My Film Opening:

That Man in the Mirror Ain't Me:
Here is That Man in the Mirror Ain't Me

https://drive.google.com/open?id=186AXBXgw4bnbKLTy939ePjmFWdSiX3LG

My CCR:

Here is my CCR.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=12zsKDaKsz8ymKK_yZj8MgC3wT6S7QSVw

The Last Blog Post...

Well guys, here is the last blog post. Here I will be talking about all the things that we planned to do but were unable to for some reason.

First of all, we were originally planning to film a whole other scene at school where both characters go up to the wrong group of friends and they just struggle in general to live in a different body. We quickly learned that we would not have nearly enough time as we needed to fit this scene. After the first day of filming, I edited Juan waking up, walking to the bathroom, screaming, and trying to pee, and it lasted 1:15. We were limited to 2 minutes for this project so we would really only be able to film Layla waking up and seeing herself in the mirror. This is exactly what we ended up doing, the video ended when they both called a friend and told them they are not in their body. I'm glad that it ended this way as it leaves it at more of a cliffhanger.

We also had an idea of editing some text bubbles to appear on screen but I think this would've been way too hard to edit and would've taken too much time. Either way, we ended up using a call rather than texts just to make it seem more dramatic.

It has been a long run working on this project with Juan and Layla. I've really learned a lot and gained lots of experience. I'm super glad that I was able to participate in this. Thanks for reading my blog I really appreciate it! Bye!

Done Editing!

I just finished editing! Now to figure out how to show you the video... I've worked on the edit about 3 days so everything went just how we planned it. We didn't have to end up filming anything extra and I didn't have to delete any parts either, the final video is 1:50 long.

I think that the only thing the video might need is some background music, it feels very empty to the point where when a character speaks it kinda scares you. So I think we should definitely consider music, I will talk to my group tomorrow in class.

Color Grading

The color grading was very simple, I didn't do anything special here. The raw footage looked very flat so I decided to turn up some contrast and highlights, turn the shadows down a little, and adjust the exposure where necessary. I also made the video a little colder just to balance it out. Here are the results:

I'm almost done editing! I'll leave the final touches for tomorrow. Peace.

Editing

The editing process has been smooth. First I put all the videos together in the correct order, then I got to creating the credits and later I will color grade the video.

For this video, we decided to go with parallel editing to show how both characters wake up and discover their switched body at the same time. Sometimes we even split the screen in half to show both of the characters at the same time. We did this at the part where they see themselves in the mirror, and when they call their friends. In order to make the cuts flow, we used some graphic matches. Here are screenshots of the two parts where we used a graphic match to make a cut.

For the credits, we decided to make them appear to be in the actual room with the person just to add a little visual interest. This is hard to explain so I'll let you see the video on a later date when I can figure out how to upload it on here.

As for the colors, I'll probably finish them tomorrow and update you.

Day Two of Filming

On this second day of filming, we filmed Layla's part where she wakes up, gets up and sees herself in the mirror. Here are some screenshots of the shots:

We filmed similar shots so that the parallel editing would flow nice and clear. I will probably start editing today and I will update you on how that goes as well.

Problems We Ran Into

While filming and editing on this first day, we did run into a few problems. The biggest problem we ran into is the length of the video. Everything that we filmed today, which was supposedly a small portion of the video, adds up to 1:15. We are going to have to either cut the idea shorter or cut some unnecessary parts.

Another problem was keeping the camera smooth at the very first shot. The way that I resolved it was by adding a warp stabilizer in Premiere Pro. This looks perfect as the original camera shake was not too noticeable anyways, the warp stabilizer was just for extra measure.

Our final problem was how and where to set up the light, we found where we wanted to set it up for it to look best but the cable was not long enough. This was a simple fix, we just used an extension and placed it where it looked best.

Tomorrow we will continue filming Laylas part and maybe refilming a little of Juan's part.

First Day of Filming!

