Song and Journal Contents

I have selected the audio that I want to have the main character listening to. It's on the Free Music Archive [1] that I linked in a previous post. The beat is called "Short Lived" by Yung Kartz. Funnily enough, this was the first audio I clicked on because the title of it stood out to me. Immediately I liked it, based off of the rhythm, what I felt I could do with it, and overall just how it sounded. I decided to look around a bit more in case I found something that was better because going with my first pick before hearing anything else just isn't a smart move. However, after clicking around for a while and hearing the other options the site had, this one remained my favorite.

As far as the words that will go with the beat, it's been established that those will be the contents of the girl's journal. I'm not entirely sure word-for-word what she will be writing. Whatever is put on the paper should reflect her hardships or distress either from that day or in general. I was thinking about having her write about what happened at school that day, but the problem with that is I don't think it will make for a very good rap if it's too specific and more of a story. I also don't want what she writes to be too general because that doesn't give any insight to the character or her perspective, so no development is occurring. I want to find some happy medium where the audience can learn more about the character but also where they can relate to the rap as a whole. If the lyrics she writes are meaningful and universal to some regard, then the audience will be able to relate on some degree, hopefully making the film more intriguing. The rap is serving as the hook of the opening. This is the part where the audience will be deciding if they want to continue watching or not, so I need it to be powerful.

I also want to stay away from making the writing too depressing or concerning for those watching, especially because realistically many of the audience members may not have dealt with depression or been exposed to it, so I don't want it to be too overwhelming. Regardless, it should be heavy and strong in some way so that it can remain realistic and stay true to the girl's character.

[1] http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/rap/?sort=track_date_published&d=1&page=1

Changes and Considerations

There are a few things that this blog post is going to cover. It's essentially a jumble of things on my mind while I am beginning to get further into my preparation and production.

One thing is that I decided to eliminate the parental character from the opening, which was mentioned in one of the outlines. My reasoning for this is that I would have to worry about another cast member and their schedule, but I am trying to keep my casting small (just the one main girl) for the opening for ease of production. Also, that parental character is not necessary to include in the opening to get the point of the movie across and will just take time away from establishing the girl's life and actions.

Another thing is that I will be filming in my room, and I have these neon LED strip lights that can alter the lighting in my room to different colors. I think that this would be a cool addition and help to establish the mood I want if I find a way to incorporate them into the scene. I think it would add another layer of interest visually to the opening.

Moving on, there are a couple of features that I wrote into the storyboard that I have not yet discussed: voice-over and credits. I am still trying to figure out if I want to have a voice-over of the girl's thoughts reading aloud what she is writing down in her journal. I feel like this would add a lot of clarity to the scene and the girl's perspectives, but I wouldn't want it to take away from the music playing or the scene as a whole. Also, I don't know if it's necessary, since she will be rapping what she writes down later on. Additionally, I think I could incorporate the opening credits by having the girl write them down in her journal and then flip the page and begin writing the content related to the plot of the film (i.e. her thoughts). I think that would seamlessly implement the credits in a unique way.

If I do end up including the voice-over, I would use it to connect the frames where she originally writes in the journal to the frames where she goes back and rereads what she wrote down.

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.