Film Opening Group Discussions [1]

For today, I was put into a group with a few other people to discuss and receive feedback on our progress. For our group, there was an issue on timing, visual representation, and filming issues. From our discussions, I was reminded to not incorporate too many ideas into the film opening to prevent it from becoming a short film instead. There should be just enough information for context and foreshadowing to an extent. It is fine not to incorporate every little detail from the original plot and much of it may end up irrelevant.

To visually present something I cannot physically obtain or is just inconvenient to film, coming up with alternatives is crucial. For my project specifically, the red string would be difficult to film so I decided to portray it by animating it. It not only gives it the visual representation of the thread but would also fit nicely into the fantasy genre. Someone in my group needed to present heroin-- since their film revolves around the effects of drug usage-- and since the drug itself is not obtainable, he said he would use an alternative: a fake needle, basically. I found this idea to be appropriate since he did not just discard the idea when he acknowledged that the real prop was not obtainable.

Timing is quite important in this project as there is a time expectation. And due to this, it may not include too much content. As I have not started the storyboard as of now, I have not yet encountered the issue. However one of my groupmates did. She wanted to incorporate a lot of plot-relevant content but it caused her the worry and issue of exceeding the time limit. She was planning on the opening of a film about a new artist that creates replicas of another artist's artwork. She wanted to portray in the opening the route of the original artist's life because of their own obsession with their own art which led to death, but also the obsessive nature of the new artist. We offered the advice to shorten the new artist's time to focus on the old artist's route. Since the question she is trying to raise for the audience is "Will this new artist follow the same path as the original artist?", I thought it was probably best if she gave more context to the old artist. This way, there will be a clearer focus, and the opening to fit in the time frame.

Filming itself is one of the main issues I will be encountering. As I am working alone, I must invite two other people to help-- either both as actors or one to film and the other to act. However, my issue is that I am very intricate in my camera shots and their movement of it-- so much so that people typically are not able to comprehend my particular directions. Because of this, I may need to be the one handling the camera-- but I also do not have two people to help. I only have my sister to help as all of my friends are studying and working on their own work. I was suggested to just use the same actor in different clothes and use shots to not show the face of the second character. I decided to go along with this idea until I find someone to act.

Overall, I believe this discussion helped and will help me as I continue to develop my film opening it reminded me to acknowledge other possible issues I may have, and having these people discuss this is useful as solutions are much easily solved with more minds.

My group!

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 3 [POST 4/4]

WEEK 3 

[POST 4/4]

Fonts

I recently came across some fonts that I am considering using for my film opening. I didn't want the font to be too plain or too overwhelming but detailed enough to acknowledge as a pleasant font to see on the screen while also applying to the film's genre or the name. 

The font Astigma caught my eye first. No matter how much this appeals to me, however, it seems to be too detailed to be on screen.

With this thought in mind, I was then considering a more simple font as many movies use a more simple font on screen-- likely to just briefly allow the audience to acknowledge the title without taking too much attention away from the film itself. Additionally, this font doesn't seem to match the genre of fantasy or romance very much, but I kept it in my options because I personally like it.

Though, I still wanted my font to reflect the film's tone or at least the context or title. Letters with loose strokes, perhaps.

I found Regista while thinking of this, but still, it looks a bit too detailed. It's quite round and loose, something that seems like it could fit the romance genre. 

I thought parts of the strokes were too thick, so I scavenged for other fonts. I came across Callient which also was quite round and string-like, but it may be a bit too thin.

I want to choose between one of these three as I believe they reflect the title and context of the film-- or something similar to these at least. I will use these to reference my final font. 

I might end up choosing something simpler and easier on the eye, but I would prefer something like the last two at least

Website used for font-finding: https://www.dafont.com/

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 3 [POST 3/4]

WEEK 3 

[POST 3/4]

Scheduling

This is the schedule I have made for my filming, editing, drawing, etc.

This month is the month of SATs, so I must dedicate some extra time to SAT prep. For the most part, I will be working daily for up to one or two hours. It's a bit harder to plan past next week since I am not too sure if my family has anything planned-- but my progress and pace should not be changed much as I plan to do some work every day, which includes jotting down any stray ideas for editing, filming, animating, etc. I want to work as consistently as possible to prevent procrastination. 

During the next week, I will try to finalize my plans to prevent too many re-shootings and changes. I will still be open to new ideas, but I must not add in last-minute plans, otherwise, the project will seem inconsistent. I will be looking for any holes in my plans as well and fill in those holes to ensure a complete project. I'm not too sure about my blogging schedule though. It'll probably be posted every other day, but sometimes it may be back-to-back if I make any significant changes.

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 3 [POST 2/4]

 WEEK 3 

[POST 2/4]

Introduction Storyboard

This is the storyboard for my animation introduction. Similar to the example I showed a few blogs ago, it will start with a fade-in with scratchy and sketchy artwork. 

When I first started this storyboard, I did not know what exactly to depict: an example, or the original folklore?

I thought describing the story would not be very relevant as there aren't many parallels between this original story and my story. So instead, I decided to just how

A visual introduction of the original folklore's characters-- Yue Lao, a boy, and a girl. I will show those characters in that order, zooming in or out and left or right to show them. The transition between the boy and girl will follow the red string to the girl. The boy and girl will then be shown arguing and apart to show that even their troubles will not tear the string.

The script for the introduction will likely be something like this (It will have pauses before and between each line as the visuals will be the focus of the introduction:

According to an ancient Chinese myth, everyone is connected to their fated partner with no more than a simple red thread. And this string may tangle and stretch, but it may never break.

The example of animation, if needed for reference:

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 3 [POST 1/4]

WEEK 3 

[POST 1/4]

Storyboard

These papers are roughly my storyboard for the opening. After the introduction of the myth, it will transition to the rest of the film's opening.

The opening's setting is at the (library) park near my house for the convenience of transportation. Since I just needed somewhere with people-- but not too many-- I believed that the park will be a fitting place for the filming. I may not have guaranteed transportation to anywhere farther, anyway.

It would start with a short collection of shots around the park, with the red strings visible in the background. This will be where the credits will appear. The audience will then be brought to the main character, who is contemplating on a bench. The main character will frustratingly look around-- this is where the eye-line matches/shots will occur.

The main character will slump into a "head in hands" position on the bench. This is where the second character will enter.

This second character's face will not be fully shown or shown at all as by this point, the focus is on the main character and not yet the second character. The main character does not notice that this stranger has a broken string until a bit later. The main character will then chase after the second character to the entrance of the park as the second character is leaving. As the main character is chasing the second character, the title will show.

This is roughly how I want the opening to go. I am not too sure how long this would take up in the film, so I will likely add a few shots after the title screen of the characters' interaction to meet the time expectation.

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 2 [POST 4/4]

WEEK 2

[Post 4/4]

More Opening Planning: Editing and Technology

It occurred to me as I was first writing my draft of my concept and idea that I needed an efficient way to present the introduction of the myth. I thought of just doing an animation to quickly introduce the concept, but I knew I lacked animation skills. Despite having a plentiful amount of time, I knew I likely would not have been able to complete a full-fledged animation for the introduction, even if it was to be only around 20 seconds. After contemplating a bit, I realized that there was an animation style that did not require every frame to be hand-drawn, but parts of the character to be drawn and edited on an editing software, which seems to me like it would take a bit less time than a completely hand-drawn animation. 

The animation is part of a video game's (Genshin Impact) character teaser. The animation I mentioned starts at the timestamp 0:20 to 0:50.

I have prior experience with drawing digitally and using the editing program Adobe After Effects so I believe this would be a more suitable option for me as I neither have a program for animation nor animation experience.

This introduction is likely to include a voiceover for context; I will most likely just use my own voice for this.

For the overall filming, I will just be using my phone camera and a tripod. I will also edit in After Effects since it is the program I am most comfortable using-- for efficiency, so I do not have to learn a new program,

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 2 [Post 3/4]

WEEK 2

[Post 3/4]

Character Design Process

The characters play the biggest role in how and where the plot will lead, just as proper representation will play a massive role in upholding my target audience's attention. Not many media in the industry execute proper representation of what they promise. Representation depicted in characters must be relevant and not spontaneous in relation to the plot.

My rough plot (and overall idea) for the film:

I also added to my plot since the last blog post-- I decided it would be a sort of tragic romance. The concept of star-crossed lovers (lovers who are unable to be together for a reason) has been a point of interest for me since I watched the animated movie Your Name (2016).

I believe incorporating this sort of idea in a story based on a romantic myth works well together. Romantic stories with somber endings are more interesting this way to me, like Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Though this might not affect the opening too much, I still wanted to develop this kind of plot detail to keep myself interested to keep me motivated.

Enough about the plot-- I wanted to create characters for this that were opposites of each other. Though they may not have much in common, their inability to love based on their distinct traumas and (mental) illnesses would be the only similarity they share. Both unknowingly stray away from their fated love-- one missing a string as the other's string is broken. I believe that opposites are complementary. One side could fill in the missing features of the other and vice versa. Based on these beliefs, I want to create two characters with opposing color palettes (e.g. white/red, black/green).

For now, I am unsure of my actors for this project, so the most I can plan for now is color and shape.

For my main character, I want to incorporate the white/red palette-- representing a more open personality-- and the other character a black/green palette-- representing a more closed and straightforward personality. These colors may be changed later on depending on the people that will act, but it would still be opposing colors based on the color wheel.

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 2 [Post 2/4]

WEEK 2

[Post 2/4]

World-Building

For the film opening to be planned and executed with no issues regarding the world of the concept, the world-building step is crucial. After all, world-building affects the visuals and the plot itself. This is applied mostly to fantasy genres or any other genres that are composed of any characteristics that may be anything from our real world (like adding superpowers). Franchises like Marvel or Despicable Me have aspects that do not exist in the real world, like superpowers and yellow, despicable little beings that crave evil-- in which they must develop the rules of those worlds, being mostly of our current world with an addition of their own rules and such to accommodate to their new concept to their world. Since my concept is based on a myth, it requires some world-building.

Mostly, it is completely based on our real world-- besides the red strings. Red strings will be only visible to the main character, attached to each person's pinky finger. As the myth goes, the one on the other end of the thread will be their fated person.

However, my main character will not have a string.

Plot, Opening's Rough Planning

The film will open with a quick introduction to the red thread of fate-- just the concept and the few rules. I believe this is important since the myth is not popular in the Western Hemisphere-- or just out of China or East Asia. An introduction will familiarize the concept of the audience-- that I will be targeting a general audience of young adults.

It will then transition to the narrative world...

The main issue for my main character (MC) is that they do not have a string. They will be the sole anomaly... to their knowledge at least. The setting would be modern--and the opening would be somewhere with people, but not too many; perhaps around 10 people. Enough people to showcase the strings but not too many people so it is not overwhelming. 

The MC would be on a bench looking around the people as they then lay back in frustration and confusion over their missing string, seeing others' strings. They would then encounter someone suddenly without a string... The MC does not realize until a few seconds later-- a brain lag, basically-- and tries to run after this person but they are already gone. When they meet again, MC tries to figure out why and how they do not have a string. They are not very cooperative, unfortunately. MC realizes that they do not get along at all. They're essentially opposites, but there is only one thing they share. Which will be--?

Well, before I discuss their similarity, I want to explore why the MC can see the strings. I also believe its details may not impact the opening much although the general idea does. I want to incorporate some trauma and mental illness into the character as the cause. Something recent, maybe. I would like to discuss the rest of the character backstories in a separate blog dedicated to character details-- which, spoiler, will be my next post.

References

Kassé, S. (2022, June 8). Worldbuilding in a novel: A guide to creating a believable world. Self Publishing School. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://self-publishingschool.com/worldbuilding 

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task WEEK 2 [Post 1/4]

WEEK 2

[Post 1/4]

Research

For a couple days now, I have been looking for inspiration and brainstorming what to do with a certain concept of mine for my film’s plot which will end up determining the route of the film opening. My concept for the film is that it is based on a Chinese myth called the Red Thread of Fate. This “red thread” is an invisible string tied around the finger, usually, the pinkies (in the Modern version— the original Chinese version follows the threads being tied around the ankles), of two people, connecting them, who are fated to be together. There is a popular saying in this myth regarding the thread where the string may stretch or tangle but it may never break. In Western concepts, it’s similar to having a soulmate.

I wanted to try this concept as I have seen a few fanworks online that follow this concept, which I thought was quite interesting. The part that drew me in was the saying that the string may stretch or tangle, referring to distance and disengagement, unrest, or just issues between the two. This applies to the people emotionally which is visually (not really, since it is invisible) represented by the red string. It follows something like ’fate will always bring you back to them.

One media that uses this red string symbolism is the Chinese novel Heaven Official’s Blessing (天官赐). One character always wears a red string around his finger. Later on in the novel, he ties it to the main character--his lover-- to avoid separation. This acts as a visual representation of the thread and the author uses symbolism to convey that the two will be together forever.

Illustration by STARember

My film’s setting will follow our modern world as this concept may be more convenient to film and to the audience, maybe more relatable and relevant. I also chose to follow the modern version of the myth to match this setting. Since this is based on a myth, it will be under the fantasy genre. As for the plot, I wrote a few rough ideas down on a paper:

As the week goes by, I will continue to add to and elaborate on these ideas as I have not yet formed a solid enough idea.

References

Hiebert, L. (2020, August 25). Invisible red thread of fate connects those who are destined to meet. Peace Quarters. Retrieved February 15, 2023, from https://www.peacequarters.com/invisible-red-thread-connects-meant-together/

Portfolio Project: Film Opening Task [1]

WEEK 1

[Post 1/1]

I received the Film Opening assignment recently in class where we discussed the details of the assignment. It definitely seemed like a laid-back project at first glance due to the extended time that we are given. However, seeing the rubric and overall expectations, it has been made quite clear that this is a major assignment involving constant effort that extends through the entire few months that we were given to work on this project. 

I have never received such a large-scale project before as many of my longer projects lasted 2 or 3 weeks at most. I plan to do my best to keep on track with scheduling, following the given plan by my teacher. I should be able to dedicate at least an hour every day or every other day to the project. 

I believe this will be quite an enjoyable project, especially with the extended amount of time I was given as many other projects were not given as many opportunities for time and freedom as this has. 

I have been thinking of ideas I could film and my favorite idea is of basing this film off of a Chinese myth… which will be elaborated on in my next blog post!

Music Marketing Blog [2]

 Research and Planning

  

Our Instagram page would
look something like this.

 Together, we researched the genre of rock together, specifically its target audience and its trends. Being that the genre of rock was invented around the 1950s and 60s, it was mostly directed to an older audience (around 50 years and over). At the same time, the alternate and active rock are targeted towards a younger audience around their 20s through 40s. 

Our group decided we would target the younger generation since they are more likely to use social media platforms where we decided that we would promote the music. These social media sites included Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok, which are all common social media platforms used by our target audience.

With those social media sites to promote our music, we would use platforms like Youtube Music, Apple Music, Spotify, and SoundCloud to distribute our music. These are the streaming services that are quite popular among all age groups.

We also created merchandise with a simple yet distinctive design with our group name and logo: a paper bag with a smile.

Production and Post-Production

Though we made a meticulous schedule for filming, there were some things that occurred which pushed us behind schedule for quite a few days... We ended up only having a single day to film but a few days to edit. 

During the production of the music video, we went through numerous changes from our written and drawn plan (the storyboard). The setting was quite different from what we intended at first so some of the shots and transitions planned did not work well, for example, when Subject 2 was first entering their room (the one glowing blue room), there was a transition that was planned where there would be a pan behind furniture for a reveal of the shot but the mapping of the house we filmed in did not allow us to do so. We ended up adding a fade instead. 

The mentioned shot

As for editing, we wanted to keep as much of the video's transitions and shots to follow with the beat but with the least amount of retakes-- and so we did do just that. Though it was not perfect, we were able to incorporate a flashing transition (which I personally believe is the best transition we were able to do) from the present to the past (flashback).

Presentation

The presentation itself was quite alright. Discussions about the marketing and campaign went quite smoothly as we were able to explain our content with little difficulty and minimal wording but with more visuals in our presentation.

Reflection

I learned to adapt to my target audience. Everything is for the audience. The content, marketing, distribution, and consumption. If we reach the right target audience, we would be able to reach our goal, whether it would be to make money or to spread awareness of a topic. This project is quite the addition to developing my Cambridge Portfolio as this records my thought process on this kind of project, which can help distinguish my improvement later on when I complete a similar project of similar concepts and goals.