As we continue brainstorming for ideas for the mise-en-scene details of the film opening, we are basically done with the props and overall set of the film. My partner and I mostly know everything we want to include in our film opening. All of the things that we want to put would reveal things about the character, like their mental state, love, etc.
The opening would be filmed in a house, specifically in the living room with some shots from the kitchen. The props would serve the purpose to keep the audience engage and looking at everything presented to them, or having to re-watch the whole thing to get the small details.
Some of the first props designs we thought of were a record player and an old phone, like the ones with the wire. My partner actually ones these things (the phone isn't like the one in the photo but instead of turning to put the numbers, it has a keypad and it's green). These props would help build the personality of our main character. The objects would radiate an old-fashioned vibe, making it seem as though the film happens in current times, the man is still stuck in old times and loves to reminisce about his life in the past. Both of these props the man would be using throughout the film, given that most of the time there would be music playing and the man will get a phone call.
Another background prop we are planning in incorporated is roses. These roses would represent the couple, so two roses one for the guy and one for the woman would be placed in a vase. To further represent them one of the roses would be alive and the other one is dead. This detail wouldn't overshadow any big plot details given that this information is going to be revealed in the opening. Nevertheless, it would make the audience pay more attention to the small details.
One key mise-en-scene choice we were set on from the start, was making the house(so the living room and the kitchen) appear as they haven't been cleaned in a while. We wanted the mess of the house to connect to the mental state of the man. Our thought process was, the man isn't well mentally (clearly), and the house is uncleaned, a mess just like the man's brain. One of the film backgrounds would be the kitchen, so we wanted to have some dirty dishes in the sink, maybe an unfinished meal on the table, or a spilled liquid. This detail also would add to the sense that the man is basically lost without his woman, can't even clean his own house.
One last thing we are sure we want to add to the set design would be some family portraits around the walls. Using these will add to the sense that this once was a family full of love, that was always together. Additionally, the family portraits would be used to further introduce the wife and the son, who would later call his dad in the opening. These plus the song we plan on using will tell the audience that the man truly loves his family. This vibe would contrast the action of the man (killing his wife), which would build some mystery to the film, making the audience think, what is wrong with the man?
What's up guys, so this week has been full of planning for the details of the opening. For example, my partner and I have already settled on a color pallet for the movie, the costumes, the set, and even the details of the set design. So many little things we are starting to plan to place around the set
Our film opening will follow a middle-aged man who killed his beloved wife. The man truly loved his wife, so it was weird that he would do such a thing to his wife. Though the man is self-aware he caused this pain to himself, he still isn't able to fully wrap his head around what happened. The man even likes to remember her, in her best, with her pretty dress and perfect hair, how they danced all of their afternoons listening to old tunes from their record player.
The movie opening will start just a few days after the man killed his wife, the house is starting to look dirty and unkempt, as the dirty plates on the kitchen table and dirt on the floor. Through this mess, the man is seen dancing with his imaginary wife in the living room. They look like a lovely couple, holding each other close. They are slow dancing to the song, moving in sync with the music. While they are dancing we will also show various things throughout the house that could reveal more about the couple, like some flowers and a family portrait. Though throughout this whole segment we plan on not showing the woman's face, so it adds more mystery to the film and also hints to the audience that she isn't there.
After almost a minute of dancing, the man is going to get an unexpected phone call from his son. The son knew about what happened to his mom, but not actually. He knows she died and that his dad isn't okay with this event, but he doesn't know what caused the death of his mom. So, the son is calling to let the dad know that he is coming to visit soon, to be with him through these hard times. While the son is finishing talking to the dad, we are planning to slowly zoom into the basement door (which wouldn't be an actual basement given that they are no basements in Florida), to create further suspense. The basement door will represent where the wife was killed, though we wouldn't straight up to reveal that to the audience given that it's too easy. So we plan on the man to look at the door at the last few seconds of the opening and then we do an eyeliner match to introduce this idea. This is where the opening will end, and it will fade to black to show the title.
There is still some small detail that will play a big role in overshadowing the plot, in the opening we are going to have to plan out, though I am very excited to do so.
Alright, so you can’t do a movie without characters, except if it’s just a montage of different nature shots and nothing else but that’s very boring and has no real purpose.
