character!

 

    Thanks for coming back to another blog post! So in this post I will be talking further about the film and trying to piece some things together, like the characters, for example. But before that, there has finally been a title applied to the film...drumrolls please.. "The Stupid, Brave New World".

    This title seemed to express what we were trying to convey: a teenager going into a new world that they are unfamiliar with, but this is seen through a teenagers eyes so we added in the word "stupid" to show that our character has silly adolescence still. The film will be centered around a teenage girl, who is pretty quiet and often keeps to herself, but she is a bit more matured and can appreciate the world and what it has to offer. She may be perceived as the stereotypical nerd who prefers to be alone and reading books, but this just adds to her character as she prepares to perceive change when she's getting ready to go to her school.

    Our film opening will follow her on this journey and document what she is thinking and feeling as she prepares herself for the school she will soon be attending. This is what is so interesting about coming of age films, is that by the end the character could look or perceive to be different, but they will still have their original, lingering personality. 

    I am going to provide a mood board below to show what the character is generally centered around and provide a closer connection to the character for the film. 

 

    Hey guys, I'm back with another blog post for this week! It's important to keep other coming of age films in mind when trying to brainstorm for our own film. There are some elements of other films we would like to incorporate into our own film. In past posts I included some of my favorite coming of age films, since then  my partner and I have looked at other films and thought of ways we could interpret it into our own film.

    We haven't quite formed the full plan for our film yet, but we do have some ideas and I'd like to discuss where we incorporated some of our ideas from.  The scene will most likely open with our character standing in front of a mirror before they go to school, as they stand in front of the mirror the are nitpicking what they're wearing and what they look like; a classic criticism from a teen before they're about to go somewhere. This scene can be compared to a scene from the Netflix show "I am not okay with this", when one of the characters is standing in front of a mirror and talking to himself. He is motivating himself while getting ready before he has to go out and face people. This is a good tool to use, especially for these type of films, because then the audience gets to know exactly what the character is thinking about, since the information is coming directly from their mouth. 

    Another scene we know we'd like to include is a shot of our character on their way to school. A parallel we thought of for the shot was from the classic movie "Mean Girls". There is a scene where the main character, Cady, is being dismissed from her parents and walking into the school. This is a cool scene because it shows the setting of the school in the background and things associated with high school, like buses for example, and once she enters the school it establishes where the classrooms are, and different classmates. We are unable to film inside the school with the same shots and showing various other classmates because of filming and COVID-19 restrictions, but this scene is still important to somewhat recreate. We will place our character in front of the school and establish them there and in the front of the school. This is vital because one of the key elements of a coming of age film is high school, so it would make the most sense for us to include a scene with our character arriving at their ultimate destination: school. 

Character standing in front of mirror while getting ready

Music!!

    Hi guys! Welcome back to my blog again!! So, me and my partner have been trying to think and brainstorm some new ideas for our film and try to make this process as exciting and fun as we can, and we had a new idea. I've been thinking about the music for this film for awhile now and we thought the song "Bags" by Clairo would be excellent for the opening!

    Once we had decided on what song we wanted to use, we ran into our first problem.. the song is a copyrighted song made by the private owner, so if we wanted to use this specific song for our film we would have to find a way to get permission for it. Clairo is in the genre of alternative indie and some people call it 'bedroom pop' this type of music is generally pretty mellow and the target audience for this specific genre is teen girls; especially since the artist who sings this song is young as well. This genre of music would work perfectly with our film because, as researched before, the larger target audience for coming of age films is also teen girls. It's important that these two genres work side by side with each other because not only does this music choice enhance the film, but it also may peak the interests of an audience to want to watch it since it would be a song they may be familiar with, that also works well with the picture of the film.

