Back to Square One

Here’s the latest place my team and I have gone to since my last post:

Source: Arnel Manalang

My team and I had decided to scrap our idea for this Schizophrenic artist. It was a tough goodbye that we tried to prolong by pondering other mental disorders for us to use instead. After a meeting of the minds as to how exactly we were to portray this character in an interesting and engaging way, the same question always came up, "What makes the audience want to care about him?" It was a question we could not answer in a way that we would like and for that, we had to forego this story.

Source: Giphy

But alas, from the ashes rose something new! A new story was discussed and now established to be what will now be our film opening. We have decided on a story that focuses on the impact social media today has on people and their mentality and perceptions. We have decided to portray this with a girl getting ready for a social media post, but showing that it's not always as pretty as they make it seem. As sad as I am to see our idea go, I know that it is for the best and considering our clearer train of thought and group dynamic I am ready to see where this new story takes us!

All According to Plan(ning)

Some quick updates on my team progression for our planning:

Source: Tower Data Science

My teammates and I have established our designated roles within the production of our film opening:

- Austin will be in charge of researching what font to use, editing techniques, and shot composition

- Katherine will be researching color theory, visual aesthetic, and the mis-en-scene for our scene

-And I will take on the task of researching characterization by researching about schizophrenia, as well as creating the necessary artwork to be used by our character.

We also have a finalized shooting schedule:

-Finalize pre-production: March 1st
-Filming: March 8th
-Begin line editing: March 16th
-Finish line editing and VFX for film opening: March 21st
-FINISHED Product: March 28th

Closing thoughts:

I feel a lot of relief knowing what we have all been delegated to. Austin is somebody who is very skillful in learning tasks quickly and efficiently, as well as his skills in the editing room. Katherine is a very artistic and colorful person who is not only good at color palettes and aesthetics (her ability to create our website and collages for our previous music video project), but also is very excited to do so. Being able to analyze and create dynamic characters is something I love to do and is something I really strive to be able to perfect, as well as my storytelling abilities and I know these tasks will help me get to an elevated level.



To be honest, one of the most relieving plans we have agreed on is our day of filming on March 8th. The entirety of this week and next week is completely packed with either homework, my actual job, or television production events I have to attend. I am going to be competing in Student Television Network (STN) in Washington D.C so for these past weeks, it’s been nothing but practices and then for March 10-15th it’s competition time! Knowing I am done with filming while I’m at STN makes me feel so much more at ease and will help me get my mind on track with the competition at hand. I’m beyond excited to compete again. Last year I was able to place 2nd place in the entire nation! It was an incredible feeling and, after all this hustling, am ready to take home another award [hopefully first place this time though ;) ]

Source: Giphy

Story Update

Hey guys! So here are some updates on the latest from my film opening:

First off, our storyline for the film opening is now beginning to manifest. I met up with my teammate Austin earlier today and will do another full group discussion with Katherine as well in order to flesh out a final concept and make sure we are all on the same track.

Initial Concept Paper

Rough Draft of Film Opening

For our film opening, we want a very stylized sequence to kick off the film. An idea we discussed to begin was having several close up shots of different paintings, all with twisted subject matter be juxtaposed with very calm, classical music as credits are introduced. This is to show the unorthodox nature that this art stands for, which can be symbolized by the character’s mental conflict. Through the sequence, some visual effects that could be implemented were having subjects overlap one another (shown below), as well as audio manipulation such as voice overlap and echo. A big worry of ours is how effective can we show the audience our character has Schizophrenia. With the use of these visual and auditory effects will help to effectively convey  the warped sense of reality that our main character experiences.

In addition to brainstorming for the film opening, Austin and I have come up with a schedule for the remainder of the project. These dates are subject to change, but as of now are our guidelines to getting everything done in a timely manner. Something that plagued my group’s last endeavor, our “Night Running” music video, was that we were going off a vague outline for filming which left room for a lot of error, stress, and issues to arise as we hurriedly scramble to complete our artist’s campaign on time. I am incredibly relieved to have our planning beginning to take shape faster and faster as I feel my confidence growing for this project with each step my team collectively takes towards production. 

What is Schizophrenia?

The main focus of my film opening will revolve around Schizophrenia as a disorder and how an individual deals with their symptoms. In order to be able to portray this condition, I decided to conduct some research on the proper ways in which to do so.

