I think now is the right time to start the planning process. I have got what my plot is going to be and I know what the characters are. Now, the next step is to start the storyboard. I think this should help me when I film the movie, but honestly I am not too worried about actually filming the scenes, it is more about how to put together multiple shots and alternating shots as well as the right filters and music in the post-production process. I have only edited once before and that was also for this class and I did not get a good grade on that project either so I am not very confident in my editing skills going forward. That is more of a cross that bridge when I get there, for now I am going to focus on my next task at hand which is the planning.
In this first panel there will be a midshot of a car driving when suddenly a human appears in front of the car and signals it to stop. The driver of the car will honk the horn of the car. There will still be a midshot of the human approaching the door of the car, when then there will be a close up of him opening the door and wrestling the driver of the car out of the car. There will be alternating close shots of their struggle.
In this panel, it is a continuation of the first panel where there will be a midshot of the man throwing the driver into the trunk of the car. We will then have a tracking shot of the man going into the car and sitting in the drivers seat. Right next to him will be a briefcase with the words classified on it. There will be a close shot of that briefcase to signify its importance. Then there will be a midshot of the car driving away.
This third panel occurs right after the car drives away and occurs after a cut. The scene will start with a close shot of a phone which will have a text message from an unknown number with the words we need your help. The camera will then show a mid-shot of the main character sitting at a park looking around. He will then pick up the phone, look at the message, look around one more time, let out a sigh and say "Of course they need" and then get up and start walking and then the scene ends. I think it builds up intrigue for the rest of the movie.
This is the rough draft of the storyboard. I did not add as much detail as I kind of just wanted to sketch out the plot really quickly to see how it would play out. Although I actually do completely suck at drawing, so if I feel like my vision for the plot can get done with just a shot list, I probably will not do another more detailed one, but I will have to see. I think the opening is good because it introduces the main spy character without giving away too much information like who he is and why he is disappointed about receiving that text and why in spite of him being disappointed, he is presumably following the text. The first part also builds intrigue as it makes the audience want to stay to find out what was important in that briefcase. The only issue I think it has right now is time. The opening has to be at least 2 minutes and I am not sure if what I have is enough to cover two minutes.
In class, our teacher randomly sorted us into groups and told us to share our ideas about the project. We all discussed our projects and I got some good ideas about what other people are doing and I plan on using that for my film. I thought that the meeting was helpful and in the future when I develop my project, they will be even more helpful. Even thought everyone else did different genres, I found things to inculcate in my own opening. I was struggling a little bit on how to shoot my kidnapping scene, but I figured it out after the group discussion.
The first most important thing I was told to do had to do with the camera shots. I told them my plot for my opening where someone gets kidnapped and their briefcase containing important stuff is stolen. The people in my group told me that the best way to capture the scene would be through close up shots instead of wide shots. The close shots I am thinking about are a close shot of the briefcase to signal to the audience that it is important to the movie. Another close shot is the shot of the person being stuffed into the trunk of a car to properly set the tone of the film. In the process of the struggle between the person with the briefcase and the kidnapper, I will try to use alternating close shots because it will accurately show the kidnapping in a dramatic way.
The second thing I learned from our talk was the time when music was playing. One person said that for their entire opening there would be no dialogue and only music playing in the background. I am thinking about doing a similar thing for the kidnapping part of the opening, but I am not sure yet. I think I will end up doing something where the music is playing lightly in the background, but there is still volume of what is going on in the scene. I think a scream would help to set the tone, so putting music over that would be effective. However, a fast-paced beat in the back would help to raise people's adrenaline, so it is something I would want in the background of my opening.
Something like this seems like it could be effective. The music is playing to add a tempo, but there are still sound effects of what is going on in the movie like of the jets on his boots. I think I would have something similar to that, but the music would be more of a fast-paced beat and it would not be as loud as it is in the clip.
The setting for an action film is very important. Imagine if The Dark Knight took place in Carmel, California, the film would not hold as much weight. The setting contributes to the themes, mood and tone of a film. For my movie opening I need to find a setting that is fit for spy film. My opening is going to involve two parts. The first part will be someone with a briefcase getting kidnapped which would be one of the hooks of the opening as the audience would want to stay to find out what was in the briefcase and who did the kidnapping. The second part would be where a man gets a text from an unknown number about how his services are needed and then the opening would end. This would provide a second hook, where the audience would want to stay to find out who sent the text and who the person is receiving the text.