Today was our first day of filming, I would say it went very well. We filmed the part where Juan wakes up and heads to the bathroom.

First, we set the room up to look like a boy's room. We threw a few shirts on the floor, some nunchucks, and even some underwear. 

Before filming, we did some final research and decided to begin the scene with some b-roll. We decided on a close-up, the camera maneuvering through all the dirty clothes leading up to his sleeping face. The character then opened his eyes and sat up, here we switched to a medium shot of the character sitting on the bed. Then we included the close up of his legs walking that I believe I have mentioned before. This will later be used as a graphic match with Layla's legs. We then moved on to the bathroom shots. We set up one of Juan's lights to act as a light and began filming.

The first shot is a medium shot of the mirror, Juan walks up, enters the frame creating an over the shoulder shot. This is where the character realizes he is in a guys body and screams. Juan screams and the screen turns black.

The next few shots are of Juan panicking/ figuring out what to do. First, there is a close up examining himself in the mirror, then a sequence of him figuring out how to pee. For this sequence we changed the light set up to this:

 

Juan began by lifting and putting the toilet seat down undecidedly because the character was unsure whether to sit down or stand up. Then, when the character decided to sit down, we used a water bottle to spray water all over the place to make it look like the girl didn't know how to pee as a guy.

This is where we left off today, tomorrow, Layla will be able to film and we will do her part. In the next post, I will talk about some problems we ran into during today's filming.

Schedule

We have about two weeks and a half left to complete this opening. Soon we will start filming, we would like to finish filming everything by Wednesday or Thursday next week, this way we are left with a few days to edit and film any shots that we missed or want to add. We want to finish the opening about a week before the whole project is due so that we are left with a week to complete the CCR.

Today is Thursday 3/21, the project is due 4/7, this leaves us with 17 days to complete the project. Including the CCR, however, we have 10 days to film and edit the video. This is definitely doable, the filming should not take too long. I would think that we could split the days evenly and have 5 days for filming and 5 more for editing.

My schedule is relatively free and very flexible, while Layla and Juan are more limited because they work. Hopefully well be able to make some time and finish this project

Problems...

We had a problem today that we hadn't thought of before. We had never defined whether the characters would switch bodies or switch minds. Originally, our idea was to have the characters switch bodies. What I mean by this is that the characters will wake up in their own houses but in different bodies. We decided to change this because it would seem more realistic for a mind to switch than a body. This would force us to change our whole opening sequence because now the character would wake up in a different house, they would notice immediately. To play this off, we will make it so they are so drowsy that they don't even notice until they see themselves in the mirror.

We are currently writing the script, I will update you when we have finished a rough draft.

Suggestions and Opinions from Mrs. Stoklosa!

When we met up with Mrs. Stoklosa, we discussed some things that we were doubting such as whether to make the characters switch bodies or minds and if we would be able to film at our school once school has ended. However, she also suggested a few things that we hadn't really considered before. She suggested that we make the characters different genders. This would add a little comedy to the movie. Making the two characters different genders would also set this movie apart from the others. The movies that I've researched have all been the same sexes changing. 

An exception to this would be Jumanji where a girl is transferred to a man's body but the concept of this movie is very different from what we would like to do.

Finally, we discussed our idea for the credits where they will disappear and appear according to what is happening on the screen. For example, if the character goes to turn off her alarm clock, the hand will cover the text and then it will disappear. Mrs. Stoklosa really liked this idea.

That's all for today. Peace.

Updates to the Storyline

Today my group and I cleared up the storyline a little more. Our original idea was to have the movie begin with the girls already in each other's bodies and then have a part where the film rewinds to the beginning of the story. Instead of this, we decided to have the film start with the body switch in the same way, however, instead of rewinding to the beginning, it will simply keep going through the character's day trying to find their actual body. Later on, when the two girls get together they could figure out how the body switch happened, here a flashback could be shown. Our project would only be the intro of the movie so the flashback part would probably not be shown. This will probably change soon as we will talk to Mrs. Stoklosa soon. I will update you on any changes that we make.

