Post-Production #2

     After talking about an issue that we had as a team last blog post I want to try and elaborate more on how we overcame this. After Brennan sent a draft of the opening me and Vanessa noticed somethings that we felt we could improve on. 

    First of, when editing I feel that we made the clips cut too fast, especially the establishing shot. Personally, I feel that when introducing a film the first shot of the movie should be around 5-7 seconds so the story could be introduced naturally. Which leads me to our next problem that involves the lead up to Asher's killing. Here it felt that a lot of the clips were also cut too short, which is an easy fix since we took over 100 different shots in total. The reason why I think this draft was not up to par with what our group wanted, was honestly miscommunication between the three of us. That's why we decided to talk about these things in order for us to have a more accomplished blend up of our ideas.

    Then for our second issue was using the incorrect clips for certain parts. This is understandable in a way due to us having an immense amount of clips and also because during this part Brennan was editing on his own time and we weren't with him to have all three of us agree on the right clip. Once again, this was just miscommunication within ourselves and it's just another easy fix that just needs to be revised. 

    While, this blog post isn't very long. I think out of the majority of my blogs this one is a very important one. I believe that it's easy to blame a person but not to blame yourself. In this situation I think a lot of the reasons why me and Vanessa weren't so happy with the draft was because of miscommunication between all of us. On my behalf, I think that not speaking up or voicing my opinion cost us time and work. So I'm really hoping that for the sake of the team we can better communicate with each other in order to satisfy our artistic opinions and have a polished project by the end.

Post-Production #1

    For our first editing session we wanted to focus on the lighting and sound. Obviously while doing this we were composing and bringing together all the clips so we could get ahead of our work as well. 

    In this film we wanted the color be a very important factor involving the films tone. Lighting is very important in terms of how a film develops, meaning that this could give us a way to add significance to the overall feel of both the outside and inside scene. The very first scene in the opening is outside, which means that the natural lighting of the film is more vibrant than what we want. This means that for this specific scene we want to change the lighting through the Adobe Premiere. Using this software we were able to change and add tints to the film layer creating a cooler less vibrant ambience to the scene. While doing this we experimented with different cool colors like blue and green to see what fit best in terms of the visuals. As everyone in the group discussed, we landed on a blue tint that would adjust the color to a more preferred tone of ours. After settling, we applied this tint to every layer and were successful in creating the vision we had. 

    The audio just like lighting is critical in developing meaning, especially during post-production. We added tense music to add suspense, but to be completely honest I'm not sure if I really like it. Here are where things between the group are getting tricky. As Brennan was editing he did a lot of the work himself, which is perfectly fine, but through this he used audio that me and Vanessa aren't too sure of just yet. Also when editing and looking back at draft pieces we noticed some of the dialogue didn't get picked up well so, we are either going to find a solution within the software or do a voiceover. With this voiceover I'm not sure it would seem natural in terms of what the audience sees so I'm really hoping we are able to fix this issue. 

    Now, that we have these issues with sound, tomorrow me and the group are going to call and see areas that we could improve on, not just from lighting or audio, but also from the editing aspect of things involving shots and timing of cuts. I know this is a not a very lengthy blog post, but I felt it was necessary to talk about the amount of editing we did and also the problems we face as a team, good and bad.  

Some Hurdles

     Now, that me, Brennan, and Vanessa got done with all of our production we are now transitioning into our editing phase. With that being known, I want to focus on some of the obstacles that we faced when filming for Pushover. 

    First of, right when we arrived at our desired spot there was a lot of people, obviously since it's a public park at1-2 PM, and I'll admit that this was definitely a miscalculation on our end since we didn't really take that into account. Luckily for us we noticed that on the other side of the park there were two tables under a little tent, almost exactly like where we originally planned to film. However, there was a lady there and when asking her if she could move to the other tables, she said no because she was there a while already and didn't want to move, understandably, but I kid you not even 2 minutes later the lady leaves. Which was good for us, but had me a little confused not going to lie. 

Original Spot

New Spot

   

    That was our first problem, now for a second problem we realized that we we're somewhat unprepared. Like for instance, when filming some of the shots especially the one's containing dialogue I did not identify different shots when making the storyboard and instead just did one, and we felt that this would make the scene boring. So, it lead us to have some artistic freedom for that part in specific, but at times we had no guideline to tell us what shots we should shoot. This was really annoying since it delayed our filming, which was not ideal especially due to the heat. Although, after sometime we were able to adjust and get the shots we wanted.