Since my film is a spy film, the setting of where the main plot is going to have to be wherever the briefcase was taken. Since, I am doing the opening, that really is not important. I only need to find an appropriate setting for where a kidnapping would take place. After deliberation I thought it was best if the kidnapping happened while the man with a briefcase was driving and someone stopped him in the middle of the road and took him out of the car and threw him in the trunk of his car. The actual location like city of the kidnapping would be unimportant, but it is more so the ambiance of a road where there are not many cars. The setting and ambiance is crucial in developing a hook because if the setting does not have a mysterious mood, people may not be as interested in it.
For the second part of my opening, the main character will be in a car watching people in a park when he gets the text. This is meant to create some sort of mystery of who he is and where his life is at the point where he gets the text. The park can be any park and again the city location is not important to plot just the overall ambiance. I need to find places around me that exist that fit the descriptions I have set, but for the park I think I have already found one, but for the first part of the opening I am going to have to research more to see if there are any places like that around my house. This is probably one of the more important aspects of this opening because a proper setting with proper ambiance can help to hook an audience.
I think I have settled on a sub genre for the movie opening I am creating. I will be creating a spy movie. I am anticipating that the movie opening will have the main character introduced and he is being told what his mission is. I am going to have to find the proper tools to do that and I have yet to determine whether this spy mission is part of the government or an independent one. I also need to determine the setting of the mission.
Spy movie conventions
A spy movie usually has a main character who has to accomplish an objective like shutting off a bomb or rescuing a person while having to deal with the villain who is trying to catch and kill the spy. The main character has to usually have a scene where they sneak around, but since I am only doing an opening I do not have to worry about that. Spy movies have to same concepts as action movies in the sense of good vs bad and the villain is usually some evil country or corporation.
This is an example of a spy movie where the plot is developed first and the rest of the details are what the audience stays for. This movie opening does not seem like a spy movie from the start even thought it is. This type of opening is something I am considering doing, however, it would not be as effective. I could do something simpler like where a random man kidnaps someone and that is the opening and the audience will be hooked to find out the rest of the movie.
While this is not a movie opening, it is something I might also want to do. A mission briefing where the main character is being shown his mission seems like a good idea that is possible to pull off with my resources. A mission briefing would need to make the mission sound good and interesting, so the mission could be the hook for the audience. I would just need to find a good setting and equipment to do this
There are many types of characters in an action film. However, because I am simply doing a movie opening I will only explore specific types of characters that might be used in my movie opening. A character type is the mold a character fits in and what his likely responsibility is in the movie and his role in the movie. Specific character molds are present in most movies, but like I stated above I am only exploring characters that I might use in a movie opening.
The first type of character type is The Hero. The Hero is the protagonist of the film and has the responsibility of fighting the villain. The villain can come in many different shapes or forms. It could be a natural occurring thing like an earthquake or an animal like a shark or it could another human. The Hero is the one most movies have a focus on and their story is the most important because that is the hook of the movie and a character you have to set up in a way that the audience will want to root for them throughout the movie. The Hero needs a good backstory and reasons why the audience should feel sympathy towards him.
Example
In the movie Aquaman, Arthur Curry otherwise known as Aquaman is The Hero. The movie sets up the fact that Arthur's Atlantean mother was killed when he was very young and he was raised by his father. This gives people a reason to root for him throughout the movie.
The Villain is another action movie character that is essential to the movie. A villain is the antagonist and the person the hero is constantly fighting against. The villain needs to give the audience a reason to hate them in most cases. The interesting thing about a villain is the many different forms they can take in a movie. A villain could be mental issues or another human. In my movie opening I am pretty sure I want the villain to be another human because it is the easiest way to establish in a movie opening.
Example
In the movie The Dark Knight, the audience is given a reason to dislike the villain right from the start. The opening scene depicts the Joker robbing a bank and killing many of his own partners who helped to rob the bank. This instantly gives the audience a reason to root for the main character and does a good job of establishing the villain as smart and cunning.
The last character type I am going to explore is The Sidekick. The sidekick is paired with the hero and is one of the hero's helpers. The audience needs to be given a reason to like the Sidekick, but it does not need to be as fleshed out as the hero's reason, because most audience members will root for the Sidekick based off the fact he is the hero's helper. The Sidekick is something I am not sure I will include in my movie opening because most movies do not introduce a sidekick in the openings, but I felt like I should mention it because there's a chance I do use one.
