Group meeting post

     Today in class I did somethings different than just work on my film. Everyone was separated into groups and we all had a meeting discussing our developing projects. I was surprised that everyone I spoke with had very different genres and unique storylines.

    Of course, I had holes and issues in my film ideas from the very beginning when I wasn't 100 percent sure about the genre I was going to do. At first, I thought I wanted to do a post-apocalyptic kind of movie and ended up changing my topic to a slasher / horror kind of movie. Although I had to redo all my genre research by finding more similar movies, I still got an insight on a type of movie with a dark tone. 

    One important topic we discussed was where to include the title for our films, a lot of people were uncomfortable with putting the title somewhere in the middle or towards the end, so they believed it was better to have it at the beginning. Although I still want to put my title towards the end to create more effect of the plot in my film opening, it is still interesting talking to other people about their ideas or their perspectives.

    Another problem I have right now is making my script, because I thought the script I made was way too short. I looked at example screenplays from real movies or past projects of this and they had about 2 pages, while I had much less.  After discussing with my group,  They said that your script could depend on how much happens in your story. I chose not to have dialogue in my film because I believe it is hard to represent realistic conversations on film. But I guess because there is no dialogue in my film, it is not a major problem if my screenplay is not as long as others. Overall, I believe today went well and helped give me new perspectives of what I can do in my film.

Rough draft of screenplay

I will be making a rough draft of my script here. This will be based off my ideas and some techniques that I want to include specifically, however any shots or editing techniques will not be shown in the screenplay. Also, I will probably be making changes of this if I don't like something or want to change it.

                         Title of film: Pursuit

MIDDLE OF THE WOODS, LATE AT NIGHT

Moon shining in the sky, shows overhead view of the forest.

Introduction to JACK, young male, aged 17, in dirty clothes. JACK is running through the woods with many trees in the way. Many loud sounds of branch snapping on the ground from running over them, and loud suspenseful music is in the background. JACK looks back behind him multiple times.

Camera cuts to MASKED FIGURE, in dark outfit, speed walking with a weapon (shovel, axe, etc) in his hand.

Panting sound coming from JACK running for so long.

JACK continues to run and then hides behind some fort/ building. JACK catches his breath behind fort, peeking around to try and find MASKED FIGURE.

JACK looks back, and suddenly sees MASKED FIGURE coming from different direction, aggressively walking at JACK.

He lunges and swings weapon at JACK, sound effect of weapon making contact.

Cuts to black.

TITLE CARD SHOWN.

Cuts to floor perspective of the woods.

MASKED FIGURE shown dragging a big bag with what appears to be someone dead/ unconscious inside. Little blood shown on some parts of the bag.

Phone lights up inside bag ringing.

Filming technique research

The following videos explain multiple techniques to film chase scene such as the pan and more.

1- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAvn034VcCg

This first video explains many techniques to use with a tripod. This is important because I will be using a tripod in my film, however its just going to be a horror film. One important technique I could use from the video is the rubber band technique on the tripod to help with steady pans and tilts of the scene. The different ways to hold the camera in order for it to be steady is really well done such as the steady rig technique. Because Im using a tripod its important to know how to use it rather than just using it as a placeholder for your camera or phone.

2- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IEPPcNSq20 

This second video shows a drone "god like" view from the top of the chase scene. Also, the behind the scenes are shown of the fight scene and what they did to make it look good. Although Im not having an action kind of film, its still cool to see this video to give me more ideas of shots I can use on my characters.

3- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GyIWXcYDL_o

Using long lens pan and traveling along with the subject is super important when doing a chase scene to immerce the audience into the film. Making it look like the character is running with someone following him in separate shots make the film fit together really well.

4- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5qHqKTsT-s

Using a tripod in multiple ways is important to make a scene as hard as a chase scene good. The pan even if its in a circle can be made really well done with a tripod, which I did not expect. Another important thing I have to do in my film is use a variety of shots on the character whether its a close up of his face, his body, his legs or a top or low angle of him running. Many quick shots of people running are required to create the fast paced atmosphere.

Story Outline / Brainstorming

Today, I will be brainstorming on the outline for my story on my script. The genre I have is a horror genre movie so I want to make sure it will be suspensful. 

