Hi, so right now I am organizing my schedule for when I am to be posting my blogs. My goal is that this way I am more organized and motivated. These dates are not set in stone, as there may be unforeseen circumstances, or I might post more than the 3 I have chosen a week. But anyway, this is my general schedule for now.
Hi, so I've realized that I may have rushed into analyzing film openings without truly researching the genre as a whole. In the past, I have researched horror, and I found that by just simply discovering common conventions of the genre, I am able to comprehend most plots and scenes.
One meet-cute that I particularly enjoy is from the film About Time. The two characters are meeting for the first time on a blind date. Everything about the scene just felt perfect and meant to be. The use of dim lighting creates a romantic setting, and when the male character first sees the woman walk through the door, a little bit of high-key lighting shows through and gives her an ethereal look. The use of piano music also began to play as soon as they saw each other. This music was something I had noted in my previous blog about another film opening. Clearly, it is a common aspect to include when creating an intimate scene, and this makes me want to further look into adding it in my own film opening. The director's use of over-the-shoulder close-ups also added to the mood of the film, as it emphasized their expressions and viewers could clearly see they are already smitten with one another. I find this tactic to be successful as it gives viewers a more vulnerable and personal look into the interaction. I am not sure if I would want to create such a passionate scene for the start of my film, as I do not want to come on too strong. However, I do plan on creating an amorous mood since it is a romance.
This clip of the meet-cute was from YouTube. It is seen below.
Another form of a meet-cute could be not so cute at all. In 10 Things I Hate About You, for instance, the two characters only interacted with one another because the male lead was acting on a deal. Essentially, if he took her out on a date, he would be paid. The actual meeting of the two characters, however, was not as romantic as it was for the film About Time. Instead, the scene is just a soccer field and the medium shot of them walking side by side should create a sort of bond between them, but instead does the opposite. While the girl is wearing a bright yellow jersey, the boy is dressed in black and gray. The stark contrast between the two seen side by side allows the audience to infer that they are not actually interested in each other. This is further shown through dialogue in which the girl does not want to go out with him and is walking away from him as he is speaking. The form of the meeting is not cute, but it does establish the plot and engages the viewer more than your average cliche scene. This is something I want to discuss with my group members, as I am sure that a different approach to the norm could be seen as more original/authentic for our film opening. I also believe that this type of rom-com caters to younger generations more, and so is the type of film that we see in theaters today. I would want to create a similar stand-offish energy between my two leads, so viewers could be anticipating what happens next, instead of having them fall in love in the first minute of the scene (seems anticlimactic to me).
This is the deal that establishes the plot of the film.
This is the meeting of the main characters.
Overall, there are various types of meet-cute that I could include in my project. Since I will be having friends playing the characters in my film opening, it is safe to say that I can not expect them to recreate such romantic energy as seen in About Time. But, a snarky meeting that implies an enemies-to-lovers plot like 10 Things I Hate About You is something that I am sure my fellow peers would be willing to do. This is why I am leaning towards more of a meeting that was a result of a prior conflict/arrangement.
While there are many different genres that my group and I are interested in pursuing, we are primarily focusing on rom-coms. This particular genre could be seen as outdated, but I feel we could create a fresh look within the genre. In my process of researching famous rom-coms, I chose to study When Harry Met Sally. This classic movie was loved by many, and my aim is to learn what techniques Rob Reiner utilized to create such a successful film. When watching the starting credits, the use of up-beat piano music made it so the opening clip was not boring. The happy nature of the song also allowed me to infer that it is to gradually introduce the viewers to the romantic comedy energy from the film. I found this technique interesting, and am inclined to do something similar with my own film opening. However, the black screen behind the credits seemed a little boring to me. Instead, I would want to have a background shot, perhaps an establishing shot, in which the credits would be shown off to the corner. This way I could engage my audience from the get-go.
