Readying the troops

Today is the beginning of when it all comes together. I messaged my friends to cast them as Williams and Blake, along with sending them their character descriptions and the script so they have some sort of idea what they're getting themselves into. I even got my mom aboard to critique my project in the filming process. She agreed to be a camerawoman if needed. So we've aligned our schedules to meet this Saturday to begin the filming process. I've researched and developed elements of Mis-en-scene, genre, script writing, shot composition, and color concepts. Now..... I'm ready!

Developing Mis-en-san

 In order to organize the mis-sen-san elements in my film I decided to jot down the specifics on a google document. I missed the unit where we were taught the elements of mis-sen-san, therefore, I took it upon myself to research the concept via YouTube.

I watched this video for the basic breakdown: What is Mis-sen-san along with the video: Understanding Mis-en-scene . The videos informed me that mise-en-scene is more than just the literal environment around the characters; it can tell a story on it's own and further develop the plot. This is through lighting, props, and wardrobe, therefore, I sectioned off my document by those categories.

Creating my storyboard

 Hello blog, today(as you can tell from the title) I created my storyboard. I'm by no means an artist but I found it would be useful to create a story board to create a visual of my film. It allowed me to implement specific angles, and transitioning techniques to further enhance my project. I think by doing so, when it comes to film day, the process will be made much easier. I included my specific shots/angles, and my estimated time for each scene. Until next time...

Group meeting post

Today I was given the opportunity of pitching my ideas to my peers. I was  very nervous about how other would view my project, however, everyone was super supportive and helpful. They helped redirect each other in the right direction. What surprised me the most was that advice was given to someone in my group on how it should be filmed, specifically how they felt the person should  place and angle the camera. I'm also glad that I could help some people with their own individual processes, and I felt like this helped me do some self evaluation and in return helped me develop my story. My group was able to help each other condense their story, not only helping them meet the time limit, but help them organize their ideas making their piece more focused. Overall I enjoyed the experience and look forward to future meetings.

Genre research in depth

 Today I delve into various examples of movies to see the key elements of a crime film. Looking for repeating elements primarily as those are the exponents that make up classic mystery films.

After researching "The Guilty" and "Hypnotic" I've noted key components to the film.

Starting with "The Guilty" what I found interesting is the fact that the duration of the film takes place in one location, the emergency dispatch center. This tightens up the atmosphere causing heavy tension as it's all built up in one place., causing an almost claustrophobic feeling. 

"Hypnotic" is a film centered around psychological suspense.

Although these films approach storytelling from different angles. As "The Guilty" focuses on one event and location, and "Hypnotic" diverges in psychological themes and perception. Both films rely evoke suspense and tension to heavily engage the audience. I've also noticed the pattern that in most crime movies the main protagonist goes through major character development.

DRASTIC CHANGES!! 😳

As you can tell from the title there is much to be caught up on the development process of my project. To start, I made a change that alters my plot entirely. Upon discussion with my superior and self reflection I realized that the original vision for my film was predictable. This all started when discussing my press conference scene. It was brought to my attention how difficult it would've been for me to manipulate sound in terms of perception, this along with the need for extras to accurately depict the scene. Combining all those elements and evaluating those issues...…  I CHANGED THE ANTAGONIST OF THE FILM, this along with the replacement of a scene is cause for me to describe this process as a drastic change. 

In order to change the antagonist, I created an entirely new character. This character is a young bright spirited intern who sets out to frame officer Williams in the murder of the police chief. This change eliminated the need for the press conference while also throwing off the audience with an unexpected twist by putting suspicion on officer Williams early on in the film. 

Along with these monumental changes I made, I made little progress as well by formatting the screenplay and creating a separate document for it. 

Who knows what big changes come to the confusing mind of mine but I can't wait to see, until next time...

Sound research

 Today I decided to start building the soundscape of my production. To begin I put together a list of websites where I could find different specific sounds. This sites were all pulled from my notebook where I copied down them, recommended by my teacher Mrs. Stoklosa.

After this was done, I thought of the sounds I needed. I wrote down all the sounds down in my google doc where I organize my ideas.

In search for a car chase sound I used the website freesound.org  where I found a sound I believed best fit my picture of the film. The chosen sound is titled "High speed police chase on a noisy freeway".

Continuing on, on the same website I searched for a "handcuff sound effect" which took a little more precise searching. However, I was able to find a suitable enough titled "handcuff.wav". 

Then with my press conference scene in mind, I searched for "photo press conference"  on freesound.org . I figured that was suitable for my film. However, I realized that my vision of the press conference included the press continuously calling the main character's name would have to be replicated by my voice.

I'll continue building my soundscape another time but for now, UNTIL NEXT WEEK!