Group feedback 1 - Portfolio Blog #7

This was the first time ever I met with other people outside my group to discuss our ideas. The plan was to help each other improve our stories and production. 

Ale's Part

https://alebecamestudious.blogspot.com/

She wanted to start with the ending scene of the movie to make the viewers question how the individual got to the state she's in. I thought that concept was so cool. The idea is to start with the protagonist recovering from plastic surgery and then flatlining, then cutting to a few years prior and letting the story begin from there. 

I only had two concerns. One, how is she going to recreate a hospital? Ale assured me that she can do it in her room with the use of close-ups. I told her to be very careful and meaningful with her shots, as that could go wrong very quickly. Two, how will people understand the surgery is cosmetic, and do people even die from that? A quick Google search told us that the mortality rate for cosmetic surgery is very low, but people still die from blood clots. She never answered my other question; I think we got distracted.

Addison's Part

https://aicemediaperiod8.blogspot.com/

God, I really hope that's how her name is spelled. She's been in a class of mine almost every year since 2020, and I still don't know her name. That's a huge failure on my end. Anyway, Addison wanted to do a psychological thriller. The entire opening was basically just following a woman while she buries her husband's body. She and Ale had the same idea in the sense that they started with the last scene of the movie. 

I told Addison that she basically just wrote a short story for a long story and that this doesn't have to just be the end. The woman can be insane; this scene can be an implication of that. What if her husband is very much still alive and loving, but the woman thinks he's hiding a big secret. The woman wants to kill her husband for her belief that she's defending herself from him. This opening can be about her daydreaming about that. Sort of like The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe, where the narrator is unrelatable and tries to justify an unjustifiable murder.

Gabby's Part

https://gabyslens.blogspot.com/

Gabby planned to do a coming-of-age story about a girl who escapes her room while her parents are arguing. The idea is to have the girls room reflect her personality. Her parents argue because her little brother is dead.

I asked Gabby several questions. How old is the brother? Why did he kill himself? What exactly is in the girl's room that reflects her personality? She didn't have an answer, so we came up with them together. The brother should be in middle school, maybe 8th grade, since most people were absolutely miserable in middle school. He could've always been an outcast, in school and out, and at home, his family didn't want much to do with him. So, he must've felt helpless and like a burden to others, therefore thinking that suicide would be doing others a favor. As for the girls room, I suggested having childhood things covered by this girl's new identity once her brother died. To represent her loss of innocence and a side of her once he left. 

Vicky's Part

Sadly, I didn't write down her blog URL. Should I remember to ask, I'll update this post with her URL.

Vicky didn't have an idea in stone. But she wanted to make a dystopian that drew inspiration from The Giver. A society that selects a few to have a special, important job. Little do the people chosen know they'll soon have to fight something big and intimidating. 

I told her it might be difficult to make a futuristic dystopian; she said no, because we live in a very clean, idealized, and gentrified city; it'll actually be very easy. I said she was right; I didn't think about it that way. Then I told her, What about the powers? She needs special effects for that; it may be hard to do. She said that in the worst-case scenario, she'll only talk about it but never show the powers themselves.

My Part

I didn't have much to say, but since we were running out of time in the classroom, I quickly made something up based on my research. A woman in a western, she is a cowgirl, even though it is very much frowned upon at that time. She is a pacifist on a bounty, and escapes people trying to catch her.

Addison recommended showing how women in the western landscape were perceived. As servants to their male counterparts, and then introduce the cowgirl. Then we were told to pack up and get ready to leave; the bell was about to ring. So, I didn't get many suggestions on improvements; however, we will have more meetings, so hopefully I'll get more advice soon! 

History Research - Portfolio Blog #6

Hello! This is a quick research blog over the actual history of the 1800s. That way, I know what is true from the movies I watch and don't unintentionally spread misinformation.

In 1803, America expanded with the Louisiana purchase. As the century came to an end, people began settling down and the land that was once unfamiliar became home. Around this time, the telegram and trains where invented and perfected, it connected people across the country. Also, Jim Crow Laws became controversial as the abolishment of slavery war rearing near. This brought in millions of immigrates and increase a demand for labor. 

