Equipment

         There are many ways to film a movie opening and it is important the camera shot come put clear and in a good format for editing software. All throughout this year for this class I used my iPhone 7. I am going to use it again for this project. The big reasons why is I do not have any other equipment to film with, but also because I am familiar with how an iPhone camera works and I know how to export the videos taken on an iPhone onto an editing software. This method of filming suits me and is what I am most comfortable with.

        The tricky part is to record the dialogue audio and synching it up with the video. I think through Apple Airpods the audio can be captured or any Bluetooth headphones, but the people I am asking to act have Airpods. The issue now is to figure out whether I am going to connect the Airpods to the phone that is recording or to a separate phone and record the audio through voice memos. I will test out whether the camera app picks up audio from Airpods and if it does, then I will connect the Airpods to the iPhone that is recording so that I would not have to sync up the audio with the video.

For the lighting I will record during the day, so that I can use the daylight and edit the exposure, contrast etc. in the post production. It will be a little difficult, but I will need to pick a location where the location has adequate lighting. To edit I will be using the app I used the whole year which is Shotcut for now. It is pretty basic and if I think I need more complex editing apps I will ask around, but for now I think I should be fine with it. I think it will be a little hard to film without artificial lighting but it is still doable, I will just need to figure out how to edit lighting in post-production in Shotcut.

Costume

         I have not contacted the people I need as actors to see if they are willing to act, but I think I should come up with a general idea for a costume now. Costuming is vital to the tone and progression of a movie. It helps to develop whatever kind of scene you are trying to make. It helps to convey a characters personality or their job and sometimes even importance. Costumes are there in a movie to help the audience understand and believe and sometimes theorize what a characters life was before the movie started.

                                                                Examples of costumes in movies

       In the movie The Dark Knight costumes were essential in developing the personality of both characters in different ways. In Batman's case, the suit is meant more for his job, which is to fight crime. His suit allows him to blend into the darkness and launch attacks as well as get away without detection. It also is meant to show how batman is a more private person and more darker in nature since his suit is darker compared to most superheroes.

        The Joker's costuming choices are chosen for an entirely different reason than job performance. The two shades that the Joker wears are meant to be opposites. In this case, his clothing is meant to show off his personality and what to expect of him. It helps to create the overall tone of insane that already surrounds his character. Different from batman, his clothing is more to accentuate his personality rather than make his job easier, however both are needed to create the tone of the story.

     

   For my film, I would like to take an approach similar to the Dark Knight where some characters wear clothes based on their job and some characters wear clothes to reflect their personality. In the first part of my opening, the man who is carrying the briefcase, I would want him to have black colored jacket with a black shirt inside with glasses because when people want to blend in they usually wear darker color clothing and glasses to conceal their face. This is to send a message to the audience that he is doing something secret and important. 

        The person who kidnaps and steals the briefcase from the man should also wear something darker like a suit with a round black hat to signal he is a henchman. I do not if any of my actors have a black or brown suit with a white shirt, but ideally that is what the henchman is wearing. This is also clothing to signify his job as a henchmen and to signal to the audience he is not the main villain and is just a hired gun.

For the last person in the scene, their clothing is meant to reflect their personality. This is the person that gets the call that someone needs help and is presumably an ex-agent. It should reflect who he is as a person and what his life is like. Since I want to also portray him as a little listless and lifeless, I would also want him to be wearing dark clothing, but more casual. Instead of a jacker or suit just a plain black T-shirt. This costume choice is meant to send a message that the person is likely going through a troubled period in his life at the time he gets the text message. 

Rough draft Storyboarding/Check-in

        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. 

Group Discussion

         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. 

Setting discussion

         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.

        

        

Preliminary plot/ sub genre conventions

         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

Action Character types

         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.