CCR!

The portfolio is done! Here is the CCR
CCR for film opening Snook

Reflection of the Film Opening

Looking back, it has been a whirlwind because of the current pandemic that is occurring. It changed everything around my life, including this project. Before, it was supposed to represent a dramedy film revolving around two teenagers living their lives. Now, because of the limitations brought upon by the coronavirus, we had to change our ideas entirely which fitted best during this quarantine. So, using the materials that were in my house, we developed a whole story surrounding two pairs of boxing gloves I had in my house. Going through the research made our film fit to the needs of the target audience and made the film also fit the boxing genre in its entirety.

Done!

The video is now completed! It was awesome to create this story and generate a film opening for this type of movie. This for sure will be a never forgotten experience to have filmed this to present to Cambridge. Being able to have a partner who I am close with was also amazing as we both enjoyed making a film that we both agreed upon. Without further ado, here is the film opening for the movie Snook (which is the name of the main character)
https://youtu.be/ckZ6lWsropw

Set, Props, and Costume

Being limited to the things I have at my house, Alessandro and I have decided to use my garage as the set for the opening. The film opening would essentially have two settings, the place where the boxer trains, and the arena where he would box.

The costume and props show the difference between the opponents and the training uniform. The MMA training kit also helps with showing the process of the characters' training.

So to put all of this in content, using the garage lights would showcase his area of training. Also, what we did to show that the character is fighting somewhere else is manipulating the lighting to show just the two fighters fighting and have everything else dark which ended up looking great on camera!

Font

Now hear me out before I explain why we chose the old reliable Times New Roman font. This font blended with the editing and camera shots of our film was perfect. The tone is easily understood and that wouldn't have occurred with any other font. Using any other font would have confused many of the audience, such as using any bubbly type of font which would generate a positive vibe. Using a font that had a blocky-like texture would've also generated a different tone as the character isn't all rough and raunchy. The movie would've shown who the boxer is more in-depth however the times new roman font surly helps the audience who have only seen the film opening, get an idea to who the main character is.

Song Chosen!

It was difficult to get the copyright for the previous song that was chosen for our previous idea. Because of this, we found it much better to find a song that we could use without stealing it. I remember watching one Youtuber who came out with an album called New Age, the Youtuber's name is KSI. He had tweeted how anyone is allowed to use any song from that album in any video that they would like to create.
 
Thanks to him, we chose the song Beerus which matched perfectly with the tone we wanted to create for the film opening.

Research

Boxing movies tend to be in between rated PG-13 to rated R. This is due to obvious gore that occurs due to fighting in the ring. Finding a song that would generate a more heavy-hearted tone would be great for the film opening. As I was saying, These movies generally have an audience from the ages of 15-25. This is because this age range would get the best understanding on how it is to grind for something you truly love whether its a job or a sport. Boxing also has a little bit of action sprinkled in the genre as fighting occurs which the ages specified would love to see.

                                                                
                                                                  Rocky (1976)
Rocky (along with the whole Rocky franchise) was able to deliver great storytelling about a boxer. This franchise was the most successful out of all the boxing movies created.

Change of plans...Again

Due to the pandemic, it's been troubling for my family to get settled in order to quarantine ourselves. Not only that, however my partner also had the same issues. Because of this, our plan to create a dramedy film opening came to a close as the limitations to get multiple cast and crew members ended as the coronavirus kept getting worse.

Because of this, the plot and genre changed as it fitted best for our new plan which is to create a story about an up and coming boxer. The opening would introduce the main character and showing his commitment to train and succeed in the boxing industry. Boxing movies typically have their own style of tone such as a dramatic storyline mixed with sports action as the main character would be fighting a lot. I will eventually post a blog about the research on boxing movies.

Searching for the Perfect Song

Today I met up with my partner for Alessandro for the portfolio project. We came upon an agreement to use a popular song made by the Vampire Weekend called A-Punk. We understand that in order to use this song in the video, we need to ask permission by whoever licensed this song. With a little bit of digging, I came across Beggar, one of the licenses of the song. 

With this knowledge, I decided to email them a personal/formal letter giving them all the necessary information about what the project is and asking for permission to use the song.
I hope that I will get a reply soon just so Ale and I would be able to know whether or not this is the song to use, or if we have to go and look for another song that would fit the genre like this song did.

Fighting the Pandemic

Going into the probable circumstance of going into quarantine, me and my partner came to the conclusion to stay together as a group for our portfolio project. We also had the opportunity to come together and discuss further action towards what we'll do for the project. This conversation allowed us to completely dodge the fact that the pandemic would have messed with our time in producing this film opening for the project.

