Sunday, April 7, 2019
Reflection
My film involves an orphan, with super abilities including super hearing.She eventually discovers her background and secrets that leads her into chaos.The main character, Ella, is a female led that tackles the gender conventions within the super power world.Despite the raising rates of feminism in this day, women are still portrayed only as weak and vulnerable within films.There are exceptions such as strong female roles like wonder woman or captain marvel but these types of roles are still rare.I also casted myself as Ella because I thought it would break the stereotype of caucasian female leds.Asian American female leads are even more rare than strong women roles.Only recently had films such as Crazy Rich Asians and To all the Boys I’ve Loved before, released in American cinema. Similarly, the main character in my film is a asian female with super abilities who will be involved with brutal combats and war later on in the plot.Ella represents the traits of a real female, she has both her vulnerable times and her strong side,just like a real women.Furthermore, her age also tackles the stereotype that young people are dependent and lazy.Ella, on the other hand, lives alone and supports herself as she is an orphan.Within the film opening, Ella is awaken by the sensitivity of her hearing.Her heartbeat is heard throughout the opening along with the other disturbances she hears.As the noises around her home agitates her, her heart beat increases, creating the feeling of intensity.The beat of the heart helps the audience maintain their attention within the increasingly fast cuts as the rate of the cuts correspond to the rate of the heart beat.As the heartbeat increased in speed, the cuts became harder to edit since each cut eventually only lasted 0.06 seconds.This factor was actually later added onto the video as I realized that it would increase intention better than background music or any other choice.I used the app provided by my school, Wevideo, to edit this opening as I was already familiar with its tools.However, the process of this video has challenged my skills as I am usually the one who films rather than the one who edits.However, after much research and trail and errors, as my put my finishing touches on the video I realized how much my editing skills had improved.Another challenge was to find a good microphone in which can efficiently capture small sounds like the ticking of a clock.At first I had used the microphone of my iphone 6 which resulted teh audio to be unclear.In the end, I bought an audio-technica microphone to record the sound clearly and without background noise.With the help of the microphone, my job as both the editor and the cameraman was made much easier.In At the end, I finished the creation of this opening, the first time as the actor, cameraman, and the editor.The distributions of this film could be an issue since I had no big named producer or a distribution company who will be willing to distribute this film for me.However, I hope that this film can make it into the film festival and could catch the eye of a distribution company that could distribute this film for me.After the long process of creating this film opening, it has given me an experience I had never had.
At last!
After many days of editing the final video is finally finished.The first time as the actor, camera man, AND the editor!!
Tuesday, April 2, 2019
Production Process
I have added the sound of the character's heartbeat to the scene as it would enhance the slow to fast pace cutting of the opening. It would closely emphasize the relation to the fast cutting with the character as he is hearing all of these noises in his home that are distracting him from sleep. The purpose of the repeating shots of the same items is going to be shown in a faster and faster pace is it all together bothers the character, therefore the fastening heartbeat would reveal such as a connection between the rate of agitation of the character with the pace of the footage.
This also creates a beat and pace for the footage to follow as it would not have music in the film instead is it of mostly synchronous realistic sounds. Furthermore, this adds an aesthetic approach to the opening as it allows the audience to follow the fast pace more efficiently.
I had done some research on the effects of pace and rhythm create for the audience. Such as the slow pace is calming while the faster pace is more intense.
http://www.cuvideoedit.com/pacing-and-rhythm.php
http://www.avidblogs.com/film-editing-the-importance-of-rhythm-and-pace/
This also creates a beat and pace for the footage to follow as it would not have music in the film instead is it of mostly synchronous realistic sounds. Furthermore, this adds an aesthetic approach to the opening as it allows the audience to follow the fast pace more efficiently.
I had done some research on the effects of pace and rhythm create for the audience. Such as the slow pace is calming while the faster pace is more intense.
http://www.cuvideoedit.com/pacing-and-rhythm.php
http://www.avidblogs.com/film-editing-the-importance-of-rhythm-and-pace/
Production Process
There have been issues with creating my close up shots such as the wine glass shot and the water dripping shot. The purpose of the water dripping shot was used to reveal how precisely the main character could hear, even a small water drop was interrupting his sleep.
