Screenplay, what are you?

 Hey hey hey!!

Today in class, we talked about screenplays, what in the world they are, and how to create one. If I am being quite honest, I had just a sketch in my brain of what it was, as I do love watching those side-by-side videos on my social media that show the screenplay and the actor, well, in action. Here’s two examples of probably the best films done in recent years. Besides the many awards both movies have under their belt, proving their greatness, something I did notice about both (something I really love), is the intense emotion in both of them apart from the context, brought by the dialogue. Although dialogue is not something very necessary to convey a story or even a simple emotion, these two scenes prove anyone otherwise. These videos allowed for me to connect what was going on in the screenplay to the scene, to further understand how and why screenplays are set up, as well as the final product, allowing me to look at what is sought out in one so that I know what to include or not in my own.

A key to any piece is proper organization, and a GREAT screenplay, in which I plan to master, but until I reach my final destination, I do have to pump the breaks and research a bit first.

                                                                               

Quentin Tarantino, Woody Allen, and Billy Wilder have become masters at their work, writing screenplays. Masters like these, in my personal opinion, make up a great amount of the success behind the blockbusters under their wing. Screenplays, and any sort of writing really, are the backbone/spine holding up a film to its potential, making it highly important for me as a creator, to research it a bit and look into the nooks of the concept to perfect my own screenplay to its full potential (within what is in my ability of course).

Screenplays happen to be known as the “blueprint” or backbone, as I mentioned, of a film. This means that it can contain lines, characters, setting, instructions and generally a bunch of headings to specify the rest. The reason why screenplays are a thing, more or less, is to provide instruction of the creative idea of a piece to those acting or behind cameras, to essentially have everything run smoothly. 

                                                   (Credit: Studiobinder.com)

If you weren’t able to tell, this is what a screenplay looks like. It contains everything in the right places (see how some are centered and some are not), to make it easy for the eyes of actors or the team to reach to where they need to go in the midst of what sometimes can be a chaotic place, such as a set. 

I plan on creating my own within these days to start going on my project. The video, as well as this investigation into the formatting has allowed me to feel more comfortable in what it is and to ease my eyes, as first I thought it was chaotic when it actually wasn’t. This research calmed me down and allowed me to know what is necessary and what building blocks I will need to build this up.

Here is the great article I found great info from!:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-screenplay-definition/

Toodles!!!

Representation!!

 Hey hey hey!!

Project/storyboard is still brewing, so let’s just talk about representation of teens in the media to follow up with my last post about my inspiration and target audience on “My So-Called Life” and teens.

As I did mention, “My So-Called Life” was more than just a show, it was a movement as well as a pedestal that pushed for shows such as “Euphoria,” “Outer Banks,” and “The Fosters” to become the production they are and even more so, to be distributed. A big factor in the abrupt cancellation of “My So-Called Life” were the very taboo subjects in the time of its creation, it touched on, as well as the parents seeking to somehow protect their kids from the content they believed was alerting.   

                                                                                                 

Although the show was basically just a peek into what may be an average American teenager’s experience, in this case Angela, the protagonist, it caused controversy for just that, as it introduced the first-ever openly gay character, drug use, peer pressure, among other experiences teens may happen to face. The limitation to the continued development of the show was its mid 90’s release date, a time where taboos and tabloids were roaming around cities and dinner tables, causing for conversations and conflicts about absolutely everything. From what I’ve seen and heard, and based on my personal opinion, it probably was just as a restricting time as today, but on different subjects. Back then there was a constant need to hide things, such as the real and true identity of things, in order to avoid further conversations. Beauty and a unrealistic expectation of perfection were spread across all angles of the media, but of course, the struggle to get there was hidden under the bed. 

With “My-So Called Life” there was some type of bridge that allowed for teens to feel and sense a sort of identification on any of the topics touched on the show, causing them to even go as far to feeling close to the charactersm as they felt that their emotions were valid. That representation was something very much needed during the time, and constantly needed today, even more so with teens facing an entirely new round of issues that ranges from addiction to cell phones, mental health issues, and cyber-bullying, as well as those faced back then such as bullying and peer pressure.

