Mise-en-scene:

Hey guys!
After researching more about film productions I learned the importance of mise-en-scene, so let me talk to you about the different things my partner and I did to create the perfect set for our film. Before filming anything, we had to be very specific of what will appear on screen and how. For the scenes that would be in the main character's bedroom. We first started by cleaning up my room :), then we decided that  the main character will be putting on red lipstick, and to show that she has a very cute and girlie personality, she would have a lot of make-up close by.  In addition, We managed to switch my mirror to where my dartboard used to be and vice versa. We wanted to put the dartboard close to my pink chair, because we would place Lucia's bow and arrow next to that chair. We wanted to make it seem like the main character had a lot of experience in archery, further implying but not actually stating the weapon for the murder. Also, we decided to put the dartboard and bow and arrows close to the pink chair not only because the main character would be sitting there in the film, but also to show the contrasting images of something very girlie (the pink chair) with the tough and intimidating images that comes to ones head when one thinks of archery.
Below are some images of the set:

The green circles show the key elements
of the set which are the make-up and
the bow and arrow

Shows the shows that the main character
will be putting on during the opening
scenes

Production Name:

Like any good film production company, Lucia and I thought it would be cool to create our own company name. After some research we found out that the name should be related to the type of genre the films one produces are usually about. For this reason, ours had to be thriller related. After some talking and based on what our film opening will be about, we decided to go with the name "Dead Flower Productions". We both agreed that the name was interesting and fitted well with the story that we will be portraying. Which is the story of a pretty girl that is doing something that is wrong. The flower symbolizing the girl, but and the word "dead" showing how inside the girl is not "pretty".

Above is a preview of what will be added in the film and show "Dead Flower Productions", I feel that this will add to the overall feeling of suspense to the opening scenes. I am glad that we found this program called "VideoScribe", which allowed us to create this sequence and animate the name. This way it creates a more realistic feel to this film.

I totally recommend using this application for animating even the most simple tasks:

https://www.videoscribe.co/en/

Citations:

Tatiana. (2017, June 20). 50 Film Production Company Names. Retrieved from https://reelrundown.com/film-industry/production-company-names

Voiceover:

Like I mentioned before, my partner and I decided to have a voiceover narrating during the opening scene. We decided to do this mainly because of our research in the importance of voiceovers in films.  Voiceovers are successful in any type of genre of film. Also, filmmakers use voice overs to  tell stories, narrate, and provide an intimate look into the mind of a character. For this reason, it creates a connection between the character and the audience. Some examples of movies that utilized voice over narrations successfully are for example: Lovely Bones, Memento, etc.

Which is exactly what we want to create with our film. In addition, this way the audience can clearly understand what we want to show and portray in these opening sequence. However, we must be careful so the narration does not spoil too much, and makes sense without taking the excitement out of the film. Because of this we want to create a juxtaposition between what the audience hears and sees. This way it will keep the narration interesting yet relevant to the story.

Citations:

Mendez, J. J. The Importance of a Professional Voice Over in an Explainer Video. Retrieved from http://go.yumyumvideos.com/blog/professional-voice-over-in-animated-explainer-video

Voice Over and Its Use in Film. Retrieved from https://ctlsites.uga.edu/nvgf/ethans-article/

Equipment:
In order to film the different shots that we want to create for our film, we had to carefully choose our equipment, but also keep in mind that we do not have a lot of money to spend. For this reason, we used a tripod that my father allowed us to borrow for the time we were shooting. Also, we used my iPhone since is a newer version compared to the one my partner Lucia has.

This is the tripod we used to film everything, and also allowed us easily film pans and tilts. In addition, we could adjust the height of the tripod, so it could fit any position.

Final Storyboard: 

Last week Lucia and I finally came up with a storyboard that we were both happy with. I am very excited as I truly believe that we were able to combine all of our ideas together in a way that will make the film interesting an exciting without making it too over the top and still making sense. We worked very hard on it, mostly because we wanted to be very detailed with it, so in the moment we went to film we knew exactly what to do. But also, it took us a while to complete it since neither of us are very good artists, and drawing is not one of our greatest talents :), but I still think it came out very well executed, and makes perfect sense.
In the end, we had around 24 flashcards, which means that we have around that amount of shots planned to film. However, as we film we might add or remove shots accordingly how we see it fits the film. I am very excited because I feel that we have a good storyboard that will help us create a great film opening!!!

Storyboard:

    During the last week and a half, my partner I created a storyboard, and we have revised it several times. Now I think we finally created a final storyboard that we are both satisfied with.

Storyboard drawing

This was the original storyboard we a had created. Lucia and I decided that drawing the different shots on separate flashcards would make the editing process much easier. For this reason, I decided to use a white piece of cardboard to place our flashcards, this way we could she what the story would look like. Also, the flashcard method allowed us to draw out a picture of the shot on the front, and on the back add a written description so we would not forget exactly what we wanted to do in the moment of filming.

