Group Meeting #2 Reflection

    In this post, I will be discussing exactly how my second group meeting went and what my group member had to say about their projects. They all had pretty good ideas but everyone with the exception of me at the time of the meeting didn’t record yet so I only was able to see their ideas and what they wanted to do. Let’s start with the first member: 

    First, Addison (same one from the first meeting who could not present due to time constraints) had an idea where her along with a boy were driving a car but then they get into an accident where the girl dies and the boy’s mental state becomes very poor as he tries to kill the person that was in the same crash as he was with the girl. She wanted to show his mental state by showing his room to be very disheveled and of a news report of the girl dying from the same accident as well. The mentally unstable boy is shown one year from the accident. This is an overall good idea, I feel like it is very well rounded and thought of, just it’s that a one year transition might feel a little long for a film opening but that’s all. 

    Gustavo and Bella actually had the same idea as Kiarmary from the first group meeting had: A James Bond style comedy where a girl meets up with another person where she is supposed to exchange a briefcase with this other person, but the girl ends up finessing the other person and ends up running off when the other person notices that there is nothing of value (not the items that they expected). This is turning out to be a good idea and I feel like I understand more of their idea now that they have advanced forward with that idea and now that its starting to take place.

    Ishan had an idea that was apparently inspired by the first movie of The Hangover series. His idea was to basically show someone getting out of work and then drive home but as the person gets home, there is someone else in the house that he does not know whatsoever. I feel like I didn't really understand this idea but having an opening like this does include a lot of potential to how the characters can be played out. Maybe it just was how I interpreted it but I didn't fully get some parts of the story. Some elaboration would for sure help in this case. 

    And finally, Isabella had an idea for a romance/crime opening where she would show two mafia families who are at a dinner table and they are discussing marriage between multiple people in the family but as time passes by, there is sudden violence between the two families over a dispute that is shown in the opening. But what really interested me was how much people were going to be in the film. I don't know exactly how many people will be in the film but I know for sure its going to be at least over five people which kind of impresses me as most of the projects that are being done have one to three people max. I personally like the idea itself but I am just very interested to how this plays out especially with a lot of people in this particular project. 

    Here is a photo of the notes I took during the meeting to help me understand the projects that everyone had: 

    That is all for the group meeting! Next post will be about CCR research for the first question. Until then, see you next time!

Lets Actually Edit Now

     Ok, I have officially made my decision. I have officially decided to use Premiere Pro as my editing application mostly because of the less steep learning curve and the versatility of the app especially since my school has licenses to use Premiere Pro. In the end, DaVinci Resolve is more geared toward more time consuming, professional grade film editing and I only need something that I know how to use and has a lot of features that I can utilize. Premiere Pro offers a sweet spot between basic web editing software such as Microsoft Clipchamp or Adobe Express and professional editing software such as Resolve or Avid Media Composer. 

    Now with that choice being out of the way, I now begin the editing process. Here is a screenshot of me beginning to import a few of my clips into Premiere Pro:

    My plan goes as the editing process goes on, I will obviously have more clips to import and I will then start to combine all the clips together into one rough opening where I will then refine each and every clip after. That is my plan in very summarized form. More specifically, I will mostly be focusing on color grading and audio editing of certain clips during the whole entire editing process. The visuals and audio will probably be the most important aspect of the whole entire opening so it is very important that I dive into that as soon as possible during the entire process. As for my partner, he will be helping to edit the opening but because he does not fully know how to use Premiere Pro, I will either have the option to teach him some basics about Premiere Pro or he will have to edit separately on a different, more simplified application. Overall, the entire editing process should take no more than two weeks at the very most, but I believe that we can get editing done sooner so that we have time to research and produce our respective CCRs (I will make a post on the first question’s research for me soon). 

    Next post is relating to how my second group meeting went. Stay tuned for that!