This validation is a goal for my piece, and I would want to make teens feel identified with the specific issue of a toxic relationship. I would want teens to see my film and possibly idenitfy those red flags they may have overseen. As of my personal opinion of my small analysis, media is a great way to touch base with teens, especially now considering how much more we are exposed to it thanks to our mobile devices. With more teen shows, adolescents will not only see themselves in a different lens or way, but they may even see how the decisions they are taking are not the best. 

See ya soon!!

Sources:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772296/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10293938/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10293938/?ref_=ext_shr_lnk

https://www.thethings.com/the-real-reason-my-so-called-life-was-canceled/

https://www.thelist.com/361698/the-real-reason-my-so-called-life-was-canceled/

https://www.smh.com.au/culture/tv-and-radio/the-show-that-forever-changed-tv-depictions-of-adolescence-20230102-p5c9tr.html

Let’s talk inspo aka “My So-Called Life” and target audience!!

 Hey hey hey!!

As I am working on my storyboard, I will be talking about the target audience and sort of the vibe I want for my piece!! 

For one of the media analysis practices, we watched an excerpt from pilot of the TV show, “My So Called Life,” starring a young Claire Danes and Jared Leto. What I found interesting was that my teacher had mentioned that when this show aired in the 90s, it was revolutionary and ended up being cut short of its potential, as it was cancelled within its first season. Although it was short, something else discussed in my class was that it paved the way for shows made with and for teenagers, such as the controversial “Euphoria” to discuss difficult topics lived during the teenage years, and to even exist. 

What I loved about the short excerpt I watched was how personal the show felt, as in, how close one as a viewer feels to the main character. In the opening scene, we see a handheld shot, on what seems like a personal camera, recording the main character and her friend just being themselves (teenagers). Through that short part of the excerpt, we were able to identify their dynamics, a bit of their personality, and generally what they may be like through the mise-en-scene element of costuming. I truly loved how real, authentic, and natural it felt. With this being said, I really see myself inspired by it as I do want to make it feel that a teenager made it and it is for them :)

Sooooo, this means that my target audience would be teenagers. My film (opening) would aim to building that connection with them, while also giving space for silliness and a serious topic, and finally, not media that seems to intense or graphic for the eyes. As of now, and based on the media I see that is meant for us teenagers, most of the time it tends to be graphic or very heavy. Although it may be true that at this age we are a bit more “mature,” I believe that there should be space for the silliness and simple scenes like the one above, for teens. By practicing this idea, as a creator, I would hope that it could move and change the way media is created and set out to teens, just like “My So Called Life” once did.

Beginning of something new

 Hey hey hey!! Me again!

Remember I told you about this totally great idea that I loved and was excited about, well… 

That idea had to sink a bit, as the image I had of it was not so clear and I really did not see any further and proper development of what I like to call the “in betweens.” Obviously this is part of the “experience” or generally just the starting phase of any type of projects, which then means that I have to either scrap or redirect the idea, in which I decided to redirect it. 

In order to redirect that idea, I had to work with what I had, my original vision. I had “spread” all the words I had relating to my original idea and mixed it with the new idea. Honestly, it did cost me a lot to make up and sketch almost and entire new idea from scratch, but I was able to. I just kept writing and writing, erasing, and adding new ideas. This process truly made me realize more than ever, how much intention and care there is to any project out on the market. I had all of my ideas in my head and could visualize it, but I needed to correctly spread it out and make each step somehow align to the next. Here’s my “word spilling” document so you get what I mean.

It is a bit messy, I can admit, but it is somewhere I can start and jump off of, as I do also admit that the collection of my thoughts and ideas have been probably the greatest issue to tackle to this point. 

Well, that’s it for me (for now). See you soon!!

Planning for next week!

 Hey hey hey!!!

As I am still trying to collect my thoughts and ideas on the concrete and official outline for my film opening, I might as well begin to use my time efficiently and begin to think about how I am going to organize myself during the next week!!

