Now that we have a better idea about what genre our film opening is going to partake in and what conventions lie within the post-apocalyptic genre, I thought it would be a great idea to look at some films (both feature films and short films) to not only get inspired, but also to see how others have successfully done what my group wishes to do with this film opening. Let's look at some videos!
"A Quiet Place"
Though there are many post-apocalyptic feature films out there, this motion picture is by far one of my favorites. Not only is it extremely captivating and engaging, but it is once of the few movies that heavily relies on silence rather than fear-inducing soundtracks. This film follows the story of a family in a world where blind monsters hunt living things using their keen sense of hearing. In the opening, one can see the family gathering supplies at an abandoned grocery store, all while being as quiet as possible (which can be shown through their use of sand to silently walk through the forest, the parents' refusal to their son getting a loud toy and the mother's careful movements when looking for medicine). Though our film opening is not about monsters or the need for silence for survival, my group can definitely take some inspiration from the mise-en-scene in this piece (the clothing, filming locations, set design, etc.) We plan on replicating the old, worn-out look in the grocery store (to the best of our abilities of course, since we don't have a budget) and using similar filming techniques as the ones used in the scene where they are walking home.
The film's opening:
Some useful commentary on the film:
Above is a video discussing the movie as well as some effective techniques used to
create the film's sense of danger and isolation.
"Alone"
Another piece that I looked at as a part of my research was the short film titled "Alone." I had watched this short months prior to this project and after rewatching it, I have realized that it has an extremely similar (if not identical) plot to our project. This film is about a man who is completely alone in the world and has to scavenge for food in order to survive. As he does this, a voice over plays, explaining the character's situation in a way that is cohesive and easy to understand, supporting the visuals that are being shown on screen. Though my team has agreed that we do not want to rely on a voice over to relay information to our audience, there were still a couple things that could be useful for us when completing our project. First of all, we had agreed that we wanted our character to be surprised at the end once they find out that they are, contrary to what they once thought, not alone. Interestingly, the subject in this short film experiences this as well (right at the very end). Because of this, I will definitely be showing this film to my group in order to analyze what we could do to not only replicate this, but execute it better (if possible). Furthermore, there are moments in the film where the main character is shown to be human, not just a character on a screen. This is done when the man plays an old voice message from a loved one, showing that despite his ability to survive, he feels alone and longs for the people he once loved. Once again, I will be showing this to my group to see what they think and possibly brainstorm some other creative ways to give our subject more character.
Conclusion
Though it is important to learn about genre conventions, it is still incredibly valuable to watch other successful pieces of media and analyze what the creators did well, what my group could do better and get inspiration for our own project. Can't wait to see where this project goes!
After researching our genre and creating a backbone for our film opening, all we have to do now is fill in the blanks and solidify the storyline, plot, character(s), and techniques that will allow us to successfully develop our story. Once again, we were able to meet during class to discuss our idea further. Here is what we came up with.
(Virtually) Visiting Our Location
Since we knew our potential filming spots and our idea, we narrowed down our location to Sabrina's mom's office space and the nearby factory. This allowed us to focus on this specific place and what we could visually show in order to make our story cohesive and understandable. We went on Google Maps and looked at the area through street view, which was extremely helpful for both Logan and I (since we have never been there before). By doing this, Sabrina was able to show us around and point out potential spots, which in turn allowed the entire group to gain a better understanding of what the film opening will look like (and ways we could creatively tell our story). Since this location has a variety of buildings, a factory and an office space, we will be able to get very different shots within the same general vicinity.
Since we want our post-apocalyptic film opening to show a person surviving and searching for resources, we could film in the offices during non-working hours and make the place look abandoned, possibly through lighting, messy set design and audio (silence and basic foley). We could also utilize the nearby factory to not only get an interesting filming location, but also to emphasize that the character is actually living in a post-apocalyptic world (since factories are not usually open to the public). Moreover, we could film between the buildings where the grass is and have the opening end with the character finding out that they are not alone (by showing the train passing through the area that the character thought was completely abandoned). Knowing that all of these places are available to us, our group is now very excited to see what we can do and how to make this film opening as creative as possible, all while establishing a cohesive story and dark mood.
