Prop List

    Casting is nearly complete, the blog post for that should be up by tomorrow. If all goes well, I'll be able to shoot the entire opening this Saturday! For now, I want to make a prop list and make sure I don't forget anything/have everything accounted for on Saturday.

• Cigarettes
• Lighter
• Guitar
• Guitar Capo
• Blank Paper/Sketchbook
• Crayons
• Candy
• Band-aid box
• Cigarette box
• Band-aids

  

  I also need to figure out each character's wardrobe which shouldn't take too long, hopefully all goes well and I can shoot on Saturday.

Storyboard

     My hand hurts. This took all day. Worth it though. I suppose.

    Hopefully I can start shooting this weekend, nearly done with casting, I'll make a blog post about that once it is finished. Goodnight world.

Group Reflection

     Today we had a group meeting in class with other students. We each talked about our own projects, where we were and what we want to do moving forward. I talked about my project and I noticed that I'm mainly struggling with casting. Casting a child is proving to be very difficult. One of my group members told me to focus on that because solving that as soon as possible because it's not something I want to procrastinate on. I didn't get any criticisms on anything else which is nice, that tells me that I should just keep going and doing what I'm doing since it's working so far. My main issue is the casting, which sucks because that's arguably the hardest bit. I'm going to try to work on that this weekend, hopefully I can finish that. Please. I really liked hearing about other people's projects though, it was fun seeing where everyone was at and what their plan was. Really want to finish storyboard and casting this week. Really wanna do that. 

Filming Location

     I've always had a filming location in mind when thinking about this opening, and that is my local K-Mart. I can't say there's a reason behind it or anything, I just like how it looks. I definitely want to call beforehand but it's pretty late right now so I'm going to wait until tomorrow afternoon. Tomorrow I also want to have my storyboard finished, and casting should hopefully be done by this weekend. I don't think I'll start filming next week, most likely the week after. Feeling pretty confident about how this is going so far though, knock on wood.

(Keep in mind that the scene takes place at night)

(Aba and Mika's conversation will probably take place on the curb on this side of the building, but that could change day of shooting, you never know)

    Hopefully the manager let's me film there, I don't really have a backup plan but a gas station store is a gas station store, it doesn't really matter which one. I'd like it to be this one though. Looks cool.

Screenplay Revision

      Wow. Immediate revision. I thought this would happen anyway. 

      So in the screenplay, while Aba’s meltdown is beginning, a car’s light flickers and the ground shakes. I realized that I cannot do this. The story takes place in 1996 and I don’t have access to a car from the 90’s, at all. It’s unfortunate, but it’s alright. Instead of doing this, Mika is going to be visibly extremely uncomfortable, like he’s having a headache, while a piercing sound plays. This still hints at Aba having supernatural powers and it’s much more doable. It would’ve been really cool to go with the original idea but it just wouldn’t work with what I have to work with. 

Opening Screenplay

     I want to spend this week finalizing pre-production for my opening, so right now I'm going to make the screenplay of the opening, then the storyboard, then finding the location, then probably casting. I would make a basic outline but it's only one scene so it'd be short, the screenplay works better for me to create the scene.

I Want to Destroy the World

INT. GAS STATION - NIGHT

MIKA stands in an aisle, a box of band-aids in one hand, and a box of cigarettes in another. In front of him is a box of candy that a child would enjoy. He pulls out his wallet, only 20 cents left.

He SIGHS, shoving the cigarettes, band-aids, and candy into his pocket and quickly walking out of the store.

EXT. GAS STATION - NIGHT    

ABA is sitting on the curb, drawing with crayons. MIKA walks up to her. 

MIKA

Hey.

ABA doesn't respond. MIKA sits down next to her, pulling out a cigarette. He lights it. He looks at ABA'S drawing, red crayon covers the page, she had drawn a brutal murder. 

MIKA

I heard what happened today at your school. Hell, entire town probably knows by now.

ABA stays silent. MIKA takes a drag out of the cigarette.

MIKA

Why'd you break Aba? 

ABA stays silent.

MIKA

Kids keep picking on you? 

ABA stays silent.

MIKA

Anyone die?

ABA stays silent.

MIKA

People say someone did, others say didn't. What really happened kiddo?

ABA stays silent.

MIKA

You gonna answer?

ABA stays silent. MIKA takes out the bag of candy that he took. ABA lets out a short GASP. 

 MIKA

Tell me what happened or no candy.

ABA stays silent but looks annoyed. MIKA slowly opens the bag taking one piece out.

MIKA

Talk, Aba, you need to talk.

ABA looks more annoyed, she tucks her head in-between her legs.

MIKA

Hey-Hey! Don't pull this shit-

ABA begins to kick the ground, making an agitated noise while doing so. 

