Choosing a Title

 For the past few weeks I haven't put much though to what my title should be for this film opening. But then one day it just hit me as I was listening to one of my favorite songs. Let's look at the aspects of my idea before introducing it's name.

This film opening focuses on introducing my main character Persephone. Persephone is a 16 year old girl who bottles up her emotions and fails to focus on her mental health. She appears to be this airy, relaxed, happy person, and she can be, but in reality it's a mask that hides her true feelings. The film as a whole would build up to Persephone having a realization that she can't bottle herself up anymore and that she has to let her emotions out and take care of herself. Though she has had this sudden realization, her problems will not be magically solved because that's not how life goes. Now taking this general plot let's talk about this song I mentioned earlier.

This song is a solo song by Kim Seokjin aka Jin of BTS. The song discusses how he was hidden behind a smiling mask and how his true self was stuck in a storm, but he comes to realize that he should love himself and not mask how he's truly feeling or who he really is. Through all his problems, insecurities, and imperfections, he loves himself and will no longer hide behind a mask. I love this song and as I was listening to it, I realized how similar it was to the plot for my opening. 

The song name is "Epiphany", and inspired from this song, the name for my film is...drum roll please... Epiphany. Ta-daaaaaa. I hope that revealing of the title was dramatic enough because that's what I was going for hahahaha XD.

Here's a link to listen to "Epiphany" by Jin of BTS:   Epiphany

Playing Hide n Seek With Filming Locations

 Ahhhh where to film, where to film. Seeing as we're currently in a global pandemic, I have to utilize my immediate surroundings. 

My neighborhood is fairly big with a playground, several lakes, a pool, and basketball court. The neighborhood is kept neat and tidy as well. so an obvious location for me to film is in my own neighborhood. 

I will also be filming in my backyard and in my house. More specifically, I will be filming in my own room in my house. I want the scenes in my house to have dimmer lighting and my room is perfect for that, since it's always dim and gloomy, just how I like it :]. Since the backyard is... in my backyard HAHAHA, it's of easy access to me and easily at my disposal. My backyard is a nice size with healthy grass, so not only is it convenient but the visuals will look nice as well.

Group Meetings PART 2!!!!!

On the 16th, we had another round of group meetings. This group meeting was just as productive as the first one. There were six people in my group this time and some of their ideas were very good. The first girl is doing her project with a group of people and they chose horror as their genre. They plan to film it in the perspective of the killer as well which we all agreed is different and interesting. She also said that her group was thinking about not showing the killers face to add mystery. We gave her feedback on this aspect; she was told that they shouldn't rely solely on POV shots because it would be repetitive. We offered her to use over the shoulder shots and also shots skewed away from the killer's face, or even using props that cover the killers face. I also suggested to play with lighting so that the killer's face has a shadow over it and the viewer can't see his features. For this girl there wasn't much else feedback we could give so we moved on to the next person.

The person was making a drama/coming of age film with a partner. Their idea was a little bit messy and he was focusing more on how the film would end rather then how it would open, so we told him he should clean up his idea a bit and think about the opening rather than the ending since our project is a film opening. His general idea was a boy who's struggling to figure out what he wants to do after high school who has a best friend who's life is all planned out and well put together. We did compliment him on going with an idea which is close to what we know and relatable. Other than telling him to clean up his idea a bit we were done with his feedback. The next person is also doing a horror movie. This is one of the people I had in my first group meeting. I liked his name for his killer a lot because it's honestly pretty funny but the idea of the character is creepy. The killer name is The Rubberneck, he explained that this name was chosen because rubberneck is described as tilting ones head to stare at something in a foolish manner, and the killer will tilt his head like this when string at his victims. We liked this idea but he was having trouble with choosing a filming locations. He said he wants to film in an isolated forest and he also said he found a place he liked however, he doesn't know whether he'll be trespassing or not. We told him to first find out if he could use the space and if not then to use a big park in our local area so he doesn't get into trouble.

The next girl is doing a coming of age/drama as well. I liked her idea a lot. She took inspiration from two animes, which I currently have on my 'anime to watch list ;)', Your Lie in April and A Silent Voice. Her idea is to have one of the main characters be deaf but be a piano prodigy. The second main character, a girl, will walk and hear the playing the piano and fall in love with her, and after chasing after the MC they realize that she's deaf. I loved this idea because it not only represents the deaf community but it also represents the LGBTQ+ community. We asked questions rather than giving feedback. We asked her if there was going to be signing in the her opening and if she had someone who knew how to sign. She said she got two people form the higher levels of the ASL class we have in our school to help her. She also said she would only give one or two lines of signing as to not create a lot of difficulty for the actor playing the deaf MC. The next person who went was me. I presented my idea and my character and how I was mainly going to focus on introducing the main character and hint at her poor mental health. I was told that I could hint at how her home is the root of my problem by having parents yelling in the background. I though that was a good idea so I'll most likely run with it. 

