Group Meetings!!

 

We had our class group meetings today where we all discussed our different projects and gave each other feedback about what we could improve in our projects. We discussed every person's project in detail and it was actually very helpful to listen to other's ideas because it made me want to improve my own and think of ways to elevate my own project. I took some great ideas from this group meeting and my partner and I will be changing various things about it to make it even better. However, I will discuss the changes we will incorporate in my next post. 

Here are the feedback my review group gave me: 

First, since our title is "Spiraling", one group member told me that in the moment when Serena is having her mental breakdown the room behind her should be spinning while she is standing there having her breakdown. This could really elevate the whole look of the introduction because it incorporates different editing and filming techniques. However, if we take this suggestion then our filming process would be longer by at least one day. For this specific idea, my group members also suggested adding color to it with LED lights. 

Second, my group and I decided that we should consider taking out the whole kidnapping aspect of the project because it does not make sense that the mom would believe she got kidnapped so quickly while she was downstairs the whole time. 

Third, since we are considering taking out the whole kidnapping aspect, we are also going to have the mom come home from work instead of being downstairs the whole time because it gives that isolating feeling that Serena feels even more. 

Stay tuned for the changes we will incorporate!! 

Filming

 Having our storyboard done makes the whole filming process ten times easier because we are going into it with a clear idea of what we want to do. The whole filming process should take us no longer than 2-3 days since we have the specific scenes already drawn out and what type of shots we want to use for each scene. We will start our whole filming process this upcoming week.

The main reason why we want to do our filming as soon as possible is because we want to leave enough time to properly edit the introduction. Leaving enough time to edit it key in this process since we do not want our final product to look rushed and sloppy. We acknowledge that editing can be quite time consuming and will take longer than the filming process which is why we are trying to cut the filming process as much as possible. Additionally, our spring break is coming up so we want to be as on track as we can to make a great product but also have time to enjoy our break. 

We have a few ideas on how we want the whole feel of the video to be. For example, using dark exposure and not a lot of lightning especially in the scenes inside Serena's room and using more bright lights in the scenes with her mom to emphasize the contrast in mentality that both characters have. We are also actively trying to find the song that we want to use for our introduction but so far none of the songs we have looked at seem to be working with what we want to create. Even though none of the songs have worked so far, I am glad that we have a clear image on what we want to create because it makes the entirety of our project flow smoothly. 

Don't forget to check in next week!!

Character Wardrobe

 I know in a previous post I mentioned what Serena would be wearing for the introduction, but my partner and I decided to change her outfit and give it more significance. 

When we began developing her character we gave her a dark vibe, in the sense that she is someone who is going through mental challenges and it reflects in her appearance at home. Based off of this, her outfit is now going to be black sweatpants and a red sweatshirt. You may be asking yourself, why the change in colors? Well we wanted the character to have more depth to her than just her backstory which is why we choose these colors. The use of color in film is so important because it subconsciously lets viewers know things or gat a feel of the character without anything being said. 

Now to explain the significance behind the colors. Black, in color psychology black represents darkness, despair, elegance, and mystery, among other things. The black sweatpants help aid the idea that she is going through a dark time and it reflects on the clothes she decides to use. The elegance aspect is represented because we know that her parents put an immense pressure on her to always look perfect and sophisticated outside of the house, even when she goes to school. Mystery because it feeds into the suspense part of the film since it is still a thriller film and we want viewers to be hooked. 

Red represents anger, war, danger, and intense emotions, among other things. Red is the one color that fits Serena the most because she is angry at her parents for so many different things, the whole introduction is based off of her intense emotions towards her parents. War because Serena is fighting a war in multiple aspects of her life, whether it be mentally or with her parents. 

Serena's mom, who we decided to call Luchi Thorpe, will be wearing her work outfit because we want to represent the time that she does not spend with her daughter and instead spends it at work. This once again helps represent how absent her parents are for many things and why she has so much anger towards them. 

Stay tuned for updates on filming! 

Storyboard!!

