Filming Part 2

After filming for 6 hours on Saturday, I am not looking forward to filming these final scenes, however, looking back has helped the to understand that I need a few more "time passing shots." I'm going to go through a few more shot choices and talk about what's left to do.

So this is kind of our transition scene-- we had to switch locations
because the original house sint have a bathtub but we fond a nice
option close by. This is was somewhere between a medium shot and a close-up
but the main idea was to see the tears and emotion within the actor.

This angle was off-kilter to mirror the main characters skewed mental
state in this moment

This was so increadibly hard to film because the main actor could not,
for the life of him (haha, get it?) hold his breath underwater. It's
going to need some editing magic.

AD

Sorry this is vertical, but this shot is going to provice a graphic
match with the previous 

This is going to be "waking up" per se, and it also provides a parallel with the
first shot on this post. 

So I'm going to figure out a day this week I can get my therapist, a therapist assistant (for which I will most likely enlist my close friend), a lab coat, and my main actor all in one place with a solid script. Furthermore, I have to find out a sneaky way to use editing software, whether it be at my school or downloading Adobe Premier at home (totally legally of course!). Time to finish production and start post!

Music Considerations

Music can take a film and make it more than the sum of its parts. This is important. there are twoTmain considerations here: "suspense" music for climactic moments and "time passing" music to help engage viewers while the main character is essentially walking around being bored and drunk. A psychological thriller short film I had the pleasure to watch a few months back called Drink had an original score so I went back and gave it a listen and I really like the soundtracks (the short film can be found here). I'm making a concerted effort not to include any mainstream music or anything with lyrics. Including music here is all about conveying emotion so the emotional beats of mainstream music are not going to match the emotional beats of my main character I could always retime my images to match the music but that would be a music video.

During the "tech disappearing scene" I need to find a suspenseful song or loop that can mirror "oops something is wrong here" the best example I found of this was in Jaws in the opening scene. When "Chrissie" and her male companion are running toward the beach, there isn't a soundtrack playing. All is well-or so we think. It isn't until we see a fish eye view of Chrissie swimming and we begin to hear some eerie music, which causes us to feel a little uneasy. Now we know something is wrong. We don't see anything that looks dangerous, but the music tells you that, yep, this girl is in trouble. I'm looking for this type fo cue for the tech scene and I think music is going to be overly important here. Despite the scene being well-acted, the emotional music cue is key.

For time passing I want to go with a more classic or "silence filler" vibe. No matter how bad the Twilight movies may be, I really like this "time passing" example from Twilight: New Moon. Check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4gEFZ0TJ8o
I really enjoy it because it not only helps to convey
Bella's emotions but to avoid making the audience bored or uncomfortable with the scene being presented.

I'll update with more specific music and editing choices soon :)


http://www.filmunderground.com/358/Article/NWFS/Music-and-the-Short-Film.htm

Filming

Hi! Today was day 1 of filming. I have a bulk of the footage, I just need the "therapist" scene at this point as well as some extra "time passing" shots. I'll attach some screen grabs and describe some of lighting, angle, and composition decisions.

Alright, this wasn't part of filming at all, but I like to think he was praying
for me to leave him alone.

This is a very common shot as the tech is disappearing. In the full shot the
vectors are very symmetrical, the lighting is dark which helps add to the
ominous feel which I achieved by working with a shift over the back window.

This shot is also common, however, it is a good option as it
shows each piece of technology well and includes the message on the screen
which reads, in english "another innocent dead" which does not
phase the main character in the slightest. 

Here I used an extreme close up to underscore the "engrossment" and
infatuation of the main character with technology

The framing here was also mostly for vectors, also I love having the actor
simply "walk into" the shot. 

This framing is the beginning of a tracking shot and again we have the same
clinical white, black shirt, and unphased demeanor. 

Here we have the same framing as earlier and some carefully placed
bottles to imply that they are empty and to imply that he is so bored
that to feel anything he has to drink.

Here we have a slight change of scene which is used to signal the passing of
time and you know, drunks sleep anywhere.

I'll post more in a bit but this cover the majority of the introduction of the plot :)

Rough Sketch of Movie Postcard

Okay, so I still have a few bumps to figure out but this is the basic design for my short film postcard. For now, I think the tagline is a pretty applicable quote, I'm going to check if we are allowed to do this. The title works well, I think as the main character is not only deeply immersed in technology, but in the bathtub, and in the VR simulated world. I like this design bu I think the back can do with a few improvements as well.

Front 

Back

Storyboard

Backstory

Main actor and I a few years ago!

