Storyboard

Pictured above is the storyboard for my film opening. I went through the film opening that I previously wrote and created images depicted each portion of the outline, broken down into smaller pieces. Making the storyboard not only allows me to visualize what I want my film to look like, but it also allows me to figure out what camera angles and other production elements, such as lighting, I want to include and where I want to include them.

I want each moment of the girl coming home to be shown, like her walking up the stairs and opening her door. I might add in some cuts since it could get boring to watch after a while. However, I want the opening to be slow-paced and almost drawn out, without it being uninteresting, so I am choosing to include these more tedious aspects. Up until the girl begins rapping I want the scene to be low energy, so that there is a contrast and a bit of interest when the opening peaks. I also want to include a variety of angles to add interest.

I also think that i will put the title of the film as a separate screen at the end of the opening once I figure out what I'm going to name it.

Scheduling and Casting

Now, I am at the point in planning that meets the early stages of production of the film opening. In this post, I'll basically be establishing my short-term goals and responsibilities that I need to be working on.

The production of the opening should take place from March 4th to March 24th. During this time period, I would ideally get all of the footage I need and produce my final edit of the 2-minute clip, while simultaneously write blog postings about my experiences, obstacles, etc.

I am working on this opening alone, which comes with pros and cons. On one hand, I can make the introduction fit my vision of whatever I want it to be and I do not have to work around the schedules of other group members. On the other hand, it is solely up to me to direct and produce this film, as well as come up with all of my ideas or get around any issues.

One issue that I must already account for is that I will be away, travelling, for almost the entirety of spring break, so it is unlikely that I will be able to film during that week. This means that I have less time to acquire my footage, but if I get at least some clips beforehand, I can work on editing those and continuing my planning, in addition to developing and revising my ideas.

Another issue with working alone is casting the actors who will be in the opening. I have the option to act in it myself or to get friends to be in it. If I act in my own film, I will have twice as much work because I already have the responsibility of filming the scenes. Choosing this option would likely require a lot of retakes a a tripod or mount for the camera, since I can't hold it and act at the same time. However, I have been doing theatre since elementary school, and I have confidence in myself and my abilities to present the main character the way I desire. In contrast, I could get friends of mine to play the roles, which would make filming the scenes easier. I think that if I select the right people, getting them to portray the characters the way I envision it would not be difficult, but then I would also have to work with their schedules.

I have not made my decision yet, and if I choose to cast friends, I do not know who I think would fit the roles best. Hopefully, I will come up with my decision soon enough.

Film Opening Outline

I've spent more time pondering the opening of the film, now that I've established the general plot, so I've come up with an outline for the 2-minute introduction:

• The girl comes home from school and goes to her bedroom to lay down.
• Either she'll be greeted by a family member but ignore him/ her, or it will be shown in some way that her family/ environment is dysfunctional.
• In her room, she puts on some rap music and begins to write down her thoughts and feelings in a journal.
• I might have a family member walk into the room and have the girl switch or turn off the music to depict that this music is her escape and people don't know about it.
• After journalling, she reads back what she wrote. At the same time, there is an instrumental playing of the music she's listening to, providing her with a steady beat.
• She turns her writing into a rap, beginning her production of music that will later grow in popularity.

This is the opening in its earliest form, so obviously it is subject to change and furthering developing, but it is a good starting point for now. I have to work on establishing her home-life, figuring out what she'd be writing about, selecting the specific beat/ music to use, and, of course, writing the actual rap that she writes. I also need to figure out how I want her to look/ dress and her reason for keeping listening to rap a secret.

Film Outline

I've finally created a plot for a film that I think would be suitable for this project. I have come up with the majority of the plot for the movie despite the fact that I will only actually be filming the opening because it only makes sense to me to have the whole plot before picking out the section that would serve as the introduction.

My film is a drama that revolves around both depression and music like I wanted, which I discussed in my previous post. While I do not have every detail of the plot, nor the ending of it, worked out, I have enough to begin my work on the creation of the opening.

