CCR

After a lot of hours of editing, here it is my CCR about my film opening: Payday

Thank you very much and hope you enjoy

Payday

This is it!!!

This is Payday:

Almost done...

My next post will be my finished film opening...

I am really excited but I'm also really scared. I am making some minor updates in the editing and then it will finally be posted. After this, I will be finishing my CCR in which I give an overview of my project and answer some questions.

Here are some sneak peeks of my project:

Reflection

I know this project has not been easy for me or any of my classmates. None of us would have thought that our school year would end up with all of us in quarantine due to a pandemic that is affecting more and more people everyday. I'm a senior, and I was really excited to join to this class because it would help me focus on what I will study and help me in my decision for a future profession. When the project was assigned it was all going great. I was working in class, sharing my ideas with my classmates, working at home, getting inspiration from the outer world, etc.

After all, the situation didn't stop me from being inspired to complete my project with passion and with the objective of doing the things right. I started with the development of my project in a time where Awards season just ended and I was becoming a really big fan of tragi-comedies and criminal movies. I was getting inspiration from the big Scorsese with his big classics, the Safdie Brothers who are just starting with their promising careers with amazing movies like "Good Time" and "Uncut Gems", the record-winning director Bong Joon Ho with his movie "Parasite", and many more.

I wanted to make a film opening with a lot of significance, not just the story of some guy who is a scumbag and is worthless. Well in terms of the story he is, but there is more to it. It involves the representation of traumas that a later developed with having anger issues, depression, drug abuse, alcoholism and more. There is always a deeper meaning, even when it is so simple, because real life is simple and scary at some points.

My character of Michael Ortiz was created with a whole background and with a kind of tragic "origin" story. Originally it was intended for a friend of mine to be the protagonist but due to the situation I had to become Michael (I am not the best actor but I tried my best). I didn't want to change the story when they told us that we must remain home because I was so deep into it. So I had to make some changes in the script and the production design.

I changed the film opening setting from making in the beach to making it in the bathroom of my parents. I was originally going to make it inside the bathtub but I changed in last minute to the shower but it actually looked better and I could achieve the same objective. In terms of production design I used all the probes that I originally was going to used. This are a vodka bottle (from my parents), a pack of cigarettes, pills inside an orange capsule, and just garbage. For the costume design, I used a suit that I haven't wear in a long time which involves grey pants, black shirt, black shoes and a purple tie.

After wrapping up with the shooting, I used the software of Premiere Pro to edit the opening. When doing this I additionally had to add all of my sound editing with extra audio, folley, and some correction. I also made color correction to make the opening have a dark look. I finally decided that I wouldn't add any soundtrack to it for two reasons; 1. Domino Records never answered me my emails if I could get the license of an Arctic Monkeys song. 2. I believe that by having no sound it gives a realistic tone to the scene and really shows the struggle of the character to the audience.

After all, this has been a really fun project that really requires a lot of hard work and dedication if you really want to make it right. With visual techniques learned in class and creating it with deep analysis learned in the school year.

Changes and challenges

Since now everyone is going through harsh times with all of the quarantine due to the COVID-19 with not been able to to leave their homes and everything. This project has become a real challenge since now I have to work with every resource that I can have here at my house.

As I said in my previous posts, I had to change my script and my storyboard to what I'm trying to do now. My script worked very well but I had to make a lot of changes with my shots when working on the production. I started shooting inside my parents bathroom since it's the biggest of the house and is the only one where my sister and I were able to work together. I made a big change which is that instead of doing in the bathtub, I changed it so that my character wakes up inside the shower. After making some overshooting I got everything required to start editing.

Something that I am not very sure of what to do is if to add a soundtrack or not to the opening of the scene. After insisting to the companies of the song; "Do I Wanna Know?" by Arctic Monkeys, I didn't get an answer if I could get the license of the song. So right now I am looking for license free music that have the same context, new songs, and waiting for a miracle if I could get the song that I want.

This week I will finish the editing of the film opening and begin working with my CCR.

Editing

Editing has been kind of hard to get all of the footage collected and organize it in a way that makes sense and that can also help to convey my message with everything shown.

The most difficult of it has been the sound editing. Starting with the initial voice messages, the ringing phone, the background noise, the actions, etc. But with patience I am achieving it.

This is just a small screenshot and overview of how I am editing in Premiere Pro. I had to edit in my Macbook Pro which has been kind of difficult because it is a little bit small and tight in the working space.

What I'm doing right now is making color correction for how I want the images to look. 