Our movie's main character is a middle-aged couple with their son/daughter, though who we need to cast for would be for the couple given that the only thing we’ll see if the son would be his voice. Indifference, to some opening, I have seen we have decided to use adults instead of teenagers for the opening given that it will give it a more realistic look. Barely any teenagers have the look that we are looking for, so we had to increase the age limit.
We have decided to look for couples that we know can play the part. Someone who we would be comfortable asking to participate. We have deceived that my parents and my parent's best friends as an option for this role. Both of them would be good for the role given that they fit the idea that we have for our opening. Specifically, it would be better if we could get my orients best friends because of their height difference.
Throughout the opening the face of the woman isn’t supposed to be seen, given that she is supposed to be a flashback/ a component of the man's imagination. To tell the audience that she isn’t actually there we plan on not showing her face. This will also add mystery to the whole opening because people would be thinking, Why can’t we see her face? Who is she? which is someone thing we are trying to give off with our opening. Having a short woman and a taller man is easier to do this given that she can hide her face.
My mom is already super invested in the project so much so that she is already asking me about the costumes designs (which we are starting to plan), how is her hair going to look, the scenery, and almost every detail of the opening
Hey guys, so for my project, as stated in some blogs previously, I want to incorporate a song for the majority of my opening. I feel like songs are such a clever way to tell the audience something, without directly telling them. Music, mise-en-scene, and costume are very similar this way, though it's auditory. I truly believe that a song can tell a story, and I want to do just that.
I have been mainly looking for songs from an era with a specific aesthetic. These will be old-fashioned songs between the 40s-60s that give off the vibe of slow dancing with your soulmate. I actually got this idea, because recently I have been obsessing over songs from this era and listening to playlists that have songs like such, so much that it surprised my dad.
One of the songs that will fit in my opening is "Only you (and you alone)" by The Platters. The first time I heard this song, I was amazed by the vocals of the main singer, it was really something we don't hear anymore. I find this song a good candidate for this role because of its simplicity. In the song, the main thing you hear is his vocals, it's either the background or the main singers. Though in the song the artists do use a saxophone, piano, and drums, they don't take away the attention from the vocals. They actually add to the richness and power that the singers are giving in the song. I really like how everything comes together to create a magnificent sing. This was one of the first options for me while I was researching. With this song, I can actually imagine how the whole opening will play out, how the characters would be dancing to it, basically how everything would look with this song playing. I feel like The Platters have many other options I could hope to use like "Smoke gets in your eyes" and "I love you yes I do". I really enjoy the simplicity that this group has in their songs and the old-fashion vibes the voices give.
Another song that I think will work for my film is "And I love you so" by Don Mclean. I really love the simple guitar that's throughout the song. I feel like it makes the whole song more romantic than it already is. Also, the guitar with the (I think it is) violin, just makes the song so simple and enjoyable, it almost feels soft. And on top of all the voice of the singer ties it all up, he like a bow in a present, very lovely and pretty. (It is less likely that I would be able to use this song given that Don Mclean is still alive, given that I would need to write to him to ask for permission.)
I still have to research if I can even use these songs given that they could be owned by someone or a company. Nevertheless, I wanted to share the vibe I am going for.
Alright, guys so from the last post I reveal my genre is a thriller. This would be a new area for me, but I am very excited to learn. Thriller has always been very interesting to me. The way the director can build suspense with certain shots, angles, lighting, and mise-en-scene is a fascinating concept.
Here I am going to go over some different types of thrillers and analyze the certain techniques that the directors chose to create their films
Knives Out
Editing: The opening starts with a slow-mo of the house dogs running outside in the backyard while the camera is getting closer to the house. Inside the editing becomes quicker by having numerous jump cuts of closeups of different items throughout the house. This way the director can give the most amount of information about the character in a short period. Also, the comparisons between the outside and inside editing show that inside the house life is very different from the outside and it doesn’t affect anybody else except the people inside, yet.
Shots/angles: The scene starts with an establishing shot showing the big house in the distance. After the scene is mainly composed of closeups of objects from around the decorated house. while these show we are following a woman who is bringing food up to the man in the house. The combination of all these has the purpose to inform the audience about the kind of person who lives in the house.
