Group Meeting!!!!

 At first, I was so excited about this moment, even though I felt like I was going on the right track and maybe I was not going to receive much helpful information. Then, my mood went down because I got sick and my brain wasn't working that much. I feel like it is important to mention how everyone in the group has to manage their time to give to their project while also having so much going on, in their lives. Coming back to the topic, I put all my effort into sharing ideas and being open-minded about them, and I indeed did receive and gave good stuff.  

The first person we listened to was Noah Bridges. At first, we didn't know what we were supposed to say, so we started asking questions about our projects until he started explaining his. I was very confused at the beginning but once I got it, I found it an amazing idea. I saw that his project was gonna convey feeling. It is something that one must think about when creating anything. He could relate to his project and he knew exactly what main ideas he wanted to convey and I found inspiration to talk about my project from this. He asked some things to some people in the group that got to help him. As well, he gave advice back. 

I was not the next though. Indeed I was the last. I didn't mind because I was still involved by giving advice and opinions. For example, there was this girl's project which I was very confused about as there was a shot of a cake either just spinning on the table or actually "Flying." The more realistic one seemed the one on the table. After, I asked her and she said "I'm not sure" I knew what seemed the obvious advice. She was also very confused about the background of the cake, so I told her it should depend on the age of the birthday girl. After she told me her cousin was around 6 years old, she agreed with me. I hope I helped her. She received a lot of pieces of advice from other people in the group, as well as giving some ideas.

I did my best to pay attention to every single story of each member, but I was excited to know what they thought about mine. Before, I already noticed that I was on a good track as I was the last one, and no one but me had gotten to the filming part. I was proud of all my work. In comparison to the rest, I was advanced, so I was thankful to myself and everyone who had helped me. Yet, I must say I did need this meeting to appreciate my work but mostly to ask some questions that they got to help me out with. At first, I knew my time limit was stressing me out, but they advised me to shorten the shots of the bible verses, they thought there was more than the needed time for it. It still is something that I will see most at the end of editing and keep checking it until I have decided on my piece, but I am considering their advice. There was this guy too that helped me out with the title. At that moment, I thought; THE TITLE! I forgot about it! 

His idea was super good, in fact, it made me want to help him more with his project. He told me I should do something like make my main character "step on the camera" when he is running and a shot of him is shown from a low angle. It gave my story more context and meaning to it as it could convey the idea of him wanting to destroy humanity as he is destroying the camera. He told me to add the title after the black screen. It was a great idea. I hope good ideas come to my mind when thinking about the title. It will probably be the last thing I will do. I am so glad with this meeting as I got time to share my work and hear amazing stories and creative ideas. I hope you come with me on this journey. See you next post.

Here's Ms. Stoklosa's Webpage where I was looking at each blog as they were explaining it.

Starting to Film

 When you watch a movie, you don't really think about every second of the film being analyzed and thought about. Every second has to seem right. For this opening, I just have around 2 minutes (I wish I could do more), but the challenge here is not to get to the time, but instead to convey strong feelings about my genre during that time limit, to my audience. 

I started filming with the help of my friend, Naty, because I needed an assistant to help me out with the lighting and positioning of things. So before filming, I decided to show her my planning process and explain to her how I want it to look by using imagery so that she has a visualization of it and when helping me, she can even add ideas. 

The first thing we noticed was that the letters of the Bible were too small and it was super hard to focus them with the camera, it was going to be even harder to convey the tone of destruction with the fire as the paper could have burned. I wanted to show each phrase separately to let the viewer have more time to read without making the wait seem boring, so we went into PowerPoint and designed each shot that I was going to print out with a background that looked like old paper to highlight the idea of being phrases from the past so that it looks like the main character is stuck in old practices and dreams. Here you can see what one of the original PowerPoint pages looked like. After, we printed them out in a size that was big enough for the camera to capture because it didn't matter that it came directly from the bible as my purpose was to mainly show how he's just dreaming about the phrase not if he reading the bible, to imply that he believes it's coming directly from God. Yet, I knew I had to do something more to let my audience know what is it about as they are not really meant to be religious or faithful as my film is directed more towards teenagers and adults who like watching the bad side of the world with destruction and so on, meaning that they are not meant to know about where does that phrase come from unless its a very common piece of literature and it is stated. So, I searched for "How to state biblical verses?" I found what is in the picture above (Besides already remembering what my catholic catechism taught me. 

After doing this and printing them out, the time of filming came. I always knew this was my favorite part. I could feel it. It was. I felt like I was putting all my knowledge into it and actually creating a piece. It's like I was bringing everything into my mind and making it real. I started by using my room as I needed it to be somewhere dark so I closed all the blinds I knew that I needed an orange light that would focus just a part of the text to create that sense of danger and destruction so I used this light moon that I had for a long time, with the use of the lighting from the matches. It was hard to get all in position and make it look good, especially because my camera turns off every time it detects some hot temperature like the match turned on. 

We had to use a tripod that I found somewhere there too, because it would have been harder to try to maintain the camera in just one position while turning the lights on and off. Besides I needed the position of each shot to be the same, as there was no change of feeling that I wanted to cause in the audience, so why should there be a change in the movement of the camera? It just doesn't make sense. What I next noticed was the appearance of my hand, which I thought several times if I wanted it to be there or not. I decided to be there so that it looks like someone is lighting the verse to make it seem like he thinks God is the one guiding him. I still make the appearance of my hand seem very little as we know that my main character is misinterpreting the verse so that there is an idea of no one special really lighting the verses other than him. 