Furthermore, something I noted from the film opening that was unlike anything I see in rom-coms was the use of an interview before the movie had begun. The interview was of two elderly people telling a short summary of how they met and fell in love. When the scene, as well as the music changes, it is clear to me that the film is not about the people in the interview. I came to the realization that Rob Reiner put an interview there to almost tell viewers that true love exists. Given that the couple was of such an old age, it is surprising to any viewer to see them together after so long. Clearly, this is meant to inspire people that love prevails. Although I could not tell by just the opening clip, the movie actually inputs various interviews of different couples with different stories. This furthers my belief that the film wants to show the great possibility and success of finding 'the one'. I do not think I plan on putting interviews within my film opening, but I do believe that it was an interesting way for the film to further the theme of love. I would like to create the mood of my film at the beginning in a similar fashion.
When Harry Met Sally (1989). Tubi. (1989, January 1). https://tubitv.com/movies/100001223/when-harry-met-sally?start=true&tracking=google-feed&utm_source=google-feed
To start my portfolio off, I have learned of a few different types of film openings. Some establish characters, settings, mystery, or conflict. I am currently in the process of researching examples of such film openings to get more insight on how they are filmed.
Out of all the types of film openings, I am leaning towards either one that develops a character, or one that develops a conflict. The sample opening of Stranger Than Fiction really sparked my interest because I felt as though I was able to get to know the character in just 2 minutes. I also enjoyed the technological editing aspect of it. It gave it an unreal nature and furthered my perception of how the main character is unlike anyone I have ever seen.
This short film opening was found on YouTube. Here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwTQ57YyzI
Another film opening is one that develops conflict. I believe this type of opening has so much room to play around with and many different approaches I could take. Specifically, I am interested in either a man vs. society conflict or a man vs. man conflict. I think this is something I am able to recreate in my own environment. Although I can not realistically create a film opening similar to one as The Hunger Games, I believe the many conflicts I see in everyday school is something that I could delve into.
This is another film opening, of the first Hunger Games movies. I found this clip on YouTube as well.
Since my classmates and I were given such a big project with various aspects to it, we approached it by researching successful music production companies, as well as case studies. This research allowed us to identify popular marketing tools and the best platforms to distribute to our desired audience. We focused our research on Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, since they are two of the most well-known companies across the globe. We narrowed our research to Coldplay and Red Hot Chilly Peppers when searching through WMG. We noticed that Coldplay has become so successful because of the audience interaction that they provide their fans. This is something we planned on including when we began to create our own campaign. We also noticed that the two rock bands we very active on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tiktok, etc. Even so, they would often livestream concerts to allow for greater audience engagement. Once again, this aspect of creating a connection with the fan base is something we look forward to representing in our own band. In addition, we researched the rock bands U2 and Royal Thunder, both produced by Universal Music Group. One thing that stood out to us through our research was the heavy investment in tours and marketing. Since U2 is planning on performing in the Las Vegas Residency Sphere, they have primarily marketed that tour. Various clips on social media of the immersive experience within the Sphere stadium have viewers desperate to experience it themselves. This leads us to assume that the decision to perform in that specific stadium not only encourages fans to attend but also guarantees large amounts of media exposure for the band. Since our rock band is just starting it, we could not possibly be able to play in such sophisticated venues as U2. However, we strive to work towards that level of relevance. Below is a chart of the research we gathered for the two companies, as well as the 4 case studies.
In addition, my group and I furthered our research by investigating digital marketing and its impact on the music industry. We discovered that following the COVID-19 pandemic, most concerts and tours were completely canceled. This greatly impacted artists and their sales, which led to a shift to digital marketing. Despite not being able to see fans face-to-face, artists could stay relevant by being active on social media platforms. A simple way to do this is to stream performances on live streams. This showed us how important technology is when marketing/distributing music.
