Scumptious script-writing

 Hey everyone!! recently in class, we finalized our story and script for the film opening. The script was mainly written by my friend Santi as he had the divine inspiration of the original idea. One change you may notice from how the concept was originally described is that the 2000's setting has been more or less scrapped. We still want to take inspiration from that time period, but we decided that its important for the opening to be less centered on that specifically. We also decided upon the name 'Ataraxia' for our movie since it describes the state our character is in, as well as having a cool sci-fi vibe to it.

SO without further adieu here is the script :0

Group Meetings

Today's class time consisted of group meetings!!!!

I got with a few people from other groups and we discussed everyone's projects, and more specifically we helped each other develop and critique our own ideas in order to get outside perspective on what may work and what may not.

Rewrites

Today the groups pointed out a pretty large plot hole, that being that the giant planet in the sky would probably raise concerns a little quicker than depicted in our opening. Who knew people would want to run for their lives when they see a giant planet about to crash into earth? Either way this plot hole called for some obvious rewrites (something I'm sure our script-writer is thrilled about). So far the plan is to make it more apparent why the panic is only now starting at the beginning of our opening, since it wouldn't make sense for people in a grocery store to just randomly fall into group hysteria and panic attacks, even though that sounds like its own sick story. Anyway that's all from me, ill get back to you guys with the final script in my next blog post :)

Character Design (the fun part :DDD)

 So for our opening we established our plot would revolve around a world ending event, however it would center around a young adult woman who seems to not care about any of it. That being said we need her design to heavily depend on 3 things: character, time period, and setting

The first one is easy, this character seems to be someone who may not have lead the most fufilling life before the discovery of the world impending doom. This actually reminds me of the main character of my favorite TV Show "Dead Like Me" in the show Georgia Lass is a young adult who doesnt seem to care much for any aspect of life. This show will be a helpful source of inspiration when it comes to writing and directing a character such as hers.

The next aspect was established by my group to be the early 2000s. This time period didnt really have a distinct look as far as setting but it did have a very distinct fashion and make up style. The clothing of the time seems to be marked by low rise pants, layered shirts and, surprisingly, RHINESTONES?? To be honest I did NOT expect rhinestones to be one of the most common things i saw when looking up clothes from that era, but something to consider when designing her outfit.

The last aspect to consider is the setting, America in the early 2000s was marked most distinctly by its pop culture for young adults of the time. Flip phones were common, facebook and myspace were the most popular social media, and Pop-punk and r&b were on a rise.

Given all of these aspects i put together a mood board of what I personally envision the character to look like.

Scheduling HELL

 Today my group members sat down to plan the next 7 weeks of our lives (dramatic ik but still). We have many factors to consider as we all have pretty busy lives, this opening needs to be a priority for the majority of the next 2 months. We worked on a shared document together to allocate deadlines for each step of production during each week:

SCHEDULE:

Week 1 (1/29-2/2):Research

• Genre 

• Brainstorm/Idea

Week 2 (2/3-2/9):Planning

• Storyboard (done by 2/7) 

• Script (done by 2/7)

• Location scouting (done by 2/10)

• ShotList (done by 2/9)

• Casting (done 2/9) 

Week 3 (2/10-2/16):Filming

• Get props/costumes (2/10-2/12)

• Begin filming (2/15)

• Create Foley

• Find sound effects/music

Week 4 (2/17-2/23): Wrapping up filming/Editing  

• Wrap up (2/18)

• Start editing- line edit (2/23)

• Start graphics/VFX

Week 5 (2/24-3/2): Editing

• Final edit (3/2)

• Revisions: make changes needed 

Week 6 (3/3-3/9): CCR 

• Creative Critical Reflection

• Research information relating to the reflection.

• Create the reflection.

• Edit and review CCR.

Week 7 (3/10-3/16):CCR

Week 8 (3/17-3/25): Quick Fixes

• In case any fixes are needed

Its important to note that all 4 of us have a 1 week competition trip from 2/28-3/4. Losing this weekend is quite honestly very upsetting because it reduces the amount of time that we have for both filming and editing. Meaning we cannot rely on weekend to get the bulk of the work for this opening completed.

What the heck is a title sequence

Juno (2007)

Juno's title sequence does a good job of reflecting the quirky aesthetic through hand-drawn, playful typography that writes in across the screen like a personal sketch. Credits appear in an informal, doodled form, establishing the protagonist's youthful, unconventional perspective and setting a tone of film's childlike style. I personally love that this opening is animated because it creates such a visually engaging atmosphere and while I may not choose to completely animate the title sequence of my film opening, its creative presentation is something to consider.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind employs a deliberately imperfect, slightly blurred font that subtly represents the film's themes of memory and fragmentation. Credits emerge and dissolve, with text placement that seems to drift and fade, mirroring the narrative's exploration of memory's role in the film. A characteristic of this opening that I personally enjoyed was the use of extremely high depth of field, and soft focus. The sequence centers on the character showing each aspect of how his emotions are affecting his physical body. This opening is definitely something I will consider since my opening also has a similar scene, so this kind of title sequence may just fit with the opening.

