Portfolio Project Post #10

This post is all about equipment and props. I want to make sure I have a solid list of all the things I need to successfully film my video. 

First of all, I'll need my camera and other parts to go with it. I have a backpack full of all my camera equipment including lenses that I can switch out along with my SD card. As for components like dolly, stage lights, microphones, and tripods, I will be borrowing all of that from a friend who will be helping me to make sure I get the best shots possible since he is very experienced in video making. For color, he also has some LED's and I might buy colored plastic to cover the stage lights.

Next on my list is props. The first scene to include a prop is in the hallway. I need to buy a clock to put on the wall. I'm going to need multiple shirts and mugs for the continuity errors as well. Speaking of shirts, another component of filming is the wardrobe. I'm gonna keep it simple and have Will in mainly black and white clothes because I think it fits his personality best and it won't complicate coloring. Another important prop is my cat. He's never too busy with work so hopefully, our schedules align. Furniture like my bed and chair are also important, but they stay in the same place so no worries about that. Finally, I'd like to add some background props like comics, pencils, and other things to show off Will's personality and hobbies.

Lastly, for post-production I'm going to need to wipe my new computer I got of all its previous data. This way I'll be able to set it up to my liking and when it comes time for editing it will be smooth sailing. I'll also need the finished animation that I'll use my brother's IPad to create. Other than that I'll just need the music, footage, and graphics to put the opening together.

Portfolio Project Post #9

          For this post, I want to focus on what techniques I'm using and how I will use them. Important factors of the opening include music, color, lighting, animation. I want to find music that fits well with my idea so I'll search through a couple options and try to make a decision. I will also be constantly changing colors and lighting throughout each scene, so I need to look for a way to do that. As for animation, I want to animate Psycho as well as the words I use for onomatopoeia. 

Music

          There are many different moods showcased throughout the opening, so I have to be creative with the sounds. The feeling I want the music to radiate is a weird, suspicious, and slightly thriller tone. Although Will is in a depressed state, I don't want the audience to feel too much of that heavy-weight emotion while watching. That's why I decided that the colors and dialogue can be a tad darker while the music stays light and helps guide the comedic tone. Here are two free sounds I found that fit this description. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqk6fqAkGA &  https://www.youtube.com/watchv=oGv9HD_k6b4) As for the thriller sound, I was thinking of just adding a few horror sound effects in the song when Psycho is around. (https://www.youtube.com/watchv=L_bjXnWMgiY&list=PL634EA6C2844 05875&index=8 & https://www.youtube.com/watchv=7D2zNvRBfaU&list=PL634EA6C284405875&index=16) I'll keep searching after I film to make sure I get the best fit for my opening.

Color/Lighting

          Color and lighting are easy for me since I've been taking a television class for three years, I can use adobe premiere pro to fix up any visuals I don't like. I have plenty of other options to make the video look even better. I can use colored paper or plastic to change light colors. I can also borrow studio lights from a reliable friend to get the best lighting. Other than that I could also use specific objects with colors that fit the scene best.

Animation

          This is the hardest part of the project for me. I would like to animate Psycho into the video, but I have zero experience animating. I'll be researching many videos and keeping them for upcoming posts to review my progress. My brother has a great IPad that he uses for drawing, so I will likely use that to draw and animate Psycho. If not I'll just have to change up the character's physical appearance a bit and have a friend play him for me. Other than that I need to animate onomatopoeia into the opening the way Scott Pilgrim does. I can easily do this on premiere since I've done it before in previous videos I've made. The only thing I need to do is choose how I want to style it, but that decision is best to be decided while I'm editing since I'll have the options right in front of me and I'll have a better understanding of the tone.

Portfolio Project Post #8

          Today in class we had discussions in a group of five. We all pitched our ideas and aided each other with more ideas to incorporate into our individual productions. Personally, I didn't get too many new ideas but it helped me think of important aspects of my opening that I need to focus more on. Bianca's idea of a mad scientist helped me to capture a new perspective of Will's character. Especially his insanity. Sabrina reminded me to use color to my advantage. This will help to separate scenes of Will alone compared to him interacting with others. When talking about Camila's idea I realized the importance of other characters in my opening. Mainly I need a bit more focus on the cat.