However, I have come to the issue that my iPhone 6 camera could not capture this shot as I would want as it is out of focus or just blurry. In this case, I tried using an updated phone such as the iPhone X in which improved the look of the scene but still, did not create the look I wanted.
I then borrowed a professional Nikon camera and tried again. It was unsuccessful until my father had advised me to adjust the shutter rate in order to capture such quick movement efficiently. After playing around with the shutter speed and the focus and lighting, I finally had the shot I wanted.
Production Process
As Spring Break rolled along, I had a few interruptions in my schedule as my parents had many surprise trips planned. This, however, did not delay my progress ad many shots I've anticipated could have been done without the actor.
I wanted to add extra footage with the showing of glass breaking due to a high frequency of sound and such however it was harder than I thought it would be after researching on how it could be done. The purpose of this scene would add an emphasis on the uncontrollable of the main character, as it would be shown that the wine glass was cracked or shattered when the character was agitated by the interruptions of the noises he hears as he awakens from his sleep.
Unfortunately, the wine glass footage I wanted to create was usually created by using CGI in which would be difficult for me to produce as I do not own an editing program that can do such nor have the skills to edit it perfectly how I wanted to come out.
Instead, I found a solution to this issue when I stumbled upon this Youtube video during my researching.
It has shown that the glass can be broken with a high pitch frequency. This way, it creates a look where the glass is trembling in which then eventually breaks and shatters.
However, the downside to this was that I had later found out it was nearly impossible to do smoothly without either a generator, used in the Youtube video or something closely within the premises of the glass, therefore, would, either way, ruin the shot I wanted to create. So, in the end, I am still debating on whether I should try to achieve this as I do not have much time left currently as it is coming to the end of Spring Break.
However, the downside to this was that I had later found out it was nearly impossible to do smoothly without either a generator, used in the Youtube video or something closely within the premises of the glass, therefore, would, either way, ruin the shot I wanted to create. So, in the end, I am still debating on whether I should try to achieve this as I do not have much time left currently as it is coming to the end of Spring Break.
Sunday, March 17, 2019
Sound-Foley
Foley, named after audio cues craftsman Jack Foley, is the generation of regular audio cues that are added to the film, video, and other media in after creation to improve sound quality. These imitated sounds can be anything from the washing of dress and strides to squeaky entryways and breaking glass. The best Foley workmanship is so very much incorporated into a film that it goes unnoticed by the audience. It makes a feeling of reality inside a scene. Without these background commotions, films feel unnaturally calm and awkward.
Without a doubt, I would use foley for sounds for my film opening. As this would be a scene focused on the sharpened and specified sounds of objects, I would need to be very realistic and clear with the sound I would be using in which therefore would not be any sound effects found from royalty free websites.
I have found many websites to tricks on foley makings such as:
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/art-of-making-sound-effects/
https://blog.soundsnap.com/2017/10/23/27-tips-tricks-creating-foley-sound-effects-for-film/
https://www.sound-ideas.com/Page/what-is-foley.aspx
On the other hand, there are many noises that are hard to foley such as a passing truck and without a studio, it would be rather difficult to make such grand sound effects without using the real recorded sounds or a clip from a royalty-free website. Despite this fact, I still plan on using foley sound effects for as much of the opening as possible. Since my opening would not involve much of dialogue, the sound is one of the most important ways to convey a message and pull the attention of the audience to the screen with both their sight and hearing involved.
Without a doubt, I would use foley for sounds for my film opening. As this would be a scene focused on the sharpened and specified sounds of objects, I would need to be very realistic and clear with the sound I would be using in which therefore would not be any sound effects found from royalty free websites.
I have found many websites to tricks on foley makings such as:
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/art-of-making-sound-effects/
https://blog.soundsnap.com/2017/10/23/27-tips-tricks-creating-foley-sound-effects-for-film/
https://www.sound-ideas.com/Page/what-is-foley.aspx
On the other hand, there are many noises that are hard to foley such as a passing truck and without a studio, it would be rather difficult to make such grand sound effects without using the real recorded sounds or a clip from a royalty-free website. Despite this fact, I still plan on using foley sound effects for as much of the opening as possible. Since my opening would not involve much of dialogue, the sound is one of the most important ways to convey a message and pull the attention of the audience to the screen with both their sight and hearing involved.
super hearing research
In the opening scene, I want to create, I want to portray the issues the main character has with his super hearing in which he cants control. I have watched many clips of film characters with similar powers and had picked up a few common details:
-There are many closes up. This shows the specific sounds one hears of the object or person.