I don't know what was the most fun part of this project but I clearly remember having laughed so much during it. Especially because we used to make the same error over and over again until we eventually learned. I loved this process because the ideas of how to make it look better just kept coming to my mind. Looking at how one can make a beautiful peace by using one's imagination and noticing of one can achieve is one of the best feelings. 
Yet, I am worried about my limit of time for the opening of the film to be. I started researching more about Premiere Rush, as it is given by the school and my teacher suggested that we should use it more as it is a great tool. I was so lost when I started using my computer. I told myself that if I wasn't able to do it after a certain time of researching I was not going to waste more of my time and I would simply do it on my phone. While researching what to use on my phone, I noticed the same name in the App Store and I thought "Why not?" So I logged in, watched some tutorials offered by the app, and started importing my videos. It was way better and easier to edit this time. I also had to open an account in Dropbox, which I've never used before, to import the videos as I already imported them to my computer because the storage of my camera was full. So I now had them on my phone and was able to edit them and add other videos that I could simply film with it. I did indeed. While editing and making some parts shorter to create more tension, I noticed that I used a short transition that would make each part look the same, so I filmed a completely black shot. I will do this at the end but I am certainly thinking of adding the "Produced by", "Directed by", and the "... Presents" in these spaces of black shots. This is perfect because it would exactly fit with the plot. I am glad I started looking at what editing was like with this project on my phone, as I am learning something new and fun. Who knows I might end up loving it. We'll see, so keep yourself updated on my posts. See you next post!!! 

Here are the resources!!!!

How to Cite the Bible:

https://www.messiah.edu/download/downloads/id/1647/bible_cite.pdf

Learn ALL about Adobe PREMIERE RUSH in 15 minutes - step-by-step basics beginners tutorial:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsc81qbpy6g

Adobe Rush Tutorial [UPDATED] - How to Edit Videos with Premiere Rush!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsGQ_Bwi6Zg

Sending Videos:

Dropbox App and on desktop Dropbox.com

Editing:

Premiere Rush App

Final Details of Planning

I am getting excited before hand. I just realized that although I have my main character (which is saving me), I still need the people for the memories scene. I have some in mind, but I know I must make wise decisions here because I have to demonstrate my directing skills. If the do not do as I tell them to and do not put any order my film is not going to turn out good or it will take me longer to do. So I am thinking about friends that are responsible and know when is time to laugh and have fun but they also now when to be serious. 

 The next most important character in my film opening is the younger version of the main character (my brother). I several people in mind but the best option that I have is my friend Dani. He is perfect for the plot. Besides being responsible and from past assignments that we have done together and knowing that he can take this seriously, h contains all the characteristics of the character. First, he is shorter than my brother and has black hair too. They contain similar body shapes. Yet, it is better that my brother is really focused in the gym right now because he is supposed to have trained and become stronger after so many years of suffering, in my story. I talked with Dani and we thought about 2-3 day where he can come to my house with the rest of (unknown) "actors" and he agreed to be on my opening film!! YEYYY! One more off from the check list. You can see the list right here.

What I think I should think about the most and choose are the actors for the scene where the parents are fighting. Like for the young main character, I have great options for the dad and mom, I could even do my parents, but they are too sweet to get mad, and I don't want them to get mad (it is something I already have to deal with when I do something wrong). I was discussing this with my close friend and she seemed like a great option to be the mom because she looks older than what she is and she told me she can act serious. Before I was doubting she could but she seemed honest and there was something that made me trust her. She even got me ideas for who could be the dad. We know the characteristics of the mom and dad as they should be like a young couple of around 10 years of married. This is because the child is still love is too young and so should the parents. This would also give a reason to their fighting because they wouldn't fight as much if they were a more mature couple. If I were to continue the film I would highlight the idea of him comparing his parents with Adan and Eve not obeying God. (This small thought are important because the give me more ideas that will be needed for the opening.)

So the mother in the scene has to be able to have a mad face, like heart broken and they should both be shown from a high angle to highlight that the point is not her being inferior to the husband, but the little kid being inferior to the situation. The father is better if has a short beard to add the characteristics of a dad. The people that I think match with this characters characteristics are my brother's friend from the Gym as she is tall, she looks dedicated, and at the same time has developed face characteristics. From the time that I have seen here, she gives me a feeling of being able to act like her life is messed up at that moment while also showing madness. Vale is my other option here as she can act very mad and from the unlucky times I've seen her like that, I must say that she knows how to accentuate the words and open her mouth a lot in a way when saying something bad. I guess "bad" characteristics are not always bad for everything. They will definitely help me here. When talking to them I will tell them that if they are not chosen as one character they can definitely try for another one. I want to do this because although they are the ones helping me, I don't want to waste their time. 

My next casting for the Dad is wider because the majority of options come from my brother's gym friends and as it is known, gyms are mostly full of more boys than girls, at least mine is. Yet, my best option I think it is Vale's friend, Juan. First, he is the tallest one (which is good because he is taller than both of the options for the mother) and from when I have seen him around at school and when he is with Vale, I know the way he can be so happy as well as mad. He looks mature but not as much. He gives me vibes of a just married man of one day. Vale told me he is very responsible so lets hope he says yes to be on my film. 