Storyboard

    Our last major obstacle was when filming the tracking shot in the house. During the filming of this scene we had to retake it about 20 times. Each time we filmed, we found a new issue or way to improve the shot itself. When entering the house we wondered how Asher (Brennan) could walk inside and close the door without me (the cameraman) and Vanessa (who was holding up the mic) being in the way. So here we adjusted by making it seem like Asher forgot to close the door and here we would sneak in behind. Then after this we realized that there was a mirror that could showed me filming; so once again we had to change things up a little bit to make sure that part looked good. Then another issue we faced during this was the lighting. When Asher would walk to his room the scene was extremely dark due to the closed curtains, so we decided it'd be better and more natural for Asher to turn on the lights as he enters his home. That's pretty much the major issues and hurdles that we faced during our production.

    A lot of it was fun, but it definitely was tedious at times when we we were lost artistically and technically. For now, I'm just hoping that when editing there's not as many problems concerning the footage. 

The Second Meeting

     Today we had our second meeting. I saw new faces, those being Sebastian, Juan, and Mia, but I also saw some old faces those being Carolina and Andrea. 

    We first began through Carolina where I already had an idea of what her story was. She told her idea to everyone and the different things she added and adjusted from her original concept. Out of everyone she was the one that was most ahead and had filmed weeks prior. What she was mostly struggling with was her idea for the CCR which we recommended her to make it seem as if she was still in the asylum and answer questions that way.

    Then we went on to Juan who's story, who is working with Lydia from the first meeting. His story was practically the same as what Lydia told us but with some tweaks. Him and Lydia were also done with filming and according to him he found it to be a very enjoyable time. Him just like Carolina needed help on his CCR which we suggested him to make a Back to the Future type of theme or use the glasses from his story and answer things that way. 

    After Juan, Sebastian went. His idea was one I was yet to hear and it involved a similar story to mine where the first scene was the crime scene and the rest of the movie was the 5 hours before the crime. What Sebastian mainly needed advice on was filming since he had not started yet, but here we suggested that the scene that involved a police officer he should try and contact the sheriff office and see if he can use some of their equipment. We also suggested something along these lines for his CCR by having the officer ask him questions while in the back of the car. 

    Next after Sebastian was me. Here I explained to my group my story and what I had done in the last week. I mentioned that what I really needed help with was the CCR, so I had a couple of ideas brought to my attention. First came the idea to make a draw my life type of thing from YouTube which I found interesting and the one after that was the idea to make a posterboard that would represent Asher's and Austin's project from the first scene of Pushover. For now, I like these ideas and will look into them a bit more, but as of right now I'm not a 100% sure what to do.

    After I went, Mia went and here she told us her story and what she had done. She also talked about the obstacles she went through trying to film, but was unsuccessful in the end. Due to this she was definitely in need of help when filming and we suggested that she should be patient and have fun so she doesn't get frustrated with any inconvenience. Out of everyone she was the most complete when it came to her CCR as she already had an idea and pretty much had her overall plan set. 

    Finally, we get to Andrea who was our last group member to present. Andrea had done a majority of her filming done and was a little hesitant on her last scene. We advised her to try and have an officer knock on her door and then the opening would end, she was unsure of this but was taking it into consideration. Then for her CCR, like most of us, she was unsure. Here we suggested that she could have one of the officers ask her questions and make it almost like an interview/interrogation. 

    That was pretty much what this session was about. We had a lot of important pieces of ideas being suggested to everyone. It was nice and it definitely helped me in terms of how I could improve and think of the CCR. 

Designing the Set

    Now, that I showed the filming process in the last video I want to talk about the set design and the difficulties that came with it. 

    

    For our first scene which involved being in the park, we had to make sure all the materials that Asher used were properly organized so it would develop his character like we wanted to. For example, in the picture to the bottom we set every piece up in a specific way so it would add to Asher's character. This was pretty easy to do, but with the wind coming in every one in a while we had to redo some parts sometimes. Also, since this scene was out in a park our setting was pretty much set and we didn't really have much to do in terms of how this scene was organized other than the things on the table.

    Then after this scene was done we transitioned into the next scene which was the more detailed scene. Here we needed to find ways we could maneuver things so Asher could be represented through his belongings. As Asher enters his house we noticed that originally there was too much light that would construct a more lively ambience that we didn't want, so we decided that almost every curtain would be closed except the once's near the living room which helped bring in a little cool light. When recording we did feel that it was too dark so to combat the closed curtain we felt that it would be good to have Asher turn on the lights in his house when coming in. This helped with the lighting of the whole place and overall set a nice cool tone as Asher through.     

