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.

Blog Post #2





Within our project we would like to represent the issue of women being common victims of murder and assault. We wanted to subtly execute the idea of misogyny and vulnerability in women through the genre of horror. Women both in horror movies and in movies in general can often be represented as damsels in distress.


For example, the psychological thriller The Silence Of The Lambs shows a twisted serial killer whose victims are only women. This is criticized because it portrays women as the victim of male violence and is a major criticism of the genre as a whole. However, it can’t be denied that statistics show that women are the most common victims for murder and rape. It can even be argued horror films work to dive deep into women’s fears of the real world. The horror movie The Shining is also good example of a victimized woman where character Wendy Torrance is shown as neurotic and helpless in the eyes of her husband, but in reality she is only trying to defend herself and her son from her insane husband.


In some instances I do agree with the convention that many women happen to be victims of murder and assault, and is in fact a fear of many women. However, I disagree with the representation of women in the way that they’re helpless, defenseless, or weak. I also think that it should not be forgotten that men too are assaulted and abused, especially young boys.





In our project we will be retaining the idea that women are most commonly the victims of murder and rape because it is still important to recognize the amount of women that are murdered and abused every year. However, we will challenge the idea women are weaker than men and that they are unable to fight for themselves.

Blog Post #1





Horror


Genre Conventions - content: The most obvious purpose of the horror genre is to scare and frighten the audience. In order to do so, unsettling themes are usually portrayed. These themes can range from death, demons, homicide, to ghosts. Horror films tends to take place in a creepy or unnerving setting. The Conjuring is an example of this because the setting is in a large, old house, which is located in the middle of the woods. Key elements like foreshadowing, jump scares, and suspenseful music are used in order to get a frightening reaction from the audience. Filmmakers in this genre investigate to know what people’s biggest fears are. Through these fears, they are able to put it on screen and create a visual nightmare for most. The main characters are usually the one experiencing the horror and pain the audience does not wish to feel. This creates a suspenseful feeling for the audience since they will not know whether the main character will come out dead or alive. There is a common subgenre to horror which is the psychological horror. This subgenre that relies on mental, emotional and psychological states to frighten, disturb, or unsettle viewers.


Genre conventions - production technique: In horror films, many production techniques can be used to efficiently improve the quality for the viewers. Some common production techniques begin in just the screenplay, where things such as using older English, Latin and so on and so forth are used to add an extra layer of unknowingness to the conversations within the film. An extremely popular production technique in horror films is the use of GCI or special FX makeup to achieve gorey looks that otherwise would be virtually impossible. The use and absence of audio is incorporated to create what is known as a jump scare. A scene which its main purpose is to physically scare the viewer or in other words make them “jump”. Another common production technique is having underexposed environments. This makes for dark scenes which appropriately math the horror genre and also make things harder to see with the physical eye, making it easier to scare the audience.


Film/magazine sample #1 - include analysis of how this film embodies your genre: https://youtu.be/XSOvTa38w24 The film Sinister (2012) is a great example for a horror film. The plot revolves around Ellison, whose discovery in the attic of his new house of a box of home movies depicting grisly murders puts his family in danger. The film consists of many jump scares and gory murder scenes of several families. The gray-like color scheme accounts for a creepy effect in the viewers. Sinister contains a demon haunting the house. The use of something supernatural in the film also contributes to it being a horror film.


Film/magazine sample #2 - include analysis of how this film embodies your genre: https://youtu.be/wHbpWtMOJTI In It (2017) many jump scares are incorporated into the film to keep viewers interested, afraid and on the edge of their seats. Many scenes include a dark palette, low exposure and both a mixture of CGI and special FX makeup to bring the monsters main antagonist, Pennywise the killer clown to life.


List of 5-7 other film/ magazine examples within the genre (with links or images of these examples)








The Shining (1980)











2. The Conjuring (2013)





Annabelle





Silence of the Lambs





The Babadook