Time To Edit

     Now that we basically have recording done with and mostly out of the way (with the exception of a few very short scenes that I plan to do alone), it is now time to start thinking about how we are going to go ahead with editing our recordings and polishing them up into one final film opening by the very end of the editing process. But before I can actually edit, I must choose exactly what I would be using to edit. I am stuck between two choices, Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve. 

    First, lets take a look at Premiere Pro. Premiere Pro is a great option that I can use to edit my recordings because it takes editing one step ahead from ultra simplistic editing software that won't give me what I need in order to edit. Premiere Pro gives a very wide list of tools that I could use for many purposes such as color grading, video manipulation, and even sound editing. And a big plus of Premiere Pro, is that it is completely free to use (since my school has Adobe licenses for Premiere Pro) and that the software is generally easier to use compared to Resolve. However, what makes me kind of skeptical about using Premiere Pro is that my partner does not know how to use it or Resolve either whatsoever. I will have to edit alone using one of these platforms while he edits on something simpler but less feature packed like Microsoft Clipchamp or Adobe Express or he would have to quickly learn how to use one of these platforms. Another issue that arises is that I would have to log into to my school account every time I want to use Premiere Pro (since it is not free for individuals and my school has licenses to it), but with the use of a school account, It can limit access to the software as I can only access Premiere Pro on my computer.

    Now we investigate the other side of the debate, DaVinci Resolve. Resolve is a state of the art editing application that is used for professional level editing, especially among large film studios as a primary source for editing hit Hollywood films. This option is more advanced as it contains more professional level tools that are often used to edit professional level films. But in the case of my film, this means that tools such as color grading and audio editing would be more abundant for me which would allow for me to potentially be more creative with what I decide to do with editing the recordings. But the more advanced tools does not mean that it comes without its disadvantages as well. Firstly, I would have to quickly learn how to use this as I have never used Resolve ever before and neither does my partner know how to use it either. The learning curve is slightly steeper compared to Premiere Pro. And secondly, I believe that if I decide to keep things simple, then all the tools in Resolve would be completely unnecessary to even have at all which would keep things simpler in the long run.

    Here is a video that is currently helping me decide what to choose:

    I will decide what editing application I use in the next post!

Production Time! (Part Three)

     Well here we are, it is time for part three. At this point, you should have already watched parts one and two as without watching them, you wound not be getting the full picture of what I am trying to show whatsoever. But here you go anyway, this will be the last part and will also be shorter because I don't have a lot more to show without basically showing too much to the point that it is not a surprise to what exactly I am showing:

     This video is supposed to be part of the flashback part that we plan to have in our opening. My partner and his friend (who was technically not part of our group until he helped my partner record), were completely responsible for recording the flashback part. They recorded this part midweek after school hours. They recorded a lot of different shots of them doing fun activities together which allows for a slightly easier process for editing as I and my partner can fine tune exactly what we need.

    And finally, the very last shot I will show you is sort of like a planning shot of just me lying on the ground with a stoic expression while tied up. It is important to note that during the main recording session (at night between me and my partner), shooting was done through a mix of my tripod that I brought with me when we went to record, and for most of the later parts, my partner's dad recording us whenever we have the interactions. This shot was only taken as sort of like a blooper which shows a slightly broader setting that I am in.

    And just like that, that is all I will show you for my processes. Stay tuned for how I begin to edit these posts!

Production Time! (Part Two)

     And just like that, I am back! This time will be very similar to how I showed part one (if you haven't seen part one yet, see that post first!). I will try to focus on the shots that I did not show on part one this time around and explain them like I did before. The scenes that I am about to show you may or may not be the final scenes included in the final project depending on how me and my partner decide to go through with the editing process. Lets get to it:

    

    

    This shot is part of the confrontation that takes place between me and my partner where he confronts me about what I supposedly did to his friend. With my amazing (stupidly bad) acting skills, I tried to have a frightened expression throughout the entire confrontation but I will admit that it was hard to do so especially that I knew that I was in no danger whatsoever and if anything, I was more afraid that we were going to get in trouble as our shooting of the scenes in this mildly busy public area at the time of recording did look a lot like I was getting kidnapped and someone could've easily misinterpreted our filming for an actual kidnapping. But maybe I was overreacting. I will never know.

