Group Meeting #1

Hellooooo everyone! 

Today my teacher put everyone in randomized group to discuss our project as well as share our ideas for the portfolio project. And safe to say, the group meetings were amazing. Each person participated and chimed in with helpful suggestions and tips for each singular project. 

 One girl in a group is working with the genre of horror. Her project consists of a woman making a dinner, setting the table. Her face is not visible and as she moves, a mysterious figure is displayed as she walks past the camera. However, the woman is anonymous at first, later we see her face when the audience sees her putting "Our 2nd anniversary" with red hearts. This group is making sure foley included, as well as  foreshadowing and red lights. For this group, she seemed very confident with no extra help needed, but I suggested the "Our 2nd anniversary", so there is a motive, illustrating uncertainty so the audience is hooked. She also gave a website that helped her with the film opening inspiration called "no film school". Her inspiration was Five Nights at Freddy's (2023)!

The second person who shared his vision included a robbery scene with various different lighting techniques. Laser beams!! And would (try to) make the eyes close up so we can see what the robber is seeing. Action music to set the tone, few foley sound effects, but the main sound would be a score. This group is between thriller and action. I gave very few suggestions for this because nothing really occurred to me, but a fellow group member offered the advice to make the lighting a main part of it, because a lot of times for thriller or action, lighting is depended on heavily. 

Another guy did something that I haven't really heard before: a culinary drama. He would display a good side of the story by using a good looking dish, but as time progresses, there is foreshadowing of a bad dish. The bad dish would be the good dish all burnt, rotten, just plain ugly. The colors of the light will vary from very bright and dark. He wants to depend solely on mise-en-scene. The first girl who shared her gorror genre of a film, recommended that he does the same in not show the face of the character. Highlighting, "focus more on the dish than the actually character so it's kind of anonymous, this way the audience won't know who the cook is." His inspiration was the movie "The Menu" (2022).

Then, everyone's favorite part... my project! I "briefly" shared my project, plus I demonstrated the films I used for inspirations. Full Out (2015) and they recommended 20 films that were sport and drama films. My suggestions were to be careful not to have anyone in the background for film consent rights, to guarantee no mistakes in jump cuts, and make her a lonely character by being alone in every shot. Various closeups so no mistakes are made. Basically, be careful in every aspect of the film. 

This group meeting truly was eye-opening, and truly help me so much in getting a different view for my portfolio project. 

(Best group by far just to let you all know!) See you all in a few!

Color Schemes

Hello Cambridge people! 

For today's post I will be discussing as well as researching the impact of color schemes in films.

Before I start to yap about this topic, it is vital to understanding color schemes and their meaning. Colors in films are more than just for the visual aesthetic, they have a deep meaning and can help develop a story. Producers and folmmakers use colors to set the mood, reflect emotions, and even hint at what is coming. 

In films, each color can signify something. 

Red: Passion, anger, love, and danger. So it's used various times to represent intense emotions, like rage or excitement. 

Pink: Innocence, love, and playfulness. It’s  used basically for romantic or light-hearted moments. 

Yellow: Happiness, optimism, but also contradicts with jealousy and cowardice. 

Orange: Energy, warmth, and enthusiasm. It’s a vibrant color that adds excitement and balance. 

Green: Healing, nature, but also jealousy and envy. It can represent growth or negative emotions like envy. 

Blue: Calm, trust, and peace. It often represents stability, but it can also suggest sadness or coldness. 

Purple/Violet: Royalty, mystery, and wisdom. This color is often used for spiritual or powerful moments. Brown: Earth, reliability, and comfort. It brings warmth and stability to a scene. 

Black: Power, sophistication, and fear. It can represent mystery or sadness. 

White: Purity, peace, and new beginnings. It’s a color of innocence, but can also be seen as sterile or cold. (Also when brides are in white, it symbolizes purity for their husband).

These colors are displayed in Black Swan (2010) and are illustrated to develop meaning in each scene.

With all these colors and symbols, it is also important to understand the different color schemes used in films. In order to illustrate a specific mood or tone, these color schemes are important for emphasizing key themes. 

