Reflection

Hello! My name is Mariana Gamboa and I am the creator of film “Stolen Gardens”, a moving drama and romance. My film follows the story of a woman named Jane who was charged for first degree murder of her step-father and was sentenced to death row. The film starts with Jane as an older woman in prison, the day before she is put the death, being asked to share her true story. The rest of the film goes way back from the beginning of Jane’s life and follows all of the factors that eventually led up to her murdering her step-father. Jane’s stepfather sexually, emotionally, and physically abused Jane’s mother up until she died of a heart attack. And since then, Jane became the victim and had to endure years of pain. When Jane was 17, she fell in love with Leo, who technically saved her from ending her own life. When her step-father caught them together he killed Leo, so Jane eventually takes revenge and murders her stepfather.

When I started this project, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do. Since I chose to work alone for this project, my brain had to come up with something fast. I decided I wanted to do a film that produces emotion in the audience. My favorite films such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the Truman Show, Into the Wild, and many other dramas made me want to produce the same eye opening feeling I got when I watched those films.

I believe that my films intention is to spread awareness about those who are born into troubled and dysfunctional families. Sadly, those born into these types of families sometimes eventually end up like their parents. My hope is to stop that cycle by spreading awareness of children who are currently in difficult situations. I also intend to challenge the conventions of how society views criminals, which in many cases are viewed without mercy. I hope to give another perception to the audience about criminals and how they are not all monsters by submerging the audience into the story of Jane and feel sympathy for her. Even though there are many people who are certainly guilty of their crimes, many are unaware that they are all human and have a story to tell, just like Jane.

Part of my inspiration for this film was a film called “The Florida Project” directed by Sean Baker, which is about the childhood of kids in lower class families living in motels. This inspired me because it portrays a very real aspect of life that I believe isn’t shown enough in cinema. Sean Baker also believed that this topic wasn’t shown enough and wanted to spread awareness.

My target audience is technically anyone who is older than 18, as this film would be considered rated R. Since there are many people out there who have gone through such things as domestic violence and abuse, I am hoping that this film can be relatable to them and make them feel less lonely. My product engages with the audience in a way that makes them feel emotion for old jane by using some genre characteristics of Drama, such as extreme close-ups, sentimental music, and nostalgic themes.. This way the audience is able to travel back to janes memories and feel sympathy for her. Since i also wanted the film to be relatable, I purposefully made the Jane fall in love at a young age so most of the audience can relate to the nostalgia of one’s first love. In addition, since this is only a film opening, I did not plan to spoil the whole story in the first 2 minutes of the movie. Instead, I gave clues about the plot using flashbacks (which aren’t in order) This increases the audience’s urge continue watching the movie to know what really happens. I would distribute this film by first showing it through a film festival such as the Savannah Film Festival, which shows independent film. This way I could climb up the ladder and get noticed by A24.

My production skills have developed a lot throughout this process. Since it’s the first time I work on a film project alone, I was to explore and learn more about filming, editing, revising, and so much more. Since there is a time limit on my film, I had to cut off unnecessary seconds from certain scenes, but still make it so the film told the story correctly. My father, who is an actor and also studied production in college, gave me tips on how I could make my film better. His advice helped me a lot and I believe they will also help me for the long run in future projects.

For this project I used my phone to shoot the scenes, which worked surprisingly well since the iPhones have an incredible lens. I used iMovie for this film. It was the first time i use imovie for one of my project as I usually use wevideo. But it was very easy to use and it wasn’t too complicated. As for the sound, I used the actor’s phones to record their voices on a separate voice note so that the audio could be heard well and I later added it to the clip.

Overall, I am content with how my film opening turned out, and I’m pretty satisfied to have my vision come to life. I hope that this film can move people and make them think about all of the other Janes out there that had to grow up in a painful manner and didn’t get the justice they deserved.

