CCR

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/1JKZamTkUKjydTW6wDawLXXb38ZeRc0uD?ths=true

Here is my CCR !!

Film Opening ( FINALLY)

https://youtu.be/qFzMsX_OCiQ

This is it. My final product.

The ending of a wonderful Project

                 As we conclude this journey from almost 3 months ago I would like to say thank you Mrs.Stoklosa for introducing this new passion I found for cinematography and everything that revolves around it. I actually enjoyed filming, editing, and the hard process to come up with a two-minute film opening.I've learned more about what it actually takes to make a movie and all the components surrounding it in this single 3-month project then at any other time. At times it really felt like I was an actual director for the movie. And it definitely has inspired me to find a passion under this specific category of work. Thank you Stoklosa for making me develop this passion.

Project Reflection

 

              First thing's first I had a blast creating this project out of nothing. Originally my idea was to film a crime/cop movie opening. Introducing a rookie cop who on his first assignment is threatened with a decision over life and death. A standoff emerged over this decision and I was going to film all of it. Eventually, I had a meeting with Stoklasa.

               She told me I needed a lot of actors, costumes, and good set design to make it look real. In my mind, I had already envisioned what I was going to film and the actors I would need. But most of the stuff I didn't have required a lot of money.

               Stoklosa had also mentioned that it would take a lot of money to set up so I made the decision to come up with a different film opening and I did. Then came the coronavirus. Virtually no movement out of the house. So we had to improvise on the situation we had. This project taught me to think quick on my feet for different solutions.I'm really happy I was able to be part of this project cause it sure made me busy in these difficult times. Although I'm still doing the final touches of my project (in the editing aspect) I 'm kind of sad the process is over. I definitely used all the helpful information Stoklosa had taught us, and it made my project better.

Filming shot analysis

                I started with an establishing shot. I wanted to use some type of ariel drone in my video, and I   did at first. But with the whole coronavirus pandemic in our lives, my parents were afraid to let me out to go and pick it up from a friend. So sadly I couldn't use a drone/ aerial shot in my opening. Now onto inside the house. I used a lot of close-ups and extreme close-ups. Mainly, these types of shots were used to signify important objects and achievements in the character's life.


              As the camera zooms in a focus on these objects we can tell who the main characters is, what he likes to do, what he's good at, etc...Then I did some tracking shots of the characters. I followed him around the house to see his daily morning routine to get ready to go to school. I, of course, added some long and medium shots to show I can use all of the shots that I have learned with the equipment I have.All of these shots combined have led me to create this opening. Sadly, I would have better shots of I had equipment that I needed from a couple of friends that had helped me before.But Stoklosa had told us to improvise so I did just that.

Online meeting with stocklosa

As we pass through this terrible time at home , our teacher is planning to give us students some new information that Cambridge has regarding to the entire project since we cant go and sit down tot take a test anymore due to the pandemic going around.during this meeting she discussed a little bit more about grades , the project , Cambridge , and some other minor stuff. The project is still due the 12th, but not to worry I have the schedule set for that time anyway. Any extra days will benefit me in only making the project better.As the days go by , Mrs. Stoklosa will be giving us updates from Cambridge if they give out any new information. As of now i'm still working on the project.

working...

Representation ( New star of the show )

 Since my friend mehul couldn't film with me due to this virus and everything i had to come up with a new character so I decided to use my brother as the new star of the show. Hes 17 and Hispanic. There are a lot of Hispanics in the film industry but I wanted to make these key points about this special ethnicity:

A new study found Latino actors represented only three percent of lead or co-lead roles in top-performing movies during the last 12 years. Producers, directors and casting executives fared badly, too. A bright spot was that of the three percent of Latino actors in lead or co-lead roles, about half were women. Among those were Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Jessica Alba. But even those numbers were skewed: Five of the 17 prominent roles played by Latina women went to Ms. Diaz, said the study. Additionally, Ms. Lopez was the only woman older than 45 in a lead role.

Hispanic audiences are disproportionately underrepresented onscreen in studio features, compared with their movie going population. In 2018, Hispanics made up 18 percent of the U.S. population and 24 percent of the annual box office’s frequent moviegoers, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.

