Portfolio scheduling

the day of reconning is upon us... or so they say.

The due date of this project is slowly encroaching and I have a plan! 

(drumroll please)

BEHOLD AND LAY UPON YOUR EYES

MY SCHEDULE!

Color coded and everything! 

pretty neat huh!!!!

Anywhom, this is it. The whole schedule condesed into a singular notebook page. 

Now, I will break down the function of every accurately color coded week. 

Scripting: Pretty much writing out the scene progressions and acutely describing the imagine inside my head to ensure complete communication. 

Planning. Location scouting, getting equipment, making a shot list, and so on so forth. 

Filming: The day we're going to film. + last minute filming dates

Editing: editing the opening together

Finish: Last week to make any changes or tweaks to the final product, as well as making my CCR which will most likely implement a director's commentary.

Now you may be wondering in your head right now "Matias, what's that thing that says 'STN'?? " and my answer is this. It is a competition I am going on soon and therefore will not be able to work on the project over this compeition. 

Now the next steps on this project would be to finalize the draft of the script and start making a shot list, this way we can begin to prep for the lone filming date that we were able to schedule in advance. Until then, stay easy and stay breezy my fellow aice media trekkers.

CATCH YOU ON THE FLIP SIDEEEEEE

Research post no.3 - Opening credits

 HELLO HELLO HELLOOOOO 

Today we are looking at film opening credit scenes, mainly to get ideas on how to implement my own credits into the film opening.

First up we have the opening credits for The Social Network - directed by David Fincher. This film opening is one of the more basic ones. The main thing I saw in this opening that I thought would be neat to implement, is the film's approach to have the credits out of the way from the viewer. I''ll explain, in this credit sequence the main character, Mark, is running from the bar to his dorm at Harvard. This whole sequence the credits are placed in the relitave negative space of the shot compositions in the sequence. This is done intentionally for two reasons. 1 to not disrupt the flow of the film with the credits, and let the body language of Mark's awkward running develop the story, and 2, to make use of the unused space in the compositions. Try imagining the credit scene without any credits and you'll notice it is much emptier and seems kind of excessively unattentive of our main character. This credit scene helped me realize I really dont want these stinking credits in the way and therefore am taking a page out of The Social Network book.

The Social Network - Dir. David Fincher

The second film I would like to take inspiration from is Goldfinger - directed by Guy Hamilton. This opening sequence is very very weird. It features a woman painted in gold with projected images across her body. This is not why I chose to put that film here. I chose it because of the text aligning with fades of throughout the sequence. This goes on all throughout the scene and is an element I will be implementing in my film opening. This continuous sync of fades gives the opening a nice linear flow that for me is necessary in an opening, hence my incorporation into the my own opening. Nothing else in this scene is something I would like to carry with me, but it is a good visualizer for what's to come in the future (sort of).

Goldfinger - Dir. Guy Hamilton

The last opening credit scene I want to take inspiration from is Taxi Driver - directed by Martin Scorsese. This opening is dirty, gritty, and upclose. It contains all the raw energy that I was referring to during my last blog post in reference to the movie Rocky - directed by John G. Avildsen. This upclose and almost disorienting style, which also paints the picture of what is going on is something I am taking inspiration from when making my film opening. The continuous use of close ups and mediums throughout, matched with the "I have a slight idea of what I'm looking at" framing gives this opening scene a touch that is perfect for the emotionally strained state I want my character to be in when introduced in my own opening. 

Taxi Driver - Dir. Martin Scorsese

This research blog really has helped in aiding the development of my opening credit scene by giving inspiration to some concepts I would love to implement and others that I would like to shy away from, helping create the perfect beginning to my film.

OKAY BYEEEE SEE YOU IN THE NEXT ONEEEEE.

Research post no.2 - Film openings

 HEY HEY HEYYYY 

You're back! Yayyyy!!!

Alright let's get right into it. 

FILM OPENINGS

For this film opening of mine we're going with the sports/drama genre so I've decided to implement 3 of my 3 favorite movies to look for inspiration.