MIKA

C'mon!

A nearby car's lights begin to flicker, the ground shakes softly.

MIKA

(Quickly) Fuckin- shit!

MIKA mutters something useless as he pulls out his guitar from his back, tuning it quickly and beginning to play a slow song. As MIKA continues to play ABA slows her kicking. MIKA continues, ABA begins to calm down, laying her head on MIKA. MIKA eventually finishes the song, a silence fills the air.

ABA

(Matter-of-factly) I want to destroy the world.

Another silence.

MIKA

What?

ABA

I want to destroy the world. 

MIKA

What?

A PERSON suddenly appears beside the two.

PERSON

I knew it!

MIKA and ABA jump.

MIKA

Fuckin- Christ!

I might change some small stuff here and there, and if I do I'll be sure to talk about it later on. 

I also watched this video before writing the opening's screenplay which helped a bit. Pretty good video, I enjoyed it and it helped me where it could.

https://youtu.be/hEgsIV98ZmU

Target Audience

    My film definitely appeals to a younger target audience. Being that it's a coming-of-age more than anything, those films are practically made for teens. The point of coming-of-age movies "has always corresponded to its targeted audience: teenagers." For my film to appeal to teens, I honestly think that incorporating a sustainable amount of swear words could help. It sounds stupid but most teens presently say a swear in like every other sentence. Making the characters (specifically Mika) swear like sailors gives them a sense of reliability, appealing to the TA. Additionally, due to the popularity of shows like Stranger Things, stories set in the late 20th century also appeals to teens. It's become an aesthetic, the fashion, Polaroid, the Walkman, it's trendy. I feel very cheesy talking about teens like this when I am one but point still stands. How the characters talk, act, and the 90's setting appeals to the coming-of-age target audience.

    Drama's target audience is people who like personal, grounded stories about the human condition. If done right, my film can achieve that. Relatability also plays a part in dramas, and I think Mika and Aba are relatable in their own ways. Aba has a very relatable experience of being an outcast, being different from the other kids. I think that's something people can see themselves in. Mika is relatable in the way that he has to take care of someone, when he's in no position to do so. He also learns to love and accept others fully, which I think is relatable as well. I think these siblings can be very relatable, I hope so anyway. The film also appeals to drama audiences through its suspense: will Aba destroy the world? Will Mika be able to stop it from happening? Will they find love and acceptance within each other? etc. A big part of appealing to drama audiences is simply telling a good story, which I hope I'm doing.

    Additionally, Aba's struggle with her powers (neurological disorders) appeals to people who have these disorders. The film can offer comfortability to people who have autism, ADHD, etc. It's a universal concept about these disorders, accepting them, and living with them. Not pitying them, not romanticizing them, not ignoring them, but accepting them as a part of life and living. At it's core, I really want this film (that is never being made) to be about learning to love and accept others and yourself. Which I think can really appeal to the neurodivergent community. It would appeal to me anyway.

Iyer, S. (2021, September 20). The evolution of the coming-of-age genre in film. Spartan Shield. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://spartanshield.org/29522/arts-entertainment/the-evolution-of-the-coming-of-age-genre-in-film/ 

DeLong, C. (2022, July 27). Why is gen Z so obsessed with Y2K fashion? – early 2000s trends millennials '90s nostalgia. L'Officiel USA. Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://www.lofficielusa.com/fashion/gen-z-y2k-millennial-90s-fashion-nostalgia

The target audience for drama films: Who loves drama? AMPLIFY XL. (2022, August 6). Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://amplifyxl.com/target-audience-for-drama-films/

Characters

    The primary characters in my film are the older brother and younger sister. I still don't have names for them yet but that's what this blog post if for! Earlier today, I also thought of another character that joins our main two siblings. This new character is around the same age as the older brother and is extremely interested in the sister's powers. I would think of it as someone who's really into psychics and telekinesis meeting an Esper. This character serves as a middle man for the two siblings and is akin to a super-fan of the younger sister. Assuming they would be included in my opening, they would be minimally. I'm using the random name generator feature of behindthename.com to get name ideas and the meanings behind each name.