Storyboard with drawing

Clearly, we still needed to add a variety of different shots, and we also had to finish narrowing down our story. Up to that point we had only the first minute of the story and only a vision in our heads of what we wanted the second minute to look like. Every time we met in class we worked mostly on the storyboard, so we would both have a product that we are happy with.

Group Meeting:
      Exactly one week ago today out teacher had us sit in groups (different from our own) to discuss about the progress of our project. We showed each other our blogs, and we gave a small summary about our projects and our visions for them. In addition, we were able to get feedback from our peers of how to improve or change things about either the film openings or magazines.
      After talking to the people in my group, I got some great feedback. For example, one student suggested that mise-en-scene could play an important role in our film. We could have our main character dressed in really "girlie" clothes as she is doing all these terrible things, such as hiding the body of one of her victims. Also, as this is happening, have really upbeat music in the background, which could be a juxtaposition from what the viewer can see, but what the main character is feeling. Also, another student suggested that the voiceover could also be the girl talking about how exited she is about what she has just done, this would allow for the film to become that more creepy and thrilling.
      I do believe the comments I got from my peers were encouraging and helpful. I definitely feel that my partner and I will take several of these comments into consideration, and incorporate them in our film opening.

Research:
      For our thriller film opening, we want to create an instant connection with the main character and the audience. For this reason, throughout the first minute or so of the film opening there will be a voiceover of the main character narrating her thoughts directly to the audience. Lucia and I thought this would be an interesting approach that would spark curiosity in the viewers since this is not done a lot specially on thriller films. We took our inspiration of narrating in the first scenes of the movie from films like The Prestige and Lovely Bones
      Lovely Bones is about a little girl who is kidnapped and then murdered by a man. Throughout the entire film, she comments on events that are happening, after she is dead. In this way, the audience is able to connect even more with the main character and get to know her inner thoughts, making the story of what happened to her even more compelling and sad. In our film we intend for the viewer to be able to understand the main character more and feel sympathy for her and why she did what she did. I feel that this idea is a unique yet it will keep people interested without telling too much about plot of the film.

Research:
      I really want this film opening to be able to exactly represent this genre, even though we are stepping a little outside the usual by making the main character a teenager and the serial killer. My partner, Lucia, and I started looking for films that also centered around the idea of a woman serial killer. One of the films that constantly came up was the movie Carrie directed by Brian De Palma in 1976.

                       









      This movie presents a teenage girl who is very shy and who is constantly being controlled by her extremely religious mother. One day she discovers that she has this supernatural powers,and the day of her prom she unleashes these powers after being humiliated in front of the whole school.
      Carrie, is a thriller film with a main character who is a girl. She is presented as this innocent soft girl that is bullied by other students. In films that are thrillers, horror, or suspense, a woman usually gets to have "rich emotional lives". Most of the times the play victims who are incapable of saving themselves and most of the times the end up getting killed. However, in this film, Carrie, uses her powers to dominate over those people who had humiliated her, and even ends up killing some of the students at the prom.
      For our film opening, we want to first show a delicate girl that no one would think anything wrong about her, but towards the end the audience finds out that she has murdered several people. By researching about this film, Carrie, I now have a more clear image in my head of how the storyline of the opening film will unfold, and how to show the main character in a way that will leave the viewers on the edge of their seats, and wanting to keep watching.

Citations:
Jeslip. “Horror Movies With Female Killers.” IMDb, IMDb.com, 1 Aug. 1969, www.imdb.com/list/ls031962008/.

Berlatsky, Noah. “Carrie at 40: Why the Horror Genre Remains Important for Women.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 3 Nov. 2016, www.theguardian.com/film/2016/nov/03/carrie-stephen-king-brian-de-palma-horror-films-feminism.

I am back! :

      My apologies for not being able to post as often as I should have, I have had some trouble with uploading my posts and with the internet, but I kept all of them on a google docs document, and now I can finally post them.

      After meeting with my partner we have finally decided what we want our story line to be for the film, and more specifically what we want to show during the opening scenes. We decided that we want to base our story about a series of murders of a serial killer. After researching about thriller films, we noticed that most of these films that presented a serial killer were mostly men. For example, American Psycho, Seven, and  My Friend Dahmer, however, we wanted to branch out of that stereotype, and for that reason we made our serial killer a teenage girl. In addition, we want to make the serial killer the main character, and show everything from the perspective of this character, and make the audience sympathize with this character.

      In order for the audience to be able to feel sorry for this serial killer, and try to not make the audience hate her, we want to create a connection between the audience and the character. For this reason, we thought a voiceover about her expressing her thoughts directly to the viewers will create this effect. However, to be able to execute this idea properly I need to do a whole lot of research that will allow me to fully learn how to create this project in the best way possible.