CCR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOkANvOLPNkdw

google drive:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1n29CCMB-ELHxVY7LXcF49dHIenZ9AoWx/view?usp=sharing

Final Piece

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgdC8CsvrtY&t=2s

Production Process Reflection

My production process so far has been a bit stressful. The occurrence that happened at the library made me unmotivated since I didn't get to film with the vision I wanted. But I then realized that this is my first film, and not everything goes as one originally planned. I felt like my friends weren't helping me much because they sort of bailed on me for the scene of them as prisoners. However, I will not take it to heart since I know many people were busy during spring break and I should've let them know with a little more anticipation.
Editing has been a relief for me though, as I am able to play with the clips and create different sequences. Making this film has led me to realize that this is what I want to do as a career, and I decided that I will be studying film or tv production since I love it so much.
Overall I believe that I'm learning a lot since I am working alone and I am doing the work of what a group of 4 people are doing.

Change of Plans...

My second shooting experience didn't go as well as the first one... My original plan was to shoot in the Broward College library with the actors and the extras. In Spring Break week, I let my friends know that on Tuesday we would all be going to shoot. However, my mom was one of the actors and she had a meeting at 12, so we decided to change the plans for Wednesday, when my mom was free.

Then, on Wednesday, one of the extras wasn't going to be able to go. So then I changed it to Thursday. On Thursday none of the extras were able to come, and I decided that I will not be shooting the scene where the prisoners are running outside because 1. It was very difficult to shoot the extras and for them to be able to come all in the same days and 2. It would make the video too long. I had already bought all of the shirts for the extras for the prisoners but I decided that it wasn't worth all the stress.

On Thursday, Ale, Walter, and my mom went to the Weston Library to see if that would be a better option for filming and if we could find a study room to film in. The study rooms were all occupied, but there was an empty conference room that was unlocked. We went in without asking, but I assumed we were allowed to be there since it was unlocked. Later, a lady told us we weren't allowed to be there and that we had to rent the room if we wanted to use it, and they kicked us out.

I was so stressed because my friends were not able to help me with the running scene and then we ended up not even having a place to shoot. We decided to come back to my house to shoot in an empty room that I had in my house. I wasn't happy because the room doesn't look like a prison, but we had to work with what we had.

In the end, I was very surprised by how my mom ended up acting and was very satisfied with the end results of the clips.

Here are a few bloopers from that day:

Starting to Shoot

I have realized that Spring Break is my only time to shoot when it comes to this project. For some reason I thought I had more time, and I have been so immersed in writing the story and planning that I forgot I also have to shoot and edit the whole thing. The actor I chose to act as Leo is actually named Leopoldo and it is pure coinsidence that the names are similar. We planned to shoot together at Vista View Park for Old Jane's flashback. I wasn't sure what I wanted before for the flashback of them together; I was debating on it being a motorcycle scene, a picnic scene, or a beach scene. I decided to go with the picnic scene since it was the most convenient because we could go to vista view park to film which was the closest location. Also I didn't know anyone with a motorcycle and I was sure not going to rent one.

Filming went great, we used the time we had to hangout and film at the same time. It went as I pictured and it was the first videos I shot for the opening. They came out better than I thought.

There were no mishaps with the picnic scenes. Everything went perfectly! 

Figuring out shooting schedules & locations

Now that I have the storyboard, the script, and the whole outline of the story, I am now preparing to shoot since I only have about two weeks left until this project is due. Spring break is coming up and I'm planning on using that time to shoot. I asked my 3 friends to act as the prisoner extras for me. What I am trying to figure out now is the locations to shoot at. For example, I have no idea where I can shoot the scene of the interrogation room. I know that I could probably do it at my house, but I want it to look as legit and professional as possible. My friend suggested that since its hard to find an empty room that looks like an interrogation room, that maybe it would be better to shoot it outside, as if they were interviewing Old Jane in a park. However, that would change the environment of the first scene and the mood would change. I really want it to look exactly as I visualize, but I know I have to be realistic. I don't have enough time or money to rent a room, but I've heard that the library at Broward College has study cubicles. I can probably shoot there because it's a public space! My mother is going to act as Old Jane. However, she has a lunch at 12pm that day, so we would have to go early. I hope the weather outside is cloudy because I want the audience to feel cloudy as well because the film is a drama.
I visualize the interview room to look something like this:


For the outside, I need prisoner extras to be running around where there are gates and looks like a running track. 
Since Broward College has a spacious campus, I will most probably have the prisoners run around there as well. I hope everything works out. My friend who suggested BC goes there and she is also an extra for the film. She told me to go on a Tuesday, so I will try my best to shoot the interrogation scene and the prisoners running scene on Tuesday, March 26, one week from now.

Sound ON

Throughout the year I have come to realize the importance of sound in a film. The whole film could be ruined if the sound doesn't have good quality and may come off as unprofessional. Originally I wasn't going to do anything with the sound since I assumed I wasn't able to amplify the sound while recording since I was only recording on my phone. However, one of my friends who played the reporter in my movie suggested that I take a separate phone and record the voice while shooting so I could later pair the sound with the video to further amplify the sound. I thought this was a great idea and so I managed to successfully pair the audio to the video. I am happy with the results because I see sound to not be an issue anymore in my film since the voice was very low.

 I also had some trouble finding music for the film as I had to look for royalty free music. I wanted something dramatic but not too much for only the beginning of the film. I wanted something to stir some emotions into the audience and let them know that this film will be sentimental. I found a royalty recording on Youtube  that was sentimental dramatic music. This recording went perfectly for what I was going for and I'm really excited to put it in my film! 

Actors Wanted

I have a few characters I will be needing for my movie. Since I am working alone, I will have to ask certain friends of mine to act in my movie, and I'm willing to pay them around $10 to $15. The type of people I will be needing for my characters are:
Little Jane: Female; 7-11 years old; Brown hair.
Young Jane: Female; 15-19 years old; Brown-light hair *NOTE* (I might be acting as Young Jane myself)
Old Jane: Female; 45-55 years old; Brown- light hair *NOTE* (I am considering my mother since she looks like me if I act as Young Jane*
Rosie Brooks: Female; 20-30 years old; Dark hair (brown or black)
Leo: Male; 18-24 years old; Any hair type
Richard: Male; big; 45-55 years old
Jane's Mother: Female; any hair type; 30-40 years old
Extra's:
-Security officers (male of female)
- 2-3 Prisoners

Peer Review

Today in class my teacher suggested that we made random groups so that we could explain each other our projects and see what they would suggest for us. Not only did this help me think of my project more closely, but when I gave advice I realized that the things that I was saying should be applied to my own project. When I explained my project, I told them that I was unsure if the opening would be too much, or whether it would tell the whole story right away. I asked them if I should make it more minimalistic. However, they liked my plan and believed it was a perfect start for a movie opening. They did not think that the content was too much. However, they did tell me to think twice about the reality of what I can shoot since I am supposed to show the outside of a prison in the beginning of my video. In addition, they told me also to think again about having a motorcycle scene since it is extremely hard to find someone who drives a motorcycle who can act in my movie. Also, Joey said she was going to rent a cinematic camera and suggested the name of the place that rent them which is called LensRental. However, they are very expensive and I have to look into my budget in order to do this. I suggested to my classmate that before thinking about the opening she should know what her whole story is, up until the end. Everyone told me I was right and so I thought about it for my own film, and thats when I decided to make the whole story of the movie so everything makes sense in the beginning. 

Storyboard

I followed my fathers suggestion and completed the story board after the script, this way I had more of a guide to work from.
First I did a rough draft of the story board and then I redid it after getting some advice from different peer and from my father.