Miss-en-scene: The opening starts with the big dark red and green mansion being surrounded by fog and leaves. These details establish a mysterious and cold tone. Throughout the scenes, the audience is introduced to the big mansion's décor. Inside the mansion is full of numerous things from big patterned carpets to small human sculptures. The walls in the rooms are decorated with various unique patterns or/and colors. We are shown in closeups various kinda creepy sculptures, two red masks, posters around the room, and lots of lots of books. Specifically, the books and posters showed (in the closeups) are by Harlem Thrombey the owner of the house/the victim. All of these details tell the audience that he is a well-known person. After we take a closer look the living area looks very messy with cups and bowls all over the tables and couch. This tells us another clue of the plot of the there was a reunion or party of sorts beforehand giving us details of when the scene is happening about the storyline of the movie.
Sound: There is a classical music piece in the background throughout the whole scene. The song starts off very quiet and calm at the beginning while the camera is outside the house. As soon as we are inside, it starts to rapidly increment on tempo and intensity. This choice gives details that something is going on inside the house, something dramatic. Additionally, to the music, the character we follow throughout the house has a few lines that set up her role in the house. With her few lines, we can tell that she takes care of the owner of the house, given that she was bringing him food to his room. At the end, when it's revealed that Man is dead, she drops a few things from the tray and is more worried about them falling than the dead person in the room.
Black Swan
Editing: It appears to be minimal to no editing in this scene given that the shots seem to last very long. The only part that seems to have editing would be at the finish where it fades to black. This technique is usually used when it's the ending of something, so it means the performance ended and they will soon learn what the scene was about.
Shots/angles: The scene has a limited amount of different shots and angles. the scene starts with a closeup of the ballerina's shoes while performing. Later after a few seconds, it introduces the character but then quickly cuts to a camera in the dark, introducing a new person coming on the stage. As soon as the two start dancing together the camera movements start getting more aggressive while it's panning around the subjects. the whole scene feels like it was all filmed in one take. This was probably done for the audience to feel as they were actually watching her on the stage
Miss-en-scene: The scene has a very simple mise-en-scene given it takes place on a stage. The scenery is made up of a pitch-black surrounding with the main light in the middle which follows the main character. The light contrasting with the darkness makes the girl stand out, hence that she is the main point of attention now and throughout the story. The main character and the other character also seen in the scene are dressed in traditional white swan ballet customs, which tells us that this film will revolve around a ballerina in the black swan show.
Sound: We only hear some sounds in the scene. A song of the soundtrack of the black swan. The song is calm at the beginning and end but in the middle, it quickly builds up to a more dramatic and fast-paced song. During this part, we see a fight between the main character and another character who is performing the same show. Which helps develop the plot which is about the black swan performance. And the heavy breaths and ballet shoes of the woman. This shows that she has been working hard to get to this point.
Kill Bill Vol 1
Editing: The scene is in black and white, which could mean many things. The scene is a memory the character is remembering, or it is to add mystery to the scene because we can't tell the color of things. Technically, none of them are correct given that I search google for the answer, and apparently the directors made this decision to conceal the blood from the girl. According to IMB trivia "Black and white (as well as black and red) was used to conceal the shedding of blood from television censors. Originally, no black-and-white photographic effects were going to be used (and in the Japanese version, none are), but the MPAA demanded measures be taken to tone the scene down"
(Tbh I find this very interesting how back then they had to censor bloody scenes but nowadays nothing is censored.)
Shots/angles: Also like the edition the variation of shots is very minimal. We start the scene with a tight closeup of the (what we could assume to be)the main character and then jump to another closeup to a man walking to her, where we can only see his feet. Then it jumps back to the girl in the same place. The way this was shot was to build mystery given that, we start mid-action, and also we never get to see the man's face. The audience never gets to see him through the main character does. The only thing we see is what he did to the girl.
Miss-en-scene: The background of the scene is very small because it is composed of tight closeups, but it can tell us some things about what led to the situation. Behind the girl, we can see what looks to be some fabric and splashes of blood. This scenery tells us that a fight happened between the girl and the guy. We see the girl with a bloody face and laying down on the floor, though we don't see the mand we could assume that she lost the fight. Nevertheless, this was contradicted by the end where we see the man either getting killed or killing himself. We aren't sure what happened because we are always seeing the girl, but we could assume he died because of the blood that suddenly splashed next to her after the gunshot.