First General Storyboard

Storyboard

1) It will start with a sequence of the character waking up in the morning leading up to the shot where she realizes that she is in someone else's body.
2) Then a reverse that will take it back to the beginning.
3) The intro will show their two contrasting lives. Things like the popular girl's phone receiving many texts and calls, and waking up with 200 text notifications. While the loner girl would have an empty notification center, maybe a text from her mom.
4) Next, we could do some shots at school showing that the popular girl has a lot of friends while the less popular girl is alone.
5) The less popular girl either finds a way to switch bodies, or wishes or something similar.
6) Finally, the two girls go to sleep. This would be a good place to end because the viewer would know that the next scene would be when they wake up in each other's bodies.

Problems With My Storyboard

The biggest problem that I have with this storyboard is that if we start with when they're already switched, then reverse to the beginning, we would probably need a narrator so the viewer knows what they are looking at. Also, you might have noticed that it is very general when it comes to the actual switch, that's because I don't know how it will be done yet. An idea that I had was maybe the girl finds some instructions inside a bathroom stall or in a textbook something like that. This storyboard is definitely not final, this is just my idea of how the opening should go. Later, Layla, Juan and I will go over all of our storyboards and we will decide which elements we like best.

Idea for the Credits

Yesterday we came up with a great idea to blend the credits into the scene. The idea is to put the text in places that the character will eventually cover, then they disappear. For example, the text could go on the alarm clock, and when the characters hand goes to turn it off, the text will seem to be covered by the hand and then disappear when the hand is lifted. Another idea was to make each name switch to the next with an effect such as a glitch. This way it will sort of represent the main idea of the film which is switching bodies.

I could do this when editing in Premiere Pro simply by making the text disappear when the hand covers it. However, if I wanted to go into further detail, I would create an After Effects sequence where I could mask the text out frame by frame. This way it would look super smooth. As for the glitch effect, I would also create it in After Effects.

Intro Idea

Today my group got together and within our conversation, Layla threw out an idea that we really liked. We decided to start the film when they have already switched bodies, and then once they realize what has happened, it reverses and starts from the actual beginning. For the first part of the scene, Layla suggested that we make the beginning a sort of sequence of shots without showing the characters face.

For example, I think the scene should go something like is: The girl wakes up, she turns off her alarm clock, here we could have a close up of her hand on the clock. Then she would get out of bed and we could have a shot of her feet while she steps off the bed and puts her slippers on. While she walks to the bathroom we could have a medium shot from behind following her around. Finally, when she gets to the bathroom there could be a shot of her reflection in the mirror, then when she looks up at herself, she would notice that she is in a completely different body, this is when we would reveal her face. This way the viewer is finding out how she looks at the same time that the character is.

The character would notice certain things about herself that she did not have the memory of doing or having. For example, when she turns off the alarm, she could notice her nails are painted and say something like "when did I paint my nails? Whatever." This will make the scene feel more realistic as it is inevitable that someone would notice at least small differences when they completely switch bodies.

Who Will the Characters Be?

When my group and I were talking, Juan suggested that the people who switch bodies should be two girls. One should be popular and the other one should be lonely. Layla and I liked this idea and that is what we are going to go with.

Form the research I've done, usually, the characters that switch bodies knew each other previously. We will probably imitate this aspect of the characters relationship because that way the conflict for the rest of the movie will only be figuring out how to reverse it and not finding out who the person is.

The relationship between the two will be that one is jealous of the other or something similar. This will give one girl a motivation to body switch with the other one while the less popular girl would want to stay in the body. This could even add a little humor to the situation.

As to who the actors are, I believe Layla has some friends in mind that could play the parts. I will update you on this later on.