    So once my partner and I knew we had to gain permission in order to use this song we went on a hunt to find the email of Clairo or her management team. We went through many websites on the internet, until ultimately finding the email of her manager. We wrote to her and explained what big fans we were of Clairo and her music, and how grateful we would be if she would let us use her music; we also explained that we were using it for something related to school and education, and in no way we would be making any money off of the film using her music. We waited in anticipation for a response back, until finally we did receive that email saying that we would be allowed to use the song!

    This blew me and my partner both away! We were so excited to just receive the email back, and that she agreed to let us use her song was the best news to receive. I am so excited to continue this project, especially now that we have permission to use a song that we really wanted to include!!

This is the email my partner received after emailing for permission to use the song!!

 

        Since I have finally decided on a genre for my opening, coming of age, I think it's important to now focus and do some research on what elements that make these types of film interesting and successful. Many people often leave after watching these film with a nostalgic feeling and I want to ensure that I create that same feeling for my viewers who will view my own film.

    Showing events that occur for someone when their on the brink of adulthood is very vital, to show how it has shaped someone into becoming the person that they are and getting to watch it through a screen is probably what people enjoy most about these type of films. Generally the target audience for these coming of age film range from 12 to 18; people like to watch films that are based off their own lives and like to identify parts of themselves with what they are viewing. This genre is appears more to females that are the typical teenagers, this is because not only do most coming of age films have a stereotypical, cheesy theme; but also because they often have an underlying romance theme or as a subgenre.  It's important that we know the target audience for these types of films because it lets us know what themes and settings to include in our own film opening; such as including a scene of a high school to show someone who is still in school, a vital place/setting for a coming of age film. 

    Since we are only making a film opening we won't be able to include all the elements of a coming of age film and show certain categories, like romance as previously mentioned, but we are trying to come up with ideas that will still tell the story we are trying to tell. For example, we will most likely be showing a school to establish where the character is in their life, this will also be demonstrated through dialogue if that is included.

I still have so many ideas for this project and I look forward to continuing to organize these thoughts for you guys and watch this film transformation through my blog, these post was mainly to show some research and demographics for coming of age films to help me get a better understanding of what it is that I should be aiming towards. Thanks for reading guys!!

decisions, decisions..

 

    The everlasting decision of finally having to choose between doing a film opening based off of the thriller or coming of age genre has finally come. I have been struggling between what genre I wanted to choose for quite some time now, but I have thought of many pros and cons between the two, and been trying to think of what I want to accomplish with my film opening and have finally reached my decision.

    So... drumroll pleasee.... I have chosen to do a coming of age!!

    A coming of age film is something I've always wanted to do, especially as someone in high school who has gone through quite a high school experience, I have felt it is important to show that high school is different for everyone and we all go through different things, yet also showing that we are the same in many aspects and many of us are just aiming for the same goal. Showing the fine line between teenagers being different from each other, but also similar is an important tool for coming of age films, that's why when tasked with having to create a film opening a coming of age sounded very appealing to do.

    I was also heavily considering doing a thriller, which I have often discussed, because of all the fun and exciting aspects of possibly scaring whoever is watching the opening, but through careful consideration I came to the conclusion that making a coming of age film opening would be better for me. With COVID restrictions in mind and production strategies this genre seems like the right choice; not only did I choose this genre because of its practicality of production, but also because I have more ideas for this genre. I wouldn't consider myself a superrr creative person but this genre has jumped out at me and from the beginning I had many ideas on how I wanted to go about filming. Although I don't have any super solid ideas for right now, me and my partner are in the works for figuring out a solid storyline and what we would want to include in the opening.

    I am very, very excited to start this project and get into more depth pertaining to this genre and finding out more about it. I hope you guys enjoying following my journey as I navigate through this coming of age film opening!!

Inspirations! (pt. 2)

    Hi guys, welcome back to another one of my blog posts! In my previous blog post I discussed some of my favorite coming of age films and the inspirations I took from those films, so I thought for this post I should discuss a thriller film since I still haven't been able to choose between the two genres. Looking at previously made films of these genres help me with my own ideas and future visions for when I film my own film opening. 