    The idea Im having is to have mainly a chase scene of a person being chased by a mysterious figure in the woods eventually getting caught. Throughout this chase scene, It will be dark, filled with trees, and the character running will be sweating and scared. Making many obstacles for the character running to struggle with could make the scene more intense, such as the big trees and branches in the way. I believe some really important sounds to include is this is a lot of panting from the running, maybe some wind of the trees, and some background music that is suspenseful to help intensify the mood. Using multiple angles is key in this kind of scene to express that fast pacing, and the worried face of the characters. For example, close ups of the characters feet passing by as they run through the woods, or a tight close up of the face sweating and being worried from the situation their in. 

I think for the antagonist or creature/killer I wont show their face and it could maybe be something like a POV like the Halloween movie opening I reviewed on another post, but I havent decided yet. If I do show the killer's body or identity, it will be very quick and brief shots. Maybe I could show the bloody knife in their hand or something else.

Now for the title card, I am allowed to include it towards the end but not all the way at the end. My idea is to have a title card shown after the character gets caught/killed, and then after the title card for about 20 sec or a couple of shots, I will show the killer dragging the body in a bag.

Overall, I think I have a decent idea of what Im going to film, but doing more things such as the storyboard will better help me visualize my shots. And continuing these blogs will help me get new ideas and think deeply about my own idea.

More genre research

 Now that I have changed over to a horror genre than a post-apocalyptic genre, I still need to find an approach or specific characteristic of the horror genre tthat I want to focus on for my film. For example, I believe the Halloween Movie intro is a great example of something I might want to do. I believe the pov killer idea is cool and I could incorporate it into my film. However I want to do more of a chase scene than just walking through a house.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8fdQIesr6Yw&t=1s 

This video provides a more in depth analysis of the Haloween movie I researched in my last blog post. I goes in depth into Michael's personality as the killer pov at the begginning of the film, and relates it to other slasher films of its time. Some of the other films similar to this is mainly the Scream movie, which I also went over before.

I also really enjoyed the effect of the mask where the screen went dark and the two eyeholes are visible in the camera. Also during the killing scene, you can see the POV of the child killer looking at his hand with the knife, being intrigued. Its very interesting how we are in the killers perspective and at the end of the opening scene, we go back to our usual audience POV. Another element I think is good to add is the eerie music when the watchers know something bad is going to happen like when Michael grabs for the knife in the kitchen.

Genre Change!

 So, after thinking more on my own about what I wanted to do or film specifically for my film, I have decided to change the genre I wanted. I realized that the sort of film im looking for doesn't really fit into the post-apocalyptic genre type, and I believe the horror or slasher genre would be much better for what I'm aiming for. I also think that it would be somewhat difficult to create the specific effect of a post apocalyptic world that Im looking for, so I think in the end horror would be better for me and also I am more familiar with this genre than other genres.

I will be researching two more film openings that have to do with the horror genre and ones that will be similar to what I want to create.

The first film I will go over is Halloween, known by many people as one of the most iconic horror movies made in 1978.

The majority of this film opening is a POV of the killer as a child, wandering his house outside, stalking his sister with her boyfriend. He slowly approached the room, grabbing a knife and mask along the way to gain a form of anonymity. The child then stabs and kills his sister. This is overall a dark movie openning and throughout the entire opening there is an eerie music in the background that contributes to the scary theme of the film.

The second film I will go over is Scream, another very well known slasher film known for their opening scene.

This movie starts out with a girl alone at home who recieves a phone call from a stranger, and it starts to escalate very quickly when the person on the phone is watching her. Many sudden loud noises are made to create more suspense. This movie opening is very suspensful overall and the kill scene at the end is very dark with what the killer did at the end. Now I will not be doing anything gory like that in my film, but I feel that the suspense that was made in these two film opening examples is something that Im looking for to make in my opening.

Making my film schedule

When taking on a project as big as this, I think it is crucial to organize myself on what I will do each week in order to stay focused and not fall behind. Therefore, I will be making a schedule for every week that I am working on this project.

In this upcoming week, I believe it is important that I continue to look up different ways approach film openings, as I can maybe get some new ideas along the way. I will be creating my plot and outline for my story, specifically figuring out when I want to include the opening credits, title card, and more. Another thing I will focus on will be my script. Although I believe that I will do a opening with little dialogue, it is still important to note any background sounds or noises that occur.

2 weeks from now, I will create my shot list of all the shots I will be using when recording my film. I will also create a storyboard to get more perspectives of what all my shots and film will look like. This will help me alter something if I dont like it when I visualized it. 

In the rest of the upcoming weeks, I will focus on elements that I should be incorporating into my film, such as sounds, editing techniques, and mise-en-scene elements. I will later begin filming and later editing, while recording everything I do along the way in this blog.