    This shot is supposed to be the very beginning scene of our opening. Although I already showed another beginning scene in part one, this shot differs because this is the very beginning shot compared to the other shot being one of the beginning ones. This is supposed to be a simple right pan that goes from an empty sidewalk to me toward the end of the sidewalk. This shot is supposed to be the introduction (establishing shot) of me (the Buyer) and also serves the purpose of paving the way for other shots to show me in slightly more detail. This shot is one of the more simpler shots we have and nothing too much is really going on in this shot other than the introduction of my character.

    This is a static photo (from a video shot) of me slowly opening my eyes which is when the confrontation begins to take place between me and my partner. My plan to edit this is to show either me opening my eyes slowly first and then a POV of what I am seeing or the other way around. Either way, I am going to make it look like the screen is slowly increasing in brightness (opening its eyes) just like how I am opening my eyes. There is nothing much aside from that with this shot.

    And finally, this is supposed to be a flashback shot that my partner and one of his friends filmed on their own. This shot is supposed to take place as a flashback of the dealer remembering the good times that he had with his friend. As we begin to start editing, I will have to decide exactly what happens with these shots as I do not have a complete idea on how I will organize or even incorporate these shots in the final project but I will try my best to include at least some of the shots in the final project.

    That is all for part two! There might be a part three...

Production Time! (Part One)

    Well, I can basically say at this point that me and my partner are basically finished with recording (with the exception of some very small parts that we will do by ourselves). So, its officially time to show what we have done. I will show a good amount of unedited photos and videos of us recording and I will also explain a little behind each photo and video. Just to let you all know that the clips I am about to show you may or may not be included in the final opening as we still have to edit and figure out which clips would we choose for the final opening. But without further ado, lets get started: 

    This image is the general area where a lot of our film will be taking place and is where the main dealing will be taking place and where the Buyer gets kidnapped by the Dealer. To the left of the image (not shown), is the spot where this is taking place. In one of my earlier posts, I showed a photo of myself along with my partner at this spot and that very spot is where we plan to have the action take place. Originally, we were going to have this scene take place in an empty parking lot but at the time of recording, we ended up running into the issue of there being too much cars in the parking lot despite it being a later time at night (although not very late). We ended up finding this place as a compromise and if you (yes you) are very keen eyed, then you would notice that this very place was used for one of my earlier projects this school year. We wanted to have lighting but not have too much lighting at the same time either so we thought that this would be a good compromise compared to a dark, car filled parking lot with streetlights.

    This video shows one of the beginning scenes where I pull out an envelope that I stuffed with shredded paper inside of in an attempt to symbolize money inside of it. This scene is here to establish that I (the Buyer) am walking to a certain area in order to meet the Dealer (my partner). The reason why I am bringing out the envelope here in the first place is to help indicate to audiences that something is coming up soon (in this case, the meetup with the Dealer). I am staring at the camera because I and my partner wanted to show how I am looking in one direction only and where I am looking at would be revealed soon after this shot. 

    This shot would be shown after I get the pillowcase put over my head by my partner and I get punched by him (and by him punching me, I mean I act like I got punched by letting out an exaggerated "AUGH" sound through my totally amazing acting skills). Right after this, we plan for there to be a completely black screen as soon as his fist supposedly hits my head. Originally, we were only going to have just the scene where I get blindfolded and then the screen goes black, but my partner decided that it would be a good idea to include a shot like this, and I ended up agreeing with it, but we will see how this shot treats us during editing.

    And finally for this post, here is a video that shows me getting tied up by my partner. This shot mostly exists because my partner decided that it would be a good idea to add it, although I thought that it would be too much to show especially when we plan to make the screen go directly black after the punch. We went ahead and shot this anyway because we would have more variety to choose from during the editing process. 