The last but not least are the kids that bully the younger main character. Although they do not have a name, as it is not necessary because there is barely no sound and even if there was their names wouldn't be said, they do have characteristics that are important naming. They should be taller than the kids being bullied should wear clothes that a little kids would wear to school, like a polo shirt and pants, jeans, or formal shorts. It is important to think about their way of acting because although they are children, I do not need my real people to act childish but more like innocents kids that are doing bad stuff because they are too little to judge their actions. There has to be a lot of movement of over crowding while also leaving space for the light to enter from a side but it is in a dark scene. It honestly is the easiest roll and I am not worried for finding many people other that just making sure that the most are men, but I would also like to include some woman to show that not just men are responsible for the main character's hurt feelings. 

At first I asked my friend for ideas of name and you can see the brainstorming here but I wasn't full convinced of any for any character. Now I'm still not, but I have one that is clear on my mind and fits perfectly with the plot. I researched Apocalyptic names in Nameberry and after reading though for a while I found the name Adriel. It is an Hebrew name which is good because I can make my brother do a narration saying something like "My name is Adriel. In Hebrew means "God is the master" and I am here to do as his word says... No matter what it takes. Or whatever it takes them" When my brother says it on Spanish it will sound like "Me llamo Adriel. En Hebreo significa "Dios es el amo" y yo estoy aquí para hacer lo que dice su palabra... Sin importar lo que me cueste. O lo que les cueste." 

You can see the complete definition of the name that I found in this picture but what stood out the most for me was "Adriel, like other names ending in -el like Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel, is also the name of an angel. The angel Adriel is known as the Angel of Death." This is perfect as the name would have more meaning now and although it is not explained it is known. Other than this character the names for the couple just had to be Hispanic and sound like a married couple would have them, and although they may not be hear they will be shown with a clear pronunciation when they are fighting.  Lastly the younger version and original name should be Mateo because it is like a Hispanic name that is very common and easy to say. This is done to highlight the fact that he used to be normal as everyone until something happened and he might have changed name and he is unique now as well as the different thoughts that he has. This are the final details when planning. I hope to see you next week!!

References!!!


Ideas for the characters name (if they have one):
https://nameberry.com/userlist/view/221478

Story Board Part 2

 On-time!!! I can see that you were as excited as me to know the rest of the story. Well, here I am not just continuing to talk to you about the rest of the shots I have in my mind and in the paper to film, but I will also give you a more detailed explanation of the final changes and why they were added. Today you are going to have fun when reading this blog as I am in a good mood. I talked to Ms. Stoklosa and I must say that I am proud of being someone who doesn't stop giving more and more each time even when people are telling me that everything's perfect. I love being on the right track, of course, and I am proud of what I achieved, but I want to keep giving more all the time. So my teacher's words didn't do more than motivate me and I am very thankful for that. 

Now, to start with the part that you've been waiting for, it is important to first make sure that we know where we stayed on the last post. So we discussed the order of each shot, the types of shots used for each part, and our main plot which was about a guy that is in a Dystopian world. He has been hurt in the past, his mistaken beliefs are shown in the bible verses at the beginning, and trains to become mentally and physically stronger. This included an explanation of different extra techniques and shots that were still essential to convey our story. 

So now for the real fun, let us dive into Part 2 of our Story Board. So after the shot where the main character opens the door, I am going to use some medium shots and close-ups to convey the action of going outside and to show his expressions while he contemplates the destroyed world but mostly his destroyed soul. At the same time, part of his love for the world is shown because he will be inhaling the fresh air, while deep inside hoping that the world wouldn't be in those conditions. The sound here would be imitated by the real person (my brother) as he would either breathe in front of the microphone or blow softly. 

The next "ordered" shots (everything is scratched and changed around when one lets their creativity fly around) show the character running (or jogging in real life). Here I am mainly using different perspectives of the run while using the technique of circle running that I researched in one of my last posts. I would be using the strategy from the film "The Rocky" too, and although I am going to film both ways, I am not going to add all the videos that were filmed. That is more for the editing part though. This scene mainly shows how he trains a lot because he denies remembering all his memories. 

After, there are extreme close-ups and tight close-ups that mainly convey the idea of him zoning out and all the memories annoying him as they come fast and never leave. In the middle of the running, I will start flashing some shots where the memories come. The first one starts in a dark room with a high angle where the kid (the main character when he was little) is shrinking down as the rest of the kids at school are bullying him. They start screaming a lot and kind of hitting him too, but this is not going to be heard. I have 2 options here. I either shut everything off and then slowly add the sound of a long and high beep. Or, I can add background voices that are opaque or filmed from far-distant because I do not want to make it seem as real as it is but more convey the idea of him being annoyed by the sound and everything and showing how he is actually getting hurt by covering his ears. The different perspectives from this scene include over-the-shoulder shots, close-up shots, and long shots of the high angle.

Then, I keep adding a couple of running shots to have a transition to his other memories and highlight that they are just memories and the scene is not completely changing to another time and location. The next memory scene is where his parents are fighting and he is here again shrunken as he is scared. There's an extreme close-up of the father's mouth as he starts shouting out loud and then it quickly changes the scene to a medium shot of the main character running again. While drawing this scene I started to remember locations where I could this running scene, and I just thought of the perfect one. There's this biking area right next to the highway and the Everglades where no trees can be seen at all. As I am trying to convey the idea of being a devastated world but I cannot afford to destroy a whole neighborhood area and I neither want to, showing the opposite is perfect. This means I am going to show that there is nothing. No trees because there is barely any water. It is an amazing idea that I am proud of!