Example
Mera is the sidekick to Aquaman in the movie Aquaman, but she is introduced a little later in the film. The moment that is shown that is supposed to get the audience to root for her is the moment when she saves Aquaman's father. From that point, Aquaman and Mera both fight till they defeat the Atlanteans that supposedly killed Aquaman's mom and want to take over the people that live on land.
In conclusion, these are the possible 3 types of main characters that will be present in my movie opening. I think I will have the main character being shown and a filler character will be briefing the main character on the villain and talking about the villain's strengths and weaknesses.
The target audience of action movies are generally kids aged 15-40. This is because the younger generation is the one that typically likes the adrenaline rush they get from action movies. The target audience is very important when making a movie opening because you need to incorporate things that the target audience enjoys. In my case for action movies, the general target audience is 15-40, so I am going to need to create something that grabs the attention of people in that age group. Another sub-genre I was considering doing was Spy action film which also has a target audience of 15-40, so there are certain elements I need to incorporate to fit my audience. The most important adrenaline booster in action movies are stunts and action sequences like car chases, since I am doing a movie opening, I do not need to incorporate those major action sequences. I can use smaller action like a small fight or a gunshot, but more importantly I need to find a way to make an opening that shows that in the film there will be action sequences. The dialogue and camera shots in my film are going to have to hint at adrenaline boosting scenes further down in the film.
In this movie opening the usage of shots and close ups of items like guns and the speedometer of a car to set the tone of the film as an action film. The shots allow the audience to anticipate that their will be action and the major action sequences in the future of the movie. The only "action" in this movie is the last shot where the man gets shot, but that is a basic scene that I could probably create. This scene does a good job of developing the plot and the character without having a crazy car chase or gunfight scene, it makes good usage of camera shots and sound to set the tone for the rest of the movie.
Another aspect of action movies is the representation. Most action movies have a male and white lead in Hollywood. Representation is important because it allows people to be inspired and the full story can be told from all perspectives. Unfortunately, due to COVID and other issues there are a limited amount of people I want to ask for help, my pool of actors is limited, so I cannot control representation in my movie opening, but I do think that I have a diverse group of friends I could contact to act in my opening. I still do believe I can make a good film with the limited pool of actors
Action movies are movies where people are going in to watch expecting to be entertained. A good action movie opening must have something interesting right away, something that makes the viewer want to stay. There has to be some sort of plot, where the viewer is asking what happens next without giving away too much of the movie. Another essential part of an action movie opening is the fact that there does not have to action, the opening is setting up for the climax which is where all the action should be. The opening should merely set up the action not necessarily include it. This is perfect for me, because I can create an opening that does not need action which I can do even with my limited capabilities. Another essential part of an opening is to introduce the main character and make the audience want to find out what happens to him and root for him, otherwise they will get disinterested from the start.
Examples
Iron Man
This film follows the exploits of Tony Stark who is Iron Man. The film opening is one that does not really develop the character much and more so develops the plot of the story. Here, the main character Tony Stark is riding in a military vehicle with members of the military, it portrays him as a playful person who likes to make jokes. However, suddenly an explosion occurs and Tony leaves the truck only to be blown up by a missile that has his name on it. He wakes up surrounded by people with face coverings who are speaking a different language and are presumably shooting a hostage video. At this point, the title screen is shown. This film opening introduces the audience to the plot of the movie and gets them to ask who are those foreigners that took Tony hostage and why did they take him hostage? The rest of the movie will go on to answer those questions, but the opening has used many techniques to hook in the audience.
The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight is a film that follows the fight between the Batman and the Joker. The film opening is specifically used to develop a character. Here the film opening depicts a squad of bank robbers successfully robbing a bank However, what makes this opening a little different is that it is a sequel film meaning that the main character(Batman) has already been developed, so instead this opening introduces and develops the villain. The Joker is depicted as a ruthless killer who seems to be very smart considering the mind games he plays in this scene to ensure he is the only one left alive and gets to keep all the money. He is introduced as a smart villain that will wreck havoc in Gotham. This film opening instead of making people ask what happens next, likely leaves people asking who is that and what is he going to do next. The rest of the movie displays the rest of his tricks and shenanigans, but the film opening does enough to make the audience stay and find out what the Joker is up to.
Both of these film openings do a good job of capturing the attention of the audience and ensuring that they stay for the rest of the movie. They both take slightly different approaches as one develops a character and one develops a plot, however they are equally as effective. From these openings, I understand what kind of opening is needed to grab the attention of an audience and I am leaning towards doing an opening that develops a character simply because it is more feasible.