   

     So, the first film I'd like to discuss is a pretty predictable one but I believe it deserves an honorable mention: "Scream". This film was made in 1996 and was directed by Wes Craven. This film was probably one of the first films that I can remember watching that I considered a 'thriller', when watching it I loved all of the elements incorporated; from eerie scariness, to mystery, to even some comedy. I wanted to use this film as an example because it is viewed as pretty cheesy by most, I even fall victim to considering it cheesy at some times, but it continued and continues to string along watchers that couldn't look away from the screen as they watched. The most thrilling part of the movie wasn't just the constant, brutal deaths, but the fact that it was happening to helpless high school kids who couldn't do much, and even the police failed to help them. Without many resources to turn to and a maniac killer on the loose, the uneasiness felt by the characters can start to rub off on the audience members. The daunting music, the harsh lighting, spooky costumes, and the twisted ending that was all incorporated it was make this thriller such a classic and has caused many remakes and a chain to be made from it.

    I know what you're probably thinking, how could this "old-ish" film shot with past technology possibly be an inspiration to me? Well, let's unpack the styles and themes that make this film great, and still constantly talked about. 

    This film was made during an older time as compared to today, but the directing was still done very well considering. Dark lighting was a key factor used throughout the entire movie, many of the heinous, scary acts occurred during nighttime which contributed to the scary aspect along with the mystery. The darkness of the night leaves your mind up to its imagination and masks what may be going on behind the scenes. The same symbolism is used with the dark cloak the murderer is wearing in all black, he is always seen in the cloak with the hoodie on and a mask which is makes a face with its mouth wide-open. Of course not only am I inspired by the movie's ability to create scenes, but also (once again) the music! Scoring is usually the first thing I pay attention to when watching films because I truly enjoy seeing how the soundtracks impact each scene. The music used builds up tension and causes audience members to be on the edge of their seat as the music gets louder or more high-pitched as it leads up to the climatic moments of the movie.

    If I make my film opening based off the thriller genre, I will definitely, definitely incorporate different ideas and aspects from the classic "Scream" in my opinion this thriller opened up doors and had an impact on many thriller flicks that came after it.

Inspirations!

 

    So, if you've been following my blog you may have noticed that I have been talking about coming of age films quite a lot and how much I love the messages behind each one, along with the desire to want to recreate that feeling when filming my own film opening. So, I thought for this blog post I should talk a bit about some coming of age films I really enjoy!

    First, I'd like to discuss one of my favorites, "Perks of Being A Wallflower". The movie was released in 2012 and was directed by Stephen Chbosky. The film follows various teenagers from different social cliques in high school that have all became friends with one another. The movie has the typical teenager drama involved, but also goes over many things that teenagers struggle with, and show how different people can have different experiences. This particular movie really stood out to me as a coming of age film because it follows the typical themes of other movies in this genre, but also addresses very deep and serious matters like use of drugs and sexual abuse. The scoring for this movie is brilliantly done in my opinion, the song choices for each scene were perfectly picked, especially the tunnel scene in the end of the movie. All around I was very impressed by this movie and the themes that it was able to communicate. 

    I view this film as inspiration for me when thinking about doing a coming of age film myself because it showed me that movies can have the cheesy coming of age high school drama, but still manage to strike a cord with the audience; since I know I was touched by it, along with many other viewers as well. Things that I would like to incorporate in my own film, if I choose to do a coming of age, would definitely be the music choice, clearly I wouldn't choose the same song choices as in the film but it has shown me how impactful music can be on films to make them really stand out and mean something. Also, filming in a way to incorporate the subject's full friends circle and tribulations they are facing. 