This now transitions to a scene where he hardly opens the sink hose while a cup of water is waiting to be filled but the only thing that goes out are small drops of water. This perfectly conveys the message of a scarcity of water. It then moves to a medium shot of him drinking the water just to show what the water is needed for at that moment and how important it is for him. Moving then highlights the scarcity of water even more by showing an extreme close-up shot of the last drop of water falling out of the cap of water to his mouth. This highlights how he saves and appreciates even the last drop of water, literally. 

Getting to the end, I just would like to explain the scene that I am going to film because I am not sure about adding it as I am worried about trespassing the 2 minutes. As I've always heard and now I say, it is better to have more and do more work than to be missing more. This a great scene where I would also convey the idea of him caring for the Earth and as well being sad about how destroyed it is. His madness would be shown to that would show how he blames it on the rest of the humans. This scene would be right before he enters the house he sees a dried or burned plant with some close-ups, or showing the flower from a high angle to show how weak it is. Some shots focusing on the flower and then on the face of the person would also be added to highlight who is more important in the story. 

Don't worry! There's more to come!! Just keep yourself updated each day of my posts. See you!!!

References:

Me, My Mind, and Me. 

Story Board Part 1

 I couldn't think of a better way to start my planning process than to create a sketch with a short explanation of what each scene and even the simplest shot has or is. So, I grabbed 2 papers and started drawing everything that came to my mind from the past brainstorming in order. In one of my first posts, I explained that selecting the genre is the most important decision in this project, but I must say that this part is extremely important, too. If one does everything right when planning, production and post-production will be the simplest things to do while receiving good outcomes.

With these in mind I thought "Although I need everything perfectly detailed, the best way to do it is by adding the most even random details that one might not need or might, because I can just scratch them. It is not like I will give this paper to my teacher or anything." So I started drawing. Everything came fast into my mind. This time I was hurrying not because I was worried about a limited time, but because I was scared to forget any idea and that it specifically would be important.

At first, I drew a small box where it said bible verse but then I realized that I wasn't sure if I wanted to put a beginning phrase of the bible or one that was about the apocalypses. So I remembered from the night before when I was reading the Bible, I saw a phrase that was about how God regretted the moment when he created humans because they had been acting SO bad and were gonna destroy everything on Earth with a huge flood. At that moment I thought it was perfect. It would give my story a context of what could have happened while also giving it a beginning. Besides, now I can explain that my character believes he is unique and is the one that God loves as in that part of the bible at the end says "Pero Noé encontró gracia a los ojos del Señor." So I opened my bible, searched for it, and wrote it down. You can see below what it was and it is in Spanish but here's the translation. 

 

"But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord."

So then I thought "It was too long, but if I don't add everything I won't give enough context" So I realized I could separate it into 3 shots, and turn it into a black screen or make it look like a foreshadowing scene where it's like the shots are flashing into the eyes of the viewer so it creates a shock in them. As I say in the paper, I am using an old script or the bible maybe (if I found one that doesn't have bigger letters) in a shot that is dark just with light on the bible but looks more obscure so that his anger is conveyed and it represents something evil rather than a saint story. 

After, the next 3 shots show the part where he realizes the time he is losing and how much in mind he has his purpose and that phrase stuck in his mind. I first use a transition shot of a medium shot of him sleeping, moving to a close-up of the watch beeping, to another close-up of his eyes realizing what he "must do". Then I decided to add maybe a high-angle, over-the-shoulder shot to change a little from just adding close-ups but mainly to convey an idea of him being dominant over the door and whatever is outside of it and maybe cause a little of tension in the audience of what is outside. So, here I leave you with the pictures more zoomed in from drawing 8 to 10 where there is a preview of the next post or the second part of the opening. So excited!!!

See! For this part, you just have to let your brain be free and write everything that comes to your mind. Oh! Don't forget! Trust the process. In the end, everything will work out if you are putting enough confidence in yourself. I know my project is going to turn out great. Yet, you will be probably doubting me right now because from this information given it sounds like a too simple opening without much that won't even get to be 2 minutes. You'll be asking me: "How can I do as she does if this looks unfinished and not worthy of trust?" Well remember there that this is only Part 1, you must keep yourself updated on my next posts where I will post the rest, where trust me it will shock you. Like I said, trust the process. This is just the beginning and a good beginning that will have a better continuity. I might just be doing this to leave you with the intrigue and make you read my next post... "In the end, it's all about the strategy and marketing" you would think. But NO. Trust. The best always comes at the end. 

Sorry, there are no references today :(((

Most information came from my mind.

Other than recommending you to read the bible where I got the phrase used at the beginning:

In Spanish: La Sagrada Biblia de America (San Pablo)

In English: The New American Bible (Revised Edition)

The Techno Part

 Talking about the technology or technical elements used might seem a little boring or hard, but it's not at all. It is amazing to see how each decision you make here can tremendously change your viewer's thoughts while watching a film. Different lighting, sounds, angles, camera/character/nature movement, colors, shots, or filters added when editing can completely change the feelings being conveyed and wanted to be created in the audience. It is important to plan out every single mise-en-scene element before actually using them so that one has a clear idea. 