Next week I plan on finally finalizing and setting my idea straight. As of now I have a general (somewhat) idea of what I want to do, as I have mentioned in previous posts, but it is not as clear, so I will take this post and gear it to my plan for next week and what follows after that. I will begin by making a, brainstorming google doc, which basically is a google doc were I add in all sorts of ideas. Whether it is shots, angles, a possible order of these shots, elements and color schemes, I really enjoy putting all sorts of random information in one specfic place, so that, A. I won’t forget my thought process, and B. give myself an opportunity to eliminate a majority of possibilities and know whats essential and what is not.  I tend to do this often, especially on big projects of all sort, as it truly has helped me to focus and keep my eye on the prize. Here’s a recent example of on of these types of docs!

                                                             

After this very special google doc, I will most likely move onto storyboarding. In my personal opinion, I believe this is the most tedious part, as new ideas may surface and you have to constantly be editing and revising to eventually reach your final destination. For example, in the last project we did in class, the Music Marketing project, my group and I had worked on the storyboard by first opening up that strange doc activity I normally do (with the help of some convincing), and then actually drawing it. Between those two activities, we were constantly in contact whether it be because one of us got a good idea and in a pattern of erasing and adding drawings or different aspects into our storyboard. Even in production, was the storyboarding changing, which for this project I believe will be no exception.

Towards the end of next week I also plan on scheduling filming date(s). Based on my rough sketch of an idea that I have at the moment, alongside the storyboard that should come this week, I feel like I have an idea of the person or people that can participate in this production. I have asked them this past week, which may get me a step ahead in setting a date on when to film. By having that somewhat, technically arranged, I can earn some time in the other aspects of pre-production of this project!

Well, that’s it for now!! See you soon!!

Let’s talk about color schemes/lighting/tone (or just everything)

 Hey Hey Hey!! Did you miss me?

Today I will be talking about color schemes. As for my film opening, the idea I have now is a story about a young girl that gets unalived (making it PG) (we won’t see how though so you can take that off your list of concerns), and a “harsh” transition to a investigator’s office or space. I really do want to emphasize that hard shift in tone, as I will first start out with a bright, young, and well-spirited girl and move onto a table with evidence correlating to her unaliving case. I am still working on some possible “in-between” shots to fluff up and add a little bit of grip to the introduction, but that mystery and vagueness is what would probably make me personally continue to watch the film and search for answers.

A way I can show a shift in tone is through color. With the help of bright lighting of course, I would want to show my subject under a bright lighting, as well as with possibly white clothes to represent her youthful spirit, innocence, and naiveté. An example of that light and airy concept I want to reach (I would adjust the costuming), is Avicii’s music video for “Wake Me Up”

I love the technique about this music video because it tends to “shed light” on these girls, as well as the costuming manages to finish the job of establishing that purity and “small town girl” energy they have. Later on in the video, we see how the older girl (in the picture) wears darker clothes and is caught up in a music festival, demonstrating a strong shift in tone and her persona. My film opening would be inspired in that contrast as in the (hopefully next scene), audiences will able to see an evidence board like the one below.

I plan on setting down this board on a black table, with a bright (almost hospital-y) light (with the purpose of using lighting as a shift in tone as well), a right after the sequence of ethreal type shots of the young and bright subject to roughly build a wall and impact in the film opening. The shift from white to black has been used, even outside of film, to establish the good vs evil, positive vs negative etc. etc. If in any case I would want to add in the possible suspect, whether it be through the photo and then in an actual shot, I could have them wearing gray to also establish their connection between the white (young girl) and the black (death, crime). 

With this being said, and what was said in the blog post after this, it is highly valuable to have actions, and even colors speak for the story in my story. The contrasts and juxtapositions place with intention are meant for the viewer to come to their own conclusion and feel that strong feeling of wanting to be there for the young girl and her case. 

Well, that’s it for now!! toodles

How will I incorporate pieces of the coming-of-age/drama/horror genres in my portfolio project?

 Hey Hey Hey!! Let’s begin pre-production of my portfolio project (I’m scared)!!

The genre I want to dive into, as I previously mentioned in my last blog post, is horror (with a mix of coming of age and drama). I really do enjoy the coming of age genre and the flicks under its wing such as, but not limited to, “The Princess Diaries,” “Easy A,” “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,” but want to mix in a bit of the thriller/horror genre such as “The Miracle Season.” Although “The Miracle Season” is based on a true story, and my project will be fictional, I feel inspired by some of the components of the way the emotions are driven and interpreted in the film. If you were waiting for me to speak on the horror, yes it would be present, but as in “The Miracle Season.” So audiences would see and feel a sense of nostalgia and then we would see a component that drastically changes the course of what we have seen and what we will see.

