Portfolio Project Blog Post #9

 Having determined the location of where the film will be shot, I now wanted to compile a shot list to determine what shots will be used for the film. This will help me get a better idea of how much filming I need to do, as well as determine the difficulty it will be to film.

For the first scene I wish to create a sense of mystery while the credits roll by using a variety of extreme close ups and close ups of the murder victim. This will help paint a picture of the crime but still leave the audience wondering what happened.

The next scene then will be seen again using a close up of the protagonist picking up the phone, creating a sense of mystery to who the protagonist is, and to what his relationship with the crime is.

The scene after that will then be a medium shot of the protagonist and confidant walking and discussing specifics of the crime. The medium shot will help give the audience an idea of who the protagonist is, and their relationship is to the crime.

Finally, the scene will then cut to a long shot of the murder victim, painting a picture for the audience of what happened and confirming the relationship the protagonist has with the crime. Before cutting between close ups, and medium shots between the protagonist and victim where he's investigating the crime scene.

There will then be another scene after the title rolls, but once again I have struggled planning this scene and therefore have not planned the shots for this scene. I plan on talking about this scene in the next blog post where I finally plan this scene out and finalize my storyboard.

Portfolio Project # 8

 Having made a rough draft of my storyboard and a general idea of what my film is going to look like, I wanted to now discuss where my film is going to take place. Since a murder scene isn't restricted to an set place I had creative freedom to film wherever I felt fit. 

For the majority of the film it is going to take place inside my home for it is easy to access and I feel it will fit the film well. The opening scene of my film is going to take place inside my home with a multitude of different shots of the murder victim with whom was murdered inside "her" home. The second scene is then going to be a close up of the phone being picked up by the protagonist which will most likely take place either at my desk in my bedroom or my mom's in her bedroom. The third scene is then going to be the only scene that starts outside the house so far with the characters walking from the front yard to inside the home where the crime scene is. The remainder of the scenes that I have planned are going to take place inside the home since they are inspecting the murder victim before showing the title screen. However, I still have not decided what I want my final scene to be after the title screen, and certainly do not know where I want it to take place. I have struggled thinking of what I want this scene to be and am not entirely sure what direction I want this film to go in. I am having major creative block when it comes to this scene and I hope after some more research and time I will have some ideas flowing.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #7

Today we had a group meeting where we discussed each others projects and gave each other tips on what we felt would help improve others projects. While discussing, I expressed how I was rather unsure on my opening scene and how I didn't know how to make the credits fit in with my opening scene. One group member suggested instead of the close up of blood from the murder scene, I should rather show a body part like a finger or hand. Now I don't think I'll go with that exact idea, It helped me come up with another. I was thinking that while the credits roll I show a multitude of shots showing different aspects of the crime scene that may include the caution tape around the scene, a hand, a foot, a pool of blood, etc... I feel this gives the audience a better idea of what is going on, but also still creates that feeling of mystery while they still don't know what happened to the victim. Overall this group meeting helped a lot and I thank my group members for the insight.  

Portfolio Project Blog Post #6

Schedule

We have already passed week 1 of this project where I gained a basic understanding of my plot, genre, technical elements and characters that will be in my film. Now going into week two I wish things to continue to run smoothly. So I have decided on making a schedule to keep organized and on task.

Week 2

-Continue research on project components identified in week 1 and grasp a better understanding

-Continue developing plot

-Post to blog 4 times including this blog

Week 3

-Finalize project components

-Finalize storyboard and start writing a script

-Will make another schedule regarding filming and editing when all components are finalized

-Create a shot list

-Post to blog 4 times

Week 4

-Begin filming production

-Finalize script

-Post to Blog 3 times

Week 5

-Continue filming if not finished

-Start editing

-Post to blog 3 times

Week 6

- Research information regarding Creative Critical Reflection (CCR)

-Start CCR

-Finish editing for film opening

-Finalize film opening

-Post to blog 3 times

Week 7

-Continue research on CCR

-Continue making CCR

-Post to blog 3 times

Week 8

-Finish CCR

-Create overall project reflection

-Post to blog 3 times

Now having this schedule, I have no doubt I will be able to stay organized and on task during the duration of the rest of this project. This gives me a good overview of the work ahead and allows me to prepare ahead of time.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #5

 Now having a decent understanding of my genre, the plot, and the characters in which are going to be in my film, I recently started making my storyboard. I plan on making another story board in which will be the final production and make this one sort of a rough draft of what my film is going to look like.

