Where are We?

I realize after extensive talk of what our film opening will be and what we plan to do for our shots in the opening, that I have not actually shown where it will be taking place. I have mentioned the office and surrounding area but here are some photos of the office we plan to film at, the outside surroundings, and the factory that we may also use.

Along with this we have discussed some practical and editing effects to fully create the post-apocalyptic feel we are looking for. I have already discussed how we plan to start the opening by showcasing the character going into the building through the eyes of a security camera, we plan on doing this by either using an overlay online or creating our own within Photoshop. We feel as though this will make our audience ask if our character truly is alone? If she is alone, why are the cameras still on? Who is watching her? 

Another effect we have discussed is, in order to create atmospheric lighting as well as just atmosphere in general, we are thinking of getting a fog machine, which we will use to give the effect of dust in the "abandoned" office. I do not think this will happen as it was merely a suggestion, however, it caused us to branch off into the topic of atmospheric lighting, in which case we can create particle effects within After effects to provide for the same effect we would achieve with the smoke machine. I do not think it will be perfect and I have not discussed with my group in a while since we have very little time outside of school and my full group was not in school this week, however I hope to have everything solidly laid out and settled upon within this upcoming week as we should be starting filming soon. As always I will keep yall updated!

Group Meeting Update

Whats up yall! Today was my schools traditional senior skip day, but due to the fact that I have been trapped in my home for almost a year and due to my large amount of anxiety over school, I decided to go to class anyways. Today in class we broke up into groups with other class members who were not in our group for the film opening, as a way to get feedback on our progress and see if our ideas were feasible and sounded good to an outside perspective. As one can imagine, breakout rooms are tough, some people are scared to talk, others have their cameras off, and some just dont know whats going on. I, however, like to get business done, so because of the fact that I could tell no one was jumping at the opportunity to speak, I decided to break the ice and tell everyone my idea first. I did no receive much feedback from my peers, as they liked my idea and thought that since I and the rest of my group are in TV production, we have enough experience to pull it off. I tried to pry a little deeper, asking them what they thought I could improve on, but they were anxious and didnt say much. I did not let this dishearten me, however, as I asked one of the biggest questions on my mind, the character in my film is supposed to be the last person on earth, as of now, the opening merely shows them being alone and isolated, so my question was how do I make them feel like the last person on earth? My peers didnt have much of an answer, but through some discussion and a mere revelation in my self, I realized that maybe the character didnt need to be the last person on earth. I simply need to showcase the post-apocalyptic scene and the fact that they are isolated, as those are really the main story elements within the film opening. If I were to make this a full length film, then yes, eventually I would figure out a way to show they are the last person, but as of now I think its fine to just show an isolated protagonist in this world. The rest of the meeting consisted of me giving advice to my class mates, as I have a little bit more experience when it comes to filming and production than my peers, but I like helping others so I would say it was a productive day. Talk to yall soon!

Who is Our Protagonist?

Aria Gil

Our film opening focuses on the protagonist Aria Gil and her exploration of the world, that is now a barren and desolate wasteland. Arias main intentions are pretty clear from the start, as she has one main goal, survival. Aria struggles, however, as what is the point of life if just to survive? As the film progresses, Aria strives to find a deeper meaning and towards the end of the film opening, the audience is given a hint at how she will discover it. She can tell something is happening around her, she knows shes alone, or is she? If she was alone, then who is driving the train she hears at the end of the film opening? And why was she so unnaturally afraid of it? All these questions we want the audience to ask themselves, so they become further invested in the movie, and I plan to expand upon them in another blog post. For the wardrobe of the character, we were thinking since its a post-apocalyptic film, we want to have the character look roughed up and dirtied. Sabrina plans to do this via make up, and for the attire itself, we also plan on having our character wear a beanie, jeans, a jacket, and hopefully some sort of boots. This costuming is what is usually associated with the nomadic/woodsy/explorer persona we are trying to show in our character, we want them to be seen as someone who is on the move. We also want them to have a sort of satchel or bag in which they keep supplies. Aria is tough and she does what she needs to do to survive, its just that she is starting to doubt what she is surviving for.

 

The movie "The Road" is a great example of the costuming in a post-apocalyptic film!

 This is a photo of my group member, Sabrina, who will be playing the protagonist of the film!