Production has started

Last tuesday I finally started shooting my film opening inside my house. With the help of my sister and my mom with camera work and make-up I achieved a major part of my objective.

This is my mom helping me to apply the bruises of my character. I have to be honest when make-up is been applied to you is the worst and I couldn't stop screaming.

This came up as I final result of my mom's make-up and the costume design for the scene.

This is just a small part of the floor of my production design for the scene. I also included the pills, the vodka bottle and a pack of cigarettes.

New actor!

We had a new lead actor for the film opening, due to the obligatory quarantine of the coronavirus my friend Fernando couldn't work with me anymore.. After long casting calls and interviews I've finally decided who will play the role of Michael...

ME!

I am the only one that has to act now that in my house there is only my dad, my mom and my sister. I am the only one able to take the lead role.

I'm not very good at acting but I will give my best try to make my project work the way I want it to.

This is me by the way

NEW STORYBOARD

I created a new storyboard. The setting of my opening is now going to be in a bathroom of my house instead of the beach. My character will now be waking up inside of a full of water bathtub. Most of the actions will be the same but with the character of Michael been all alone in the bathroom.

Here are the pictures of my storyboards.

NEW SCREENPLAY!

I finally decided that I am sticking with my original idea but changing the setting and some of the elements including the cast, the setting, the probs and dialogue.

Here are some pictures of my new screenplay. Sorry if the quality of the image is not that good.

Online conference

Last wednesday my class had an online conference with my teacher Mrs. Stoklosa. This is the first time we have talked to her since schools officially closed in the state. She told us new updates over the project. The due date of submission changed from April 5 to April 12. The projects objectives haven't changed at all even though people can't leave their homes due to the outbreak of the coronavirus. Good news is that Mrs. Stoklosa will be answering any concerns over her email.

Right now I am changing my initial script and storyboard with the different changes that I am making in my story.

Mrs. Stoklosa told us that we clearly had to show in the opening credits:

- Director
- Writer
- Producer
- Cast
- Music

I'm back

So I haven't posted any post for awhile due to the situation of the pandemic that's been happening all over the world. Schools are closed, supermarkets are empty, there is no one in the streets. The coronavirus makes it look like an apocalyptic environment with everyone in their homes taking care of themselves preventing the expansion of the virus.

Due to this circumstances I haven't been able to work properly in the opening scene project. I was supposed to start filming last weekend but that's when the "chaos"unfolded with everyone in Florida completely panicking over the situation. I waited for a few days hoping that things would ease a little to get the chance to go with all my equipment and cast to film in the beach, but it didn't work out since beaches are now closed.

What I have to work now it's on see how much I have to change of my story to make it work. If I can't think of something that will help me, then I have to change the whole story.

If someone in the future gets to read this, i survived the coronavirus along with my family by staying at home for more than a month.

WE HAVE A TITLE!

I finally decided on what the title of my film opening is going to be!!!!

I am going with: PAY DAY

I made this decision based as a comical theme title based on what will happen in the story, for as we know, the main character of Michael is basically a scammer that will try to find his way to earn a lot of money, but later on his own greedness and desire of power will lead him into some bad business.

I still haven't decided which type of font I will use for the opening credits sequence but I think I'm pretty close to find one that fits the idea and the mood of the scene.

Scout and protagonist

Hellooo

Officially I will start shooting the opening of my film next weekend hopefully the 14th of March. The place where I'll be shooting the beach scene is on Fort Lauderdale Beach. What I haven't decided yet is if I'll be shooting in Las Olas where a lot of people go on weekends, or a couple miles north where the beach is more private and you can park your car right in front of the beach.

In other news, I also found the protagonist of my production that will play Michael Ortiz, his name is Fernando Valck, he is from Dominican Republic, and he has always tell me that he has the desire of being actor. So I am giving him a chance, and I know that he will compromise and try to make his best for this project. 

Let's talk about representation

So I haven't talked a lot about why the importance of my character and the condition that he is experiencing.

The character of Michael experiences anger issues that are involved with underlying difficulties such as depression, anxiety, addiction and other mental problems. This type of people tend to have difficulties with low self-esteem, and mistrust. All of these may happen over a past experience on physical or mental abuse. This type of conditions can be treated with experts that help to treat with anger management or even medications (something that my character in my project will consume).

As I always love to base my research on experiences and productions, I would like to talk about one of the best series that I've seen and that really touched in a emotional way: Bojack Horseman.