Here are some pictures of our filming location! As you can see, there are a lot of possibilities...
Other Available Resources
Surprisingly, our filming location is not the only interesting resource we have available to us. Since Logan's dad works in the production industry, he happens to have a GoPro that we could attach to a drone (which he also has) in order to get some overhead establishing shots. This would not only bring up the quality of the film opening (since drones are usually not available to high school students like us), but also allow us to create that dark mood of abandonment and isolation by showing that the character is fully alone. Unfortunately, we would have to get the shots blindly (meaning we won't be able to see the shots as we get them), but Logan's dad will be there to supervise and give us advice on how to capture the shots we want. We really do think that having this resource available to us will help us fully establish the character's aloneness but also give us the opportunity to learn about drones and how to use them. I am very excited to see what we do with this!
Production Techniques
After discussing the whole drone idea, we began to talk about our personal equipment and what we could do in order to pull this idea off. We conversed about lighting, types of shots, and times that we would like to film. First of all, in order to create the dark and abandoned mood we want, we thought that using more low-key lighting would benefit us. The only problem with this, however, is that shooting without sunlight can get difficult very quickly (unless you have the equipment and skills to pull it off, of course). Thankfully, Sabrina happens to have lights we could use in addition to the small light kits that Kimberly and I have. This would allow us to create that moody, cinematic lighting we want (however, I want to research cinematic lighting more before filming just to make sure we are prepared). We will also have access to Sabrina's new camera, which is much better at capturing video in low-light situations in comparison to my Canon T7i.
In addition to the type of lighting we want and the equipment that is available, we decided that we will be using a lot of wide and extremely wide shots (especially when the character is scavenging) to establish that they are alone. We also decided when the shots should look more stable and when they should be shot handheld, since a lot can be told through the way the camera is moving. We chose to keep the camera stable throughout the scenes of them scavenging inside, while shooting handheld while the subject is outside (to give it more of a "survival" look). We also decided to have Sabrina in front of the camera (since she the best actress among us) and have one of us behind the camera with the other two taking care of lighting and making sure that everything is running smoothly.
Conclusion
Overall, I am feeling quite excited to start fully planning this film opening and eventually start producing it. I think it has a lot of potential and with our group's efforts combined, I am confident that we will be able to create a high-quality video. Next, we will have to refine our story outline, get more pictures of the office from Sabrina's mom, and find out when the train passes (in order to start creating our filming schedule). We hope to visit the location in person before filming in order to avoid any issues. I'll let you guys know how our project progresses! I have a good feeling about this film opening...
Now that we have a solid idea and genre, our group thought it was a great idea to research the post-apocalyptic film genre in order to help us further develop our story as well as learn effective ways to establish the mood and plot we are going for. There are a couple conventions within this genre: survival, limited resources, and lack of people. Let's get right into it!
A Need for Survival
By definition, a post-apocalyptic world is a world that takes place after a catastrophic event. Because of this, it is very common for post-apocalyptic movies to deal with issues like survival, since all the characters within this "world" are trying their hardest to remain alive in these new and unstable circumstances. For instance, in the television show "The 100,"all of humanity's last survivors are forced to survive ninety-seven years after civilization was destroyed by a nuclear war. This creates conflict between the characters, their environment, and their own morals.
Source: themoviedb.org
Scarcity
After civilization is changed after a disastrous event, food and supplies are often limited. For example, the trilogy The Hunger Games deals with a dystopian society in which characters from each district must compete against each other for the Capitol's annual "games." In this televised competition, teenagers must fight to the death, compete for resources, and use their skills to survive the ruthless arena in which the games are held. During the first movie, the series's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, must hunt for food with her bow and arrows, gain the public's favor for donated supplies and make alliances with other players to make it out alive.
