Portfolio Project Blog Post #9

 Our Title...

    Ana and I spoke on FaceTime and one big obstacle we are facing is our title. We have created a productive outline for our scenes and as we reached the ending scenes, we realized, we don't have a title! It's funny because you would think the title is one of the first things to think about when it comes to films and movies, etc. However, that's another interesting thing I have learned along the way; the title is important but you cannot make a good one until you completely know and connect with your film. We want our title to be something that not only captures the romance that is the story of Daniela & Michael but also the heartbreak of the separation and division and also the true terror of the pandemic and their circumstances.

    Here's some quick options we have so far:

- Love... Separated.

- Yours Truly, Michael

- Lovesick

    These are just some titles we brainstormed after we had our complete outline and background stories for our film opening. However, we still do not feel a special connection or drawing to a specific one but I will update as soon as we officially decide on one!

Portfolio Project Blog Post #8

 Group Meetings

    Today was very insightful. I was in a meeting with other people from other groups going through the same project process. However, we are all doing something different. I was able to hear other people's ideas and talk about our struggles and how far we all are into the process itself. I enjoyed listening in on everyone else's projects and hearing different insight and feedback was refreshing and helped me feel more motivated now. It was great hearing ideas and comments and questions about how we plan on executing our storyline. Here are some questions I was asked:

"How do you plan on filming the scene where they meet at a football game?"

    Honestly, this is probably one of the most complicated scenes to film. I'm still on the fence about it just because we don't necessarily have to conform to that particular way for them to meet. We can do some other scenario like a school event or club meeting where they get to know each other. However, if we do decide on staying with the football game idea, I can get a small group of friends to fill the borders and sides of my tight shots. I would have Daniela and Micheal lock eyes as they walk up the stairs on the bleachers so I don't necessarily have to show a big crowd filling the bleachers.

"How would you film scenes that take place in NYC?"

    Since we do live in Weston, it is physically impossible to film scenes with a New York City background. However, one idea I had was to film those scenes downtown. Capturing the nightlife downtown could give a more NYC feel to the scene and could capture where they live and the streets they usually frequent together during the lockdown. 

"What exact scenes are you focusing on in your opening?"

    Well, I realized that one really important thing I need to keep in mind for my film opening is that I do not have a lot of time. In fact, we have very little time. Two minutes is all we have to compress our big film idea. Since I am very excited and passionate about our idea and its potential, I need to step back and truly decide what highlights do I want to make the focal points about. I also need to make sure that in the long run, a fresh set of eyes can view this film opening and understand our idea. Because it is so easy for me or my partner, Ana, to say it makes sense because we know our idea like the back of my hand because we came up with it and studied it. However, we need to be sure that someone who was not there through the entire process, can view it and understand the general storyline of what is going on.

My Conclusion:

    Overall, the meeting was very productive. Hearing everyone's feedback helped me realize that there are some aspects of my idea and pitch that I have not fully thought through. 

Portfolio Project Blog Post #7

 Story Sequence Brainstorming

    Here are some things we have established in our project so far:
        - Main characters
        - Their background stories/history
        - Segments of our storyline
        As far as our film opening goes, we want to capture the main focal points of their relationship and its  downfall. I want to capture the way they met. In order to do so I was thinking of just capturing the first time they landed eyes on each other at the bleachers during a football game. Where everything slowed and it felt like time stopped. I also want to capture the way all the loud, roudy noises cancel out as soon as they see each other almost as if the world around them stopped existing once they met. It would help the audience almost feel what they were feeling. After that scene, I want everything to play out relatively quickly. This would play out with classical music in the back.
        Maybe something like the first couple of seconds on this track:
                                    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QKuxt_QKts
        
        This music will instill fear, sadness, anxiety, etc. This will truly portray the character's emotions during this time. We also want to somehow incorporate the fact that school was the only way they could see each other. School was their meeting and hangout area and they still did not have a label or true name for what they felt for each other. They just knew they loved each other but somehow their lives and backgrounds were so different that it was hard to take that next step into a relationship like the other school couples. Daniela did not feel good enough for him or his family after seeing the type of people they hang around. She had light brown skin with black long thick hair and he was tall and white as snow with light brown eyes and beautiful freckles. He was terrified to take that next step because Daniela's fears came off as rejections and he felt her pushing away. When the pandemic began, Daniela thought they were over until one day she is doing deliveries for her dad's company and knocks on the door to see Michael. From then, he hands her a note with a phone number she can call.
        After that, they would meet aon 42nd street close to heir school. They would walk around and talk about their lives as they hcnaged before their eyes. 

