Creative Critical Reflections

 FINALLY!!!

https://youtu.be/BvqK1c4k140?si=1ujtEn2_DutddG4I

https://youtu.be/n8Ef7SXkLq8?si=05f_KFE7T71AfARw

Film Opening

 ENJOY!!

https://youtu.be/zbGdhIBUSLs

Final reflection

 This project was really one of the most enjoyable yet stressful things I've ever had to do. I loved all the creative freedom I could run with on it, and I liked the pacing of the project too.

I have learnt so much, and taken into consideration how much time simply just planning something can take! I now know, that to film smoothest and best, to make very long plans and have everything planned out word for word!

Additionally, I really learnt a lot through my editing even though it wasn't perfect... I really enjoyed how everything turned out apart from a few things here and there that I definitely need to work on... but overall, I learnt a lot about reverb and the colour editing through adobe premiere, even after getting certified in it, I keep learning! I can't wait to use these skills in my future projects to make them even better!

Thank you for following my long and hardworking journey on Kalopsia!

CCR Script

CCR script

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?

"So I immediately knew the genre I wanted to develop right from the start! Psychological thriller's had always captured my attention, especially those that develop an eerie mental illness with the main character. Parts of this genre include a lot of plot twists and tangled story telling's. The pacing is much more measured throughout it, creating the intense buildup which helps add to the suspense. The tone created in these movies is very chilling and edgy. It is made to disturb and unsettle the audience. In Kalopsia, the ending contrasts the beginning so intensely, yet the change is very gradual. In the first two minutes, it opens with simple shots of creating a bagel and putting cookies into an oven. The quicker cuts yet slow actions pair together to make it seem much more tame and domestic. The clips build up through the piano scene, which is meant to give insight to the main characters past. The reverb added to the sound is meant to give the eerie tonal change to the clips as well. After the piano scene, the sound of a ticking timer is meant to build the suspense of the person entering the house, the sound getting louder is meant to show how this new character causes alarm and distress, the quicker cuts building a quicker and more stressful suspense to relate to the characters feeling. I didn't challenge any of these conventions due to them working in my favor. The whole plot has mixes of action and psychological components in it, and they do actually relate to each other. The mental illness development is meant to be gradual just as the pacing is. 

The representation in my main character is to highlight women. Despite the lacerations shown when her face is first revealed, there is purposefully no emphasis through the camera on the wounds to show how it is normalized in the perspective of the character. The costuming of the character in the first scene, she is wearing light pink and purple PJ pants, the coloring indicates her femineity along with her hair being down. The connection between the main character and in the flash back scenes is also the color of the pants. Although the audience isn't meant to know at the start, it is the same person due to the coloring of the pink pants. The opponent is in all black to indicate they are the enemy in this battle. This takes part in the fighting side of the story, where woman are represented in fighting. Despite her feminine features and costume design, she still takes part in the violent actions, which show deeper meaning towards the end of the film."

https://www.toledolibrary.org/blog/psychological-suspense#:~:text=Storylines%20are%20layered%20with%20frequent,%2C%20moody%2C%20ominous%20and%20foreboding.

• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

"The target audience for this film is 21 and up, due to the female protagonist and the mental aspect of the movie, it would appeal more to woman than man, yet the fighting action side of the movie captures the attention of men as well. It is really directed at the mentally ill target audience, bringing a not well known syndrome to life. The slow development of the mental health aspect develops stronger throughout the film as the character participates in more fights. The faster paced and more engaging fight scenes can attract the audiences through the grungy type of settings that capture the interest of people. 

Kalopsia will be distributed through Hulu from a collaboration I organized with them. I chose Hulu to use for distribution as its a very accessible with a simple subscription that most people have. It is mainly accommodated to older audiences on the platform as well. Additionally, my movie will be premiered to the public at Miami film festival the day before it comes to streaming services on April 19th!" 

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34033319/#:~:text=Capgras%20syndrome%20%28CS%29%2C%20or,inanimate%20object%20or%20an%20animal.

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?

"It all started with the song Claire de Lune, I read a book where they had the song in the playlist for the book, and I loved the buildup throughout the song, I wish I could've had more of it incorporated to build up in the opening. I got the idea of a psychological thriller through the film fight club. I loved the development of personality disorder throughout that film, and the incorporation of action throughout it really pieces it all together at the end of the film. I took this idea and began to research the mental illness that develops throughout the film. After I began my research on how sound affects film and changes the tone, and research on psychological thrillers, I began to develop the plot, story board, and the script. It took a while to develop all of these aspects, but just simply taking my time and thinking, I planned out everything I wanted to have incorporated over the process of multiple weeks. I began to find my setting at that has all the props I wanted to use and I organized my actor coming into film. We used different locations for the fight scene and the house scenes that were filmed about a week apart. The editing process was rather hefty with the different issues that were encountered throughout it. In the end, using different perspectives and advice really brought it to its best look!"

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34033319/#:~:text=Capgras%20syndrome%20%28CS%29%2C%20or,inanimate%20object%20or%20an%20animal.

• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

To set and plan out my ideas, I used blogger to create a mini mind map for myself, putting it down in writing to confirm my thoughts and plan them out the best I could. For script writing I used another online app, Celtix. It was a very good website that walked me through each and every step for the script writing process. Additionally, I got my music from Freesound website which provides copyright sound effects and music for public use. The editing software used was Adobe Premiere Pro, it's an app I've been using for a longer period of time and have a certificate in. (put in the screenshot) During filming, I used an iPhone stand and a rolling table with stacks of books to help elevate the camera level. The iPhone 14 camera app was my camera for this film, capturing all of the sound raw from the actual phone microphone. There were quite a few obstacles with the filming, getting the different angles, and a lot of the shots were not used with the phone stand we had. We used lots of different resources to help stabilize the camera like propping it up or stacking things underneath the iPhone. During my editing process, I got recommended to use reverb to mix the audio better, and I was shown how to mix audios despite not using it for my film. I think this really is gonna come into handy after I start messing around with mixing and editing audios instead of using the raw audio. 

 

• 
  

CCR Plan

 CCR's

I have been very focused on my film project, but now that I have 98% finished it, I want to finalize the thoughts and idea's I have had about my CCR planning. 

Video 1

• How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues?
• How does your product engage with audiences and how would it be distributed as a real media text?

    For these two questions, they will be in my first video which is a "Most asked questions" style of YouTube video! I am going to incorporate different overlays of all my clips and scenes layed over it to help capture audiences attention and not be a "talking head". The background of this will be fairly plain as I am going to rely heavily on outside clips to take the audiences attention while changing between the talking head clips. 

Video 2

• How did your production skills develop throughout this project?
• How did you integrate technologies – software, hardware and online – in this project?

For my second video, I wanted to do an interview, or a "behind the scenes" with different "crew members" of the production to show how each specific area of the film was developed. It would all be clips of me, just in different costumes and hairstyles to help change the continuity to indicate its a different person each time. This will also have overlays and voiceovers to help engage the audience. The setting will be in a "film studio" type of location, which is really just my guest room with gray and red decorations with some movie posters hung up. I will film this in cinematic mode on my iPhone so the background is visible but blurred as to not be distracting.

Planning all of this out has been somewhat helpful because I now I can have different set ups, and begin my filming right after I make talking points for each CCR! I want to develop a clean and engaging CCR, because I cannot do a lot movement wise in my video without distracting myself, so I am relying heavily on the edited in clips! Knowing my own strengths and weaknesses in filming myself can help make my process much smoother and less of a drawn out process!!

End of editing!

 I think we're pretty much finished with my final! I am going to sleep on my decision and see how it is tomorrow, after I am going to show it to my family and see if they have any tips for me!

It was frustrating throughout parts of this editing process because although it didn't ever look or sound BAD, it wasn't perfect. I struggled a lot with this thought, and although it's still not perfect, I think I've tried to the best of my ability to make it closest to the vision I had in my brain. 

For this part of the editing, the sound effects on the imported audio clip during the piano scene drove me crazy! I managed to line up all the clips into synchronizing with the audio. While filming, I played the music in the background, so although my actor doesn't know how to play piano, she could at least hit the keys on beat. What the issue was, was when the audio did not sound diegetic. I wanted it to echo and reverberate just as all the other audios did in the film. I realized I had to mix my audio with a reverb effect. For the piano playing clips, I used a regular reverb, but for the memories, I added a different type which made the audio sound like it was coming from another room. I was really happy with this outcome, and finding out about all the different effects and even maybe mixing a certain sound on a different app, this can help my editing in the future to make everything seem even more realistic. 

This was the second most tricky part about editing... The flickering clips in the face still don't sit right with me, but I can't figure out any other way to make it look better. I changed the pacing of it to start slow so you could see what is happening briefly, and than it picks up pace with the ticking audio to build the proper suspense. 

I think despite these struggles in editing driving me up the wall, I learnt loads about sound editing and I think it's going to come really handy in my future projects for when I have to layer audio again to fix an issue that happened in beforehand filming!!

Filming the fight scene

 This was actually very fun to do!!

We had a very grungy dark garage with bits of sand about the place, the walls were cracked and pieces were missing from it too! The only thing I could complain about was the quality in my camera... when the lighting dims in the room, my iPhone camera becomes very grainy and not as high quality as before on the 4k 60 fps setting... 

I think I’ve fixed it with messing around on the adjustment settings on the iPhone editing app. I have lowered the black point and brightness along with adding saturation to highlight the costume choices.

I used pink sweatpants for the main character, despite the audience not seeing her face (as it’s not my main actor 🤫) you can tell the character is female due to the feminine pink pants. Additionally the white shoes sway the audience towards this character as white represents the purity of that character. The sleeves pulled over the females hands is to show her size, how she is much smaller in comparison to her opponent. This is additionally an indicator to illegal fighting as in legal fighting, they are matched by their weight. 

Filming this was relatively quick, as the shots are very tight and cannot reveal much, but as I messed with the lighting on the effects side of the videos, I realized it’s easy to conceal the characters faces with their hoods up and the black point lowered.. 

This specific lighting can show the opponents animosity, also creating an “evil” effect on the character, as they end up winning the fight in the end.

This overall discovery of editing the lighting through my iPhone before even putting it into my computer has helped me so much in use of future projects, it can change the entire tone of a clip and the delivery of it! 

Thanks to the quick fixes, I can now create the contrast I need between the piano clips and the darker more serious fighting clips to create that confusing contrast I’m looking for in my film!!

Planning for the fight scene

 I’ve waited a while to film this fight scene, and it’s finally being filmed Monday!

I am going to have to organize a few needed elements

-Wrist fighting wraps

-Beaten up sneakers

-Water bottle

-Dark and grungy room

-Filmed in garage/basement

-Sweatpants

-Baggy top (preferred long sleeve)

I think if all of these elements are met, it’s gonna turn out really good!! I wanted the setting to be in a darker location as the fighting the character is taking place in is illegal home made type of thing (i’m not sure what they’re called) 

I can plan all these things out to try and make it the best looking it can and try to capture the darker setting of it all! 

It can really bring the tonal shift in the production together!!!

Editing

    So far, the editing has been very tricky... my total raw footage adds up to 14 minutes :') Although this is probably the best issue I could have with my project, I really have to cut it very thin in the beginning scenes to try and fit the second half of the film in. I am filming my fight scene on Saturday/Sunday.

    I would much rather have the issue of too much footage rather than too little footage if you know what I mean!

UPDATE: I think I have kinda sorta fixed it!! I tried cutting my clips so they are all mid action and i used a few jump cuts to cut down the time too! I editted the ending and I still have to put filters and effects on some clips, but I’ve gotten the backbone of it all done!

I feel better having this all layed out so now I just have to put all the details into it, I think it will make it all really good with the different smaller effects and I can plan it all better!!

FILMING!!

 FILMING

    Today we filmed!! I was honestly so happy with the outcome from my clips I might cry

My actor was perfect, and doing the makeup was super fun! It took me a minute to do her bruising but I think it came out great! I was really happy with the different shot compositions I could get because I had heaps of time. The audio quality was SO good, which I really was not expecting if I'm being honest...

This clip, although the only technique I used was a close up, the sound quality really impressed me!

 

Once I have more edited footage, I want to show a few of my favorite clips, all I did today was make copies of everything and make sure it is saved!!

 

At this point, we were filming the final parts of it, and I had to be in the film, so I had to redo it a few times to make sure everything was centered! I didn't take a photo, but we made an area for where I can stand just to make it all line up!

This was how I filmed the walking in part for myself,  I made my friend do it just to check it looked good!

I had a small rolling table that could change heights which was part of my make-shift tripod!!

I am really happy with all my filming progress and I don't think it could've gone any better! All I have left to film is the fight scene with a different actor, I still need to set up a few props for that, but I at least want to edit most of the video before I get that footage!

I think something that really helped me today with my filming is giving myself enough time! My actor was amazing too, she did anything I asked and didn't ask about anything, it really helped me relax and get it the best that I could. I was a little stressed about how it would all go as I always feel so tight on time when I film, but I could not be happier with how it all turned out!!

Script

 YAYYY I FINISHED MY SCRIPT!!!

I have really been procrastinating making this, but I just got down to business and said screw it.

Its short because I find it really hard to write my thoughts down exactly how I want to, but I think I've done it the best that I can!! I didn't want to incorporate a lot of dialogue, so that definitely contributes to the length. I tried my best for formatting, I remember making a script back in eighth grade, but its still foggy so I just put my own touch to it!

I did actually really enjoy the script writing if I'm being honest, I was dreading it but I felt so fancy using it and it really has helped me to plan my idea's out the best that I can!! I was really happy with my outcome and I think that it will make my filming process a lot smoother...

I need to create a planning for the filming day soon, but for now I focused on the script! :)

Here it is...!!

EXT. HOUSE IN A NEIGHBORHOOD PHONE 

CAMERA holds the house in an establishing shot onto a house, low angle shot of house, midday. 

INT. KITCHEN 

CLOSE UP shots of BAGEL being made 

Different angles of the CREAM CHEESE being spread, SMOKED SALMON layed, plate being made pretty. 

SOUND of utensils clinking, MAYBE some humming in the background if there is too much empty noise. Humming will be added as a VO. I

NT. PIANO ROOM 

CLOSE UP shot of the one half of the BAGEL being carried on a plate that than ZOOMS OUT to show the main character carrying it, with a pair of WIRED HEADPHONES in their ears. They are eating the other half of the BAGEL. 

MC walks through the LIVING ROOM, past the STAIRS, and stops by the piano. All of this will be a continuous shot, that has a VERY SLOW zoom out. 

SHOT CONTINUES to show the MC stopping by the PIANO, putting the food down, taking out her HEADPHONES, and than pulling out the bench. SHOT ENDS. 

Various CLOSE UP and MEDIUM shots of the MC running their hands over the KEYS, keep the movement, get lots of ANGLES.

 MC begins to PLAY PIANO

 -CLAIRE DE LUNE- 

***START AT 30 SECONDS (OR LATER) END AT 1:30 SECONDS FOR AUDIO***

 Use CLOSE UP shots, MEDIUM shots, and LONG shots of piano playing.

 As the MUSIC crescendos, the FIGHT SCENE CLIPS begin to roll 

INT. DARK ROOM FIGHT SCENE CLIPS

CLOSE UP Shuffling feet around in circle.

CLOSE UP Wrapping hands

 CLOSE UP of wiping face 

CLOSE UP of PUNCHING fists together 

CLOSE UP of Taking a drink of water 

CLOSE UP of HOODIE sleeves rolling up 

CLOSE UP of FIST towards camera 

 SCENE CUT TO BLACK

TITLE CARD 

NT. KITCHEN 

MC is placing dishes into the dishwasher

 The DOORBELL rings throughout the house

 CLOSE UP shots of new characters shoes, bag slung over shoulder and being placed down, closing the door. 

            New Character (NC): 

                                                            HEY IM HOME

 MEDIUM SHOT of NC, their face looking PAST the camera, in a kind way 

SAME EXACT MEDIUM SHOT of NC, their face in KUBRICK STARE, straight AT the camera. 

**THIS WILL FLICKER** 

 END SCENE

Planning

 I have made a plan for this week for my filming!

Wednesday 3/13-Saturday 3/16: Script writing 

Sunday 3/17: Filming FILM from 2-6

Monday 3/18- Wednesday 3/20: Begin editing and document what clips are still needed. (May be fighting clips)

Thursday 3/21- Friday 3/22: I am traveling :D

Saturday 3/23- Wednesday 3/27: Try and film the CCR as I need my brother in law to be the 'interviewer'. (May also need to film the fight scene with my brother as I need a male actor**)

Thursday 3/28- Monday 4/1: EDIT EVERYTHING, FINISHING TOUCHES ON FILM,  CCR, AND BLOG!!

Tuesday 4/2: Submit D:

I created this schedule because I am getting STRESSED!!

I wanted to plan and organize my thoughts and try to be as productive as possible because there is not much time left. 

I have already had some set backs with my filming. I wanted to make the set a very fancy house with a big piano, but I think I am going to change that, as my film location has just fallen through...!

I have changed to another friends house who has more of a keyboard than a grand piano, it may fit better because I can develop the personality of my character more with a more personalized house than a modern looking house. 

I have one actor as the main character, and I am going to film the fighting part with my brother during my vacation, as most of the shots are point of view shots, and the main character's face isn't shown in these parts. I am trying to just imply the beginning of the fight, not any interaction between the two until the fist into the camera happens. 

My struggles I am having with this so far, is I am in two completely different states for both of these parts, and its hard to plan out my continuity as that's very important. I think I have figured it all out despite this struggle!! 

Despite not doing any research right now in the post, writing all of this down really eases my stress and helps me map everything out. When I do things like this, I really can make better produced things, and I so desperately want this project to turn out well!

Title Font

 Just a small post today, I wanted to try and find a font for my title!!

I was going for something that looked old money and elegant, I wanted it to come on after the fight scene, and it will be paired with classical music. I wanted to incorporate the elegance of the font to contrast with the content of the film. It is off-putting and a little bit confusing, yet paired with the classical, it would sound fitting. Here are some options:

I liked all of these options, but I was leaning towards the bolder side of things!!

Speaking of all this title font... I have decided on my title!! 

It is...

KALOPSIA

                                                            

I really wanted my title to be a one-word film, but I wanted it to be a pretty word. It was between Galvanize or Kalopsia, and I went with Kalopsia!

The meaning of the word also contributes to my film because it creates such a stark contrast to what the character is actually going through, and in no way can the character call their events in their life beautiful. If anything, the character experiences the opposite of this, but I still think its a good word to match with my film to symbolize everything they are missing out on that we, who are unaffected by this syndrome, can still have and value in life. My font depended on my titling because I wanted the elegance to show through on both my title and fonts! I think this decision and planning for the font can really piece together the overall vibe of my film I am trying to plan out. 

Character boards

I wanted to create character boards to try and capture the feeling of my characters so far. Because I am only creating two characters, and one barely gets screentime, I just made a mood board of the main character. 

I really like how this captures both sides of her. I really wanted to show her change throughout the plot of the movie as I think ahead to the whole thing. The beginning will obviously capture her previous lifestyle before her illness kicks in, and I liked how I could incorporate both that and her preset lifestyle in the mood board. 

I did something like this to help finalize my ideas on my character so my actors can try and recreate this persona in the best way possible. I am not having professional actors of course, but it helps anybody just a little to really know the person you are trying to be.

 

SFX Makeup & Costume

Misc en scene

    I researched about the elements of my film to try and create the best and most realistic looking feel to my production. 

Makeup Research 

I watched a few bruise tutorials on how to create this sfx, but I also purchased some cheap sets to help me create this set to give the most realistic show. 

When the time comes around, I am going to rewatch the video to try and develop it the best I can, I wanted to place the bruise closer to the eye, where it is in the first video, but I wanted to create a more purple undertone rather than a yellow undertone to it. The wound skin is for the scar and cuts that I can put the butterfly band-aids on. 

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Costume Research

This video I watched really opened my eyes to how much costume plays a role in film. When I create my character board, I was thinking of sketching outfits or researching outfits that will match my character's persona. I have limited supplies as it is more of a casual story, so the right clothes are just essential as a persons personality really shows through their clothes. You can tell how somebody acts and what their interests are on based on how they dress, do their makeup, and hair. 

Although my main character is a girl, I wanted to have her without any facial eye makeup to show the roughness of her situation. I think the clothes she wears should match this vibe because she is in the comfort of her own home, and she can relax, where she thought she was safe. I think it is easy for my to develop this, and if I were to be making the entire movie, her clothing would change. She would start with casual and cozy dressings, while develop the illness, she would than dress more like somebody who isn't welcome is constantly there. The comfy clothes go away and she wears outfits you may wear out to run errands. This shows how she never feels alone and never feels the comfort she feels in the introducition. 

This research has helped my pre-production so I can plan everything I need to when I film next weekend. I want to have everything layed out so I don't forget and have to refilm last minute. I want to create it as realistic as possible, and I think all this research can help me do that. 

Props

 Prop Ideas (Misc en scene)

Yes... maybe I have been putting off finishing my script writing, but I realized as I was thinking about procrastinating it, I had to make a log of all of my props and things I am going to be using.

        -Piano

        -Piano bench

        -Smoked salmon Bagel

        -Fake blood

        -Makeup for bruises

        -Butterfly closure bandages

        -White/Black t shirt

                (for the sibling, when the flicker occurs, the shirt color can change perhaps, I want to film                         both options to see how it all looks)

        -Green t shirt

                (for the MC to wear to represent mental illness)

        -Plating for food

I wanted to make a list of all of my main props for two reasons. One: to actually remember everything for day of filming. (March 17??) Two: assessing how each little thing can add to my project to make it all seem more realistic. I have a plan to research wound makeup, and although I am not a makeup artist, I have found people to help me create these effects the best that I can to make it the most realistic to immerse my audience in my media. 

    I believe this can add to my project to really create that last realistic touch to it. I really want to get my misc en scene right to create the best looking facade to my characters!

Screenwriting

Writing a story

Today we watched a Ted Talk in class by Andrew Stanton about story telling. I have had my doubts about my creation of my story as I am really unsure if my plot lines or how I will deliver it is any good. 

    As someone who has grown up finding comfort in Disney and Pixar movies, this talk really stood out to me, as I know that every movie I take comfort in, is for a reason. Some key points I wrote down were:

•  Storytelling is joke telling. It’s knowing your punchline. Your ending. Knowing that everything you're saying, from the first sentence to the last, is leading to a singular goal and ideally confirming some truth that deepens our understandings of who we are as human beings. 
• For my story, it's harder to develop this concept in just the first two minutes, but the confidence of knowing what will happen within the first part of the movie can really bring my intro together. 
• MAKE ME CARE. Emotionally, intellectually, aesthetically. 
• I wanted to capture audiences hearts through characters, its almost impossible to do this in the first two minutes, but I can peak their interest in the character slowly but surely. 
• Make a promise: in the beginning, make a promise to your audience, that this story will lead somewhere that’s worth their time.
• This is something I can execute well and have to focus on in my project. I want to be able to promise the audience that I can lead there somewhere to where they're minds will be scrambled and awed at the end of the plot I've introduced. 
•  The audience wants to work for their meal. They just don’t want to know they’re doing that. Meaning, we want to be given the clues to understand the whole story. We want to be told, what is 2 + 2? But we don't want to be told, 2 + 2 = 4. It’s this well organized absence of information that draws us in. make the audience put things together. 
• This is also something I can start to create. The fight scene and the wounds on my character can help the audience piece together the story line, and although it will be very hard to infer the mental illness and the fight are related, there could be a connection if one looks hard enough. 
• Give your character a main goal to pursue.
• The self conflict I am trying to show in my first two minutes will hopefully pull this element through, I can help the audience realize this is a first for the main character through my actors and the shot compositions. 
•  All well-drawn characters have a spine. The characters have an inner motor, a dominant, unconscious goal that they’re striving for, an itch that they can’t scratch. 
• Although I love this statement from Andrew Stanton, I cannot develop my character so much in just two minutes, but in movies that work on character development, they really appeal to me. 
• Change is fundamental in a story. If things go static, stories die, because life is never static. Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty. When you’re telling a story, have you constructed anticipation? In the short term, have you made me wanna know what will happen next? Have you made me wanna know how it will conclude in the long term? Have you constructed honest conflicts with truth that creates doubt in what the outcome might be? Storytelling has guidelines, not hard rules. 
• I like how I have structured my storyline. The fight scene shows the capability that it can show something can and will happen, and the suspense with the sibling at the end shows how there is uncertainty in the reality of the main character. It creates a suspense that there is something there, but we are not sure what exactly. 
• Like your main character. We all live life conditionally. Characters can be good, but have a fatal flaw in them, that doesn’t come out unless their one condition for being nice and kind isn’t met anymore. We’re all willing to play by the rules and follow things along, as long as certain conditions are met. After that, all bets are off. 
• I believe this is an element I need to work on in my story. I need to dedicate time to create the persona of the main character, their outfits, their hair, all the misc en scene of the character. 
• Can you invoke wonder? “That’s what I think the magic ingredient is, the secret sauce, is can you invoke wonder. 
• This is one of the key elements to my story, I really want to get the audience thinking and questioning themselves. 
• Write from what you know. Draw from it. It doesn’t always mean plot or fact, it means capturing a truth from our experiencing it, expressing values you personally feel deep down in your core.
• Although I have never experienced anything like this, I know what it is like to fear the unknown and being alone, to communicate this idea I believe I can express myself through my camera lens. 

This Ted Talk has opened my eyes to the important details and to think beyond just a story. It's going to help my project so much in its story lines and help me communicate what I want to show in the best way possible. 

Group Meeting

 GROUP MEETINGS!

    Yesterday, we got into groups to discuss how our projects were coming along. 

We shared our plot points, script processes, and our thoughts on each others productions. 

    In my group, I got some great feedback on my project and  one little things that I could add to it. 

• To get the clean transition to the title scene, and to indicate that the MC has received brain damage from the fight that causes the mental disorder, we can do a shot where there is a punch aimed directly at the camera, and than cut to black. 

I really liked this idea, because I wanted to sort of give the whole story away in the beginning without the watchers even noticing it. The whole main plot is meant to lead the audiences to believe this is a supernatural occurrence, but in the end of the movie, you come to the conclusion that it was just the MC's imagination all along. 

    I got great feedback of how detailed my plot points have been so far, and that they could really picture what the story is meant to be like, which makes me so happy!!! I was concerned my vision was too specific and targeted so people wouldn't understand it... but they did!

Even listening to everyone else's plan and plots, it made me open my eyes to see the extent of peoples ideas, and all the different genre's they are doing has comforted me about my own ideas. I felt my plot was too general, but everybody in my group had different idea's, and some of them were so good, I can't wait to see their final products!

If there's one thing I want to plan and clarify and get group feedback on again, its on my script that I am making and the shot angle/processes. 

These group meetings really helped me and I'm super excited for our next one to check up on my progress and keep my thoughts in order!! I think this can also improve my project by giving me new ideas from an alternative perspective. It's outside feedback that can help, because my own point of view can become so limited to my story, so getting someone else to see it and add to it for the better really will help me!!

My notes^^

Genre Research

Genre

Psychological Thrillers

Citations

        In psychological thrillers, there is a main focus on the characters and the psychological aspects of their own minds. They usually include themes like crimes, murders, abuse, mental illness, or an altering sense of reality. The conflict in these films is usually one of self V.S. self. Thrillers, sometimes confused with horror, makes the audience heart race with curiosity and action. They are often realistic and don't take on any fantasy aspects or science fictions ones either. 

        Things that create a good psychological thriller consist of 

• Plot twists - To build a suspenseful piece that really brings together the psychological aspect of the movie, unexpected twists in the movie do this. It is better to lead one away from any suspicion of the actual plot twist and try to not hint towards it to spring the best suspense on the audience. 
• Unreliable narration - To create an uneasy sense in the watcher, there must be a development of lies, unreliable actions, and things you may not be sure are real to create the suspense and paranoia throughout the film.
• Familiar events - The writers of psychological thrillers tend to try and make the films take place in familiar locations with every-day things to try and appear as realistic as possible. They strive to make the viewers believe this could happen to them, or anyone around them.

   To write psychological thriller plots, it is essential to create a high tension to keep the audience on their toes, always expecting something to happen at the ready. Additionally, creating a sense of helplessness to the situation can also help this aspect. This is so there is no easy solution, and there is no way of them figuring out if something is real or not. To develop the character backstories slowly but surely can additionally aid in this process. When doing this, it doesn't fully fill the viewer in, not giving them all the juicy details and leaving them hanging. 

    All of this research on my genre can aid me to develop a good psychological thriller that can keep people engaged with my film. I really want to produce something that could wow people, and I think all of this research can help my process. 

    For my project itself, this research can improve it because now that I know what I need to develop in the script, I can carry it out with film techniques such as shot composition and music! 

Psychological Thrillers in film:

Us (2019)

Teen Wolf S3B (2013)

Split (2016)

Film opening research

Film Openings

Baby Driver (2017)

This film opening has to be one of my favorites. I love the use of close shots at various different angles. It gives context during the driving scenes and creates a story without having to actually do all of it. I really love how the cuts synchronize to the beats of the song playing through his headphones, the lights switching with the song, the car revving to the beat building. It all creates tension and a climatic buildup. I also really like how it sets a tone despite the actions going on inside the film content. I want to make mine in a similar way to this, with the short close ups and cuts. 

The Dark Night (2008)

The shot compositions of this opening are used very well to build suspense. The initial slow zooms used at the start create a sense of establishment. Both used on the mask and the building. I really liked how the fast pacing changed throughout the clips and created the sense of vibe in it. 

Fight Club (1999)

This movie was one of my favorites and inspired me greatly. The voiceovers and the tone of his voice create a sense that something is off and wrong. It doesn't match the scenario at the beginning of the film. Essentially, it spoils itself if you listen and you know the ending of this spectacular movie piece. It is not per say 'action packed' but it gives the audience a very fast grasp on what is happening while also throwing them off in multiple different aspects. I really love how this movie confuses the audience throughout the piece. 

Deadpool (2016)

Although this opening doesn't have much to do with my film, I really liked this one. For a violent and action packed movie, it shows just one scene and already sets the tone and describes Deadpool. It shows the humor, the fourth wall breaks, and the situation that is happening at hand. It was a very artistic take on the opening with the still motion that happened. Obviously, I cannot do this as I don't have the tools available, but it is very interesting. 

This research has helped me figure out a little better if I want to take an action packed or slower take on my openings. I can have time to consider this and think about how I can set the tone of the movie and develop my characters through technological elements like this.

This research can additionally help me grow and understand each different aspect of a film openings and how I can take different understandings to my project instead of something I have just come up with in my head. 

https://youtu.be/7ARFyrM6gVs?si=yhhrquuHO7A45Vc6

https://movieweb.com/thrillers-with-incredible-opening-scenes/#the-dark-knight-2008

Capgras research

 Capgras Syndrome Research 

    The mental disorder of Capgras syndrome is something I wanted to illustrate in my project. I wanted to include a psychological aspect to my film and begin to introduce it while also hinting at small plot twists and indicators that something is off. 

    Capgras syndrome is when an individual has a delusion or fear that there are duplicates of evil doppelgangers. They have imagined that something else has taken the place of someone close and dear to them and they have an evil motive. According to NIH, it is mainly present in females, so I am leaning towards a female protagonist for my film, but it can be shown in men occasionally. It mostly occurs to patients with brain damage. The bifrontal, right limbic, and temporal regions being damages usually cause Capgras'. In the actual film during the fight scene, the audience isn't meant to know who it is, but it's the main character is the one fighting. They get a blow to the head that will start this damage, but they wanted the fight to be kept on the down-low so nothing was ever checked at a doctors. 

        In just the film opening, the main character will believe that someone has replaced their sibling. To complete this in my film, I wanted to demonstrate the Kubrick stare. In this look, it can create a 

psychotic look to a character. It is used in many films such as the Shining, A clockwork orange, Psycho, Gone girl, Dark Night, and Silence of the Lambs. When I wanted to use this effect through my film, it is when its closeups of the main character talking to their sibling, and there's a slight flickering of their siblings face between normal looking and the Kubrick stare. I wanted to execute this but stabilizing the camera with a tripod or a stand so the everything stays the same apart from the persons face. I believe this will create a very creepy look adding to the psychological part of my film. This can also help the viewer understand that something is off with the character mentally. Depending on the time I have after this, I might show the main characters reaction to this, as it would be the first time they fully realize that something is off. 

To develop this psychological aspect correctly means a lot to my process because it means I can show and develop certain feelings and visions without coming out and saying it in film. All of this research can help me create a better feel to the film and make sure that everything is as accurate and realistic as possible. 

Sound

Sound sync in fight scenes

https://maactioncinema.com/archives/14321

    I wanted to incorporate music into my film opening, so I have been observing the synchronized sound in action pieces for film. In my previous digital video class, something I was very good at was synchronizing editing cuts to the beats of a song. 

    I believe on the heavier notes in the song, is when I am going to insert the fighting scenes. To develop a fighting scene, I've also observed that the clips have to be short and very limited in the POV's. 

    I wanted to synchronize this with sound for multiple reasons, I believe it makes the sound effects sound more although they are real and belong in the clip. The fast editing of it all can also add to the stressed out feeling that the main character is feeling. It will match the tone from the beginning of the film of the fast paced clips of making the bagel with smoked salmon. 

    This all matters to create the tone of my film opening. The correct research on these methods of film can help enhance all aspects of  my project. A lot of improvement on personal work comes from observing and learning from others to make mine to the best of my ability. 
 

Sound I will use that is copyright-free: 

https://freesound.org/s/713544/

Stop @ 1:30

Plot Points

Plot

I created a rough draft of the first half of my project and how I wanted to plan it out. It is a list of restrictions and things I want to include in my plot and I will solidify it all later. 

PLOT:

-NO schizophrenia

-NO torture scenes

To develop a background for the psychological portion of my assignment to bring further sense and significance to important objects, I wanted to develop a very rough draft on how to create the unique side of my project. I was inspired by many psychological films, but I want to add to that, and blow people's minds more with an idea despite not being able to fully execute it yet. I want to bring significance to food, specifically a bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon. I know that's oddly specific for some reason, but I wanted to try and give as much money and power aspects to my characters, showing their wealth and high statuses. I cannot do this with setting as I don't have a millionaire house to film with, but the props I can use may be able to help me in this aspect. I don't really know how to develop a meaning to the smoked salmon, because its just salmon, but the close up shots I wanted to use at the beginning could detail its later importance. 

Explaining my idea and what shots I have so far thought up of:

*Separating plot points every 10 seconds*

TWO OPTIONS FOR WHERE TO PUT TITLE!!!

``1`` PUT IT BEFORE THE END AFTER THE VIOLENCE SCENE, AND THAN START THE CHARACTER 2 DEVELOPMENT IN THE LAST 20 SECONDS

``2`` PUT IT 20 SECONDS INTO THE FILM, AFTER THE MAKING BAGEL SCENE AND THAN DONT PUT THE C3 DEVELOPMENT AT ALL AND END WITH THE VIOLENCE SCENE.

**CAPGRAS SYNDROME??***

Capgras syndrome: Capgras syndrome (CS), or delusion of doubles, is a delusional misidentification syndrome. It is a syndrome characterized by a false belief that an identical duplicate has replaced someone significant to the patient. In CS, the imposter can also replace an inanimate object or an animal.

-Only two characters instead of trying to make a family of them. Two brothers/siblings. One of them has the syndrome and believes the other is a bad person (killer, fighter, whatever) when they actually are??

01. The production title. Close up shots of making the bagel with smoked salmon. The cutting to black will have the credits with it. The alternative to this, is a continuous shot of the character making the bagel themselves. It would exclude their face, shot from neck down to upper legs. I have not decided on this specific layout yet, but I can film both options. 

10-20 secs

02. After the title, the character will be shot in a medium shot, revealing their face carrying and eating the smoked salmon to their grand room where the piano is. They put down the bagel, still chewing and hover their fingers over the keys. They begin to play. The intro will start with a very long, low angle shot of the character playing, slowly easing into the feeling of the music and getting into it. (Start the music at around 0:33?) 

20-30 secs

03. This will be various shots. Close ups of the hands, keys. Long shots of playing. Medium shots of playing. Low angles, high angles, etc.

30-40 secs

04. As the music begins to crescendo, begin to edit in the parts of the fighting. They will be tight shots, very quick and spread out to the beat. There will be one face shown but it is of the person getting hit and who 'looses the fight' I may include some POV shots, I'm still unsure about this.

40-50 secs

05. Continuing with the fighting, the person who looses will be left on the floor with (fake) blood. There will be switches between the character playing the piano and the fighting. 

50-60 secs

06. As the person who beat the other person walks away, the music will go back to being quiet, close up of the main characters face, as they sit there, zoning out, before taking a bite of the bagel and walking away. The title will than play (opt 2) and it will be displayed on the piano bench the character was sitting on. 

60-70 secs

Planning all of this out is very important to me, because if I juts keep the rough draft inside of my head, I will never execute it how I would like to, I've learnt from past projects and I want to start developing every little detail now, I believe this will create depth to my project and help it to be the perfect.

This would matter in my process to help fully detail everything so I don't leave anything out. I can create a good, well thought out project to my best ability. 

 

Character Development/Genre

Characters and Genre

        For my film opening, I wanted to focus on creating a psychological thriller/action movie. I have always been really into the psychology aspect of things, and movies about the mind are really amazing in my opinion. Despite there having no development to the psychological aspect of things in the first two minutes of the film opening, I still want to develop the beginning of it when you can tell there is something off about the vibe. I wanted to develop more of my characters and the plot in the first few minutes to the song, "Claire de Lune". I took interest in this song due to the quick change of tone 

Grand Piano in the 'home'

throughout the musical piece. To start it off, it would be with silence. There would be two main characters. Character 1 (no name yet) would have the starting scene, and a very quiet appeal to them. They would begin to play this sound on the piano, starting with a diegetic sound, it would than develop into a non-diegetic sound. The non-diegetic sound would be developed as the pace in the song quickens. It would be character 2, participating in a mafia/gang-like assignment of a violent event. After this, the title screen would play out. I still wanting to have quite a while left after the title screen to develop a few characters. I wanted to start the development of them when character 2 arrived to his 'home' where character 1 was previously on the piano. Than character 3 would be inserted, which is the younger character with a mouth on him. They would be discussing the previous plan that they had just executed in the prior scene. I have not thought through the dialogue yet, but I do think that this would be a beneficial way to develop my three characters for the persona's I had in mind for them. 

        I want to make the decisions for my project, because one of my favorite types of movies is when the character develops throughout the movie, and it forms an attachment from the audience. I also wanted to entice the audience for my 'film'. There is a prominent connection with character 1 and 2, and I believe the scene synchronized with the building audio will develop this very well. I like the idea of the quick tone shift in the manner as well. 

        The above video shows how music and tonal shift matters a lot to a production. I was amazed at how different a clip can appear just by the audio. I believe that these characters paired with this sequence of editing and music, will add depth to them. It can entice the audience to want to learn more about them, their history, and how they are all connected!