Insanity

          The one feeling I need to focus more on is Will's insanity. At the beginning of the film, Will is in a depressing state of mind. He can't eat, sleep, or find any excitement in his life. He goes through his day pessimistically and doesn't believe in his own capabilities. This mindset works to almost drive Will mad but the crazy thing is that Psycho's madness is what saves Will at the end from his own insanity. It's almost like a circle of suppressed, crazy feelings shared between Will and Psycho. Will created Psycho based on his own crazy side but writing Psycho's fun adventures drains him of his own adventurous needs and he has to get the crazy stories to come back into his life through Psycho. This comes to fruition when Psycho appears. Psycho being a villain makes this seem like a horrible situation for Will, but it's all in Will's head. The adventures Will goes on with Psycho are really by himself. Riddled with anxiety, Will learns once again why he threw away his high-risk lifestyle and he gets to learn from this experience that gives him the inspiration to once again continue his comic. Obviously, I can't fit all of that in the two-minute opening although using color techniques and the cat character I can hint at details like this to give the scenes more depth that dives into the story as a whole.

Color

          I mentioned using color before, but I haven't truly incorporated it into individual scenes. I want contrast between the dark, gloomy color and lighting in lone scenes of Will and the bright, color-filled scenes with Psycho. I also want to include glimmers of happiness that he feels when interacting with things he likes (for example, his cat). I can do that with less vivid, but still noticeable color differences. To make my ideas more clear to those reading this I can explain them this way. There are four levels of color and lighting that a scene can have. The lone, depressing scenes of Will are the darkest, most grey scenes. Scenes, where Will interacts with something he likes, will have natural lighting and color to give a sense of normality and reality. Scenes that hint towards Psycho's existence without actually including Psycho will be vibrant to a degree. For example, the scene with the clock will have bright colors illuminating only from the clock. Finally, the most vibrant scenes are the ones with Psycho. These clips will have the most exaggerated color.

Cat

          Will's cat wasn't planned to be too important to the scene, but now I see its potential. I now know I can use the cat as a good example of something natural that gives Will happiness which is mainly important for the end of the film where he realizes that his normal life is a good life. Other than that there is an important aspect to the film I wanted to capture in the opening but wasn't sure how to. Since I've officially decided to go with the idea that Psycho's appearance in the real world is just in Will's head, I need a way to show that even if it's small. The only way to hint at this in such a short time is through the only other character in the opening, Will's cat. (I guess I should give it a name so I'll go with Swiggy just because.) The idea is to have Swiggy either walk past or walk through Psycho like he doesn't exist because he doesn't. This lack of interest would be strange for Swiggy because cats are known for their curiosity. It may help to put in some dialogue somewhere that talks about that curiosity. Anyway, it's a simple idea but it's important to establish Will's partial insanity as soon as I can and as much as I can in this little amount of time.

Portfolio Project Post #7

Rough sketch of Psycho Paranoia. I took inspiration from the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland to make a rabbit with crazy eyes and wings. I wanted to keep him as a small character because I'd like to animate him into my opening and the smaller he is the easier it will be to accomplish that. 

I also drew up a storyboard to help me visualize the scenes. It isn't perfectly detailed, but I just wanted to use it to have something I could easily find each scene in.

Portfolio Project Post #6

          This post is just an extension of my last post. I had some ideas overnight that I just wanted to add to the script before I do my first storyboard for the next post. I wanted to work a bit on dialogue before I make my final script. Most of the dialogue will be voiceovers of pessimistic comments made by Will in his inner thoughts that will be made comical by the visuals of the clip. 

         The first scene of Will waking up and yawning will obviously include his yawn as audio but for a voiceover, I'd have him make a remark about how boring the day will be because part of his character is that he is a pessimist and that mindset usually gets in the way of him enjoying his day which sets a tone for that side of Will. I'd use a freeze-frame of this scene and use a title card to introduce the character possibly with a narrator's voiceover. In the clip with Psycho's foggy silhouette, Will would make a comment on how he can never get any sleep because he always feels like someone's watching him. While Will walks out of his bedroom he could say "Maybe I should just read my own comics since all my critics say it puts them to sleep" because he's a failing writer and this dialogue can get that point across.

         When Will is in the hall and the clock moves counterclockwise he says "I used to be such a good writer. I wish I could just back in time to more adventurous days." Then he would proceed to walk down the squeaky steps.

