Psychological Thriller?!

Hi! This week my group and I have really been thinking a lot about what we want our film opening to portray and it’s genre, and I think we have finally picked a genre! We all really wanted to try and do something out of the ordinary, so we have chosen to do a….. PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER! 

Now, I know what you are thinking… We are a crazy group of kids, haha! A psychological thriller is a genre in which characters are placed in an unstable state of mind while making the story engaging as the audience is unaware of what will happen next. We stumbled upon this genre as we were researching different types of film openings and the one that really stuck out to me was “Stranger Than Fiction”. 

I really enjoyed all of the graphics used within this film opening.  They helped to enhance the story by showing specific data which correlated with the idea of the main character having OCD, also known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. We thought of doing something similar with the graphics concept used here, but the only issue is that we would have to learn more about Adobe’s program called After Effects and we aren’t sure if we have enough time to follow through with the idea. However, Harold, the main character, did demonstrate similar characteristics to an idea we’ve been thinking about (be sure to stay tuned to learn more!) 

Another film opening I found which follows a similar structure to “Stranger Than Fiction” is “The Accountant”.

Throughout this opening scene of "The Accountant", it shows the main character’s precise daily routine as an adult with autism; for example, how his food cannot be touching and how his utensils are align perfectly straight in the kitchen drawer. The flashback provides context for the audience of the character’s disability and childhood experiences. These are just two examples of film openings with a similar idea that my group thought of. Be sure to check back soon to find out what our idea is for our film opening! Leave your guesses in the comments below!

                                                                                                                                                     ~rtmedias

Sources:

“Definitions for Psychological Thriller.” www.definitions.net/definition/psychological+thriller.

“The Genre Mix 'n' Match Class for Writers.” Lynn Rosen, lynnrosen.com/the-genre-mix-n-match-class
          -for-writers/.

Importance of Color!

Hey there! Hope you guys are having a good week! As I continue to work on my film opening, I wanted to learn more about the psychology of colors within film.

For years, films were created in black and white before the invention of colored films. Thinking about it, the use of color helps depict emotions, therefore it was more difficult for filmmakers back in the day to create films and express a tone within the two contrasting colors, black and white. 

Within film, color helps the audience depict the tone. Each color has its own meaning. Here’s a breakdown:

~ red: passion, love or danger, chaos

~ orange: happy, creativity

~ yellow: wisdom, playful, cheerful

~ green: calmness, healing, regeneration

~ blue: loyalty, productivity

~ violets: beauty, royal, power

~ pink: femininity, tranquility, innocence 

~ black: power (usually evil), submission (waiters), fear, grief 

~ white: innocence, purity, sincerity

Color is a important aspect within filmmaking. They are linked with emotions in order to set the tone. Depending on the genre of a film, certain colors are used. Typically horror movies, consist of similar colors schemes with dark colors, such as gray, red, and black. By using these colors, it helps to create a dark atmosphere as horror films typically evoke fear.

Overall, color helps tell a story as it affects the audience emotionally. It’s crazy how we naturally associate colors with emotions helping to tell a story. Be sure to let me know what your favorite color is in the comments below! Maybe it will tell me a little more about my audience! :)

                                                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Sources:

Ai-Support. "Choosing a Website Color Scheme." Alter Imaging. 16 Aug. 2017. Alter Imaging. 24 Feb. 
          2019 <https://alterimaging.com/altered-insights/choosing-a-website-color-scheme/>.

"Halloween." IMDb. 17 Oct. 2018. IMDb.com. 24 Feb. 2019 <https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1502407/?
          ref_=fn_al_tt_1>.

"The Psychology of Color." The Los Angeles Film School. 26 Nov. 2018. 24 Feb. 2019 

          <https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/the-psychology-of-color/>.

Stop Motion?

Hey there! I can’t believe it’s almost March already! As days are flying by, I’m still unsure about my film opening. My group and I are still thinking of a genre and ideas. With that being said, I really want our film opening to stand out. One way it may stand out is by doing a stop motion film opening. 

You may be asking yourself, “What is Stop Motion?”. Stop Motion Animation is a technique used to bring static objects to life by moving objects in increments and taking each frame per increment. When all the frames are put together as a sequence and played, it shows movement. 

As I was doing some further research, I stumbled upon Rob Nelson’s video on “How to Make Stop Motion Videos”. Within his video, he shared some useful resources to use when making a stop motion film on a budget, such as the app Stop Motion Studio which mimics the $300 professional app, Dragon Frame.