    Mika (older brother)

    I decided on the name Mika for the older brother because I like it and it does have a slight double-meaning behind it. Mika is derived from Michael, which is derived from the Hebrew name מִיכָאֵל (Mikha'el). מִיכָאֵל means that there is no one like God. To Mika, there is no one like his younger sister to him. She's the only family he has and the only one in the world who has powers like she does. Mika smokes cigarettes to calm his anxiety/nerves. Living with someone who can end the world at any point is very stressful. He also swears like a sailor, even around his younger sister. Both the cigarettes and swearing are apart of his character to emphasize how irresponsible he his as a parental figure. He's not fit to take care of his sister, though he tries his best, in the end he's just a kid, he shouldn't be in this situation. His irresponsibility also stems from his disliking of his little sister. He loves her, but she makes his life significantly harder and at times he wishes she wasn't apart of his life. It's a depressing and brutal truth, but by the end of the film he grows to love and accept his little sister. During the opening, though, he really doesn't like her. Just because he considers her a burden, doesn't mean he hates her and treats her horribly. He can be harsh at times, but in the end, he wants to take care of her and keep her out of trouble. Since his parents are dead, he does have to work multiple jobs. The money his parents left him in the will was enough to rent out an apartment for a few years, but other needs are barely accounted for. For this reason, he is always tired, drained. This guy cannot catch a break. He has band-aids all over from his little sister's attacks when she's frustrated, wears semi-professional clothing (working jobs practically all-day), and has eye-bags. He has messy mid-length hair, he doesn't have time nor care to fix it or cut it. He does cut his sister's hair though. He also hogs around a guitar at all times, it's used to calm his sister and avoid any meltdowns. Even though it'll never be made, the climax of the film will be Mika letting his sister have a meltdown and let everything out. I'll expand more on that in a bit. Below is a mood board for Mika. I want to achieve this general aesthetic for him for the opening. (I made it too cool. He is significantly less cool than how this mood board depicts. like 80% less cooler than this)

    Aba (younger sister)

    

    Aba is the younger sister's name, it's derived from Abaddon which means destruction/doom. Pretty perfect name. Her powers consist of telekinesis, weather manipulation, pyrokinesis, super strength, super perception, and water manipulation. They are very apocalyptic-based powers.  I want Aba's powers to represent neurological disorders like OSD, ASD, and ODD, but (as I stated before) I don't want to portray these disorders as being rooted in violence or destruction or evilness in any way. This is a struggle. I'm gonna figure this out later, point is, that is what her powers represent. Aba is mostly nonverbal, rarely talking. She's also an outcast at her school, most kids finding her weird or creepy. Like most neurodivergent kids, Aba is very prone to meltdowns, which is where Mika comes in, playing his guitar calmly to avoid any meltdowns. The guitar offers a distraction to Aba to focus on, but it isn't healthy for her. Being never able to express her frustration and anger, Aba's mental health only worsens as the film continues. Mika pushes his sister to act like the other kids, like she doesn't have powers, but it's not good for her. Despite this, Aba does love her brother. He's the only family she has and he cares for her and buys her snacks. She doesn't want to hurt him, and does try to conform to society, but it's impossible for her. In the opening, Aba decides that she wants to destroy the world, and says it out loud. Being a child, she doesn't understand what that really means, all she knows is that the world is cruel, and has been cruel to her. The world took her parents. The world looks down on her. It's not her fault she was born with these powers, and it's not her fault she doesn't know how to control them. Not being able to control her powers leads to people getting hurt, which she also doesn't understand as bad. She was never taught empathy, but it is something she also learns throughout the story. She has murderous tendencies, but that is due to her being uneducated and not understanding right from wrong. She struggles with seeing things from the perceptions of others. The story taking place in the 90's is also important to her and Mika's relationship. In the 90's, people were much less knowledgeable on how to take care of someone with a neurological disorder. The common practice was to hammer these people into society's ways, with no idea on how that could affect them. Lucky for Aba, by the end of the film Mika knows how to take care of her better and Aba learns to be conscious of her powers and know what triggers what. Aba also likes to draw which is nice. She wears primarily black and red, representing her violence. Below is her mood board:

    

    Teddy:

    

    Teddy is addition I made today. He's barely apart of the opening but I feel as if I should mention him so I will. Teddy is incredibly, incredibly interested in the apocalypse and how the world ends in general. The general idea I have for the opening right now implies that there was an incident at Aba's school that she caused that put kids in the hospital. This would be a pretty big event that Teddy eventually hears about. Believing that news of a super-powered individual means the apocalypse is here, Teddy tracks down Aba and Mika. He doesn't want to stop it like Mika because he thinks it is inevitable. He's weird. He also serves as a surrogate for the audience, as he is getting introduced to these established characters just like the audience is. In the opening, I think he would pretty much just show up at the end and scare Mika and Aba by accident. After the apocalypse doesn't happen, Teddy goes off and studies the possibilities of aliens instead. He jumps from weird obsession to weird obsession. He's weird. He also carries around a camera, photographing anything he can that has literally anything top do with the apocalypse. He's a lot more cheerful than the other two. Below is Teddy's mood board.

    That took a lot longer than I expected. I think tomorrow I will fully set up and plan my opening. I am tired. It was fun though I enjoyed developing these characters.