First off, I am still not a hundred percent on how I would like my opening scene to look like, but was thinking an extreme close up of a crime scene in which there was a homicide victim. The extreme close would likely be on a pool of blood next to the victim and as the credits roll, it will use a slow pan to create a sense of mystery.

Next, after the slow pan out and all the credits roll, it will have a dramatic cutaway likely emphasized by my music choice in which I haven't gotten around to deciding yet, to a close up of a phone being picked up by the protagonist in which he is informed of the homicide. He will likely say something along the lines of "I'm on my way" and it will then cut to him having a discussion with the confidant about specifics about the crime, where the confidant will inform the protagonist on how this is the 3rd in a series of killings and how it looks like it was done by the same person.

The camera will then cut to the protagonist as well as the confidant inspecting the murder scene and discussing specifics about the crime before the protagonist discovers something like a marking or a distinguishing feature about the crime that gives us a sense about who the killer is. The scene will then likely cut to the title of the movie before showing another scene like instructed that gives direction on where the film is headed. I am still not sure what I wish that scene to be and need to do more research before I come to a decision.

This is not anywhere near the final product for I still have many more specifics to identify such as music camera angles, editing techniques, etc.. But I do feel this is a good start and am excited to continue working on this project.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #4

 Technical Elements and Plot

Now knowing my characters, genre and having a general idea on what my plot is going to be, I want to expand on my plot as well as discuss some of the technical elements I will be using. I know that I want my film to be in the crime and mystery genre, and also know that I want to have a detective as my protagonist, as well as a confidant working besides him.
First off, I needed to expand on the confidant's role. In the previous blog post I discussed how I wanted there to be a confidant but was not sure on what his role would be in the film. After, doing some research on what a typical detective's confidant is, I have decided I wish his confidant to work in the same profession but hold a lesser role in the crime. So, I have decided he will be a cop who has the scoop on the crime and can give some general information, but won't be heavily invested in it like the main protagonist is.

Next, I wish to discuss some of the technical elements I will use in executing my film. First off, I will use a variety of different camera angles to give a mysterious vibe to the piece such as close ups. As well as some camera techniques such as a slow pan out to accomplish the same goal. The mise-en-scene will likely also play into the mysterious vibe of the piece with some low-key lighting. I am still not a hundred percent on all of the technical elements that will be used and still have much more research to do but I think this gives me a good basis going forward.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #3

 Characters

Now having identified that my project will be in the crime and mystery genre, I would have to choose the characters that would be in my project. So I did some research on the typical characters in a crime and mystery film. I discovered that typically their is a protagonist, antagonist, confidant, as well as a love interest. I already earlier decided I wanted the film to have an element of mystery to it,  so I decided I wouldn't directly include the antagonist in the film, but rather leave clues to who he is. I also decided I didn't want to include a love interest in the short amount of time I had, but rather wanted to focus on the crime. Now regarding the protagonist, I already had an idea of what I wanted him to be but did some research regarding the typical protagonist in a crime and mystery film. I learned that the protagonist is often either a detective working on a case or rather someone who has a direct connection to the case. I decided to choose the former having my protagonist be a detective. I feel choosing a detective would play better into the mystery genre rather than someone who has a direct relation to the crime. Now knowing the protagonist, I felt it would be best to make the confidant someone in the same profession giving the audience context to their relationship in the short amount of time I have. I haven't decided the exact details of their relationship yet and whether or not the confidant will be a detective as well or more of an apprentice working under him. Overall, I feel good about my characters development so far but want to see how I further develop them as I do more research and dive deeper into the project.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #2

 Starting my project, and looking through all the various aspects I have to determine in order to make a competent project was overwhelming. Especially knowing this project would be 50% of our Cambridge test grade. So I decided I would not try to look at everything as a whole yet and rather determine various parts of the project individually.

