Final Product

And it's finally here!!! enjoy!

https://youtu.be/YWYQxLTA_dU

Song Rights

So today, the 9th of April, we received official approval to use the song from one of the artist's that wrote our song. Joaquin and I managed to get Statik Selektah to contact us in regard to using the song as we had called his store beforehand to beg to try to get Statik to answer us. We are very happy as our project is now officially finalized. The CCR is next for all of us and I feel as if we will give our audience a very in depth review of our filming and editing process. As getting this permission was starting to get nerve-wracking, our artist did manage to pull through for us.

Final Edits

Editing is tough. I would say the first minute and a half of our opening has been fairly easy to edit, but the last scene has turned out more difficult than I thought. As this last portion involves diegetic sounds and dialogue, making cuts while trying to keep a smooth sound progression has been hard. Though we may be saying the same things and acting the same way in the many takes we have in our footage, each take has a different tonality in its sound. Also, we were not able to kill it with a single take, so editing is necessary. As none of us are actual actors, getting the scene right in one take was nearly impossible. After a few hours of moving parts around, the visual content of the last scene seems to make sense, but the sound still needs more work. Another issue we are having with the editing is our shaky footage. iMovie has an option to stabilize video, but this only works when the video is slightly shaky. We got lots of amazing footage that we won't be able to include due to this problem. We filmed everything with our hands, while driving, running, walking, etc. However, this was something we knew would happen, so we made sure to get a lot of footage. Half is shaky and half is not, but our halves are pretty big halves.

More Filming

At first, we wanted to make the final scene of our opening take place in a fancy restaurant. However, as usually happens whenever we are all together, my group members and I found another, better place. While driving around Miami looking for cool locations, we found a parking lot with the top floor empty. It was dim because not all the lights were functioning, but this only made the overall vibe more mysterious. Not only did the parking lot fit in to our opening well, it gave us a bonus, beautiful view of the Miami skyline.

Though the atmosphere seemed to be perfect, we ran into a little problem. It turns out the top floor was reserved for special guests, which we were certainly not. A security guard came in a golf cart and told us we needed to leave, but with a bit of persuasion and explanation as to why we were there, she decided to let us finish filming. So we did. Other than that, the filming went great. I hope when you see this scene, you can enjoy the unique setting we tried to portray.

Filming

Today was a pretty successful day of filming. We got the whole first scene done. It didn't take too long because we were all clear on what we were going to do. This wasn't the case two days ago, when we got about 7 minutes of footage which, due to bad planning, became useless. The only issue we had today was being able to make our blanket filled trash bag look like a dead body. The blanket kept coming out of the bag as I dragged it. But I guess we did a good job because a police officer actually came up to us and interrogated us. We showed her the blankets to assure her that she had only been deceived by our mine-en-scene and no dead people were being dumped out in the open. Also, to simulate the sound of the other body in the trunk, we threw Miguel in there and he was surprisingly good at crashing against the walls of the car's trunk. We're not bad friends... Miguel was having a great time. Plus, sometimes someone just has to take one for the team.

Miss Fordham Road (86' 87' 88')

Miss Fordham Road (86' 87' 88') is a song produced by the rapper Action Bronson and DJ Statik Selektah. It has a pretty groovy sound, mixing hip hop beats with some hispanic flavor. The song acts as an antithesis to the events seen in the beginning. It has an overall happy and energetic sound which is unexpected given a dead body was just shown. This serves to display the character of not only the protagonist but the other characters as well. They are money crazed and are as happy and ambitious as the song playing even though death surrounds them.


Here are the emails we have sent to Action Bronson and his team for permission to use his song:


                                   

Storyboard

Here is a glimpse of our storyboard. It shows the beginning of our opening. Our new plot will be based on a mafia/gangster type of story which involves three characters but focuses more on one, main character. This main character is the one displayed on the drawings below. He has a dark sense of humor and doesn't really mind dealing with dead people. This scene consists of the protagonist disposing a body without caring too. He gets in the car, and starts driving off, but as soon as he accelerates, he hears a thump in the trunk, meaning there's another body he forgot about.