We noticed that since the beginning of our idea for the project, we only needed a house as the main set for the opening of the film. That being said, that won't have to change regarding the coronavirus being the cause of making a difference to our idea. Also, our schedule would be more or less the same since my partner would be allowed to work on the film at his house with editing and everything else needed on the portfolio project. We have a best-case scenario where he would be allowed to come to my house which would make the project become easier because doing it by myself wouldn't be impossible either, it would just be more difficult.

Pandemic

Currently, the world is undergoing a pandemic due to the corona virus. Because of this, my partner and I have to adapt to the situation and still be able to pull off a fantastic film opening for our portfolio project.

We have to sit down and discuss what our next move is and figure out how to schedule our new schedule. We're lucky enough to live close to each other which gives us the opportunity to continue the steps that we were going through prior to this pandemic.

Since we are currently under quarantine, we would have to lay low for a bit until hopefully, the situation turns out to be less than what it is at the current moment. Our plan for right now is to hopefully film as soon as possible which we can luckily do due to the fact that we live close to each other.

Target Audience Research

Today in class we were introduced to notes regarding the CCR for our portfolio project. It's essential for the CCR to have incorporated as much research as possible. Because of that, I've decided to research today on the target audience for our film opening. Since our project is a dramedy, that would be the specific genre that I would research who generally watches this specific genre.

Since our specific genre has a "teen movie" sense incorporated into it as well, it can be much easier to determine who the target audience would be for this film. That being said, it's obvious that our film would appeal to an audience ranging from the ages of 12 to 20 years.

                                                           
                                                                     Marc Weinstock
Marc Weinstock is Paramount Pictures' president of marketing and distribution and he said in an interview how teen girls are "a really big factor in the success of teen movies". With a percentage of 40% being teen females who watch these movies and 30% teen males, it's safe to assume that the film opening should be appealing to these specific types of audiences since it would make our film opening successful.

Weinstock also said how comedies are one of the main choices for teens these days, while dramas aren't typically what teens go and watch; However, since our film incorporates both comedy and drama, with a full cast of teenagers, it's positive that teens would be the target audience for our film.

Reference: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/teen-movie-marketing-138425

Time of Day

It is essential to understand what time of the day would be needed to film the opening of our film. This information is provided by knowing what scene is needed to portray the aftermath of a successful party.

So since the scene is showing the aftermath of a party, it'd be best to showcase the house in the morning where the sun is present and daylight is as bright as ever. Filming in the afternoon would not be good since it would be unrealistic for a party to end at that time. Filming at night would also be unrealistic since that would be when the party would essentially start. Because of this, we want to film around 12-2pm since even though it isn't in the morning, we could convince the audience that it is since the scenery would look similar as if it was 7-9 in the morning.

Film Set

So for our film pitch we needed to find out where it would be best suitable to film. We needed an area that represents a suburban home that is big enough for a party to be thrown. This would be done in order to show the realism of the scene as it is unrealistic for a party to be thrown in a small area.

We decided to use one of our houses because not only is it what we'd imagine to see in a party, but it correlates with the budget of the film opening as we're trying to use as least amount of money we possibly can. This means we won't have to rent any area that is what fits what we want to showcase in the film opening.

Regarding props, we want to use items that show a dirty home that represents an aftermath of a party. For example, red solo cups are necessary for the prop list. Items like these would set up a great scene for what we want to represent in the film.

Fixing Key Issues Regarding Plot

 While going through ideas and generating a storyboard, many ideas that were planned throughout the days of making the project was ultimately turned down. So we decided to introduce the characters for the film opening as two teens with different emotional characteristics. We plan on showing this with dialogue and the way they interact with their surroundings.

In one of my previous posts, I made an outline that showed two kids cleaning up after a party they had thrown in one of their houses. An Idea came to mind which included the character who lived in the house had a little brother who went missing. Even though this can generate a sense of mystery to where the kid is, we don't want to confuse the audience regarding what type of genre our film is.

Being a dramedy, we want to ensure the audience depicts what makes the film both comedy and drama. Because of this, including a missing child would develop a sense of adventure for the audience which isn't what we want. Also, it came to mind that this kid who was missing left the house sleepwalking. This also would not generate a sense of teen dramedy for it highly represents a comedy film which wouldn't make the film a dramedy.

Group Meetings

So today I had been assigned to meet up with my peers in order to get feedback about my idea on my film opening. We all had completely different ideas about our film openings which was great because it gave me the opportunity to see different tactics and methods of camera shots, mise en scene, etc. Not only that, but I was given tips to make my film opening be the best it could be. Feedback is always important to grow and become better, which is what I needed for this film opening.

So I presented my idea to the class and what I came across to be my most difficult obstacle for the film opening is to not make it cheesy since a dramedy regarding teens can easily become cheesy. Avoiding obvious cringe tactics in dramedies is essential for the opening to play out correctly. Overall the group liked the idea that the opening is showing two teens clean after a party they threw even though the movie doesn't revolve around the party.