The last person to go was a girl who also has a partner for her project. They're doing a teen comedy with a hint of mystery. her idea is basically two girls who are having a sleepover and when they wake up they have no idea what had happened last night. They find their house trashed and people sleeping everywhere and when they walk outside they see that their car is stolen. Then it's going to rewind and take the view through how the girls got to the point where they find out that their car was stolen. This idea was great too. We told her there could be hints as to who or how the car was stolen. That was the only feedback we gave for her. After this we were done and we told each other good job and then class ended. Overall it was a good group meeting and we each got helpful feedback.

Soundtrack

Ahhh music, one of my favorite things to discuss. I've been looking for music to use in my film opening but the non-copyrighted music I've found isn't what I'm looking for. What I have found is the song New Flesh by Current Joys. The song is perfect for a Coming of Age film and I would really like to be able to use it as background music as I introduce my character Persephone aka Percy. The song has a calming vintage vibe which I absolutely love. Listening to it feels as if I am living in an 80s coming of age film and I would love to represent that feeling by including it in my opening. I will however look for back up songs to use if I am unable to use Current Joys' New Flesh. I will keep you guys updated on which song i will be using for my project, until then bye bye :).

Here is a link to a lyric video on YouTube of New Flesh: https://youtu.be/RaNnztBVD7w

Here is a link to the word doc where I created my draft of the message I sent the artist:

NewFleshRequestWordDoc

My Filming Weapons of Choice

 In this post I'm going to list off the equipment I'm going to be using to create my 2 minute opening. 

My main piece of equipment is going to be my phone. I don't have a video camera, so my next resort is to use my phone. I have an iPhone XR and since this is a newer apple product, my camera quality won't be terrible. I will also be using my phone to record any foley sounds I need. I have the Voice Memos app as well as the app Dolby On. However, I don't recommend Dolby On because there is a limit of how many sounds you can record. So, I plan to solely use Voice Memos. 

For lighting I'll be using a ring light. About a year ago my sister bought a ring light to take picture with, so I will definitely use it to my advantage to light my shots. The light is also a tripod for a phone and camera, so that will come in handy when filming. I also recently got LED lights for my room, which I have already installed, so I'll be using those for colored lighting. I may also use other devices like my iPad, or even my Army Bomb. An Army Bomb is a light stick that the BTS fandom, Army, uses at concerts. It has a bright white light, and with the BTS Official Light Stick app you can use a curser to pick a color for the light stick to display. The more I think about it, my Army Bomb may be a great tool to use XD.

Below are pictures of the Army Bomb, color wheel picker for the Army Bomb, a screen shot of the Voice Memos app, and the LED lights I purchased, as well as link to to Amazon, where I bought the lights.

 

LED Lights Link: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JP5375R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_image_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Army Bomb: I bought my Army Bomb on the Weverse Shop App. It doesn't have a website, only an app. It's the offical Big Hit(the label BTS is under) shop where all their artists have their merchandise. The website Cokodive also sells the Army Bombs as well as more merchandise from different Kpop groups under multiple labels.

Cokodive Link: https://cokodive.com/

Shooting Schedule

 I am planning to start shooting this weekend after I get a new battery for my camera and I have more LED some lights going in that I need to set up, I was getting these lights for my room anyway so they're coming in handy XD. I can wait to film the scenes that include the LED lights, but the battery is the most important factor, so I plan to get a new one tomorrow, Wednesday, March 3.

Schedule:

3/5-3/8: Here I plan to film my scenes outside, I have more daylight on the weekends then I have during the weekdays considering I have school. If something comes up, I will move the filming of the outside scenes for 3/14-3/15.

3/12-3/14: I'm going to film the scenes that take place inside my house on these days because by then I should have my LED lights.

3/14-3/15: Outside scenes, foley sounds and reshoots

3/16-3/21: Foley sounds and reshoots 

3/21~: Throughout filming, I will be putting clips together to see what I what I'm missing, what could be better, and what I should tweak, but from 2/21 and on I will fully devote to the editing process.

Group Meetings

 Hi again XD! During class today we held group meetings, where we met with people in our class to talk about our projects, discuss issues with our projects, and offer each other advice. 

After my group said hi to each other, it was a bit awkward because we didn't know who wanted to go first, but once the first person went, it went fairly smoothly. We discussed our basic ideas and what direction we're heading in with our project.

All of us for the most part didn't have concrete ideas, so we gave the advice of watching more film openings within our chosen genre to help spark ideas. This would also help with ideas for shot composition. 

Despite not having concrete ideas we also discussed our problems with filming, lighting, and finding music.

One of the peers in my group said he would do a horror film and wanted to film at night, but he would have trouble getting his parents permission to do so. So another member in our group gave the idea of just filming in his house and have his house completely dark with a dim light, so that people could still see what's going on. He also said "who said horror films have to be during the night" and gave the idea of filming during the day since the person wanted to film in a forest. Since forests are vast and shady, it would be a good alternative to film in the day, it would also be easier to film during the day.

The next issue brought up was background music. One of the peers in my group is doing a predominantly silent film which will have background music from the 1900s. One student asked how he'll get the music without it being copyrighted. We mentioned that YouTube has non-copyrighted music that can be of use. We also have the option of sending a request to a record label to ask if we could use their music.

My issue was how I'm going to be able to light my scenes. I only have one ring light and some led lights. I was told that I could use flashlights or an iPad with a plain white screen and the brightness all the way up. These options were very helpful and I'll definitely take advantage of that.

The group meeting was very helpful and we had a great dynamic together. We were able to give advice and provide reassurance that our ideas are good. It would be fun to do this again, and it would be nice if I had the same group :).

Color Scheme

For my color scheme I'm deciding between pastels or earthy neutrals. Since Persephone's a relaxed and down to earth person I wanted to use earthy neutrals, but she also has her head in the clouds and an airy personality, so I could also go the pastel route. 

If anything, I'll use both schemes. I could possibly use pastels for when Percy is not at home. The use of a pastel color scheme when Percy is not at home will represent her feelings of freedom and happiness. It will also keep the notion of her having an airy personality and her always having her head in the clouds.

 When I use the earth and neutral tones, it will be for when Percy is at home to represent the neutral, muted feelings she has. Her home will represent her suppressed negative feelings, so the neutrals and earth tones will help enforce those feelings. This color scheme will also keep the representation that Percy is still a down to earth person, but just not as airy and relaxed as she may seem.

I will uses these color schemes in the form of clothing, accessories, and lighting. 

Pastel and Earth Tone Color Schemes:

To Light or Not To Light

Today we're going to be talking about lighting, so let's get right into in.

I am going to use lighting to my advantage for this opening. I plan to film some shots outside as well as in my own room. When I shoot in my house and room, I want to use lowkey lighting and incorporate some colored lighting to represent her suppressed/bottled up feelings. When filming outside, I will take advantage of the broad day light to parallel Percy's airy, daydream-like, relaxed personality. If I shoot in locations that aren't my house or outside, I want to do my best to create three-point lighting. 

I believe creating colored lighting will be easy because I have LED lights in my room I can take advantage of. Also, by recommendation on some students in my class, I can use binder dividers and place them over lights to create colored lighting. Filming out side and getting natural lighting will be easy as well.

I believe it will be more difficult for me to create lowkey and three point lighting however, I did watch some videos that are very helpful in guiding me in the right direction of how to create these different lightings. Hopefully I'm able to execute the lighting well, but we'll see once I start filming.

Here are the videos I found most helpful when learning how to create the different types of lighting:

Lowkey Lighting Video: https://youtu.be/g4rF38M-SWs

Three-Point Lighting Video: https://youtu.be/EBGuQZo0g94

Persephone: A Fashion Icon

I'm really excited for this one because in this post I will be discussing my main character Persephone's style woohooooooo!!! I personally love talking about styling and fashion so let's get this party started XDD!!!

Since Percy has a down to earth, airy, relaxed personality, I want her style to replicate that. She would wear baggy, loose, comfortable clothing but it wouldn't look like she put together her outfits in 5 minutes. Her creativity would shine through with cool graphics, shoes, and staple pieces; she utilizes accessories often. She doesn't have a strict style, she fluctuates between styles, showing her go with the flow personality. 

For Percy's physical appearance, she has shoulder length poofy, curly, dark brown hair. She has caramel colored skin and she is on the shorter side about 5 feet 4 inches tall. Percy's has dark brown eyes that always seem to be glazed over and slightly closed, another representation of her in the clouds personality. 

Percy tends to walk with her hands in her pockets, gathered under her shirt, or behind her head while also leaning back slightly, always very relaxed. She also looks at the clouds a lot while walking.

Below are some examples of what Persephone would wear.

Meet Persephone aka Percy

 As of right now I am only focusing on character. The initial idea that people will be able to take from my film opening is that the film is going to focus on this character and her development. I don't know what my character is going to look like at the moment, but she is most likely going to be me because I am the only person I can film with at the moment. 

My character's name is going to be Persephone, Percy for short. I want Percy to have an airy, daydream like personality. Her head is always in the clouds and she goes by the philosophy that things aren't meant to be taken seriously unless needed. Her seemingly airhead personality comes from the fact that she doesn't want to be like her uptight, strict parents.  Although Percy seems like she's always disconnected from the world, she is very intelligent and capable. She is creative and a quick thinker and this can be put on display with her quick, witted comebacks. And when Percy does take things seriously, it's like a complete switch for her, she's focused and attentive. She doesn't appear to be the airhead, in the clouds girl everyone knows. This side of Percy isn't shown too often though because of the philosophy she follows and her conscious goal of not becoming her parents.

More information about Persephone, like her style/wardrobe and physical appearance, will be discussed in a future posts.

A visual representation of Persephone's personality as an aesthetic.