The main character's name is Pedro. Well, his name in real life is Pedro, and for the sake of this blog post we'll call the fictional main character Pedro even though the viewer will never actually his name. Pedro is in his final year of high school, he has a close-knit group of friends. He grew up with the Pokemon games as well as Minecraft and all of the other "joys" of the internet. Pedro, like much of the world has slowly become more and more involved with technology and the sole form of communication has become the internet and technology. People have become clinically addicted. Now Pedro needs to undergo therapy for his addiction.

Plot 

Therapist

Pedro is sitting on his couch in his living room. He is wearing neutral colored non-branded clothing in order to help the audience sympathize with the character. He is checking his phone and his email on his laptop while watching TV and with an apple watch. His mother walks in and you can hear her talking at him and trying to get his attention but he's obviously entranced. She finally gives up and leaves-- extreme close-up of unblinking eyes. Slowly the technology disappears one by one-- multiple angles for this one. Eventually, he gets up and acts concerned. He looks around and opens the fridge, paces his house, looking for something to do. Jump cuts signal the passing of time. We hear the ticking of the clock he runs his fingers through his hair again and again, he picks up books off the coffee table again and again. Clicks the on and off button of the tv again and again. It's an endless cycle. He ends up attempting to drown himself and wakes up gasping for breath in a physician's office with a VR headset and some headphones on. It has all been a simulation and when the young therapist asks how long he thinks he's "been under" he replies a feasible (to the viewer) two weeks. The therapist replies he's been under for 5 minutes. "Did I make any progress?" "No." The psychiatrist asks his assistant once Pedro leaves how many more appointments he has for the week, she replies 237.

Storyboard (rough sketch)

Postcard Advertisement

Welcome Back!
The most important part of having a film festival postcard in the first place is contact information. Contact as in the time and place of the showing, the filmmakers, everything from A-Z. So the first order of business is to have contact info-- the question is how. Add an email? A website link? Haven't we come farther than laboriously typing in a link? I think the best option is a QR code, even if it's ugly I think in this case we have to trade beauty for practicality and convergence. What about showtime? Usually at a film festival show times and venues are shuffled around a lot so it would be impractical to print an entire batch of cards with the same showtime on it just for it to change the day before the event. I think what it more efficient and practical is printing off a sticker. We can easily change/reprint the sticker. If we make the design simple enough we can have so premium blank space to place the sticker. Of course, we would also include the key art, title, tagline on the front and more art, synopsis, and festival laurels. We would hand out the postcards to crowds flooding into the festival but also have them stocked at lobby tables ensuring maximum "dispersion."

As far as the actual design goes I would love to stick to a grayscale color scheme, have some actor names, some favorable review quotes, and all of the other aforementioned aspects. As far as "key art" goes I would like to include something like an outline or silhouette of the main character sitting on a couch with a laptop from a side view. I think I'll take a couple of stills with my main actor so I can go back in and photoshop it for the front side of my film card.  I'll include the tagline and title on the front and the contact info and quotes, laurels, etc. on the back. I would also like to include an additional peel-off sticker for people to put on their MacBooks etc. We'll see about this but people love the tactile experience and it is a great way to converge and market the film just a little further, plus, there could be another QR code under the sticker with a link to exclusive outtakes/content.  I'll post a full mock-up after my storyboard, but the postcard is definitely a cool aspect.

http://douglashorn.com/wordpress/filmmaking/promoting-your-film%E2%80%94and-yourself%E2%80%94at-film-festivals-tips-you-only-learn-after-your-20th-film-festival/

Solid plot... and hurdles

As mentioned in my last post I think I have a solid plot line. Same direction as mentioned earlier however with a discernible twist. So we begin in a modern home with a teenager sitting on a sofa, watching TV, checking his email on a laptop, texting on a phone, with his wearable tech on his wrist. Eventually the technology slowly disappears leaving him to his own devices. Over time he becomes more and more frantic--jump cuts, empty food containers, etc. signal the passing of time and eventually he’s driven to a state of madness and wakes up sweaty and panting either in a bed or on a hospital table. He asks a man in a white coat how long he was under. The man asks who long he though it was and proceeds to tell him it was only five minutes. the main character lives in a future where everyone has become addicted to technology and need therapists to kick the addiction. The irony is that they try to kick it with VR headsets.


OK solid-- now for the hurdles. The person I envision for the actor has the perfect house to fit the mise-en-scene but how good are his acting skills? He’s a little afraid of social media so would this be a leap for him? Where do I find someone old enough to play the therapist? A VR headset? A doctors chair? Or maybe I don’t need one, maybe the therapist makes house visits... or some careful staging of a side room could work? How do I communicate to the audience that LOTS of people are addicted? Maybe some monologue between the doctor and his assistant about how many more appointments they have that week? Have flashes of more people sitting in the chair? What about signaling that it is the near future? The mise-en-scene will help with this but what about the sheeple? I have a few casting ideas but I need to talk to friends to see what they are willing to get themselves into. Next post should include updates on this and and hopefully a storyboard.

