Creative Critical Reflection

In addition to my film opening I have created a creative critical reflection. I attached it to the link below, thank you for watching.

Creative Critical Reflection : Onedrive

Film Opening

The film opening, "In the Blink of an Eye" is finally finished! I have put in lots of hard work and effort into this project, to make it as best as possible. I hope you enjoy it, thanks for watching!

"In the Blink of an Eye" : YouTube

"In the Blink of an Eye" : Dropbox

Research: Sound

We already have the basic idea of what we want to do with the sound elements of the film opening. We want to have both a background music with a semi-upbeat tone and a voice over that explains and gives further background information of what is happening. We believe that by incorporating these two sound techniques we will be making the opening more attractive to the viewer as well as making it easy to understand. I began to watch film openings based on the same target audience as ours, such as "Teenage Dirtbag" and  "Teen Spirit".

"Teenage Dirtbag"

The film opening of this teenage movie has a similar objective of what we are trying to accomplish. This film has a mixture of diegetic dialogue, a voiceover that helps establish the plot, and background music that keeps the viewer engaged. In our film we will have all of the components included in the opening of the film above. We will have diegetic sound or dialogue from the phone call. We will also incorporate background much and a voiceover.

"Teenage Dirtbag (2009)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 07 Apr. 2017. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1091207/>.

Sound

We have basically finished filming the whole opening. The editing is almost done, I just need to add the sound and edit the film accordingly to match the rhythm. Since the beginning of the project we had decided that we were going to use a voiceover that would help develop and explain the plot. Gabby had already written a rough draft of the script but, since we have had changes in the film opening we must alter the script as well. The voice over would start off by foreshadowing what drastic events will happen later on that will dictate how the rest of the film will play out.

The voiceover will be accompanied by a semi-upbeat music that will help create the rhythm of the film.  We have also asked permission to use several songs but, we haven't heard a response. So far we are focused on finding un-copyright music to be safe, just in case the music is not approved.

My group members and I have found an acoustic instrumental song called chasing cars, by acoustic instrumentls. Down in their bio they allowed us to use their song as long as we give credit to them within our video. We are going to use this song as background music to engage the viewer.

The special sound effects of the car crash will be a mixture of sound effects provided by the software, IMovie, and the foley sounds that Gabby and I created. We used exterior sounds such as a recording of tires screeching, to create the sound of a car collision.

Filming Pt. 2

Today, my group and I got together for the second time to take additional footage that we needed and had errors the first time. We made sure that to not have continuity issues within the film, the main actor, Gabby must wear the same clothing. One of the problems we had was illustrating the phone call shot. For round two, we want this shot to look more realistic and to clearly express her excitement. Below I attached the second, and improved shot.

We made this shot be a close-up shot of the main actor's face while she is talking on the phone. In this shot the dialog is extremely important, because it adds emphasis on what is going on in the opening and helps establish a tone. The se of the close up was also relevant because it focused on the facial expressions and reactions of Gabby, while she was delivering the exciting news to her friend.

Car Crash?!?

On the storyboard we has planned to include a car crash accident at the end of the film opening. We had first planned on showing the main character reach out for her phone while driving and then having sudden movements and making the screen turn black with sound effects of a crash. We have already filmed the "car crash" but when I combined all the footage, it doesn't flow correctly and doesn't get the point across. One problem about this, is that when Gabby very valiantly volunteered to become the main actor she forgot to mention that she cannot sit in the drivers seat because she is afraid to drive. In my opinion, it is very difficult to film a car crash without the car moving but hey, who's not up for the challenge. After the problem arose we had to find a solution, or we would of had to film the whole thing from the beginning with a different actor.

I decided to turn to the web and research new ways on how to fake a car crash. I encountered a YouTube video that shows what specific shots we could use. The video "How to make film a fake car crash" is very helpful, and I strongly believe that with the help of this tutorial we can definitely make the crash work. It begins with one shot of a car approaching a street with a cut in the middle of the driver reaching for their phone. After, the shot is paired with a front shot of the point of view of the incoming car, then the screen switches to black and it relies on sound effects. This is very useful because since our main actor, Gabby, can't actually move a car, we could use another actor in this scene since the face doesn't necessarily have to show.



"Shooting a Low-budget Car Crash..." Studentfilms.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 02 Apr. 2017. <http://www.studentfilms.com/threads/shooting-a-low-budget-car-crash.1385/>.

Photography, J&N. "How to Make Film a Fake Car Crash." YouTube. N.p., 30 May 2016. Web. 02 Apr. 2017. <https://youtu.be/rh_T0xicO-Y>.