Portfolio Project Blog Post #6

 Filming NYC in Florida?

How we will do it: 

        For this film opening, I want to maintain a darker, night life NYC feel. This will help with the romanticization of their relationship and connection. For better reference, here are some photos I have pulled for inspiration:

                            Link to full "Film Opening" Pinterest Board for more color scheme

                                                        inspiration: https://pin.it/7jpLGWU 

            In order to film the high school scenes we will use Cypress Bay. However in order to achieve that darker-toned Twilight color scheme in the day, we will manipulate lighting and filters. The streets of New York at night can be imitated through lighting and cropping the area and we could film those in Miami or even in Town Center or a similar plaza.

Portfolio Project Blog Post

 Plotting Our Plot... Get It?

        Ana and I have done back and forth about a plot or storyline but we couldn't seem to agree completely on one until we pulled the inspiration films in my previous post. After researching The Notebook and Only, we decided on a plot; Daniela and Michael are both students of an NYC public high school. Daniela, 16, and Michael, 17, fell in love shortly after laying eyes on each other at a school football game. A viral pandemic spreads throughout the globe causing their lives to change forever. Michael and Daniela now lose the one common place where they would see each other. Their relationship must grow under harsh quarantine conditions.  

        Michael does come from an upperclass family who wanted him to go to a private school in New York. However, Michael refused to be seen like a preppy Manhattan snob. He grew up with middle class teammates in his lacrosse team and constantly got made fun of for being the "brat" of the team in Missouri. But now he's in New York and this meant a new version of himself. The version he has always wanted to be. 

        Daniela is from Colombia. Unlike Michael, she grew up living a humble life yet always desired more. She would always tell her father how she dreamed of working hard for a big house in the States where she would raise her family and throw family gatherings with music and food. She dreamed of this house being a safe place, in contrary to the dangers she faced everyday in Colombia. This house would have so many rooms and bathrooms for family memebers to stay in. As she told her father these dreams she had, he always stared deeply into her eyes in admiration of her caring heart.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #4

 Introducing Our Characters

           Ana and I have discussed the two love interests and their backstories for a while. We wanted characters with personality and unique backgrounds. We wanted their personalities to shine through in our film opening and for the audience to feel a connection and an attachment to them.

                                In conclusion, we came up with Daniela and Micheal.

Meet Daniela...

    Daniela,16, grew up in Cartagena, Colombia with her mother, Marianne; her father, Rodrigo; and her little brother, Diego. At the age of 12, her family decided to take a leap of faith and move to New York City where her dad could find a better job and the family could be more at peace and safe. It was the hardest thing they have ever done. Daniela and her family left all their relatives behind and did not look back. What she knew as home, disappeared in search of a better life. Daniela is relatively short for her age and has dark brown eyes and hair that reaches her waist. She loves to paint and draw. She has always been very artistic like her father. She grew up painting the beautiful mountainous scenery of the rural areas of Colombia when she would visit her grandmother. She enjoyed long walks in nature with her family.

Meet Micheal...

    Micheal, 17, grew up in Jefferson City, Missouri. He has a big family of eight. His two sisters, Chloe and Chelsea; his brothers, Max, William, and Johnathan; and his two loving parents; Marcey and David. His family moved to New York City when he was 10 because his brother Johnathan got a great football offer for a team there. They frequently fly back to Missouri to visit their relatives and friends during the holidays. Micheal plays lacrosse and enjoys being with his teammates every day. He has never had a girlfriend because he truly values his friendships and would not want to take time away from them or lacrosse.

    

 

Portfolio Project Blog Post #3

 Our Final Decision...

