Brainstorming

So I feel like I've been in a bit of a rut with this whole blog thing. I've been having difficulties figuring out exactly what to write about and how to write it, but now that I have been looking into some of the really well done blogs such as Nick's and Lucie's, I have noticed what I am really missing. Myself. Yes my last posts were about research and that can be quite boring at times, I still feel like I need to spice things up a bit and make things more personal. I feel like I'm a fun person and this project is kinda making me seem wayyyyy too serious. Also, when I'm looking back at this blog as a 30 year-old I don't want to see a bunch of clips with meaningless research text underneath.

With all that said, I'm making this post for brainstorming purposes. Raul and I have been deeply thinking about what we want our story to be. This part of the process is not only the most annoying (because I'm having a hard time figuring out where to start) but it is also the most tedious. Us teens have a lot going on inside our heads so it is kinda hard to pull out a banger idea in the matter of days.

BUT, we do know something, and we DO have ideas. We know that our film opening is going to be relating to the teen drama genre. Raul and I have decided on this but we haven't really thought of specific story lines, at least not together... From my individual brainstorming I've come up with a couple broad ideas:

1. A misfit teenage boy is unhappy with his home life so he often sneaks out to places he is not supposed to be. 
Okay here me out, I was thinking maybe we shoot at Everglades Holiday Park for the opening shot consisting of the main character thinking by himself in the wild. Then it cuts to him at home where he is having dinner with his family. I would emphasize his unhappiness being at home, and then possibly have a sequence of him sneaking out after dinner.

2. A teenage boy sneaks out to hang out with friends.
For this idea, I would start with a dinner scene with family and then have the main character constantly looking out the window to see his friends urging him to sneak out. Then after I'll do a sequence of the kid sneaking out and enjoying life with his friends. I know you are probably wondering, "Pearse, what is your obsession with family dinners and sneaking out?!" Let me reassure you I'm just brainstorming silly!

3. Collage??
So the truth is, I don't really have a third idea... at least not yet, but I didn't wanna seem lazy and only have two, so by collage I mean doing a sequence of shots with music behind it as the opening. I see a lot of films being opened in this manner usually introducing setting or characters, so maybe I can do that of a school, or maybe different friends in a friend group. Yeah, I pretty much made up this idea a couple minutes ago and the more I write about it the more it interests me. Looks like this blog helps after all!

Example Film Openings

I'm still deep into the research process and I came across this incredible YouTube video that is a collage of film openings from some of the most iconic movies. It basically proves how important the first impression is to a viewer. All of the shots in this video are incredible, and it makes me inspired to have to think of a way to capture the audience's attention within the first few seconds. From this video, I took away three main categories of opening shots.

1. Establishes Setting
From this collage of film openings, I found many of them starting with an image of a location, whether is be a long shot of planets, a medium shot of some palm trees, or even a fast panning aerial shot of a city in the opening of the movie Leon. This makes sense in my mind, as setting is one of the most important components in introducing a story. Looking into my future project, possibly starting with a long shot of buildings is the way to go.

2. Establishes a character 
Something else I noticed about a bunch of the opening shots from this YouTube video had people in them. Often opening shots serve to introduce the main or supporting character right at the beginning of the movie. For instance the opening shot of the movie, Road to Perdition, shows a zoom of a young man with his back to the camera, acting as short introduction of the character.

3. Other
This last category is what I made for all the things featured in the first shot that are not locations or people. I see openings shots of cars, tree branches, and flags in the video collage. The most memorable one for me was the opening shot from The Matrix, which features the green numbers which are an iconic detail of the film. However, as opening shots mostly introduce people or settings, I find myself straying away from the "other" category in the future.

Inspiration!!!

Beginning this giant project, we are still unsure of what we actually want to create. With so many options, its hard to create an idea for only the most important project of the year. So for right now, what I am really searching for is some inspiration. Although we have singled it down to the teen drama genre, we still have yet to figure out specific details. Ever since I was a little kid, 80s and 90s movies or movies based in the 80s or 90s always interested me. The whole vibe and aesthetic of movies in that era is something Raul and I want to emulate in our film opening. So with this blog post, I will be providing examples of some great film openings and sort of explaining things I like about them, and how they can be used to influence the outcome of our upcoming piece.