Some of the most famous Latino actors include:

Benicio Monserrate Rafael del Toro Sánchez (born February 19, 1967) is a Puerto Rican actor. 



Antonio Rodolfo Quinn Oaxaca (April 21, 1915 – June 3, 2001), known as Anthony Quinn, was a Mexican-Irish-American actor, painter, writer and film director.



Daniel Trejo (; Spanish: [ˈtɾexo]; born May 16, 1944) is an American actor and voice actor who has appeared in numerous Hollywood films, often as a villain or an antihero.

filming days are upon us

First day of filming!!!! I was super excited to wake up this morning and start filming for the project because I was thinking about it all night long the day before. I woke up, Had some breakfast, and went straight to filming the first few seconds of my movie. It consisted off establishing shots of my house and room to show the audience the key places where most of the filming will take place at. I also did a lot of close ups of objects in my room and certain posters , clothe , and so on to show who the main character is , what are his interest, what does he like to do, etc...

I wanted to portray my character as being this funny , laid back dude , that does stuff on his own time and doesn't care what anyone thinks or says about him. This type of character is perfect for my film since its a comedy and we need a character to be relaxed and have a good sense of humor. During this next few days i'll be more and more shots will be added. tomorrow I plan to get the shots outside of my house since some time will be spent outside of the main shooting location. as of now ill start editing on my new software and start editing the first few shots I took today.

working.... 

Progress update

As you can tell by the title, in this blog i'll be talking about the progress I've done and what the schedule is looking like as of today. So I already started filming which is good. Some people that are currently working on this project haven't even started filming and are behind in their blog post.I don;t blame them, everyone has been stressing about the coronavirus which makes them forget whats important to do while on the time off.getting back on track , My next blog post will be about the very first days of filming and how the process went and what else I need to film and so on.

Now with editing , I have managed to find an editing software. My parents pay monthly for Adobe premier  because for their work they have to make videos  , so that's a huge convenience for me since I know my way around adobe premier and i personally don't have to pay for any other editing service.

Other than that my project is going well and i'm really enjoying working on it because its taught me a lot of things that I didn't know before and I always appreciate learning new things everyday.

working...

This virus went out of hand

I have actually never seen anything like this before!! They call it Covid-19 , also known as Corona Virus. This virus has swept the entire globe and has affected my project in a big way. No longer can I use the actors that I wanted. Although it is relatively easy to film since the location is my home , I still need to figure out who will act in my project and so on. 

This virus is making it hard for everyone since most people are starting to get quarantined. Coronavirus disease spreads primarily through contact with an infected person when they cough or sneeze. It also spreads when a person touches a surface or object that has the virus on it, then touches their eyes, nose, or mouth.This makes it very hard for people to go out and film in locations that are public , or where there is a lot of people.

Target audience

In this blog I’ll be talking about the target audience of  film. Since I’m doing a comedy the usual target audience for the genre is around 18-25 since people like to include dark humor and jokes that aren’t appreciate to kids. But  I decided to do it a little different. My target audience will be around the ages of 12 up to 20. My movie will be rated PG13 , therefore families can come in and watch a movie that’s a comedy that’s funny but at the same time not as much dark humor or inappropriate jokes for the kids underage.  

This year, PG-13-rated films have accounted for 52 percent of the overall box office grosses, well ahead of films that the Motion Picture Association of America rated R (27 percent), PG (16 percent) or G (3 percent). And none of the year’s top ten movies is rated R.

The biggest box-office money-makers, like “Iron Man 3” or “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” are purposefully PG-13 to connect all “four quadrants” – both young and old, and men and women. If a film is rated R, you’re eliminating the young crowd (mischievous teen theater-hoppers notwithstanding).

representation: Staring a 17 year old Indian boy !!

 My friend Mehul is going  be the star of my film opening. I decided to choose him to be the main character in my film for 2 reasons. First reason , because he's one of the funniest kid I've ever met at my time in high school. And he's a minority, which I thought i could do a lot of research on his type of ethnicity for representation.