    Another beautifully made coming of age film would be "The Florida Project". This movie was released in 2017 and was directed by Sean Baker. I reallyyy enjoyed the way this film was directed, because of the way that it seemed very natural and practically filmed in a documentary manner. The film follows struggling single parents living in Florida that are going through a lot during this time, especially financially, as they also struggle with disciplining their children who are also growing up in the same environment as them. What really stood out to me with this piece was that although we could clearly see the deepening problems of the adults, the film seems to mainly focus on the children's perspectives and reveals to the audience how significant the feeling of child-like wonder is. The audience can view the constantly laughing and playing of the children because they don't view their lives as people in poverty, but rather as kids who are just playing and having a fun time. The final scene of the movie when the main character finally reaches where she had been wanting to go is a beautiful shot and really captures the essence of being a child.

    What inspires me about this film and gives me hope when thinking of making my film opening a coming of age piece, is that the movie is made in a pretty simplistic style and doesn't rely scenes on music, in fact the film barely uses soundtracks (as opposed to the film mentioned previously). This shows me that I don't need super fancy production styles and equipment in order for me to make a good, meaningful film opening.

Deciding genre

 

    Currently the main issue I'm facing in regards to  my project is DECIDING A GENRE! As mentioned in previous blog posts I was thinking of doing  thriller or coming of age film opening. I have yet to decide, so I am going to use this blog post to help me weigh out the different pros and cons of each genre.

    The thriller category seems like a really fun and exciting route to take and would really make an interesting film opening. However, there are some challenges that would be faced if this genre was chosen. First off, casting: I would probably need a few people in order to make this opening work, and not only that, but the 'actors' would have to be able to portray themselves well and be able to express different emotions with just their facial expressions. This is a big factor for the thriller category because without actors who are able to show emotion, both scared and threatening characters, the film could fall victim to being viewed as a parody of a thriller. Another discernment I have is not having the proper equipment or techniques to make the thriller opening capture the scary, eerie essence that I would like to portray. However, experimenting with new techniques and having to come up with or make tools to make the opening could definitely be part of the fun and be a great learning experience. 

    On the other hand, a coming of age film also seems like a viable option that would be exciting to film. This genre is something that I'm pretty inspired by because many coming of age films I absolutely ADORE and love the messages and the way they are filmed, for most films in this genre; I would love to be able to tell a story through this genre. The dilemma I face with choosing this genre however is the problem of overcoming simplicity. I feel some coming of age movies have a repetitive theme, and especially since we are just doing a film opening, it may be difficult to conceive new ideas that set the opening apart from other coming of age films. This genre would still be one that I would be very interested in doing, because of the message it can share and filming and casting may be a bit easier to develop.

    So, I will continue to weigh out the pros and cons of these two genres and see which one will work best for my vision of this film opening.

 

Hi, welcome to another post on my blog! Taking inspiration from other films and directors is a vital part of my process as I try to decide what I would like to do with my film. I’ve always been interested in the music and scoring for a movie and its scenes. They have such an impact on how scenes are interpreted by the audience, the feeling and emotions behind a scene can be heightened simply because of the music in the background. I am very excited to organize my scenes and add the music to them; my main concerns will be finding the perfect score for my scenes, but also having to use soundtracks that I have ensured aren’t copyrighted, and if they are I will try my best to reach and gain approval to use the sound.

Another aspect to sounds I am excited to embrace for my project will be the sound effects I use for it. Creating the sound effects and recording them will be fun and give me a chance to be creative and try to get the perfect sound I need for the scene. For some of the more advanced sounds that I can’t simply create will raise issues, but hopefully I will be able to just find the sound somewhere and ensure that it isn’t copyrighted. 

           There are many different elements that are going into this project and creating everything for it will be a long process, but I am looking forward to all of it and believe it will be very fun and exciting!!

My beginning thought process

Hi!! Welcome to my blog posts that will follow me through my journeys and thought processes as I create and formulate my AICE portfolio. I am very excited to start this next project, I think it will give me much more of a feel of filmmaking and seems incredibly interesting to me. In the past projects I have worked on for this class, I feel that they have given me different knowledge which I can put all together to perform very well on this. This will differ from my past projects because not only will it incorporate all of their elements, but also because it will be one of my first projects I am working alone on.