-One sound is focused and sharpened rather than the surrounding objects
-The character would have to focus in order to access this ability
These are the main points I have taken into consideration for my film opening. Now, I have cast my friend, Sol Espinoza for the part and have found a busy area such as downtown to be a good spot for the filming. It provides a perfect setting for the plot and character as the cities have the busiest and the noisiest streets of all.
change of plot
I felt that my original idea was too hard to work with and decided to completely change the plot with a corresponding opening that I can work with easily as I have limitations since I have to work alone. After a friend had told me that a good movie opening would have to have the plot figured out so one change lead to another so...
The new plot involves:
An orphan who had the capability of “super hearing” in which he could not control, making him an isolated “weirdo”. With the sudden disappearance of his best friend, he begins to use his skills to find his missing friend after being rudely rejected by the police when trying to ask for help. He finds clues to where his friend is but it leads him to a military base where he was captured. He later learns that the local military had known about him and his skills because he was a missing test subject of the military. They used his friend as a bait and to test out his skills they had integrated into him.Within his captivity, he is imprisoned in an extremely quiet room where he could hear his blood flow and heartbeat in which drove him to cause a massive explosion.He could control energy waves and vibrations.This was exactly what they wanted and they began to experiment him to revoke and“train” his abilities and tortured his friend whenever he disobeyed. He later finds out that the friend that he had known was like him, a test subject who is also a mutilated artificial human and had been tracking him for the military.He is raged and leads to a furious "super power" fight between him and his friend, in which leads to a cliffhanger that zooms out to two teens playing video games, revealing that the characters were video game characters.An orphan who had the capability of “super hearing” in which he could not control, making him an isolated “weirdo” in a suburban town. With the sudden disappearance of his best friend, he begins to use his skills to find his missing friend after being rudely rejected by the police when trying to ask for help. He finds clues to where his friend is but it leads him to a military base where he was captured. He later learns that the local military had known about him and his skills because he was a missing test subject of the military. They used his friend as a bait and to test out the skills they had integrated into him. Within his captivity, he is imprisoned in an extremely quiet room where he could hear his blood flow and heartbeat in which drove him to cause a massive explosion.He could control energy waves and vibrations.This was exactly what they wanted and they began to experiment him to revoke and“train” his abilities and tortured his friend whenever he disobeyed. He later finds out that the friend that he had known was like him, a test subject who is also a mutilated artificial human and had been tracking him for the military.
The new plot involves:
An orphan who had the capability of “super hearing” in which he could not control, making him an isolated “weirdo”. With the sudden disappearance of his best friend, he begins to use his skills to find his missing friend after being rudely rejected by the police when trying to ask for help. He finds clues to where his friend is but it leads him to a military base where he was captured. He later learns that the local military had known about him and his skills because he was a missing test subject of the military. They used his friend as a bait and to test out his skills they had integrated into him.Within his captivity, he is imprisoned in an extremely quiet room where he could hear his blood flow and heartbeat in which drove him to cause a massive explosion.He could control energy waves and vibrations.This was exactly what they wanted and they began to experiment him to revoke and“train” his abilities and tortured his friend whenever he disobeyed. He later finds out that the friend that he had known was like him, a test subject who is also a mutilated artificial human and had been tracking him for the military.He is raged and leads to a furious "super power" fight between him and his friend, in which leads to a cliffhanger that zooms out to two teens playing video games, revealing that the characters were video game characters.An orphan who had the capability of “super hearing” in which he could not control, making him an isolated “weirdo” in a suburban town. With the sudden disappearance of his best friend, he begins to use his skills to find his missing friend after being rudely rejected by the police when trying to ask for help. He finds clues to where his friend is but it leads him to a military base where he was captured. He later learns that the local military had known about him and his skills because he was a missing test subject of the military. They used his friend as a bait and to test out the skills they had integrated into him. Within his captivity, he is imprisoned in an extremely quiet room where he could hear his blood flow and heartbeat in which drove him to cause a massive explosion.He could control energy waves and vibrations.This was exactly what they wanted and they began to experiment him to revoke and“train” his abilities and tortured his friend whenever he disobeyed. He later finds out that the friend that he had known was like him, a test subject who is also a mutilated artificial human and had been tracking him for the military.