Utkarsh Ambudkar, an Indian American actor who plays Malcolm on Showtime’s White Famous and Mindy’s brother Rishi on The Mindy Project said South Asian artists approach roles in the industry has changed. “When I started working professionally, if there was a role that came out, everyone who was brown would go out for the role, whether it was right or not." These are some of the ways South Asian's would get into the film industry. These type of minorities didn't waste any opportunities.

There is very little data on the number of South Asians in Hollywood or the entertainment industry today, and even less from past decades. A UCLA report published earlier this year said Asians made up a measly 3.1 percent of all top film roles in 2016, despite making up around 6 percent of the US population.

The South Asian trajectory in US entertainment has lagged behind other minority groups. Aseem Chhabra, an entertainment writer, told me over the phone that The Jeffersons and the Cosby Show marked a kind of silver screen revolution for African Americans in the late 1970s and 80s.   



working....

location scouting.... even though I live in the location

                     As you can tell by the title , i'm setting up a location for this opening film. The two locations I decided to use is my own room and the street that is outside of my house. This is the fun part of filming because I have total control of everything , also I have total control of any extraneous variable that might be a problem to the filming process. On the other hand , I'm going to use the street in front of my neighborhood as the second location of the film. Again , since my community has a gate and is relatively small , its a great location to shoot for my film opening because its private and not a heavily used street

Testing movie fonts out AGAIN

               Fonts is all about adjusting the text within the design while creating powerful content. It provides attractive appearance and preserves the aesthetic value of your content. It plays a vital role in setting the overall tone of your movie, and ensures a great audience experience.

Details matter — especially on the big screen. While movies make an impact using special effects, famous celebrities, and gorgeous costumes, how they’re marketed to the public beforehand is of utmost importance. One of the ways they can make waves in the market is by using bold typography.

An epic film needs an epic font. From Jurassic Park to Star Wars, they’re made unforgettable with a little help from the lettering used for various promotional materials.You can probably find creatives talking about customizing a similar font to capture the look.





            Now its my time to explore and find the fonts i'm going to use for my new opening film. I want to use fonts that are equally appealing and powerful to the Audience. Here are some fonts I came up with...

These are some of the fonts I have selected to use during my film opening. I will be holding a poll to see what font I should use. That’s all for now until next time !!!

Working...

Director 101

 SOOO now that I finally have an actually idea I can proceed with making a new shooting schedule for my new film.

There could be possible problems if I don't create a shooting schedule. Huge amounts of time will be wasted on the day trying to figure things out on the move.  The footage will suffer because of a lack of preparation – both in terms of missing out on great shots and also not having things prepped and ready to shoot.  Ultimately the whole production will be poorer. For the sake of a few additional hours to establish the key points and put the document together, not only can the end product be infinitely better, but it can also save a huge amount of wasted time, resource and money. I know my film doesn't require a lot of money but , it could still be a huge waste of time just shooting on random days and not be organized about it.

Here is the new schedule for my new film opening...

March 15	Establishing shots of room, Introducing characters
March 16	Driving shots/ getting ready to leave for school
March 22	Shots of dog getting hit / reaction
March 23 - end	Editing

Working...

1st Group meeting !

     Today in class we started to get into group meetings to discuss our film opening and pass an obstacles that we once had before. My group consisted of 7271 Vera , 8256 Ubiera, 8121 Juaregui, 7316 Boyarsky. We helped each other with our film openings and gave each other a lot of ideas.

     My group helped me with a lot with my new genre and new ideas for my film. 
They also helped me pick out a title for my new comedy movie... " Dog Days are no more." I really enjoyed this title because it relates to the whole concept of the movie and it made me laugh the first time I heard it, so I really wanna pursue with it. Another thing my group helped me with was with the ideas of what shots to put into the movie and how to build a character with set design. set design can help with conveying a story to the audience and can be key to relying a message to the audience. Although this is a very short blog , the members of my group really helped me further feel better about what i'm trying to do and I was happy with what I got out of it.


working...

COMEDY!!!!

          As you may know I decided to change my genre to comedy and I think that's the best decision I've made so far. Here are some characteristics of the comedy genre that I'll be using during my 2 minute presentation

COMEDY

Types of comedy

- Romantic comedy

Romantic comedy involves a theme of love leading to a happy conclusion. We find romantic comedy in Shakespearean plays and some Elizabethan contemporaries. These plays are concerned with idealized love affairs.  