Sound: The scene relies heavily on the sound given is the only thing that fully communicates details about the plot of the film. The first sound we hear is the heavy breathing of the girl (which are signs that she is weak/given up) and the footsteps of someone getting closer and closer to the girl, creating a sound perspective. The man and the woman have a conversation throughout this scene, though we can't see his face and he is the one who says the most lines, adding to the mystery/suspense side of the film. During this conversation, we hear a gun unlocked, and as soon as the woman ends her sentences, the guy shoots his brains out, which is an awful rude way to end a conversation. As we can see the sound's main priority is to create mystery around the guy. We don't know him so who is he? Why is he talking to her? Why did he die? many more questions are created from this opening which means it did its job, to introduce the conflict of the movie
Surprise!! my partner and I would be working on creating an opening for a thriller movie. I am very excited to make something that falls into this genre given that I haven't really explored this type of cinematography yet. Of course, I have seen a handful of thriller movies including Jaws, Tourist, Knives Out, black Swan, Jurassic park, and some more. I haven't really dived deep into this genre, unlike others. Basically, I am very thrilled (^_^) to start the research process, analyze these types of films, and learn more about a side I am somewhat unfamiliar with.
Our story would be focused on a middle-aged man (around his 40s), and the mental illness that makes him do very questionable things, and one of them would include killing his wife. Given his mentals stability, he isn't able to remember everything that he does, including the terrifying event. In the whole movie, we plan on showing the effects of his mental stability on himself and the people around him while also developing his tragic killer storyline. The story would start with him and his wife dancing to old-time fashion jazz, in the middle of messy scenery. Though this scene would seem innocent, except for the uncleaned room(which would overshadow the psychological wellness of the man), the wife would be a segment of the man's imagination. Starring the film with the wife already disappeared would build suspension, a key element in a thriller.
Many of the details are still being planned out by me and my partner but this will be the overall idea of what we are trying to achieve in the project.
hey guys, so something I would really want to incorporate in my opening is music. Not only with small sound effects, or a short song in the background but a song that takes over the scene for most of its time. Music is a clever way to set the tone of the scene without directly telling the audience. It is a useful way to tell the audience if the character is a villain who is planning a mischievous scheme or flirting with their lover.
Music is a major post-production detail that will improve any scene. I found this informative post about The importance of Music in Films that really opened my eyes, to the way directors have incorporated music in my favorite films.
The article mainly focuses on the importance of music, its role in a scene. They successfully do this by giving the audience examples they could imagine, like someone staring out to the forest with heroic music, making the audience feel as if the character is a hero, though when you change the music to a more dramatic dark song, the audience thoughts completely changes.
Clearly, music is an influential edition to any scene, though it might seem a subtle thing to everyone else. When you think about it directors use music to change our emotions and perspectives while watching their work. Another thing that the article talked about was the lack of music. Though I and my partner aren't interested in having a silent opening, it's very fascinating what the lack of sound can make someone feel.
This example was taken from the article, but I had to agree with the writer, that this scene, is very weird and awkward when the music is taken away. John Williams, the composer of the score, allows the music to do all the talking in the scene, given the lack of dialogue in this specific scene. This is a clear example of how music can turn a scene from being awkward to iconic.
Specifically, for my project I have been thinking about would using an old-time romantic jazz song in my scene (I don't wanna say specifically why yet because I and my partner are still cleaning up the idea). Using this type of song the audience could use context clues to interfere with how the main character feels towards his wife. He is a man full of love, who will always love his partner. Additionally, it adds to his personality as well, by showing that he is an old soul, given that he is still listening to 60s-70s songs, though the movie is set in present times. '
My partner and I have already started looking for copy-right-free music that fits into this aesthetic and can successfully demonstrate the emotions we are trying to show in our opening.
As you guys already know, I have started my Portfolio project for Aice Media. The project, as I mentioned before, revolves around a 2 min opening of a new non-fiction film. I feel that a film opening is truly one of the most important parts of any piece of media, given that it's the first thing the audience sees. This means it has a big responsibility, to grabs the audience's attention in only a few minutes, so they feel the film is worth their time.