Donnie Darko (2001)

Donnie Darko's title sequence employs a minimalist approach with white text against dark backgrounds, creating an unsettling visual tension. The precise placement of credits foreshadows the film's psychological complexity, using typography as a narrative device that hints at the underlying psychological existential and dark themes. Something I like about this sequence is the iconography and typography. Throughout the scene, the audience is shown several images that are representative of the film as a whole which creates a tense and mysterious tone for the start of the film. The typography also grabbed my attention as very dramatic and specific to the themes included in the film.

What I've learned

    Title sequences are also important parts of the opening of a film. Title sequences normally leave space to establish the film's tone, theme, and setting. Good title sequences make creative use of visual graphics, music, and thematic elements that encapsulate audiences into the world of the film. These are all elements that are heavily important in order to establish what an audience should expect from your film.

Film openings (and my character's intended belief system)

For the opening my group has planned, I think its best to look at some great examples of film openings that center around specific characters.

Dead Like Me -  TV Movie Pilot (2003)

Okay, I admit this is a bit of an oddball, but you have to understand that this opening perfectly encapsulates everything I want the character to be. Georgia Lass is an apathetic young adult who does not seem to care about any aspect of her life or the lives of others. The opening uses voice over narration to develop George's character. George explains her philosophy for life in a way that makes it seem as any action at all seem pointless. It is clear that she does not want to be at a job interview, and her conversation with Delores reveals more about her character. She seems to be highly defensive, partially due to her feeling as if her life has amounted to nothing, which contributes to her apathetic belief system. Overall the opening does an amazing job of establishing her character, and foreshadowing the major conflict that sparks a change within her character.

Jennifer's Body (2009)

Jennifer's Body also opens similarly. Anita "Needy" narrates her current situation. Her detached voiceover recounts her current inhabitation of a mental hospital/correction facility. The opening does an amazing job of subverting the typical expectations of a teen drama film before introducing the high school setting. Anita begins to recall how just two months ago she was a regular student who was best friends with the most popular girl in school. This opening does a good job representing it's main character throughout, providing good depth into her character both before and after the incident that got her in the mental institute, without giving away what exactly it was. However, something that I would like to avoid from this opening is its use of the flashback format. While the opening of this movie does develop character the scene is largely disconnected from the rest of the movie. Personally I believe this renders it's good aspects entirely ineffective, as it develops a character that isn't reflective of Needy's actual character throughout most of the movie.

Lady Bird (2017)

Lady Bird is another opening that does a good job of developing the character in a way that foreshadows the upcoming conflicts in the film. It opens in the car where the main character, Ladybird, has just finished listening to a 21-hour audiobook with her mother. It begins on what seems like a deeply intimate moment for the 2 as they begin to cry, but the proceeding conversation quickly sours as they begin to talk about her college decisions. Ladybird wants to go to college far away, while her mother prefers she stays close to their home. Their argument escalates until the end of the scene when Ladybird rolls out of the moving car. The scene provides a deep look into her character as a rebellious young adult who is searching for a way to escape her seemingly mundane life, when she jumps out of the car it represents her willingness to go to great lengths to either change her current situation, or create some form of excitement in her life, which sets up the films primary conflicts with her mother.

Drama and SciFi genres

 Now that we have started our portfolio project, my team has decided to go with a more Sci-Fi/Drama approach paired with a more 2000s film vibe. This may be difficult considering a lot of Sci-Fi movies from the 2000s go with a more horror/thriller approach than a drama approach but there are still a few gems out there.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

I recently watched this movie in January during our break and it left me completely shaken. This movie is a great example of a drama film with sci-fi elements. Films such as these are often discuss emotionally deep topics in creative ways. In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, the bulk of the movie is spent within the main character's (Joel) mind, but explore deeply emotional moments within Joel's relationship with his ex-girlfriend. The film employs the use of creative cinematography and color grading to signal a

and scenes occurring in the real world. Scenes within his mind also alter in lighting as they are erased, starting evenly lit and transitioning to harsher central light coming from the camera.and scenes occurring in the real world. Scenes within his mind also alter in lighting as they are erased, Starting evenly lit and transitioning to harsher central light coming from the camera. 

Arrival (2016)

Arrival is a film i recently watched in my AICE English Language A level class. My teacher made a point of analyzing its relation to the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis. The film centers around 12 alien ships that have landed on Earth, and the main charcter's (a llinguist) work to decipher and eventually understand their written language. Sci-fi films such as Arrival use cooler and grayer tones with sleek technological aesthetics. They also use VFX to portray crucial parts of the story without overshadowing the story as a whole.

The films cleverness is in its use of the genre to explore an extremely complex concept. The film uses strategic flash-forwards that only begin to be understood once the main twist of the movie is revealed. Once the main character fully understands the alien language, she gains the ability to percieve time in the same way they do: non linearly.

How this will be incorporated into my opening

Drawing from both of these films, I hope to incorporate the highly stylized method of color grading and shot composition often used in drama films, while using VFX to highlight the main concepts of the story. I plan to make my opening character driven in a way that will be both emotionally and intellectually engaging for audiences.