Alone in the World
Another convention within the post-apocalyptic genre is the constant feeling of isolation. In the film I Am Legend, the main character is the only survivor from a plague that killed and transformed the rest of humanity into monsters. As the only sane human left, he makes it his mission to find a cure for the disease that was once created to cure cancer. Interestingly, since this movie was filmed in New York City, the creators had to heavily rely on editing to make the setting seem run down and destroyed.
This movie poster shows the film's main character surviving in a post-apocalyptic New York City, trying to find a viable cure for the remainder of humanity.
Conclusion
Now that my group members and I are more knowledgeable about the post-apocalyptic genre and its conventions, we hope to apply this research to our project. I will post again with more updates. Until next time!
Hello guys and gals! I bring very good news. My group for the film opening project was able to meet today! This was a huge relief, especially since we still did not have a solid idea and were struggling to come up with one. Thankfully, we were able to get on a call together to discuss potential filming locations, our genre and the storyline. Here's how it went.
Finding a Location
Before we came up with any ideas, we wanted to lay out all of the filming locations that were available to us and chose a story we could portray with the resources we have. We had a couple options:
Sabrina's mom's office space (with a factory, parking spaces and a railroad track in the back)
My dad's car shop with a parking lot and a plaza nearby
A nearby park with lots of trees and open, natural spaces
Our houses and other public places within our town
Once we knew what locations were available to us, we began to brainstorm once again. Since we wanted to stick to the dystopian, post-apocalyptic genre, we began to come up with storylines and choose the type of tone we wanted to establish throughout the film opening in order to aid in storytelling as well as add to the video. Then finally, a solid idea began to develop.
A New Story
Considering available locations, our skills and our resources, we thought it would be interesting to create the feeling of being alone in a post-apocalyptic world. We thought that in order to develop this feeling, we needed to demonstrate that the character was not just alone in their general vicinity, but completely isolated from other humans. We also decided that we definitely wanted to show, not tell. This means no voiceovers or dialogue, just visual and auditory clues that would help our audience understand what is going on (and remain intrigued throughout the film opening).
All of the pictures above are from the film "A Quiet Place," which also begins with its main characters searching for supplies and portrays a sense of isolation and danger. Though replicating the film's "abandoned" feel will be difficult, we will do our best to do so through costuming, make-up, and set design (which Sabrina's mom's factory will come in handy for).
Knowing this, we came up with the idea of having a main character searching for supplies that could have been left behind by others (in offices, streets, et cetera). However, we did not want the entire film opening to consist of a mysterious character collecting food and other handy items. We wanted to show that despite them being in a constant battle for survival, they were still, well, human. We thought we could achieve this by having the main subject show emotion, such as happiness, sadness, or fear. We thought of two events that would make this possible: the character could find something that they have not seen/eaten in a long time and react with desperation and excitement, and/or they could suddenly find out that after all this time surviving alone, they were not alone after all. Both of these could fit into the film opening and ultimately establish that main subject is not just a character, but a complex human being with desires and emotions.
Conclusion
We still have a lot of work to do, but I am glad (and relieved) to know that we have a solid idea that is both achievable and interesting, and a concept that we could still get creative with. I'll be back next week with more updates! Stay tuned.
Good afternoon everyone! Unfortunately, my group was not able to meet like we had planned. Every member’s schedules were different, especially since everyone in our group was competing in a national production competition, STN. Competing was stressful enough, however not being able to meet definitely added to this frustration (especially since we were planning on solidifying our idea during today’s meeting).
