CCR question #1

 Hello blog! It is time for me to start my CCR!! Now I need to think about how my film opening abides to media conventions and if I’ve effectively used representation.

Genre conventions: 

Question: how does your film opening fall under your genre? 

My genre, of course you know is psychological thriller. It falls under this genre because my main character, Damian, is suffers from the mental illness skitzofrinia. This is showed in the film as there is a psychologist who is the one interrogating him and she cannot see the wolf but he can. It is thriller because he is being accused of murder when she was the one who really committed the crime. Damian is not scared of her and is not scared of his mind. He just is stuck in it. This was heavily inspired by the movie Donnie Darko. I love this movie so much and I think Damian and Donnie Darko have similar traits as Donnie Darko is not afraid of the bunny that is in his mind. But he knows that he isn’t normal but he doesn’t run away from it. 

Inalso have similar lighting and vibe to it as it is dark and eery.

Representation: 

How does your film opening tie to representation theory found in media context? 

This ties together with the representation theory found in media context. The way it is dark and eery and the suspense develops Damian’s personality and shows how dark and crazy his mind is. The wolf develops what Damian is seeing in his mind. The psychologist represents authority.

Group meeting #2

This blog post is about our group meeting

Lydia- Scifi- Her story is about a scientist named Owen who can sees a vision of her dead. She didnt say much else about her project but she did get all her filming done. She doesnt know what she is going to do yet for her CCR.

Emma- Mystery/thriller- Hers is about a murder that she is accused of. It includes lots of flashbacks and they did very well with the set up of where they where filming and the costume design was very good to. For her CCR she wants to do an interview but have some of the characters involved too. 

Giovanna: Mystery/ Thriller- Her story is about a scientist in the FBI who is involved in a murder. His missing daughter was swapped when she was born and he had been searching for her for years. For her CCR she also wants to do an interview style.

Benjamin: Thriller- He is a teenager who is going home but this is a scene from the end of the film it cuts to his room a few hours later and is texting his mom and then calls her but a guy is talking back and he ask where his keys are and when he goes to get them they are gone. He has not started filming yet but has a date planned. He is still figuring out what to do for his CCR.

Ame: Coming of age- A girl has lived in a small town forever and feels stuck in this town but she wants to travel. Her parents want her to stay and even go to collage near them. She had to refilm because she didnt like it so then she decided to also change her whole plot.

Cristina: Coming of age- Hers is about a dj who is passionate about what he does but he is under 18 and a competition he wanted to compete in is only aloud for people over 18.

I think this group meeting was very helpful for my CCR. They told me a good idea and that I should involve the wolf in some way and I think that is a very good idea.

Filming day!

 Hey bloggg!! It was pretty exciting actually seeing my work in action and it was fun! I have pictures from us filming to show you guys a little behind the scenes of the process. It can be hard sometimes if your actors have a hard time not laughing or feeling awkward and embarrassed but my characters did really well on not having that problem. 

We first went to the bathroom and the actors got dressed and ready to film and then we found a perfect spot to film in the hallway it is creepy and gives off the perfect vibe of an interrogation room. Again the lighting will be changed through editing because it’s not the exact vibe I was going for but here are the pictures from the filming day.

Planning post

Hey blog!! This has been a stressful week finding time that all of us our free to film together because we all are swamped with homework and I have a job and they have been giving me lots of hours so it can be tricky finding time but we have been able to fit in time after school on Friday. I have found all my actors and we will be filming in a hallway but the hallways lights aren’t exactly how I want it to look so I will be editing it to look how I want it. We have to film after school because that’s the only time that the part of the hallway we want isn’t super busy. The actors I have found are good at not messing around and taking this seriously.

Here are pictures of all my actors

Logo process

 When making my logo I used Canva pro and I started with just a black screen as you can see in the image below.

I then added the name to it and I also added a little camera in the corner but i didn't know if I really liked the font and camera but this is how it looked before I tweaked it a little more to fit what I liked best. 

I thought that it looked cute but it didn't really match with the vibe I was aiming for at all so then I looked through different fonts and other camera styles and this is what I got.

I really like how it turned out. It is simple but cool looking with the little 3D camera in the corner. I like just the all black background i think it fits the all around vibe of everything the best. Also my last name is Neese so that is the reason it is named that!

Audio

I want to focus on diegetic sound. The footsteps of the wolf and a low humming sound are very important. I also want there to be a part where Damien is focused on the wolf and the sound of Delilah talking gets muffled out, and it turns into Silence and you can hear the light heartbeat of Damien as it shows increased stress. I also want to find some music that is low and eerie, and not super loud and jump, scare horror like more of a psychological feel. I think sound is going to be very important in my film because it will give off more of that Erie vibe.

I really think that silence is going to be an important factor too in certain parts of it. And I want to use the heartbeat in the silence to kind of feel like you’re inside of Damien’s mind in a way. It also shows that he is stressed. It can also tell us how Damien is the main character as it’s focusing on what he is hearing and seeing and not what Delilah is hearing and seeing. But I do want to find music for my credit sequence that is very uncomfortable and unsettling.

Character mis-en-scene

I have not fully decided who I’m going to cast yet. But I have a friend who knows lots of people in theater and will help me find people to cast. But I only need to find three people to be in it. I am going to film on an iPhone. The costume design is going to be a white shirt and black jeans for the main character boy. And then for the psychologist, a business casual outfit that gives off a professional look I will show pictures below of inspo. 

I think this business look looks really well for Delilah and I want to keep it very similar to this image

This image is the closest I can find to my idea for him, but I want to make it look more wrinkly and not as put together but this exact style but almost like he just threw it on and he’s not actually trying.

