Week 3: Story-boarding and News Headlines

     There was something I didn't realize when I made my last posting.  I mentioned that since we had already cast a main actress that we were starting to get ahead of schedule, but I totally forgot that we also planned on finding a shooting location next week.  Since we already have Lucille's down to film, we're actually super ahead of schedule.  The only thing we have left to do for Week 4 is find a handful extras, so we've pretty much cleared that week.  This also means that we have more time to refine the script and storyboard that we're starting this week.
     Following the theme of me creating a skeleton and Sil filling in the rest of the body, I have created an outline for our storyboard.  I'm not very good at drawing while Sil is, but I still wanted to contribute to planning out our shots for the opening.  So, I created a list of shot ideas that we could use in the scene.

1. Title card fades away, cut to wide shot of diner interior, showing off setting
2. Close up of bell ringing as door opens (I assume Lucille's has one of those never been there)
3. Mid shot of main character
4. POV shot panning left to right of the diner
5. Mid shot of MC walking towards a booth
6. Long shot of booth with MC approaching in left third
7. Mid shot of MC sitting in the booth
8. Close up of phone
9. Shot counter shot of MC video calling with her friend on the phone
10. Mid shot of MC putting away phone, smoothing out clothes as her date arrives

  I know that there aren't that many shots, but this is just an idea of what we want the scene as a whole to look like, and we'll probably add some more shots when it comes to the complete storyboard and the final version of the opening.

We plan on having a bunch of holograms floating over the tables in the diners, essentially functioning as newspapers. Sil wanted be to make a bunch of news headlines so that she could choose a few to use in the holograms, so I brainstormed, asked some friends for ideas, and went to the Onion for "inspiration." Here's what I came up with:

• Partly cloudy weather expected for tomorrow
• Heavy rain forecasted for Saturday
• Hurricane on track for East Coast, president unconcerned
• ‘No way to prevent this’ says only nation where this regularly happens
• Western Culture Ends
• Neurosurgeon feels lucky to have turned hobby into a career
• War erupts in Europe, Germany blamed again
• Mercury in retrograde
• Internet down on Mars
• Chinese government pinky-promises to stop spying
• Florida man arrested for assaulting fast-food mascot
• Patriots claim 123rd Super Bowl win
• Legendary Hollywood actor dies of apparent age overdose
• Disney acquires rights to the word “movie”

  Some of these are just normal headlines, but since I think retrofuturism is inherently sort of goofy and the news headlines aren't meant to be focused on, it would be funny to have some jokes in there as Easter eggs for anyone who decides to try reading them. Using sci-fi and a futuristic setting also gives us a lot of leeway in terms of whats possible, so some of the more ridiculous ones seem somewhat plausible. Sil seems to have especially like the ones about Disney, Western culture, and the neurosurgeon.

We're experimenting a little more with the holograms and discussing some of our plans for when we're filming at Lucille's. I plan on talking about this in my next post. See you then!

Week 3: A Whole Bunch of Stuff

     If the title is any indication, there have been a lot of developments since my last post.  To try and make clear how much has happened, Sil has a blog post scheduled to be published every single day until Monday.  I, on the other hand, have elected to talk about everything in this one blog post so that I have some wiggle room to talk about any more things this week in future posts.
     First things first, we now know what our film is about (insert applause track).  It's a retrofuturist piece critiquing modern dating culture, and so far our working title is Flame.  Sil intended for it to be a parody of Tinder, but I realized that the term "old flame" refers to someone you used to have a relationship with and was used a lot more back in the day than it is now, so it actually fits really well into our 1950's-esque sci-fi setting.  Obviously a very intentional choice on Sil's part.
     We decided upon having a female main lead and already have an actress for the role: our friend Veronica.  We still need to find another supporting actor or two and maybe some extras, but getting an actress for our main role in Week 3 puts us ahead of schedule considering we didn't plan on finding actors until Week 4.
     Sil has also found a potential shooting location, that being Lucille's American Cafe.  I've never been to the place, but Google describes it as a "1940s-style diner", so it seems to be just what we're looking for.  They've said they're happy to help us by letting us film there, but they still want some more information before hand.  We don't have everything we need yet to nail down a definitive date for filming, but once we do it seems like we'll have a pretty nice shooting location to use.
     In the meantime, I have the task of finding some more actors and props.  I've know a pretty wide variety of people and have found a few folks who wouldn't mind showing up for a moment or two in our opening.  When it comes to props, I'm looking for some small stuff that we could probably put on a table without looking too out of place, like a clock or a little table ornament, something like that.  The things I want have that sort of atom-punk look of a lot of the metal and plastic products from the 40's and 50's.  I've asked some friends if they have anything that fits my criteria, but I haven't come up with anything yet.  I plan on asking some of the older people I know if they have anything like that since, well, they were around when people bought stuff like that regularly.  If I can't find anything to borrow, I plan on seeing if there are any places around here where I can find antique stuff like that without emptying out my entire savings account.
     Yesterday, I made a script outline for Sil to work with in order to make a full script for our scene.  What is a script outline, you may ask.  It's just a skeletal overview of the parts of the scene and the gist of what the characters are saying.  Why not just start the actual script yourself, you may also ask.  That's a very good question.  You see, back when I worked with Sil on a film pitch project back in November (if I remember correctly), we had to make a script for a 3-minute scene.  I wrote up a substantial part of this script, and once I was done, Sil realized there was a bit of an issue.  All of the characters in the scene sounded like me.  What I mean by that is when I write character dialogue, I tend to write them in the way that I talk.  This is a bit of a problem when the characters are supposed to be different people who talk differently from each other.  So when Sil said that she wanted to write the script and have me do any necessary edits or additions, I figured that would be best for getting through this part of the project efficiently.
     That's pretty much all of the big stuff that's happened in the last couple days.  I know right now Sil has been looking for fonts to make the dating app that will appear in our film.  On my end, I'm going to be looking for some songs that we could use so we can get the rights to use it soon.  We also plan on starting our storyboard in the next day or two, so I would say that our planning and early production process is going along pretty smoothly. 
     I'll talk about any updates or big changes that happen in the coming days in my next post.  See you then.