I mean, I know what you are thinking, an animated series about a man who is half horse! How touching can that be. Well, this animated series is nothing seen before, it's dark, it's real, it's completely depressive, but in a way it is life. The character background of the main character of Bojack is a great emphasis on how depression and mental issues affect someone in a big way that it cannot be controlled. Bojack is a TV star who had a famous TV show in the 90's, now in the present the character of Bojack is an addict to alcohol, drugs and suffers from a really big depression.

The show makes a big impact on you that leaves you in a very uncomfortable way, knowing from the beginning that it leads to NOT a happy ending. Also, how this type of mental issues can affect anyone, and how no matter if it's a fiction world full of animal-human people, everyone needs help.

That is what I'm trying to show with my project and the character that I've created. Not just the story of someone that drinks and seem funny just to be hangover and doing crazy shit, but also how the past can represent our future, and it is okay, to feel sad or angry sometimes.

Group Ideas

Last class we were organized into different groups to share our ideas of our different projects and to help each other complement our products. This activity was really fun and helpful as I got to know of the different and innovative ideas that other group members have for their projects. I tried to help them by complementing and giving some back up of what they could add or take out for their productions. And, they also helped me a lot to know what to do right now.

What they helped me the most is on the selection of the soundtrack that I will play for the background of my opening scene. They selected my favorite song from one of the preselections that I made in the last post:

- Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys

I already sent two emails to Domino Records and Warner Records since both companies were owned by the band of Arctic Monkeys. I sent to both of them just in case one of them didn't have the ownership of the song. I am now waiting for the response of both companies.

Costume, Probs, Audio, Mise en Scene

Ok, so now that I've created and developed my story and the characters that will be presented on it, I am following more research and getting ready all of what will be shown in the screen when I make my production

Costume design

For the costume design for the character of Michael, I've decided that he will wear a daily working suit. Something that will be difficult for the actor to use since the opening will be filmed in a beach with a lot of heat. But it will serve to give the audience the idea of who the character is. The suit may give the idea of elegance and worker, but his appearance may also show the opposite as not caring and just trashy. This are some examples of what I'm trying to portray:

Adam Sandler in Uncut Gems (2019)

Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys (2016)

Props

Some of the props that I'll use for the production include:

- Empty whiskey bottle

- Cigarettes

- A car (the whole car will not be shown, only windshield)

- Police tickets

- A cell phone

- Pills

- Lighter

All of these will be necessary for the story to make sense and will have a lot of importance to show some elements about the character. 

Audio

For the audio, I have to work in some elements like for example; sound editing, foley stage and getting a good soundtrack. For the foley; I have to record original sounds of the beach ambience, this includes, the waves, sand, and background people. I also need to record a lighter, pills in a small capsule, and other small background elements. 

For the soundtrack, I have some songs that I am still undecided to get the license of them. These include:

- Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys

-  Howlin' For You by The Black Keys

- Ain't no rest for the wicked by Cage The Elephant

- Girl Is On My Mind by The Black Keys

If I cannot get the license of my desired song, then I will get a song that has free license ownership, or pay for one in a webpage where these songs can be found. 

First Storyboard

First of all, my drawing is terrible. Like it literally sucks, I have no idea how I passed Art class when I was a freshmen. But whatever, I finished the first draft of my storyboard of the opening scene based on the screenplay that I created (i will be uploading the screenplay in another post)

These are some pictures of my improvised storyboard that I made in my small notebook where I keep my ideas:

Creating a character

 So this whole plot story will be focusing on one character: Michael Ortiz. As I created the character I wanted to make a full background of his life to make him more vulnerable to the audience by knowing about him.

Michael Ortiz

- He is a 22 year old man. He was born September 18, 1998. His mother is from Peru and his father, who he hasn't seen since he was 5, is American.

-  Michael had a rough childhood, having several disciplinary problems. He was expelled from high school due to bad behavior. 

- Michael's desire is to become rich one day and try to enjoy life.

- Michael was diagnosed with having anger issues because one day, when he was 20 years old, he got into a discussion with his neighbor. Michael ended up destroying the front window and the lights of his neighbor's car. After that, Michael takes a daily medicine to control his anger.

- His mother helped him to get a job after the incident for him to pay the damages of the neighbor's car. He works in a small real state office.

- After becoming legal, Michael tends to drink a lot and smoke a pack of cigarettes every two days. 

- Michael may have some issues with some people ant usually tends to be an asshole (sorry), but he still has good feelings and cares for the people he loves.

- Michael has an on and off relationship with his toxic girlfriend Jenna. She treats him very poorly and always abuses of him. 

As we can see Michael is a very troubled character that has some issues that need to be fixed. Now I am going to compare my character to several inspirations of what helped me create him. 