Housing ranged from country side to cites. Cities aren't common in the western genre though, so I'll focus on rural living. Urban areas where also uncommon back then, but expanded quickly. Many settlers flocked to the plains, due to the Homestead Act, but most were forced into debt and migration because of drought. They arranged themselves into Granges and Farmers' Alliances, which fought poor economic conditions and even founded the short-lived Populist Party in 1892. Life as a homesteader in the 1800s was hard and unkind. There was no electricity, no indoor plumbing, and no modern medicine. Farming, cooking, and surviving required manual labor. They grew or hunted their own food, made their own clothes, and huddled on winters with little food. I found a video that show how self sufficient people had to be back then.

Hygiene was bad, diseases were a common feature, and medical care was rare; consequently, there was a very high rate of child mortality and a low life expectancy. Hardships included lack of food, extreme weather conditions, and wild animals. Self-sufficiency and resilience characterized rural life, but it isn't at all how the western genre romanticizes it. From what I've seen, the wild west has always been a symbol for strength, independence, and moral righteousness. Maybe this romanticism is the right thing to do though. I mean if viewers wanted to watch a western, they'd want to see a man on his horse shooting his gun and saving the town. Not a mother struggling to help her children survive winter. This research was definitely eye opening, I'm considering trying in incorporate this into my video opening. Maybe having the protagonist's struggle find food or overcome sickness be a part of the plot. 

That being said, here is a list of things I want to look into should I ever have the time:

- How did people speak back then?

- How did they dress? What where the dress differences between lower and upper classes?

- What were women allowed to do? I know they stayed home and worked, but where they allowed to mount horses? Do dresses even allow for that?

Cites:

https://www.ancestry.com/c/ancestry-blog/what-was-life-like-1800s#:~:text=Daily%20life%20in%20the%2019th,to%20be%20prepared%20for%20conscription.\

https://library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/jimcrow

https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/common/generic/CivilRightsAct1875.htm

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/rural-life-in-late-19th-century/

The Schedule - Portfolio Blog #5

Here's the schedule I made with my group for the project. 

By Feb 16th we should have:

• Decided on a final story
• Finished the script (Nico's job)
• Made a shot list and a storyboard focused on the cinematography of the piece (My job to make the content, Emi's job to make my drawings easier to understand)
• Have a fat quantity of research on the western era and genre (My job)
• Planned where to shoot and when (Zach and Nico)
• Drawn out costumes (Emi's job)

By Feb 23:

• Planned a day to film that fits everyone's schedule and accommodates the needs of the place we are filming at. 
• Bring the costume designs to life (Emi's and my job)
• Make or buy props (Nico's job)

Zach, Nico, and I leave to a national competition throughout the beginning of March, so we decided not to plan anything that week.

By March 16th:

• Finish editing completely, including color grade and foley as needed. (Zach's job)
• Made title graphic (my job)
• Get feedback from friend

With this schedule we should have over a week to spare before having to submit our project. I think this is best because if anything goes badly, we have a week to adjust. Also, in the best case, we'd have a week without any work!

Edit on 3.18.25:

Future me here! Hi England! Two things. One, we never ended up following this schedule. Two, I refer to myself as Renn often. You do have the right individual's blog, the only thing is that I am transgender. Female to male, so my legal sex and name are correct. I just don't use them on this blog for privacy and for my mental heath. Okay, have fun grading!

Credit Sequences Research - Portfolio Blog #4

For this blog, we were told to only give three examples of movies, but instead I wanted to give 3 ideas for things I could do. I think I'll end up taking a little bit of inspiration from all of these movies and techniques. But only time (and my teammates' opinions) will tell. Also, my team decided to do a western! 

#1 Just a Bunch of Wicked Cool Graphics

A Fistful of Dollars

Of the credit sequences I've watched, most of them were graphics, and this one is no exception. Moving images with text next to them and music playing overtop. I skimmed a case study done by Melis Inceer from the University of Pennsylvania on credit sequences; from what I can tell, most movies have this regardless of the genre.