Although I am pretty sure I am going to fix or change a lot of the techniques used, the decisions or brainstorming created right now will help me make better decisions later on and it will save me time. The first thing that my mind decided to do was to tell my body to just start searching for all the elements I already have and then see what I would be missing. I finally found my camera (which had good memories) and then I looked at the quality and I was lowkey amazed. I am glad I found the micro SD too because I spent around an hour searching for it and there weren't any others that would fit with the Canon. It wasn't all a waste of time though. While I was searching for my Camera and memory SD, I found this LED Light Bar that my mom was thinking of taking to Ecuador and giving to some friends but somehow she forgot, which is better for me. This light is perfect for my dark shots of the bad flashbacks that the main character is having. I was thinking of using a fill light for a lot of the moments where the main character is bullied when he was a kid. So, all the bullies would be in a circle around him and he would maybe be snuggled down or be stood up and as everyone is insulting him and hitting him, he goes down. I would like to add some short shots of his ears being covered by him to imply how annoying everyone screaming is for him. This scene would be filmed from a high angle to imply how weak he is at that moment. You can see pictures of everything I found and most probably will be using them all around the post. 

For the running scene, I started researching ways to make a shot look steady while someone was running, or make it look good. So what I found is that it is way better if I shoot it with a tripod (that I am sure I have somewhere in my house) while the character is running in circles around it. What you have to do so that it doesn't look like he is running just in circles is to film it the same way but in different locations that have similar characteristics. Here, the camera would be following the character running while the background is just passing by to increase the motion being created. I want to take some shots like this too but instead of being a medium shot, from the waist until it passes his head, it would be a shot of his legs running to show a clear view of the motion. What also came to my mind to search was the scene of the actor in the Rocky (1976) film training on YouTube. I got some inspirational ideas of shots and techniques that I could use, such as filming the character from the front while he is running towards the camera and maybe we could film from the car while my character is moving to have a steady shot too. That would all depend on the location because I am still arguing with myself if it is going to be on a street, a park, or a forest type of thing. 

I was thinking of adding some close-ups of his eyes or tight-close-ups while he is running and then quickly switching to the flashbacks to convey the idea that his concentration is being locked away from what he is actually doing and now he is visualizing those sad moments in his mind. To control more the lighting here, I was thinking of filming early in the morning or late in the afternoon as the sun is rising or falling so the lighting would come from the sides but also from everywhere so that shots are clearer. This would also help me convey the idea that the world is ending just as the sun is hiding and the light is shutting down. It would add some kind of hurrying in the character to create tension in the audience as the character needs to hurry up with his plan before it is too late. 

What I am the most worried about in the scene running scene and the one where he gets to the house drinks water and grabs a (fake) gun/knife, is the atmosphere used in it. It is super important to create a good atmosphere because that is what is going to make my film look the most dystopian possible, and the scarcity of water. I would still like to show how everything is destroyed outside while using some filters or visual effects that won't look fake. I also need to implement a good atmosphere to control how my viewers feel while watching the film. I want to highlight an angry, heartbroken, revengeful tone throughout the whole movie. 

For this, I started watching this YouTube video where they explained cinematography camera facts that I believe will help me out with this. I got a great idea from this video and was using home incense, which can be found anywhere. This would help me create a shady background or I could even add it to the running scene where he contemplates a burned flower or plant because of the scarcity of water and fire going on all around the world. This would also be filmed from a POV shot of the flower showing mostly the sad and mad face of the character. This made me realize that if I am doing the scene in a forest I have to make sure that it looks dry and there are not many green or colorful things around. It would be better if it's an open area in a park. I could imply that the place is just outside the house by changing shots as he runs and while there are some running cuts I include the scenes in the park when editing.

Lastly, what I noticed throughout the blog is that these scenes need a beginning, and because I had to erase the scene where the main character is moving annoyed in his bed because it was going to be too long, I decided to start with some close up shots of some time of alarm that doesn't require battery but can wake up the main character to do this daily tasks. I got inspired by this by remembering the shots used in the film I Am a Legend ( FULL MOVIE ). This film includes dystopian characteristics like when the main character adds oil outside to prevent everyone from coming in. I wouldn't use this strategy because my story wouldn't fit with this idea as my character is short of resources and wouldn't waste oil in burning something as the places being burned are the main reason the world is ending here. Yet I would add the sound of the watch where it is beeping to wake up my character in contrast to the film where it is informing the guy when is the time to hide. 

I know I said "lastly" but something important that the film made me remember is to talk about the sound. I had plenty of ideas of what to use for sound. First, I would add the beeping of the clock to wake him up meanwhile as he is leaving and then a close-up of the opening from the door handle is shown with a synchronized sound. While running the steps have to also be added, and I would like to create this sound by just hitting some shoes to the ground with my hands to imitate the sound. Something I feel is mainly important to add is shots without any sound at all to convey the idea that although the character has a clear idea of what his purpose is, he gets lost in the real world sometimes and everything just goes silent as he loses his focused gaze. Finally, what I am going to try at the end when editing is to see how the combination of the running scene with a voice-over is going to look as he explains his whole plan and how he feels about everything happening. I am going to explain more about it in the next post and I cannot wait more for the production week to see how the results are going to look. I need to have everything planned out and I feel like I still need more details clear in my mind. I will figure it out, I just need to trust the process. I hope to see you next post!!