Fonts

     Yesterday, while brainstorming at home, I came up for a title for my film: I Want to Destroy the World. I find it to be very bold and memorable, but simple. My genius is unmatched what can I say. I really like the title though, maybe I will change it throughout these planning weeks, who knows. I probably will. Now I want to find a font that fits the overall aesthetic and vibe of the film.

    I used dafont.com to search through different fonts and find one that fits the aesthetic I want to achieve with my opening: these are some I liked.

1. 

2. 

3. 

4. 

5. 

6. 

7. 

8. 

    I think I might have given myself too many options.

    I want the film to take place during the 90's, from '95-'98 definitely. Okay I want the story to take place in 1996. It's a drama/coming-of-age centered around two siblings while also carrying a more lighthearted tone then most dramas. That takes number 6 off. I don't think it fits with what I want, it reminds me more of a magazine. 7 is also a little boring, it doesn't have any character, so that's off. 5 is also not yet, looks like it would fit a comedy-action film more. 4 and 2 are practically the same and I don't like either. So it's either 1,3, or 8. 8 reminds me of a child writing with markers and I kind of like that. 3 is also good since it's a pretty simple font but with a title that's profound (to the characters anyway. It's cheesy). 

    Okay! I'm going with 8. I like how it reminds me of a child's writing (and I might flip a letter or two during the editing process hehe). I also think it can look good in a bright yellow color on top of the dark-greenish gas station that I plan to film a majority of my opening at (I'll discuss more about that later). 

    Thank you Cinemair by Allouse Studio your work will not be in vain.

Genre Research for Film Opening

 

    I've decided to go with the story of the teenage boy taking care of is little sister who as the ability to end the world. I'm pretty sure that the genres that would work with that story are coming-of-age and drama, but I do want to add some comedic elements one way or another just so the story isn’t pure gloom and has some more lighthearted elements. 

        Drama:

    Films are defined as dramas when they carry a more serious tone and/or message than a lighthearted one. The little sister in my film has extremely violent tendencies which wouldn't work for a lighthearted genre. Additionally the film's messages and concepts aren't set for a lighthearted movie, drama is the best genre here. Drama's also tend to illicit some type of deep emotional reaction from the audience, which my film may accomplish through the relatable themes of family and adolescence. 

    Before Sunrise's opening is extremely applicable to my opening. The film opens with the introduction of its main characters, Jesse and Celine, and establishes who they are and their connection. My film also focuses on two characters, so my opening should be vaguely similar to Before Sunrise, focusing on the introduction of two characters and their dynamic. Before Sunrise also instigates the plot with its opening, a clear romantic connection is formed between Celine and Jesse, pushing Jesse to invite her to spend the day in Venice with him. My opening can be simply and introduction of the characters, their dynamic, and drives, but starting the plot during the opening alongside the characters is something I'm definitely interested in.

    Whiplash's film opening also aims to introduce its titular character, Andrew, and his passion of being a drum player. Fletcher, Andrew's abusive instructor who pushes him towards his goal is also introduced. In Whiplash's opening, like Before Sunrise's, aims to introduce the audience to both main characters, and how they inform and progress the plot. Andrew and his passion are introduced, along with Fletcher and his role as a higher up with some kind of interest in Andrew's drum playing. What I'm getting from Whiplash's opening is to, alongside with the characters and plot, introduce a drive for the characters. The motive that pushes them throughout the story. The older brother in my film (still do not have a name for him nor the sister yet) has the motive to protect his younger sister and make sure she isn't the cause for the world's end. 

    Through my research, I learned that the goal in drama openings is to primarily establish the characters, since dramas are extremely character driven. The openings also strive to establish the beginning of the plot and the main characters’ motivation. For my opening, I need to make sure to properly establish the sister’s personality and dynamic with her older brother, alongside with her older brother and how he feels about her (negative) (he doesn’t like her very much). I want to focus primarily on the characters in my opening anyway, so the drama genre reinforces this character-driven opening plan.

        Coming-Of-Age:

    Coming of age films focus on the protagonist's growth as a person during adolescence. The characters go through an experience (often to due with family, friends, or community) and the experience causes them to grow and change as a person. It's often described as the "transition from childhood to adulthood." The older brother in my film is in his teenage years, and throughout the story he learns to love and accept his little sister for who she is, fitting into the coming-of-age genre.

    Perks of Being a Wallflower's opening is a voiceover, establishing the protagonist, Charlie, and his goals. Charlie is established as an introverted loner who wants to fit in during his time in high school and make friends, there it is, that is all that needs to be established for the film's opening. It also establishes the main conflict, Charlie vs his introvert-ness and attempting to overcome it. Like Perks of Being a Wallflower, characters and goals are the primary elements I want established. I don't think I want to utilize a voiceover though, I think establishing what I want can be achieved without a voiceover. That being said, Perks of Being a Wallflower uses its voiceover expertly. Establishing a conflict is also going to be difficult, character vs self especially. Which is why Perks of Being a Wallflower uses a voiceover. Great.