The next step in our project was to develop the brand. Once we chose the song: Time is Running Out, we knew we had to decide on a name that reflected the chaotic nature that the song portrayed. That is why we decided to name our band: After Hours. It hints at defiance and rebellion, ultimately what we want to represent the band as is daring and exciting. We figured our target audience would be young adults, either male or female, from the ages of 16-22. We felt using dark colors such as black and red would go along with the daring theme as well as the 'night vibe' that would go hand in hand with the name. When creating our logo, we incorporated these colors, while also adding a ray of sunlight. This was to emphasize the sun going down, and once again go along with the After Hours theme.
Once we had decided what our brand was going to look like, we chose to begin filming the music video. This decision was primarily because we wanted to get a head start on the editing portion since we knew that it was something we were not used to doing. Before we started to film, we created a storyboard of all the shots we would like to include. Although After Hours is a band, we decided to take the promotional route and primarily feature the lead singer. Through our storyboard, we planned different locations we know would best fit the video as well as a variety of shots. (ie. high angle, tracking, low angle) We hoped that this would make our music video more visually appealing/entertaining.
Storyboard:
Now that we had the plan for our video completed, all we had to do was film. The process of filming proved to be a challenge because of the bright lighting. To have better quality, we filmed during the afternoon and the lighting turned out to be brighter than we anticipated. However, looking back, the lighting on the background reflects the same ray of light within our band's logo, so it worked out for the best. The rest of the filming process turned out to be very successful. We utilized both our iPhone camera and a digital camera to create a 2000s feel as well as a grungy, rock vibe. We changed locations numerous times from a local stage to a closed off-road. The reasoning behind the stage was to emphasize the local and nature of the band. On the other hand, the location of the road closed was to add to the rebellious aesthetic and brand. We filmed each scene that involved lip-synching with the audio playing in the background so our lead singer could time the lyrics just right. This proved to be successful when I began the editing process.
At first, I felt very intimidated to edit the video, given that I had no expertise in using a sophisticated editing platform such as Premier Pro. However, I found that once I began to add the clips it became simpler to understand and navigate. I chose to add clips of lip-synching on parts that are of normal pace and to add fast cuts and shaky movement on parts such as the chorus. Since the song is very loud and chaotic at the chorus, I felt the fast cuts would reflect that. I feel that the laughter, smiles, and close-ups of the lead singer also add to the realistic/relatable feel of the band. I am sure that that aspect will allow the band to form a connection with their audience.
Now that we had completed the music video, all we had left was to start the marketing campaign presentation. We were inspired by our research to include a large amount of audience interaction. Specifically, we mentioned contests that fans can win by interacting with Instagram posts and commenting on polls of what they would like to see. We thought this gave the band a refreshing and open look to their audience. We also included various social media samples such as Tik Tok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. This is where we planned on having live streams and behind-the-scenes footage of the band to allow fans to see another side of the members. In addition, we included our website, which would be made interactive so fans can navigate easily and be taken straight to streaming platforms with just a click of a button. We also mentioned the various forms of cross-media convergence we planned to utilize such as local magazines, radio, and music blogs that would reach a local young adult audience interested in the grungy rock genre. On each slide a member of my group spoke in-depth of each aspect of our campaign to better describe our brand and it's intentions. We found this to be difficult because we often did not know how to best word what we would like to say without saying too much and too little. However, we organized ourselves and wrote small scripts so we could stay on task. This proved to be beneficial in the end. Some social media samples are seen below.
This project has taught me various things. For one, do not procrastinate. Although the completed most aspects ahead of time, I would have liked us to complete it earlier so we could have had longer time to perfect small details and make it overall a better campaign. I also learned to download my work constantly. Unfortunately, most of our presentation was deleted without us noticing, and we had to redo it all over again. Luckily, we remember the information, but now we know to constantly download and save work before it gets deleted. Another thing I learned was to improve communication. At times, I struggled to communicate with my members, and it did not help that we had very different schedules and extracurriculars. In the end, we were able to come together and complete the project, especially after most of it was deleted. This project taught me various aspects that I plan to use in my portfolio project. For one, editing on Premier Pro. I did not know how to edit on that specific platform, but now I feel more comfortable navigating it and I am sure it will allow my upcoming project to be even more sophisticated. I also learned to plan ahead and be organized so that when it is time to film, I know what I plan to do. Therefore, this experience allowed me to learn new things and break previous patterns.
