Production company on the way!

I'm back guys, and today I decided to work on the first part of the film opening, which is when the production group pops up. Through one of the group meetings, I learned that there is a website called Animaker and it is perfect for this because of the animations that we can add. This morning I woke up and tried it out and so far I came up with our production company name and how we want to include.

Here is a view of how it turned out:

As you guys can see it's a simple animation because we don't want it to take a lot of time from the video. Also, this isn't the main focus of the opening so we don't want to distract the viewers, it's only purpose is to show how we made the video. We used a font that inflicts a feeling of terror as well because it looks like dripping blood in a way. Not only that, but we also made the background black to resemble the genre that the production company (us) focuses on, which is thrillers. To make it more interesting we also added the wipe animation which quickly puts the text in and takes it out in a matter of 5 seconds which is amazing and doesn't take time from the opening.

We chose the name JGAP Productions because we got inspired by other big time production companies such as, Universal Pictures and Paramount Pictures. They both have very simple, two word production companies and we thought it would be a good idea to do the same. JGAP stands for the first letters of each of our names, for example:

J- Juan
G- Giuliano
A- Alexis
P- Parker

In this part we got inspired by Warner Brothers because they used there last names as the production company. Since they were all siblings and had the same last names (Warner) they went with that. We really liked this idea because it gives us the feeling that we did it and shows how it is our production.


Well guys that all for today, stay tuned for my next blog because I'll be showing the finished gravestones! Also, on Monday we start filming as well and I'm so excited, I hope you guys are too.

Foley Sounds

Today I got up bright and early to start working on the film opening. Today, I was working on one of the main sounds that will be heard during the middle of the film opening. This sound is extremely important because it helps establish an odd tone. What we are trying to convey through this sound is a "psychopathic" state of the character.

Here is the sound playing (keep in mind that the sound will be going to the rhythm of the clock being shown):

As you can see pairing this with the clock will show how the character narrows his attention down to small things and gets stuck on them. In this scene, he won't even notice that his mom came in the room, all his focus is on tapping the pencil to the speed of the clock. We came up with this idea because of an article I found (click here to view the whole source) that said,

"We are able to alter our activity or modulate our responses, depending on relevant peripheral information that appears after the task has begun. Psychopaths are specifically deficient in this ability"

This is exactly what the character, which we are trying to establish as a psychopath, is doing. So much that he doesn't even recognize his mom entered the room.

Not only this, but in the same article it also explains how they have a "very low tolerance to frustration and a low threshold for discharge of discharge of aggression, including violence". To  We will also be including this in our scene by making him get frustrated and irritated at his mom when she makes him stop the pencil. Then, he will become violent by smashing the door on the way out of the room.


That's it for today guys, I hope you can see why all these little elements are important to the film because if they are done incorrectly they might send the wrong message out, and this is why a lot of research was put into this section of the film. I'll see you guys later!

 

Sources:
9 Clues That You May Be Dealing With a Psychopath. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/mindmelding/201706/9-clues-you-may-be-dealing-psychopath

Expert Crafting?

I am so excited guys, It's finally spring break! This doesn't mean time to relax though, we'll be working on our project everyday and I'll keep you guys updated on everything. As you guys know, we are going to be filming constantly throughout spring break and our goal is to finish the film opening. This will give us enough time to complete our CCR, which is highly important, in fact, in tomorrow's blog I'll be talking about some of the questions I've answered to the CCR.

Today, the group and I went to Home Depot to find the necessary supplies to build the sign that will be used in the first part of the opening. Since we want the sign to look realistic we bought 2 wooden pillars, a wooden plank to go across the top, two smaller planks, and a sign that will say "Jones Estate". Here is an example of of how it will look with all the materials we bought:

We have to put a lot of emphasis into this prop because not only does it establish that the "cemetery" is located in the house (which makes it a family graveyard), but it is also the first shot of the opening. Therefore, this is supposed to make viewers keep watching and is why we want it to be realistic.

Ultimately, our goal is to come out with a sign that looks almost like this one:

As you can see from the picture, it will establish the location, the name of the family, and that it is a ranch.










That's all for today guys, I know this was a short one, but the main purpose was to show how we are going with the props. Another person in the group has also started making the headstones as well, but I'll show the pictures when they're done. Stay tuned on my next posts because here is where all this handwork starts coming together.