 
                     
                               

Upgraded Thoughts

R.I.P. to the bank robbery idea. To be honest, I never really liked it. It never had much of a path and  was always more of a back up plan. However, we kept focusing on it more and more because time was running out and because we had been getting positive feedback from our classmates.

This weekend, I sat down and dedicated a few hours solely to think. I made sure to rid myself of all distractions and began to watch as many film openings as I could. This is something I have previously done, but this time, I focused more on analyzing the openings without getting caught up in their entertainment. There are two things I noticed. One, we are far from having the skills, money, and technology required to make most of the amazing openings I saw. Two, a good, authentic idea is worth more than the skills, money, and technology we don't have.

I realized that though there are certain rules one should follow, going by a guidebook isn't the key. The openings I saw were amazing because they executed their originality perfectly and efficiently. Each of them was different, and as long as their differences grab attention, most of their job is done.

So instead of following my classmates' feedback word for word, or becoming too obsessed with what we can and can't do, I decided to learn from these things, make adjustments, but ultimately create what I want to create. I consulted with my group before making any major changes. Fortunately, they liked the idea. More details about our new path will be given soon so stay tuned!

Props

Now that our idea is set up, we can plan out what we will need during the filming process. Here are a few props and places we thought about:

Sunglasses

Dark Pants 

Black shirt

House

Gun/Weapon 

Black mask

Old car

Bank

Though we already have these props, we still need to find a bank. This may take some time. I doubt most banks would welcome the idea of four teenagers pretending to rob them. However, if we don't manage to find a real bank to film at, we can use creative camera angles and other techniques to make make another type of place suit our needs. 

Idea?

We all agreed to make our film opening about a bank robbery. Here is brief description. The opening would begin by introducing the main character through a sequence of events portraying his antisocial intentions. He would look at himself in the mirror, splash water on his face, and begin to dress up for what is to come. These events will be shown in chronological order with quick cuts showing his every move. Wearing all black, he would open one of the cabinets and grab a black mask with holes cut out for his eyes and mouth, somewhat like that of a stereotypical thief. However, we would emphasize his nervousness and anxiety through his facial expressions. The protagonist would not be an evil character, rather he is forced to rob the bank due to his life. The plot, given that our genre is drama, would be based on the main character, his reasons to rob the bank, the ramifications of the event, his life issues, and solutions. I do not want to give too much away just yet as this post is only an introduction.

The Hardest Part

I honestly did not think making a decision on what to film was going to be so difficult. My group members and I have been brainstorming daily yet cannot seem to agree on one idea. Based off my last experiences in this class, I have realized that we do not have the skill set to make anything we imagine yet. The tough part is not the process of coming up with an idea, rather the means of making it. We have had to shut down many options because of the the slim odds of being able to create it well. For example, we had thought of filming a scene of the action leading up to a bank robbery but realized that we don't have the props necessary to make this scene entertaining nor a "fake" bank to fake rob.

We must decide on an idea quick so that we can begin making it real. I know that once we have that figured out, things will flow easier and faster towards our final goal.

Research

Before beginning to film, it is important to go through a thorough learning process. Since the genre we have chosen is drama, I have done some research as to how to create the right tone, mood, and visuals for our movie opening.

Most of my research has led to camera movements. Given that we have a very limited budget, we will rely on camera movement techniques and editing to add flavor to our opening. When filming, there are no set rules on the techniques one can use. However, there are certain angles and movements that carry specific attributes. For example, a close up of a person's face reveals that person's feelings to the viewer and may even allow the viewer to empathize with the character. Through the use of different techniques, we can create the tone we want without the need to spend a lot of money.

Conveying what a character is feeling is an important part of making a drama film. These two examples do this well through camera movement techniques:

In the opening scene of 8 Mile, the protagonist, Eminem (Marshall Mathers), is shown in an unclean bathroom looking at himself in a mirror. The camera zooms in to his face many times, showing his nervous expression. While the close ups are happening, the camera also has pan movements showing Eminem's reflection in the small, cracked mirror. The panning is quick which enhances the anxiety felt throughout the scene. Lastly, as Eminem looks in the mirror, the camera also pans all the way to the bathroom door and back, showing hands banging on the door telling Eminem to hurry up, putting both his nerves and our desire to see what will happen next to the edge. Neither special effects nor crazy editing had to be used to create this opening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeI8graJ9_M

In the diner scene of Goodfellas, a combination of zoom ins and zoom outs mark Henry Hill's (Ray Liotta) realization that his best friend is going to betray him. During the shot, Henry is shown talking to his friend at a booth. The two friends are shown in the same frame, yet the zooming distorts the spacial relationship between them and the background, visually expressing Henry's disorientation and fear.