#1 Call Me By Your Name (2017)
For this opening scene, I enjoy the simplicity of it. There is just the right amount of background noise to allow for the audience to really feel like they are apart of the scene. I really like the use of natural light and that is something I want to consider when creating my opening scene. Particularly, I want to emphasize the more natural feel, so a lot of ambient noise will be used in our opening.

In this screen grab from the the opening scene, this simple low angle shot allows for a good sense of setting to be established, noting the architecture of an old Italian villa. Additionally, it offers introduction to the main character, Elio, played by Timothee Chalamet. This movie is based in the 80s, so the style of the shots are very simple yet create a big impact.

#2 Dazed and Confused (1993)
A little different than the film opening for Call Me By Your Name, this opening follows the more montage style. With the song, "Sweet Emotion" playing throughout its whole duration, it allows for great introduction of the high school and the different students in it. I enjoy the varying of shots in the opening, a mix between close ups, long shots, and medium shots, and most importantly, the pacing. I feel as if the pacing of the shots in this opening is spot on. Seeing how successful montage sequences can be in opening a film, that is definitely an option for us looking forward to our own opening.

For this screen grab of the opening scene, it features one of the montage clips that is played over the song "Sweet Emotion". This high angle shot allows for introduction of particular high school students, for this shot, a group of teenage girls. I enjoy how simple this shot is, yet how much detail it holds in relation to the grungy vibe of the movie. 

Genre Examples

Raul and I are having a tough time deciding what we want to do for our film opening. Knowing our budget and resources, we feel quite limited at the moment. However, we have our eyes set on the drama genre. Specifically teenage movies. Looking at the iconic teenage films at the past such as The Perks of Being a Wallflower and The Breakfast Club, these are definitely movies we want to take inspiration from when coming up with our concept for our film opening. So for this post I kind of want to go for an overview of each of the movies to learn a little more about the teen drama genre.
(P.S. I'm still trying to figure out how to schedule posts for this blog as this was supposed to go up yesterday)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012) 
Summary: The movie is about a young boy named Charlie (Ezra Miller) who is considered an outsider. He is dealing with the suicide of his best friend and his first love (Emma Watson). But, he is taken in by two seniors named Sam and Patrick who introduce him to the real world.
Budget: 13 million
Rated: PG-13
Total Gross: 17.7 million
Screenshots from the movie: 

The Breakfast Club (1985) 
Summary: Five high school kids with completely different backgrounds come together through detention inside a normal school in Illinois. Having to spend a 9 hour detention together writing a 1000 words essay, events take a turn allowing the kids to really find a common ground.
Budget: 1 million
Rated: R
Gross: 45.9 million
Screenshots from the movie: 

Music Marketing Campaign

A couple of weeks ago my partner, Raul, and I were tasked in creating a music marketing campaign surrounding an assigned song. Our song was You are by the Punch Brothers and the genre was Bluegrass, which is lesser known branch from country with a relatively small audience of mostly older adults. We had to make a music video as well, which featured artistic visuals and carried a more indie vibe. Knowing our small audience, we had to find a way in which we open our brand to multiple markets, and in our case, the indie genre. With our music video and creation of multiple other marketing samples such as an Instagram and a website, we wanted to have a brand that relates to younger audiences as well, hence our band name “younger.” In the end, we were tasked with presenting our genre research and marketing plan to our class with a 20 minute limit. Although it sounded daunting at first, Raul and I came prepared and presented a well rounded campaign. We offered unique ideas such as the SWOT analysis, which emulates a plan through knowledge of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Leading into our portfolio project, our music marketing campaign work gave us an opportunity to explore with using the film elements of camera shots and angles, mise en scene, and editing which are vital components to a proper film opening. Most importantly, Raul and I were able to learn our strengths and weakness and capture a positive team dynamic, important for our portfolio.

Picture of the Instagram we made for our band, younger.

