Srarting Storyboard

Hi, welcome back!!On Thursday Tabatha Gabbie and I were able to meet after schools and get a significant amount of work done. We began our story board and I really like how it’s coming out. Some of the shots we had to get creative on just so we can make sure it looks realistic, for example with shot 6 and 7. We wanted to make a scene where he is taking her heart out creating a symbolism that the audience would understand later. The symbolism would something along the line of her breaking his heart so he is going to rip her heart out. So Tabatha said we should do a shot for him pulling the heart out but what worried me is that it wouldn’t look as realistic. Then I came up with the idea I’m very excited of how it will look. At this point the camera is at a low angle shot with the girl on the floor dead and him looking over her, the camera begins to get closer and as he puts his hand into her chest the camera begins to move closer to them and up until you can’t see either of them anymore. Then he will come up from the bottom of the screen holding the heart and it will again be a low angle of him holding the heart so the heart will be the focus of attention. I came up with this idea and I really liked it but we need to make sure we find a way to make the heart look as realistic as possible, this will be the most challenging part. Also we found possible areas we can put the credits so they incorporate with the scene. Like the shot of his feet going down the step the name can be on the floor a when he steps on the name it disappears. In the last part of the meeting Gabbie gave a good suggestion for a movie title, she said to have it say blind date but then the ‘blind’ is crossed out and it says blood in a bloody red font. I also liked this idea a lot it thought it was a creative idea. That is where we stand as of now, we hope to finish the story board this week as a fell a bit behind planned and start filming in a week. I will keep you update on our progress!!

Slow getting there...

I mentioned previously that my group and I were going to get together yesterday, but unfortunately we were not able to because I had a last minute inconvenience so we moved it to this afternoon. Although we weren’t able to meet out of school yesterday Gabbie and I were able to talk about the plot a bit further and what the opening we consist of. I still didn't feel we were completely clear on the plot after our last conversation. While I was still insisting one how we can make it original and unique, I didn't want to do the classic werewolf or vampire. Then I came up with the idea to make the Man a cannibal and is trying to capture the girl to kill and eat her. I liked this idea because I have never seen many films about cannibals and I think it will be a challenge and fun to find props and finding a way to make it look as realistic as possible.

Then we moved on to further discuss how to set up the film opening because I went to watch parts of Quantico again to review how they used this technique. I realized I made a mistake as I thought it started at the end of the climax or in the beginning of the falling action but no it really does start on opposite sides. Meaning the film opening should start with the very end of them film and then after we present the title is would be the beginning of the plot. As of now we are thinking of starting with the man cleaning up the scene of killing and eating the girl and showing him put away her organs to begin to tell the audience about one of the main character. Following that scene we would present the title of the film which, we still need to come up with, then it would be day time and the beginning of the plot again.

Today my group and I are going to meet at Starbucks and our goal is to finish or do most of the storyboard. I will update tomorrow hopefully with my our storyboard done!

Deciding Genre and Plot

Yesterday in class my group and I finally sat down to discuss and brainstorm what we want to do with our film opening. First we said we need to determine what genre we want to do, which in my opinion was one of the most difficult decisions. Thabata mentioned that was should do horror but what worried me about this is it would come out too cliché which is what I want to stay away from. I truly want to try to do something different, original, and unique. I mentioned my concern to them and both agreed so we brainstormed a couple ideas back and forth of how we can pull off a horror story without making it cliché but this wasn't easy. We came across the idea of combining a Purge and the series You and putting our own spin of the story. So we want to do a Purge them keeping the masked theme and killing but the story will be with a male stalking a female. The genre we feel this would fall under is horror drama film. Today we are going to get together at Starbucks to finish deciding the last details of the plot and hopefully begin the storyboard.

    We also came up with a few ideas of how to organize our film opening. Like I brought up the idea that we can use a feature also used in Quantico which is to show opposite end of the plot. The first scene we would present would toward the end of the plot near the falling action for example it could be when the girl is already killed or captured then it cuts into the title of the film, then the following scene would be day time and it would be the beginning of the plot. I thought this idea would be good because it creates a lot of suspense, the audience would want to continue watching and it is a unique approach to the film opening. This would continue going back and forth and we would be made clear to the audience that it is going back and forth by using different filter. We also want to insert the credits in different areas where is she hiding by using strategic camera angles to get negative space to put it in. I will update again tomorrow when I get together with my group again and hopefully have most of the storyboard done by then.

Brainstorming & Planning

    After many months of studying and learning about different types of media it is finally time to begin out final project. The entire year I have been looking forward to this project as I’ve had some ideas of what my group and I could do. But obviously the first step to any planning process would be to decide what we are doing. Tomorrow the three of us are going to sit down and compare all of the different ideas we have brainstormed. This will be no easy process has it is a big decisions and we don't want to be changing our idea half way through the project. So hopefully by tomorrow or the following day we have a concrete idea of what we are doing. My goal is to have the entire or the majority of the storyboard done by Saturday so we can get to filing right away.