An element I love about coming-of-age/drama films is how in some cases we see an ethreal version of the person through what seems a scene dedicated to just them. I truly enjoy those medium and even close up shots where audiences can be literally and figuratively near the character, so much so that we feel that we know them. This proximity to the character even goes as far as causing some type of emotional attatchment from the audience, that if the case comes where something happens to them, they feel strong emotions kick in, towards their “beloved” character, whether it may be good or for bad. An example of this is the very iconic “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” tunnel scene that I will be attatching below.

Just as Emma Watson was able to contribute to the admiration of the character through her acting, and the creators of the film were able to use techniques to further enhance that feeling, I sense that my film would be greatly inspired by that concept as I would want to capture that vision and admiration towards my character in order for audiences to understand and grow empathy for the character that will sooner or later be affected.

As of the horror part of my film, it would come straight after this divine admiration concept, as more of a sudden plot twist and the reason why the film is being created. The scene would most likely take place in a police investugation unit surrounded with evidence about the young girl and the possible suspect. In order to follow through with this, the proper use and placement of mise-en-scene elements such as props would be needed, as well as sound effects or stings, if necessary. During this scene(s) I would wish that context would be the one explaining rather than dialogue, as I believe that the best horror films are those that let audiences figure what is going on themselevs. In order to complete this task I would truly have to emphasize and use props that speak for themselves, as well as sound effects or stings to further establish and settle the tone. An example of what I mean in terms of props and sound effects in horror films will be attatched below, even though we all may have an example at the top of our heads :)

These are the main two ideas from the genre(s) I want to mold my portfolio project into. With the research I have conducted as well as the puzzling of pieces together, I feel that I have gained a clearer understanding of what it is that I must add in to the mix I have coming in. I now know that I have to focus on camera shots and angles and arrange them in a way where audiences can feel close and connected to the character. The next thing I will have to work on is finding the proper props, placing them strategically, and finding the perfect sound effects for what I need and the placement of the stings.

I hope I didn’t bore ya! See you soon!!

Transition to Portfolio

 It’s official! We have entered portfolio project season!! 

I have been hearing about this project for a decent amount of time (one would hope so) and the time to begin has come. If I am being quite honest, I am nervous as this is something that would allow me to think and put myself outside of the box. I love media and studying all parts of it, but I have never put myself out there to create my very own piece (talk about being nerv-xcited).

As of now, as I previously mentioned, I feel like a fish in new water, but I feel like I can find my way to my destination, being the completion of this project. I have an idea I want to execute (no pun intended), and it happens to be the total opposite of what I would imagine it would be. As I previously may have hinted in my blog, I am big on rom-coms and animation and personally consider myself a colorful person, completely and polarly opposite to anything dark, such as the horror genre. As of now my horror idea is just a thought, but I kind of really like my idea so far so I’ll be sharing what approaches I may take into consideration when taking my project into action. 

I would love to establish setting. I would love my first piece to show off an amazing city during broad sunlight to then further develop context and character. I would use a place that somehow manages to describe the character, whether it be a colorful place or a bright and beautiful city to resemble the divine beauty and aura of the character, as I would want her to be a bright and beaming person. That idea would also carry onto the context, as it would later show the images of this young woman to be just a memory and develop that feeling of longing for that brilliant and truly missed individual.

To end the clip, I would want to create a mystery, through maybe a sting and most definitely mise-en-scene elements such as props to further bridge and connect both pieces together and raise a question of “what happened?” I really want to create that shift in tone and establish that deep confusion and evoking of deep setiments, due to the attatchment to the charcter, in the viewer in those first two minutes so that they can use that emotion to further drive them to wanting to continue to watch my film!!

As of now I feel that I am surface level and still need to dive a bit deeper, especially considering the fact that I am very very new to this genre. I’d reccommend to my fellow readers, as well as myself, to take this as a sketch of my “masterpiece.” 

So long for now!! I’ll see you next week!

Music Marketing Part 2

 Hey Hey Hey!!