Draft:

Final:

Writing the script

My father suggested me that I should write the script before creating any storyboard so I know better what is going to be said and more of the specifics.
I know that the script format doesn't have to be exact, but I like to be as precise as possible, so I looked up a tutorial in how to write movie scripts. https://www.writersstore.com/how-to-write-a-screenplay-a-guide-to-scriptwriting/. As I began writing the script, I felt creativity flow through me. I did not expect so many ideas to come to me so easily as I feared that doing this project alone would deprive me of creative ideas.
Thinking about my character's names wasn't so hard. Jane came to me because I just have a feeling that that should be the name. No reason at all, it just sounded right to me. Rosie Brooks came up because my classmate helped me pick a name out, and she said Josie Brooks, but since the main character's name already starts with a J, I modified it to be Rosie instead of Josie. I picked Richard for the evil step-father because Richard sounds to me like someone unlikable.
After thinking I was done with the script, I called my dad again so he could give me some advice on whether I should fix it or leave it how it is. He gave me many tips on scriptwriting. As we facetimed, he gave me tips and I was jotting down notes on my computer. He told me that the script doesn't have to be so technical (unless the teacher wants me to). That rather, I should leave the cinematic technicality to the storyboard. Things such as music, shot angles and directions, and pans should be put on the storyboard for more of a visual guide. Instead, the script should contain more poetic writing to guide the emotions of the characters for the actors, while still describing action and direction.
After taking about scripts for about an hour with my father, I modified the script and finally have it done. However, keep in mind I will probably modify the script again as ideas are always changing and flowing.

Here is my script before revision with my dad.

Afterwards:

Researching death penalty cases

With the story I have selected, I realized there is a big controversy that might agitate people. The controversial topic of the death penalty is something society has been bickering about for ages. The article Families of Murder Victims Speak Out Against the Death Penalty gave me an insight on how family members feel about this.

 "The death penalty solves nothing and may even perpetuate the suffering of the parents, children, or siblings left behind, the contributors to the booklet concur."

I have watched a few movies in relation to prison life and the death penalty, which have inspired me to make this psychological Drama including The Green Mile, which has a man who is convicted of murder and he is guilty. Shawshank Redemption, is also another crime the main character was innocent of, and Monster is a story about a serial killer.

Finally chose a story

My Story:
A story about a girl (Jane) who grows up in a poor environment. Her dad was killed in a car crash when she was just 1 years old. Her mother Marcy married another man who became her step dad. All up until Jane was 7 years old, her step father (Richard) sexually, emotionally, and physically abused Marcy, when suddenly Marcy dies of a heart attack. Then Jane legally left in the care of Richard, who is the only person in the world who could take care of her. From there on, Jane was also sexually, emotionally, and physically abused by her step-father. When Jane was 17 years old, she met a guy named Leo. They fell in love and he was her savior. One day, Richard accidentally walked in on Jane and Leo while they were in the bedroom. Richard, an alcoholic, had a drink in his hand and got so angry he went to get his gun. He drunkly shot Leo in the chest. Leo dies and Jane is in shock. Her step-father orders her to get out of bed and go make him something to eat. A week later, Jane plans to murder her step-father while he was asleep. She stabbed him 14 times. Jane is convicted and found guilty and put on death row. Jane tries to explain her true story but there is no evidence of Leo's murder, nor any evidence that her father was abusive. 30 years later, the day before she is put to death, a journalist comes in to question her about the real story. She tells the reporter the whole story. The next day she dies and is finally with Leo again.

Juan Pablo Gamboa, colombian actor

So this is my story. My dad, Juan Pablo Gamboa, who is a Colombian actor has been giving me advice on how to write a story for a movie. He also helped me with how to open this film. What I have in mind for opening is to start the story when Jane is already old, in her 40s or 50s, and she is sitting in an interview room, looking out the window and zoning out. Then comes in a reporter to ask her some questions about what truly happened. My dad suggested that before the journalist comes in, I should show a few quick flashbacks that Jane has of the love of her life as well as the horrible event that happened with her set-father. This is similar to Titanic, when Rose is old and asked to tell the story about the sinking of the ship, and flashbacks appear really quick of Jack Dawson.

Before this, I wanted to make a story board, but my dad suggested that it is better to first write the outline of the story, or the plot, the script and then do the storyboard last. He said making the storyboard is technically filming, so I have to have to know what I am going to have people say first, and what is going to happen.