How the Switch Will Happen

The switch is a very important aspect of the story, I think that it could either make or break it. I researched what other movies include a body switch similar to what we are trying to do. Heres what I found. I will also include the links to youtube videos of the scenes.

Freaky Friday: 

Part 1    Part 2

In Freaky Friday, the girl and the woman switch after eating a fortune cookie. The next morning they woke up in different bodies. This takes advantage of something that many consider supernatural or magical or something similar, the fortune cookie. This is a pattern that we will see in the rest of the movies as well. They use unexplainable things so that that way they don't have to explain how the bodies swapped.

Wish Upon a Star:

In "Wish Upon a Star", the two girls switch bodies after one of the girls wishes with a shooting star. This is another example of a supernatural event. People see wishing when they see a shooting star as something magical.

The Change-Up:

From what we see in the trailer of "The Change-Up", two friends peeing in a fountain get struck by lightning after wishing that they would switch bodies. This comes true the next morning when they wake up.


These movies all have something in common, the characters switch due to a supernatural event. "Freaky Friday" used a fortune cookie, "Wish Upon a Star" used a shooting star, and "The Change-Up" used lightning. This is something that I think we could imitate as it would better the storyline. If we did something too realistic, then if would feel like the switch was missing too much information. For example, an idea I had was to make one of the characters extremely smart to the point that he invented a way to switch bodies. This would be very interesting however I think that it'll be too hard for us to explain in the scene, therefore leaving the viewer feeling like something was missing.

Where I Think the Scene Should Begin and End

We should be very careful so as not to make the scene tell too much of the story. If it tells too much then it will become more of a trailer than an opening sequence. I think that the scene should definitely end shortly after the two characters switch bodies. To the point where the viewer can assume what the rest of the movie will be like but they won’t know exactly how everything happens.


This film opening will begin with the credits and title sequence. While the title sequence is playing, I think we should introduce the two characters and their normal lives. This way the viewer can get to know the characters. These shots would consist of lots of b-roll and some establishing shots.


I watched this YouTube video to get an idea of what types of title sequences we could use. At about 10:05, he begins to talk about title sequences that introduce the story, or, "familiarize us with the landscape" and show against what backdrop the story will take place. An example of this is "The Shining."






The title sequence for "The Shining" uses a background of long shots of the forest which we would see much more of in the rest of the film. There are also credits scrolling up the screen.


I think that we should do something similar to this as we are not capable of making many of the other title sequences such as the animated ones. That is it for today's blog, tomorrow my group and I will discuss more specifics and in later posts, I will introduce the ideas that we came up with.

Before I get together with my group, I wanted to have a few more ideas to present to them. Something we should think about is how the people are going to switch bodies. I don't think that they should just wake up suddenly in different bodies, maybe something that they did previously could have caused them to switch bodies.

One idea was that someone walks into an elevator and when the person walks out, he is in a different body. This would make for an attractive sequence where the elevator door closes and the person is in their normal body, and when it opens, they have a different one. However, I think this idea is too shallow and leaves the viewer with too many questions.

I think soemthing more similar to "Freaky Friday" would be better. In "Freaky Friday", the two people switch bodies after cracking open a fortune cookie. This gives a clearer explanation for how the two switched bodies. Obviously there will always be an element of mystery as people are switching bodies but I think something similar to this fortune cookie would be better than nothing.

We Finally Decided on the Plot!

Today in class, we got in groups and discussed our ideas and plans for the project. All three of us came up with our own ideas for what we could do, then we decided on our favorite out of the three ideas.

My idea was, as you probably know, to create a horror film. In short, my general idea was to create a film from the point of view of a live stream in which the actors would talk directly to the camera. It would be about some kids playing a game that would lead to horror stuff. I was clearly still developing my idea.

However, once we heard all of our ideas, we decided on using Layla's idea which is about two strangers who switched bodies and don't know whose body they're in and they have to figure out who they are and how to switch back. I think that this idea is perfect because it gets to the action very early on and this is important because we are limited to about 2 minutes. Many other ideas would take too long to develop and the final product would lack a good plot.