Editing

This week I began editing the film opening. As I was putting each shot together and unifying it, I noticed that some need to be re-shot and fixed. I have already spoke to my group members about re-shooting some shots and they have agreed. We had thought of filming this weekend, but sometimes it is very difficult for everyone in the group to be available. I spoke with Gabby and she has a stomach virus, but hopefully she will be feeling better tomorrow so we can film on Monday.

I have made the storyboard, filmed, and now I'm editing the film opening. So far the film opening is coming out somewhat as planned. We have enough footage to meet the time requirements, of 2 minutes, and even more if we want to alter and improve the plot. We still have to incorporate the production companies intro as well as the credits. Other than the delays of filming, we are on schedule.

Second Group Meeting

Today we did our last group meeting, and I received very helpful feedback. I primarily focused on what sound I should incorporate through out the scene. I was questioning weather to include instrumental music without lyrics in the back ground or if I should rely on the diegetic sound that comes from inside the filming environment.

In the group meeting, my classmates advised that to make my film opening more engaging I should use non-diegetic sound. They also told me that a good option for my film would be to include an instrumental version of a song. The song should be in a happy tone, with the beat that resembles the tone trying to portray. The beat of the music should coincide with the movements of the shots and the film.

By incorporating music throughout the film it will make the opening more intriguing. It will attract the viewer to our piece by making it more engaging. We also thought of having a voiceover explaining the situation and conflict at hand. The voiceover would begin after the black screen shot, showing the title as well as the crash scene sound. It will be overlapped with the scene of the main character struggling because of her new circumstance and lifestyle. My group and I have already started in writing the script for the voiceover. If everything goes as planned, we will begin recording the voiceover this week.

Finally Filming

Since we already finished the whole story board and have everything set up, we decided to begin filming. Even though we had a slight problem, finding the content of the film, are right back on schedule as planned.On some of the shots we had some difficulties doing but after playing around with it for a little we were able to make it work.

For example, we tried doing a point of view shot of inside the mailbox, reaching for the mail. We made the shot work by placing the camera on the selfie settings inside the mailbox and reaching for the letters. I attached the shot below, illustrating how we created it.

This point of view shot is used to show the action begin performed in a creative fashion. This shot helps explain what is going on in the scene, as well as first introducing the main character. This is the first shot that the viewer sees the main character's face. 

Back On Track

Today, my group and I met up and discussed our problem and how we are going to solve it. Together we shared all our ideas of what the new content of our film is going to be. We concluded that our film is going to be about a girl that gets accepted in to her dream college and as soon as she is going to share her good news a tragedy happens and she looses a limb. The film will be about the internal conflict she goes through to accommodate to her new lifestyle.

I first began planning by creating a whole new story board, as I attached below, The storyboard describes step by step the process of teh film opening. It will begin with the moment that the main character, receives and opens the acceptance letter of her dream school. Then she will rush inside the house and get her car keys, to go to her friends house and tell her the good news. As she is driving she looks at her phone, the screen turns black and gets int a car accident. The next scene shows her at her desk trying to write with her left hand as she gets frustrated and throws everything on the floor.

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Additional Research for Film Opening

While I was surfing the web I came upon a website written by a Sony Pictures script reader/ story analyst that stated ways of creating an efficient film opening. Below, I attached a sample of the article, it explains the film opening of the movie "The Big Chill". This example is helpful because it is from the same movie genre we are working with, therefore we can use some ideas that were used in creating this film's opening.

This article had helpful tips of how to create a film opening and the components needed. Some of the main components are introducing the main characters, setting, and date. For our film opening we decided that will be explaining the main conflict of the drama, as well as focussing on introducing the  main characters. 

Miyamoto, Ken. "Movie Production: What Qualities Make a Strong Opening Scene for a Film?" Quora. N.p., 25 Jan. 2011. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <https://www.quora.com/Movie-Production-What-qualities-make-a-strong-opening-scene-for-a-film>.

We Have a Problem...

This week we had group meetings where we presented our ideas to our classmates and received feedback accordingly. Unfortunately the feedback that my group received was mostly negative. Our classmates believe that the content of our film, being of immigration, is not interesting and doesn't have a strong conflict throughout the drama. Also they said that the location where we would film the opening would not be the most efficient, that instead we should film in the airport. Unfortunately, filming in an airport is not the best idea either because we can't control the setting and it will be too chaotic.

Aghhhh... So now we decided as a group that the best thing to do, is to alter the content and topic of the entire film.We would be staying within the same genre, drama, but changing the content. We were first trying to figure out an interesting conflict for the film, which will shape the storyline of the whole film, including the opening.

The ideas pending are...

- A city girl that gets into an accident and her life is changed instantly. She looses her vision and now she needs to accommodate her life to the new lifestyle.

- A girl gets into a bike accident and is stranded injured in the middle of a forest where she has to try to find help.