Planning it out

 

 Our Vision

Starting out this week, my group decided it would be best to create an outline of our film, that we can eventually either turn into a script or story board. We wanted our outline to be simple and flexible, since you never know what we might want to change once we get on set and begin filming. We are all very creative minds, so a lot of the shots are up for debate and we are still trying to finalize the ending, so the outline is subject to change but this is what we have currently!

Film Opening Outline (V.1)

• Start with shots of security cameras, multiple shots as character goes into building - constant shots from the cameras

• Security camera shots (last one is when character is about to go in)

• Transition with OTS shot of character looking at camera)

• Character enters into building

• Various shots, exploring office surrounding, looking through desks/cubicles (may be cut for time)

• Kitchen (coffee and twinkies)

• As they look through office cabinets, titles of actor, director, etc appear in screen

• Extremely wide shot of office space

• Goes into factory looks for supplies

• Could do shot where they find scrap metal/nut and look through it

• Cut to traversing outside could use drone here?

• Eventually Close up of foot being placed on track, just as they are going to walk over it, and then they hear the train (show train lights blinking?)

• Close-up of them being scared (since they think they are the last one on earth)

• Last shot, from across train track, space in between character and camera has motion pass by it to show the train

  (Working title - Losing Track) 

    

• Things to Think on 

   

  A couple of my group members were not in class today, so this outline is currently a work in progress. When we last spoke we all had a good understanding and similar idea of what we wanted, so I feel we may very well stick with this.

   

  Also my group member Sabrina and I, that were here today, still discussed how we wanted our character to look, her intentions, what exactly the deeper meaning of our film is, and the plot itself. I hope to update yall soon about what we discussed!

   

   

Update on plot!

Whats up yall! Quick update on what my group and I have discussed recently and how we are planning on moving forward with the plot. First off, I just want to establish how our thought process has been, basically my group and I think in shots and try piecing together the story through the shot compositions we want to accomplish. I have already gone over how the plot will revolve around a post-apocalyptic world where the main character believes themself to be the last person on Earth and because of this fact we obviously want to make our character seem isolated. How we plan on accomplishing this is through the use of very wide shots where the only character in frame shall be the protagonist, and to make the point even more apparent we plan to try and get a drone shot of the protagonist when they are traversing to show case not just their solitude but also the landscape they are in. We also discussed how we want the character to look, my group member Sabrina has volunteered to act and also she says that she has some fake make up we can use to make the character seem dirty and as though they have been scavenging for a while. Like I said before we are thinking in shots, so we began to write down these ideas to create an outline of how our film opening shall look. We want to start through the perspective of security cameras, this will create mystery and immediately have the audience questioning what exactly is occurring? Is the character attempting to rob the place they are entering? Are they being watched? This will keep our audience hooked to see what happens next. We also plan to use wide shots like I stated before, but within the confines of the office building I have talked about, the use of wide/long shots of the protagonist exploring and searching through the office will help to better create the lonely, empty feeling we are trying to produce. We continue, once we are out of the office to when they are traveling through brush or some sort of woodsy area, to further showcase the post-apocalyptic feel and isolation of the character, not only this but within this setting the shots will become more hand held/loose to further fit with the genre conventions I mentioned in my last post. Lastly, we want to leave the audience asking what happens next, and we plan on doing this by having a sequence of shots at the end where we have a close up of the characters feet as they are about to cross a train track and just as they place their foot they will hear the train. This is where a close up of their face will show their fear, as they believed they were the last one on the planet, and as they attempt to run, my hope is to have the title appear on screen as a real train rushes by the camera but we will see as this may be hard to pull off.

Post-Apocalyptic Film Openings

INSPIRATION!

A film opening is your one chance to establish the tone and world of your film, hooking your audience in and keeping them watching the rest of the movie. To make sure I have some reference and background information before I make my own film opening, here are two film openings that I have taken inspiration from for my story!

A Quiet Place (2018)