As I’ve now culminated my music marketing project, I want to reflect on my journey on one of the best projects I’ve completed, even more so as I had the help of amazing partners to create it with.

The first part we tackled was the research. As we all did not have a clear idea or vision as to what bluegrass was, we first researched it ourselves to get a sense and feel of it and then dived into researching companies that produced these artists as well as the artists themselves. When we really got that true sense of what it was, as we are 4, we decided to split into 2 groups of 2 in order to research two record labels, their history and the artists/groups they represent. Information such as when they were founded, what type of music they produce, awards etc. were put on the history side in order to later remind ourselves what the company is made of. Next to the history column, as previously mentioned, we added some of the artists they represent and a couple of recognitions they received as well. Here’s a bit of my partner and I’s chart on Rounder Records so you get an idea of how it was organized.

Besides that planning, we went ahead with tackling one of the bigger pieces of the project, the music video. If I am being quite honest, although we did our research and chose the best song that we felt that would best represent bluegrass and would reel in audiences into the genre, it was a bit hard to think of a concept that would best represent the song. My partners and I  had a couple of ideas here and there, in fact we had a ton, but it was mainly random ideas that were making us fall out of what the song was and meant. After brainstorming that whirlwind of ideas, we all came to the conclusion that we wanted for the song to have a nostalgic or intimate to life feel and really represent what the song talks about, reaching for something different in life.

Once we got our idea we got storyboarding. Initially I had a concept and my partners, and I had agreed on it, but one of them told me to hand my storyboard over and let her make a few changes. Of course, I trusted her and what she ended up doing was magic. They ended up changing a decent amount of my idea to something much better. For our music video we decided to follow through with the idea of an aspiring actor being forced to continue on with the average life, knowing very well he dreams about something bigger. After we solidified our idea, we began to look for someone that truly understood and felt that they wanted to be on-board with the project. Just so you guys get a feel of our artistic direction, I’ll give you a sneak peek of a draft of our storyboard!!

Next up, the actual production, my 3 partners and I got together at one of our houses and began to shoot for around 4 hours. They were tedious as we had to play a bit with the lighting, techniques, and mise-en-scene elements we wanted to include and further establish in our music video. The best part was our actor, as he let us creatively direct and do our thing and even provided some suggestions. As we really had this idea thought out and discussed throughly the night before the shoot, production felt pretty straightforward, unless one of us felt the need to change an element such as lighting or a prop. 

As of post-production, we decided to split. We had discussed again what we all wanted to see in this music video, and finally left it to the pros, our two beloved and great partners. While they ran off to show off their talent, my other partner and I decided to tackle a decent part of the presentation. We did start it during our brainstorming time and really just splattered our ideas on a Canva presentation, but now meant business. We sat together during and after class to meticulously create ways in which we could attract fans or audiences into our next big thing. We made sure not only did we make sure our “clients” would be able to grasp the big picture of our strategy, but also that we put enough detail into it so that they could also “unlock” that extra intention we added behind each strategy. In the presentation, we made sure we had constant and similar themes, colors, and strategies to create that very much needed brand for our artist. 

Finally, for our presentation, we went for voiceovers for each slide to make sure that not only we all had an equal chance at speaking up, but, that we were able to have time to speak up about each slide’s idea in detail. We wanted to ensure that all ideas were brought up in their complete nature and intention to further persuade our “clients” on why our artist and their single can become the next big thing.

Most definitely, this project has left me a mark. I learned how everything in the music industry has intention behind it, and how important it is for it to be there. I also learned how valuable it is to research ahead of time about your client, even if you may think you know what they’re about. From what I was able to pick up on, when comparing and contrasting with other peers of mine that did have genres they felt they knew about, you still have to reach the very bottom of it and understand it completely to then further meticulously line up a plan to make it work. Aspects I feel that will help me in my incoming portfolio project are the pre, during, and post production parts. Although I only really took part of pre and during the production, and was monitoring the post, I was really able to take in all sides and stages to a project and had an idea of how extensive and detailed every moment of that is as well. Overall, I was really capable of taking in how detailed everything is, how throughly you have to think about it, and how it takes up steps (multiple I should say).

This project is definitely one for the books!!