The film opening establishes all the main details to the audience, for example; they set a mood, introduce the main characters, set a tone, set emotions, give the setting, give the title, give the production names, and much more. With all the different camera angles, shots, colors, lighting, and sounds a director can choose to add to their first few frames, so they can get the audience's attention from the get-go. It is basically the baseline for any movie, everything is built from the opening.
DARK SHADOWS
An example of an opening scene used to introduce the backstory of the main character would be "Dark Shadows". In a few minutes, the director was able to take the audience through the story of the Collins family and it demonstrates to the audience what the film is about.
In the first few frames, they were able to set the mood of the story and introduce the main characters. The film starts with a dark, gloomy, night with the main characters leaving their home country. The only faces shown in this whole short sequence was the little girl's and little boy's face. The camera angles are strategic use to limit the number of people shown in the frame. This way audience can safely assume that the story is about them, it's their story.
As I just mentioned, the scenes are made up of a dark and gloomy aesthetic. The whole first scene has an overwhelming amount of black, dark blues, and brown mise-en-scene. For example the dark brown boat, dock, boxes, etc. Also, it's good to take note of the fog at the very start of the movie in the ocean, which gives the movie a mysterious feel (you as the audience, don't know what behind it). These little details in the back of the scene all add to the feeling the is trying scene to convey to the audience.
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As well as the costume that most characters are wearing is made up of a similar color scheme. All in blacks, whites, reds, and sometimes browns. All except the little girl from the start, she is in a light blue dress. This choice sticks her out from everyone else in the scenes. It's clear that she is different someway. We aren't told directly that she is different, but it could be inferred from the small details.
Lastly, the voiceover is done by one of the Collins family members introduces themes that weren't introduced in the combination of scenes. The voiceover is heard almost all throughout the opening scenes, focusing only on the Collins family, their values, and roles. It fails to introduce other characters, though this way the audience knows that this family is important, they are the people we are focusing on.
All of these small details add to the whole movie's aesthetic. These small details are all in a small time frame of a few minutes. Where the director was able to introduce us to the main characters, the tone and get our attention in the opening scene.
This week marks the start of a new experience, something I have rarely done in my academic history, create a long-term project from scratch. It has been a week full of nerves and excitement all at the same time. This project will be a 2 min opening of a new fiction film. This prompt ha has my mind running circles, thinking of ideas for the video. Some of the main questions that have been bothering my mind lately are; What genre do I wanna work on? and What do I want to portray? There are so many movie genres out there that it is a little overwhelming. Any time o have free time I have been brainstorming ideas, I feel like some good ones are stored in my mind.
Before all of this, I have to figure out if I wanna work in a group or alone. Some of my friends from the class have already reached out to ask if wanna create a group of 4 with them. I originally never wanted to be in a big group for this project. I feel like the more people you have the less freedom you have with your ideas. So my original plan was to find a partner who shares the same motives as me, so we can discuss ideas and find what could make the best project. I have talked with other friends who have done this project before and say that it's better to work alone. Working alone though it's lonely, you are the only one responsible for your work, the only one to blame for a mistake if yourself, you also don't have to rely on others to do their work. Basically, my mind has been working hard this whole week just thinking about my future in this project.
Nevertheless, I am super excited to start this new adventure, with myself, I never know what I am going to learn about myself in this process but I know that it will affect my life in the long run.
Hey, guys am back! The last time I posted about my marketing project. At that time I was mid-way through completing the project. Now that I finished it I want to talk more about the filming progress, presenting, and overall reflect on the whole experience.
Okay so last time I posted, I told yall I was going to start filming, but before actually going to the locations me and my group had to brainstorm “what would be the best places to film, that are in our area”. According to our story idea, we needed a forest-looking trail, an office, somewhere to film promotional shots, a restaurant scenery, and a plaza. Weston is FILLED with places that we could use given is a developed city with many parking lots and parks.