Monday, March 11, 2019
music
The music is very important part of the opening scene I had in mind. The music should be very relaxes with a beat and has ups and downs on its beats. This could be a mix of pop and indie and rhythms and blues. A popular artist of similar music I am looking for is Billie Ellish, as her music has a good beat and intertwines chill and pop.The music for the scene would also be instrumental, to stimulate the “high” feeling. However, with the limitations of copyright, it makes it very difficult to find a soundtrack that fits the opening scene.
I have three options:
1)Ask for the ability to use copyright music which has a lower chance of success.
2)Find non copyrighted music from websites such as
And
3)I could make my own music from programs and apps that are accessible such as
- Sound trap
- Apple Garage Band
- Reaper
Critics
Today in class we had to give each other critics and help each other improve and modify ideas of one another.
The feedback that I received was that:
-Although it is a interesting plot, the shot I want to achieve for my film opening are difficult
-Although my plot is generally known, it’s better for the opening if I knew exactly what the plot is
-Although my approach is targeting younger audiences like teenagers, when involved with drugs it usually is R rated, meaning it will mostly seen by adults
-To maintain the realism style, there would be offensive language and other inappropriate selections, again making it R rated
-The film opening idea is not as unique as the plot
-I should figure names and characteristics and background of each main character before I proceed to the opening
These are the general feedback I received. After hearing other ideas, I have decided to consider changing the plot, to something easier to manage. Although the plot may change, I would still like to continue the genre of drama and comedy.
Sunday, March 10, 2019
plot
The specific plot of the story is established before figuring out the film opening is important to make a understanding and clear opening for the audiences. Within my film, I wanted to take an approach on targeting more young adults with popular a characteristic of teenagers: drugs.
My story involves characters all somewhat involved with drugs since a young age. There are six main characters and three set of relationships within the plot: one with drug addiction, one who suffers from withdrawal, one who sells drugs, one who starts drugs again, one who’s abused by a drug addicted parent, and one who began trying drugs from pressure. The plot of relationships eventually intertwine as they meet within an Narcotics Anonymous meeting or has been in touch with one another because of drugs. The plot reveals to the audience the effect of drugs on the user and the people around them and how love and affection effects how that plays. The plot should also reveal how drugs can affect a relationship and the ups and downs of it.It’ll end with a clear message to the audience, drugs change you and everything around you.
I want to approach the film opening with “chill- music”, usually music that people who are high listen to and the camera movements and effects will follow the beat. It would be a few teenagers smoking a cart and doing nicotine in a dark bed room with purple, blue, green, pink lighting and neon lights. There would be puffs of smoke and the shots will be blurry and u clear. It will mimic the “high” feeling.
Multi-Storyline
An idea about my plot has been lingering around my mind since the beginning of the year when i found out about this portfolio.
The widely known comedic drama, Love Actually, inspired me with the one movie three stories 6 main characters kind of deal. "Love Actually," the 2003 film that propelled an age of true to life hot takes, is the story of nine interconnected connections in the weeks in front of Christmas in the United Kingdom.It has a plotline for every moment in a relationship, from first crush to the deathbed and the story covers many realistic parts of one’s memories: the Christmas party, the school pageant, the holiday songs.This style give the audience many plots to focus on, in which also all the plots links to each other. The audience is constantly entertained by each scene as with each scene progresses one of the relationships. It ensures the audience's’ attention on the film.
Another example of this multi-storyline style of plots is a popular Taiwanese movie, Love.The film features an ensemble cast, with the stories revealed to be interwoven as the plot progresses.Through the three sub-plots of eight interlaced characters, the good and bad times of love, what love brings to the table and what love needs to give and take, the film demonstrates the relative circumstances in which love can withstand.These films closely resemble the interesting approach that I want to take, to reveal the unique and peticular factors of my film.
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Drama -Genre Research
The genre of drama, the purpose of a dramatic storyline is to move the audience emotional. These films strongly depend on the development of realistic characters encountering their emotions and their issues. Drama films usually concentrate on the main character him/her/itself as they are facing their issues emotional. The on-screen actors encounter a different role in which other genres wouldn’t allow them to do; due to the build of character throughout the plot as the character dramatically change, engaging with the audience.