After all this time, me and my partner were finally able to complete our storyboard!! Here it is!!

Even though we could not stick to that schedule I devised up a couple blog posts about, I feel that we are right on track with time. This week we will begin filming during the weekend and try to have all of our filming done in a week and a half. All of our camera angles are listed underneath each different shot and the camera movements are indicated with arrows in the little boxes. Some shots have and "X" that indicates where the cameras will be when the shot first begins. 

The introduction will begin with Serena stomping up the stairs with makeup running down her face and tears rolling down her eyes. All the scenes in the introduction are important because they all help develop the storyline of what the movie is about. I feel that without all the shots we have in the storyboard then our introduction would not feel as complete and whole. The climax of the whole scenes in definitely when Serena's mom is walking up the stairs and almost catches Serena leaving, but Serena is able to jump out the window just in time. This is the most nail-biting part because the audience does not know if she will get caught or not. 

The most important part about the introduction is definitely the ending. It is very important that we do not give our introduction a clear ending because it is only the beginning of the movie. We ended our scene with Serena jumping out the window which leaves viewers wondering what will happen and effectively hooks them into watching the rest of the movie. I am quite happy with the story we were able to develop and am excited about what the end result will look like! Don't forget to stay tuned!

Actress

 We have officially found our actress to play Serena! My partner and I decided to ask our friend who is blonde and has brown eyes to play the part. We decided this based on the fact that we felt it would be less challenging to direct the introduction if we both stayed behind the scenes instead of one of us being behind the camera. 

We have also determined our filming location, we are going to film most of our introduction at my partners house because we want to make it seem like Serena is jumping from a window to run away and my partner has the perfect window in her room. We will also be filming a couple scenes in her backyard and are still determining if we should use a car or not. Using a car to run away would make the actual running away part less believable so the chances we use a car are slim to none. 

Now for Serena's costume design, as I mentioned in my previous blog, when she is at her house her clothes consist of sweatpants and sweatshirts so we will be putting our actress in that same outfit. I think the sweatpants will be colored gray and the sweatshirt will be black to help describe the mindset Serena is experiencing. She will have her hair tied up in a messy bun and will have makeup running from her eyes to make it seem as if she was crying for a long time. 

My partner and I met up today and began discussing if we want dialogue in our introduction or not. We are leaning more towards not including any dialogue to add onto the mystery that is Serena and the reason why she is running away. However, we acknowledge that by not using dialogue we have to make things excessively clear. We also know that by not using dialogue it can sometimes be harder to hook our audience. 

Stay tuned for more updates! 

More about the protagonist

 As me and my partner continued to talk about our protagonist, we realized that in order for her to seem more real we should create a backstory about what led her to run away. Here's what we have decided so far: 

Our protagonist is named Serena Thorpe, I have already talked about her physical appearance in a pervious post, but we have since made some changes. She is average height, has a normal sized nose, has blonde hair, and has brown eyes. She wears glasses and dresses in neutral/dark colors. She tries to maintain a perfect image of herself because that is what she has seen since she was younger. Her parents try to make everything seem perfect, this really took a toll on Serena because she was never perfect but had to hide all her imperfections to the world. 

Serena had a best friend named Juliet Williams all throughout freshman and halfway through sophomore year. They were the "it" girls at their school, everyone knew them and wanted to be friends with them. They were really close and genuine friends at one point, however, Juliet always envied Serena because she was prettier and was better student than her. Juliet began to turn her back against Serena and midway through sophomore year they had a falling out. Juliet managed to turn the whole school against Serena. Serena felt that she went from being on top of the world to having nothing and no one at all, she began to sit alone at lunch and she never had plans on the weekends anymore. This loneliness that Serena felt triggered month long depressive episodes that she has yet to overcome. 

Even though Serena was struggling, she still maintained that perfect look that her parents taught her to always have. She still acted like nothing was wrong and dressed to perfection, while at home she would curl up on her bed wearing sweatpants and sweatshirts and cry herself to sleep. Having to keep up with the perfect standard she had took an even bigger toll on her mental health and caused her relationship with her parents to become strained. Serena felt like even her own parents were against her when they were truly just worried about her. 