    That is all for part one, part two coming soon!

Planning for Pre Production

     As I showed in one of my previous posts, I have added a picture of our filming process, but now, I would like to tell you how exactly we planned right before we started filming. So here are some plans we did prior to filming:

    First, we had to gather up the materials. We ended up using a pillowcase that I had as a face cover to be used when the Dealer kidnaps the Buyer, two ropes that my partner bought at a Home Depot on the day that we filmed in order to tie up the Buyer for the kidnaped confrontation scenes, a phone for the text messages between the Buyer and the Dealer before the dealing, a vitamin bottle with no label with supplements inside that I brought and served as the fake drugs that the Dealer gave out, and an envelope that I brought and stuffed shredded paper inside to symbolize that there was money inside.

    Then, we devised a script. This was done after our storyboards (both the first iteration and the updated version), and its main purpose was to give us the dialogue that we would end up saying (or something similar along the lines of the dialogue) and to show us exactly what scenes we needed to record and how exactly we needed to record a certain scene. 

    This is about as much as we did right before we started to record. Now that we are done recording, we are now currently determining the best course of action when it comes to what we do with the recordings. We will most likely start to edit soon and if we must, we may re-record a scene or multiple depending on how good our scenes are. I will soon post some bloopers that we made while we recorded and also a picture of our newly created production company logo. Stay tuned!

Production Logo Creation

     Before recording, I and my partner got to work for our production logo which we will show in this post and also when our actual project is complete. Although I don’t currently have screenshots of the progress we made through the creation process since they’re stored locally on my computer at home (UPDATE: I do now, look in this post), I do have a photo that I took of the finished product (UPDATE: Not shown anymore, replaced with updated photos) on my phone so here is it (I will also post the process photos once I get access to them so stay tuned).

    UPDATE: I now have the screenshots, here they are (look in order from top to bottom for process): 

(Original Idea for logo by me and my partner)

(Creation of mask outline by me (leftmost and middle) from a pasted photo (rightmost))

(Finished color on mask (I also outlined the eyes before coloring))

(Addition of invisible rectangle to allow for dropped partial mask effect and addition of surrounding circle along with "Oliara Productions" text which is a mix between my first name and my partner's last name)

(Final Product)

The Characters and Their Subtle Differences

    Character wise, our film has only two characters max but these characters are probably the most important aspect of our film out of everything that is in the film. The characters are the ones that give the film meaning in the first place and are also the main drive of tension of our story in this film. But how exactly they drive tension you might ask? That is exactly what I am about to answer right now. Here is why my two characters (the Buyer and the Dealer) drive tension:

    They are very psychologically different compared to each other. This can be explained by how the buyer in our film is introduced acting calm and collected but deep inside, he is really not fully calm and is instead anxious and uncertain. His control can be seen as as acting like a mask that hides his anxiety and instead represents being calm and prepared. Character development of the Buyer focuses on the gradual loss of control and shift of power that he has over the interaction with the Dealer. The big realization here is that preparation does not equal power. 

    On the flip side, the Dealer represents emotional detachment and experience to a certain degree. The dealer is also shown to be calm and collected similarly to the Buyer, but unlike the Buyer, the Dealer does not need to have the interaction go his way which is why his confidence comes from a sense of familiarity with experience which ultimately creates an imbalance of power between the two. 

    Overall, the tension that happens in the film, is mostly caused by the psychological differences between the two characters. Through the interaction, our film explores themes of power, control, and identity under pressure which shows how quickly confidence can change while being tested. 