After this part we come into Asher's room, where we, once again, made Asher organize all his materials in a specific way. We also removed things that Brennan had in this room beforehand to give it a more realistic view into Asher's home life. Then for the lighting in this scene we put a ring light in a place that was hidden away so when he came in the room it wouldn't be so dark inside. This helped in creating a little contrast in the shot so it wouldn't feel so dark and closed. Also, when setting this scene up we cleared Asher's desk to make it seem like he is solely focused on his work and things related to his computer. 

    Overall, the experience was fun, but frustrating at times especially when dealing with the troubles nature can bring with either wind or light. 

The Shooting Process

     Today was the day we got all our filming done. We began around 1:30 and ended at 5:30 and personally it felt like a very long day; since I was the actor for Austin I needed to wear a black hoodie with jeans in 80 degree weather which was horrible. I was sweating the whole time and the sun was facing directly at us, but other than that I'd say it was a pretty fun day.     

    During the first scene which was outside, we felt that there was some things that didn't line up. For example, the original setting for where Austin and Asher would have their scuffle was taken up by some people so we needed to pivot and decided to go to some tables on the other side of the park, which actually ended up working better for us that if we used the original tables. At this new spot we weren't in the way of people coming in and out of the park, so it was very helpful when people started coming through during the shoot. 

    For much of the beginning scenes we had a very successful run in terms of efficiency due to there not being any dialogue, but then we started shooting scenes that involved speaking and things started to get more complicated due to laughing or generally just messing lines up. Thankfully, we navigated through this and instead struggled on getting the right angles since we felt some shots in the storyboard worked better closer and further away. This was really the only thing that made us struggle after the dialogue, although I did feel that when filming the scene where Asher runs up to kill Austin we had to do many takes since a lot of the time the shots felt awkward and unrealistic. However, we were able to get the perfect shot and even some backups incase of any issues.

    Now, we transition into the second scene that involves Austin entering his house into his room. Here we originally had Brennan's mom screaming to Austin, but due to difficulties and unavailability we couldn't add that too our scene, but personally I think this better develops Asher. Why? Well I think that him coming into a home that has a dark cool tone to it with no parental figure around helps attribute the fact that Asher is someone who struggles mentally due to no reinforcing figure around to help him. Pivoting, into the actual shooting of this second scene; there was a lot going on between us as a group in terms of how we were going to film this tracking shot. We felt very iffy and unorganized at first but through the process of taking so many takes we were able to have everything and every idea down. The part in which Asher walks into his house was annoying to film since we kept bumping into things and we had no idea how to close the door after Asher entered the house, but by deciding Asher would come back to the door almost like he forgot to close it, it would look natural and that's what we did. Another thing we noticed when filming this scene was that the lighting was off so we made Asher turn on the light when coming in the house.

    Then, as we finished the tracking scene into Asher's room we noticed there was a lot of depth missing, so we as a group decided to add some shots right when Asher turns on the lights in his room, here we would show Asher organizing his materials in a specific way into a close up of all the things neatly put together. And that's it for out filming, I thought it was definitely a learning experience and it helped me put into perspective the dedication it takes to craft art like this into something great. 

Logo

     For the logo/name for our production company we felt that it should have some back story in order for the company to have some sort of history and meaning. Due to this we struggled on choosing a specific name that would make sense to the group in general. Many ideas flowered from different companies and we studied them to understand how these company names were created. One that specifically stood out to all of us was Walt Disney Pictures, because it originated specifically from Walt Disney himself. This got us thinking that we should have one of the members names as the name of the company. So, this lead us to Brennan's last name "Briggs." We felt this name was unique and definitely  had a story behind it since Brennan told us that we he was younger he had come up with a production company himself, which we felt spoke a lot of what the company's goals are about, like expressing and making films from people who are passionate about their art. It all went smoothly and we landed on the name, Briggs Productions. 

    Now, that we settled on the name we focused on the logo next. We wanted to keep our logo simple, yet we wanted it to follow conventions between other logos like DreamWorks and Columbia Pictures, which are both simple but also effective in representing the company. DreamWorks keeps a simple yet iconic design that is very well planned out and executed; on the other hand, Columbia Pictures follows a simple design but also has an image on the right of the logo that develops the brand and its goal. So, with all this in mind we felt that our logo should obviously say Briggs Productions but also have a picture somewhere near the words. This lead us to finalize our logo into Briggs Productions with a pair of glasses at the bottom of the text. These glasses are meant to focus on two things the fact that me, Brennan, and Vanessa wear glasses, and also to show the time we have been putting into this piece of work, since glasses are normally used long-term. 