    After contemplating back and forth for a while and many discussions about our film opening, Ana and I  have FINALLY decided that we will be sticking to the romance genre. Ana and I have both done our own independent research when it comes to the romance genre that are both previous posts we have on our blogs with examples.

Ana's romance post: https://anahandalmedia.blogspot.com/2020/11/romance-genre.html

My romance post:  https://camiilablogger.blogspot.com/2020/11/genre-research-activity.html 

    Our next move is finding our storyline. I have mentioned in my previous posts that I wanted to incorporate a dystopian society as one of my elements in our film as far as the environment of the characters goes. I want to be able to still give a creepier, terror feel without taking away from the romance focus of our film. We have thought about different situations we can use as the focus. For example, a pandemic, a district division; like The Hunger Games, or some type of war or battle. I want to create a background setting that provides difficult circumstances within our romance. For example, when researching, I used The Notebook as one of my examples. 

    The Notebook has a romance focus but the background history of the 1940s and the social class and stereotypes of that decade when they fell in love in. Struggles followed them and tragically forced them apart. I would like to include a similar type of separation or division within the love interests in my film. 

        Although we are doing a romance film, the action movie Only is a great example of the division between the two love interests. A virus pandemic broke out globally where only women could be infected. The couple decided they would rather hide and disguise the female interest as a male in order to survive as the government decided to eliminate all women. If we use a pandemic, this film is a perfect inspiration as far as incorporating that same action and terror feel to the film.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #2

                                                    Genre Inspiration

        I decided to do some further research on some films I have really enjoyed in the past in order to gain some perspective and feel inspired. One of these films is The Hunger Games.

One element that I thought about applying to my film opening is the use of the whole utopian futuristic society. I like how it is obviously the fictional element to the film opening yet still gives a mysterious/creepy feel.

     Another film I was using as inspiration is Only.

This film contains a lot of action along with some terror. It kept viewers at the edge of their seat with its surprising elements and crazy turns and that is what I am looking to incorporate into my opening.

Portfolio Project Blog Post #1

                                                            My Approach

    In order to tackle this project, my first step is deciding on a storyline. I have been contemplating between taking an action movie approach or doing a fictional mystery film opening. Both are my favorite type of films to view so I feel like I would enjoy the process a lot more if I choose a genre that I love viewing and know a little bit more about. 

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

         Building our artist, The Unknown became a tedious process from the start. We began by researching the R&B genre and its history. We learned that R&B has a long history of maintaining a boring, slow, and mellow reputation. It was known as the type of music that was only listened to by older audiences between the ages of 35-55. In the early 2000s,  the R&B genre slowly commenced its new-age through different artists like Destiny's Child, Nelly Furtado, and R. Kelly. After learning this information, my group and I decided to pick two artists that completely and effectively represent the new age of R&B. 

        The two artists my group and I decided on were Drake and The Weeknd. After picking these artists, we did extensive research on not only these artists and their lives, but the record labels they are signed to.  By researching the record labels we learn more about the true history and background of these artists and how they came to be. Along with the record label research, we look into the artists' life and who they truly are, and what inspires them to make music. 

        After completing this research, my group and I decided that we need a unique factor to base our artist's brand and marketing on.  We all decided on maintaining an anonymous identity through the use of a mask. This mask will become the object icon that represents our artist. This mask will be extremely recognizable and will be immediately associated with our artist at a global level.

        We decided on creating a music video as a form of marketing The Unknown's identity and brand through the use of the mask and the use of a romantic storyline. The Unknown is anonymous but is depicted as a hopeless romantic through his heartbreaking classics. These songs would be available to all on Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon, Soundcloud, Pandora and many more.

        The Unknown uses every chance he gets to interact with his audience while still maintaining anonymous so, he uses social media channels like Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, etc. in order to drop hints about his identity to his fans and give them a chance to guess and imagine what he may be like.

           Lastly, we created a website where The Unknown fans can resort to finding all kinds of information about The Unknown. This information includes but is not restricted or limited to, upcoming tour dates, surprise pop-up shows, merchandise, and different hints through imaging about his past life.