    

    Lady Bird focuses on Lady Bird (the character) for a majority of the film, but the opening focuses more on Lady and her mom's relationship more, which is still a central part of the film. Their relationship is rough, as they argue and bicker during the car ride, but the warmth shown in the first half of the opening contrasts their aggressive dynamic in the car. Lady Bird's opening establishes Lady Bird's motives, moving away for college, and the conflict between her and her mother. My film also primarily follows the relationship between two characters, the siblings, but I don't want them to be as cruel to each other as Lady and her mom are. I do like the idea of portraying the relationship in two distinct ways in the opening and will consider that when fully developing mine. As the others do, Lady Bird establishes the protagonist and their motives, which I am super-sure to do in my opening.

    Through my research of the drama and coming-of-age genre, I've learned that openings in those genres primarily focus on establishing characters, motives, the beginning of the plot, and conflict. Of course all this depends on what the film wants to achieve, if a drama wants to focus less on characters in its opening and more on the setting, it can. For my opening, the research is extremely useful since I want to focus on characters and their motives. Dramas and coming-of-age films are (more often than not) extremely character driven, which is where I want to go with my opening. It's a match made in heaven I think.

Whiplash opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OMDZa5WRczI 

Before Sunrise opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9JGhbfazyA (I discussed more of the film than is shown in the YouTube video)

Perks of Being a Wallflower openining: https://youtu.be/FzwGtlqnaNI

Lady Bird opening: https://youtu.be/uyNE-wVJ5eQ

“Drama Definition & Meaning.” Merriam-Webster, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/drama.

55 of the best drama movies of all time. Harper's BAZAAR. (2022, May 6). Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.harpersbazaar.com/culture/film-tv/g39853184/best-drama-movies/

Maher, M. (2022, September 1). Coming-of-age films: Is the genre in decline? The Beat: A Blog by PremiumBeat. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/coming-of-age-films/#:~:text=The%20coming%2Dof%2Dage%20genre,to%20lose%20their%20childhood%20innocence.

Start of Portfolio Project

     I'm still not sure how to write a blog post correctly, but there will be a lesson next class so expect this first post for the portfolio project to be less than adequate. So far, I have nothing really. Every time I try to brainstorm an idea for the opening I always come back to this shot of a man reaching deep into a toilet. I don't know where it came from and I don't know why my unconscious mind keeps leading me back to it. I do have a vague-ish idea of what I want my story to be after a few hours worth of brainstorming that hopefully amount to something. The basic plot centers around an older brother taking care of his little sister, who has the ability and want to destroy the world. The movie would revolve around the older brother doing whatever he can to take care of his little sister whilst trying to prevent her from destroying the world at the same time. I'm not sure what genre this will fall under, maybe drama, maybe coming-of-age? I have no clue. The target audience would probably be teens though, considering the older brother's age would be around 16. Anyway, I think this idea came to me while watching The Last of Us on HBO. My thought process went along the lines of "Okay, but what if Ellie was evil?" and voila. I don't know why the sister can destroy the world, whether it be some super-power stuff, magic things, or whatever the reason. However, I do think it could be cool to have her 'power' represent a neurological disorder like ADD, ODD, and autism. It'd be interesting to have the film depict and explore taking care of someone with a disorder like this, and living with the disorder itself and the many struggles that come with them. But, I'd have to be careful since I don't want to portray these disorders as evil nor as powers, I want to portray them as an aspect of life. Essentially, I don't want to portray them poorly, if I were to go this route I would have to be extremely careful on how I go about this symbolism. This idea is the only actual idea I have so far and I don't hate it, needs more workshopping though. I'd also like to have the opening filmed by mid-March. I should have more of a general idea of the project by next week.

Music Marketing Final Retrospective

 Music Marketing Final Retrospective

    Before production on the project began, me and my group were assigned the indie music genre, and chose The Man by The Killers as our song. The first thought that came to mind was that the song sounded very 80's, and that we would try to base our brand and marketing plan around it. But after that decision, it was a struggle to finds any other ideas for the campaign. Eventually, we landed on the idea that out music video would depict different genres (70's, 80's, 90's) through settings, wardrobes, and editing. However, this idea didn't have a set brand or reason behind it besides the fact that the song sounds very 80's inspired. At this time, the project felt as if it lacked direction.

