented without confusing the audience and also to truly allow a deeper meaning of the song to be represented. We found it difficult to capture specific shots at times as they could have been dangerous, but as we all communicated and gave our thoughts and concerns, we were truly able to figure it out.  After, we needed to combine all the footage and put it into a music video along with creating a visually appealing presentation to present to our consumers in an engaging manner!