Idea Pool

I realized that my brain was full of different ideas with different endings, so I decided to write down a pool of my ideas. The lead on my ideas is one about a girl protagonist of about 17 years of age, who has suffered emotional and physical abuse from her father and struggled with money. In the mist of her depression, she meets a guy who is 21 years old and who practically saves her life. The movie would be mostly the adventures of the two and how happy he makes her. However, towards the end of the movie the dad walks in on them as he is drunk and shoots her boyfriend. Out of anger, the girl kills her dad and is sentenced to death by the court. My dad, who is an actor, movie writer and producer, gave me advice on what can intrigue an audience. He explained that having something controversial that will have the opinions of the audience diverged and confused will make a good movie. He recommended me to look up famous controversial cases of the death penalty to do some research and I think I will. I still have some other ideas in mind, but this is the one that seems the most prominent.

Learning about Stories

I have still not come up with a set story for my movie. However, I do have certain ideas or pictures in my head on what I would like to do. Because I was so troubled with how stories work and their order, I decided to research how a story works and find some sort of formula so I can fit the pieces together. By watching the video "Writing 101: Story Structure" I was able to learn something I didn't know before and now it is hard not to see in every movie I watch or every story I hear. The video explains how Joseph Campbell's book "The Hero's Journey" makes a formula for story telling. The entirety of it has 3 acts. The first act contains the introduction of the hero and it's normal life, something that throws off the balance of the hero's world, a call to adventure, and then a refusal to the adventure. Next, act 2 consists of good trailer footage, "fun and games", secondary characters being introduced, midpoint or false victory, everything falling apart, and then a breakthrough to keep the hero going.

Finally, act 3 has the final battle which then leads the character to live its "new normal life." Watching this crash course and taking notes is really going to help me take pieces of all my ideas and fit into place. Because I am doing this project alone, I am somewhat overwhelmed by the amount of work that is all carried by me, and I am my own boss. Now I am going to brainstorm my ideas on the film. As I was trying to understand how stories work, a lightbulb went off in my head that made me remember that my dad is an actor knows all about how movies work. I know who I'm getting advice from.

First Decisions

          As i've learned techniques on how to open a film, i still haven't figured out what exactly I want my movie to be about or what the genre is. By the way, throughout this little journey I decided to write all my ideas down on my notebook rather than save it up in my head until I blog. Every time something pops up, I can just quickly jot it down on my notebook and then have as a source when i'm blogging.
          Anyway, I believe that choosing a genre should should come out of my own very interest in movies. Instead of choosing a genre just because is it the easiest to do, I want to chose the genre based on my liking, even if it is hard to make. My favorite genre of movies are romance, comedy, drama, indie, and travel movies. Movies such as Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Lady Bird, Garden State, Into The Wild, Captain Fantastic are part of my favorite movie list (let's not forget The Emperor's New Groove). All of these movies have evoked something in me that calls me to be a film maker when i'm older, and they all relate to me on a personal level because I feel like I have been through what the characters have been through. Therefore I want to make a film that makes people connect with the characters and relate to the story on a personal level; I want the audience to have sentimental or bittersweet feelings like these movies have made me feel. In "Choosing a Genre for your Film Project", Julian A. Leu explains that the genre is usually determined by the story line of the movie. "The content of your project should determine its genre. If it involves spaceships and time travel, it’s gonna be a sci-fi, loosely speaking. Genre is going to affect who your characters are, how they speak, what they talk about, as well as pacing considerations and content tropes."
          At this point I have only thought about some cool openings for my project, but I have not thought of the storyline of the actual movie, which is the most important aspect of this project. So far, my ideas for characters are a young female protagonist in her 20's focusing on the obstacles she has overcome in her life to get where she wants to be. Supporting characters would be her family, her friends, and her boyfriend. I believe my genre will be centered around a drama or coming of age movie.
Another suggestion this article gave me was to know my target audience. As i said, i want to target people who connect with a character and have gone through human experiences. Therefore my target audience will mainly be young adults or older. 

