Small groups peer review

 Hi everyone!

Second post this week already... This is getting serious huh?!

Jokes aside, today during AICE Media we got together in groups of six and we all got to look at each other's blogs and give ideas, comments, and constructive criticism. At the end of the period, me and my group for the film opening quickly got together and shared some of the ideas our peers gave us since we were each paired up with a different group of people

Being in Nathaniel's group was really helpful. He got really creative and gave many ideas to every single one of us. For my specific film opening, he suggested that instead of the mathematician finding out about the sequence of 23, 28, and 33 days, she finds a government book with annotations about this finding. Although it was a good idea, I don't think we will follow through with it because we want to showcase a strong, intelligent female protagonist.

He also gave me the idea that while the woman is doing the equations in her head, there is a background noise of a clock ticking, to symbolize her internal clock ticking as she discovers those findings. Everyone in my group thought it was a genius idea, as it would add to the "craziness" of the character.

In the peer review group, a lot of people had really good ideas for their film openings. Two people in my group are doing coming-of-age, which I'm not sure is the best idea simply because it is hard to grasp the attention of viewers within the first two minutes of a coming-of-age movie because most of the time the conflict is character vs. self and the conflict isn't always explicitly shown.

Either way, my group plans on filming the news broadcasting scene on Friday, but I won't be here because I have DECA competition in Orlando from Thursday through Sunday, but we have to get this shot out of the way because we need the TV Production room for that, and since Zain is the only one in our group in that program, she needs to be there before she leaves for competition the following week.

I'm happy about how things have been going so far and I'm excited to start shooting! Either way, catch you later this week with an update!

News, roles, and, outline

 Hey, blog!

So, today during AICE Media my group and I got together after a brief lecture on writing screenplays and we got straight to work. Well, some of us did... 

For our film opening, we need a shot of news broadcasting, and we're trying to create our own news ticker, which is the graphic at the bottom of the news broadcast that says the title of the news and the network. So me and Zain spent a good portion of the class working on creating our own Photoshop version of a news ticker, based on the ones we saw on CNN and Fox News. Here's what it looks like so far: 

We also split our roles between director, producer, writer, cinematographer, editor, and actors. Since I didn't want to be in front of the camera under any circumstance, things worked out in my favor because my two other group mates weren't really helping me and Zain, so I kind of just went up to them and asked them if they would be okay with playing the two characters we need and they said yes. Ultimately, we separated our roles this way: 

Since we sorted that out, it was time for me to get started on the outline for the opening. It is obviously not perfect yet and we will definitely change it up a lot as we go, but it's a pretty concrete start in my opinion. I'm not going to show you too much of it for now, but here is a little spoiler of it:                                          

The Blade Runner opening scene- short analysis

 Hi, blog!

So, today, we continue our research and analysis into different film openings, and if you know anything about me you know that I can't leave Blade Runner out of anything. With that said, it seemed only fitting that my next film opening analysis is on The Blade Runner.

For the first two minutes of the opening scene, the credits are rolling and viewers don't see anything but names on a black screen. Around minute 2:09, while the unsettling song plays, a story to give background context to the film is shown on the screen, explaining what happened and why Earth is in the conditions we see in the film, followed by the date and place where the shot is taking place in.

The film Blade Runner begins with a lengthy image of a dystopian society; the skyline is nearly entirely black and covered in smog. The picture that is produced is one where there seems to be no nature, almost as if an apocalyptic event had just happened. The color scheme, which is dominated by dark greens, blacks, and browns, suggests that the area is not an appealing location to live. The viewer is drawn in by the director's technique of slowly and steadily trailing the camera ahead. All these components serve to establish the setting of the film, one which the audience feels unsettled and uncomfortable with, which is similar to what the eye in the next shot seems to be feeling, as a close-up shows what seems to be the protagonist's eye watching multiple explosions go off in the city.

Interstellar opening scene- short analysis

Hi, everyone!

So, on Thursday during AICE Media Mrs. Stoklosa called us individually to talk about how our blog posts have been going. I was a bit nervous because her standards are sometimes hard to meet, but that's a good thing! When it was my turn she said my blog posts have actually been really good, I just needed to work on changing the focus of my research from pseudoscience to actual film openings. So, that's what I'll be doing today!