Starting off, I wanted to identify the genre my project would be. Knowing this project is supposed to be a fiction and can not be a play off of any other piece of media, I want to choose something I was interested and comfortable in making, so I decided to choose the crime and mystery genre. Crime has always fascinated me and I feel crime is a genre that is easier than the others in telling a story within the first two minutes.

Playing into the crime and mystery genres, I wish to create an element of mystery playing off a crime that has been committed. This may be pretty cliché, but I feel this has always been a topic of interest for me. I wish to use elements of gore and the crime to create an element of mystery for the audience leaving the audience intrigued but wondering what is to happen next. Overall, the beginning of my planning has made me even more excited for what is to come and I am intrigued what my creativity will spark later down in the project.

Portfolio Project Blog post #1

 Going into this project, I take into account all the information and tips Ms. Stoklosa has given us and try to make an educated decision on what would be both an effective and creative way of approaching this project. I am still very in the planning phase and nothing is finalized, but I do know some aspects I want to include in my project.

First off, I wish to tell a story in my project. Though I have some ideas, I'm still not entirely sure what I wish the story to be. Preferably, I want to make the story something I can relate to or a topic I have experience with. This will help make it easier to make my trailer as realistic as can be and make it so I am not going into this project completely blind.

I wish to take an organized and well thought out approach to this project, so I am not planning on rushing right into it but instead weighing all my options and finding what's best for me. Soon after I finalize what my trailer will look like, I wish to create both a storyboard and a schedule to better plan out the future of my project. The Music Marketing Project helped me come to realize how important planning is and is what I feel we lacked while working on that project. Knowing this, I am going to make sure I don't repeat the same mistakes and am excited for what is to come.

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 While working on the Music Marketing Project we started things off by choosing a song within our selected genre which was hiphop/funk. We had a hard time choosing our song and often went back and forth between which one to choose, but in the end we ended up choosing Colors by Black Pumas. 

Starting off, we were tasked with making a research chart about two record labels within our selected genres, and within those record labels two artists who we felt represented the genre well. To make it easier, we decided to choose Atlantic records as well as Death Row records, two big name record labels to make our research easier to obtain. But even with these two record labels being widely known obtaining information about them wasn't the easiest especially about the artists within them. We had to find both marketing and distributing methods these two artists used to push their brand which was not easy and took extensive research. In the end, we did find all the research we needed and this information would help us both further down the line in our project and for our upcoming media context essay.

Next, we were tasked with creating a story board to plan out our music video. This may have well been the most difficult part of the project for we wanted to create something both creative but also effective at carrying the message of our song. We went back and forth with ideas and even ended up changing it right before filming, but in the end decided we would carry out our filming on campus.

The filming process was both fun and difficult for we wanted to choose the best camera angles, shots and mise-en-scene that would portray a level of creativity and would also do best at carrying out the message of the song. We decided we could knock it out during school hours on campus and went around the school filming out various different shots. We ended up getting a couple friends in the video and went down to the basketball courts to both get a few shots done and play a couple games of knockout.

After creating our music video, we were tasked with creating a presentation both pushing the brand we created and the artist we were marketing. We decided to make a presentation about our brand New Found Peace which we felt represented both our genre and artist well. We were tasked with providing information about our marketing and distribution methods and had to market our brand and artist to the class in a live presentation once we finished our project. Our presentation went quite well with little to no mistakes and in the end was a good experience and learning lesson for further projects to come.

After all was said and done, and watching all the others do their performances I learned that creating a schedule was a key component to managing our time and effectively carrying our project out. We did make a schedule but it was often times hard to follow with some of our group members unable to come to school due to illness. This project will definitely be helpful in learning how to manage our time and carry out our project effectively with good scheduling for future projects such as the Cambridge portfolio project.