I’m not exactly sure which genre of film I would like to base mine off of but I am leaning towards thriller/mystery, or a coming of age. Coming of age movies have always piqued my interest and I always admired the good feeling that they left in audiences after viewing the movie or clip. The thriller category is significantly different but I think it would be very fun to create and establish the mood. Creating the different lighting for the genre would be very cool to do, however I may face some difficulty since I do not have the equipment nor budget for professional lighting. There are ways I will be able to overcome this, for example, there are many homemade methods I could use like coloring tape with markers and placing it over the camera lens to create whatever color I desire.

With the current pandemic going on due to COVID-19 I believe I will face many obstacles in completing the project. Some concerns I have with this are concerning whether I will be able to get people to partake in my film, so I could have participating actors. This could be restricted because people may not feel comfortable because of the health concerns, I may have to be the only person in my film or come up with creative ways to overcome this issue if I need to incorporate other people for my film. I may be able to overcome this by using my siblings that are already living in this household with me, or people that I trust and are comfortable with participating. 

I look forward to continuing writing in this blog as I work on my portfolio to document my thoughts and tribulations I face during this!

 

Music Marketing #2

     When me and my group first began with the project we had to determine which song selection to choose, we had to consider the genres of the songs along with which song we would be able to come up with a creative music video for. After evaluating our choices me and my group chose the song “Ain’t no Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant, because of the genre and band we decided it was best to further research four bands that are considered ‘alternative’. We based our case study on the production companies Sony Music and Domino Records and chose to look into two bands for each production company. So, for Sony Music we researched Cage the Elephant and Foo Fighters and found out in-depth about their marketing strategies, distribution methods, and their audience interaction tools and practices; along with the history of Sony Records and more of their artists. We did the same procedure for Domino Records and took an in-depth look at the artists Arctic Monkeys and Franz Ferdinand, which are both signed with Domino Records.

After my partners and I finished doing the research for the bands and genre we thought it was best to begin brainstorming ideas for the music video for the song. My group members and I pitched around ideas, until someone said an idea that we all agreed would make for an interesting and fun music video. We wanted to make the video, not only a storytelling one, but also serve as a promotional video because we thought it’d be a good way to promo our ‘band’. We had to begin planning the marketing for our band and decide what the best way to present our band was. We clearly had to weigh in the technological factors of marketing today, and that became our main focus and many of our marketing techniques heavily relied on that basis. We created an Instagram page, website, and merchandise to show off our band “Ozone Layer”. On our Instagram page we posted some pictures that we believed fit the aesthetic of the band, we did this to create a visual of what we wanted from our fan base and to make our band seem more appealing.

During our brainstorming process my group decided it was best to split up the work, for time-based reasons and COVID-19 reasons, we decided half the group would focus on the marketing for the band and the other half would make the music video. So after both sides finished or almost finished their parts for the project, we finally all made a PowerPoint and put all of our information together, full of our research, music video, social media outlets, merchandise, and more things that focused on our band. We all overlooked the design of the presentation and studied all of the slides thoroughly to ensure that we all knew everything about our band, lastly we decided how to split up the slides so everyone would have equal talking time for our presentation to the class and teacher.

Overall, I learned a lot from this project and I really enjoyed the premise of it. I got to see how much marketing effects music and how successful an artist will be can heavily rest on the power of the marketing team, also being able to analyze music videos and see them in a different light than before is an interesting point of view that I am happy that I have now. Along with having to present this in front of our classmates and teacher  as an audience, I think that is a helpful experience because I believe almost whatever job I will likely have in the future, at some point I will have to pitch ideas or give information to an audience or someone of higher authority so it is important to get comfortable with that now. I think this project will help me develop my Cambridge portfolio because I can use the skills and techniques I learned from music videos, along with the marketing strategies that go along with making these videos and representing artists.