    After doing research into indie artists like Arctic Monkeys and The Strokes, I also researched other artists who have noticeable brands. For instance, the Spice Girls had every member represent a type of spice, that is their theme. The Blue Man Group were blue, that was their theme. The Man's lyrics depicted a character (or the singer) as someone who was full of themselves, a narcissist. After brainstorming, I was able to come up with the idea that the band would be centered around the seven deadly sins, with each album focusing on one of the sins. In this case, The Man would be about the pride sin (vainglory). With this brand idea, came the band's name Seven Sevens. Although worried that this idea wouldn't clash well with the group, considering we already had an idea for the music video, everyone seemed to like the idea and we made the change. Looking back, we should have found a brand before brainstorming ideas for the music video. Having a brand in mind would have made the process much smoother and with a clear direction.

(Google Doc of our brainstorming process)

    We had scheduled to record the music video on January 27th and 28th, as those were the days we were the most free, but before we could record, we had to storyboard. After brainstorming, we had come up with the idea that I would play the main character, who is a narcissistic, egotistical man who represents the pride sin. I had the idea to wear an oversized 80's-style suit, fitting with the song's overall aesthetic and representing the character's infatuation with himself as he wears a suit that's too big for him, but he believes fits him perfectly. Luisa, a member of my group, had an idea that money would be thrown on me, but it didn't make it into the final music video. The brainstorming ended with the idea that the music video would be a promo, and feature the 'Man' character interacting with objects or doing certain actions that emphasize his narcissistic personality. Some of these ideas were kissing and drooling over a photo of himself, calling himself on a telephone, and throwing money behind him as it's worthless to him because he views himself as being greater than money. We would film at my house for the 27th, then film at a trail in Regional Park on the 28th. 

    On the first day of filming, me and my group met at my house after school. We filmed most of the music video on this day. There was a shot where I had to sit in a car with the doors open and film some of the group members running down the road while the car drove beside them, we made sure to be safe and go slow during filming to avoid any accidents. We also asked one of my neighbors, who owned an old-yellow car if we could film in front of it since it fit with the aesthetic of the music video very well. We left a lot of the lip-syncing and the band performing together for the 28th, were we filmed on a trail near a small lake in Regional Park with the sunset in the background. There, we brought all of the instruments and outfits necessary. While on the 27th, I was the main subject being filmed, on the 28th the other band members took center stage. During both days, Gabi, another group member, took behind the scenes photos and videos for the Seven Sevens social media accounts, which consisted of Tiktok, Instagram, and Twitter. After filming, we packed our equipment and post-production began.

    Luisa wanted to handle the editing, so me and the rest of the group worked on the presentation, which we originally started on PowerPoint but moved to Canva. We tried to summarize our research on the indie genre, our marketing campaign, and the overall idea behind the brand in a concise and engaging way through the Canva presentation. One way we did this was limiting how much text is one on slide, and using what we say during the presentation as the main way to convey our information. Then it was presentation day, which I was extremely anxious about. Overall, I think the presentation went smoothly, we presented and discussed everything we wanted to and stayed on topic. As quickly as the presentation began, it had ended.

    In retrospect, I think the project went pretty well. At the start, I believe we could have planned it out a lot more, focusing on one thing at a time, preferably starting with a brand behind the band. Planning and having a clear focus on what to work on is something I learned from the project and something I want to apply to future projects. Additionally, I could have done better considering communication with my group partners, since there were times were I was confused what we were doing or what the plan was, though it didn't happen often. Applying this to the Cambridge portfolio, I will have to plan accordingly before starting any part of the portfolio and I will have to make sure what I'm doing is correct through communication with my peers or teacher.

Music Marketing Process

 Music Marketing Process as of 1/28/2023

    After choosing a group to work with and being assigned the alternative (or indie) genre to base our project around, we chose The Man by The Killers to be the song we base our marketing around. For the project, we had to create a research chart, a storyboard, a music video, and an entire marketing campaign. We decided to start the research first, which also helped us understand how artists and bands are marketed as a whole. While working on the research, we also decided to begin brainstorming ideas for the music video, which I believe was a mistake. Instead, I believe we should have brainstormed a brand for our made-up band first, so then we could base the music video around the brand idea. We also made a schedule during this time, showing when we would want to finish and work on certain parts of the project. 

    I was unconfident with the idea of the music video, it felt like it had no real direction or brand attached to it. Though I did like the ideas we had for the original music video, depicting multiple time periods since The Man felt very 80's inspired, I still felt it lacked a central idea. Out of school, I came up with the idea that our made-up band could be centered around the 7 deadly sins. Even though this would require a complete scrapping of the original idea for the music video, my group was supportive of the idea and we began working on this new version of the band. We brainstormed many ideas for the marketing, which would be mainly social media based (though would venture to playing local gigs and mini tours), and names for the band. At this time, the research chart was finished. We landed on the name Seven Sevens. Below is a screenshot of the Google Doc we used for brainstorming. 