This was a general idea, we are all going to come up with our own ideas to add on. One of the things that I think could improve this idea is making the two characters hate each other, making one look up to the other, or something similar. I think that the relationship between the characters will define what genre the piece will turn out to be. For example, if the characters hate each other, the movie would most likely become a comedy. A great example of how this story could be a comedy is the "Freaky Friday" music video, this uses lyrics and the relationship between the characters to make the piece a comedy. Another idea that I think we should consider is to make the characters already know each other. This way, we don't have to tell two different stories as they are already together, and will know instantly whose body they are in. This way, the story would concentrate more on figuring out how to switch back into their own bodies rather than finding each other. I think this would add more dialogue which would make the excerpt more interesting, however, it would also add more opportunity for bad acting.

These are just ideas. I will discuss them with my group and I'll update you on whatever we decide in the next posts.

Scream Opening Analysis

On Sunday I researched the history and techniques used in horror films. Today I decided to analyze the opening scene for "Scream". I've already seen this scene however this time I wanted to see if I could spot any of the techniques that I researched yesterday or even find some new techniques.

The scene consists of a girl at home alone who receives a phone call from a wrong number. This was definitely a very calculated decision as it makes the scene much scarier because it is something that could happen to anyone, and is something that happens very often. As she is talking to the man, her expressions are very happy and normal; however when the phone rings again, although nothing truly concerning has happened, she turns around with a slightly concerned expression. This sets the intended tone and shows the viewers that this is no ordinary wrong number.

Also, a very important technique to take note of is that during the second call, the camera is angled slightly to the left (dutch angle). This is one of the techniques that I talked about in the last post. It is meant to make the viewer feel uncomfortable and I think it accomplishes just that.

Once she picks up the phone and walks around the house, we can see a variety of shots, especially long shots. these are meant to show that she is very alone. When the man on the phone tells her he wants to know "who [he's] looking at", the camera gets closer to her face to emphasize her reaction. When she looks outside to check to see if the man is there, we see a POV shot of what the character would be seeing. This puts us in her place, which helps in scaring us. Finally, we see another dutch angle of the popcorn being cooked. 

This scene definitely used many techniques that I have researched however I also learned many new ones. The whole situation is something that is very possible in real life, a call from a wrong number is something that happens to all of us. This makes it even scarier because you are reminded of the movie every time you receive a call from a wrong number. The actor is obviously a big factor in how scary a movie turns out to be. If the actor is good, then the audience will believe what is happening much more than if the actor were bad. The POV shot goes along with this last technique as it puts us in the actors shoes. Seeing someone be terrorized is one thing, but being the one being terrorized takes the scariness to another level. The dutch angles were a very subtle technique but it adds a creepy vibe anytime it is used. The intricate techniques that were used in this scene show why "Scream" is such a classic.

Horror Genre Research

Today I researched the background as well as many techniques used in horror films that my group might use in our film opening. I simply looked up keywords in google such as

Background

First I'll begin with some background as I think it's important to see how the genre has evolved and why. Probably the first ever horror film was produced by George Mellies. Although it was more of a wondrous movie, it was the first film to include the supernatural, for example, animated skeletons, ghosts, transforming bats and an incarnation of the Devil. You can read more about this movie here.

Notice that early horror films were usually about supernatural things. Some examples of these movies are Frankenstein, Dracula, and The Mummy. These characters are all supernatural and it is not possible for them to exist in real life. This is the main difference between old and new horror films.


Newer horror films are usually about events that could happen in real life. Some examples are Scream, Halloween, and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Although these movies are not the latest, they are relatively new compared to the other movies mentioned. These films are definitely some of the most memorable of all time. I think that this is due to the fact that any of these story lines could happen in real life. This causes us to remember the plot long after we've seen the movie.