Rob also breaks down 4 forms of stop motion:

~ claymation: using clay to form objects used within stop motion animation

~ object-motion: using any non-malleable objects to create animated movement through stop motion

~ cutout-motion: cutting paper to create props and characters for stop motion animation

~ pixilation: the use of people within stop motion animation

Rob provided easy tips and tricks as well, such as:

~ use a tripod! For a stop motion film, it is important to use a tripod since the slightest movement to the camera will cause a change of position in a frame and lowers the quality of the overall film. 

~ keep your iso, aperture, shutter, white balance and focus in manual to prevent any changes while filming. 

~ lighting!! This was one of the biggest issues stressed within the video when creating stop motion. He suggested filming indoors and away from windows in order to keep good, constant lighting. 

Personally, I think a stop motion film opening would be unique; however, it may not be feasible with the amount of time we have. Rob mentioned that on average, 10 frames per second are used to create stop motion. With a two minute film opening, that would mean we needed roughly 1,200 frames. As students in high school with extracurricular activities multiple times a week, I’m not sure if we would be able to dedicate multiple hours in a day to create stop motion as it is very tedious and time consuming. Although this is still an option, we may have to think of an idea first and see if it fits in. Be sure to let me know what you think about a stop motion film opening in the comments below!

                                                                                                                                                          ~rtmedias

Sources: 

"3 Ways To Increase Your Employability: TIP 2." News24. 23 May 2015. 24 Feb. 2019  

          <https://www.news24.com/MoveMag/Archive/3-ways-to-increase-your-employability-tip-2-20170728>.

"Eli Whitney Museum." The Cotton Gin | The Eli Whitney Museum and Workshop. 24 Feb. 2019 

          <https://www.eliwhitney.org/7/workshop/projects/april-2013-stop-motion-animation-studio>.

Tips, Science Filmmaking. "How to Make Stop Motion Videos." YouTube. 09 Jan. 2018. YouTube. 25 Feb. 2019  
          <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ppedXZHhE0&vl=en>.

Side Project!

        Hey there! It’s been a while since I’ve last posted. Life’s been a little crazy lately, but I recently finished one of my latest projects. 

A group of friends and I created our very own music video for a music marketing campaign. Over a span of 7 days, we filmed and edited a music video and planned out a marketing campaign in order to “sell” our artist to investors. The song we chose was “Time is Running Out” by Muse. This project consisted of us creating a new artist to this song and to build a brand identity for him. The artist we chose was Damian Zane, who would hopefully become a well known alternative rock artist after our marketing campaign. 

Before starting our pre-production phase of storyboarding, my group decided to learn more about the alternative rock genre and different types of music videos. We learned that the main target audience for this genre was males between the ages of 14-21 years old. A well known band within the same genre is the Red Hot Chili Peppers; in order to appeal to our audience, we followed a similar style within our music videos by creating a dark tone and atmosphere. We also learned about the main three styles between music videos: storytelling, artistic and promotional. A storytelling music video is within the name itself. Its main purpose it to portray a story within the music video by pairing symbolic visuals with the music/lyrics. An artistic music video is an alternative form of storytelling where animations, abstract visuals and enhanced art directions are used. Lastly, a promotional music video's primary goal is to showcase the band or artist. My group decided to combine two different types by creating a promotional, artist music video. This was done to present our new and up-coming artist in a creative and unique way. 

Since our target audience fell between the age group of 14-21 years old, we thought one of the best ways to promote our artist was through the use of social media. According to Karissa Bell, in the fall of 2018, the most used social media platform was Instagram and coming in at third place was Twitter. We designated one of our group members to become the social media manager who was responsible to keeping Damian Zane’s platforms active, by posting behind the scenes pictures and videos in order to boost the anticipation for the release of the music video. We also created teasers of the music video to be posted on all social media platforms.

@damian.zane

                                    

@damianzane2

                      

    

In addition to the social media platforms, we created a website for Damian Zane. This would act as hub for all of his social media links, merchandise, newly released songs, and blog postings. We thought it would be a good idea to include blog postings as it gave Damian direct access to talk to fans and give them exclusive information regarding future plans. 

This music video was great practice before creating this portfolio project. Throughout this music video, my team and I learned how to handle situations we might face when creating our film opening in the near future. Hopefully, we learn from our mistakes made throughout this marketing campaign in order to make our portfolio project ten times better! I can’t wait to start the production of our film opening! Overall, this music video was really fun to create as it allowed us to be creative and helped us practice techniques we've learned. You can click this link to watch our music video! Let me know what you think of it in the comments below! Until next time…

                                                                                   

                                                                                                                                                       ~rtmedias