Shooting Revisions!!

I'm back guys, and I have to say this week has been a very busy one for me, But I was still constantly planing and thinking about our project. Today, I'll be talking about our shooting schedule because we had to make revisions based on the amount of time we had.

Here is the new updated shooting schedule (I split it into three parts because we split our opening into three major areas):


- March 18 - 22 (One of these days or maybe two will be used to shoot, not sure about the specific date yet)

• Markham Park
• Shooting the whole first part of scene (headstones)
• We will also go to a house near Windmill Ranches and ask if we can film for our establishing shots

- March 23 - 24

• In the room of someones house (possibly Parker's)
• We will shoot the whole second part during this day

- March 25

• Any extra shooting we need
• This will serve to replace any of the shots

The rest of the time will be used for editing and completing the CCR

As you guys can see we changed some things from the last one. Know that we know exactly what the story consists of we know the scenes we have to film, so we split it up according to the lengths of the scenes. Not only that, but we also planned to have one day meant for re shooting just in case we decide to change any of the shots. As you guys can also see, there is a section in red. We added this because we're not sure what days we'll be able to film during those days and therefore, that section is just a range of the days we will choose from.

I was looking online and I found this quote on shooting schedules:

"A shooting schedule is an exact timeline of how much time will be needed to complete the shoot and on which dates you are going to shoot.... Scheduling will help you to shoot the scenes in accordance to the location and make the production a hassle free process."

This shows the importance that they have because not only so we have to take into consideration everyone's lives and commitments, but we also have to plan exact so that when the shooting takes place it's quick and easy. This is why we have put so much time into the planing and shooting of the scenes. For more info on the article click here.

Sources:
Verma, S., & Verma, S. (2018, February 05). 10 THINGS WILL DESCRIBE WHY PRE-PRODUCTION IS IMPORTANT IN FILMMAKING. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@saurabhkverma/10-things-will-describe-why-pre-production-is-important-in-filmmaking-a815d0ac1832

And the title is.....

Welcome back guys!! Today we will be talking about the Title. I wanted this topic to be one of the last posts but I just can’t hold it in any longer!! Just to make myself clear, this story is about a psychopath (about our age) who kills his family, and the opening scene is the ending to the film. Know I know what you’re thinking, we basically just gave the ending away.. But it’s not about how the movie ends, it’s about everything that leads up to the ending and all those important parts of the film that portray this psychotic character. After the title shows (which is towards the end of the beginning/middle), we will rewind to a few months earlier and tell the story from there. Get it?


Here is a quote that my group and I will try to accomplish in order for this film to be exactly how we vision it:


“As you transition to the next section of your story the audience should be able to identify the protagonist, what the story is about, the antagonist (villain- not always a person, but represents the opposing threat), and what’s at stake if the protagonist doesn’t succeed at their goal.”


Now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for… drumroll please….

IDΣNTITY

Now, before you all get confused, let me explain why my group and I chose this title and how it came to be. The main character of this story isn’t at all normal, he is a psychopath who wants to harm his family and we wanted the title to represent that this kid is not even close to representing normal. In one of my previous blogs some of the names that we got inspiration from was Prisoners, due to the fact that the “O” in prisoners is a symbol that has a lot of meaning to it so we wanted to make it similar.




One thing we knew for sure, was that we would use the Greek capital letter for Sigma, which is the letter E. One day in our AICE Media Studies class, we just thought of names that had the letter E in them so that we could use the Greek letter. Keep in mind, the Sigma E is backwards so it would be facing the other way, not the way it’s facing now. Now why is the greek letter so important? It all goes back to what I said before, the normal letter e is known as “E”, if the audience was to see this letter e “Σ”, they would know that it relates to the film and how it’s not “normal.”


Coming up with this name was a huge deal for us since the title has to represent the story. We are so glad that we’re making progress and keeping you guys happy! Can’t wait to share more with you guys.


Stay tuned for tomorrow!!



Sources:
Screenwriting Structure: Expanding the Beginning, Middle, and End. (2017, January 24). Retrieved from https://www.zacuto.com/screenwriting-structure-jill-remensnyder

Sigma. (2019, March 08). Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sigma

(n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.google.com/search?q=prisoners&rlz=1C1NHXL_enUS815US815&oq=prisoners&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1435j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Group meeting part 2!!