Snapshot from our video, which is linked above

Representation

In my project or in any project of the sorts, representation is a big deal. Making sure everyone is portrayed correctly on screen is essential for all media. In particular to my project, I would like to focus on the representation of criminals. When we see criminals in the media, they are often associated with fear, treated as misfits, and disliked in general. It is not often where you get a deeper look into their mind and personality.

One example of media that represents criminals is the famous, The Dark Knight, directed by Christopher Nolan. In this film, it is the Joker, played by Heath Ledger, who faces off against Batman, played by Bruce Wayne. Being the villain, the Joker takes role as the one who everyone hates, the outcast who wants to tear apart society. Everything surrounding the character relates to negativity and no emotion, just pure evil. I feel like these representation characteristics are unfair. Surely, some criminals can be extremely evil and contribute negatively to the world, but many have a personality of their own, with thoughts and ideas that are not all evil. In terms of the Joker, criminals are represented in more of a dehumanizing fashion.

Another example of media that represents criminals is the film, Guardians of the Galaxy. In contrast to The Dark Knight, this movie represents criminals in a completely different way. The protagonists are actually all criminals, and this movie captures the emotional side of them, something not usually portrayed in regards to that group in the media. By still tying in their radical thoughts and beliefs to more human ones with actual feelings, I feel like this movie represents criminals fairly. The movie showed that even criminals can change as the characters leave behind their past to save the world.

Overall, my movie opening will retain and challenge representation characteristics from both The Dark Knight and Guardians of the Galaxy. I would like to focus more on the mind and personality of a criminal, not just their actions. I want to humanize them, and not just treat them as a nuisance to society. Also, I would like to incorporate justice, as with all crime comes consequences. I want to still show the evil related to that of a criminal similar to The Dark Knight, but also show the lighter side of things like Guardians of the Galaxy. Most importantly, I want criminals to be represented fairly and accurately.

Genre Research: Drama

1. Drama

2. Genre Conventions (Content)
More often than not, drama films tend to be realistic pieces. They often use real life characters, situations, settings and stories to portray a character’s journey and developments. Dramas often circulate around love and a relationship. The characters often exhibit heightened emotions and the protagonist is typically easy to relate to for the target audience. The plot consists of some kind of twist and climax and intense emotional moments. However, the heart of drama is some form of conflict and depictions of hardships relating to physical as well as emotional pain.

3. Genre Conventions (Production Techniques)
Setting- Setting can range from a school in the suburbs to an office building in an urban city. Setting widely varies in drama films. Rain is a typical feature in drama movies to encourage feelings of sadness and loss.
Shots/Angles- Variety of shots are featured in drama films. Close-ups are commonly used to foster intimacy with the characters.
Characters- Exaggerated performance (tears are not uncommon in these movies). Protagonist is usually relatable to the target audience and is often sympathized.The antagonist goes to extreme lengths to hurt the protagonist and is hardly even sympathized by the audience.
Editing- Editing is less dramatic in this genre compared to action and adventure films. Shots are typically cut together in a way that makes you feel immersed in story. Typically more raw, natural, and real.
Color/Lighting- Lighting typically depends on the specific mood the scene is trying to emulate.
If you want a more sensual feeling, darker red tones would be perfect. If you want a more sad feeling, bluer colorless tones would be a great compliment.
Sound effects/Music- Emotion provoking music/sound effects. Sometimes the less dramatic sound is better to induce the most emotion.

4. Film Example #1: Titanic
This classic movie from the 90s is not only known for its incredible story and cast, but for being on of the top grossing movies in the world. It portrays the story of rich seventeen-year-old, Rose, falling in love with poor artist Jack, aboard the infamous R.M.S Titanic. This drama features all the typical conventions such as a love story between Rose and Jack and a loss following the sinking of the ship. The incredible cast featuring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet do a great job in producing pure and raw emotion. The incredible scenery, shots, and editing makes you feel like you're part of the movie.

5. Film Example #2: 12 Angry Men
Another classic comes from the 50s and it features 13 jury members deciding a murder case. The one man who questions the verdict of who is guilty, challenges and changes the mind of his 12 other colleagues by urging them to reconsider the evidence. Taking place in a single room, it breaks the typical conventions of a typical drama film as the story is told specifically through the emotional performances by all the men in the room.

6. Other Film Examples: