Film Planning Day 2

Today my group and I finalized the storyline of the film and who will be in charge of each role. Only me and Brandon share a study hall, so we all communicated final ideas through a group chat. When it came to deciding the jobs and responsibilities of each person, I offered being the director. I wanted not to control the group but take charge and be on top of the flow of the film and since I had a lot of ideas to begin with, I wanted to contribute as much as I could. Being the director also meant helping in camera work and editing which I was gladly ready to take on. Brandon wanted to stay behind the scenes to begin with, so he volunteered to be the camera man. Jada had prior experience in editing so wanted to be the film's editor.

Cinematographer/ Camera work: Brandon

Sound and film editing: Jada

Director: Anngelie (me)

Other than technical aspects, we also decided on performing roles. I didn't mind acting, and my team wanted to stay more behind the scenes, so I took the role of the lead character, Carla. We also asked one friend and my theater teacher to take on other important characters in the film.

Carla: Anngelie (me)

Carla's Mother: Emily

The teacher Mr. Johnson: Mr. Kean

Jada and I started on the script while Brandon took note of camera angles, shots, and movements that could be used in our film. Not only that but we started taking note of Carla's costume and props used in the film.

Carla's costume: smart, wears glasses.

Props: bad test sheet, fake savings money, fake knife, and Carla's belongings (bag and folders.)

The finalized plot is going as follows:

-Carla is in class (media studies class) finishing up some work until she checks the time and starts packing her stuff.

-As she’s walking out of school, she receives a notification regarding her final grade.

-Carla checks her phone only to find out that her teacher, Mr. Johnson, gave her an F on the final.

-Panicking, Carla gets flashbacks to her mom yelling at her (in Spanish) for a bad grade she got in the past.

-Flashback transitions to the calm waves of Spain which reminds her of her goal.

-Carla goes inside the theater to speak to Mr. Johnson about the grade but he refuses to change it.

-Carla walks away in despair and anger until she spots a knife

-Carla grabs the knife and kills her teacher while thinking, “nobody will stop me from leaving this place.”

So basically, a Drama filled with suspense and death. We want our film to cater to students who face high pressure from strict parents. Carla, as a Hispanic girl gets frequent scolding from her mother. This motivates Carla to work hard in order to move out and leave somewhere far from her household. Our film can also cater to teachers who don't find compassion with their students at times and make zero exceptions. Audiences of young adults still in school and Hispanic children can relate the most to the film and the message it sends out: "high pressure can bring rash decisions."

Film Planning Day 1

Today me and one of my teammates met up to pitch ideas for the film. Brandon had already thought of a production name and came with a logo so we went with “Night Owl Productions.” Me and Brandon both take theater and almost immediately came to a consensus on where the location of the movie would take place, the theater. I presented my ideas to Brandon about wanting to film horror and have the killer be the protagonist. Brandon liked the idea of a bad person being the protagonist but wasn’t sure on horror due to it being a hard genre to film.

To construct a plot, we started asking ourselves questions such as “who is the main character?” “how can audiences relate to the film?” “what are some problems faced?” We started throwing character traits to build the personality of the main character and landed on a Hispanic studious student named Carla. For problems, I suggested building off Carla’s ethnicity. Many Hispanic kids face the troubles of strict parents so we went with that. A smart student who is scared of disappointing her parents and dreams of moving far away with her grades. Due to our small cast, we decided to throw our teacher in the plot by making him be the one to ruin Carla’s dream by giving her a bad grade. Carla wants nothing more than to leave her toxic household and hates her teacher for smashing her dream, so she kills him.

Brandon and I formed a rough outline of how the story will go:

-Carla is in class (media studies class) finishing up some work.

-She checks the time and starts packing her stuff.

-As she’s walking out of school, she receives a notification regarding her final grade.

-Carla checks her phone to find her teacher gave her an F on the final.

-Panicking, she gets flashbacks to her parents yelling at her.

-Flashback transitions to the calm waves of Spain(?) which reminds her of her goal.

-Carla goes inside the theater to speak to her teacher about the grade but he refuses to change it.

-Carla desperately trues to bribe her teacher with her money saved for Spain but he still refuses.

-Carla gets angry and kills her teacher while thinking, “nobody will stop me from leaving that place.”

Research: Camerawork Composition

 Objective: The goal of this assignment was to take still photos of the shots planned in our storyboards. Along with taking the still photos, they had to be uploaded into an organizer with a definition, two purposes, an action line, genre, and three adjectives describing the shot. The shots were spilt into four sections consisting of shot sizes, angles, framing, and composition meaning we had to take over 32 pictures in total.

Section Four: Camera Composition

1. The Rule of Thirds Shot #1,
2. Symmetry Shot #2,
3. Asymmetry Shot #3,
4. Point Shot #4
5. Leading lines Shot #5,
6. Shapes Shot  (geometric, organic, and irregular/ abstract shapes) (your choice) #6,
7. Deep Focus Shot #7
8. Shallow Focus (Foreground In-Focus and background Out-of-Focus Shot) #8
9. Shallow Focus (Background In Focus and foreground Out-of-Focus Shot) #9

Out of the 9 shots taken, the two I found to be the best were the symmetry and extreme deep focus shot.

Symmetry shots bring satisfaction to the human eye. It creates a sense of balance and aesthetic.

Deep focus shots also establish mise en scene. This shot is prefect for creating a story between the foreground and background.

Reflection: This assignment was not only helpful, but fun. The assignment was less writing and more taking pictures correlating to the shots. We got to go outside, walk around, and get preview for how filming the short film is going to be. Working with my team member, Ale, was also a good experience since he was the model for most of the shots while I held the camera and took the pictures. This assignment gave me a better understanding on which shots work best in specific genres, like how extreme close up works with horror.

Research: Camerawork Framing

Objective: The goal of this assignment was to take still photos of the shots planned in our storyboards. Along with taking the still photos, they had to be uploaded into an organizer with a definition, two purposes, an action line, genre, and three adjectives describing the shot. The shots were spilt into four sections consisting of shot sizes, angles, framing, and composition meaning we had to take over 32 pictures in total.

Section Three: Camera Framing

1. Single ShotLinks to an external site.
2. Two ShotLinks to an external site.
3. Three ShotLinks to an external site.
4. Four Shot
5. Crowd Shot
6. Over-the-Shoulder Shot (OTS)Links to an external site.
7. Point-of-View Shot (POV)Links to an external site.
8. Insert Shot

Out of the 8 shots taken, the two I found to be the best were the over the shoulder and point of view shot.

Over the shoulder shots can be used to establish in depth mise en scene which is why this shot is so useful. There's something going on in the fore and background.

Perspective shots bring versatility to a film. Dimension pulls an audience into the world which is why i enjoyed experimenting with this shot.

Reflection: This assignment was not only helpful, but fun. The assignment was less writing and more taking pictures correlating to the shots. We got to go outside, walk around, and get preview for how filming the short film is going to be. Working with my team member, Ale, was also a good experience since he was the model for most of the shots while I held the camera and took the pictures. This assignment gave me a better understanding on which shots work best in specific genres, like how extreme close up works with horror.

Research: Camerawork Angles

Objective: The goal of this assignment was to take still photos of the shots planned in our storyboards. Along with taking the still photos, they had to be uploaded into an organizer with a definition, two purposes, an action line, genre, and three adjectives describing the shot. The shots were spilt into four sections consisting of shot sizes, angles, framing, and composition meaning we had to take over 32 pictures in total.

Section Two: Camera Angles

Eye Level Shot

Low Level Shot

High Angle Shot

Hip Level Shot

Knee Level Shot

Ground Level Shot

Shoulder Level Shot

Overhead Shot

Aerial Shot

Out of the 9 shots taken, the two I found to be the best were the high angle and ground level shot.

High angle shots can be used to display a difference in power. Often used in horror movies to showcase a relationship between protagonist and antagonist.

Ground level shots bring mystery and suspense. Horror movies include ground shots to give the audience a preview of what's to come and a chance to make assumptions. 

Reflection: This assignment was not only helpful, but fun. The assignment was less writing and more taking pictures correlating to the shots. We got to go outside, walk around, and get preview for how filming the short film is going to be. Working with my team member, Ale, was also a good experience since he was the model for most of the shots while I held the camera and took the pictures. This assignment gave me a better understanding on which shots work best in specific genres, like how extreme close up works with horror.

Research: Camerawork Shot

Objective: The goal of this assignment was to take still photos of the shots planned in our storyboards. Along with taking the still photos, they had to be uploaded into an organizer with a definition, two purposes, an action line, genre, and three adjectives describing the shot. The shots were spilt into four sections consisting of shot sizes, angles, framing, and composition meaning we had to take over 32 pictures in total.

Section One: Camera Shot Sizes

CU: Close-up

MCU: Medium Close-up

ECU: Extreme Close-up

MS: Medium Shot

CS: Cowboy Shot/MFS: Medium-Full Shot

WS: Wide Shot/LS: Long Shot

EST: Establishing Shot

FS: Full Shot

Out of the 8 shots taken, the two I found to be the best were the establishing and extreme close up shot.

Extreme close up shots are commonly used in horror movies to display a character's fear or rage more clearly. It's for this reason that this shot is one of my favorites because my short film at the end of the year is gonna be horror.