One of which was talking to my AICE Psychology teacher about it. When I explained the premise of an artist with Schizophrenia, my teacher was thrilled since she knows we had studied extensively on this subject earlier this year and can use what she had taught us, but she was also very supportive of the idea of a positive portrayal of the disease. I asked her if there were any specific guidelines that we had to follow in terms of portraying Schizophrenia as a mental disease mainly because I know there commonly are for mental issues, such as suicide and I wanted to make sure to treat this sensitive subject with as much respect as possible. My teacher explained to me that there weren't any concrete rules on what we could or couldn't portray, but wanted to ensure we portray it in a positive and accurate light.

And so, I conducted my own research. The main symptoms of sufferers include:

• delusions
• hallucinations
• disorganized speech and thoughts
• catatonic behavior
• negative symptoms (taking away a characteristic)

What I noticed from several people who documented their struggle with schizophrenia, such as Allie Burke and Cecelia McGough is that each is that the disorder affects people differently. Not everybody with schizophrenia exhibits every one of these symptoms. I also found out that there are certain triggers for people, such as a color scheme that reminds them of a consistent hallucination or even the feeling of being stressed can trigger a schizophrenic episode. Additionally, many may have their own delusional thoughts, such as persecutory (people are always out to get them). In those with extreme cases, their speech patterns are often loosely associated and go on unrelated tangents that often get unusual with emotion (by lack of or too much).

After viewing real cases of this disorder, it really hit me just how much of an impact Schizophrenia has on people. People are terrified of the outside world, hear voices, see demons. It's terrifying, but seeing people overcome these hardships is exactly the momentous message I want to be able to represent within the main character of my film. The research I have conducted will allow me to understand and flesh out not only the mind of my character but the story line as well.

It's time to put this research to work!

Sources: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Jl9_59tfY&t=157s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Fpa1X6zT6k&t=598s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bWaFqw8XnpA&t=446s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbagFzcyNiM

Plot? Check!

So, today I met up with my partners, Austin and Katherine to discuss ideas and possible concepts for our film opening. We spit balled a number of ideas between one another. A hacker movie, technology over society, coming of age film were all brought into conversation.

After discussion between us all, we have agreed to a plot for our film opening.

As of right now, we have decided on doing a character study on a Schizophrenic patient who is also an artist. The main conflict would stem from this person's relationship between the two.

-Drawing from 18-year old Schizophrenic patient

As far as what our planning for this story will be, a main goal of ours is to portray sufferers of Schizophrenia in a brighter light than what is normally shown on the silver screen.

In terms of research we are viewing videos of patients explaining their condition themselves, such as here.

I am very excited to tell this story as not only am I incredibly interested in psychology and take psychology classes, I am an artist myself and so this project blends these two worlds perfectly. In addition, I have a portfolio of drawings from over the years, including from my time in AICE Art, ready for use.

Will keep you all updated regarding our progression through this story! :)

Such Drama!

Drama-an exciting, emotional, or unexpected series of events or set of circumstances.

So for my film opening, I will making my own drama film. But what makes a drama?

Going off the definition and overall trends in drama movies, dramas show human beings at their best, their worst, and everything in-between. A kind of internal struggle that the character has to address throughout their journey in the movie. Additionally, many dramas often include controversial topics, such as current events, racial prejudice, drugs, poverty, politics.

Within these topics, I have found that dramas have the ability to be incredibly diverse between one another creating several sub-genres including:

• Biopics-one person life story
• Dramatic comedy- comedy and drama elements combine to tell character-driven story
• War-how people react and deal with battle
• Family-follow family during crisis
• Melodrama-follows a character(s) as they deal with high emotion scenarios
• Romantic-Love story with its included conflicts and battles
• Political-Following people wanting to start a change
• Social problems-Social and moral grey areas explored

From all the different takes and interpretations the drama genre has undertaken, the main essence of what a dramatic story should be is of how conflict creates change. Whether within people or society, dramas should give us a new perspective in life through the roller coaster that is drama.

The kind of drama I will be undertaking is something I am still trying to finalize, but will be dictated by the story I will be telling through the film.

So what happens before Act 1?

Act 1 is the first third of a movie. The beginning of Act 1 is also the opening of that movie. But before you can start something, you have to know where to begin.

I am currently beginning preparations for my film opening. The film of which I have decided will be a drama. But before I can start making a drama, I need to know how to begin.

One drama I took an interest to was the award-winning Parasite (2019).