          The downstairs scene that would take place in the kitchen scene could be a problem if it lasts too long so I was thinking of just doing fast-paced shots to quickly show what Will is doing. First, Will opens the refrigerator from the fridge's POV and he says how food isn't even enjoyable to him anymore and closes the door. Maybe before the clip starts there is nothing on the fridge, but after he closes it there will be a magnet of Pyscho or his logo on the fridge door. Next, Will turns to the Kuerig, turns it on, and looks up to the cabinet with coffee mugs. From the cabinet's POV, he looks for which mug he wants and the clip switches to show Will's options. He chooses a mug and places it in the Keurig and presses the button to brew his coffee. The camera then switches between a shot of Will's face and a shot of the brewing coffee as it zooms in and the audio gets louder. Will then says that he has to pee and the camera stays still while he runs to the bathroom and closes the door. While the camera waits it could shake a little bit like it's a cameraman holding it to somewhat break the fourth wall. Then the audience here's meow and the camera tilts down to show a cat standing there and Will comes to pick it up. This will not only add some randomness to the opening but comic relief because Will would have been in the bathroom for an ironically short amount of time. This will also work to make the opening feel more fast-paced to give it a similar feel to Scott Pilgrim. He then grabs the mug but it changed colors completely to keep up the continuity error gag. Will will then make another snarky remark before going back upstairs.

         The last scene starts with Psycho's POV on the roof as he watches Will walk through the hallway and the doorway back to his room. The camera will move forward to show Psycho is crawling then turn to show that his head twists around. Then Will sits in his chair and the chair makes that leather rubbing noise. Will then makes a dad joke and says "excuse me, coffee makes me gassy." He then complains about not knowing what to write while some strange particles in the air foreshadow Psycho's appearance. Psycho appears above Will on his desk. As a reference to IT since I got inspiration from it, Psycho says "Hiya Willy" the same way Pennywise says "Hiya Georgie." Then the scene ends on a side view shot of Psycho on one side and Will's surprised face on the other.

Portfolio Project Post #5

          For this post, I'll try to write a rough draft of the script. I won't include any dialogue yet, but I want to jot down the sequence of events that would happen in the opening. The video has to be two minutes max so I have to attempt to write enough content to fill that.

          The first thing to happen would be Will waking up in his bed and yawning. Automatically, Psycho would be foreshadowed by switching camera angles to see a foggy figure standing outside on the balcony. Next is a close-up of Will moving the blanket off him and another close-up showing his feet land on the carpet and walk off-screen. The last scene in the bedroom is him walking out of the room.

          Next, Will is seen walking in the hall. In the back, it could zoom in to a clock turning counterclockwise. Afterwards, Will would walk downstairs and each squeak of each step could be shown with onomatopoeia. 

          The scene with Will downstairs is mostly important for using continuity errors to my advantage. I want to show changing shirts, towels, and coffee mugs in the background to confuse Will and the viewers during the scene before he walks back upstairs. Each squeak of each step would be shown with onomatopoeia again to add repetition.

          The last scene starts with Psycho's POV on the roof as he watches Will walk through the hallway and the doorway back to his room. Then Will sits in his chair and complains about not knowing what to write while some strange particles in the air foreshadow Psycho's appearance. Then Psycho appears over Will and talks to him before cutting to black.

Portfolio Project Post #4

Last post I mentioned that I wanted to add random, abstract things in the background during the starting sequence. I want the movie to have a slight psychedelic feel to it. An exciting aspect of the movie is that it's mixing the comedy genre with a partially depressing, thrilling, and hallucinative tone to tell a story about suppressed imagination. It doesn't even have to be complicated since I'm only filming the opening so I don't have to go over my zero-dollar budget. The idea is to have Will walk around, getting ready for his day while strange occurrences happen behind him. This is dropping subtle hints to foreshadow Psycho Paranoia coming to life. My ideas for creative shots range from continuity errors, POV shots, lighting techniques, and reversed/time-lapsed clips.

Continuity Errors

For continuity errors, I could have something noticeable disappear from the background. I could also change the color of an object or maybe even Will's shirt in between shots. Maybe Will could also pick out a specific mug for his coffee and he notices it's different when he looks at it again.

POV Shots

I was thinking about taking inspiration from IT and make it seem like Psycho is stalking Will the way Pennywise stalked the kids. I could use POV shots from weird places like high up near the ceiling, so it looks like Psycho is crawling upside down. The camera can turn from upside down while he's crawling to right-side-up while he perches to stare at Will. I could use cracking noises to signal that Psycho twisted his neck like in a horror movie. The camera would also follow Will while adjusting the focus to make Psycho appear to be a mysterious creature.

Lighting Techniques

Similar to the last technique I'm taking inspiration from it. When Pennywise appears in dark shadows it gave me the idea of showing Psycho as a shadow in the background. An over-the-shoulder shot can be used to show Psycho as Will's shadow as he moves around and taunts will behind his back.

Reverse/Timelapse

I imagined one idea of a clock spinning counterclockwise. This idea is extremely easy because all I have to do is take a timelapse of a clock and reverse it to make it spin back. 