Techniques

Other than history, I also researched techniques in order to determine if the genre is even an option for my group. If we do a realistic horror, I think the genre is definitely doable. If we were to decide on a supernatural horror film, it would probably require special effects that are out of reach for us. 

Here are some common techniques used in horror films:

- A relatable/realistic plot is scarier  

As I mentioned previously, a relatable plot is scarier because it will stay with you even after the movie.

 - Unsettling/unusual angles

Scary films tend to include unsettling angles such as the dutch tilt. This simply gives the viewer an uncomfortable feeling.

 - Red key lighting

In some cases, red key lighting could give a scene the vibe intended by the director. This would give any actor a sort of red outline. 

- Fog

Similar to the previous technique, in some cases, fog could be the perfect tool for creating a creepy environment. Fog could transform a set completely.

Here is a link to more techniques that are very common in horror films.

Within the next few posts, I will definitely let you know what genre we end up choosing, this was just one option.

My Experience Making a Music Marketing Campaign

I created a music marketing campaign for an artist named alex! and his new single “Carry On” I learned many new things about the music industry, things that are popular practices as well as less common but effective practices.

Our ultimate goal in this campaign was to promote heavily through social media, specifically Instagram. We decided to distribute on all digital platforms, however, we focused mainly on Spotify due to its various convenient tools for promotion and huge audience. To connect with our audience as personally as possible, we set up several pop-up shows to which fans can attend and experience alex! in person. A long-term goal of ours is to get alex! to big TV shows such as The Late Late Show, The Tonight Show, and Ellen. These shows would gain alex! lots of exposure and would help to promote any future songs. We filmed a music video that would give our audience a visual which would help in getting fans to know the artist.

We researched top artists Camila Cabello and Beyonce in order to further understand the music business and the most effective modes of promotion and distribution. From this research, we discovered many practices that we will be implementing into alex!’s campaign. For one, the hottest month to release music is January, this is due to streaming services renewing their subscriptions in that month. This is where we realized how effective these TV shows are in promoting music.

We filmed and edited the music video for alex!. This video would be used as a promotional tool to give fans a visual of the artist and really help them to get to know him quicker. We decided to include many slow-motion shots as we believed it matched the mood of the song as well as scenes in the rain where the artist gave an emotional performance that went with the song. The video can be viewed on Youtube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkAwSQpH_i8

One of our main focuses was on Instagram, the biggest social media in the United States. We focused on this social media specifically because of its growing audience, and because our target age range is very active on this social media making up 61% of the total users.

On Instagram, we mainly focused on creating a professional looking profile for alex! This mainly consisted of good quality pictures, quick links in the highlights section, and a good looking profile picture. However, there are many other things that we used to promote the page. Interacting with other artists was a prominent one, we would interact with artists that were alex!’s size so that they would promote each other's work. We would also comment and be active on bigger artists pages as they have more traffic. We made sure to use engaging captions for the pictures that were posted, this way the fans would interact on the posts and become active fans. Finally, we made sure to repost any fan’s stories listening to alex!’s single “Carry On” to give the impression that many people were listening to the song, this would entice new fans to listen to the song.

We also took other social media into consideration depending on the size of the audience and their target age range. For example, we also promoted “Carry On” on Snapchat because their users are the same age as our target age. We paid for filters promoting “Carry On” that would be placed in hot locations such as Miami or New York. When it comes to streaming platforms, we concentrated on Spotify because of its user-friendliness and tools that it offers artists for promotion. We submitted the song to be considered for playlists, this way the song would gain more exposure.

The music business is a complicated one, the industry has changed drastically with the introduction of streaming platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. We believe that this plan takes advantage of all the new technology and trends that have emerged lately, and that this plan will be effective in boosting alex!’s fandom.

This activity has expanded my knowledge about the music industry, specifically distribution and promotion. The knowledge I have gained will definitely be put to use in any future activities and could definitely come in handy in real life situations now that social media is the best promotional tool for any media, not just music.