Media Groupies

On Friday, our class walked (in mob formation) to our school's media center for group meetings where we promptly picked up laptops, plugged in HDMI cables to the laptops, and projected our blogs to a TV for everyone in our group to see. The most beneficial aspect of the meeting was notgetting to use the super-extra-expensive-equipment-that-people-barely-touch (although, that was cool) but rather the valuable conversation that was afforded among my peers. Our groups were carefully organized to include individuals with different project types such as film trailers, documentaries, music videos, and short films. It was interesting to be able to think about the implication of different media types and gain perspective on my own project.

While I had a general direction for my short films I was really missing a solid p
lot and “twist” at the end, so I enlisted my group members for help. After a few minutes of back and forth about Black Mirror and other sci-fi pieces I threw out an idea for the “twist” and plot line. After a few nanosecond of deliberation the group agreed it would be a solid idea. More on that in the next post.

Personally, this group was extremely rewarding in the way of “grounding.” Peers can help to discern how realistic a media goal is, if it’s too cliched, or if it’s even interesting. I loved hearing about and giving input on my groups ideas-- we had everything from a rom-com about pizza to a short film about the power of music and media. This freedom in constructivism is harder to achieve in other subject areas due to rigid curriculum structures. In essence, we are able to learn through building on our own knowledge and connect our new ideas and with pre-existing group experiences to enhance understanding and facilitate the creation of more meaningful and effective ideas. Media is specifically driven by consumers, therefore, peer (consumer) input is especially important in determining the effectiveness of your print or digital media.

Genre Conventions of a Sci-Fi thriller

Alright, so I'm looking into some conventions common within Sci-Fi genres, thriller genres, and psychological thrillers. While I think the psychological aspect will be key in conveying a type of fear or loss after the technology is removed from the world of the main character, it is also important to consider how science-fiction thrillers are successful. Take Christopher Nolans "Inception" for example. The movie incorporates all three genres seamlessly to create a jarring yet emotionally reflective piece. In short, living up to or even being able to stand in the shadow of a movie like "Inception" will be incredibly difficult but let's delve into some Sci-Fi thriller conventions and ideas for how my piece will work with them to create something, hopefully, original.

Sound As in all films, sound is essential to pacing. One of the best examples of capturing this "psychosis" or angle I'm looking for is in the Black Mirror episode "The Entire History of You" this excerpt (45:10 to 47:30) blends perfectly paced music with diegetic sound to allow the viewer extreme focus on the image. Each action is punctuated with clear diegetic sound but also a shift in the undertone of the music. Some non-diegetic sound is used to punctuate the use of technology (which will be easier to incorporate in my piece as the only technology used will have diegetic sound. but the melancholy tone of the music overall signified the internal turmoil of the main character as well as the passing of time. Music choice will be no easy task due to the extremely precise pacing of psychological thrillers (i.e. jump cuts and faster cuts).

Setting The setting of a sci-fi thriller has to appeal to both genre types and match the tone of the film. Sci-fi is mainly associated with other worlds, space, or different points in time. A great example of this setting is in the film "Blade Runner" which is set in a dark, gritty version of the future. This fits the film's tone perfectly and allows the storytelling to shine through and captivate the viewer. A more grounded sci-fi thriller will be set in a more average and believable location and time period in order to fit the story that the film is trying to tell. The latter is true for my piece which will make filming much more practical. The choice to go present-day seems more fitting to my theme in order to make the viewer relate as easily as possible.

Props Props are used to convince the audience of the time period and setting of the film. They usually reflect character backgrounds, hobbies or habits. For the direction of my short film props are essential specifically, technology. For example, the unassuming nature of Apple products would allow the audience to easily relate to the main character and work to transpose the emotions of the main character onto the audience.

Clothing Clothing is important in revealing the characters background in a piece to the audience. The characters social class and status is shown to us by the quality of the clothing. In "Shutter Island" the main character is dressed as a stereotypical detective with long trench coats, hats, and badges. Conversely in "District 9" the audience is shown characters dressed in bulletproof clothing and soldier uniforms making the occupation and condition of the characters obvious. For the purposes of my piece, the character would most likely be dress in middle-to-high-end clothing such as jeans and a sweater etc. The more unassuming the clothing, the more easily the audience can sympathize with the main character's emotions.

Main Character The main character varies drastically between genres however, when creating the main character one must consider time period, location, and character backstory. In Psychological-thrillers the main character drives tone as well as the plot of the film. In thrillers the main character usually starts out with the same knowledge of the main character to best create suspense and take the viewer on "a journey" with the main character. When I envision my main character I see him as one of my close friends so I think my vision of the character and the setting is shaped around him which makes his backstory easier-- typical teenage guy immersed in media etc. The real challenge here will be the strength of the acting as it is not easy to accurately portray psychosis.