    Here is a single photo of us trying to film one of our scenes (more production processes will be coming in future posts): 

Audio Planning

    Many people doing this project might only just focus on the video aspects of the project as the video aspects are what is ultimately going to be watched and graded based on the content. But audio should be considered very important to a high degree as well because it has the ability to make any video with only background audio way better as it can help do lots of things such as establishing a certain scene, highlighting a certain event in a scene or maybe just adding necessary detail to the whole movie for maximum viewer impact. In our case, audio is a supplement that is supposed to give us the finer details that allow for our film to be at the level of detail that we wanted it to be. Here are a few audio aspects that me and my partner plan to incorporate in our project:

    Diegetic sound: Perhaps the kind of audio that will be most used in our opening, this is perfect for our opening for various reasons, many of them are kind of obvious. First of all, diegetic sound is meant to keep the environment as real as possible which is essential because our opening is meant to be very realistic as we wanted to incorporate how a real life drug deal might play out without incorporating the potentially dangerous parts and also adding a twist toward the end of the interaction which although might not be fully realistic of all real life drug deals, it is a real possibility that it could happen especially given the shady circumstances of the deal that we try to imitate. 

    Sudden suspenseful stings: These are meant to indicate that there is a very sudden event is occurring, such as when the Buyer suddenly gets kidnapped by the Dealer. This is meant to invoke a sense of fear, highly increased tension, and possibly even jump scare our audience (although jump scaring or other horror themes are not our main target of the use of these sounds, it can be used as a supplement). This altogether would expand all of the quick and critical moments of our opening to allow for a lasting effect in our audience which would allow for something like the audience expecting another event to occur or for the audience to become tense about what could happen next. Here is the kind of scene where I would like to incorporate these types of sounds in (this scene is kind of a vibe of what our actual scene is going to be like):

    If I were to incorporate a sting into this scene (the scene is from Reclaim (2014)), I would incorporate it whenever the kidnapper suddenly pulls out the gun or the exact moment where the person gets knocked out to the point where they are able to be tied up and restrained by the kidnapper. 

    In this project, I and my partner also plan to incorporate foley sounds into certain parts of our projects for certain actions such as a lamp being turned on in a dark room or a rope being tied to hands and legs or the sound of being knocked out to the ground. We will incorporate these sounds whenever we deem it to be necessary to do so or whenever it adds more of an immersive experience to a certain scene. We have not started editing yet but as soon as we do, we will determine the next course of action related to this and let you all know if we do decide to incorporate foley during the editing process. 

Props: What We Interact With

     Although there won’t be a lot of props in our opening, it is still very important that I discuss them as they can be often overlooked but are still a very important piece of the bigger picture (in this case, the film opening). Similar to lighting, props can also tell a story on their own and can also help convey certain narratives such as tension and ambiguity. Here are the primary props that we plan to use and why exactly we plan to use them

    The Phone: The object that helps represent the secrecy and expectance of the incoming scene. The phone that the buyer checks confirms to the audience that there is an impending interaction between him and the dealer soon and that it also helps show a sense of confirmation that the buyer is trying to get and that it could possibly also highlight a fear of uncertainty as the text message that we plan to have sent could raise tensions as typically seen in various high stakes situations such as the one that is our film opening. 

    The Money: With money being exchanged for the fake drugs, I like to think of it as a ‘point of no return’ as whenever you exchange money for something, you typically do not return your item and you receive another product in exchange for the money. In the opening, we plan to portray this via a tight close up shot that shows just the money being handed to the surface (platform) where the products are exchanged (the platform is used to exchange products between the two as no hand to hand distribution is done as per the rule made by the dealer). We could have the buyer hold the money with a tight grip to highlight previous hesitation that is introduced during the beginning where the buyer pulls out the phone. Overall, the money represents trust and risk and a typical point of no return. 

    (The money is inside the envelope; the envelope is meant to symbolize the money)

    The fake drugs: This is obviously what the money is being exchanged for by the buyer. The drugs represent a typical temptation that often results in consequences which could be in the form of something like criminal prosecution, violence, and addiction or death caused by one of these reasons. They also represent the crossing of ethical boundaries as a result of their illegal nature and consequences as a result. In conclusion, this shows that the buyer is tempted to buy something that would give him a short dopamine rush and is willing to go to far extents to get whatever he wants to achieve this dopamine rush. 