- Comedy of humors

Ben Johnson is the first dramatist who conceived and popularized this dramatic genre during the late sixteenth century. The term humor derives from the Latin word humor, which means “liquid.” It comes from a theory that the human body has four liquids, or humors, which include phelgm, blood, yellow bile, and black bile.

- Sentimental comedy 

Sentimental drama contains both comedy and sentimental tragedy. It appears in literary circles due to reaction of the middle class against obscenity and indecency of Restoration Comedy of Manners. This form, which incorporates scenes with extreme emotions evoking excessive pity, gained popularity among the middle class audiences in the eighteenth century.

- Tragicomedy

This dramatic genre contains both tragic and comedic elements. It blends both elements to lighten the overall mood of the play. Often,tragicomedy is a serious play that ends happily.

-Comedy of manners 

This form of dramatic genre deals with intrigues and relations of ladies and gentlemen living in a sophisticated society. This form relies upon high comedy, derived from sparkle and wit of dialogues, violations of social traditions, and good manners, by nonsense characters like jealous husbands, wives, and foppish dandies.

Thus, the purpose of comedy is to amuse the audience. Comedy has multiple sub-genres depending upon the source of the humor, context in which an author delivers dialogues, and delivery methods, which include farce,satire, and burlesque. Tragedy is opposite to comedy, as tragedy deals with sorrowful and tragic events in a story.

EXAMPLES OF COMEDY FILMS

         THE HANGOVER

Two days before his wedding, Doug (Justin Bartha) and three friends (Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, Zach Galifianakis) drive to Las Vegas for a wild and memorable stag party. In fact, when the three groomsmen wake up the next morning, they can't remember a thing; nor can they find Doug. With little time to spare, the three hazy pals try to re-trace their steps and find Doug so they can get him back to Los Angeles in time to walk down the aisle.

DEADPOOL

Wade Wilson (Ryan Reynolds) is a former Special Forces operative who now works as a mercenary. His world comes crashing down when evil scientist Ajax (Ed Skrein) tortures, disfigures and transforms him into Deadpool. The rogue experiment leaves Deadpool with accelerated healing powers and a twisted sense of humor. With help from mutant allies Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand), Deadpool uses his new skills to hunt down the man who nearly destroyed his life.

       These movies have given me inspiration to make my own comedy and hopefully a funny one !!

Working....

1st meeting with Stoklosa

 As u can tell in the title I had my first encounter with Stoklosa. She asked me about the project and what I was planning to do. She also wanted to know more about the plot of my story and how i'm going to execute this. One point she made to me about the costume design is she said it was going to be very expensive to suit up every actor in my movie. I also need to think about how to execute the plot and actually develop a story in the first minute of my film.


So I deiced to create a storyboard of the entire 2 minute film opening. This way I can be organized and actually know what i'm doing.The storyboard is a very important part of the pre-production process because it clearly conveys how the story will flow, as you can see how your shots work together. It also allows you to see potential problems that would not go unnoticed, ultimately saving you time and money.

Therefore I have decided to scrap the idea of My Crime genre and switch to comedy. Many of the shots I was planning to take during the crime genre were either too hard to make too expensive. although it was a good idea, I don't have time to make all the shots and perfect the editing. So I have deiced to switch my genre to a more simple and doable type of genre. Comedy. A day in the life of a normal kid that wakes up on a normal day of school to find out something terrible he did. While driving out of his neighborhood , he accidental runs over a dog. I KNOW TRAGIC. The whole film is about him trying to hide the fact that he ran over a dog because he thinks he'll go away to jail for a long time and he doesn't know what to do. He doesn't want to tell his parents because he'll get scared because he knows they'll kill him. and he also doesn't want to tell his friends because they'll think he's the worst person Alive. He decides to skip the whole day to figure out what to do.

Next blog post will go in detail of shots , dialogue , and techniques i'll be using during my opening film.

Working...    
  

the one where the Characters get introduced

Character development.

