A New Challenge
For the next eight weeks, my group from my AICE media studies class will have to plan, film, and edit a two-minute film opening. Though my peers and I have faced a multitude of similar tasks in the past, there are plenty of new obstacles and lessons ahead (all of which I will be documenting on this blog, of course!). So far we have only thought out some of the basics, but I thought I would share some of this progress with you.
Establishing Mood
Once this project was assigned, my group decided to break it into manageable parts: brainstorming, planning, filming, and editing. Of course, brainstorming and planning are always the most time-consuming, since we need a solid idea and a well thought-out plan to make this project possible. Though many may start with planning the plot or the characters, our group chose to establish the mood of the film before jumping into the movie’s genre or plot. We began by looking through images online, particularly on sites like Pinterest. We found a multitude of photographs that encapsulated a cold, dystopian look that we were very attracted to, so we decided to draw inspiration from them. We all agreed that the use of color and other techniques were going to be heavily used for this project, especially to establish the other-worldly tone we were so set on.
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| These are some of the pictures that stood out to us when surfing the web (both are from @iamwinter on Instagram). |
Choosing a Genre
Though we could go many different routes with this dystopian feel, we thought about doing a science-fiction type story in which there are some sort of supernatural or alien beings that are targeting humans. We looked at countless pieces of media to draw inspiration from, including the YouTube channel Local58 and the short film “The Witching Hour” by Forlorn Foundry. Both of these captured the feeling of being threatened by mysterious beings, while simultaneously being trapped alone in a house. Though we have not decided on a specific plot, we definitely have a better idea of what we want to do (and have examples to give us ideas on how to achieve our end goal).
- The Witching Hour - Forlorn Foundry
This video uses disturbing imagery and text to convey to its audience that there are strange beings roaming outdoors (and that under no circumstances should someone let them into their houses). The creator of this short film also edited the video in a way that imitates an old television broadcast, which makes the audience feel as if they are the ones in danger.
- Weather Service - Local58TV
As fans of all of Local58TV’s videos, my group knew that we had to draw inspiration from this fictitious local news channel on YouTube. This channel (founded by Kris Straub) has a total of eight “video casts” that are not only incredibly twisted, but do an exceptional job at eliciting fear within its audiences in a creative way. Much like in Forlorn Foundry’s “The Witching Hour,” Local58 uses text and graphics to replicate old television broadcasts and establish that some other source is trying to interrupt the channel’s content to brainwash the channel’s viewers or put them in danger. In this “Weather Service” episode, the station informs its viewers that there is a dangerous meteorological event that can gravely harm the human eye. However, later in the video, the broadcast seems to be interrupted by a contradicting message telling the audience to go outside and look up. In addition to text, this YouTube channel does a great job at using sound, especially since there is no dialogue in any of the episodes (except for “You Are On The Fastest Available Route,” which tells the story through the directions on a GPS).
A Long Road Ahead
Again, we have not decided on anything concrete, but we definitely want to draw inspiration from these photographs and videos in order to effectively convey our story. My group plans on meeting tomorrow to sort out more of the details, so I’m beyond excited to see what we come up with! I’ll update you guys tomorrow on the progress.
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