- An internal conflict of a girl with anxiety and paranoia. She believes that there is someone out to get her, and that she is in danger. (investigating the web, walking through the streets with anxiety, etc)

- A girl with a psychological disorder (OCD, depression (bullying), paranoia, eating disorder, phobia) and how she deals with her problem, or an event that challenges and makes her fight her disorder.

- begins with a flash forward of a girl in an interrogation room being asked questions of a crime she is accused of committing. Then resumes to the day the crime was apparently committed.


Flattum, Jerry. "What Is a Story?: Conflict - The Foundation of Storytelling." Script Magazine. N.p., 24 Sept. 2016. Web. 23 Mar. 2017. <http://www.scriptmag.com/features/conflict-the-foundation-of-storytelling>

Planning

Now that we have the basic idea of what we are going to do for the film, we began by planning the film opening. My teammates and I have had trouble communicating with each other, as well as having all our ideas communicated properly and being able to combine our thoughts. We decided to each start planning our ideas therefore when we meet up it will be much easier for us to combine the scenes and come up with an overall opening piece.

The first few shots will be displaying the production company and the title of the film. Afterwards, the opening is going to begin by introducing the main character of the story. The beginning scenes will be showing the main character going through her house getting ready for the trip.  It will consist of multiple close-up, long, and medium shots with pan and tilt movements. The use of multiple close-ups and mid shots is a creative way to introduce the plot, by showing objects and scenes that correlate to the situation at hand, such as suitcases, an empty closet, and clothes.

Below I attached a sample of my storyboard. I apologize in advance for my artistic abilities. The illustrations aren't the best design but the idea is well displayed, and that's what matters right!

Schedule

My group and I created a schedule to keep organized and get on track on creating the project. We wanted to begin shooting the film opening as soon as possible so we have sufficient time to finish and edit the video without rush. After we decide the content on the film and create the story board we will begin shooting. According to the schedule we will begin shooting starting Friday March 24, 2017. This way we have a week to have everything set up for recording, including the actors, the costume and set design, and the props. We are planning to finish ahead of the due date (Sunday April 9, 2017) so we leave time for any errors that may occur throughout the production and have time to fix it.

Important Dates

Organizing components (actors, props, set/costume design, content):
Saturday March 18, 2017 - Wednesday March 22, 2017

Filming:
Thursday March 23, 2017 - Saturday March 25, 2017

Editing:
Sunday March 26, 2017 -  Wednesday March 29, 2017

Planning for CCR:
Thursday March 30, 2017 - Saturday April 1, 2017

Begin CCR:
Sunday April 2, 2017 - Friday April 7, 2017

Finish Everything:
Saturday April 8, 2017

Due Date:
Sunday April 9, 2017

What Is It About??

This week I  discussed with my group what the content of our drama production was going to be about. We had previously decided that our film opening was going to be about a groom and his best man having a conflict, but after having further thought we decided that we didn't have the necessary components to effectively create it. The mise-en-scene elements would be too expensive for us to recreate such as the wedding set design, and the costumes. We then decided to focus on a more current controversial topic, because this would attract the attention of a wider audience.

I searched the web to get ideas on some controversial topics that are happening in the world today. I came upon this website from the Frances Willson Thompson Library that included a long list of current event topics as well as controversial topics. After looking through that list, we decided that we will be focusing on the topic of immigration and deportation.

We would be focusing on the issue of illegal immigrants being deported back to their home country. Our first idea for this topic, would be to show the conflict of a young girl living in the United States, which is trying to get in contact with her best friend that had been deported back to her country.

I began looking for information that would help me understand the situation that illegal immigrants are in. I came in contact with several websites that explain the daily fear the parents deal with, one family even has a protocol that the children must follow in case, they come home and their parents have been taken away.  The article written by Melinda D. Anderson, explains the effects that the deportation process has on children, even U.S born.  The information I gathered is important for my film production because it helps me further develop the tone of the plot, as well as the ambiance the story.

Guerra, Jennifer. "Fearing Deportation, Families Plan For The Worst." NPR. NPR, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <http://www.npr.org/2017/03/13/519015044/fearing-deportation-families-plan-for-the-worst>.

Anderson, Melinda D. "How Fears of Deportation Harm Kids' Education." The Atlantic. Atlantic Media Company, 26 Jan. 2016. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2016/01/the-educational-and-emotional-toll-of-deportation/426987/>.

"LibGuides: Research Topic Ideas: Current Events and Controversial Issues."Current Events and Controversial Issues - Research Topic Ideas - LibGuides at University of Michigan-Flint. Frances Willson Thompson Library, 16 Mar. 2017. Web. 16 Mar. 2017. <http://libguides.umflint.edu/topics/current>.