Establishing shots can be used in any genre of movie. It establishes setting and gives the viewer context which is why I plan to use this shot for my short film.

Reflection: This assignment was not only helpful, but fun. The assignment was less writing and more taking pictures correlating to the shots. We got to go outside, walk around, and get preview for how filming the short film is going to be. Working with my team member, Ale, was also a good experience since he was the model for most of the shots while I held the camera and took the pictures. This assignment gave me a better understanding on which shots work best in specific genres, like how extreme close up works with horror.

Preliminary Exercise: Sound in Film

How does the sound support your film in the context of its genre? 

Sound comes in various forms. Whether that be melodic or discordant, depending on the theme or genre of the film, sound adds connotations to a scene. For example, if in the scene the director is trying to achieve a jump-scare in a horror film, the best sound to accompany that scene would be creaking sound effects, suspenseful music, and then silence before the surprise. Different mediums of sound come together to support the context of the film and genre.

A good example of using sound to support the genre is Beau's death in "A Quiet Place."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CmmKmlXD9I

The scene starts off with melodic calm music and slowly transitions to creepy music as the family approaches the bridge. From the bridge onward, it's mostly silent with only the sound effects of their footsteps. Something to note is that anytime the camera landed on the daughter, there was complete silence to signify her being deaf. Silence transitions to the sound of the little boy's toy. The sound effect jump starts suspenseful music to accompany to dad trying to get to his son before the creature does. All of these sound mediums build tension within the scene and emotion within the audience.

Although I'm still not set on what exactly my movie is going to be about, I'm hoping to have a horror genre and have the plot take place in theater. There will be interactions between the killer and a student.

4 dialogue lines that could be used in my film:

-"Why did you stay behind?"

-"It's very dark outside."

-"You can't get away from me."

-"Goodnight."

4 sound effects that could be heard in my film:

-Knife stab, running footsteps, creaky floors, door slams

4 musical pieces that could be heard in my film:

-Suspenseful, eerie, chasing, and hard sound music 

Introduction to Sound in Film

What is sound in film? Sound in a film is everything you can hear when watching a film including sound effects, dialogue and music.

Why is sound significant to filmmaking? Sound can change the emotional or physical status of a character and illustrate the phycological thoughts of a character. Sound evokes emotions from the audience and makes the mind feel like it truly is in the place of the film. Sound enhances the movie world and gives hints to the audience of what is next to come. Sounds matches the action on the screen and connects you to what is being seen and heard. Sound smooths out transitions in editing and highlights a theme, message or genre. Sound creates a sense of time and place.

Who is responsible for sound in a movie? Sound designers.

Famous sound designer:

Peat Horner

Pete Horner is an Emmy-winning sound designer and re-recording mixer at Skywalker Sound. He studied percussion and music recording at the Cleveland Institute of Music and discovered the musicality of film sound at American Zoetrope.

Noteworthy movies:

- Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)

- Navalny (2022)

- Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain (2021)

Film would be nothing without sound. Sound is what enhances the world in the film and makes the audience feel like they're really there. A simple switch from happy to devastating music can change the entire interpretation of the movie. Sound sets a mood and creates specific emotions for the audience at the various points in the film. Sound simulates reality and builds up tension which is why I can't wait to start playing around with different sound effects and music once I start filming.

Preliminary Exercise: Introduction to Sound Post

What do you hear when you watch a film? 

- Dialogue: dialogue is a spoken verbal exchange between two or more people.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8v9QoxFhRw

- Monologue: a speech given by a single character in a story. It is the vocalization of a character’s thoughts. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4u-c2cRiU-U

- Voice-over: a voice that is used to narrate information about the story of a film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vb-U5ec38QE

- Sound effects: A sound recorded and presented to make a specific storytelling or creative point, without the use of dialogue or music. Sound effects can be created or enhanced for a film and applied after filming.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWuneDSPevo

- Underscore music: Music that specifically accompanies a scene with dialogue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNE7kKeguh8

- Diegetic/source music: Source music or a source cue that comes from an on-screen source that can actually be seen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JDpjGN3qNg

- Score: theme music; original music written specifically to accompany the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJq0YHjtI-c

What are the 2 main types of sound in film? 

Diegetic: Sounds that the audience and characters can hear. 
-dialogue, sound effects, source music

Non-diegetic: Sounds that the audience can hear but characters in a scene cannot.
-voiceover, underscore, score, sound effects

Knowing the difference in all these sound terms will be especially important when I have to sort out sounds in my film. Learning the sound categories makes it easier to start specifying what music or sound effects I want in my film. Looking for examples gave me ideas and technique inspiration.