Resources!!!

How To Shoot Cinematic Running Scene With a Tripod:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qHqKTsT-s

Top 10 Motivational Movies:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BcIsUfUew2c

EASY Cinematography Camera Hacks No One Knows About !!!:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8KIhBa6iAr8

Rocky (8/10) Movie CLIP - Training Montage (1976) HD:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_YYmfM2TfUA

I am a Legend ( FULL MOVIE )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4yq-ezorBI

Brainstorming Plot and Character

 Researching, analyzing, developing a plot, creating characters, and stages? Doesn't it sound too much?! It was, but guess what? My brother accepted my proposal for him to be my actor. That great! Perfect! Amazing! It fits right with the plot. 

After asking many friends about Dystopian films they love, I chose to watch one. It is called Divergent which at first I was getting worried about because, somehow, my VPN helped me watch it on Netflix, but then it cut, so I spent around 30 minutes trying to connect it until I found it on YouTube for free with ads. I loved the movie! After continuing to ask people for information they know about any Dystopian films or books, I realized that most of them are about a society in a destroyed world where they are separated into different groups depending on their skills (for survival), and there is always one main character that is different and unique from everyone. That protagonist doesn't feel like they belong anywhere there. This helped me to start brainstorming some main ideas that I had in my Notes App. Check it out here. 

I started choosing the age of my actor and looking at what options do I have. I chose my brother because although he is 19, he looks in his 20s. I feel like that is a perfect age as one is not old enough to be that mature and not do crazy stuff (meaning psycho level), and he would have the energy to do it compared to a 60-year-old person who wouldn't even go running. Yet, he would be old enough to be independent and responsible for his actions. 

Later, a huge idea came up to my head of making him look guilty as he is not choosing right by showing that he is misunderstanding the bible verses and as he thinks that the destruction of the world happened to leave just a few survivors for him to kill, he wishes to complete what he calls "God's plan". What came to my mind were some old scripts that I saw as I said in my "Debating My Thoughts" post, in The Fountain Film which begins by showing a shot where someone is writing in some old script (according to the orange colors and cursive handwriting) a verse of Genesis of the Bible. Here's what it looks like.

This didn't just give me the idea of the first shot but also the plot. I wanted to include somewhere there a type of belief and reasons why he does that, but I also want to show that the main character is heartbroken by the bad aspects of humans, such as being treated wrong when he was little or being despised by friends or the world in general. To convey this idea I would like to show some flashbacks while he is running through these moments with short shots and kind of fading away, to show his broken feelings and how they come to his mind all the time even if they are short. It would be inserted shots while he is running to show that he likes training to become stronger thinking "If I become strong no one can hurt me anymore". All the bad moments he blamed it on humanity and their way of being like that, so I would like to add a short narration of him telling his plan or story so that it is more understandable. 

In fact, this brainstorming was so interesting and fun. I loved how each idea just started to come to my head all the time and writing them on notes was a great idea so that I do not forget any single detail even if I am not going to use them later, but I have more options where to choose from. I do recommend planning out everything like I did, but I still have a long way to go for perfection on this project so I must keep myself focused while also having fun when doing it. I am also grateful for this project because even though it is something little I know it will help me to spend more time with my brother when filming and we might strengthen our relationship. He looked so excited and even told me he was going to invite some of his gym friends to help me out if more characters were needed, which I think they will for the flashback shots. I am making good memories with this project and besides all the struggles that I will face, I am excited for what's up to come. So, see you in my next post!

Here are the references:

The fountain movie shot: Minute 1:01 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbS6Tt0xLDk&t=205s

Divergent Full Free Film

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtMcdfUK8Zs&t=7680s

Most Important Decision When Starting

Choosing a genre is one of the most hard but important decisions when beginning this project. As for my low level of knowledge, I do not have to just choose one but also research some. What different genres there are and what each one is about? For that, I decided to search "The best fiction genres" which led me to find this page about a Guide to 9 Types of Fiction: Genre Definitions and Examples (so many to choose). While reading I told myself that I must understand well what fiction is. Now, I summarized it by saying that it is a narration or story that is not history or real-life-based but instead has more creative thoughts and imagination of events that do not have to happen in the real world. 

Moving on, I must say that although there are just 9 being described here, they are ones that I see I could have a deep understanding of and have time to research each one more. I started doing a chart so that I could compare each main characteristic of each genre and see which would be better to do at my level and the ones that I could just research a little bit more to have better results. 

For science fiction, I concluded that for my level of editing, it would be harder to create a scene of space or anything related to the characteristics of being in the future, including science or technology, adding space-time trips, alternating history, and even adding societal issues which still I found really interesting as I would like to convey some of those last ideas. But because I haven't practiced much my editing as in almost all my past projects another member has chosen to do that part, I would have to get skilled in that and give myself more time for it. So I do not want to throw myself the hardest topic that fast. I rated it 4 out of 5. Comparing it to the second one on my list, Mystery, I gave them the same score. Mystery films always include characteristics of solving crimes/death cases, the detective being the protagonist while the other characters are suspects, there are clues left to find or red herrings (misleading clues), and a lot of suspense. Although they are way different genres, they would have the same score because I like the meaning of science fiction films but I found it harder to do, while Mystery films have less motivational moments but it is easier to take ideas and organize them in my mind. 