    Most of the ideas I have found myself brainstorming are films about breaking a representation in film. I am female Colombian and have been insulted and stereotyped time and time again. I want to make things clear that not just because one person from a country does something doesn't mean we all do that. I am Colombian and I've never done a drug in my life nor have I gotten surgery and my parents are not maids or thugs. But yet I play soccer and have had a passion for it since a young age and since i was small people would say “that is a men's sport” or “girls don’t play soccer, its too rough”. Furthermore in this final project I’m doing I would want to break representation in media may it be Hispanic, African American, or Muslim.

    The main message I want to have in all of the ideas for this project is- don’t listen what society or anyone says just listen to your heart and what makes you happy. One of my favorite ideas is to do it about a Colombian girl from a wealthy family that want to tell her how to live but she refuses. She goes her own way to be independent and playing soccer and working to keep her little apartment and food on the table. I would want to show how she makes it out all on her own and how she can be independent doing things that are “traditionally” female roles. The most challenging part of all of this is how to show all of my ideas in just the opening of the show. This is an obstacle my group and i will overcome as we are going to have to learn for to use every second very wisely. I’m very excited to meet with my group tomorrow to brainstorm ideas and see what we come up with.  

Drama Genre Research

Drama

Drama is a genre the attempts to generate emotion and relational development of these realistic characters. There are many sub genres within drama so its characteristics such as character development, and storytelling method. The four main sub genres in drama are: tragedy, comedy, melodrama, and tragicomedy. This genre was traditionally intended to be performed out on a stage live so a drama brings a story to life right before your eyes, may it be live or on a screen. The story is told with a series of dialogue and actions as well as different settings and scenery. Moreover all dramas bring these 5 characteristics: idea/plot, characters, language, music, performance. With all of these characteristics it reflects human behavior in form of a story through acting and in some cases dancing. When people hear a film is a drama they tend to associate it with words such as impactful, real and attractive.

Even though there are so many different sub genres in drama most of them still have similar production techniques. For example the lighting, music, special effect, and sound all have a big importance in drama as this is used to develop the understanding of the atmosphere, the character, theme and conflict. Another technique used often to make an action seem more dramatic is putting it in slow motion. Many dramas also play with the dialogue by either adding a narrator, using an ‘aside’, or soliloquy. An ‘aside’ is when the directly addresses the audience during the film. A soliloquy is when one character speaks to give insight of what he/she is thinking.It is also seen used frequently in dramas that they use music to underscore the drama. Also the great majority of dramas use basic symbols as a lab coat which means medicine or science, a dove to represent peace, and torn wedding pictures to show a divorced couple.

Marketing these big name drama films they need to go through many different marketing strategies. For almost all of the film has a trailer that highlights all the best part or most dramatic parts of the film. Also there is usually more than one trailer and it is played on social media such as youtube. Once the film comes out and continues to grow many times these companies begin to make posters for fans to buy.

The film “Boyhood” which is a drama directed by Richard Linklater was released in July 11, 2014 and follows many characteristics of a drama. This film you grow up in the eyes of this boy named Mason for 12 years. It takes you through all the real moments in life, may it good or bad. It takes you on a ride through the ups and downs of this boys life and the audience can relate to this as they were a child once as well. It also uses music to underscore the drama and throughout the film you can hear is “Yellow to Arcade Fire’s Deep Blue” by Coldplay.Lastly throughout the film you can find symbols that show family and growth.

Representation of Hispanics

In my project I would to like to represent Hispanics in the United States. In media Latino immigrants have had the stereotypes of being criminals, drug dealers and not contributing to society. Many times, when watching different films or tv shows the “bad guy” or the maid is Hispanics and tends to have a strong Hispanic accent. I don’t believe this representation is fair as I am Hispanic and if not all most people, I know that are Hispanic are professionals and have never committed a crime or done drugs before. Although yes, some Hispanics in this country are drug dealers and criminals but media does exaggerate this. Studies showed that 50% of Latin immigrants were represented in an unlawful act and 38% were depicted as incarcerated.

          One film that represents Hispanics in this way is “Colombiana” directed by Oliver Megaton. In the film a Colombian girl, Cataleya, witnessed drug lords kill her parents before her eyes. Then when she grows up, she becomes hitman for her uncle, she engages in violent murders and hopes to one day get revenge on the mobster responsible for her parents for her parents’ death. In this film it also gives a false representation of what Colombians are in the united states. Cataleya is in Chicago and killing all these people as it was nothing and this makes people think that all Colombians are like this. This film also gives him the perception that in Colombia people are getting killed left and right which isn’t true. I don’t like this representation of Colombians as they truly aren’t all like this and this makes people believe otherwise.