The film is opened with a shot of the setting lasting for few seconds and then panning down to one of the main characters. The rest of the characters are introduced through the use of a conflict (Wi-Fi signal not being found) and their means of fixing it. A rather lighthearted score is playing through the scene, but soon fades away and diegetic sound of the world takes over as more conflict for the family is introduced in the form of financial troubles and interpersonal battles.

What I have taken away from this opening that can be implemented in my opening are:
-Use of music to set tone or tone shifts
-Introduce characters through interactions as it allows us to see who they are rather than being told
-The use of a daily routine sequence also helps world-building and setting development

Another film opening I studied was the opening for Nightcrawler (2014).  This movie revolves around the journey of Lou Bloom, a hopeful videographer who will stop at nothing to get his big break in the news world no matter the costs. Contrast to Parasite, Nightcrawler opts to begin the story by establishing the world. The film opens with several still, wide shots of a city during a full moon night. The city is shown to be empty with very little shots of people and the shots being almost completely engulfed in darkness with the only sign of light being from dim street lights or buildings. These establishing shots help to build the world in which the movie will take place; a dark, desolate urban environment. Without a single glimpse of the main character, audiences can already feel a sense of solidarity in the night. This helps to set the tone for who the main character is: a hungry wolf hunting in the night.

What I have taken away from this opening:
-Begin by world building
-Having the setting coincide with the main character
-Still shots=still world
-Use of lighting can convey emotion
-Opening with living-subjects is different than with non-living

So, I made a Music Video!

For the past few weeks, I was tasked to make a researched marketing campaign to promote a new and upcoming artist. So, as one does, I made a music video for a band titled, "Super Cyber-Punk Space Cowboy Band." And yes that was the real title. 

 -While the name may come off as a mouthful just to be confusing, the length was intentional. In order to be able to spread our branding, we wanted to go by a title that would be unforgettable, stick in people's heads, and draw attention. A unique name also seems to be a prevalent common factor for bands within this genre (Vampire Weekend, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys). 

The chosen genre for the band was Alternative/Indie Rock and target audience would therefore be the typical "alternative" crowd of unisex, 16-25 year old people. To build a successful campaign for our band, we had to view current marketing trends for this style of music. 

What we found were that popular bands such as, Cage the Elephant and Grizzly Bear thrive on evoking a nostalgic sound and feel. With our aesthetics, we wanted to emphasize that with the wacky costume designs, smiley faces, and collage themed website.

As far as our literal marketing goes, we posted merchandise to be sold on our website. The items included things such as vinyl stickers, patches, and a CD for the single. The items were not only in tune with our aesthetic, but also with our audience who typically don't like/can't spend large amounts of money. Our items were inexpensive and convenient as this would make our fans more open to buying them.

-Another marketing scheme was the use of a QR code that would be posted along various local entrances of shops and places around. This guerrilla form of branding is incredibly useful at reaching for a more broad audience that would be attracted to it by the colorful aura around it. The QR code would take you to see the music video, which gives new fans a dive into the band in a quick and easy way.

-In terms of online presence, social media such as Twitter, Youtube and Instagram is crucial in this day and age. With 75% of Instagram's users being 18-24 year olds and 80% of Twitter users being millenials, this massive pool of potential fans has to be touched. Instagram is mainly used to help build our band's image and branding, while Twitter helps maintain a strong audience interaction. Youtube is the primary location to view music videos among younger audiences .

And speaking of music videos, a few aspects of the video that we kept in mind for our genre were the costume design and look of the shots. The music video had characters who were the band all dressed up in wacky costumes, ie. the banana flannel, sunglasses, ski mask and the cowboy hat. The way we edited the shots were vibrant and used a film grain to implement a classic feel. The ski mask was an allusion to the classic robber masks from known culture and the water bottle being stolen was a gimmick in itself, as well. The entire concept for the video came from the title of "Night Running" and what it can really mean. The phrase can refer to a criminal escaping police custody and for our video, we wanted to follow this story line with an otherwise silly crime and instead of police, it would be his own guilty conscience represented by the band members following him and appearing throughout.

If there's anything I've learned from having to create a music marketing campaign was that the most vital thing you do is to find your genre, audience, and brand; you start there and you finish there! These are necessities to research and get a deep understanding of in order to make a successful music artist campaign. Even in terms of the music video, the genre and branding of your artist must be made apparent in order to engage your wanted audience with the artist and their music. After all is said and done, maintaining a music artist's success is way more research and business planning than I had ever imagined.