I don't know why but we started with the ending scene and later proceeded with the others. For the end is where the park would come along. We originally thought to go to go to Vista Park but realized it didn't have enough trees, just lots of hills. Then Markham park became our next option, I think this would've been a good place to film cause the park has a trail after the dog park that makes you feel like you are in a forest. We probably didn't go to Markham because it's crowded most days. So we finally landed on Reginal Park, though at first glance it doesn't seem like a park that looks like a forest, like at all, behind the bushes their secret trails that lead to Foresty locations.
We had one location down, we had the rest to think about. So Weston is full of offices we could use, with the permission of the owner. But we wanted someplace where everything was in the same place. TOWN CENTER, of course, we have numerous restaurants, offices and cool scenery we could film with, all we had to do was be nice and ask politely.
We had it set, we would film Friday after school in Reginal (so we could get golden hour lighting) and Sunday after 1 in the Town center
Friday comes and we all meet up at 5 in Reginal Park. I thought that we were going to go behind the soccer fields given that there's a very small “path” where we have lots of trees, but no others members knew a better place. Behind the bushes that were after the soccer fields, there was a gigantic reserve of the everglades with a LONG trail I never knew about. I was so surprised this gigantic trail was there and I didn't know about it. This was such a better scenery given that it was more greenery and it was alone. My group was a little concerned we would find a snake or alligator, but anything for the shot.
The first time filming was an experience. Balthazar was the only guy so he clearly had to play the main role were as the girl role, though we had other options, it was only fit for me, which I didn't mind. Though my acting skills aren't something I am super proud of, I feel like our acting in the video is TOTALLY Oscar-worthy(;D).
The next day was filming in the Town center, which was very eventful. For starters, we were asked multiple times if we were a real band given that we were carrying around two guitars. Some lady even though we were performers.
So we started with all our promotional shots, from single shots to group shots to singing shots, everything was done in the small stadium the Town center has in front of a restaurant, so many people were watching us. To make the shots entertaining we all had to come together to make angles and movements so the audience would get bored. For example a transitional shot from Bianca and Balthazar singing to me and Danila playing the guitar (i love that shot).
After we were done we got our guitars and started to walk around to find an office we could film our starting shots in. We look everywhere but because it was Saturday most were closed, we even looked in a therapist's office, but sadly they were under construction. We went to our last choice which was a restaurant. We asked very nicely and understanding if we could film inside (Ms. Stolkosa would be proud) in an area away from customers and they allowed us, even offered water.
After we finished filming we realized that what we had didn't make sense from an outsider's view. We were utterly desperate to find a way to make everything flow smoothly. Brainstorm together something we could film in the same place so everything doesn't go to waste. We were stressed for a minute there until we came up with the idea that the male and female characters should have a fight, which will be the climax, after that is the guy trying to get her back.
We were finally done with filming, Hurray! Now comes the editing, which Balthazar offered to do. The editing wouldn't be too hard it was just putting the clips which I feel like he really did a good job in getting a nice project in 2 days.
Now it was time for the representation, a day some of us were dreading and others were excited for. We decided to divide the slides for 5 for each so it seems like we all worked together and had an equal amount of participation in the project. But we kept in mind which one did what so it would be easy to present. Also, we all practiced on our own, and never together because we didn't have time, though I wish we did.
Before we presented we watched some presentations the day before, which made us double think about our project. The main reason was that most groups it was one person that completed the video. It felt as if the team didn't work as a whole. Even after watching it all, it felt as we were the only group out in a public area to film, which we found weird.
Presenting the whole project was nerve-wracking for some members. Personally, I was a little nervous which made me mumble my words a little and sometimes just talk about anything (which luckily didn't happen) or forget what I had to say (which also didn't happen), I felt as if I was talking way too fast for presenting. But it seemed as if my fellow classmates didn't notice which I found as a complete relief. Apparently, me practicing in my bedroom in front of my dog actually helped.
One key mise-en-scene choice we were set on from the start, was making the house(so the living room and the kitchen) appear as they haven't been cleaned in a while. We wanted the mess of the house to connect to the mental state of the man. Our thought process was, the man isn't well mentally (clearly), and the house is uncleaned, a mess just like the man's brain. One of the film backgrounds would be the kitchen, so we wanted to have some dirty dishes in the sink, maybe an unfinished meal on the table, or a spilled liquid. This detail also would add to the sense that the man is basically lost without his woman, can't even clean his own house.