This film, although primarily a horror film, has heavy post-apocalyptic genre tropes and conventions as the merging of the two genres occurs fairly often. The movie takes place in a world where there are monsters that hunt you by sound, because of this a huge amount of people have been wiped out from the planet. The first two minutes of the film gives the audience a lot of information, for starters, although the exact plot and antagonist of the film (the monsters) are not revealed, the audience can infer based off the title and the movement of the characters, that there is a need to be quiet. The film opens with shots establishing the type of world they live in, starting on a broken traffic light, no human life, run down business fronts, and empty stores with trash and leaves from the outside strewn across the floor. These first few shots within the first 20 seconds of the film work to quickly get the message across to the viewer, that this world is not like our own, something has happened, people are missing and resources are scarce. The opening further drives the concept of keeping quiet as the mother in the film, Evelyn, is seen looking at different medicine bottles for her child. She shakes as she picks up each bottle, as she is trying her hardest not to make noise. We are also granted a shot of the daughter, Regan, this shot allows the viewer to see that she has a cochlear implant, letting the viewer know she is deaf, a crucial point later in the film later. What I think this opening does great is not only does it pack a lot of information within just the first two minutes of film, but it also manages to stay true to genre conventions while creating its own story. The characters are alone, the shot of the numerous missing persons shows that people are gone, and the scenery is dirtied and run down. These are all crucial elements in creating the world and establishing the genre, but the twist of having the element of sound be so prevalent in the film, is what really keeps the interest of the audience.

I Am Legend (2007)

The film, "I am Legend" is a post-apocalyptic film that showcases the truest form of the genre. The film centers around the character Robert Neville and his search to find a cure for a man made plague that turns people into mutants. Not only does the film have all of the genre conventions I noted within my research, but the exhibition and composition of the opening itself is extremely well done. The film starts with clips of a news interview, that are utilized to set up the context and allow the viewer to connect the dots for themselves to infer what will occur in the film. After the exposition of background information from the news clips, the film transitions three years later into a derelict and run down city, that features overgrown vegetation and wild life. The main character of the film drives through the city, alone, other than his dog, and the film establishes this fact with the use of extreme long shots and aerial shots to show he truly is isolated. I am Legend is a great example of what comprises the post-apocalyptic genre and how it is portrayed.

Dystopian/Post-apocalyptic Research

 Its the End of the World as We Know It

I do not know what exactly lead us to fall down the rabbit hole of dystopian waste lands and post-apocalyptic worlds, but it was probably the amalgamation of the never ending feeling of loneliness brought on by quarantine and creativity that the two worlds allow. In class and over the years of creating videos for many different projects, I have learned to work with what you know, and since being closed off and alone has been so abundant, I think my group and I wanted to try and capture that feeling within our film opening.

Dystopia/Post-Apocalyptic Tropes and Conventions:

 

Survival

One of the most important and most prevalent genre conventions within the both genres is that of survival. Almost every character in the film is trying to strive in their new environment where things have become worse than ever before and the assumption is that the characters are the last of their kind on the planet. For example in the movie Snowpiercer, the characters are trapped in the confines of a train where they believe they are the last of any human life on the planet. The movies primary plot centers around a class system in which the rich live lavishly in the front of the train and the poor are forced to live in squalor in the caboose, this creates the conflict of the film where the poor rise up to take the train by force and improve their conditions. 

Humans are no longer on top

Be it, evil governments, aliens, or some mysterious force, humans are no longer on the top of the food chain. This also fits in with the idea of survival as now for some reason explained within the film, everything is on essentially even ground when it comes to survival. 

Lack of resources

In almost any film that features a dystopian/post-apocalyptic world, resources have been drained and are impossible to find. Depending on what exactly has caused the setting, different explanations for the lack of resources are presented. For example in the film, The Hunger Games, the different districts of the film have different access to resources, but all pale in comparison to the Capitals hoard of resources, that ultimately leaves the rest of the nation to suffer. The lack of resources can also be due to some sort of toppling of society in which the means of production are no longer, and every day commodities are no longer produced. Whatever the reason, dystopian worlds will leave their characters scavenging.

Composition

So far I have covered some major points in the world building of a dystopian film, but now I would like to discuss the technical side of things, as the composition of dystopian films can vary greatly based on the story elements being used. In films where the story is centered around some sort of totalitarian government and the world is advanced technologically, the shots may appear clean and more symmetrical to fit with the technological advancement of the society. If the film is set in a more post-apocalyptic world, where the characters are scavenging and dirtied, the shots will fit with the feel of this by becoming more handheld and messy, the editing will become more fast paced, and generally more amateur.

I hope to next tell yall about some film openings that have been inspiring me along this creation process, see you then!

Press, L. (2020, July 24). 5 best young adult Dystopian TROPES (& 5 Worst). Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://screenrant.com/best-worst-young-adult-dystopian-tropes/

Erbland, K. (n.d.). The complete list: Everything you will find in a dystopian movie. Retrieved February 17, 2021, from https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/08/dystopian-movie-tropes

Finally meeting as a group!