BRIGGS PRODUCTIONS LOGO:

   

    This is what our logo looks like, and honestly I really like since it's not really overcomplicated in any way and it keeps it simple yet effective through different fonts. Another thing I like too, is the glasses which are to me are very essential in terms of what the company means.

A Blueprint for Our Story: The Rework

     So, previously in one of my post I talked about my storyboard and the general idea of what me and my group are going to do. However, we decided as a group to rework certain things, like the interaction between Asher and Austin, as well as, the second scene that shows Asher several days before the incident.

Original

    Here I want to compare our previous storyboard to the newly made one. On this first page of the original storyboard we have don't really have an establishing shot that gives us an idea of where these characters are at. It also gives in to a very cliche interaction between Asher and Austin, which doesn't really introduce us to who both of these characters are. Another thing is the lack of detail between different shots that does not help develop these two characters. 

    Because of these issues, we decided in adding an establishing shot in order to give the audience context on where our characters are located. Another thing we change compared to before was to make Asher sit down and do work instead of walking, so the scene feels more believable, where as Asher just walking around doing work would seem unrealistic even for someone as smart as him. Then, we thought about how Austin would interact with Asher by thinking of a way to avoid Austin bumping into Asher; this is where we thought that since Asher is already doing their work Austin should sneak up on him and talk a little bit and then attempt to take away Ashers work. 

Rework

    Now, for the second page of the storyboard is where Asher gets to his tipping point and decides to kill Austin with his pencil. Not much changed for this part except, honestly, the how Austin provokes Asher, since we felt it was pretty tame beforehand. Also, we felt that there was not much attention to the weapon in the first storyboard as in the second we focused more it. Something that our group got suggested to do, which we thought was great, was to add a shot where Asher is sharpening the pencil in order to have the best shot at killing Austin and to develop Asher's messed up character.

Original

Rework

    For our third page of the storyboard, this is where things start to become a bit more developed compared to before. In the original we cut to a black screen that comes in place as Austin gets killed. Then shot cuts to the evil eyes of Asher that are followed up into a match cut to Asher's eyes but several days prior to the incident, which pretty much sums up the page. 

Original

    In the reworked version we show Asher jumping towards Austin, into the black screen which is also the title card, into a medium shot of Asher's back facing the floor, to a shot of Asher's bloody pencil, which then finally cuts into the shot with Asher's eyes to the match cut. Overall, I feel that this creates a bit more understanding for us as a production team and also it develops more meaning into the story for the audience. 

    

Rework

    In addition to all of the different things we changed, we also added the second scene of the film that wasn't even started in the original storyboard. In this scene we begin with the eyes of Asher from the match cut, which then zooms out of his eyes into a tracking shot of Asher walking into his house, to his room. This scene is meant to work as a look into Asher's personal life, that describes a little bit more on who he is and what his environment feels life. It always works as a great way to continue the film since the end of this scene is concluded by entering Asher's room where there is a computer that has very important information regarding the story.

Audio Time

     While visuals are critical in developing and creating meaning in a film, sound is just as important. Sound builds the characters, environment, and structure of how film is perceived by an audience. This is why, me and my group are going to focus and have attentive ears on what we develop in the films audio.

By Jackson Lee Nesbitt

    First of, I want to talk about the score of the film, which we mostly just have an idea of what it'll consists of. Right around the time in which Asher kills Austin we want intense music, likely violins, to build up suspense right up until the title card, then when the title card ends we start once again with some more music up until the match cut with Asher's eyes. The whole point of this is to build suspense and to show the build up of all of Asher's emotions taking place and turning him over the edge. Which personally, I feel would be a great way to develop more of Asher's character without the use of visuals. 

    Then I want to focus on the dialogue, The dialogue is going to obviously be based on the script, which I'll be talking about in a later post. In this dialogue we want to build emotion and character, so we want to have both actors, me and Brennan, to be solidified and hyper focused when filming so we can get the right emotions out and properly adapt the audio into the film. Also, while I know this is not the best thing to do, if anything goes wrong we plan to use voice overs just incase. Another thing that we want to do with dialogue is incorporate while the camera is on someone that is not speaking but instead receiving so it feels as if the character and the audience are getting the same message together. One last thing, that I want to mention is the fact that we will be using microphones so we can have seperate layers when filming so we can adjust the voices properly. 

    Finally, we get into the foley part of our audio. Here we want to incorporate foley in instances where Asher, is working on his paper or when Austin is walking towards Asher. This will heighten the suspense since the audio will be more in tune with what is going on. Then, we also want to use foley for specific sounds that are hard to come by. For the environment, we are going to have a mixture of both sounds made by us and sounds found online from websites such as, Pixabay. Our reasoning for this is quite simple, since it better helps us find sounds that cannot be recorded without interruption of there sounds and since it allows us to have more control when editing. 