Hey guys, it's finally Fridayyyy and I'm so happy! Today in class we had another group meeting and I can't stress how much these meet ups helps. It not only helps me figure out any of the problems, but it also allows me to see what other people have to say about our scenes and story.

The first things the group told me was that our story line was good and that they liked how it started with a flashback. Then, they gave me some ideas and hints, these included:

• Props
• Lighting
• Second scene (in room)

Props- I started off by explaining the types of props that we were gonna need, these are fake blood and headstones. Then I explained how we were in between making the blood or buying it, which they responded that it all depended on how the fake blood turned out. They said that they prefer that I make it because I can still manipulate and make it into my vision. This was extremely helpful because it made me realize that by making our products, we have the power to change them how we want. Lastly, I told them about the headstones and how we were planning on making them with cardboard, but after today's meeting I'm happy to say that we are now making them out of styrofoam. This idea that they gave me was EXTREMELY helpful because with the styrofoam we can give the headstones more texture as well.

Lighting- This meeting game me many different idea on what to do with the lighting. One member said that I could just edit the lighting while taking the picture through the Iphone camera roll. Another member gave the idea that instead of relying on the weather and natural lighting, we can use blankets and lights because the shots are gonna be close and focused on the headstones. I really liked both these ideas and I'm going to have to try it out over the weekend and see which one I like best.

Room Scene- I explained that we were still figuring out ways to show how he is psychopathic and one of the group members said that I should research some common characteristics of them. Not only that, but they also said that when the drawings on the walls are shown, it should be weird pictures related to death. For example, they said that it should include pictures of knives, blood, and even dead people (family). Lastly, they loved the idea how the title and symbols shown at beginning will relate to the seen by the same symbol being on a paper that the mom picks up. They also told me to look into the movies The Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon because they follow similar characteristics.

All in all, I plan on implementing all these ideas into the film or at least try to take them into consideration. Also, these meetings gave me some ideas like the use of a website called Animaker to create a production company and make the opening look professional. That's it for today guys and I'll see you later!

Sources:

Animaker, Make Animated Videos on Cloud for free. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.animaker.com/

Minor issue...

Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I posted, but the group and I have been planning out some of our problems and holes. Some of these included

• Lighting
• Scenes
• Main characters
• Name of the movie

Today, in this blog post, I'll be talking about an issue that we came across with our cemetery scene and how we plan on fixing it.

If you look at the post I did on March 8th, you guys will see how we decided on the setting and that it will take place in Markham park in a low key lit scene. This isn't changing in our project, the change comes with what's going on the scene. Originally, we were gonna make the scene look like a real cemetery, but we realized that we would have had to keep the shots to close and we didn't have the objects to make it happen. Therefore, the group and I decided to change it into a closed cemetery, on the families property. Due to this I made a new beginning and here is the storyboard that we will use for the first part (cemetery):

As you guys can see, the scene will now be a family cemetery in the back of a their ranch, which is the house of the family that died. The first 3 frames are there to establish the location and show the audience where the cemetery and story will take place. Then the next frames brings up the headstones and goes through each one of them to show the names of those who died. The rest of the scene will consist of flashy shots (resembling police lights) and there will be rapid cuts showing a headstone and the person who died (Will show a symbol on their forehead and all dead people shown will have the same symbol). This will repeat with each headstone and towards the end it will speed up the cuts and turn black. At this moment we will show the title.

At this point we are also considering adding either a message saying "A few months earlier" and then the story progresses, showing that there was a time to change. On the other hand, we are also thinking about including the dates on the headstones saying the day of the deaths and when the next scene begins we will show a calendar showing the month and date that is happening at the time. We are still thinking on what to do but as soon as we figure it out I'll post a blog on, So stay tuned on my upcoming blog. 

Lastly, I wanted to mention that we are also on the task of figuring out a title of the movie and we have some ideas in mind, but we still need to work on the fonts and resemblance that it will have to the story. But, we are getting our ideas based off of these titles from other well known thrillers, so ours might look a bit like theirs. Here are the thrillers:

 

The reason as to why we are basing our title on this is because they all include specific characters that relate to the movie. For example, Prisoners has the "O" as a symbol, this is exactly what we want to do with our title, but instead something that relates to the film and is important to it.

That's it for today guys, have a great day and stay tuned!