At this point, I have decided I want to do some sort of action movie. It took me a lot of deliberation but after running through some basic plots I decided given the circumstances, an action movie would be the best way for me to move forward. Action is a very encompassing genre with many sub genres like sci-fi, superhero, spy, martial arts, disaster and many more. Obviously given the circumstances as well as the resources on hand any movie involving superhero's or sci-fi is likely ruled out. As of right now I think a movie opening to a spy action film would be best or a combination of a spy and buddy cop action film. The first step is to research.
In general action films are films that are usually very fast-paced, high energy and have many stunts. This comes into play usually in the thick of the plot of an action film, so I do not really have to worry about stunts since I am doing a film opening where I am most likely going to only be introducing the conflict. The fast-paced movie is meant to stimulate the senses of an audience and boost their adrenaline.
OVERVIEW
As stated before, action movies are very encompassing so this leads to the fact that the genre can have many different types of plots and conflicts. Usually their are five plots in action movies: Escape, assassination, revenge, oppression and kidnap. An escape movie plot is usually where a main character is trapped in some sort of location and has to break free like in Die Hard. An assassination plot where the main character has to track down the villain and kill or capture him like in Hitman. A revenge plot is where something happens in the main character early in the film like their loved one is killed or kidnapped and they spend the rest of the movie trying to get back at that person who caused their pain like in John Wick. An oppression plot is where a group of people is under the rule of more powerful people and they have to fight to escape that rule like in Avatar. A kidnapping plot is when either the main character is kidnapped or someone they know is kidnapped and they have to either escape being kidnapped or they have to save the person who has kidnapped like in Taken. The most important thing for me is to pick a plot that allows me to be creative and create something I like while also within the limits of my capabilities and the extra limits set by COVID.
The most common aspect of all action movie plots is the necessity for very fast-paced scenes that boosts adrenaline. These scenes are very important and to create them directors and their crew use many techniques to achieve this. Without these techniques, an action movie would not be successful and would not be a good product. When I create my film opening I will focus on using these techniques to create my film.
The editing in action movies is unique and is one of the major reasons why action movies seem so fast-paced. Firstly, during a fight scene or car chase, there are usually many cuts that are quick and show different angles of the conflict occurring. These quick cuts helps to further encapsulate the chaos that is going on. This helps to build-up excitement and tension during the fight which boosts adrenaline. Speed ramping which is when shots are sped up or slowed down is also another technique used that builds up tension and excitement.
The lighting and colors vary depending on what kind of action movie is being made. For more lighthearted action movies, like a buddy cop movie, the lighting is more prominent and lighter colors are used and the action sequences usually take place during the day. However, for more solemn action films, the directors use darker color palettes and the lighting is darker especially around the main character which is meant to symbolize the position the main character is in at that point. These intense movies make use of lighting to help convey the solemn and serious tone of the movie, while lighter colors help to convey a more fun and lighthearted tone in a movie.
The camera shots in action movies also help to create tension and excitement. In action sequences, usually when the main character is being overwhelmed, a close up of their face will be shown to convey a sense of desperation which further boosts tension. Moreover, action movies have alternating medium and long shots of action sequences to help show the audience all angles of a car chase or fight scene. These multiple angles are necessary for an action movie to because it helps create a mood of excitement.
I really feel I can incorporate these techniques into my opening and that for me to have a successful opening it will need these editing techniques.
This is the first post of my project. I have already run into my first issue of choosing a genre for my film opening. Obviously, just by virtue of being a high school student I am limited in my ability to make a movie opening, further complicating matters is the COVID situation. I have no siblings and the obviously due to COVID, I do not want to ask too many people for help with my filming, so I am going to need to fund a genre that not only uses limited amount of people, but also a limited setting because I do not want to go to many places. Right now, I am torn between an action movie and a horror movie. I feel like the opening for either of those movies can be limited to one or two settings and can be fit to accommodate fewer actors than other genre's might.
I think there are benefits to both. A horror movie would only need one setting and I can create an opening where whatever horror monster I come up with claims its first victim and the audience will be introduced to the horror movie. On the other end, with an action movie, I can set up the setting and also use a limited amount of characters and in the opening I introduce the main character as well as introduce the audience to some of the plot. I feel like Horror would involve less setting and actors, but would take more expertise to make so after I research I think I can come up with an apt decision.