          Another representation of Hispanics is in the series “Family Guy” the maid the Griffin residence, Consuela. First off Consuela in the film always seems to mad or in a bad mood. Whenever she picks up the phone she always just says no, no, and no and she never delivers messages to anyone. She also seems to not be able to speak English as she calls everyone mister even women and speaks with a very strong accent. Moreover, when she asked to clean something in the house she responds “I no can clean” showing she has broken English. Although she is very funny on the show, she represents Hispanics as selfish, unproductive and not able to speak English. This is very few Hispanics that come to this country as they normally come here to work hard and chase their dreams.

          In my project when I’m representing the Hispanic community in the United States, I would retain very few characteristics form how they are represented in media at the moment. A few of the few things I would maybe retain is the accent and the culture they have. I would use their accent so it gets better throughout and how that wont stop her from chasing her dreams and I would never leave her culture behind as that is what makes her special and unique and she is proud of this. What I would emphasis is her past how she came from nothing, she grew up in poor neighborhoods although there was evil around her, she never fell into that. She worked to reach the American dream tirelessly. She works hard and long hours, but she always kept her eyes on the prize. After lots of hard work she makes it she becomes a professional and got a job, she finds the perfect man and starts her own family. I would challenge how even though there was evil around her most of us don’t fall for that and I would show the obstacles she had to overcome. Most of all I would emphasis how she made it on her own, a man didn’t get her there, with her hard work and dedication she is now living the American dream.

Horror Genre Research

1.    Horror is a genre of speculative fiction which is intended to, or has the capacity to frighten, scare, disgust, or startle its readers or viewers by inducing feelings of horror and terror.

2.    All horror movies have a different plot but that all contain similar content. For example, most horror films are known to have more dark and dull colors. Most horror films are dark because this produced more fear as in the dark there is the unknown. It also normally the setting is in places that will cause fear such as graveyards, old houses, basements, overgrown forests, as evil can hide in these places. Moreover, horror movies contain suspense, creating anticipation that something bad will happen but the audience doesn’t know when it will occur or what will occur. There also are characters with disfigurement of faces and bodies and snakes, spiders, and rats as theses things produce fear and emotion in people. Lastly all horror movies contain spooky music as this intensifies feelings of suspense and shock.

3.    All horror films used common production techniques to produce this fear in the audience. One of the most common seen in in production techniques is underexposed meaning leave more areas of the frame in the shadows to create a more mysterious feeling as they can’t see everything. Another technique horror film use haze or fog because it adds mystery and set a unique mysterious mood the scene. Using the red gel in certain scenes in a horror film can be used make the audience unnerved and make them more intense. An angle used often in horror films is the Dutch tilt as it creates an unsetting feeling in the audience and they also try to find new unique angles to create the same effect.

4.    After watching several trailers for horror movies, I found many use similar ways of marketing these films. The trailers try leave a slight confusion as this tends to hook potential viewers to go watch the movie. Also, they always try to build up mystery by not revealing the entire plot and leaving somethings unsaid. Many trailers try to only show a few characters or only give the audience a glimpse which again used to create more suspense. Sometimes they even leave character faceless by not letting the face of the monster to be seen. Another factor that might get people to go watch the movie is add a testimonial and/or a recommendation by someone the audience would trust.

5.    The film “insidious” directed by James Wan is a good film that embodies the genre of horror. Throughout the entire film, trailer, and cover is all dark colors. They used a lot of shadows and dark backgrounds in the film to create mystery and suspense. For example, there is a scene when a little boy is walking around with a small lantern and this only lights up his face but nothing around him. This doesn’t allow the audience to see what is happening behind or around him which creates fear. Also, in the trailer that came out for this film the plot wasn’t explained at all and seemed very confusing which got more people to go watch the movie. Moreover, they also use very selective choice of background music as hit helps scare the audience especially with all the jump scares. Lastly in the trailer and most part of the scene the “ghost” or “demon” was left faceless as you could never see him.

6.    The film “It” directed by Andy Muschietti is another horror film that embodies the horror genre very well. First off, the setting is exactly where a horror film is expected it takes place in the sewer and an old run down house. This also always for the dark colors and very dim lights as both places aren’t eliminated very well. Moreover, one of the main colors of the film is red as the “monster” is a clown and red is a prominent color. This color is significant as it makes scenes more intense. This film also uses very specific music to create more fear in the audience. And it also follows the darkness throughout the film and use of shadows.

7.    More horror films: The Conjuring, Annabelle: Creation, The Shining, The Exorcist, The Witch, The Nightmare on Elm Street, and Sinister.