I referenced this credit sequence specifically because I love its use of color, just red and black. I think something limited like this is very visually interesting and could be seen as a metaphor that shadows the rest of the movie. The repetitive use of horses and guns seems to be a theme between the credit sequences of this genre, and this sequence is no exception. I mean, horses and guns everywhere! I really like it, though. The silhouettes I've found are especially powerful. 

Django, Prepare a Coffin (1968)

Another coincidence like this one is Django, Peroare a Coffin's sequence, except it has more color and uses fewer silhouettes. The use of more color makes the credit sequence feel like it carries less weight and that the movie itself is a little bit more lighthearted. I really need to talk with my team about the tone of our opening. Should we choose something satirical, this should be a good route to take.

#2 Vaguely Metaphorical Video and Some Text

The Big Country (1958)

As I was looking through another case study, one sentence in the conclusion stood out to me.

"...opening title sequences are becoming key elements which often set the atmosphere and introduce the audience to the film." 

Essentially, a film credit should have the same look and feel as the movie it's for since it is the introduction before an introduction to the film. A great example of this is The Big Country (1958). Its opening sequence is just a lot of shots of forms of travel in the western era, horses and trains, with graphics over it. The name of the movie and the use of wide shots of terrain imply that the movie is about how big the western landscape is. The typography or images aren't unique either. Seeing as this movie was released in the golden age of western movies, I'm assuming that the opening graphic is just trying to say, "Hey! Look at me! I'm a profitable movie!" And the scores reflect this too; it has a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. People like love movies.

 For a Few Dollars More (1965)

Another title sequence similar to this one is For a Few Dollars More (1965). This one is a wide shot of a man on his horse in a vast western landscape, then the man gets shot off his horse, and the text begins passing in and out. The thing that caught my eye, though, is the way the graphic shows up on screen. It wiggles up from it like worms emerging from soil. I find it really memorable.

#3 Video, BOOM! (Insert Cool Match Cut with Graphic Here) 

The Wild Bunch (1969)

There was only one example of this I could find, but it is still very noteworthy. There is a lot that happens in this opening, as it introduces the movie's character. One thing I'd like to point out is the way that the credit sequence combines the opening of the movie with its credits. It does a match cut just over the video itself into a drawing of the character and some text. I don't think I've seen much like it, and it makes everything feel very stylized. Only thing, should I mimic this, I'd add music and the clips to the beat of the music. That way they'd feel more impactful and intentional.

CITES:

(All should be imbedded into the blog, if something fails, here are the links to everything in the order mentioned) 

- https://core.ac.uk/reader/76393810

- https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Anna-Matamala/publication/283213303_Opening_credit_sequences_audio_describing_films_within_films/links/562f5f4508ae4742240ac56f/Opening-credit-sequences-audio-describing-films-within-films.pdf

- https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/big_country

Researching Film Openings - Portfolio Blog #3

 Today I met up with my group and we discussed what we our project will be. It didn't take long to decide on futuristic western sci-fi. Sounds crazy, I know. I think that idea is way too far fetched, so we decided to just research two separate genres, western and sci-fi. From here we will pick one of the two.

#1 Rango

A weird film for sure, not traditional Western at all. It starts with Rango trapped in his cage. We see how he feels about the encloser he is in and how he spends his time, as well as a little bit of foreshadowing. The entertaining thing about this is that Rango is the only person in this scene, yet he is talking to objects as if they where people. The opening ends with Rango's encloser breaking open and leaves the audience and Rango with a big question; what to do now?]

Rango opening:

In (TITLE HERE), the creators of the movie talk about how they wanted to make something that broke the bounders of westerns and animated movies. You can see this in the the character design, characters are asymmetrical and far from Disney's cute animated animal style. The creators also wanted to play on western tropes in fun ways, which doesn't show up until later in the movie. This is ideal for me, I want to create something unique and intriguing. 

The documentary: 

#2 A Fistful of Dollars

I never watched this movie, I don't watch a lot of westerns. However I think it sets the conflict for the rest of the movie pretty well. Two families that hate each other in a crime ridden town, a nameless man plots a way to exploit both families, he releases a captive of one of the family's (the Rojos) and then confronts that family. The movie ends with the man killing the Rojos.