Today in class Ms.Stoklosa Showed us Past film openings and I gained a lot of information on how to develop character development. The film from Sophie made me realize how important it is to include small detail and how important it is to develop a character.


Its important to create a character that is meaningful to a story and someone that can connect to the audience. In my opening , A rookie Detective( Robert Woods) is on his way to investigate his first crime fresh from police academy. His characteristics define him as a good looking guy, that is sweet and cares about his job and his long-time girlfriend. As a director it is my job to make my actor live up to these characteristics , with specific dialogue and shots that will develop my character.

Characteristics  

 - Eagerness to go into the field and become the best cop he can be 

 - Good heart and really cares about the the people he loves 

 - Good integrity led him to where he is today

 -  He feels like he can do more in life, For example , he's always wanted to travel but he's never found time too 

- He always sticks to his values , even if his opinion is not the popular one he will stand by it 

As you can see, he's a pretty good guy and fit to be a good cop.

Props Props Props !!

             Every good movie has some type of  prop to help the movie look authentic and real to the viewer. So that's exactly what i'm going to do for my movie opening. I was thinking of getting a Fake gun from a prop store to help make a policeman in my movie look like a real cop. As u can see to your right this is the exact replica that I i'm planning to get. I'm also planning to put some type of paint or spray paint to cover the orange so it can look real. Its important the viewers cant see any abnormality to it because it ruins the movie. Also i'm planning to buy a a police uniform for the scene.Its important for movies to buy the right costume design so we can identify who's who and the actors can look authentic and appealing to the audience.


Next , I want to work on the schedule for shooting. I want to give myself enough time to get ALL the shots I need. Just in case i'm missing a few shots or I need a shot from a different angle, I can give myself time to get whatever I need to do before starting the editing process of my project. The following shows the schedule of the entire shooting process:

February 29 , 2020	Drone shots; any establishing shots I need to take its on this day
March 7th	Car moving shots; any shots relating to movement of car or inside of the car Its this day
March 12	Police officer scene; any shots involving the policeman I do this day
March 14 ( final day)	Final day of filming,any dialgoue is done this day between the cop and victim, i'm also planning to get any other shots we missed or need to do again on this day
March 18	Editing process begins; If by any chance I see that my movie needs more shots during editing , I go to get last minute shots

As you can see I carefully planned the filming days so I can have enough time for whatever I need to do , and if I miss anything i have more than enough time to film.

Working...

Testing different movie fonts out

 Now to move on to the Font of my movie.Choosing the font of a movie is super important because when I watch Film openings or See the movie titles at the beginning of movies , If i see a title that I like it attracts my attention and it keeps me from turning off the T.V or just changing movies.

FONTS

In The Middle Of February

In The Middle Of February

In The Middle Of February 

In The Middle Of February

So I chose these 4 to be the best options that I had. Although it took so much time to look through LITERALLY hundreds of fonts i found these 4 to be the most appealing to me. But I decided to go with the second font because in my drama/crime is a bold, serious tone throughout the 2 minutes of filming and its the most appealing and accurate to to what i'm trying to convey to my audience

Working...

Research Research Research!

I i'm now in the final days of my research. Perfecting this stage of the project is important and honestly to tell you the Truth i'm so happy I spent a lot of time on this phase of the project because I now know exactly what I have to do and how to do it.

First things first location. I've Figured out a road that not a lot of cars pass by and pretty hidden from any neighborhoods. I chose this location because the road seems like an endless road where it doesn't stop.I have a drone with me and I plan on taking a few shots using the road as symbolism or an important location in my film. Manatee Isles Dr is the name of the road where all filming will be done. I spent about an 1-2 deciding where to film best , because as a student I cant control certain aspects of the set and I would hate ( for reasons that i cannot control) for my Opening film to be ruined because a car went by or something out of my control happened.


Working...



.

The Hardest/Easiest decision made

FINALLY. 

The decision has been made and its been a very VERY long process.Under heavy consideration of different viewpoints and advice from my peers, I have decided to go with the crime Genre!! I have a couple of great ideas to implement involving cop-like scenarios and multiple shots that greatly illustrate Good Vs Evil.