    (We plan to use supplements or medication such as vitamins or maybe a fake substance mixture such as sugar or salt in a Ziploc bag)

    The Implied Weapon: Although this would not be an actual weapon for obvious reasons, we would like to recreate a weapon that looks as similar to a real weapon as possible. Either a small pocket knife or a handgun. This represents the power that the dealer has over the buyer especially whenever the dealer kidnaps the buyer and the buyer is tied up. We don’t plan to fully show the makeshift fake weapon that we plan to show, we plan to only imply that the dealer has a weapon through clothing or something else that shows that the dealer has a weapon that can be seen or implied through concealment. 

    (We would not have any actual weapons shown in the scene but instead we would imply that the Dealer has a weapon while he is above the Buyer who is on the ground) 

    The Rope: And finally, the rope represents how the buyer is trapped and is at a loss after getting kidnapped. The fate of the buyer is in the dealer’s hands. In short, this represents entrapment and the inability to do anything about it especially as a result of the consequences that the buyer was willing to face for a short dopamine rush that many people regret especially after using drugs. 

Lighting: What We See (or Not)

     In this post, I will be discussing how lighting is one of the most important mise-en-scene elements in our (me and my partner’s) opening and how exactly we plan to use/interpret it in our opening. As many people already know, lighting isn’t just used to light up a scene or just make something visible, it can be used to tell a story on its own and also set the mood for a certain scene that might be very important to the film. In our case, we plan to use lighting to convey a sense of ambiguity and tension along with a few other things. Here’s how: 

    First of all, the film is going to take place in the evening where it suggests secrecy while creating an overall environment where things are hidden. Although this choice might sound obvious for a film like ours, it is essential that we use low levels of environmental lighting in our film as our plot centers around a secret drug dealing that ends with a twist. If this were to be set during the day, there would be a much harder time conveying the tone for this situation and audiences would possibly not understand understand the events or even relate to anything if they were in a similar situation in the past before.    Overall, we want to show to audiences that with us filming in the evening, we want to show that our two main characters are operating in an secret environment where their actions are high stakes and so that the dealer can even use this darkness to his advantage by keeping the kidnapping of the buyer discreet. 

    Tying in to what we have already planned, we plan to use low key lighting which emphasizes strong contrasts between light and shadow. This method of lighting is often used in crime and thriller films (our film is centered toward an action/crime mix) as it visually represents danger and internal conflict. We would like to show how shadows can partially obscure the character’s faces (especially the dealer’s face) as it can represent how the characters’ actions aren’t fully transparent about their intentions.

    With it already being dark outside, we would also like to utilize any practical and already installed sources of lights such as streetlights or any kind of light that has a practical use in daily life. This allows for a clear perception of danger as it is often portrayed in many different films that danger happens in the dark where no one sees. The same even applies for real life as well. Here are a couple of pictures of what I am thinking about lighting wise: 

    Lighting can also be used to create power dynamics within  a film. For example (in the context of our film): The dealer can be shown to have slightly more light to symbolize that he has more power over the situation, especially when he kidnaps the buyer. The opposite applies to the buyer as well, the buyer’s face can be slightly more shadowed than the dealer especially in order to convey a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty. All of these actions in turn, can lead to tensions rising especially when the deal is actively being done and when audiences are expecting something sudden to happen or not. Two big examples of films that I found that use lighting to create tension along with ambiguity through their use of darkness and selective lighting are Nightcrawler (2014) and Drive (2011). 

    Overall, the lighting that we plan to use in our film will visually communicate secrecy, danger, and shifting power dynamics. The lighting would make for a great cinematic experience especially when done right as it can make a huge difference when it comes to the overall environment of the scene.