I started off by researching the iconic "Interstellar" (which personally I haven't watched but don't need to in order to know it's iconic. Also, I will watch it, don't worry) since the opening scene is 2 minutes and 30 seconds, which is a bit longer than the time frame we have, but it's close. The opening scene starts off with a dolly shot of a bookshelf that contains an aircraft on it, with dust falling down and the name of the movie on the screen, with no sound. 

All these elements set the tone for the film and give us a glimpse into the story, which is quickly contrasted by the bright colors of the next shot, where the protagonist is inside an aircraft that seems to be crashing. The constant "bleeping" sounds suggest errors in the aircraft, the loud wind noises, and the shaky camera movements allow viewers to feel the same tension and pressure the protagonist feels in this scene. Through his facial expressions, although mostly covered, the audience can understand the protagonist is nervous and apprehensive.

This shot is abruptly cut and introduces us to the next scene, where there is barely any light or noise, and most of the lighting is shown through blue tones, which suggests it is a time of sadness and hardship. The last shot of the opening scene is a tracking shot of the protagonist walking towards the bedroom window, looking out to the crops across the street, leaving an overall sense of mystery/enigma for the opening scene, and building anticipation amongst the audience.

Storyline has been decided!

Hi, Blog!!

Today was the first day back after the holiday (Presidents Day), and as soon as all my group members got to class we rushed to get together to finalize the storyline for our film. Mrs. Stoklosa wasn't in school today (at least not for 8th period), and at first, the substitute gave us a tough time about getting together in groups for the project, but then we explained we were working in groups for the assignment and once she let us get together and started listening to our conversations, she told us to "actually do some work and not just talk about stories" which is, quite literally, one of the biggest parts of the entire project. But then we explained that to her and after some convincing she let us go on.

We finally decided on a good plot for the film opening, and I think we're all quite happy with it. It's going to be based on biorhythm, a pseudoscience that as defined by the NIH, the theory holds that "three different biorhythm cycles influenced three different general aspects of human behavior. There was a 23-day cycle which influenced physical aspects of behavior. A 28-day cycle influenced emotions and a 33-day cycle influenced intellectual functions."

The opening will be about a woman mathematician who starts to notice those patterns. As she reads through history books, she writes down complicated math equations that, ultimately lead her to discovering those 23, 28, and 33-day cycles. By accident, she leaves her notes open and someone discovers them, leaking them to the press. As she gets home, she turns on the TV on the news channel and sees her discoveries are being shared with civilians.

The phone then rings and on the other end of the line is her boss, telling her to come into work right that second. The shot then cuts to a zoom-in of her face of realization, as if she were saying "What did I do?" with her eyes, and then the film title will come on the screen. She rushes to the office and her boss is furious, asking her how this happened and how could she have been so careless when he specifically told her to not share those findings with anyone.

What do you guys think? We haven't run it through Mrs. Stoklosa yet, but we will on Thursday. For now, we are all going to further research biorhythm and look for possible props we can use in the film opening, like calculators, books, glasses, and mostly Mise-En-Scene objects. I'll get back to you guys later this week with an update!

Not-so-updated update

Hey everyone!

Tomorrow is my birthday and I'm in Washington, D.C. to celebrate it, but nonetheless duty calls and here I am in the hotel room writing my last blog post for the week. I've been cracking my head all day trying to figure out what to talk about in this blog post because it feels like not much has happened since my last post.

However, I got to researching a specific topic one of my groupmates suggested under the pseudoscience category, Strauss-Howe generational theory, and I feel like we could make a good film opening based on that. According to the NIH, this theory states that "The Strauss-Howe generation theory describes a recurrent cycle of same-aged groups with specific behavior patterns that change every 20 years. According to this theory, an 80-year cycle is crucial, when every four generations is associated with a crisis that impacts the ongoing social order and creates a new one." Pretty cool, right?