The idea for the wolf is to have a boy dressed in black jeans and a black shirt but with this mask on so it is obvious there’s a human behind it but it’s dressed as a wolf it is supposed to look like a costume and not exactly like a wolf.

Mis-en-scene

I have created a mood board in how I want to achieve my film. I want the lighting to be dark and mysterious. I used canva to create my mood board and used Pinterest to find the pictures. This mood board helps me picture my idea now that I am working on making it come to life.

I think this mood board fits the film very well as it shows it Involves crime, but also portrays mental illness. I want It to be filmed in a dark dim room with one table with the psychologist sitting across from the main character, the boy. I want the boys to be dressed in a white T-shirt and black jeans. The thing that he sees, and he said is a human just in a wolf costume. I want one of my props to be a tape recorder that gives off almost an interrogation vibe from the psychologist to the boy about the night of the murder. I don’t want the room to look busy or crowded. I want it to look very plain so it focuses mostly on the characters and the dark empty vibe. There will only be three main characters in my film opening. The monster, the boy, and a psychologist. It will all take place in this room. 

The idea I have for where I wanna film is anywhere that is a room with a table and I’ll put two chairs on opposite ends and only a light above it. The rest of the room is dark and I will clear off the table and anything around it so the walls Look bare. Here are some ideas for what the room will look like and what I am visioning for it

Damian

 This blog post will develop my character. The first step is naming my character. I have decided to name the main character Damian. I think this name fits his character very well because the name has a dark, edgy vibe. Even though he himself doesn’t look super dark or edgy, his mind is. The therapist name will be  named Delilah because it is a dark name that fits the character well.

I have created a mood board that explains him well. The books, that is a picture that gives off a happier vibe because reading is something that helps Damian escape from his mind. He also loves to write down his feelings and what is going on in his head and what the monster is telling him. The empty swing set symbolizes loneliness because his illness makes him feel far away from reality. But he does have friends and likes to socialize with people it brings him happiness to be with people he loves. The pills symbolize the medication he has to take for his illness. 

Media theory

 I want to focus on implying character media theory to my story. Especially with the monster and boy. The boy represents mental struggle and it will be shown through his actions and also the monster as the monster is coming from his mind.

I want the characters to be the main priority in the story and give him a deeper meaning than just a scary story. The monster is a representation of his mind and I want that to be shown in the film. I want it to be dim lighting to show the dark state of his mind.

Storyboard

 

Idea and inspo

 I have decided to change my genre to psychological thriller instead of horror. I love to read these kinds of books and watch these kinds of movies. For my project my idea is for it to be about a boy who has delusions and is skitzofrinic and sees this creepy looking creature. I want to have a big scene in a room that is dimly lit and gives an uncomfortable feeling. This room is where he has a conversation with his therapist who is asking if he’s taking his meds and just normal questions at first but then brings up a conversation about a crime that has happened in the area and brings up how he was a suspect because he was in the area at that time and he is staring at the corner of the room and then the monster comes out. He doesn’t respond to what she is saying all he says is “he’s here” she knows what he is referring to and tells him its all in his head and he needs to talk to her. Then as it goes on he says that the monster is telling him that she was the one who committed the crime and murder the girl that night. He backs up his statement with some kind of specific evidence. But the monster is the one telling him all of these things and he tells the therapist just that. 

Obviously the monster is all in his head and he was in the area the night of the crime and saw her murder the girl but his delusions make him not think for himself and so he thinks that this monster is the one telling him what happened when in reality he was there himself that night. What inspired the monster and idea is from the movie Donnie Darko because i loved the way they portrayed his mental illness.

My costume idea for the monster: I want the monster to be him but as a wolf so the costume with be and wolf mask with the paws but behind the mask it is him and the body is dressed in all black.

Group meeting #1

This group meeting was helpful because I could see what other people are doing and help give them some advice and they gave me advice on my story. They helped by giving me ideas for my story because I hadn’t fully developed it yet. I think that these group meetings are a good thing to have often because it gives you time to talk about your project with other people and also see theirs.

The advice they gave me was to make the patient be involved in some kind of crime or event that happens and i took that advice and I’m imputing it into my story. I enjoyed listening to everyone’s ideas and how they are going about there project and helping come up with ideas when they were stuck. I also liked being able to see everyone’s blog post.

Jaws opening

 I did research on the jaws opening. This movie itself has created a fear in people ever since it came out, of going out into the water and being scared of not being able to see below the water. The opening scene has a lot to do with that. It starts with two kids getting drunk and flirting. The girl runs off and wants to skinny dip, but the guy passes out on the beach before being able to go in from being too drunk. Then the girl swims out very far and suddenly gets pulled under.

It doesn’t actually show what pulled her under which further reinforces the fear of the unknown. It shows her screaming for help and crying saying it hurts, but you don’t actually see what is hurting her. Even though this movie may not be considered horror It is one of the most horrific sequences in film history because it displays the fear of the unknown so well.

 

Planning

This is my schedule for the 7 weeks I have to finish my project.

1. Knowledge and research 

- researching and analyzing a variety of different film openings in my genre

- researching and analyzing different movies in my genre

2. Brainstorming 

- I will start to write my ideas and come up with my plot and characters and how I will be achieving it

- I will decide when to get all the shots for my project and find people to be in it.

- storyboard 

3. Filming 

- Film everything 

- Find all my sounds

4. Editing 

- put everything together 

- Add the sound and credits

5. Review everything 

6. CCR

- make reflection

- edit it together

I will try my best to stay on track and each section will be split in all 7 weeks that I have I want to stay on track and not get behind so I won’t be to stressed and I have time to make critiques when I don’t like how it is going. I also want to make sure that I have the time to achieve what I am going for.