Storyboard Progress!! - Planning Part 2

We have started creating our storyboard for our film opening! We made some progress about 9 frames, but unsure about how much time those shots would take up. I drew the pictures and might I say they look pretty good. I'm not saying they are absolutely the best but they are pretty decent considering my nonexistent drawing skills.

We're starting the video off with the reveal of the production company by utilizing stop motion. It might be a little difficult but we'll manage and make it work. As we were discussing what shots to draw we decided to focus on keeping the murderer's and victim's face out of the frame to keep the characters mysterious until later revealed in the film. To extend the idea of mysteriousness the murderer will also be wearing a full face mask. We also agreed to include the credits in the negative space within the shots. The scene will mainly be filmed in a garage which will only be lit with, possibly, a lamp and the light from within a fridge.

When we decided on which shots will be used, we focused on incorporating medium shots, long shots, and close-up shots. We want to incorporate as many close-up shots as possible to not reveal the literal and figurative big picture but still get an understanding of what is happening.

Overall, progress has been made and for the next meeting we plan to finish the storyboard and plan our shooting days.

Portfolio Project - Planning Part 1

Today my group and I have made some progress in creating our portfolio project. Today we focused mainly on building a plot, planning film locations, brief ideas for costumes and props. I took the responsibility of jotting down whatever ideas came to our minds. Some of our ideas include creating a plot pulling ideas from the Netflix Original Series You and the movie The Purge as well as a stop motion production company title scene.

As we discussed filming locations we really took in consideration of our Drama/Thriller genre to narrow down our locations. We've agreed to utilize one of the group members' neighborhood and garage. Outside scenes would be filmed at night to emphasize a more eerie and suspenseful setting. We decided to utilize a garage because in our film opening we thought of incorporating a murder clean up scene. As said in one of my previous posts, I mentioned that my group is attempting to stay away from thriller clichés and create a new plot by revealing the murder clean up scene first before everything else (who was murdered, how murderer and person murdered met, lead up to murder, and the murder scene). This clean up scene would also be the ending scene to the entire movie.

We briefly discussed costumes and props. The one and only thing we have decided on for costumes is the color scheme which will be based off of dark colors in the presence of the murderer and his setting. As for props we decided very simple considering this scene will mainly be filmed in a garage: table, knife, cloth to wipe blood off knife, fake blood (small jug and capsules), and trash bags. At the moment these items don't seem to have much purpose but trust me they will...eventually.

Overall I think we made some good progress in planning out a few things. Next, we plan to discuss more about our plot and start a storyboard.


Plot inspirations:

Props:

Portfolio Project Research - Drama

Along with my thriller film research, I researched the drama genre. Drama films are serious presentations with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict with themselves, others, or forces of nature. In the case of my portfolio project, our character will be in conflict with another character. Some themes incorporated in dramatic films include current issues, societal ills, and problems, concerns or injustices. My group and I are still unsure of what our plot is going to consist of, but we will use our research to help us.

Some examples of drama/thriller films are:
1. The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

2. Gravity (2013) 

3. It (2017) 

Portfolio Project Research

For my portfolio project, my group and I have decided to create a film opening. The first time that my group and I worked together on this project we agreed to come up with at least the genre of our film before we left. We have all agreed on creating a Drama/Thriller film.

Based on my research of thriller films, these films are known to promote intense excitement, suspense, increased level of anticipation and expectation, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. The feeling of suspense, anticipation, expectation, and tension is what my group and I really want our audience to experience by watching the 2-minute film opening. Thriller films typically have similar characteristics and features but we'd like to stay away from clichés and attempt to create a new approach toward drama/thriller films.

I have researched some films that are designed to elicit tension and suspense. Some examples of these films are:

1. Halloween (1978)

2. The Shining (1980)

3. The Sixth Sense (1999)