First up is Mid 90s - created by Jonah Hill. The opening scene of this film features the abuse the main character - Stevie - experienes from his older brother. The scene is raw and full of diegetic sound design. It effectively sets the theme of self love and exploration that is discussed throughout the film. This opening scene symbolises Stevie's beginning arc of his own worth being dictated by the people around him. The people who he himself loves, and thinks they do also. This scene also shows us Stevie's initial motivator for the practice of skating. When Stevie finds a group of friends who skate, he immediately looks to be part of this group. This is effectively conveyed by the harsh contrast of Stevie's abusive home life, compared to his more emotionally healthy social life through a sport that is often times (more so in the mid 1990s when the film is set) misinterpreted as disrespectful and harming to the outside. I could go on and on about the symbolism and metaphor behind this opening scene, but what we're really looking to take from this scene is two things. The sound design, and the scene progression.

The sound design in this scene, as stated earlier, is heavily diegetic. There is no added music or sound effects, emphasizing the raw nature of the film and setting the standard for future emotionally impacting scenes. I want to implement this into our film opening by putting into practice the absence of music and non-diegetic sound mixing. The scene progression here is also something I would want to take some influence from, maybe not as much as the sound design. The scene progression is heavy and jarring going from a calm place to a striking and jarring view of abuse. This will come into play in my film by starting at the enjoyable hard work the character does to keep in shape for his sport, transforming into obsessive and harmful behavior that ultimately does more harm than good.

Mid 90s - Dir. Jonah Hill

The next film I would like to explore is Waves - created by Trey Edward Shults. This film is a bit long with its opening sequence, but further into the opening there is a traning montage of the main character, Tyler, practicing wrestling. This opening is very dynamic and fluid, and so I would want to do the complete opposite. For me this opening serves as a what NOT to do. This openings movement gives a fast and montage-ey feel to the opening, making the viewer engaged in what's happening on screen rather than the internal feeling of the character. This of course is done on purpose with the intent of exploring it deeper as the film progresses, however for me I would want to start right into it.

The main takeaway from this film is not falling into the dynamic cinematography and instead utilize static shots that emphasize the focus and determination of the character this film explores. Progressively the shots and cuts in the film would get faster and faster, hence the static cinematography, but that is a discussion for a seperate blog post.

Waves - Dir. Trey Edward Shults

The last film I want to explore and draw inspiration from is Rocky - written by Sylvester Stallone. The opening scene of Rocky is an iconic boxing match that has shaped the precedent of future films of its kind. I want to draw the raw, unaltered energy of this film, into mine. The beauty of this opening is not fancy lighting or shots or anything of the sort, it's showing the reality of the sport and what it really takes for someone to make it in that world. This is a feeling that I would love to implement into this film opening, and one that I hope to recreate. This film serves more as a mood board addition rather than a direct inspiration.

 

Rocky - Dir. John G. Avildsen

All in all these three films are some of the inspiration I would love to implement into the genre I am looking to enter, and serve as a great reference for the type of feel and overall connection I hope to bring into my film

ALRIGHTYYY SEE YOU GUYS SOON!!!!

Research post no.1 - Filming under water

 HEYYYY, WE'RE OFF TO THE RACES

Starting off our twonderful journey into what will be this film opening project, the first order of business will be figuring out how this swimming thing will work because as we all know, cameras are NOT water proof. 

I did some research so this is what I've come up with. 

For starters, filming under water is is super duper difficult and requires A LOT of planning. Something as simple as figuring out how to stay under water while you film can take soooo much time away from the production time we have, which is not a lot. Furthermore, without this extra detail of filming under water, the film opening itself is going to be missing that extra piece that could have been added and would have made a big impact, SO these are the two options I've come up with.

Option No.1 that I found is renting or buying a camera case that is meant for under water usage, this option would probably give me the best and most appealing image, seeing as it is a camera being used rather than let's say a phone or something. However, what is holding us back from taking this route is two things. One, I don't know anyone who would be willing to let us use their camera for this. And two, these camera cases are super duper expensive, ranging from 300, to 3000 dollars. Even renting the equipment is expensive with shipping and figuring out the right dates to film this stuff. It would be such a hassle to rent it. Given these set backs, it is safe to say that this option is not viable.