Technical Elements

Since I do not have many experience in creating drama films, I decided to research the technical elements involved in creating a drama. Throughout my research I discovered a website, written by Justin Cash, that explains in depth each of the elements used to create the dramatic effect within the movie. Below I will further explain the elements that most interest me, and which  I will most likely use in my production.

Rhythm 

This refers to the timing and pace of the film as well as the beat and tempo. In drama films, the rhythm must never be the same throughout, it must have fluctuation and peaks within the performance. The rhythm may follow the emotional state of the characters or the ambiance of certain situations.

Contrast 

Contrast refers to the juxtaposition of two images that are strikingly different; this could be both in performance or in the visual sense. Contrast makes the film more entertaining giving it more tension. It may involve having contrast in colors, change in setting, or use of space. An example would be changing from a sad dark slow scene to a happy bright fast scene.

Sound
This element can be used to create the ambience of the scene, or the mood. Sound can be created by the actors in the performance and as well as small props and technology such as instrumental recordings or speakers.

Conflict
The film must include the element of conflict or else it is not a true dramatic film. The conflict is what makes the film inspiring and interesting. The conflict may be external or internal, meaning among oneself, or one or more characters.

Cash, Justin. "Dramatic Elements." The Drama Teacher. N.p., 16 Feb. 2016. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <http://www.thedramateacher.com/dramatic-elements/>.

Target Audience

To find the respective target audience that will coincide to my film, I began by researching what type of people are more attracted to watch drama films. Since I am planning on creating a film based on the comedy/drama genre I researched what were the target audiences of similar films that resemble my genre and storyline, as well as, the overall genre.

I first encountered a powerpoint presentation that describes the target audience of most drama films. It stated that since the genre is broad it mostly depends on the plot of the film. Drama films try to appeal to the viewers emotions to tell the characters struggles. Most films are targeted mostly towards a female audience since they are the most attracted to emotional films.

Females are most attracted to watch drama and comedy films over the rest of genres. .

The Breakfast Club

Target audience is teenagers between the ages of 13 to 18. This audience may identify themselves with the characters, and their situation each are in.  

The Silver Linings Playbook

The target audience is aimed for teenagers  to young adults, because of the storyline and the content the film possess. 

Based on the research collected, I believe that the appropriate target audience for my film would be teenage females between the ages of 13-18. This audience would be the most probable to come and watch my film because of the selected genre and the content of the film.

Marrero, Sofia. "Film Marketing: Drama." Prezi.com. N.p., 08 Apr. 2014. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <https://prezi.com/9wa20igfsyqc/film-marketing-drama/>.

Genre

Research is an essential component for creating a production. It is were I find inspiration and ideas to better improve my opening piece.  I have decided to start by researching information about my selected genre: drama/comedy.

As I began to do my research I encountered a website that goes into depth on the multiple drama themes, with various examples of each.  It discusses the significance and the main components of the genre. A drama film mostly involves a realistic setting or situation that portray the characters in a conflict. It consists of illustrating the characters journey through the conflict, showing them at their worst, best, and everywhere in between. Throughout my film we will be focusing on the how the main character will be managing through the conflict, and how he will deal with all the unfortunate events that occur on his way. 

I collected information about case studies that will help me further understand the genre. My case studies include films such as The Breakfast Club, and The Silver Linings Playbook. 

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club is a well known film from 1985, directed by John Hughes. It is categorized as a coming-of-age comedy/drama. The plot of the story consists of five high school teenagers, all from a different groups of friends, that are stuck in Saturday school detention. Throughout the film each student realizes that they are much more than their respective stereotypes and that each one of them is different in their own way. The film had several conflicts among the characters, as well as a final realization that each character went through to reach the resolution.  

The Silver Linings Playbook

The Silver Linings Playbook is a 2012 piece directed by David O. Russell. It is characterized as a romantic comedy drama. This film was adapted from the novel "The Silver Linings Playbook" by Matthew Quick. It illustrates the life of a man, Pat, that is just released from a psychiatric hospital and is trying to get back with his wife, when he encounters a widow, which offers to help him only if he enrolls in a dance competition with her.  The two man characters become close, as they cope with their problems together. This film focuses on how the main characters cope with their situations and and deal with their conflicts. 

"Drama Films." An Award-winning, Unique Resource of Film Reference Material for Film Buffs and Others, with Reviews of Classic American-Hollywood Films, Academy Awards History, Film Posters. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <http://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html>.

"Silver Linings Playbook." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 13 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Linings_Playbook>.

"The Breakfast Club." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 19 Mar. 2017. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Breakfast_Club>.

"Silver Linings Playbook | In Select Theaters November 16th | Official Site." Silverliningsplaybookmovie.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <http://silverliningsplaybookmovie.com/>.

"The Breakfast Club (1985)." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088847/>.