My group finally got to meet up after our long weekend to finally discuss as a whole team what exactly we were looking for. Just like I said in my last two posts we all had the same vibe which we wanted to go for but also like I said in my last posts, that was all subject to change. The first thing we discussed when meeting today was what and where exactly we have access too, as we did not want to get to ahead of ourselves and come up with story that we could not film due to lack of location. We have a couple locations in which we can film as my group member Sabrina, has access to an office that is also connected to a factory, and my other group member Isa has access to a car help center. We began to discuss what exactly we wanted our story to be and we agreed we wanted the main character to feel isolated and alone, this eventually led to our idea of having them be the last known person on the planet, at least to themselves. The idea, which I feel takes inspiration from the film "A Quiet Place," is as follows, we follow a character who is scavenging for supplies, we will start to showcase them through security cameras, which we will do either through editing footage or within the office we will use the actual security camera footage that we have access to. The security camera will make them seem like they are being watched but soon it is shown that they are actually alone as they access the office and through body language and yawning we can see they are tired. They find a pot of stale coffee which is made apparent through their disdain for the taste, also they raid the pantries and find Twinkies (the staple apocalypse food) and they rejoice as they have not had them in forever and shovel it into their face, putting the rest in their bag. We continue to follow them as they travel to different locations all while writing in their journal, eventually leading to the final shot in which the character hears a train and they begin running outside to find the source, this will conclude our film opening and leave our audience asking is our character really alone? If I were to venture to state what the genre the film would be it would likely be dystopian, once I discuss further with my group and solidify this, I will update yall with some genre research!

Scatter Brained

This weekend has been tough as everyone on my team has had no time and so we have had problems with finding time to communicate as a group. We were all competing in a national competition during different times so we all have a lot on our plates and so the differences in ideas have not been settled and we have not necessarily settled on anything yet. I do not know if we will stick with the genre/plot that I have been more inclined towards, however, I would like to write it down and at least showcase a bit of what we have discussed. So far like I have said before, we wanted an almost dystopian or post-apocalyptic genre, however this was because the term Science Fiction has slipped my mind. The idea so far from my perspective is a character going through their late shift in an office. They say goodbye to the one other person with them, and then get back to work. During all of this credits will be placed in the corners of the shots to showcase the director, writer, producers, etc. The character eventually needs more coffee so they get up, music is playing that sets mood of scene/opening, as they get up to go make coffee maybe something falls and we can show some sort of shadow or some noise that denotes the monster moving by did it, then close shots of filling coffee, maybe interspersed shots of security cam footage of something going on outside. I was thinking that the opening would be primarily focused on building the world and tone of the film so my idea for the last few shots is the character leaving the office, close up of hand turning off light, and just as they go out and close the door you just hear a really loud monster noise and the title splashes on screen. This would leave the audience with the reaction of "oh that character wasn't important at all, it was the monster, events, and setting that we were supposed to notice," and I think this would be a very good way to start the film. This idea is subject to change though as we will further discuss as a full group what our intentions and goals are for the opening, so I will make sure to update the blog with our hopefully final genre/plot asap!

Organizing a Long Journey

The prospect of a film opening taking up the workload for the next eight weeks in this class is a daunting task to say the least, so what can one do when they are faced with a what seems like insurmountable task? Well, I personally start to break it down into steps. After establishing who I want to work with and understanding the skills of those I was with, we began step one, brainstorming. 

Step One: Brainstorming

Now many people reading this may think this is an obvious part and skip straight to the genre or plot of their film, but this part is crucial in helping get everyone in your group on the same level of thought. It allows for ideas to flow and for the whole vibe of the project to be established. One crucial part of brainstorming is drawing inspiration, and boy did we! Right off the bat, my group and I all had similar ideas and needs we wanted to fulfill. We wanted to finally create something and have independence in our creativity, after all, we have been cooped up in quarantine for months and we not only needed to be freed physically but mentally. We drew inspiration from photos, videos, and music and we all had the same vibe for our film, so we began to break it down into what we wanted to show in our film opening and put our inspiration to work.  The one way I can describe what we wanted our film opening to feel like is.... other worldy. 

 

These photos from @iamwinter on Instagram gave us great color and tone ideas

 Step Two: Genre

Picking the genre to commit too was a slightly tough decision and to tell the truth, we still don't necessarily have one. We know we want some sort of post-apocalyptic, dystopian, monster filled world, where the main character would start as any normal person would, but soon would become the most crucial person within their world. We loved the creative freedom that a dystopian and almost surrealistic world would give us for our story and we began thinking of what particular reason we would have a dystopian world for. I felt the video The Witching Hour on the Youtube channel, Forlorn Foundry, perfectly encapsulated the tone and idea of the story we were going for, also it provided for great imagery. We were taking inspiration from every avenue and although we have not yet decided on a concrete genre, we definitely knew where we were taking things.