Group Meeting #1 Reflection

     Recently, we had our first meeting with a group of people who were in different projects related to the same film opening project. The purpose of this meeting was to see where each and every one of us was at in our projects and what we planned to do with them. We also shared all of our blogs with each other during this process. As the meeting was taking place, I took notes of what everyone had to say about their projects and now I have a rough outline of what about everyone had to say. The names of my particular group members in this meeting were Madison, Addison, Alessandra, Kiarmary, Jacob, Alejandro, and myself. Here is what everyone had to bring to the table:

    Madison: Madison had a well planned out idea of a film that starts with the introduction of two sisters who grew apart over the years. Their former relationship can be shown through flashbacks of them having a good relationship with each other. Then it turns to present time where makeup is shown, then soon after, a children’s version of the makeup is shown being put on as another flashback. This happens with the other sister as well (the parallel editing is emphasized here particularly). But later on, when one of the sisters knocks on the other sister’s door, the other sister does not want to respond. From what I have learned, Madison has a sister in real life but she does not wish to do it so she might need to get a friend instead to do it. I was able to understand most of the details of the narrative and was able to paint a good picture of her story. It was just that I didn’t fully understand the makeup at first but now I have a more clearer understanding of what it symbolizes. 

    Alejandro: Alejandro along with his two other friends that he is working together with are planning do their opening that is heavily inspired by Fast and Furious movies. It starts off by showing a deal between two people similar to how a drug deal would go but instead of drugs, the deal was based around illegal car parts. Someone gets the car part and then is happy that the he had the part so he then installs the part in the opening (which I personally felt like should not be included as it takes too long for it to take place in a short film opening). From there, what I remembered and noted was that that person then meet some other cocky person that he then races with in a sort of high stakes race. All I know after is that one of the people involved in the opening then stalls their car in a high stakes race. Alejandro also stated that this was supposed to be a comedy but I personally don’t understand why it was supposed to be positioned in that kind of genre especially when Fast and Furious was never too much of a comedy and more so action focused (at least that’s what I thought of it). 

    Jacob: Jacob plans to work alone while trying to create a sports drama that is heavily inspired by the movie Rocky. He wants to do his opening by showing logos and punching bags and someone punching the bag but the person is not shown. As he is punching the bag, flashbacks of the person losing in a fight can be shown and the flashback and the main practice scene can be shown at the same time. As time passes, it started to get intense until the face of the person punching the bag is shown and then the opening ends. Although this is a nice and well rounded plan, I personally feel like it’ll be hard to film with one person alone and also does he have all the props for the opening? I think so but I don’t fully know.

    Kiarmary: Kiarmary had a plan to do an opening with two other people and have this opening in a setting where someone is going to a diner where the person is delivering something to another, more powerful person. This is later revealed to be a payment for something that the first character did wrong (at least that’s what I remember). This is intended to be a comedy where the person paying the other person is actually a spy who tries to get away with something but honestly, I don’t fully understand how this is a comedy other than the part where the person is supposed to be a smart person who is clever in their ways against the other person. They should add more comedic elements in my opinion but they do have a good base to start with.

    Alessandra: Alessandra’s idea was rough and not fully planned through but what she had was that the setting was going to take place in a post apocalyptic setting where her and one other person were walking and then the other person gets attacked and then only one character is left to fend for themselves. This one needs to be planned out more and she has to play out the post apocalyptic narrative right in order for this to be a success but it is possible for sure.

    Addison: Unfortunately, when we got to her, we ran out of class time and as a result, she hasn’t presented her idea so I can’t say anything about what she had in mind.

    Here are the notes I took during the meeting. They are very summarized as I couldn’t write or remember everything at once:

Project Idea (REFER TO UPDATED STROYBOARD AND SCRIPT FOR UPDATED NARRATIVE)

    As seen with the storyboard (and later script) that we developed. We have came up with a rough narrative on what our film opening is going to be and how exactly we are going to play it out. Below is a summary of it, however beware that some details might be subject to change as time goes and the filming dates get closer. 