Portfolio Project Post #3

This post is one of the most important because I will be creating my first draft for the plot of my movie. My opening has to be a hint to the plot of the full movie meaning I should start planning for the opening by making the plot. When making the plot I want to make sure that whatever the idea is it could easily be filmed where I am without the need for too many actors, big props, or anything else that may be hard to come by. The big details I want to jot down today are the setting, characters, conflict, tone, title, and target audience.

Plot/ Opening Idea

My idea so far is pretty simple. A comic book writer is struggling to come up with adventures for his character because his life lacks adventure itself. The film starts off with the writer waking up to another regular day as always and proceeds to get ready. Although, behind him out of the ordinary things keep happening as he goes about his day, only noticeable by the audience. This leads to him eventually sitting down with writer's block when out of nowhere his fourth-wall-breaking comic book character comes to life to bring inspiration and adventure to the writer.

Setting

The setting of the opening will definitely start in the main character's room and move throughout his house as he gets ready for his day. I may have the character leave his house to write in order to add more interesting shots to the opening. Possible locations would be a local park, a shopping plaza, or maybe even the golf course near my house. To keep things simple I'll rule out the plaza because it could get crowded easily which would complicate filming. That leaves any park and the golf course as potential filming locations. 

Characters

The only two characters necessary for the opening would be the writer and his comic book character. I may add more characters later on if needed, but I plan to keep things simple so I can focus on what's important. The writer's name is William Stills and his character's name is Psycho Paranoia. As explained William is a comic book writer living a life full of dull moments. Psycho is a super-powered burden on Willy due to his uncontrollable ability that makes his thoughts and emotions into real-life situations and occurrences. Willy is what Pyscho calls William. Psycho is completely wacky and out of control which is exactly what Will needs in order to spice up both of their lives. I may need two actors although, if I want to make Psycho a figurative alter ego of William then I might just use one. 

Conflict

The obvious conflict throughout the movie is that Psycho keeps creating problems for Will and Will has to figure out how to get Pyscho back into the comic book. The underlying conflict is within Will because he is too comfortable in his boring shell of a life and he needs to do something adventurous to get inspiration for his book. Little did he realize that these two conflicts are intertwined because he is trying to get rid of the very chaos that inspires him which goes to show his inner-problem of running away from the experiences that make life worth living.

Tone

There are many tones I want to appear in the opening. I want to start with the depressive state conveyed mainly by dark coloring that represents Will's emotions while getting ready for another boring day. Although, I want there to be a sense of mystery mainly conveyed by music when random things start happening in the background. Finally, I want the tone to completely shift with Psycho's entrance to bright and wacky. Heightening the music could also help to exaggerate the change in tone.

Title

The title I came up with for the movie is Still Paranoia. It's a mix of the two main character's last names which makes it easy to remember, but it has a much deeper meaning. Still Paranoia is supposed to be a representation of Will's mental state before meeting Psycho face to face. He feels stuck, or like he's standing still in this feeling of paranoia that's stopping him from seeking adventure. It's a simple play on words that works great to explain the underlying conflict in Will.

Target Audience

This is a story meant to relate to anyone who feels like their imagination and sense of adventure are confined by the responsibilities of life or just their own anxiety. I can see this being targeted towards anyone, but with my style of comedy, it would likely resonate most with a young adult/ teenage audience. 

Portfolio Project Post #2

          Last post I discussed genre and settled on comedy as my best choice. I realized how many comedy films differed which inspired me to make this post a brainstorming sheet for different styles of comedy. Some movies with interesting comical relief that come to mind are Deadpool, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, and Borat. I'd like to draw inspiration from all these movies because their styles set them apart from every other comedy.

Deadpool

Some techniques used by the opening sequence include violence, fourth-wall-breaking, childish behavior, vivid dialogue, over the top stunts, randomness, and fast-paced action. This being a school project I'll have to stay away from violence, cursing, and stunts. Although breaking the fourth-wall, childish behavior, creative dialogue, and randomness are all great techniques for creating a funny story and will come in handy moving forward.

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

Scott Pilgrim's opening included techniques such as sarcasm, repetition, uncomfortable dialogue, onomatopoeia, fast-paced movements, camera movements, and awkward acting. These are all great and acceptable techniques to put in my opening. I'll definitely keep these ideas in mind to create the most hilarious opening possible.

Borat

What sets Borat apart is Borat's funny accent, simple and unexpected dialogue, political humor, and hilariously placed props. To stay out of trouble I think I'll steer clear of using accents or political humor to not offend. The quick jabs created by Borat's dialogue and props were well-placed and could be very useful as inspiration for my project.