 Step Three: Plot

 After coming up with the tone/vibe/essence of what our film would be, we decided to not define the genre just yet and let the idea for the plot, bring the genre to us. Listening to the album Hawaii part 2 by Miracle Musical provided for another great source of inspiration. The song Dream Sweet in Sea Major in particular contains the lyric, "The stars were made for falling," this lyric struck me hard as it definitely fell into the other worldly feel we were looking for. I felt this would be a strong title for our film, as the plot we were starting to develop revolved around one person working over time in an office, and over the course of the two minute exposition, showcasing and developing the character, there would be intermittent cut away shots of either security cameras or just events happening outside that would hint at the deeper story. It would not necessarily reveal the story yet, or even show what the actual danger is, but it would further the establishment of the tone, setting, and world our film is in. 

 Step Four: Taking a Step Back

Now this step although short, is very crucial, at least in my eyes. All I have to say for this is remember that this is just a film opening, it is not a short film or trailer for a film. There is not a three act structure and it should just be exposition, do not feel bad if you do not fully realize the plot in the opening, you are not supposed to!

Music Marketing: The Aftermath

When researching our genre we went in with the mindset that what we found could be utilized to help build our own brand for this project. We were searching for how the bands in the alternative genre specifically marketed their band and built their communities. The first thing we noticed is every band we researched had some form of social media and a website that had links to further merchandise or tour dates. From this we found our target audience, primarily 20 to 24 year olds, and this combined with the social media used from our case studies, we began to build our own social media. We decided to primarily use Instagram and Twitter, as although Tik Tok is a viable marketing platform, we felt it was for younger audiences than our target. Also we began to formulate ideas for our music video after researching the band Fall Out Boy, which makes use of a Llama as a symbol in a lot of their music videos, so we decided to come up with a symbol/brand in which we could use to build brand recognition. 

 The song for our music video, "The Man," has very egocentric and cocky lyrics. I mean the song is literally titled "The Man," so what would you expect? After taking a closer look at these lyrics and keeping the information of using a symbol to build brand recognition, we noticed the lyric "I carry the crown." Crown, now thats something we could get behind! And thus, M'Lady was born! With a royal, somewhat cocky, and lighthearted brand, we were ready to start creating our logo and merchandise. We decided to our logo would be a lion with a crown, king of the jungle right? This combined with purple and yellow colors helped to majorly promote the royal theme we were going for. 

Now that we had our brand, it was time to start planning our music video. We knew we wanted to have the crown be a symbol but how could we put it in the video? Simple, have your main character be a king! I purchased a crown and a royal robe and I assumed the role of "The Man." We wanted our video to relate to the lyrics but not one to one. For example, the lyric "I got a household name," is accompanied with a shot of one of our main characters outraged, and asking how exactly I got in his house. Also we again wanted to keep the lighthearted brand of the band, so we did not take ourselves too seriously when filming or with our shots, I rode on a kids toy horse, tried to climb a tree, and acted like a fool. Not only did it fit with the story, as the "Man" does what he wants, but it also made the video super entertaining and fit right in with our marketing strategy.

Editing the video was a little tricky, as like most projects, time was of the essence, but over the course of two work focused days we managed to get it done. Some changes were made due to some shots not coming out how we would have liked or simply not having the necessary shot, but overall the video came out really well and we were proud of what we made. The colors, the symbols, and the over all vibe of the video were just what we hoped for!

In our presentation we made sure to mention everything I have already mentioned, but we further expanded on our efforts with social media and how we would market ourselves. We spoke of how we wanted our band to be a friendly band with an embracing community and we wanted to be close to our fans, through social media Q/As', give aways, and even shouting out fans on our Instagram. During the presentation, although I was nervous, I tried to maintain the lighthearted enthusiasm that our band was built on and so I even wore the crown from the video while presenting!

Overall this project was a lot of fun and it was very interesting to learn about how the alternative genre is marketed. I really enjoyed creating a brand from the bottom up and utilizing that brand and marketing within our video. I felt the most important thing was to build brand recognition and audience interaction, and not only do I believe we succeeded, but I have the texts from my fellow class mates asking for signed crowns (our number one merch idea) to prove it!