The second and most realistic option would be to use an underwater camera (like a GoPro). Although this option is not ideal for video quality and stuff, I think it is the best way to get our under water shots. These cameras are not nearly as expensive as just the one case, and are easy to use and efficient. The preferred camera would be the Osmo Action 6, however I'm not exactly in the right financial place to invest in this camera. So, borrowing the Osmo Action 4 from a friend would be the best option seeing asthough our backs are against the wall, and I've used this same camera for other projects in the past (music video project). 

All in All, this research has helped me get ahead on my planning by deciding what method of underwater shooting is best for my shoot and budget, as well as bring to light the ridiculous prices of camera gear. 

THANK YOU FOR READING MY RESEARCH BLOG, NOW PLEASE GO READ THE NEXT ONE !!!!

Portfolio Project Genre #2

 Hey!! Long time no see!!

Let's just get right into it. 

My second option for genre is the Coming Of Age Drama. I am currently watching Boyhood (which is pretty alright I guess just a bit lengthy), and so I had the idea that I should try making of of those. Which is you know hard and stuff but I think I could do it. 

I would want to take a more dramatic approach, rather than a feel good story, but that can all be decided at a later date. 

This genre is mainly tailored towards teenagers or young adults (such as myself), and share mainly themes of transitions or first experiences. But if you know anything about me is that I don't do the main stuff. I'm focused on the in-betweens. The days that nobody talks about where there just isnt much to do so you just think and cincrete these experiences into thoughts and emotions and you start to understand the world. That's what I'ms mostly focused on. Usually these types of films use a lot of narration and voice over stuff but I'm not a big fan so I won't be doing that. 

Institutional conventions include showing these candid, slice of life moments in the posters and trailers which is most likely the approach I would take. 

For my project I really want to take inspiration from films like Mid90s and Moonlight. These pieces focus a lot on psychological effects of surroundings, rather than the experiences themselves. 

Anywho, I have no idea what I'll end up doing but as of right now these are my two biggest candidates for genres. 

THANK YOU FOR READING MY BLOG!!! 

Catch you on the flip side! 😉🫵

Portfolio Project genre #1

The next project in the all great journey that is the Aice Media AS level course is the Film Opening project. This project is going to be suuuuuuper duper long and so we're taking this VERY seriously. And in this seriousness comes the absolutely seriously serious talk of picking a genre for the Film Opening. 

Now as none of you may know, I specialize in dramas. Thats what I do pretty much, and so it makes sense to follow my skills and do a drama. However, then bares the question of which type of drama, and so My initial choice is a sports drama.

Sports dramas are typically aimed towards the sports enthusiast looking for a relatable watch, or just classic drama fans. The thing with these sorts of films is that they usually use the "underdog" stereotypes. Usually these characters have lower resources or are overlooked and learn to overcome their social or financial shortcomings by getting better at the sport.

I don't wanna do that.

I want to take a more psychological approach and show what years and years of intensive training can do to a person, completely avoiding the underdog type of character. 

Another thing sports films usually do is the intense fast paced montages of the people training with the music and stuff. This I will do in part. I like the idea of the fast disorienting montages to show stress in the character's mind, but I think music can ruin this effect. Instead I will be using exaggerated sounds to bring you more into what the character would be experiencing. The pressure will also be built up by a slowly rising sound of the main character's breathing as he works out, further showing his stressed state of mind.

Usually these films use institutional conventions such as narrative image posters which is something I would want to explore. 

I would want to take inspiration from films like Creed, Real Steel, and the beginning of Waves (where the wrestler guy is going through it).

This is the genre I'm most interested in pursuing, but my backup would be... IN THE NEXT BLOG. Boom I just baited you and I'm leaving it as a cliff hanger. Go check out my other blog!!!!