    With everything mostly planned out, we fell that we have a very good understanding of the things we'll do in terms of audio and quality as a whole. 

The Locations

    For our project, our scenes contain only two possible locations, a park and a house. We've already established these location from our knowledge of places around the area. 

    First of the park. We decided we would go to a local park called, Indian Trace Park, which is a very reliable park since it is close proximity to all of us. This park is normally crowded depending on the time, but we already established that this scene would take place between 2-3 PM, where, from experience, there is normally not many people around due to the heat. So, because of this we felt this part was perfect as well as it having tables which is critical for our first scene. 

Indian Trace Park

    Then for our second scene which involves the home for Asher, we decided we would make it take place at Brennan's house since it'll be easy for us to incorporate Asher's mom, which would be Brennan's mom in this case. It's also reliable since it's one of the home's of one of our group members meaning we have a little bit more freedom in what we can do. Additionally, this environment will help us by already having an understanding of where everything is going to be at. 

    With everything already being established, we feel that these locations will work best due to not only reliability, but also visually due to the tidiness and comfort that these places bring. 

Meaning in the Light

     In order for me and my group to capture the emotional disparity within Asher we felt that colors/lighting was the perfect way to represent Asher.

Taxi Driver - 1976

    We want our film to have a cool tone that doesn't have many vibrant colors that could distract the audience while focusing on our protagonist, Asher. This cool tone is meant to resemble the difficulties and challenges that Asher goes through within the film and it capitalizes on this in the very first scene. It's meant to create an atmosphere that follows the emotional state that Asher is in, which contrast his physical appearance. This contrast between him and what the audience sees visually, in terms of color, acts almost like in similarly to Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver, where the main protagonist begins in a more normal state and with the films colors he turns into a mentally messed up character. We want to create a similar environment and have a tone that plays into Asher's emotions. 

    For the first scene where Asher is given a hard time by Austin, ultimately leading up to his murder, Asher will be wearing clothes that highlight his "innocence" and the tone of the film will tell the audience that there is something wrong in the atmosphere which leads up to Austin's end. It also works in a way that symbolizes his home environment, which is very depressing. 

    Then in the second and last scene, where we get a glimpse of Asher's home life, we are going to use darker tones that give into the idea that while Asher is this intelligent, oddly organized man, he still struggles with his home environment. In this scene he has some unusual things going on around to resemble him going through "Murphy's Law" and these darker tones will reveal the depressing ambience that follows him in his life. The lighting here, once again is darker than usual, so even though he's at his house we're going to likely add a tint with the use of Premiere Pro and tools like color grading, which is something I forgot to mention we will do in the first scene as well. It'll allow us to have more control over what our colors will look like, but we'll also focus on incorporating physical products/items that give this sense of tone in both scenes. 

Ray Ouladi - Color Grading Essentials in Premiere Pro

Developing Asher & Austin

     Asher and Austin are to completely different people in terms of personality and image. Asher shares a more formal and OCD like perspective of life, while Austin struggles educationally and has a more "out there" personality. 

    Asher, is 15 years old, a straight A student, only child, and has OCD which keeps him very organized and clean. He also dresses in a very normal student-like way, by wearing a regular white shirt and khaki shorts. This all builds up to hide his mental and psychological problems that are only seen through actions and not looks. The traits and characteristics portray him as a innocent and timid individual that wants no harm and is the contrary of what Austin is. Another thing that we felt would give this character an idea that something was unusual was his name. Asher's name feels as if this person has an outgoing, fun personality. Which in this case would resemble a weird fixation between how Asher is with people and how he is with himself alone. It helps build up the characters portrayal of a double personality. 

    Now, we have Austin, who is 17, has a single Dad, younger sister, is involved in boxing, well-known, and struggles in school. It may seem that even though Austin is not the main character his representation is not as valuable, but it is. He plays a part that constantly demeans Asher, and through his physical appearance it exemplifies the person he is. Austin wears baggy clothes, that makes him appear bigger to work as a reinforcer of his demeaning personality. His background, adds detail and lore on why he struggles so much in school as his relationship between his dad and sister is very complicated. Which works as a way to inform us on why he needs help from Asher on his school work. Also, this name was chosen to help visualize someone who is innocent, but once seen in person it builds a scary looking person that intends to abrupt the peace where ever he is. 

    Both of these, characters contrast each other physically and emotionally, and helps develop a difference between themselves. 