"Camera Movement." Film Reference. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017.

Planning

Week One:

1. My fellow group members and I will have completed our first blogposts
2. Brainstorm
3. Genre

Week Two:

1. Watch critically acclaimed good and bad film openings
2. Outline
3. Research on camera movements and angles that relate to specific genre
4. Brainstorm
5. Create title

Week Three:

1. Create shooting schedule
2. Write and memorize script
3. Get location
4. Acquire camera equipment and props
5. Start filming
6. Production Process

Week Four:

1. Complete filming
2. Start film editing
3. Show final cut to peers for feedback
4. Make final changes after feedback

Week Five:

1. Make final touches
2. Review our work
3. Send to Cambridge

Why Drama?

It really comes down to substance.

A Drama film can be comedic, melancholy, action packed, tragedy based, historical, political, really anything one wants to produce as long as one conveys some sort of meaning, or perhaps even social commentary, through a story. This genre offers a medium through which one can share an idea or a perspective on an issue through real life situations and character development. Drama films tend to be the ones that leave you searching for a deeper meaning.

For the target audience we are trying to engage, "Generation Z" (people born from the mid 1990s to 2000s), narratives of real characters involving modern issues seem most attractive. But our decision to base ourselves off of type of film lies more on the qualities of the genre rather than on solely impressing our audience. We want our film opening to be diverse in ideas, and show different perspectives, something we can best accomplish with the use of multiple characters who the film will be based upon, a unique quality of drama films.

"Drama Films." An Award-winning, Unique Resource of Film Reference Material for Film Buffs and Others, with Reviews of Classic American-Hollywood Films, Academy Awards History, Film Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Buffam, Noelle. The Script Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017.

Organizing 4 Dummies

Here is our group of legends:

-"Novice Tech Master" Joaquin Pacheco
-"Movie Freak Weirdo" Juan Jinete
-"Have-Never-Worked-With-Him-So-I-Can't-Say-Much-But-Nevertheless-Cool-Guy" Miguel Rocha
-"Wannabe Editor" Me

Though at first glance it may seem, given our polished qualities, that our success in this project is inevitable, we truly need preparation. Of course, our attributes go a little further than that––for example––Joaquin has a camera (very useful) and I have a tripod. But there is one significant, not-so-perfect, attribute we all share: lack of organization.

In all honesty, we need to plan, and do so efficiently. We all have our own distinct extra curricular responsibilities, so we must find times when we can convene and create as a whole. Our teacher understands this well as she gives us the opportunity to work together in class every day. However, our ideas do not always come as easy in a class room as they do outside of it, where we can take inspiration from different environments.

Our plan is to meet up at least twice during the weekdays and once during the weekends every week before the deadline to submission. In class, we will make sure that we are all on the same page with what we publish in our blogs and will share our individual ideas. Outside of class, we will dedicate time to brainstorming, creating, and producing. I believe three days a week, plus the hours we will have during class, will be enough to make something great. I hope the plan works out, stay tuned.

The Beginning

The final stretch has finally begun. The curtains will open in a few months and display our final project, the consummation of a year of education in AICE Media Studies. My group members and I have decided to make a film opening of a drama, but have not yet concluded on the details of the film itself.

However, since this is my blog, I thought it'd be better to introduce it on a personal note. To me, this blog will be the hardest part of the project. Throughout the year, I have been given opportunities to show my creativity through videos, visual messages, sound stories, and movie pitches. I have realized that while doing these projects, the toughest part hasn't been making the product itself (video, picture, etc), but rather the explanation of how and why I chose to make what I made. This process of transforming my mind into words has always been confusing and difficult for me, but ultimately I enjoy it and see it as a challenge. While piecing my dispersed thoughts together, I seem to learn more about myself and about the reasoning behind my decisions. So welcome to this journey of not only creation, but of my mind. I hope you enjoy.