For my group, we were assigned the music genre: rock. Out of four songs, we chose, Time is Running Out because we felt that it had the most opportunities to film and market through its fast-paced, and upbeat tempo.
At the start of our brainstorming process, we researched the different aspects of how to market a song as well as the band. We learned that ads and online marketing have grown rapidly over the past few years (especially following quarantine/COVID-19) and are the primary source for promoting the artist. This is why we chose to approach our band as having a strong social media presence on platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Through our research, we targeted popular music production companies and collected note charts on their history and past rock successes. This way we could see what marketing methods worked the best and use that information in our own marketing techniques.
We chose our logo to be eye-catching and to match the name of our band, which we named After Hours. We decided that since this was a rock band we would utilize the punk aesthetic and use mainly black, white, and red for the brand colors as well as colors we would like to incorporate in the music video.
While brainstorming for the music video for Time is Running Out, my team and I bounced ideas off of one another of how we should promote our band. We came to the decision to make the video primarily promotional, instead of stylistic or story-telling. To elaborate, we focused on the lead singer for the majority of the shots and only tight clips of instruments that hint at the band. This way, there is a mysterious aspect of the band, while also keeping the lead singer as the face of the brand. Through the process of planning out shots, we utilized a storyboard to visualize each scene. We decided to use a variety of camera shots and movements to go along with the chaotic nature of the song.
Once we finalized a day when all members were available to film, we chose the main location and filmed various shots to use in our music video. To give the video a more visually entertaining aspect, we varied the locations in our shots and switched up the lighting slightly. We also decided to film in a closed-down road area to go along with the name of the band.
Since After Hours implies rebellion, we thought filming in a location where the public is not normally allowed to enter would go hand in hand with the theme. Furthermore, we chose to film in the daylight to mimic the natural bright light coming through in the shots that are seen in our logo. We hoped to give our music video a touch of early 2000s rock aesthetic, so we used both an iPhone 15 camera and a digital camera. However, once we began filming with the digital camera, we noticed that the shadows around the lead singer made her face and features not clearly visible. This led us to use the digital camera on only a limited amount of scenes in which the lighting had fewer shadows. In addition, the chorus of the song is very loud and chaotic, so we felt a tracking shot of the lead singer running would be best to use during that portion. Once we filmed multiple shots in different locations, we called it a day and decided to start the editing portion.
I am currently in the process of editing the music video, and so far I have realized that I do not have a sufficient amount of cuts. After viewing the video a few times, I came to the conclusion that a chaotic clip is simply not chaotic enough for the upbeat song, or as visually enticing as it needs to be. I plan on mixing and matching a variety of shots from different locations and creating fast cuts to emphasize the messy nature of the song. Other than that, I feel as though we have a wide variety of shots such as low angle, high angle, and camera movement such as zooming. I am confident that the video will turn out a success. Regarding the marketing campaign, my group and I are still in the process of creating it and we hope to complete it soon. One challenge we have faced is finding a time in which we can all meet, as most of us have extracurricular activities after school every day. However, given the importance of the project at hand, I am positive we will get the job done.
The well-liked American-comedy drama series, Shameless is known for it's evident representation of diverse groups. The series centers around six chaotic siblings living in poverty after their bipolar mother abandoned them and their alcoholic father was unfit to care for them. While the show represents a large variety of people and situations, a closer look at the representation unveils several underlying issues.