An Idea With Potential
Even though we are not completely set on anything yet, I wanted to share an idea that one of my teammates, Logan, suggested. He said that we could have the film opening take place in an office (which is a filming location that would be available to us thanks to another teammate of mine, Sabrina). Throughout the two minutes, we could have the credits (ex: director, writer, etc.) appear in the corner while we establish the dystopian, post-apocalyptic mood we are going for. We would achieve this through the use of colored lighting, diegetic sound and possibly music. Logan proposed that we could have the main character be working overtime, all alone (we would establish their solitude through dialogue when they say goodbye to a coworker). We would cut between the shot of the protagonist and a security camera showing some sort of creature outside with monster-like sound effects to show that the subject might be in danger. The worker would then get up to get a cup of coffee, but as they close the door, a loud monster noise would play and the title would splash on the screen. This would set up the setting and plot, and hopefully hint to the viewers that this character’s purpose was to demonstrate the dystopian conditions of our fictional world, not necessarily serve as the main character of our story.
Source: videohive.net
We'll See
Like I mentioned before, we still have not decided on anything yet but we hope to meet tomorrow or some other time this week to finalize the brainstorming process and hopefully begin planning. I’ll keep you guys posted!
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.
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).
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.
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.
Hello everyone! It has been a little over two weeks since my last blog update regarding my music marketing project, so I thought I would share everything that has occurred since then.
Research
As I mentioned in the previous blog post, my AICE media class was assigned a marketing project where we create an entirely new band and come up with some marketing strategies to successfully increase the band’s success. We began with research, learning more about two music companies and researching two bands from each label. We chose Atlantic Records and RCA Records (both very successful music companies) and four case studies: Nothing But Thieves, Foo Fighters, The Rolling Stones and Highly Suspect. By looking at each band’s road to stardom in terms of their advertising and marketing campaigns, we were able to get a feel of which strategies were useful and which approaches were unique to each band. After defining what these “marketing standards” were, we began implementing them into our own music marketing project and thought of ways to make these approaches complement our band’s brand, message, and music. These “staples” included the use of multiple social media platforms (mainly Instagram) to interact with audiences, a website to provide more detailed information to fans, touring with bigger artists with similar music, and more.
This is our band's logo. We wanted to have the planet Venus somewhere in the logo because
of the band's name (as well as their space-like brand), so we made that the base and put some
simplistic, curved letters over the planet.
This is a screenshot of the Instagram account the we created for our band. We wanted to post some
behind-the-scenes content, as well as some informational and advertising content. This establishes
Venus's friendly character, as well as helps solidify their brand and message.
Brainstorming
After laying down these basics, we decided to get more creative in order to find unique ways to spread the word about our own band. One of these special techniques was using the band’s backstory to not only make the marketing process more personal (since audiences feel closer to artists that share their stories), but also to find even more ways to market our group. For instance, we decided that the members of the band went to the same school and bonded at a local ice cream parlor, Twisty Parlor. Therefore, we included spoon rings, pop-up shows at this location, and even an original ice cream flavor (the Venus Twist) that is sold at the parlor and named after the band, all in our plan. Moreover, both members would jokingly call themselves “the floating rock society,” which not only matched their “otherworldly” theme but also ended up being a part of their brand (and printed on merchandise). Just as extras, we also decided to collaborate with a growing clothing company to sell merchandise, and create a snapchat filter that would play the group’s new music as well as market the band’s brand.
This is an image of the Floating Rock Society logo that we created for the merchandise.
We wanted this logo to be simplistic yet still have an ethereal aesthetic to complement Venus's brand.
We then used this logo to design merchandise and give something for the band's audience to
identify with. This would increase audience engagement and ultimately maximize the
success of the band.
In addition to creating a logo, we also used Canva.com to lay out what the products
from the collaboration with the clothing company would look like. We included spoons in
the image because spoons are a large part of their brand (thanks to the members' history and
ongoing collaboration with Twisty Parlor).