For months Serena had been planning the perfect plan to run away from her house, but she was too scared to ever do it. However, that night that she decided to do it she got into a severe fight with her mom and decided it was time to execute her plan. The idea of making her appear kidnapped is to help her maintain that perfect image that she has always had. 

It was important for my partner and I to invent a story behind the character because we feel that we needed a deeper reason to answer why our protagonist decides to run away. 

Production

Now for the idea of the introduction. We obviously want to make an intriguing introduction and want it to effectively hook the audience. For the actual vibe we want to go for we are thinking about filming at night and giving it that more mysterious sense to it. One window would be open and the girl would hop out of the window after messing up her room and begin running away from her house. If we film this at night we can use LED lights inside the room to help establish the mood of the scene. 

For the actual filming locations, it is definitely going to be inside a house and on the outside of the house too. I previously mentioned that maybe we would have to use a park, but I don't think that will be necessary anymore. When I picture this scene, I picture our actress walking into her room angry, messing everything up, such as throwing clothes all over the room and disorganizing her bed. Then sitting on the floor with her hands on her head and deciding she was going to run away. After this, she opens her window, looks back, and hops out with a small backpack she packed. Then she begins running and running and the scene stops. 

I believe that this idea clearly captures the essence of what a thriller introduction should be because it follows the guidelines that I learned about through my research. For example, it establishes that sense of mystery and covering up certain information from characters that the audience already knows. In this case it would be that the viewers know that she has run away, but the parents believe that she was kidnapped. 

I also wanted to add that there have been setbacks in my planning process because unfortunately my partner got COVID-19 so we have not been able to meet with each other and discuss everything at length. However, she is not doing much better and we will meet in person by the end of this week. Throughout the week I will continue to brainstorm about the full story and the one of the most important parts of the film: THE TITLE! 

Protagonist

I decided to make a whole post about our protagonist alone because I have been doing a lot of thinking about what I want her to look like and how I will develop her character. 

First, she is obviously a teenager with long blonde hair. She is not tall nor short, she is of average height. She has light eyes and an average sized nose. She tends to lean towards neutral and dark colors instead of bright and pastel colors. Her everyday clothing consists of hoodies and sweatpants, but during the weekends she dresses in jeans and small shirts. She is a junior in high school. 

Here are examples of the colors her wardrobe consists of: 

Her relationship with her parents is not terrible, but as any other teenage girl she tends to fight with them a lot. This explains why she would run away from her house. The whole idea of making it look like a kidnapping comes from the fact that she wants her parents to regret fighting with her because she believes that everything is there fault. She is someone who has a lot of friends, but has only a few close friends. She usually keeps her room quite messy as a way to challenger her parents because she knows how much they hate when her room is messy. 

With all this information, I feel it is easy to label this character as someone challenging. Stay tuned for more information about this character! 

Updates

 So I know that I had a whole schedule I was planning on sticking on, but the whole idea and trying to develop the story is harder than what I initially anticipated. We have to develop three characters for our introduction, the actual protagonist and her two parents. We still are not quite sure if we will give her a name of purely use her actions and appearance as a way to develop her. For the parents, we have decided that we will not be including any dialogue from them. The most sure thing is that our introduction will have no dialogue at all. 

As for the actual storyline, as I mentioned in a previous blog, it will be about a girl running away from her house but making it seem like she was kidnapped to her parents. The reason why she runs away is not going to be fully disclosed in the introduction since this would be something that would be discussed throughout the movie. 

The actual filming of the video will take place in either my house or my partners house and probably at a park/parking lot that we have not decided on. As for the name of the film, we still have not put much thought into it as we want to film and plan before we decide what fits the film best. I will rework my schedule I had planned out for myself to fit the obstacles that I did not fully anticipate before. 