The youngest child is named Liam Gallagher who, despite having two Caucasian parents, is African American. One might see this and believe the show is creating diversity within their cast, but the show tends to push the character aside. To elaborate, the plot of each episode never focuses a significant amount of time on the character's development. At the start of the show, the character was just a baby, so one could reason that the lack of focus on Liam was due to his young age. However, as the seasons progress (11 seasons total) there is still significantly less of a focus on Liam than the other characters on the show. In season 7, when Liam was unable to attend private school due to all the colored students slots being full, the show sheds light on issues with forced diversity in schools. However, since the matter was briefly discussed and forgotten by the next episode, one can infer that the show's intention was not to delve into Liam's personal struggles, but to just point out a discriminatory matter in private schools. Likewise, at the start of the show, the oldest sister Fiona exposes young Liam to cocaine. The scenes that followed were primarily of Fiona's experience in prison. There was little to no reflection on Liam and how he was coping being in a foster home. Once again, the show depicts scenarios that can happen in the real world, but rarely portrays how Liam's character could be feeling in said situations.
Throughout various of the seasons, each male person of color was portrayed as 'mean and scary'. For instance, one of the main character's friends, Mandy had a boyfriend named Kenyatta in one of the earlier seasons. Due to his large frame and constant angry expression, he was depicted as frightening. It did not help that he was portrayed as consistently abusing and cheating on Mandy. Another character was Nick, a close friend of Carl (one of the Gallagher siblings) while they were in a juvenile detention center. The show made him out to be dangerous as well by showing him stalking and killing a young boy after his bike was stolen. Likewise, the Gallagher's runaway mother, Monica, had an African American girlfriend who was, once again, depicted as angry and aggressive. Like the two colored men, she too was presented as a villain by wanting to take custody of their younger brother Liam and separate him from his siblings when he was still an infant. Each of these characters were shown wearing loose, ratty, over-sized clothing. The viewers can conclude that the show is depicting African Americans as not only violent, but living in poverty. Clearly, the show makes a point of associating people of color with violence and negative actions.
Moreover, the show includes representation of the LGBTQ+ community. One of the Gallagher siblings, Debbie meets a woman of color in her workplace named Alex. When the two began to have romantic relations, Alex appeared hurt and disappointed when Debbie realized she wasn't homosexual. It takes time until the young character Debbie comes to terms with her sexuality and accepts herself. Once Debbie came to this realization, her romantic partner Alex was given significantly less screen time. Viewers can conclude that while depicting the ups and downs of a young girl's journey with her sexuality, it came at the expense of a lesbian African American character. Not only have women of color, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, struggled to gain adequate amounts of screen time, but in Shameless' case, Alex's role was for the sole purpose of developing Debbie's character, not her own. One can infer that while it is important for Shameless to represent the queer community, it should not be at the cost of bringing down the colored female community.
On the other hand, Shameless has done an excellent job with illustrating people with mental illness. To elaborate, one of the main characters, Ian, was shown discovering his diagnosis with bipolar disorder. The show takes the audience along in Ian's journey of struggling with and later getting accustomed to his disorder. Shameless accurately portrayed someone with bipolar disorder by depicting Ian going through the various stages that come with the illness. Including hallucinations, mania, depression, mood swings, among others. While depicting the bad, the show also gives its audience a view of Ian being surrounded by positiveness and dealing with the illness with medication. This allows viewers to see that people with bipolar disorder are capable of living a normal life, instead of branding them as destructive and mentally ill individuals, which is commonly seen in other film representations. Moreover, Shameless points out the hereditary aspect of mental illness by highlighting that Ian's mother was bipolar as well. However, the show depicts how, despite having inherited the illness from his mother, their experiences differ. In fact, Ian was seen standing up for himself numerous times when he was discriminated for his disorder. To specify, Ian was forced to fight back after being fired from his job because of his bipolar disorder. Through scenes such as this one, the show sheds light on discrimination of mental illness in the work place. Clearly, Shameless accurately portrays the many struggles and obstacles people with mental illnesses must overcome.