So, I got to thinking... we could do a film opening where the protagonist, a young person, stumbles upon a book in their late grandparents' attic after their passing. Intrigued, they start reading about the cycles of generations and the recurring patterns in history. As they continue reading more into the book, slowly they start to find patterns and similarities between the past generational cycles and current events.

It sounded like a really good idea in my head, but now seeing it written down I'm just not sure it feels like a film opening. My group members wanted to meet up or do a Facetime call this weekend to figure all of it out, but since I am in D.C. I can't unless it's on Monday, which is when I come back. Either way, I proposed the idea for the film opening that I just described here, and they liked it, so maybe we'll go that route.

Either way, once I get back home we all agreed to Facetime and discuss everything. We want to start filming in about three weeks or so, but we still aren't sure about the storyline so maybe it'll take longer than that? I'll update you guys once we have Facetimed.

See ya next week!

Pseudoscience? Man with schizophrenia? Maybe, who knows!

 Hey, blog!

I had AICE Media today, so I thought I'd update you guys a little bit on how the project is going, and well, this is what we have so far...

So basically, the idea was to create a film opening that starts with a flash-forward to a scene where the man is in an all-white room in a psych ward, and once one of the 'guards' calls his name the scene goes to present-day and the same man is in a business suit, at his office job on the phone with his wife about getting home for dinner. Once his coworker who has known him for five years notices he's not staying to go out with the rest of the team once the work day is over, he questions the man about how come he has never met his wife, despite them knowing each other for five years.

The man then says that he doesn't really know why, his wife is just more on the shy side, and then he gets going to be home for dinner. When he gets home, the idea is that he is shown setting the table, pouring glasses of wine and simply completing domestic tasks before sitting down with his wife for dinner. At the end of the opening, he would ask if he can clear the table, and then the scene would cut to a shot of him throwing away his wife's plate, still full of food.

The conflict is that in reality, the wife doesn't exist nor did she ever exist. While I don't LOVE the idea, and I think it would be hard to produce as we would need kind of a lot of actors, I also think it could potentially come out well. After speaking to Mrs. Stoklosa, she did point out something that I agree with: the plot of the schizophrenic person in films has become quite common recently, and we would like to create something different.

I am also a little worried that this plot would require a lot of dialogue, which we didn't really see in the film opening examples shown in class, and since none of us are actual actors, it could come out cringe. Zain is researching pseudoscience because she wants to do a film opening that incorporates that in some way, and honestly, that is more original than the guy with schizophrenia, but I do worry that it'll be hard to capture the essence of it within just two minutes.

We did decide to plan for (at least) the next two weeks, to have everything set as to how we want the film opening to be, and then start shooting. I want to try to come up with other storylines aside from the two we already have in mind, I feel like we might be aiming too high with these.

Either way, researching pseudoscience has been fun and super interesting, here's a link we used in some superficial research in case anyone is interested in checking some of those things out (and yes, I know it's a Wikipedia link, but I did fact check everything under the psychology, sociology, and racial theories categories): 

Initial Research (Alfred Hitchcock)

 Hey, blog!!

This week is what I like to call an "A day" week. That just means that there are more A days this week rather than B days, which I like because I like my classes more on A days rather than B days. But honestly, this week is different because since I'll only have AICE Media twice, that gives me and my group one less day to work on brainstorming for our project, but so far I think we're on the right track.

All four of us are actually quite excited about this project! We haven't decided exactly what genre we want it to be yet, but I am leaning towards psychological thriller, which is probably my favorite genre of all time. Alfred Hitchcock, Mike Flanagan, and Stanley Kubrick are DEFINITELY some of my favorite directors of all time, I mean come on... The Shining? Perfect. Eyes Wide Shut? Flawless. Psycho? Simply the most iconic movie of all time.

After some research, I found this video that goes over multiple techniques that Hitchcock used in his films in order to create that atmosphere of suspense and anticipation that viewers experience. He also believed in showing the audience what the character was unaware of, which I think could look really cool in our production if we are going for a mystery/thriller vibe. 