Outline of film opening

So I wanted to create a film opening that shows the true combination of a dramedy, with that, I'd also like to focus the opening on introducing the main characters of the film. That being said, below is the outline of the story of the film opening.

Intro: We want to showcase a scenario where two teenage boys are cleaning up after a party as one of their parents is arriving home. It will begin with one character being rushed into cleaning the whole house in a comedic fashion.

Later, we want to introduce the next main character who is flirting with a girl, this is done to hint at future plot situations that accentuate the dramatic side of a dramedy.

By the end of the film opening, we want to complete it with the parents arriving home outside of the frame which opens curiosity to the audience as it doesn't reveal what happens after and how the parents react.

Finding the proper font

Finding the right font for our film opening is essential for setting up the vibe of the story. Being a teen dramedy, we wanted to have a font that doesn't scream one specific drama.

For example, horror usually has a font that emphasizes blood or something scary.
                                                    
Romantic movies tend to follow the stereotype in their fonts that accentuate the sense of love in the text, which could vary from using pink texts or cursive writings.
                                                     
These examples show what we don't want. Having something simple yet a little child-like is something we are striving for. Ideas of what fonts we are looking at can be found below this text.

Shooting (film) Schedule

My partner and I have been continuing to brainstorm regarding what our film opening is going to be about. Although we have ideas about the story, we have a clear understanding of what our shooting schedule is going to be.

Essentials for successful filming

º At least two times every week

º Acquire the proper supplies for filming (tripods, props)

º Allow for the correct timing to be filmed, such as knowing whether we need daytime or nighttime 

This list has been made on my notes which (obviously by the title of the list) shows the essentials for successful filming. Filming for at least two times a week is something my partner and I are striving for, and even if we are at a figurative "roadblock" regarding our attitude towards filing on a specific day, we at least would meet up with each other to share more ideas and proceed with our portfolio project.

Acquiring the proper supplies for filming is needed for our filming. Tripods will give us the ability to give steady shots which would be more professional for our project. The proper props for specific scenes our what we absolutely need before thinking of filming.

Knowing when we are filming is required for specific scenes that the time of day is essential.

Change of plans

During the first semester, I was keen on being alone for my portfolio project. Being an individual allowed for my ideas to be freely worked on alone without anyone interrupting my style of thinking. As the second semester came along, I have realized that my technique would be positively assisted if I had another mind working with me. My partner and I would be able to bounce ideas back and forth which would result in a final pitch that my partner and I would both agree on which would make a great film opening.

That being said, researching dramedies would still be beneficial for our portfolio as we decided to create a project that is that particular genre. A teen drama is what we are going to create.

Teen dramedies rely on teenagers dealing with relationships such as their friends and families. These certain situations that the young characters go through allow for a certain type of comedy to play through as their problems don't typically be considered as real-world problems.

                                                           
                                                           The Breakfast Club (1985)
The Breakfast Club is a perfect representation of a teen dramedy as the plot introduces five completely different characters who try to pass time in detention in their highschool.

Even though teen dramedies tend to have plots that seem as if the problems presented wouldn't affect the character's actual life, me and my partner Alessandro would like to include elements to our film as if it had both adolescent problems and real-world situations because we'd like to represent a teen's life as if it were real life.

Film Openings - Dramedy

So today I started to research film openings related to Dramedies and I realized that they tend to begin the story of the film, for example like establishing the setting or introducing the main character in a light-hearted fashion.

                                                 
                                                  Mary and Max (2009)
Mary and Max is an interesting film that's considered to be an animated dramedy. The film opening of the scene introduces the setting of the film by panning throughout the town that would eventually show the main characters interacting with.
                                                  
                                                  Wild Tales (2014)
This movie right at the beginning gives the audience the realization of the style and tone of the movie. As the plane is about to hit the bystanders, the scene pauses and mysterious music begins to play followed by a sequence of animal pictures. This can have the audience infer that the movie will have sort of a goofy/random vibe to it as the title shows how tales would be told which talks about different scenarios.
                                                  
                                                  Juno (2007)
Juno gives a perfect representation in the film opening on how dramedies are supposed to be. The film opening introduces the main character first in a dramatic scene, then cuts right to her being in a comedic situation where she's complaining at her dog.

Overall, I learned how I could introduce the character for my opening scene in an interesting fashion which would show both the dramatic and comedic side of the film which would ultimately introduce the genre.

References
https://www.imdb.com/list/ls064936057/
https://youtu.be/ukEuYflhF2M
https://youtu.be/XSRWMW2_MQo
https://youtu.be/OLREFnFNVUg