The characteristics of dramatic films contain many factors: they portray a character's journey and developments, exhibits real life characters, situations, settings and stories, involves intense social interaction, dramatic sound, and exaggerated performance. The genre of drama can also become of a hybrid, for example, dramatic comedy,a dramatic film that uses an equal, or nearly equal balance of humour and serious content. Although the two genres seem completely different, it comes together as a pretty popular hybrid. A popular movie such as Love Actually is an example of the dramatic comedy genre.In the film,Love Actually, contains nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love.The plot is a mixture of laughter and tears.
From this, I realize that not only the story has to be relatable but it also has to contain some realistic features of emotions to fully engage the audience.
The characteristics of dramatic films contain many factors: they portray a character's journey and developments, exhibits real life characters, situations, settings and stories, involves intense social interaction, dramatic sound, and exaggerated performance. The genre of drama can also become of a hybrid, for example, dramatic comedy,a dramatic film that uses an equal, or nearly equal balance of humour and serious content. Although the two genres seem completely different, it comes together as a pretty popular hybrid. A popular movie such as Love Actually is an example of the dramatic comedy genre.In the film,Love Actually, contains nine intertwined stories examine the complexities of the one emotion that connects us all: love.The plot is a mixture of laughter and tears.
From this, I realize that not only the story has to be relatable but it also has to contain some realistic features of emotions to fully engage the audience.
Comedy-Genre Research
The extremely successful type of Comedy utilizes laughter to pick up a great deal of enthusiasm by gaining the interest of audiences around the globe, the fundamental accentuation being put on making audiences laugh these movies are intended to engage the crowd through entertainment. Comedies regularly work with misrepresenting qualities of genuine for diverting impact. Movies in this specific style regularly have an upbeat completion making the audience leave feeling cheerful and happy. Comedy is one of the most seasoned classes in film, a portion of the absolute first quiet motion pictures were comedies, as slapstick comedy regularly relies on visual depictions, without requiring sound.
Comedy is a genre which can be made into a hybrid which is a mix of two different genres to make another kind. For instance, Rom-Com is a mix of romance with an amusing turn; this is one of the most popular hybrid genres. For example, American Pie which has a plot of youthful college boys who experience adventures together, it likewise has traditions of the 'Teenager Comedy' as it additionally demonstrates the life of teenage boys and how they seek after their fantasy to engage in sexual relations with a female. This has lead me to realize that comedy isn't just anything that is amusing, but it would have to be either relatable or understandable to the audience to even be considered "funny".Factors such as teenage life, college life, puberty, relationships and etc. have commonly been incorporated into the main theme of comedy.
The type of comedy will determine the audience as the comedy genre itself has a wide target audience, for example, black comedy would be aimed at 18+ as there would be explicit scenes with curse words or sexual reference. Moreover, slapstick comedies such as Home Alone would be targeted at young children aged between 6-13 years old. In Home Alone, violent scenes are embedded with amusement for the engagement of younger audiences as they could RELATE to seeing someone their age battling 'bad guys' making them yearn to watch it more. The relatable factor of comedy is what maintains and satisfy the audience keeping their attention to the movie intact.
Comedy is a genre which can be made into a hybrid which is a mix of two different genres to make another kind. For instance, Rom-Com is a mix of romance with an amusing turn; this is one of the most popular hybrid genres. For example, American Pie which has a plot of youthful college boys who experience adventures together, it likewise has traditions of the 'Teenager Comedy' as it additionally demonstrates the life of teenage boys and how they seek after their fantasy to engage in sexual relations with a female. This has lead me to realize that comedy isn't just anything that is amusing, but it would have to be either relatable or understandable to the audience to even be considered "funny".Factors such as teenage life, college life, puberty, relationships and etc. have commonly been incorporated into the main theme of comedy.
The type of comedy will determine the audience as the comedy genre itself has a wide target audience, for example, black comedy would be aimed at 18+ as there would be explicit scenes with curse words or sexual reference. Moreover, slapstick comedies such as Home Alone would be targeted at young children aged between 6-13 years old. In Home Alone, violent scenes are embedded with amusement for the engagement of younger audiences as they could RELATE to seeing someone their age battling 'bad guys' making them yearn to watch it more. The relatable factor of comedy is what maintains and satisfy the audience keeping their attention to the movie intact.
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