Portfolio Project Post #1

          For my Cambridge Portfolio Project, I have to make a one to two-minute film opening. Taking what I learned from my last project I think I'm going to work individually. This project is a big portion of my grade which makes me not want to take any chances with a group. I can't trust a randomly assigned group to make a project reflecting my vision, so I'll work harder myself to create my own project. 

Genre

          I've mainly been thinking about which genre I want to make my film opening. My top options right now are comedy, thriller, and science fiction. I find these three genres to be my favorite to film and watch other than action, but that's not so easy to film on a budget of $0. Sci-fi would be another struggle budget-wise although I'm confident in my ability to use editing and filming techniques to create a convincing enough story. I still don't want any setbacks so I'll stick to comedy or thriller. 

Comedy

          My first option would definitely be comedy, so I looked at film openings like Grown-Ups, Deadpool, and American Pie for ideas. I realized there are many sub-genres and each film's comedy is completely different. Grown-Ups set up its movie by taking a comical look at the past, Deadpool's set up took place in the present and focused on the main character's childish, yet violent personality and American Pie started by foreshadowing the embarrassing life the main character will encounter throughout the movie and its sequels. This will remind me to keep my mind open to different approaches to comedy moving forward.

Thriller

          My other option would be to make a thriller opening. I've worked on many thriller themed projects before so I can use techniques I've learned from those experiences. Some openings I looked at for ideas were A Quiet Place, Jaws, and IT. A Quiet Place focused on sound to showcase a death that pushes the main characters forward and presents the main antagonist. Jaws used dim lighting to showcase a death that presents the main antagonist. Lastly, IT used dramatic shadows and rain to showcase a death that pushes the main character forward and presents the main antagonist. So I noticed a clear pattern and can see that thrillers have an easy guideline to follow which might make it hard to be unique. I believe comedy will be best to showcase my creativity and ideas, so that will likely be my choice.

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

This post will focus on the project experience as a whole. I will be describing and discussing topics such as research, planning, production, post-production, and our presentation. I will also discuss what I've learned and can take away from this project. 

Research 

This will be brief since the last post was mainly about research. For the research portion, our group studied other rock bands to get a bigger picture of how they market to their audience. I made my case study on the Rolling Stones and their website definitely gave me a better idea of how important a website can be to a fanbase. 

Planning 

For pre-production, my group mainly brainstormed over Zoom calls. We discussed how we would film and what we wanted to include in the video. We were focused on making sure that whatever additions we made would fit our target audience. Over one Zoom call we also made our storyboard to visualize our video.

Production

Although I wasn't around during production I was there to discuss with the group what techniques they would use to film. We talked over many ideas including using LED lights for coloring in the video and even filming underwater and in a car for some interesting shots, but those two didn't come out in the final project. I noticed that after watching the video most techniques came from editing, but another aspect that really worked for the video was positioning. Having Maya in many different areas while filming proved to make the composition much more intriguing.

Post-Production

Editing was all thanks to Isa. She put together the whole video brilliantly using a variety of editing techniques to make the video visually appealing. The surreal colors mixed with psychedelic effects create an experience for the audience while the more organized order of clips still forms a solid story about the temptations of social media. 

Presentation

Our presentation went over all aspects of the project. It discussed our research, pre-production, production, and post-production along with the backstory created for the band. Although, a key detail about the presentation was the theme that tied everything together. The warm orange, space vibe that the presentation gives off was represented throughout the entire project and is what makes it unique.

What I've Learned

The project in total taught me a lot. The research showed me what real-world artists do to get their vision noticed. It taught me how to truly appeal to a target audience and how to create a theme for a project. Planning taught me about making sacrifices when working with a group. Not all ideas are excepted so sometimes you just have to go with the flow. Production wasn't much of a learning experience for me since I wasn't there. That only made me realize that my group didn't need me and moving on I think I'd like to do a solo project because it will give me a chance to show off my own ideas. Post-production definitely shows you how your group acts under pressure. I learned a lot about not having too high expectations and sticking to an easier concept to get a better final product in the end. Lastly, the presentation taught me that my group didn't really have faith that I'd help present meaning they didn't trust me. Most of the time throughout the project I felt a bit excluded but didn't think much of it. I later realized that they thought I was being lazy even though I offered my help at every point of the project and I was turned down. So in total, I learned that a group with three girls and one boy with the opposite personality isn't a good mix and if I want something to come out good in my eyes then I either need to do it myself, or I need a trusting group with a better dynamic. This will definitely help me personally moving forward.