Moreover, when deciding between these two genres I am going to have to consider is capability and the products I have. Is it possible for me to create an effective horror movie without the high tech instruments movie makers use? The same question goes for action movies too. The first thing I am going to do is research other low budget films and see which methods are plausible given the equipment I have. This will be the biggest deciding factor in me picking one genre over the other. Moreover, I will need to look around my town to see if there are any parks or streets where I can film in an atmosphere that would fit the plot of my movie. If I cannot find a dark and gloomy place, then maybe horror is not the way to go. It is an interesting question, but one I am looking forward to answering in the coming weeks through my research.
This project is very unique even compared to any project we did in class. For starters, due to the fact that our class was online the whole time, I did not make any new friends or acquaintances with whom I could film with. I am going to have to do this project alone, which is different than any other project this year. Moreover, this project is a combination of all the projects we have done. We did a project where we had to create an entire atmosphere using only Foley sounds, something this movie opening is going to need to have. We also did a project creating a music video, which basically made us create an atmosphere without any character dialogue. This project in essence combines the two projects into one project, except this project is worth a lot more points.
I anticipate this project to take a lot of creativity and be much harder than any other project I have down. There are so many factors I need to consider and COVID makes it a little harder. I think that with enough research and being on schedule will give me a product that I like. I think that with enough planning an preparation I can make a piece I am happy with. The blog is also an interesting portion of this project that I have never did anything like before. I think it is good and will help me in the planning process.
The biggest thing I learned from the other projects we did in this class is the importance of planning and how much easier it makes the rest of the project. I normally did not plan in other classes and even after the first couple projects I did not plan. However, eventually after the first couple of projects I learned to plan and on the music video project, the shot list my group created helped immensely with the filming process. The biggest takeaway I took away from the projects we did in the class was the importance of planning and that is the one thing I want to inculcate in this project.
The project was very smooth in all stages. First before doing anything, we had to pick out a song. All the group members decided on Mountain at My Gates after listening to it. We all decided based on the assignment, the lyrics of the song would allow us to be most creative. Next up we had to research the marketing strategy of other bands or artists, so we picked 4 that were all in the rock genre. There were 8 total rows we had to fill, so each person was assigned 2 rows.
Next, we had to start the filming process. The most important process in filming is the planning. We first came up with a storyline and then within two class periods we discussed what shots were best for this storyline. We all chimed in and took the best ideas and made a document of shot lists. One member of our group who was the best artist used to shot list to come up with a storyboard which further helped to film the video.
Next we had to film the video. We decided it would be easiest if one person gathered everyone they were in contact with and filmed the video due to COVID. The video filming date was set, however the work of the PowerPoint was still left to be done. There were 5 requirements listed, so we each person got 1 requirement and one person got 2 requirements. We created a Google slides and everyone put down their requirements soon after. Their was some confusion on the first requirement and whether or not that referred to our band or case studies and after careful reading of the instructions around 10 times, we deemed it referred to case studies.
We all asked questions when needed and helped anyone who needed help. My aspect of the PowerPoint were the case studies and the samples. Everyone felt the best samples to do were social media account and merchandise, so I created new social media accounts on Twitter and Instagram and took screenshots to put on out PowerPoint. I used Wix to create the homepage of the band and used whatever pre made templates they had. The merch was made simply by pulling off a blank hoodie on Google and going to PowerPoint and pasting the logo our group made on top of it.
Eventually when the video was finished being edited we added that onto the slides and then we were ready to present. The presentation was the last part we needed to do. We went and it went pretty smoothly. Everyone presented the portions of the slide that they worked on and we decided we wanted to do bullet points with further elaboration during the presentation because reading directly off of a slide was a very monotonal and old thing to do. There was no real struggle in this problem as everyone did their work on time and did everything that they agreed to do, which is one of the main reasons it went so smooth.
I learned a lot from this project. The first thing I learned was how to split a major media project in a way no one gets too stressed and this way ensures everything will go smoothly. I also learned how important planning is. The shot list and plot creation was very detailed which made it that much easier to film it. The planning of the PowerPoint also allowed everyone ample amounts of time to do their part. For the Cambridge Project, this is helpful because I will put more effort into the planning portion of the project instead of rushing into creation like I normally do for other subjects. Also, I learned that the less I procrastinate, the easier the project will be in the long run. Since, our group finished the planning and the division of work so quickly, I was able to space out my time spent on the project which made it less difficult and stressful.