I know for a fact that all of us want to establish the tone/mood of the production through things such as lightning, like the blue tones used in the scene from "Scream" (1996) where the protagonist first picks up the phone and the TV light is blue, which slowly creates a sense of uneasiness and anxiety in the viewer, which I think is the feeling we are striving for. We agreed to have me as the main writer for the film because I tend to get pretty creative when coming up with thriller/suspense stories, so I'm excited about that. Nadia and Vanessa agreed to be actors in the production which is good because I definitely don't want to be IN the film, and we will probably all direct it together.

The details aren't quite sorted out yet, but either way, I am looking REALLY forward to this project. I have a feeling it might be one of my favorite projects I've done throughout high school. I don't know. I guess we'll see. Well, blog, this is where I leave you for today. I'll be posting more this week as I talk to my group and we decide more things and get going with our research, but for now, I leave you with my favorite quote by Hitchcock, which is also what I am using as my mantra throughout this project:

Transitioning to portifolio project

 Hi blog!

I have some news today: We are officially starting our portfolio project!! I say "ours" because this project truly is as much yours as it is mine. Over the next eight weeks, I will take you guys along every single step of the Cambridge Portfolio Project. I'm honestly excited about this project. It seemed daunting at first, simply because it's such a huge project/grade, but I look forward to putting to use everything I've learned this year.

I'm pretty set on working with three other girls in my class; Zain, Nadia, and Vanessa. Even though we were advised to not work in groups of more than three, I'm confident with this group, and I believe we will all work well together. I could also make use of Zain's knowledge in film production/editing from CBTV, I know she's really passionate.

I'm thinking of doing something related to horror. It is by far my favorite genre so I feel like I have a better understanding of how to direct those films, simply because I've watched SO many. No joke. I've probably watched the entire Netflix catalog for horror films. I'm thinking of using specific lighting to establish a tone, probably blue or red lighting.

We will get together in our groups next week and start the actual brainstorming process. I'll keep you updated!

Music Research Project #2

 Hi blog! 

I'm here to talk about the music research project again! This time, with the final product. Honestly, this project was fun! It was hard at first because my partners for this project worked really differently, and we all had busy schedules so it was hard to find days that worked for everyone and a big part of it was me having to clarify things for some of the group members.

We started out in class by doing some research on country music, some country artists, and how country music is marketed and distributed. Personally, I wasn't looking forward to it because I am not a fan of country music. I researched Zach Bryan because he has one song that I can stand listening to, so I figured it'd be the most bearable one.

After working on the research chart for about two classes, I got really sick and missed probably a week's worth of class, and my group didn't work on the project at all! Once the due date started to get closer they started to get more worried as we were missing a lot of things. While sick I worked on the marketing campaign for our artist because my partners texted me asking me to take care of the marketing part because of my past knowledge. 

Developing the marketing campaign was actually my favorite part of the project. It was really nice to have the liberty to bring a completely new artist to the spotlight through marketing, so pretty much I could choose what to do as far as merch, social media, websites, etc go.

Once I wasn't sick anymore and returned to class, we started catching up on all the other components of this project that we hadn't yet done. Last Friday, we left together after AICE Media and went to Chick-fil-A and towncenter (with me as chauffeur as the other people in my group aren't old enough to have their licenses yet) to record some of the scenes for the music video, which was good because since I used to work at the Starbucks in town center, my ex-coworkers were willing to participate in our video.

After that, we went back to one of my partner's house to record the rest of the scenes. She had a huge house! Super nice and modern. I love going to other people's houses, its fun! Anyways, we printed a bunch of photos and spent like 20 mins cutting them for our next scene. By the time we finished recording all scenes, it was around 7pm and I dropped my other partner at her house and drove home.

After that, came the editing part of the video, which I didn't partake much in because I SUCK at editing and using all those different softwares and stuff. Luckily, one of my partners is kind of techy, so she took over that part meanwhile my other partner and I took care of putting the presentation together.

Overall, this was a cool project. We had a lot of freedom to pretty much create whatever we wanted out of this artist, and I think we did a good job. I learned that most of the music videos I've seen from other artists are storytelling, and it's interesting to see how they serve a purpose to the song

Here are a few of the slides from our presentation!