Some that I've research so far are: Analogous Color Scheme. This scheme uses colors that are next to each other on the color wheel. It’s often made up of a dominant color with two supportive colors, creating a balanced and also harmonious look. It’s great for creating a calm atmosphere. Complementary Color Scheme: Complementary colors are opposite each other on the color wheel, like red and green or blue and orange. These colors create contrast, usually used to represent conflict in the story. Monochromatic Color Scheme: A monochromatic color scheme uses a variety of a single color, creating a fusion and almost unified look. This can give the film a clean, consistent vibe, often used to focus the audience's attention on one theme or emotion. Triadic Color Scheme: This scheme uses three evenly spaced colors on the color wheel. It’s a vibrant, balanced look, often used in superhero films or other high-energy scenes to create a dynamic atmosphere. 

This research was super entertaining as well as eye-opening! I never truly realized how much of a role color plays in the role of filmmaking. I will most definitely use color schemes and color for my portfolio project. See you all later!

Schedule for Portfolio

Creating a Timeline for My Drama/Sport Portfolio Project 

When it comes to long-term projects, I've come to learn that the hack to not distract myself, is creating a clear schedule and sticking to it. For this portfolio project, I’m going to break everything down into baby steps and set deadlines to make sure I complete everything on time. 

I have to make sure that I research film openings in drama and sport as well as drama/sport genres. See what makes them effective and how characters are developed. Plus, creating a storyboard to visualize the scenes and shots needed for the film. This pre-production would organize thoughts and ideas. 

Week 1 (1/27 - 2/2) This would be the transition into the portfolio project. Choose 3 genres to stick with. Research on film openings and plots in the drama/sport genre. Develop a plot idea and key moments of the opening. 

Week 2 (2/3 - 2/9) Narrow down the plot and the genre. With the genre chosen, research with continue to develop as time progresses. Create a storyboard to visualize key scenes. Begin searching for locations as well as permission from those locations. 

Week 3 (2/10 - 2/17)  Research post about one media theory that I will to integrate into your project. Summarizing your project idea. Storyboard/script ready. Begin shooting scenes. 

Week 4 (2/18 - 2/25) Start recording the footage as well as finalizing it. Record any foley or voiceovers. Edit with the remaining footage to get a first draft. 

Week 5 (2/26 - 3/5) Review the first draft and make necessary edits. Re-edit/re-shoot scenes to improve pacing or emotional impact. Finalize edits. 

Week 6 (3/6 - 3/13) Make final revisions to the film. Write and finalize the Creative Critical Reflection. Edit and review the reflection. These next two weeks will just clean up any parts that need to be fixed. Compare all versions made to decide which to stick by. Start CCR (Creative Critical Reflection) for it to be made ready for next week.

Week 7 (3/14 - 3/21) This week is set aside for catching up if any parts of the project get delayed or need additional attention. No new work will be made unless heavily needed.

I'm determined to follow this timeline and adjust it if needed. Time management has been tough for me in past projects, so sticking to this schedule will help me succeed. I know surprises will come up, but with extra time built in, I’ll be able to handle any issues smoothly. I intend to avoid procrastination at all costs for this project.

Credit Sequences

Hello Cambridge people! Today I researched for credit sequences as well as fonts. Me and my team researched various films, but I will narrow it down to three. The three films that I viewed was "Bend It Like Beckham, I, Tonya, and Black Swan". All these films have a focus on emotional connection with the characters, as well as centering their obsession with their sport. Dedication is evident in each movie, adding a unique twist in each film opening. 

Bend It Like Beckham (2002) titles roll in a lively, dynamic sequence that mirrors the film's lively mood. While the opening credits are shown in a light and joyful manner, the opening segment opens with Jess secretly practicing soccer. The font selection is contemporary, bold, which fits with the ideas of rejecting convention and going for one's own goals. An upbeat, catchy soundtrack compliments the credits, giving the movie a modern vibe. By emphasizing her youthful and the general, chill tone of the picture, the titles' design contributes to film's tone. 

I, Tonya (2017) is another film I researched where her career is surrounded by her figure-skating skills. The film's opening is interviews of people that have been in Tonya's life and as each share their story, credits are displayed on the bottom left corner. The opening credits of I, Tonya are intertwined with the film’s unique narrative structure. They are presented over old footage of Tonya skating, alongside interviews with the characters. The font used is simple and straightforward, mirroring the 1980s and 1990s aesthetic, which connects to the time period of Tonya’s rise to fame in the figure skating world. The use of typewriter-style credits, combined with retro visual elements, gives a nostalgic feel to the film. This clever approach to credits sets the stage for a narrative that examines media portrayal, and different reality to each person.