The Crisis The Crisis of the film is dependent on the genre of the film. A horror film will tend to feature a murder, a romance film will feature a relationship and so on, The crisis of a sci-fi thriller will typically include some themes that are out of the ordinary that the main character needs to attempt to overcome. Sci-fi element would include time-travel, space, or other science fiction features. The thriller aspect should result in a tense story that may play with the audience by adding twists to the story. The crisis in my story is defenitely having a technology stimulant taken away but I think there needs to be a good twist -- a suicide? Is that morbid? Maybe. It would hold a powerful message on how deeply we depend on technology to "stay sane."

Welcome Back! Long time, no see.

Hi! This is my first A-Level post. I took AS two years ago when I was 14. Jumping back in feels so unsettling-- everything has changed so much. Here goes nothing.

Black Mirror "White Christmas" starring John Hamm

I will be the first to admit that I have put off this posting all week. Maybe that's due to the end-of-high-school anxiety that this final project signifies or the enormous amount of ill-advised binge watching of Netflix... either way here I am, thinking about media, as usual. I am currently listening to Ed Sheeran's new album (bless Great Britain for this man... and clotted cream) on my iPhone but playing on my Apple TV and controlling it through my Apple Watch, ahhhhh the sound of convergence is so sweet. Anyway, my rambling is mostly to underscore my extreme addiction to media and technology shared by my peers. This "overuse of media" is, quite ironically, creeping into media. One of my recent binges includes British television series "Black Mirror." The show is ostensibly a modern-day Twilight Zone (don't worry, I've binged that, too), tapping into the trends and panics of the smartphone age instead of the atomic age. In many ways, Black Mirror's similar "stand alone episode" design has seen the same success as the Twilight Zone of the 1960s. While the episodes don't have the appeal of cliffhangers they do cater to the ever inflating love of "bite-sized" media of Generation Z. The ability to choose, to skip around, is simply appealing to modern-day media users as an efficient, yet binge-worthy, series type. The core appeal of the show, however, is the satire involved in creating alternate realities of what our future with technology could hold. We've seen this trend a lot lately with some semi-under-the-radar films like "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016) which adopts a seventies sci-fi vibe but brilliantly incorporates a thriller plot line. The twists involved in the supposed "chemically-attacked" world above the bunker is a satisfying yet terrifying example of our relationships with technology and weaponry. Many episodes of Black Mirror including "Hated in the Nation," "Men Against Fire," and "Shut up and Dance" expose the physical dangers of technology as weaponry. Again, "The Circle," a book by Dave Eggers, underline and terrify the readers with the possibility of complete convergence. The book is soon to release as a movie on April 28, 2017, in the states.

So after voraciously consuming media about the dangers of media, I want to, obviously, make media about the dangers of media using technology. I never said I could heed the warnings of technology or convergence--that is what is truly fearsome. As I thought about how to draw anyone in with a short film my mind jumped to the Black Mirror/Twilight Zone/The Circle direction and while the thought of robotic bees swarming and killing people by crawling up their noses is terrifying (sorry for spoilers) I began to think of my very worst fears. Failure? Maybe. Nothingness, deprivation? Most definitely. Growing up, I had nightmares of being stuck in some type of expansive purgatory. Completely white, never-ending, and featureless. It would drive anyone to madness if left long enough. So the obvious way to reconcile these fears is to present them as a short film (right?). Just as a brainstorm think: a teenager in his house checking his email on his laptop while watching a show on his tv, texting on his phone (sound familiar?). Wifi goes down, TV disappears, phone, watch, everything. Madness ensues. This is mostly a vague direction in need of tweaking. Despite our fears of the technology revolution presented by media, we are really afraid of losing it all together. If you're a binge-watcher like me, you may get so engrossed in a show that you need to take a media break to "re-connect" with reality (whether it be social media or other outlets) because you've dove so deep into the hyper-reality that shows and movies offer. But what happens if you can't reconnect or engage in hyper-realities at all? For technology natives, at least, it would be torture.

I hope this post provides some background on my direction, or at least my inspirations for what is to come. I would also highly recommend any of the shows/movies/books mentioned in this post (binge-worthy!).

Sources:
http://www.theverge.com/2016/3/17/11255744/10-cloverfield-lane-movie-ending-backlash
http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/10/black-mirror-season-3-review
https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2016/10/the-complex-humanity-of-black-mirror/505811/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Black_Mirror_episodes
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2016/12/07/emma-watson-tom-hanks-star-trailer-technology-dystopia-film/