Week 3: Researching Costume Designs

     While we haven't definitively decided what our plot will be yet, we do seem to have a general idea of what our setting will look like.  Because of that, I'm looking into the fashion trends of the 1950's, the era that retrofuturism gets its look from.

(Some of these pictures can't make up their mind if they want to load or not and it's mildly infuriating)

     This is just something of a baseline for what we're looking for in costumes, as it's not just a 50's look we're going for.  It's the future with a 50's aesthetic, so we're going to make things look a little more sparkly and maybe add some funky shoes.  The only issue that may come up is actually finding clothes that fit the look, but Amazon can probably help with that.  Once we find outfits that look good, the only real thing we'll have to worry about it price.  Sil has been experimenting with make-up and trying to find a good look for our theoretical female character.  Right now, we think the film will be about a guy and a girl going on a date, so looking at fashion trends for both men and women will be very helpful.
     Sil and I have been talking more about what the story of our film will be and we'll probably have an outline of the whole film's story done by today.  I plan to discuss this in my next post.  See you then.

Week 2: Scheduling

     After some discussion with Sil, we have a general overview of  when we plan to finish each part of the project.  This will definitely be subject to change if unexpected events turn up or if doing certain parts of the project take longer than we originally thought they would.  Also, I'm including the previous week and this week that's about to end because I hate starting a list after #1.

Week 1: Genre/films research

Week 2: Figuring out a general plot, some more research, planning out a schedule

Week 3: Script and story boarding, researching/finding/making costumes and props

Week 4: Finding actors and a shooting location

Week 5: Probably some overlap from Week 4, hopefully start filming

Week 6: More filming, hopefully finish (fingers crossed)

Week 7: Editing

Week 8: More editing, finish opening, do Creative Critical Reflection

     Sil wants to make sure we have a lot of time to do editing since it can suck up a lot of time if you want it to be really good.  Aiming to start filming in Week 5 also means that if we can't start then, we'll still have plenty of time left to do it.  We'll see how closely we can stick to this time-frame, but I'm about 99% certain that this is not going to turn out the way we plan.  This is at least the most complex production that I've ever participated (I don't know about Sil since I'm pretty sure she's in TV production), so I anticipate that there will be a lot of bumps in the road in my near future in relation to this project.
     In next week's postings, I plan to cover some research on costuming and some stuff on our script and storyboard.  See you then.

Week 2: Retro Futurism and Narrowing Down Our Ideas

     My partner Sil is finally back, which means that we've gotten the chance to discuss our concepts for the project.  Right off the bat, Sil introduced a very interesting idea that I hadn't even thought of: retrofuturism.
     I've never heard that term before, but after showing me some examples, I realized it was something I had seem before quite a few times.  Here are some examples:

     While you may not know the name (like me), you've probably seen retrofuturism somewhere before.  It's basically what people in the early to mid-20th century thought the future may look like.  Probably the most famous example of retrofuturism is in the Fallout series, although it may not notice it initially due to the gritty post-apocalyptic aesthetic.  The name does a pretty good job at describing the look of retrofuturism; it's the future but it also looks like the 1950's.