    For the music video, we came up with the idea of a promo showing the band while also showing the singer playing 'The Man' character, a character full of narcissism and vainglory (one of the 7 sins). Still wanting to keep the 80's style that The Man presented, we exclusively used 80's props during the video (polaroid and a big-brick style cell phone). Since the music video idea had to practically be redone, we were limited on how much time we had for the storyboard, but were able to have enough ideas to make it. The storyboard was bale to be done in time and we were ready to begin recording the music video. I was set to play 'The Man' character for the video, and for the wardrobe I borrowed my dad's suit, which was far too big for me. This fit with the idea of the character being full of himself and literally wearing clothes to big for him. I also wore sunglasses and another pair of glasses to hold my hair up to, again, exaggerate the pride in the character. During recording, it was a struggle to get shots of me from the front since the sunglasses were so reflective, so we had to settle with a three-quarters view for a majority of the shots. We recorded a part of the music video at my house on January 27th and will record the rest today, January 28th. After that we will begin the editing process and finalize our presentation for February 1st. 

Below are three separate pages of our storyboard:

Genre Research

     Horror is an interesting case of genre. While having the capacity of being unique, horror films often fall under very similar story structures and production designs. This is because all horror movies have the same common goal: to scare the audience. The adrenaline rush of being scared is why this genre is so loved and many of its films and known as cult classics, take Jaws or the Friday the 13th franchises.

    CONTENT:

    Horror movies rarely break away from the American story structure of an establishing period, an enticing action, a climax, and falling action. The establishing period is when the horror elements haven't been implemented into the story yet, everything is normal and calm. For instance, in Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead, the film starts with a group of friends going on a normal camping trip, no horror elements found, it's not until the group makes it to the cabin where the inciting action takes place. The rising action is often used to build up the horror, murder after murder, the Friday the 13th films commonly follow this rising action structure. This story structure works particularly well in horror as it establishes the normalcy in the narrative world, which makes the audience feel more connected to the characters and world. 

    Suspense can be found in nearly every horror movie. Suspense can be used to build-up to the scare, a long, excruciating, pause right before a monster jumps at the camera is a common way to use suspense. During this pause, horror movies often go one of two ways, either staying completely silent until a loud sound scaring the audience, or a build up of music until the scare. Both can be found in IT (2017), specifically when "The Losers Club" uses a projector to map out what they know so far, until their meeting is cut short by the evil clown Pennywise.

    Horror movies also often use monsters to achieve the fear element. Hundreds of horror films' antagonists can be divided into ghosts, zombies, demons, curses, aliens, or un-killable monsters. A common fear of humankind is the unknown, so using fictional monsters correctly can make the audience extremely fearful while also being confused at what their seeing. Movies like Aliens, 28 Days Later, and The Exorcist all use one of these monsters. 

    Horror movies can also use the opposite of mythical creatures to scare their audience, opting for the more realistic approach. Films like The Strangers and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are often credited to being realistically disturbing. The latter even being thought by audiences to be based on true events when released.

    PRODUCTION:

    Darker values are often found in horror movies, as they try to achieve a more gritty and uneasy feeling. Very rarely are bright hues used. The darker colors add to the fear element of these films, taking advantage of humanity's innate fear of the dark. Dark blue is often used as well, to create an eerie mood and give off a cold, dead atmosphere. In Jordan Peele's Us, a dark blue tone is used to create a cold and evil tone when the twist is revealed. 

    Loud sounds are often used to add on to the fear. Often horror scenes begin with complete silence with minimal to no sound only to be interrupted with a large sudden sound. Both nondiegetic and diegetic sounds can be used here. Nondiegetic sound is commonly used to build suspense. in the Friday the 13th films, Jason's score is used to signify that he's close and he's ready to hunt his victims.

    Suspense is also expressed through prolonged shots of a certain object or location. Usually this shot shows a dimly lit location and holds on it for an uncomfortable amount of time before something comes out of it. This can be found in The Barbarian, when Tess, the protagonist, stares down a dark tunnel, the shot holds on this tunnel until something quickly crawls towards the camera, creating suspense and relinquishing it with a scare.

MARKETING:

    The general audience for horror films are teens and young adults. Horror movies tend to be too disturbing or graphic for younger audiences. A poll done by CBS News in 2021 found that older people tend to not like horror as much as teens and young adults, with a 48% difference between the two. 

