Starting the filming process

 So, our original plan was to film our news segment,

 in a TV room at our school that would have been absolutely perfect for what a real news panel would look like. 

I mean, look how professional that is.

However, after talking to the instructor in charge of the room where this set up is, he expressed the concern that many students who use it to film end up leaving a mess or breaking something, so he did not allow us to use it. This was honestly a big set back, because we had our hearts set in creating the news segment from the script here, but that's okay.

Instead, we decided to film in front of this backdrop, which is still realistic enough for a news panel.

This is me setting up the camera to show only the backdrop, giving the effect of a green screen that you would normally see on a news channel.

Example:

Although this is not what we had in mind, we plan to edit the final shot similarly to the example I have shown here, including the "breaking news" effect, to add the same realistic sense we would have gotten from our original plan.

Filming this segment was one of my first times setting up and using a camera on my own, and it was a lot easier than I expected. My teammate, Zain, is in a TV class in our school and is very experienced when it comes to filming, so she showed me how to set the camera up on the tripod securely, as well as how to connect a microphone to the camera to get audio. Overall, despite the initial setback we had, this was a really strong start to our filming process.

FINAL SCRIPT

 Here is the final, revised script my team and I wrote that we think is the best way to bring our story to life:

Honestly, I am so happy with the way this turned out. The original draft was written by Clara, but we all added our own revisions and suggestions to it. For example, I changed the lines of what the news anchor was saying originally, because I thought it gave away too much of the plot, and I changed it to something more vague like "a pattern has been discovered", rather than "equations that connect events in history". Other than that, this script is ready to go, and we can officially start our long filming process.

The art of storytelling

 On Wedensday, February 28, we watched a Ted Talk on storytelling by Andrew Stanton, who is a writer-director for some of Pixar's most incredible pieces of work, like Toy Story, and it was one of the most inspiring and informative videos I have ever watched.

Here are the points that stood out to me the most:

• All good stories should start with a promise that the story will lead to something good.
• Invoke a sense of wonder
• MAKE ME CARE: emotionally, aesthetically, intellectually
• Change is fundamental in a story. If things go static, stories die, because life is never static.
• Write from what you know. Draw from it. It doesn’t always mean plot or fact, it means capturing a truth from our experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel deep down in your core.
• Give your character a main goal to pursue. All well-drawn characters have a spine. The characters have an inner motor, a dominant, unconscious goal that they’re striving for, an itch that they can’t scratch.
• We want to be told, what is 2 + 2? But we don't want to be told, 2 + 2 = 4

This video meant a lot to me, because it gave me a lot more guidance in how I am going to tackle creating my movie opening. Overall, I take with me that all characters need a spine to them, a story behind why they are the way they are. Themes always need to be incorporated into the story. And most importantly, since I am creating specifically the OPENING to a film, I need to leave the audience with a promise that the story will lead to something good and worthwhile.

The video:

Click here

Final idea!!

 Final, revised idea 

I have been loosely talking about my group’s idea for the past couple of blog posts, but today I want to finally lay out our final, revised plan for what our film opening is going to be about. 

One of our team members, Zain, is really interested in pseudoscience, and wanted to include it in our film somehow. So, we decided to create a world where a specific pseudoscience is real, which is the Biorhythm to the Strauss-Howe generational theory.  

Strauss-Howe generational theory: 

 

Devised by William Strauss and Neil Howe, this theory is an explanation behind recurring generational cycles in American and Western history. The theory states that historical events are correlated to current events in the form of a cycle. According to the theory, every 100 years concludes a cycle, and each one is laid out in a specific schedule. The first 20-25 years, a new social, economic, political mood is present. After these years, a crisis of some sort usually occurs. Afterwards, it is recovered. Essentially, the theory states that “history always repeats itself”.  

How will we develop this into our own opening? 

Although I was originally talking about a girl making math equations that help unlock the ability to time travel, after incorporating these equations, the revised idea is that she writes equations that relate to this specific pseudoscience. This would mean that in this fictional world, the Strauss-Howe generational theory exists, and we would go through the story of how the girl discovers this through equations, and the process she must go through, including her information getting leaked. Now, we can start figuring out the specifics, such as the design of the set, the cinematography, our character, and so much more. 

Clara, one of our group members, has officially written a layout for the script, which I am going to be revising in the next post. I'm so glad we finally figured this out, because I think that this idea is a lot more unique and thought out than the time travel one. 

Group meeting

 Group meeting

On Tuesday, we were put into groups by Ms. Stoklosa in order to discuss our projects so far, and give each other advice that we may have. I explained to my group my science fiction film and the concept behind it, and here is some of the feedback I got.