So, from these 2 genres, I would still choose the science fiction one as I prefer searching more about how to advance and gain more knowledge with skills needed for it, than trying to find some kind of inspiration in the mystery genre, that I might never find. This was a hard moment as I felt undecided and uninspired. As a continuation, you can see the rest of the characteristics I added for each genre in my chart with each ranking out of 5 at the end of each column. Although I ended up looking deeper into something that was not in the article, I found all this information important, as it made me realize what I do really want to choose, and information on other genres that I could add to mine.

I started to notice that all the time while I was writing I've been having the word "Dystopian" in my mind. I am researching more about it to see if it would benefit me because besides looking like it is something fun to film, analyze, and edit, I am way more interested in the message that I can communicate and have moral quotes. I think that I would love to create some kind of social change by talking about the bad parts of this new society. 

The film (mentioned in my last post) Wall-E has a lot of the characteristics I would like to add, because according to the article What Is Dystopian Fiction? 20 Examples of Dystopian Fiction, Dystopia is simply defined as the imagination of "a future place in cataclysmic decline." This genre would help my audience speculate a vision of the future if change is not being done. I would love to motivate people to take action and make even the smallest difference with the opening of this film, just as the drastic change is seen in the film. For instance, I could talk about battling environmental destruction, controlling technology, and "government oppression" as Master Class says, but I prefer trying to not add anything involving the government mainly because I do not have a wide general knowledge of it and I would not like to create a confusion in some ideas and leave them unclear. Some people could wrongly understand my point of view and rumors not well promoting the film could be spread (as if the opening of the film would be actually posted). I want to create a type of education for my viewers not mislead them through the wrong path. 

I am feeling very passionate about this genre so now I choose to follow my instincts and my heart saying that I must do a dystopia opening. So excited to research, watch, and analyze some films of this genre! I am looking forward to talking about them in another post!!

Here are some references:

"What Is Dystopian Fiction? 20 Examples of Dystopian Fiction" - Master Class,
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/what-is-dystopian-fiction-learn-about-the-5-characteristics-of-dystopian-fiction-with-examples#5glAardBCKLQFkiudTr5ND
Last updated: Sep 21, 2022

"Guide to 9 Types of Fiction: Genre Definitions and Examples" - Indeed Editorial Team
https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/types-of-fiction
Last Update: February 3, 2023

Debating My Thoughts

    I am so lost! I thought that the best way to start this project before planning an outline was to watch the opening from the 2 movies I mentioned in my last post and analyze them, but I must say that I don't know what to do with this information. I wrote more than one page of bullet points analyzing the opening of Wall-E that I searched on YouTube so that I have an inspirational idea of what to do. I refuse to think that this was for nothing. I searched "The Fountain Film" on YouTube too, and I found the full movie and even an explanation of it, but not in any scene of the opening I see the director's name, writer, producer, etc. Besides, when trying to write an analysis for this extract, I found myself finding less information and getting more lost. What I should have done first was understand well from what part until what part an opening is. I am mainly lost because I missed one day's lesson when I had a competition, but if I can advise you on something, I would simply say "Do not miss class".

    After, I simply decided to search for "the best openings of films" on YouTube to perfectly have the main idea clear in my thoughts and not lose track. This way I don't lose time either. After looking at the Art of the Opening Scene video I realized that each film has different openings that don't necessarily have a structured and strict outline that one has to follow. This means I have to stop putting so many limits on myself and just be creative while of course adding the information necessary as the director, writer, producer, cinematographer, editor, or any major actor name. Still, I was kind of lost, so I went to re-read my friend's notes and that's where I found the extra information details that I had to add. But, right now I am not going to focus on that. Instead, I'm going to ask my teacher tomorrow morning for precise information. I know that getting the wheel at the beginning is hard, but once one understands it, is fun. 

    I started watching the intro recommended in the notebook such as "Schindler's List". It helped me but not that much. I didn't lose hope, though. I FOUND IT! That moment of brightness, confirmation, creativeness, and realization, where one understands everything. The opening of the film "The Joker" made me feel all that I have been searching for since the last post. I understood the addition of credits, colors, tone, the title of the film, etc. In this opening, the first thing one hears is the sound of the radio saying "good morning" which I could be inspired by to add an establishing sound in my opening to create a type of hook. Next, just as almost all the other openings, the main character is shown one way or another which means that according to my research, I would prefer to base my intro on a story that is mainly about one character or the main character is just a single one. Understanding this will later help me choose my genre for this fiction as it will depend a lot on it. For example, in romantic films, it is most common that the life of 2 characters has to be shown as an opening or neither of theirs, so I am sure that I do not want to do this type of genre. Although I love watching romantic movies, my skills are not the best in this, or I just know I can do way better in a topic that I would like more. Moving to the mise-en-scene, I've noticed that I would like to add some cool hues and neutrals because I've been interested in what either looks too old or something predicted in the future. I would like something that gives a deep feeling, either too motivational as in the Wall-E's film, or too broken-hearted as in the Joker's extract where the shots, movements, colors, sounds, and angles, serve to convey this idea.

 This introduction showed me how although all openings have to be original and different, there still is information that needs to be added without even making it look bad. Even better, the choices made here, make the plot more interesting and engage the audience. Most importantly, this research made me focus my thoughts, stop overthinking, or think more from different perspectives, and organize my understanding. This made me remember too that I have to think about who I want my audience to be, which I will talk about in another post, so keep yourself updated. Now, I feel ready to start brainstorming clear ideas for the beginning of my opening. I am ready. I cannot wait anymore.   