A Blueprint for Our Story

    Following on my previous blog post I feel that I should give a little more information on how my opening will go. I'll be doing this giving in-depth analysis on the first couple of scenes in the opening. It's also worth mentioning that I used the storyboard template from my, "Bringing it to the Board" blog. 

PART 1:

   Starting of the film, it fades from black, straight into Asher's legs as he walks across a park. The shot then cuts to a medium shot of the back of Asher. The shot after then shows Austin who's the "bully" from his side, walking the opposite direction of Asher. Then it cuts to a close up of Asher's face as he sees Austin walking towards him, where the camera cuts to a side shot of Asher's face. Then a medium/long shot of Asher and Austin, shows the moment where Austin intentionally bumps into Asher, to get a hold of him.

    During this sequence there's not much going on, but it helps the audience identify that these two characters do not like each other and or even have a past. Also, something that isn't showcased is that in this scene, Asher has a paper and pencil while walking. Which is a subtle foreshadow of what happens later on. 

PART 2:

    The second part of the storyboard, focuses more on the dialogue and conclusion of these two individuals. Here there is a square with, "Dialogue" which is to give us a blueprint on the familiarity that this part is going to have to when they bump into each other. Then the second square shows their conversation has ended, leading to Austin walking away after demanding Asher for something. As Austin walks away, Asher is paralyzed and stands still turning around to face Austin's back. Here the camera cuts to Asher's hand showing the pencil from earlier, to identify and tell the audience that he is "armed." Then the camera cuts to a long shot of Asher running very fast towards Austin, with his pencil in hand. Then it cuts to over the should-ish shot of Asher about to kill Austin.

    In this scene the whole point is to show the switch the flicks off on Asher, as he gets ridiculed by Austin. The pencil was the subtle foreshadow I mentioned earlier and it works to demonstrate how sick Asher is, through killing someone with a pencil. Furthermore, the murder scene is very abrupt and portrays a sickened Asher. 

PART 3:

     Now, to transition into the resolution between Asher and Austin, we see a black screen right after the pencil makes contact with Austin's neck. During this black screen we hear a thump to signal that Austin has been killed. Then we cut back to Asher to his scary, dangerous eyes, which is used to transition through a match cut of Asher, days prior to the murder. 

    The reason, why this is where this scene ends is because as a collective group we are still pondering on what and how we can represent Asher's psychological problems caused my "Murphy's Law." Our plan is to have him in his room showing unusual things that represent his problems, and here is the main part that we are trying to solve. We are likely to solve this issue when we finalize our script next week and have our foundation completely set. But, yeah so far this is what our storyboard looks like and I'll keep updating any changes as we go on. 

It's Just an Idea

     For this portfolio project that I'm working on with Vanessa and Brennan, we've come to think of different directions our story could go into. Some ideas were mostly based on some kid either discovering some mythical item, or finding a new "world." However, we landed on the idea that we we're going to base our story on a kid that got bullied by this older kid and the bullied kid would murder the older kid. We ran with this idea and started to develop it even more. 

    We evolved and expanded this story, by wanting the story to begin through its end like Bryan Singer's The Usual Suspects. In this film, the story begins with the ending and the film itself explains the events leading up to the mysterious conclusion between all characters. We found that showing the murder at the beginning of the film would be best to introduce the protagonist, Asher, whom, in this case would be the bullied kid. Then the rest of the films story would showcase the mental and psychological events leading up to the murder. This storyline, would show scenarios that are in relation to Murphy's law, where "anything that can go wrong, will go wrong." Meaning that Asher would go through traumatic events through the film, fueling him to the point of the murder. 

    One thing that I believe and have received feedback on is the cliche archetype that comes with a kid getting bullied and killing his bully. I say this because in the opening Asher gets confronted by the bully to give him his homework and that's what ends up fueling Asher's rage. So, from the perspective of what my group and I think, is that we should anchor somewhere else on in terms of a new idea. Meaning that we believe we should try and have a similar bases of the story, but switch up certain aspects where Asher instead of being bullied, he gets assaulted or something along those lines. The whole point of this is to make the scene feel more authentic in terms of how the audience feels about the encounter. Next week, we are going to try and develop the story just a bit more so we are able to then finalize our script, since we, in a way, are trying to make a more realistic interaction that creates a justifiable reason on why Asher kills this other demeaning kid. 