     Of course, this will require some actual work on mise en scene and costume designs since we have to go for a 50's look.  Sil has suggested that we find some places to go shopping for some "old" clothes and various other stuff such as an antique TV set.  I have no idea where we'll find one of those but I suppose that's what we have all this time for.  She also suggested using an old doll house or something like it and use some clever camera techniques to make it look like a city for our film's setting.  Y'know, like some stuff George Lucas used to film the spaceships and stuff in Star Wars.  I have no idea how to do this either, but again, I have this time to figure that out.

     Or we may just not do that, so who really knows.

     We also discussed what our short film will be about, and Sil had an interesting idea about it being about some kind of dating show or something and critiquing today's hookup dating culture.  Sounds pretty neat, so we'll see how we can expand off of that.

     I'll be back later with further updates on our progress.  See you then!

Week 2: Small-Scale Sci-fi

     We're now onto Week 2 of the portfolio project, and we're in the process of narrowing down exactly what our short film will be about.  In the meantime, it has occurred to me that some of the examples of science fiction films I went over last week may have been a little too big to give a good idea of what we're aiming for with this project.  We have a relatively small amount of time and no official budget to produce our opening, so I think it's a good idea to look at a couple of sci-fi movies that are much smaller scale than the films I'd previously discussed.

Her (2013)

     Her is a science fiction romantic drama written, directed, and produced by Spike Jonze and starring Joaquin Phoenix.  The film's story is about a man named Theodore Twombly who develops and falls in love with an artificial intelligence with a female voice named Samantha.  If you've read my previous post looking at sci-fi film openings, it's clear that Her is distinctly different from those films.  While those movies dealt with flying cars, space ships, aliens, and traveling to other planets, Her is just about a guy falling in love with a computer software.  It's much smaller and much more personal.  Remember: science fiction doesn't need to be big, it just has to do with a scientific discovery or technology that doesn't exist (yet).  Her focuses on the topic of artificial intelligence and how AI relates to humanity, putting it squarely in the science fiction genre without having to be some grand story about flying through the future or interstellar conflicts in another galaxy.

Upgrade (2018)

     Upgrade is another great example of small-scale sci-fi.  Written and directed by Leigh Whannel and starring Logan Marshall-Green, Upgrade is a science fiction action thriller about Grey Trace, a man who lost his wife and was crippled in a mugging.  After being implanted with a chip that allows him to regain control over his body as well as giving him superhuman strength and agility, Grey uses the abilities granted to him by the chip to hunt down and get revenge on.  Cybernetic enhancements are a pretty run-of-the-mill sci-fi trope, so why do I specifically use Upgrade as an example?  It's simple: budget.  The film was produced with a budget of only $5 million, which is pocket change in terms of movie budgets.  While most films that focus heavily on cybernetics or trans-humanism would need a lot of cash to pump into special effects, Upgrade avoids this by having the sci-fi aspects of the film being something that is not always shown on screen.  Instead of having elaborate cyborg costumes or using CGI to create cybernetic body parts, Upgrade negates the need for such things by having the cybernetics hidden away inside the body of its main protagonist.  The film is a good example of how sci-fi concepts that are usually brought to life with a lot of special effects (and a big budget) can be portrayed in a way that is more doable for a smaller scale production.

     Check in next time for further developments on our project.  See you then!

Week 1: Science Fiction Film Openings

     As I said last time, in this post we'll be taking a look at a few science fiction film openings to get an idea of what we'll be doing for our portfolio project.

Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

     The opening of Blade Runner 2049 does a great job at establishing the setting of the film.  In the text at the beginning, it is established that humanity now lives on different planets, that they have developed advanced machines called "replicants" which have gone under a variety of changes, that the environment is in shambles, and that industrialism and companies play an important role in society.  Along establishing the setting, the opening alludes to the film's conflict, establishing that older, defunct synthetic models are hunted down by people called "Blade Runners".  Since "Blade Runner" is the name of the film, it can be assumed that the story will likely revolve around someone who is hunting replicants.  The flyover establishing shot that makes up much of the second half of the opening also establishes that solar power is much more prominent than it is today, suggesting how technology has advanced since the present time we live in.

Avatar (2009)

     Avatar's opening serves to introduce the main protagonist and the setting he finds himself in.  We learn three things about him: that he was crippled while serving in the marines, he has dreams about flying over a jungle, and he is defiant in the face of cruelty or injustice.  Several details are also revealed about the setting of the film in this scene.  Technology has advanced greatly with holograms being commonly used and interplanetary space travel being alluded to as something that is available.  Medical science is now capable of healing spinal injuries, but getting such a treatment is apparently very expensive.  It is also implied that there is a great deal of economic inequality as simple things like coffee at the VA's office are extremely expensive, so that may be a factor in motivating the actions of our protagonists or any other characters that we are introduced to later on.