 

INTRO

 "Changing the word." This is what I try thinking each time I am creating something. Or well, when I am doing everything. I want to change how people see the world, think, and act. That is why I think fiction is perfect for this project. I wanna show you all the potential I have to create something that will make everyone reflect on all their lives. I will demonstrate that what I can create is original and extraordinary. 

This wordings kind of make me remember those incredible talks that one randomly has been to because your parents bought some tickets to go to a show and just spend some time together or you went to a cruse that gave an inspirational speech. One of those talks that one cannot even say a word after because of how much things you can think now. I want my audience to feel that way. Giving one a sense of imagination and creativeness. I am exited for all the knowledge that I am going to gain with this. All the interesting things that I am going to find and like, just as my teacher said, "You'll probably find out that you like blogging", but for that I need to start now, because although there is so much to reflect I am also worried about the time, I hope to make an excellent work and just let it flow. 

So, I have been being straight forward with my research and I need some inspiration to show the world something brilliant. I am looking at videos of the best film opening on YouTube but I have the best one on my mind. Actually in the wall of my class. The Fountain (2006). Including Romance and just by looking at the portrait I already know I wanna watch the opening of it and even the whole movie. That's what I need for my film. For the audience to want so bad to keep watching the whole film. Moving on, again against the time, I just thought about the best film, WALL-E (2008), one of my favorite films. It is just perfect as I want to show my feelings to the world and just as WALL-E did on the film, opened the eyes of humans. 

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

  

Looking To Dive Deeper into the Process of Music Marketing? You Are in the Right Place 

To start telling you the step-by-step explanation, we first need to know what we are talking about. Marketing is all the activities a company does to promote and sell products or services to consumers. In here, music marketing would be us creating the strategies to make our song and artist well known and seen by its audience in a specific way. So, after reading through the instructions of this project carefully, we started talking about them so that we make sure that everyone in the group understands them in the same way.  

Splitting the research was the first thing we needed to do. We concluded that by reading all through a single topic; company or artist, understanding it well, and then explaining it to us, we would gain more time, precision, and understandable knowledge. So that is what we did and what I recommend you do. We all found interesting facts that helped us throughout the project. Most importantly, at the time of sharing the research, we all got to sound like an expert in the topic so that if there is any question, we can answer it to properly understand and remember the information. We even got to give our opinions of those artists and companies and compare them with each other for a little time.  

Moving with the time, we started organizing how we are going to do the video clip. Planning here is the key to success. The first thing we did was brainstorm with the story board, we started sharing little ideas of techniques we should use, the ones we could use, and just noticing the ones that don’t fit. We included ideas of places, the story of our video clips, lighting, mise-en-scène, colors, outfits, and objects. We all had great ideas, but we needed to find what fits best with our artist. Here is where we noticed that we should have talked about who do we want our artist to be. So, we listened to the song repeatedly, which I recommend so that one does not lose track. While listening, we started to think that it is important to decide who our audience is just as who is the artist. We thought about the age, gender, looks, personality, thoughts so that we can all highlight them and use that as a guide for the videoclip, the presentation, and all the including things of the artist inside of it.  

This leads me to my next point. The production. After organizing everything, we decided to film the video in the park, ballet studio, parking lot, house all thinking about the audience we want to attract, how do we want them to look at our artist, and what feelings do we want our artist to provoke on her audience. We used our story board and the notes that everyone in the group made for themselves to help us understand more the filming process and steps. It is recommended to film everything you think can fit on the video clip, even if you are not sure, because it is always better to have more than less, and when editing we are not missing any shots. I am not going to lie, filming was a great experience, it was fun and interesting to see how capable we are of creating something beautiful. We had some friends helping us with the acting that collaborated a lot too and I said it was a great opportunity to meet new people and even to get to know more my peers. The production was fun.  

Everything has its ups and downs. So, I can say that editing was not as fun. Now, we were against time. We did have already planned the order of how the videos are organized and how we want transitions to go. But here comes the moment of truth, where one notices that it doesn’t look exactly as it did in one’s mind. We had to change some things, add some, erase some. At the end it was worth it thought. Everyone in the group was happy with their effort. We were stressed though, so it is better if one is even earlier with the time. Here is where we also started thinking we should have organized better to see the dates of when we are doing each part and even have some time left. 

Meanwhile, we were also doing the presentation, which we split the work here the most because of the time and we thought that everyone can put great ideas in just one time. Besides, if we thought that they were not as explanatory we would discuss them at the end. We ended up including all the marketing strategies like the merch, or distribution practices, and all the main points listed in the rubric given. We even created her website, Instagram, and YouTube accounts. We got to put all the information right as each one already had our charts of research, notes, and a big idea for the video clip so it was not hard to just break up everything and put it in our own words. 

Overall, I am very proud of all the effort we put into this project. We made many mistakes too, but I am glad that I am learning from them. We now know more about how to control situations, be aware of the time, plan everything out beforehand, how to take better decisions. I learned that sometime not everything that looks successful will fit the same way for something mine because there could be better choices that match my decisions. I am proud of all the communication that was in the group, the respect, and devotion. This project helped me develop these many different skills that will help me not just for my Cambridge portfolio but also in my future career and life.