    Horror trailers mainly focus on the scares included in the movie. This is done to "wow" the audience and scare them through the trailer. If the scares are well-made, it could leave an impact on the viewer, which would increase the chances of them seeing the movie since they remember more about it. The trailer for Smile used this technique. At the end of the trailer, a sudden, disturbing scare happens where a character's head turns upside-down completely. This scare could have made some viewers jump and therefore heighten their interest in the film. Using scares like this in the trailer can also increase the word of mouth, as if the scare is impactful enough, people will go on social media and talk about it.

    Horror movie posters often use reds and blacks. The reds can be used to convey a gore-filled, bloody movie, and black could be used to enforce this idea of a dark, scary movie. Horror posters also include disturbing imagery, whether that be a severed body part, a weapon, blood, or a masked killer. 

SAMPLE:

    The Evil Dead (1981) directed by Sam Raimi is a horror movie about a group of friends stuck in an isolated cabin whilst being tormented by evil spirits of the dead. Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) is an ordinary man who wanted to enjoy a vacation in a quaint cabin with his friends, but his vacation quickly shifts gears when he finds the Necronomicon, a book of the dead. Soon enough, his friend, Cheryl (Ellen Sandwiss), is possessed by a demon, and one by one all of his friends are taken under the control of the evil demons. Ash reaches his breaking point when he is forced to kill his girlfriend, Linda (Theresa Tilly), as he learns what he has to do. Ash continues to battle the demons and is able to burn the Necronomicon and defeat all the demons, or so he thinks. he movie follows the American story structure greatly, having the story start off normal but quickly turn into a demon-infested nightmare. The film uses the paranormal beings, demons, to enhance the fear felt by the audience. Each battle between Ash and the demons holds suspense, as Ash takes more and more damage every fight, suspense builds as the audience worries if he will make it out alive. Suspense is heavily utilized when Ash tries to burn the Necronomicon. As one demon continuously and violently chews on his leg, the other tries to stab him through a spear. Despite this, he tries to reach for the book to burn it. Prolonged shots of Ash reaching for the book are used here, building suspense each time he isn't able to grasp the book. Lighting is used when the demons look from outside to inside the cabin. The outside, pitch black, unknown, while the inside is brightly colored, full of life, that is about to be taken. Many scenes also utilize heavy shadows and dark lighting to build the unknown and  fearful themes. The trailer utilizes many scares and a disturbing amount of gore, all in an effort to impact the viewer enough so they remember and are interested in the film. The film's poster shows a woman reaching out to a blank blue backdrop, as a hand tries to pull her back into the ground. The poster shows how violent the film is and adds to the fear factor by having the woman be reaching out to nothing, a blank space.

    The Barbarian (2022) is about Tess (Georgia Campbell) accidently having to share an Airbnb with Keith (Bill Skarsgard), but both of them soon find out that this Airbnb has a hidden basement with a terrifying creature roaming it. The film then focuses on AJ (Justin Long), a big-time Hollywood actor who has to dissolve assets due to rape allegations from one of his co-stars. One of the assets he wants to dissolve happens to be this Airbnb. Eventually, AJ finds out about the basement too, and in an attempt to measure the surface are is captured by the creature. He comes across Tess and the two make their escape, then they're given shelter by a local homeless man, Andre (James Butler), who explains the basement, until they're suddenly attacked by the creature. Tess is eventually able to defeat the creature, only after AJ dies. The film uses the story structure by establishing Tess and Keith as normal and charming people who start to form a relationship, something the audience can related to, then the inciting action, the basement, takes it away. Suspense is formed by using prolonged shots of the dark and sudden sounds. For instance, when Tess is in the basement, the only visible thing is the basement floor, only lit by her flashlight, and it is absolutely silent. Then, suddenly, Keith crawls towards the camera quickly followed by a sudden, quick, nondiegetic sound. Lighting is used to convey how dark the basement is, with no light, the characters' faces are barely illuminated, only being able to be seen with a flashlight. The trailer also uses quick scares to instill an impact in the viewer, and the poster features a bright, red background with the silhouette of Tess, looking down the basement. The poster is eye-catching, and only the top floor is displayed, implying that whatever his down the stairs is unknown, and the red implies that it is bloody.

MORE EXAMPLES:

    - Friday the 13th: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

    - The Conjuring: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1457767/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

    - The Cabin in the Woods: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1259521/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

    - Child's Play: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094862/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

    - A Nightmare on Elm Street: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087800/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

    - Poltergeist: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0 

SOURCES:

- https://www.cbsnews.com/news/scary-movies-opinion-poll/#:~:text=Scary%20movies%20appeal%20more%20to,seniors%2065%20and%20older%20do. 

Introduction

 I’m Victor and I’m creating a blog in order to document and keep track of my progress for my Cambridge Portfolio. I will try to use this blog as much as possible so I don’t lose track of my progress.