Alien (1979)

     For the last opening we'll be looking at today, we have the classic sci-fi horror film "Alien".  Alien's opening scene does a good job at establishing the film's tone and setting.  While the camera switches around to various shots of the exterior and interior of the spaceship, establishing the level of technological development and the location most of the film will take place in, the most notable feature of the scene is the sound design.  Or, to be more accurate, the lack of sound.  Most of the scene is almost completely silent, creating a very eerie and mysterious tone.  The only sounds in the scene come from the quiet rumbling of the ship and beeping from the computers booting up.  It's all very unnerving, which is why it does such a good job setting up the tone to expect from the rest of the film.

     Next time, we'll start getting more in-depth into the research and pre-production process for our short film opening.  See you then!

Week 1: Genre

     Oh boy, it's finally here.  The big end-of-the-year portfolio project that this blog was created for has arrived at last.  Over the span of about 8 weeks, my partner Sil Gamboa and I will be creating a 2-minute opening for a short film that we come up with.  The first step of this process is figuring out what genre we want our short film to be in, and fortunately, we've got that figured out already.

     Science fiction is a genre that most people should be familiar with, especially anyone who's been keeping up with this blog since I made a post about sci-fi already several months ago.  To give a fairly basic rundown, science fiction is a genre in which the story and setting revolves around some scientific or technological discovery or advancement that is probably impossible under our current understanding of science (hence the fiction part).  Most of them pretty much go: "hey, if this science-y thing existed, what would the social implications be?"  The main focus of the plot can revolve around anything from androids to aliens to diseases to opening hell-portals for faster than light travel.  The sky is essentially the limit when it comes to science fiction so long as fictional science can be used to explain whatever's going on.

     For a more in-depth description of science fiction and an analysis of various examples, please check out my previous posting on science fiction as a genre.

     We haven't nailed down exactly what the plot will revolve around yet, but we're in the process of brainstorming ideas.  In my next posting, I'll be discussing some examples of science fiction film openings.  See you then!

Music Marketing Project

Music Marketing Project

February 11, 2020

About a month ago, me and the rest of my Media Studies class were assigned a music marketing project in which we were to create a marketing campaign for a new artist.  Along with the actual marketing campaign, we were required to create a music video for a song that we chose and research facts about our song's genre, such as the typical characteristics of music from that genre and the genre's normal target audience.

Pop Music

Pop is an extremely popular genre among young people, notably among people in their teens to people in their early thirties.  In recent years, pop has found most of its consumption by the masses to be on streaming platforms such as Spotify instead of by older means such as CDs and vinyls.  We found in our case studies that new artists such as Billie Eilish and Cuco got their start releasing songs online using platforms such as SoundCloud, further evidence of how digital marketing and distribution was important to the pop genre.  It is clear that pop music has thrived in the digital age as it has been able to reach wider audiences on a variety of platforms and devices at any time the consumers please.

Creating a Brand

For our song, we chose "When I Get My Hands On You", lyrics by Bob Dylan and vocals by The New Basement Tapes.  Since the song was about love and romance, we decided that we would build a brand for our new artist based around intimacy and love songs.  This led us to create our new love-song pop artist, Luke Ross: America's Next Sweetheart.

Marketing Merchandise

Since this project would be completed in the month of February, a.k.a., the month Valentine's Day is set in, we decided to focus our merchandising on February.  The art for our artists premiere album, "Love Letters", would be a limited edition for purchase in the month of February and would change once the month ends.  The allure of getting something that is a limited production was intended to motivate people to buy the February-exclusive merchandise while they still can.  We also created a page where visitors are able to create their own Valentine's Day cards and send them to whoever they want while the page plays our song in the background. The page would be accessed from links on all of our artist's social media pages, which we created a multitude of due to our genre's target audience being the demographic that uses social media the most.   

What We Learned

This project was a pretty big learning experience, especially considering we had never had to produce a music video or organize a marketing campaign.  The biggest thing we learned about production is that shooting and editing a decent video take a lot of time.  Just getting about a minute and a half of good footage took about two hours of filming, with the rest of the week prior to the project being due being used to go over the footage and edit it all together.  Another important thing we learned is we need to be greater consideration into why we make the choices we do in a marketing campaign.  We, and many other projects, put great focus on using social media and creating websites to market our brands just because we felt it was needed to best reach our target audience.  However, we did not put enough thought into each of the specific choices we made about why we were making them.  One exception to this on our end was our decision to use r/Music on Reddit to get our artist's name out, citing the opportunity to create a loyal fan base and introduce a lot of people to our song on Saturday, which the subreddit reserves for small time artists to release new songs.  This decision had a lot of thought and reasoning behind it, which is something that we should have done with much more of on the other parts of our project.

Keep an eye on this blog to see what I have to talk about next time!