 

Black Swan (2010), the credits are introduced in a dark, almost like a dream setting, establishing a psychological tension of the film. The font is sharp, thin, and stylized to evoke a sense of sophistication, fitting for a story set in the world of ballet. Possibly portraying how the character isn't as bold, just fragile obsessed with perfection. The opening credits are presented with of fusion of Nina’s rehearsals and dreams, using slow-motion and surreal visuals that evoke a sense of uneasiness. The music intensifies as each credit appear, adding to the unsettling atmosphere. The use of shadowy, distorted images in the opening sequence reinforces the idea of the pressure she faces to achieve perfection in her role as the Swan Queen. The credits themselves blend into the surreal (almost haunting) visuals of the film, helping to hook and immerse the audience in the psychological world she inhabits.

The font for each of these films is in bold. With a research, I discovered that bold font is typically used to signify directness, that the filmmakers want to draw the viewer's attention to. With the character my group wants to achieve, bold seems like a perfect fit. 

   Each one of these films will help contribute to my final product for my portfolio! I feel like the more I research, the more information I absorb, the more prepared I feel to making the film opening!

Film Openings Research

Hey guys! I've been researching a lot in the genre of drama and found a variety films in the sports concentration. I've come across interesting insights that relate directly to my portfolio! A film that has a lot to do with my genre is Rocky (1976). 

This movie is a sports drama film which correlates to my portfolio project. It has raw storytelling and just tugs at your heartstrings (spoiler: my project has something to do with that). The opening of Rocky is an unforgettable classic. The film begins with a shot of Rocky’s world: wrestling. This correlates a lot with my vision in starting the film off with a gymnasium and an all girls team doing flips and such. It’s not flashy, but it’s powerful. In Rocky's first few minutes that I would like to portray is how much it tells you about Rocky as a character without any complicated dialogue. We see him training hard, and just preparing for any upcoming fight, which gives us insight into his determination and perseverance. The slow buildup combined with an upbeat theme song (not the main but just a good beat) creates an positive connotation and connection right from the start. For my portfolio project, I’m definitely inspired by Rocky’s understated approach. This movie shoots more for an older audience, which is what my group and I want to achieve. 

    Another movie that I took a lot of information was my favorite film when I was younger.

 Full Out (2015) is a drama/sports family film, where a gymnast who dreams of going to UCLA for a gymnast scholarship, tragically gets into a car crash and her dreams are no longer possible. The film opening starts off with Ariana, the main character, showing actual clips of her doing gymnastics at 3 years old. This introduces how long she's been doing this sport, and emphasizing how vital gymnastics is in her life. Later, the videos shift into a competition that can define whether or not she goes to UCLA or not, a lot to process but at the same time, we see what is at stake for her. In such little time, the audience is hooked, which proves the film's opening successfully executes the main purpose. 

      As a little mix, another film I researched was The Fighter (2010), appears as an interview and we see a raw view of the main character. Starting off with "Am I looking into the camera right here?", clearly to show the audience that this is an amateur film with real pure feelings. I love when a film shows actual feelings and eventually evident personal conflict, it makes me want to keep watching to see how that person with resolve that problem or struggle. 

Now with this following information, my days will be to research make these elements drama sports films. Every film opening is unique (not original but unique). The next few days of this week will be pure research as well as group discussion to see how to correctly execute our ideas onto the screen. Next week, mood boards for every character shown will most likely be made, as well as the location of the film opening. See you all soon!

Film Opening Research Sneak Peek!

Hey everyone! I’m currently in the brainstorming stage for an awesome assignment, and I wanted to share a sneak peek with you all. My class has been given the assignment in creating the opening sequence of a film, and while I originally found myself torn between horror and romance , after some research and group discussions, my group decided to go with drama. Even though in the last blog post I said I would focus more on romance, I chose to make a film opening that is accessible (I do not have a boyfriend so that is very unreachable at the moment). It’s the genre that will allow us to express our filmmaking skills and, most importantly, create a strong emotional connection with the audience.