My group seemed to think that my idea had a solid foundation, but they all agreed that it needed more substance to it. I explained to them the outline of my opening scene, which would be a girl writing equations that lead to time travel at her desk, but they all said that I would need to add more context to make the point of her work clear, and not just random equations. For example, one suggestion was to add a ticking time clock sound to symbolize her internal clock, which would start to hint towards the idea of time travel. They also believe that more needs to happen in my film opening than just a girl writing equations and talking to her boss, which I agree with. After discussing with my group, we agree we need to add in more little details that build context, like the people in my group suggested. 

I was also recommended a couple of titles, mostly ones that consist of just one word, that could work with my film. For example, "The parallel" and "Illusion". I really liked how simple these titles were, because they did not give away the plot of the movie, but were intriguing. 

However, the group left me questioning something really important that I need to consider in my film opening, which is the one thing I want to leave my audience with. When talking to them, I honestly realized that I could not think of any points that my story is purposing to leave the viewer with. This is definitely something I have to work on and figure out in the near future. Overall, it was a really insightful day and I enjoyed the feedback and help we all provided for each other. 

Main character

 Good news! My team finally took the time to sit down and discuss what we wanted our film opening to be about, and what it would consist of. A lot of progress and planning was made, so let me break it down. 

As mentioned previously, we ultimately decided on focusing on a time travel theme in our film. Our main character is a genius who came up with the perfect mathematic equations to be able to transport themselves into different points of time in the universe. We want this person to be working for a top-secret organization that deals with this advanced technology.

Although we still need to figure out the logistics of how this film opening is going to be made and the shots that will go into it, we decided to start with establishing our character.

The first thing we decided on was whether our character was going to be male or female. We were thinking of male, but ultimately decided to go the female route, since majority of time travel movies that have been made follow a male character, and we want to create something different. The next step was creating the character's name. We decided on the name Tina, because of its simplicity, and how it does create any initial biases on the character's personality. We planned out a few things that would be visibly important to Tina in her life just by the opening shot. For example, we decided she would have a cat sitting right besides her as she is writing the different equations. We also decided she would have a mug with tea. All her papers are scattered and written all over, which are meant to show how fast her mind works and how many different equations she has been coming up with over time. 

As for deciding on Tina's appearance, meaning her costume design, makeup, etc, we want her to have a very specific wardrobe throughout the movie, which is polo shirts and simple, slicked back hair. We chose not to give her anything fashionable to show that her main concern in life is figuring out these equations that she has been invested in for many years, and that she does not give much thought to her appearance and sticks to practical clothing. The makeup would not be a typical makeup look, but we discussed using eyeshadow to create some dark circles under her eye to indicate tiredness and how she overworks herself. 

Examples: 

How to develop lighting schemes

Hi blog!

As I mentioned in the last post, my group and I came to the final decision that we want to make a film opening that relates to time travel. Based on the science fiction film opening I studied in the last post, Interstellar, I noticed the role that the dark, mysterious lighting in the interview room, as well as the man's bedroom played in creating mystery and a feeling of unease.

This is why today, I focused on specifically researching how lighting can change the feeling behind a shot, as well as how to develop lighting schemes. 

What is the importance of lighting in film productions?

Lighting is a way to help incorporate an ambience and communicate the feeling of the scene or setting of the shot to the audience. If a film had all the same lighting throughout, it would give off no emotion to the viewer, and end up being a poor production. The use of light can also draw the viewers attention to where you intend it to be. Instead of the whole room being well lit, a brighter light can be cast upon the main character during specific scenes. Just a simple use of shadows or brightness can distinguish an "evil" character from a "good" one.

Darker colors, such as red, blacks, and purples, suggest danger or evil.

Light colors, like whites, yellows, and other pastels suggest innocence and a nostalgic feel. However, yellow is also often used to portray insanity in a character.

One of the most well known and loved directors of all time, Wes Anderson, relies heavily on lighting to make his films. He typically utilizes lighting to create the "dreamlike" feel that most of his movies have. For example, in the movie "The Grand Budapest Hotel", the inside of the hotel has very soft and warm lighting, with a lot of red and pink hues. Although this creates a comforting vibe, the red also adds a sense of mystery and unease. As the film evolves, the hues change to darker green and blues, which intensify the mystery of the movie. 

How I am going to incorporate this into my own opening: 

The initial feel I want from my movie is a sense of mystery. My plan is to introduce the character, who will be the one coming up with equations that lead to time travel, in a mostly dark room, with an reddish light cast on him. I feel that this will show best his intense studies, as well as how secretive they are, because they are being done in a dark, underground room. Red is known for not only creating a sense of mystery in movies, but also giving a character an "evil" or secretive feel.