Music Video: Planning and Production
After brainstorming and creating the website, social media accounts, and more, we planned the music video and prepared to film. Unfortunately, due to the surprisingly cold and windy weather that South Florida experienced the weekend we set aside to produce our video, we were not able to fulfill our original plans. We were not able to film, forcing us to come up with a brand new way to convey the message in the band’s “new” song, “My Name is Human.” This song is about someone encouraging others to break free from something that is holding them back. Before having to rethink our idea, our group thought about it very literally, especially after hearing the lines “get up from your knees, girl, stand face to face with your God.” We wanted to produce a video about a girl who felt trapped by her religion and ultimately broke free. After being unable to execute our initial idea, however, we came up with something more abstract yet something easier to portray - society’s obsession with social media.
This is a photograph from the first time our group met to film (when we were still trying to
execute our original music video idea). Though it might seem like Maya is relaxing in the water,
this could not be any farther from the truth (the water was at least 50 degrees and the air outside
was even colder). If we had not met up early to film, we probably would not have been able to
come up with let alone produce a brand new music video.
We decided to tell a story about a young woman that is held back by her addiction to her cellular device, yet eventually faces her issues and comes back stronger. In order to convey this message, we used complementary colors (orange and blue) to establish the contrast between someone that is living passively on their phone and someone who has taken control of their own life. Furthermore, we made sure to explicitly show the subject “facing her God,” which in this case we achieved by editing a shot of her getting sucked inside the phone that she is a slave to.
This is a picture of our second storyboard (which we completed on a white board out of pure
frustration and lack of time). We used this as a reference while filming this second idea, however
still ended up having to compensate for lack of footage in the post-production process.
The filming process was quite stressful, yet very educational. Before meeting up, I went to Michaels and bought cellophane, a plastic, see-through material to place over lights to achieve colored lighting. We set up the lighting, removed everything but my bed from my room, and made sure that we were all set to begin. We then started filming around 6pm, beginning with the “blue” shots on the bed. This took quite a while since these shots made up a majority of the video (and some shots were difficult to capture). The still shots of the subject swiping on the bed were quite easy to get, but the shots of her “falling through the mattress” and getting sucked into her phone definitely required more thought (and a sturdy bed frame for all the times that Maya, one of the group members, had to repeatedly fall on my bed). We then proceeded to film the orange shadow shots with a blanket and floodlight covered in yellow and pink cellophane, and took the pictures that were showcased in the beginning and end of the video. We achieved the “ghost” effect by shooting with a very low shutter speed and the same orange light in the back. After capturing all that media, it was already 2 am, so we decided to call it a night and work with the footage we got.
Post-Production
This inevitable, last-minute decision added plenty of stress when it came to editing, especially since we were not able to capture some of the footage we needed for the chorus. Despite this, however, I was able to edit the entire thing in a total over 11 hours. I used Adobe Premiere for line editing and masking, and used After Effects for the more advanced effects (such as the “sucked into the phone” effect). I made sure that even the still shots (such as the orange shadow shot) were interesting by using key frames and masking, as well as playing with the opacity. While editing this, the rest of the group members were perfecting the presentation and ensuring that all of the information we needed was on the Google Slides. Though rushed, we managed to finish on time and create a quality band, marketing campaign, music video and presentation. Presenting this was also quite enjoyable, especially after putting so much work into the project. It was super satisfying to see all of our hard work come together!
This is the link to the final video. As you can see, it is quite different from the original
storyboard due to the last minute changes, but I was able to edit this as best as
possible within the time we had left to complete the project.
Reflection
Overall, I think that this project not only introduced me to some amazing peers within my AICE media studies class, but it also taught me a lot about marketing, music video production and time management. I learned a lot of new things about lighting (specifically colored lighting), low shutter speed photography, and even how to use certain tools on Adobe After Effects (ex: puppet points). This was also the first time I thoroughly enjoyed a class presentation (probably because I love the material and would potentially like to pursue marketing and production in the future). This has been by far the most enjoyable AICE media project yet. Super excited to see what we do next! Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading about my experience. Until next time!