Jordan Belfort portrayed by Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf Of Wall Street (2013)

One of the best movies of Mr. Scorsese and one of the best performances by Leonardo DiCaprio. Jordan Belfort is based on a real character of a famous stockbroker in Wall Street. His desire of power and money lead Jordan to become completely successful  at his job. The character of Belfort even though has everything he wants economically, still possesses an addiction to drugs and alcohol. Also, he pledged guilty to fraud and crimes related to stock-manipulation.  

Connie Nikas portrayed by Robert Pattinson in Good Time (2017)

In the first big film of the Safdie Brothers, Good Time (discussed in previous posts) Robert Pattinson plays the character of Connie Nikas, a criminal that after getting his younger brother involved in a failed attempt bank robbery, he would do anything to get him out of there. Connie is a very aggressive abusive character that when he thinks he is doing good for others, his actions are completely the opposite. In this case he cares about his brother, but every time he tries to do something for him, he just makes it worse.

Holland March portrayed by Ryan Gosling in The Nice Guys (2016)

One of the most underrated comedies of the last years, The Nice Guys was released in 2016 but wasn't successful in the box office because of the animated movie Angry Birds... I mean that's really sad. But whatever, the character of Ryan Gosling is a private detective that has a problem with alcohol, but does a great job. He has a daughter that loves very much. His first appearance in the film inspired a lot my idea for the opening. 

WORDS!

So I've started to develop my main idea by making a screenplay to create the dialogues and the setting together. After finishing my screenplay, I'll then develop a storyboard to get an idea of how my shots are going to be when I start filming.

The title of my film is still unknown because I want to finish first everything with the story and then make a title that makes sense and has symbolism and foreshadowing.

Here are some pictures of a small part of my screenplay:

Developing the ideas!

I've already started to develop some ideas about my project with the genre that I already described in a previous post but I would also like to add a the sub-genre of TRAGIC-COMEDY. This type of genre blends aspects about tragedy and comical forms. A lot of relevant and award winning movies from the last decade have used this type of genre to make their stories and engage the audience with the idea that anything can happen in these films.

Some examples include:

               

My #1 idea of the story that I'm trying to develop is:

A criminal-drama about a young 22 year old alcoholic named Michael that is trying to do anything to be successful in life but doesn't seem to achieve any objective that he tries to get involved with. After getting involved in some bad business, Michael must face his worst fears to survive in the dangerous city. My opening idea, will mostly establish the character to get a sense of connection with him.

We are going to have a Good Time... ok that was a terrible pun

I've spent the whole day watching, analyzing and reviewing A LOT of film openings from really amazing movies, not just from my own genre but from a all types of genre just to get a clear idea of how and why of the importance of a film opening. 

This video also helped to explain a lot!

One of the first film openings that I would like to talk about is of the movie; Good Time, directed by the Safdie Brothers. This is the first big feature film of the Safdies to the big screen. The film stars Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie (one of the directors) and Jennifer Jason Leigh. The film is about two brothers that after a failed bank robbery, the young brother gets into prison, so the older brother embarks on an odyssey through New York's underground to get him out of there.

As I couldn't attach the opening to the blog, here is the link to the opening scene. Some parts of the opening are cut. 

Good Time (2017)

The opening scene, gives us a background on one of the main characters, the younger brother interpreted by Benny Safdie. That seems to be talking with a special therapist that asks him some question that trigger the character to a past trauma. This opening help to give some background of a probable mental illness that the character suffers and is in needed requiere of help. After some conversation, the older brother comes in gets his younger brother out of there as soon as possible. He tells him that he is not one of them.

This scene shows different techniques that gives us a sense of emotion of what is happening between the two characters that are having this conversation. The shots are divided by always having close ups between the two characters with small zoom in and zoom out off their faces. I like this opening very much because it gives us a little background and connection to one of the characters. It also gives a lot of foreshadowing.

And. Here. We. Go!

MEDIA STUDIES PORTFOLIO PROJECT

This will be my first major project of what will potentially lead to help me learn, create and participate on what will help me on my future career selected in possibly the film industry. This class is the only one I've been more focused in school and I really want to work on this really passionate and hoping I will make a really great job. I will not comfort with just good, I want to make it great.

Opening a film

The opening of a film is essentially of the most important pieces in the creation of a new production for the audience. It is the first statement of the film to attract the audience and by making them want to keep watching. For it, the opening needs a series of elements for making it unique and innovative. Some of them are:

- Establishing a setting
- A background
- A character (sometimes)
- Foreshadowing

And many more.