SUMMARY (Outdated, refer to updates):

    The film starts with slow but cold opening of scenery that consists of various day to day life. From there, we begin to see an empty parking lot where we are then introduced to a man who is walking to a car to meet up with someone. The guy walks and walks toward the car while keeping awareness about his surroundings. Then he later gets to the car where standing next to it, is a drug dealer.

    Once he meets the drug dealer, they start talk to each other about if the man has what the dealer has been looking for and if the dealer has what the man is looking for. Everything seems to be going completely fine and this is going to be looking like a normal deal, but then all of the sudden as the dealer starts to give the product after the man gives the money, the dealer suddenly punches the man and knocks him out. 

    The man gets completely knocked out and for a short while, we can see the drug dealer alone with the man’s unconscious body and the car. The dealer then begins to pour a suspicious substance into the man’s mouth where the dealer then begins to restrain the man and drag him into the back seat of the car. After that, the man quickly gets away from the lot.

    As the car ride is commencing, the man starts to have flashbacks about how great of a person he was as a child by showing flashbacks of him graduating at the top of his class, memories of having good friends while having fun together and then a flashback of his dad telling him not to go down the route of drugs. After the flashbacks, the man loses consciousness again (the flashbacks happen when he has no full consciousness just some awareness of the situation). 

    Soon after, the car then goes inside a small, dark garage where the dealer gets out of the car and then begins to open the back door where he then drags the man out of the car while being restrained/tied up. The lights then turn on to reveal the man in a corner of the garage at the back of the car and the man who is tied up. The man then begins to pull out a weapon and then says to the man something along the lines of “Are you ready?” or “Any last words?”. From there, as tensions are at their highest, the car’s trunk suddenly opens where someone pops out of the trunk and ambushes the dealer where he is killed by surprise. The film then proceeds to the credits before any establishment of the two characters is made.

    UPDATE: We have changed certain aspects of our narrative. Please refer to our updated storyboard and script for more information.

Storyboard (and Script)

     Below is our first interpretation of a storyboard that we both planned out for the film opening that we plan to film soon. With this being our first attempt at what we want to do for our opening, it may not be fully perfect like the way we wanted to which is why we will be looking back at this and potentially editing certain parts of it to better fit our narrative and to help us achieve what we want to in a good quality. 

    UPDATE: Since doing this storyboard, we have revised it and also created a rough script of what would be in our opening (please be aware that not everything in the storyboard or script would be added to the actual opening as we might make small last minute changes to our narrative but nothing too major would be done). Here is the script and the new storyboards:

Credit Sequences Research

    This post is a continuation of the Film Openings Research post. Here is where I will be analyzing credit sequences within the openings of the three films: The Dark Knight (2008), Terminator 2, Judgement Day (1991) and Casino Royale (2006).

    The Dark Knight (2008):

    Analysis: 

    The film does not show opening credits and instead, starts the film directly with the bank heist scene. This allows for audiences to be immersed in the film's narrative and to establish tension among audiences at the same time. Without a proper credit sequence in the beginning, realism and urgency are emphasized to a large degree which is supported by the events that feel uncontrolled and immediate as a result. This also further emphasizes the central idea of chaos as illustrated in the opening itself. 

    Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991): 

    Analysis:

    Opening credits for this film begin after the short prologue. Credits are shown through visuals of the post apocalyptic future that is portrayed in the opening. Some specific visuals of the post apocalyptic future that are shown include flames, machinery and other forms of destruction. The credit sequence can be seen as a way to further establish the tone while credits are being given out due to what is happening during the credit sequence. 

    Casino Royale (2006): 

    Analysis:

    This film does not immediately show opening credits until after the opening which consists of the dialogue heavy confrontation scene and the brutal fight scene that cuts the confrontation scene periodically. The actual credit sequence that shows after the opening is a stylized sequence that uses a lot of graphic animation, symbolic imagery and motion design that is particularly inspired by aspects of violence and playing cards. Altogether, the sequence helps to develop the themes of danger and risk and also hint at what Bond might face later on in the actual film.