 

A Fistful of Dollars opening: 

This movie has a very simple opening that says more about the main characters surrounding that the character himself. The Man just watches what goes down, he never attempts to step in. An approach like this may be simpler for me, since it's far more focused on world building. Western genres are characterized by the landscape too, so a focus on that might make my job easier too. 

#3 The Bladerunner

Moving on to sci-fi, the plot of The Bladerunner is mostly focused on the struggles of the protagonist as he attempts to hunt down Replicants (bio engineered humans). The films opening is rather abstract at the beginning, it starts giving questions the viewer questions throughout.

The Bladerunner opening:

I assume this is a staple sci-fi movies, just giving the viewer thousands of questions until the movie answers them. I also assume all those questions are what keep the viewers hooked. If we do go the sci-fi route I'm sure our opening will have this confusing sort of story too. 

Genre Research - Portfolio Blog #2

Hello! This blog is just a little research for possible genre matched with a few ideas and reflections for my project. 

#1- Western 

Western genres began in dime novels in the late 19th century, but films of the genre quickly got a solid ground in the silent era of film.² They where popular and very common for a while, but audiences began to feel the movies became predictable. It was only until after the widespread use of synoicous sound in the 1940s that western films were reviven.¹ The western genre has existed for a long while, meaning it's had time to developed tropes and niches. Depending on how the tropes are written, this can make or break a movie. For example, the noble outlaw is almost always the main character. A stoic, strong, and morally righteous shadowy figure.³

If I pick this genre, this will mean I'd get to research about life in the late 1800s. The clothes and the set would have to be planned to every last little feature. The little nerd in my brain can't wait to make vast spreadsheets and long historical essays. Should I make this film, I would definitely write something akin to Lego Batmen. Batman started out as a total loser who didn't want to leave the house, but had everyone convinced he was really cool. Over the movie, he learns to let people in and grows a chosen family. 

Clip of Batman being a loser: 

Clip of Batman being cool:

I think having a character like this would be a really fun twist on the western trope of a lone rider.

Resources: 

1. https://screenculturejournal.com/2017/04/the-decline-in-popularity-of-the-western-film-genre/

2. https://nofilmschool.com/western-genre#:~:text=The%20genre%20has%20its%20roots,a%20harsh%20and%20unforgiving%20environment.

3. https://screenrant.com/western-movie-genre-tropes/

#2 Coming of age

Coming of age films have always kind of existed, there isn't a traceable history them. However there is a traceable decline to their production. It seems the golden age was in the 2000s. That was before fantasy, science fiction, and dystopian movies took over the content consumed by the teenage demographic. There seem to be very few movies about growing up in the 21st century.¹ Coming of age movies tend to be focused on a teenager changing over time. Usually takes place in or around high school, and deals with a lot of concepts like learning to be one's true self or getting over a first love. ²

If I where to do the genre, I'd go one of two ways.

One: I do something focused on current everyday life. Maybe following a teenager who feels like a fish out of water. They aren't allowed to have a cell phone, so they just constantly feel left out. This one might be a bit depressing though, which isn't up my alley. 

Two: I go all the way back to the 50s or 70s. I'd research how they lived back then and maybe do something akin to Grease or Footloose. 

Resources:

1. https://spartanshield.org/29522/arts-entertainment/the-evolution-of-the-coming-of-age-genre-in-film/

2. https://www.themaryword.com/post/a-deconstruction-of-the-coming-of-age-genre-with-recommendations

I intentionally picked two genres that have been oversaturated. This is because I'd love to put a creative spin my work. The motivator behind this approach is Rango. It is a movie that combines fantasy elements and animated animals to a western landscape. The character designs are full of personality and play on western tropes.

The Beginning - Portfolio Blog #1

 Hello!

Today we where introduced to a new part of our course, the Portfolio Project! Pretty much, we make a film opening to represent our knowledge on the medium, including shot types, set design, color coding, editing methods, ext. I'm pretty exited to make something akin to a short film, and I already have a few people in mind to work with. 

The plan is to pick a genre that is oversaturated with productions and make something new out of it. Right now I'm considering two genres, Coming of Age and Western. I think I can do a lot of nice writing by playing on the tropes and flipping them on their head. Also, I want to pick something that requires a lot of research, like a story at a different time, because I find that fun.