Now to find some opening films that will inspire me! Although I will not under any way copy openings from crime flims ,  I want to see the different shots directors take and ask myself why they added that shot. I also want to see the type of dialogue they use to incorporate some techniques into mine. Its a win-win situation for me.

Here are a couple of crime movie openings I liked( ALSO these movies are great!!).

     The Godfather

CHARACTERS: The character to the left, Buonasera, is the one that we first see in ‘The Godfather’. He is also the one that begins talking, stating “I believe in America” then continuing on to tell a story where at the beginning, seems like he isn’t talking to another character. This is the second character to be revealed, however he is revealed slowly and this is done by the use of different camera shots. He is the protagonist – The Godfather, who is shown to be an authority figure who has the most power.

SETTING: The opening sequence is set in what appears to be The Godfather’s office. Linking to mise- en-scene, the surroundings emphasis his position within the Mafia as everything looks quite expensive and the room is largely decorated

MISE-EN- SCENE: Mise-en-scene includes props, costumes, make-up, facial expressions, body language, lighting and color. In terms of the characters, they are both wearing dark colored suits that reflect the characters they are being. The Godfather is wearing a slightly smarter suit than the other character is, which is expected. The props in the room are expensive looking which again reinforces his position.

SOUND AND MUSIC: The music that features at the beginning of ‘The Godfather’ fits the genre of the film. The music is called ‘The immigrant’ by Nino Rota. The genre of the film is crime drama and the music shows this well as it sounds quite mysterious, slow and Italian which also reflects the characters.

Heat

The first shots of Heat show Neil McCauley (De Niro) stealing an ambulance from a hospital on his way to his next score. Dark, clean-cut, and composed, every step McCauley takes is a confident one, rigidly adhered to his strict professional code. Other members of McCauley’s crew—Chris Shiherlis (Val Kilmer), Michael Cherrito (Tom Sizemore), and Trejo (Danny Trejo)—assemble along with hired-hand outsider Waingro (Kevin Gage) at the designated time and place for an armored car robbery. In a gripping sequence, they make off with their target, $1.6 million in bearer bonds, but Waingro has botched the smoothly-running score by killing one of the guards. This opening of the film is very good because it puts you right into the action and many viewers enjoy the action being so early in the movie.

These films are actually huge inspiration for the opening I want to do, and i will incorporate many techniques that the director has used into my flim opening.There are mutiple props and many shooting locations that I need approval for. Until next time Little blog friends!

Working...

The Beginning of the End... Or is it?

Hello!!!

 I I'm so privileged to be working a project not because it is easy , but because it is difficult. For the next 2 months the right side of my brain will be working endlessly to produce a masterpiece... or as i like to say it A MARVELOUS FEAT!!

before starting on anything a good director will conduct some research...SO WILL I THEN! The thing everybody hates doing but is necessarily the most important aspect of starting a significant project.when it really comes down to it research is important.There's no other way of saying it.Actually there is."La recherche est importante." I just said "research is important" in french.How cool is that?!

I have thought about many genres to start with but i'm come down to two after my research:


Crime                                                                                                                                     Usually involving some type

of police or detective agency

-Crime films are either set in 
an urban place with dodgy streets
and alley ways or in an isolated
location where there won't be any 
witnesses
-Lighting in these films are usually 
quite dull with muted colors to give 
a serious and eerie atmosphere that 
helps build tension.
-Dialogue makes up a lot of the narratives 
as ideas and theories are shared, 
evidence is revealed and people are 
interviewed.
-Costumes can be used as a way of 
intriguing the audience, especially when 
it's contrasted with the environment. Eg.
a well presented person in a dodgy 
neighborhood or alley way. 



Drama
- Exhibiting real life situations and occurrences
- Heart of the drama is some form of
conflict, hardships, difficulties
struggles, etc...
-Portray journeys of character development 
and add intense social interaction filled with 
climaxes to keep the audience emotionally 
attached to the ongoing tension.
-The purpose of a dramatic story line is to 
move the audience emotionally, they do 
this through getting the audience to 
relate to the characters, they usually 
including a happy ending.



As you can see these are the conventions of the specific genre I will be considering for using in my project film opening.I have an important task to do this week in deciding which genre I will be pursuing.

Working...