    Now, just after the part of the murder, we want the next scene to be the actual beginning of the story where we see the mental weaknesses that Asher has. As of now we want to create a match cut with whatever the first part of the opening ends with to transition into the beginning. Once we are set in this new environment we want to create and show things that Asher those that show his messed up characteristics. So, maybe Asher is researching something out of the ordinary that could possibly be incriminating or maybe he is playing with an object in a strange or eerie way. This is to build up and develop Asher's character, in order for the audience to know, straight away, that Asher has psychological/mental reasons on why he decided to kill this kid in the beginning of the film. It's almost a form of foreshadowing that works to slowly build up Ashers way of life. 

    As of now, this is what we have and feel our story is going to direct itself in. Hopefully by the end of week four we'll be set and finished with our script so we can begin our planning and production.  

FILMS THAT INSPIRED:

The Silence of the Lambs - 1991

The Usual Suspects - 1995

Zodiac - 2007

A Theory?

    Every piece of media has some sort of meaning and identity behind it. Theories, represent and satisfy the narratives that characters portray. One specific theory that follows this, is the Binary Opposition Theory by Levi Strauss. 

    This theory reflects the experience and roles within oppositions like good vs. evil or birth and death. It creates a juxtaposition between two things that are so far from each other but similar in their own way. By incorporating this theory elements in a story are built up by the comparison and contrast between two polar opposite ideas. 

    As my groups story becomes more polished it's become apparent that the kid who gets mentally and emotionally put down and is seen as this smart, caring individual, faces many challenges with good and bad. The second kid whose main focus is to demean the other kid, plays the role of a bad, evil person, and is portrayed as the driving factor that turns the first kid into a psychopathic killer. The good within the first kid is characterized by his eagerness to always be educated, but struggles to keep the composure by being fueled through hatred from the second kid. It works in a way that makes the audience wonder how and why the first kid is so mentally disrupt. This disruption accelerates the kids need to kill the other kid, which is slowly built up through the movie itself, but can be identified through the opening. Most of what this theory creates is the protagonist facing obstacles between two different entities that are polar opposites of each other. Due to this it makes it a hard but interesting theory to incorporate in the film as the protagonist (first kid) and semi-antagonist (second kid) are both evil in their own ways, but only the first kid has good inside. 

    Overall, this theory will be essential to the outcome and approach the film is taking itself in. The theory will grant a perspective that drives the narrative into a more in-depth idea. By using this theory correctly, the opening/film will have value and meaning that creates an impact to the audience, sending a message of the difficulties faced by the protagonist and the mental tolls taken by him. 

The First Meeting

    When creating a piece of art it's always important that you take time to reflect on your ideas. This can be alone or with a group of individuals that are creating something in the same space. Ideas from other people can help inspire yourself and others in the group. Just a few days ago me and a few other people from class went in a little group and discussed  our ideas for the opening. Here we tried our best to bring in new concepts to those lingering on what to do. It was a place where we saw different perspectives on peoples approach on the project, which to me was a really cool thing to see, because it reminded me that we all see things in a different way and we have our own thoughts, that can create a completely different outcome. 

    This difference in concepts is immediate by our first group member Carolina. Both my group and Carolina did thriller, but the difference was in how we approached the thriller itself. Carolina wanted to create a film that focused on a person that was falsely imprisoned and named "insane." She wanted to include several flashbacks that would develop the protagonist, which was something I noticed was very recurrent between most people's ideas. Carolina was not in much need of help, and had a structured plan and direction. Although, she did ask ways in which her flashbacks could be more effective, and this was something that as a group we tried to help her with.  

    Now, we have Andrea who focused on a post-dystopian society. She wanted to show a women walking around this new broken society in search for food. Then wanted to show flashbacks to society before all the chaos. Andrea also wanted to incorporate a scene with a family where it shows how the family is accustomed to all the dictator like government. Andrea was hesitant on who was going to be the protagonist, so we helped her reach the conclusion that the women at the start of the film would be the main character. This appeared to be helpful to her and allowed her to develop the story just a bit more. She also decided to give a website where you can get permission to use certain copyright songs (copyrightalliance.org).

    After, Andrea, Arantza talked to us about her coming of age film. In this film two best friends would be on their way to college, but through sickness one of the friends would die, leaving the other friend to live and experience college alone. Arantza had little doubts but wondered what was the best way that she could show the best friend was dying in the opening as a form of foreshadowing. We pondered and came to the conclusion that having her either cough blood or show any symptoms would be the best choice. She also shared a website that teaches ways that color can be used in a film. 

   

    Another person that focused on a coming of age film was Amanda. She wanted her film to focus on a girl that is heavily entertained by her sport and goes through a devastating injury, it also showcases memories that lead up to the injury. While, her idea to incorporate these memories was set in stone, she wondered what was the best way to add these memories in a way that help build up to the memory. We discussed this, and came to the idea that the memories should incorporate younger and older versions of the protagonist, where the memories become more and more serious. 