Drama films, usually, focus heavily on character development. The success of a drama relies on its ability to make the audience empathize with the characters, even in a short amount of time. This is why the “connotation” (the ideas or emotions correlating with the character and situation) is so crucial. It’s not just about what the character is doing, but about how the audience feels about what they’re going through. We’re aiming to create an opening that hooks the viewer right from the start.

The story revolves around a young girl who dreams of going to the Olympics as a gymnast. Her passion for the sport is everything to her, but when a tragic accident occurs and she breaks her foot during a challenging stunt (which she has been advised not to execute various times), her dreams are suddenly shattered. This plot is based in a common storytelling structure in drama films, where the protagonist faces a huge setback but must find a way to overcome self-doubt and personal flaws to triumph. However, in some cases, these films end with a happy resolution, but other films leave the audience with loss or even death, reflecting the harsh realities of life.

From my research, I’ve found that drama films often explore themes of resilience, personal growth, and the complexity of human emotions. They tend to focus on character flaws and how these flaws shape the individual. This forms another connection with relatable content. For example, films like The Pursuit of Happyness and A Beautiful Mind showcase protagonists who face enormous challenges but manage to find hope and success, despite their struggles. Yet, some dramas, such as Requiem for a Dream or Manchester by the Sea, show how characters may not always find redemption, illustrating the more painful aspects of life.

Since our project is a group effort, and we only have a few minutes to capture the audience's attention, we’re aiming to really focus on establishing a strong emotional connection right away. The main character will be female, and the narrative will center around her journey through an all-girls gymnastics team. This choice not only gives us room to explore team dynamics but also highlights the theme of overcoming obstacles together, which is common in sports dramas.

The setting for our film is also a key part of the story. We’ve chosen TAG U.S.A., a local gym where two members of our group work, which makes it a convenient and accessible location. The gym setting is perfect because it immerses the audience in the world of gymnastics, and it will give us the chance to showcase both the physicality of the sport and the emotional intensity that accompanies the protagonist’s injury.

What’s fascinating about dramas, especially sports dramas, is that they often highlight the similarity between physical ability and mental toughness. Gymnastics is an intense sport that also requires an immense amount of mental focus and determination.

We’re still in the early stages of developing the full storyline and characters, but one thing’s for sure: the film will focus on the emotional arc of the main character. She will face self-doubt, fear, and uncertainty about her future, but as with many drama films, there will be moments of hope and personal growth. We want the audience to feel the gravity of her situation, while also being inspired by her strength and perseverance.

In terms of production, we’re working with a limited time frame, but endless support as well as editing platforms in order to successfully execute our film opening. My group needs to introduce the character, her passion for gymnastics, and the emotional weight of the injury—all while keeping the pacing tight and engaging.

Overall, I’m really excited about how this project is coming together. It’s a unique opportunity to explore character-driven storytelling and delve into a sport that’s not only physically demanding but emotionally charged as well. I’ll continue to update you all as we develop the concept further, and I can’t wait to share the final result with you! Catch you all later!!

  

Start of Portfolio Project!

Hey guys! In class we have started working on a project that is super important and amazing! It consists of a opening scene of two minutes. As I start planning for my Cambridge portfolio project, I’m considering using romance as the genre for my two-minute film introduction. Usually, romance films main focus is on emotional connections between characters, and this fits well with my approach of developing character. In this genre, I can use small details like costume design, character interactions, and dialogue to show the emotions and growth of the characters. In order to make sure this all works together, I’m going to make a mood board for every character and the mise-en-scene involved. The romance genre also allows me to use subtle elements, such as lighting and setting, to enhance a relationship between characters in just a short time.

With further research, I’ll dive deep into the fact that romance often explores themes like love, conflict, and resolution, as seen in films like La La Land and Pride and Prejudice. These films also play with time through flashbacks or non-linear storytelling, which is something I’d like to try in my project. By using these conventions, I can create an engaging and emotional introduction while adding unique touches, like an open-ended conclusion. Romance is a great fit for my film opening, and I’m excited to see how I can bring it to life. I hope i can execute my ideas in a fashionable manner! Catch you all later!