Selecting a genre

I am still on the brainstorming decision of the plot story of my opening scene. But I believe that I have already selected the genre, which is DRAMA - CRIMINAL DRAMA. I've selected this genre because it is one of my favorites genres in a movie of how a story is developed and unfold with every single characteristic and minor detail being very important in the plotline. Everything matters!

Character:

• The character in a crime drama can typically include; a suspect, a criminal, a villain, a detective and such. 
• Mostly male characters
• Minor characters in this type of genre are stereotypical

Setting:

• Modern crime fiction that uses everyday locations
• Setting is depicted in detail to describe the atmosphere

Themes:

• Danger
• Crime
• Thriller
• Mystery 
• Justice
• Power
• Morality

THE WOLF OF WALL STREET - MARTIN SCORSESE

 

SE7EN - DAVID FINCHER

 

Music Blog Post

MUSIC PROJECT

THE GENRE

The genre selected for our music marketing project was ALTERNATIVE ROCK. The genre that our group chose is one of the sub-genres of the independendent type of music. In this genre, the "alternative" use is to show something mainstream or edgy very different of what is seen in regular pop and rock. The genre started to earn a lot of popularity in 90's as numerous bands started developing their products with distorted guitars and rooting generational discontent. One of the most famous bands that implemented this concept was the famous American band; Nirvana, with their first success, "Smells like Teen Spirit".

The amazing thing about this type of genre is on how it can portray different types of melody from janglo-pop to a more heavy metallic. But all of these are tied together by a similar aesthetic. Bands that have been related to this type of music between the 80's and the 90's never signed majors as they decided to have independent labors and have a more open minded and artistic view.

MARKETING TRENDS

In the research of marketing trends and examples of different case studies of music bands of the last five years, we selected American bands; Cage The Elephants and Half Alive

CAGE THE ELEPHANT

Cage The Elephant has become one of the most famous and influential bands of the genre of the last decade. They have released major hits that have been #1 Billboard singles, they have gathered more than 1.5 billion streams worldwide, have done tours and featured in music festivals around the world. CTE has an official website were they have a lot of content promoting the band like photos, music videos, upcoming tours and tabs were it can be connected to the different streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. They also sell their merchandise with an apparel that includes hats, coloring books, bandanas, and rings. They also have different social media accounts in Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and an account on YouTube. 

 

HALF ALIVE

The rising American band, Half Alive, was founded only four years ago in the year 2016, since then the band started earning a lot of popularity due to music video of their hit song; "Still Feel". Due to it's original choreography and amazing cinematography, the band attracted the attention of millions of viewers and a even the possibility of signing a major with RCA records. The band has an official website where they show all of their content involving their new singles, albums and upcoming tours. The band also started selling merchandise in the website starting with hats and long sleeve shirts that represent the band. Similar to CTE, they also work a lot with their social medias on Instagram and Twitter by promoting their products and showing upcoming content.

 

TEMPTATION

The artist that we chose to make for our project is called Temptation. We wanted to make him as unique as possible by having his own mainstream and edgy idealism. For the artist we selected a specific costume design and how different colors represented him to the audience. We used dark clouds as a brand for the cover of his picture and our website, as he faces with a young adult target audience in which he tries to represent with his music depressive thoughts and just pure anger. The clouds are used to represent a mood that can be relatable. We also used dark cool colors when choosing a color palette to give dark emotions to the audience and completely related to the artist.

MARKETING PRODUCTS

We developed and created original marketing products for our artist thinking about on what the artist was trying to represent and how we could achieve our target audience. We created an official website for the artist where a lot of information and background can be found from upcoming tours, links to the official social media accounts of Instagram and Twitter, connections to find and hear the music on streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music. We also created original merchandise that included long sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, hats, phone cases and official posters of the band. All of these merchandise products are created with a design related to the artist and the message he is trying to convey. Here are some of the examples:

     

EXPERIENCE

I would say that what I learned most about this project is experience and how much hard work it requires to make a marketing plan for a product that you are trying to sell. For the marketing campaign, a lot of research was required to know very well what you are trying to sell to an audience by knowing very well all concepts, the genre, and what strategies will be used. It all requires a lot of hard work and to have passion and confidence of what you are doing. Choosing a genre in which you do not know very well and have to work harder to achieve the objectives is a very good way to learn how to these types of campaign. When developing the music video, a lot was needed to make a successful product by having innovative ideas and preparing very well for every specific detail that is trying to be portrayed to be viewed. Experience was gained by learning from my mistakes and by accepting the different critiques that may help me to improve more and more on what I am producing.