    Lydia was up next, trying to develop a film focusing on Sci-fi. Lydia wanted to show a scientist that is able to put on special glasses and see 5 days into the future. Where this becomes even more interesting is when the scientist looks into the future the special glasses malfunction and he sees himself dead, and the rest of the film is the scientist trying to avoid his own death. Here Lydia, was struggling on how to show the scientist emotions and reaction after finding out about his death. We advised her that the scientist should almost jump as a way to show the characters shock and confusion. 

    Then after Lydia, Eli, who also wanted to make a film involving thriller, began talking about her idea. Compared to the others she was not as solidified, but had a broad idea where it would focus on a therapist that would treat many different people that all went through a very traumatic event. The whole films idea is to showcase how the therapist would be affected and hurt through all its patients. Eli was a little hesitant on how to showcase that every patient had gone through this event, but we suggested that she would show common attributes between each patient. 

    Finally, we have Mateo, who wanted to create a crime/mafia like film, which was my personal favorite but that's because I'm a big fan of mafia movies as whole genre. What he mentioned about his film was that it was going to have a family eating dinner almost like in parts of The Sopranos, where they are extremely expressive of themselves, showing the importance of their family. What Mateo was uncertain about was his way of introducing the family, which we recommended to focus on colors and dialogue. This would create a better scene in terms of how the family structure would work in developing more of the story. 

    To me this meeting, between everyones opinions and advice, was very helpful in understanding ways that other people develop different ideas. People's way of creating is very fascinating, not just because it gives us content, but because it gives us different perspectives of how people see life. Personally, that's something that I appreciate about media in itself. It's honestly a great way to see that we all have a different lense and we can use it to express our thoughts. This was proven to me especially, when I presented my idea to the group and received feedback. For example, when talking about my idea involving a kid who kills his bully after being constantly harassed, and mentioning that my group was having a difficult time on how to show the kids murder, I was given different ideas. Amanda, told me that the screen should go black and then use shadows to show the death, as well as, a voiceover. Then, Carolina, said that the scene should involve the kid just killing the bully with a rock. These were good ideas and made me realize a lot ways that people have their own perspectives. Personally, I'm not sure what me and my group will do since we haven't really discussed the what we'll do for this part yet. 

    Through everything, I felt the experience was great as a whole. Focusing on ways that our thoughts can help develop others ideas, was a needed exercise that I hope to practice more, in and out of class. 

Bringing it to the Board

     During class last week, me and my group were trying to organize our film's introduction. The only times' I've done this was for my music video and one word film and while it was effective I don't think I truly did the best job. So, what I want to try and do for this project is research more of how to create an effective storyboard. While, organizing the broad drafts of the storyboard last week, I felt that there was not a lot of detail and focus on what the film's introduction was going to include. It felt like there were random shots that didn't hold much meaning. This is something that I want to improve on so it becomes more of a helpful tool rather than just images on a piece of paper. 

Storyboard Draft

    Storyboards are used as a way to give directors a guideline of what and how the films shots are going to be taken. They contain important visual information that acts as a blueprint when filming. It all begins by creating a shot list, which is a list containing all of the shots you want to capture. These shots are then listed in order, containing important information like the description of the shot: angle, subject, shot, etc. This list is then transitioned into the actual storyboard itself. The storyboard is what I previously mentioned to be the guideline of the film. This is the part where you actually introduce the visual aspect of the blueprint and bring your shots into eye. 

Storyboard Template

    By bringing the shots to "life" you can say a lot just from the drawing. Since, majority of films include movement it becomes difficult to introduce and shape these thoughts onto a piece of paper. But, by using several squares and arrows you can indicate the type of movement that the shots is using. Another way, movement can be portrayed is by adding text under the square to describe movement, shot size, and action. Meaning that while limited through single frames it is still viable way in which storyboards are used to guide imagination.     

    Although, I've only began a rough draft, I don't want to finalize one on my own and will try to continue to improve my storyboard throughout week 3. Through week 3 I hope to finish the storyboard just so I can stay on schedule. Also, I think it'd be a better idea to do it as a group since it becomes a source of different ideas from members. Just wanted to say that this is one of the reasons why I decided to be in a group; the ability to have different people work together and have different opinions can be a  valuable source that to me is very important when creating a piece of art. 

Heckmann, C. (2025, March 30). How to storyboard a short film — Examples and templates. StudioBinder. https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-storyboard-a-short-film/