Essentially, the film is about a teenage girl who struggles with depression and finds comfort in rap music. The full outline is as follows, although it is just the general idea and lacks the major details, but I will fill those in later:

• The girl gets home one day, probably from school, and goes to her room.
• Here, her relationship with rap music is established.
• I think the girl wouldn't necessarily come across as the stereotypical idea of someone who would listen to rap.
• She begins to write raps of her own, but she keeps them to herself.
• This would serve as a coping mechanism for her.
• She eventually releases a rap or two, probably by uploading it to a platform like SoundCloud [1], but under an alias/ un-identifying username.
• Her account/ posts grow in popularity, but her depression worsens.
• She would continue to upload, but maybe at some point go on hiatus as her mental illness takes over. This could also send a message of how many people who are suffering are too afraid to or down't know how to get help.
• People that have heard her music begin wondering where she went, while some share how her music helped them with what they're going through.
• This gives the girl a feeling that she matters more than she thinks she does.
• Once again, the end is undecided.

For this film, I've looked into sources for music that isn't copyrighted, and I came across this royalty-free rap website [2], which I may work into the film opening.

[1] https://soundcloud.com/
[2] http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/rap/

Decided Genre

After giving my project more thought, I've come to the decision that I would do something of the drama genre. This genre is so vats, that I think I could go many different directions with it, without needing to involve the many setting, editing, or other requirements that come along with a high-quality production of a fantasy genre or an elaborate thriller. In my previous post, I discussed that ideas I was thinking of within the drama genre involved mental illness. I feel like this would be a suitable route to take because I have first-hand experience of mental disorders (i.e. depression, anxiety), which I think would add an interesting perspective to the plot that I end up developing. I want to incorporate my own experiences into my film in some way because it will make the fiction film seem more realistic and relatable to the audience.

I will likely end up focusing more on depression, but I know that I would not want the film as a whole to be purely sad. I'd like to send out some type of message with the film or leave the viewers with something to take away from it, as any good movie would.

For me personally, music is really important for coping with the struggles of life, so I might try to find a way to work that in as well. With this, though, I would have to find a royalty-free source of music to put in the film that can be made to seem just as powerful as copyrighted music, but I'm sure I could find some way to make this work.

Planning

In a couple of my earlier posts, I researched genre types, specifically fantasy and drama, as a start to developing my film opening. Just based on personal interests and films I've enjoyed, I felt like the film opening I'd be creating would be from one of those dramas. However, those selections are quite broad, and I have even been considering doing a film opening for a thriller. As for the actual topic of the film, I've come up with a list of options for the subjects.

One of my choices would be something involving mental illness, whether that be some form of psychosis or perhaps something like depression. I think that either of these options would take the form of a drama, and with proper execution, I may find a way to make the opening thought-provoking in some manner, although I'd have to find out how to pull that off.

Another option I'm considering is something involving some type of crime, which could become either a drama or thriller. This film would likely relate to a theme of drugs or violence in some manner, but this is also the option that I feel less compelled to make, so it may end up being ruled out. I just feel like the idea may be too complex or the execution of it too elaborate, being that I am relatively new to film-making. I don't want to take on too much, and finding everything that I'd need (actors, setting, props, etc) may become too much. Despite all this, I still want to leave it open as an option until I've come up with a clearer vision.

The third option I have would contain aspects of both thriller and fantasy. I think that this would also be a lot of work, but I find it might be more my style and directed toward what I could pull off. The film opening would be creepy and suspenseful, likely with the use of some type of red or dark/lowkey lighting. I would stray away from a horror theme because that goes beyond my interests, and I feel like creating something of the horror genre that actually instills fear, even just for the opening, would be too difficult to properly achieve.

My final option is to do something of the fantasy genre, presenting an opening that would be described as mystical or airy, with bright neon or highkey lighting. The subject would probably relate to some kind of mythological creature, but considering that, it may also be beyond my beginning level of film-making.

Research Reflection

In class on Thursday 2/21, there was a lesson and discussion about the foundation portfolio product, as well as the blog posts that go along with it. I learned more about what I should put into the project and posts, alongside things I should take into consideration, such as simple things like making sure the font I use is legible, to more in-depth aspects like clearly reflecting my full thought processes in these blog postings (i.e. including "why" I made a choice and "how" I plan on incorporating it,"not just "what" the choice is). I also had the opportunity to take a look at final products and blogs of previous AICE Media Studies students to give me an idea of what I should be working toward. Since it's still early on in the project, I'm not too sure exactly where I want to go with it. I have so many ideas, which I will address in a future post, that I am honestly quite overwhelmed. I also know that at some point soon I want to edit the look of this blog to match whatever my final product would be, but I'm waiting until I've finalized, or somewhat established, what my subject/theme for the film opening will be to make that change.