Production planning

Finally I finished my research, I feel that I learned a lot through the research that I did. Educating myself on a genre that I do not tend to watch makes me want to watch more movies that fit into that genre. The most interesting part about my research was learning about the different things that must be included in a thriller in order to make it successful. In my character research, I found it fascinating that every single character seen in film has a specific purpose and is carefully thought out. This amazed me because there are so many characters in films that I have seen and I have simply thought that they meant nothing and had no real purpose, but now I realize every character has thought put into it. This research is giving me a new appreciation for film and the process behind it. 

Now for the actual production planning. Planning out what my and my partners next steps are is going to help us tremendously. So far we have our idea of what we want to do and our research done. We still have to figure out how we want to develop our characters that will appear and how we want the scenes to look exactly. We have devised a schedule that we plan to stick to: 

• 02/24/2022: Determine exact storyline to begin story board 
• 02/25/2022: Begin storyboard/ characters 
• 02/28/2022: Have storyboard done/ characters
• 03/01/2022: Begin filming 

If we are able to stick to this schedule then we are right on track with how we want things to go. However, we both acknowledge that with this project there might be unexpected obstacles along the way so we are aware that this schedule might not be the exact timeline, but we are still optimistic that we will be able to stick to it. 

Now time to begin brainstorming for our storyboard, don't forget to check for updates! 

More about characters...

 Creating characters, even if it is for an introduction, is quite challenging because you want people to understand your character the way you do. If people can understand your character then it means you succeeded with your character development. Even though it is challenging, it is also exciting to see what you can come up with because it quite literally comes from your mind, at least in this specific project. Me and my partner have full creative liberty to make our character exactly how we want it. 

The main characters are not the only important ones, here is a whole creative process behind every character that appears on film. The different types of characters are: 

• Lead Characters
• Most scenes will include it 
• Drives plot/story 
• Complex backstory 
• Three-dimensional personality
• Minor Characters 
• Only appear in story for short time 
• Complete quick task or have quick conversation
• No backstory
• Supporting Characters 
• Support lead characters 
• Multiple appearances in scenes 
• Short and sweet backstory 

The characters listed above are present in almost every film ever made. Some examples of lead characters are Robert Downey Jr, Chris Evans, and Natasha Romanoff in Avengers: Endgame and Daniel Radcliffe in the whole Harry Potter series. 

                                         Chris Evans as Captain America in Avengers: Endgame

Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man in Avengers: Endgame

                                   Natasha Romanoff as Black Widow in Avengers: Endgame 

                         Daniel Radcliffe as Harry Potter throughout the whole Harry Potter series 

Examples of minor characters are Ken Jeong as a security guard in Avengers: Endgame and Hugh Mitchell as Colin Creevey in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 

                                          Ken Jeong as a security guard in Avengers: Endgame 

Hugh Mitchell as Colin Creevey, a photographer, in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Examples of supporting characters are Danai Gurira as Okoye in Avengers: Endgame and Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. 

                                              Danai Gurira as Okoye in Avengers: Endgame 

Sean Biggerstaff as Oliver Wood in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

When creating characters, ensure to not make them seem to perfect. Make sure that they have character flaws so the audience can relate to them and therefore better understand your character. The more the audience relates and sees themselves in a character, the more likely they will watch the whole film and be hooked on the resolution. 

It is also important to establish that the characters created are not actually real. I know, when I first read this I was completely shocked. Why would professionals purposely make their characters unrealistic? When we refer to realistic, I mean appearance wise, meaning characters that have real emotions and feelings but that you would never expect to run into in real life. An example of this is, Doc Brown in Back to The Future. Audiences enjoy watching characters that they have never seen in real life but fit perfect into the story that is being made in the film. . However, average normal characters are needed as well because audiences also enjoy being able to see themselves in characters. There is a balance between characters that must be met in order to create a great film. 

Sources: 

https://industrialscripts.com/character-development/

https://marvelcinematicuniverse.fandom.com/wiki/List_of_Minor_Characters

https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2478422/10-supporting-characters-from-the-mcu-that-deserve-a-much-bigger-role-in-the-future