The Beginning

Research

This is only the beginning of it all and i've got to say, I'm a little overwhelmed. My initial plan of working with a partner didn't work out, so now i'm a lone wolf. Today in class we learned about how to blog and what exactly we are supposed to do for this project. I really like that I can use this as a type of diary for my journey. The first thing I thought of doing was researching a bit more of what makes a good opening scene in a film. By watching the video "Opening Shots Tell Us Everything" on Youtube,  I was able to learn that good film openings music is an important factor in a film opening because it sets the mood of the movie. Another thing that I found very interesting and is something I love when movies do is symbolism. A Space Odyssey does this in the beginning of its film by having the sun rise symbolize the journey that the character will go through and that the movie will be about overcoming something.

In addition, I also watched "How to Begin A Movie", which also taught me very important things about how to open a film. It explained how the best films such as the Matrix, The Shining, and Indiana Jones don't go straight to the beginning of the story, but instead start with something related to the theme. I really like this method of film opening because whenever I watch something that makes me ask questions in the beginning of the movie, it makes me want to watch more. It suggested to not tell the audience all of the information about the movie in a the first scene, but rather gives clues and hints. The best way to open a film is by establishing the elements of the story like characters, genre, and theme. I am taking all of this into consideration as I continue to think about my genre and what I want to do.

Music Research Chart

Mariana Gamboa, Cristina Caballero, Alexa Clayton P7

Company: Domino Recording Company

Brief History	Artists/Groups	Case Study #1: Franz Ferdinand	Case Study #2: Arctic Monkeys
A British independent record label founded in 1993 by Lawrence Bell and Jacqui Rice First Release: Sebadoh EP Rocking the Forest Focused on releasing established American Rock bands and unique British music (marginalized at the time) Genres released: indie rock, rock, art pop, experimental, electronic, and experimental music Their distributors are  ADA, PIAS Group, Outside Music, Sony Music. Their most popular clients are Anna Calvi, Franz Ferdinand, The Arctic Monkeys, and the Kills 1st UK #1 album : Franz Ferdinand’s You Could Have It So Much Better 1st UK #1 single: Arctic Monkeys’ “I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor” Domino has released mixtapes from British post-punk bands like Orange Juice, Josef K, Fire Engines, and Young Marble Giants.	Franz Ferdinand Arctic Monkeys	-Include marketing strategies, distribution methods, audience interaction tools and practices, etc. Prior to the release of their latest album Always Ascending, Domino worked with Spotify for fans to be able to pre-save the album before coming out as a fan club. By subscribing, fans would be able to see behind the scene pictures and more information as soon as their album was released. Franz Ferdinand distributes its music both digitally and physically. They work with Apple, Spotify, Pandora, and many more digital platforms that require subscriptions. They sell CD’S, and vinyls in the physical form. Marketing strategy includes a webchat they once made to chat with fans from Sydney in 2006. The official website of Franz Ferdinand gets between 10,000-12,000 unique visitors a day, offering regular live webchats and online video diaries on their websites. The band creates a audience interaction during live performances which is during a few songs, they have the audience bend down and act as if they are rowing a boat.	-Include marketing strategies, distribution methods, audience interaction tools and practices, etc. To promote their latest album, Tranquility base hotel and and Casino, Arctic Monkeys teased with a mysterious picture of lead singing, Alex Turner in what seemed to be a hotel announcing their new album following the release of their single the same day after being absent from the music scene for some time. The band also opened up a temporary photography exhibit on their band to promote the new album. Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino. Arctic Monkeys distributes its music both digitally and physically. They work with Apple, Spotify, Pandora, and many more digital platforms that require subscriptions. They sell CD’S, and vinyls in the physical form. Arctic Monkeys has their own website where they promote their latest work and upcoming tour/show dates, play their videos, sell merchandise, update with the latest news and have an email list where fans may subscribe for more updates.