Planning - Initial Ideas

Brainstorming:

Me and my teammates Samuel and Laila began planning the initial ideas during free time we had during class, we began considering different approaches to a basic plot for our film opening and began by thinking of a title which would help give our plot a topic or theme to base around. 

I thought of a major theme of the psychological thriller genre being the focus on causing anxiety and maintaining tension, this lead us to think of similar emotions or feelings and settled on the title "Paranoia" this for one gave us a title for our film opening and helped guide the rest of our initial ideation. 

We then exchanged ideas on location, props, camera shots, and a skeleton of the plot until we agreed on something that would challenge us and allow us to demonstrate our understanding of genre conventions and of creating a media brief.

General Idea:

With our title "Paranoia" we had a basic outline of a topic we could base a plot around. We expanded paranoia into mental illness, while these two can be closely related sometimes by expanding to a topic relating to mental illness it gave us a greater window to address social issues and represent a group of people.

This lead us to a snowball effect where we began to think of plot ideas quickly and efficiently we ended up settling on an opening about a young adult suffering from mental illness and past trauma who becomes paranoid and storms out of their therapist's office, which leads them to accidentally harming their best friend who attempted to calm them down.

Considering Limitations:

As a team we had big ambitions for our film opening as we are excited and want to create a high quality product but we did run into some issues that we either worked around or are still finding ways to adapt to still create the same feel or achieve our vision in a way we are able to avoid safety hazards or limitations of props.

We decided to add a scene of the main character driving out of their driveway to add context and not have an awkward cut. This may have caused issues as it may have added complications when casting actors as they would have to have a license, to avoid this we changed the scene to only show the bottom half of the car and have Samuel back his car out of the driveway to achieve the same vision but without the complications.

Another limitation we faced is how we would show the main character harming their friend in a safe manner to keep all actors safe, we resolved this by drafting a scene where the camera cuts to a POV shot in the perspective of the friend this allows us to prop up a camera in place of an actor this avoids someone having a blade pointed at them, we also decided to have the shot cut to a title card before any violence is shown this further allows for safety while filming.

Reflection:

Throughout this process, it allowed us as a team to show our creativity and share ideas. This also strengthened the way we work as a team. This will allow us to work efficiently to create a high-quality product. From this planning session, we were able to produce many ideas for film elements apart from just the actual story. This will allow us to tie in these technical elements in a way that have meaning and affect the overall film. From this point we will begin storyboarding, creating fully thought-out characters, and begin preparing to film. 

Planning - Creating Characters

Introduction:

Me and my group came up with names and descriptions for the characters we plan to include in our film opening, we sat down and used our plot outline we brainstormed to think of characters and names to be in the film opening, these characters serve their main purpose to the plot having each their own important aspect that plays into the plot but we also gave them unique character traits to give them a persona that can be noticed by audiences. 

Lilly:

Lilly is a young adult who lives by herself; she has a mysterious past filled with trauma that causes her to be very paranoid and see things that are not there. She is shown to have a disheveled look due to her insomnia and nightmares and has trouble controlling her temper and emotions as the film opening goes on, she is shown slowly getting more unstable until a final climatic moment. 

Dr. Fernandez:

Lilly's therapist who has a smug and arrogant personality. They worry about their looks and how they present themselves. They also prove rather judgmental rather than a good therapist who listens to and provides counseling. This causes Lilly to walk out during a therapy session which intensifies Lilly's mental decline and yet again Dr. Fernandez fails to console her and calm her down. 

Alejo:

Alejo is an energetic supporting character who is Lilly's best friend; he provides a contrast to Lilly by opposing her depressive attitude. He finds Lilly during her paranoic episodes and helps to keep her grounded and calm. They often try to think positively and make light of bad situations to keep Lilly happy, but it backfires and they end up being a victim to Lilly's mental instability. 

Shadowy Figure:

A mysterious figure that appears in Lilly's mind causing her to become paranoid and panic, this entity is not paranormal but is just an exaggerated interpretation of Lilly's trauma and mental illness. It is inspired by sleep paralysis hallucinations. 

Reflection:

When creating these characters, we had to really think of the way they would fit in with the plot and have sufficient screen time to be notable even with our limited run time. We based all the characters with each other in mind but currently are open to discussing looking for other people to be actors to allow us to better focus on the production of the film opening. From here we are ready to begin storyboarding and looking for filming locations. 

Planning - Project Proposal

Introduction: 

My name is Santiago Acosta, and I will be working with Samuel Ruiz and Laila Harran to make a film opening, and I will be the editing director, and the director of photography and we will split the responsibilities evenly and act in our own film opening. 

Chosen Product:

As a team, we chose to make a psychological thriller film opening where we will use silence and long shots to create an uncomfortably quiet environment to build tension. We chose this sub-genre because we were inspired by films like American Psycho, and Fight Club where characters are shown to slowly have a mental decline throughout the film. We were also intrigued by the way psychological thrillers were able to create such a tense atmosphere without excessive visual effects.

Target Audience:

The target audience for our film opening would be young adults as other films in the sub genre often contain mature themes relating to mental illness, or death as well as other sensitive topics that would not be appropriate for younger audiences. Our film is likely appealing to people who like movies that interpret real world issues, fans of previous psychological thrillers, and viewers who like a film that provides a mental challenge and does not show its full message at face value.

Representation:

Some social issues we will address in our film will include topics relating to mental illness and how easy it can be to misinterpret and overlook someone with a mental illness like schizophrenia, borderline personality disorder, or dissociative identity disorder. Our product will show audiences an exaggeration of what people who suffer from these disorders go through with the intention of bringing awareness rather than being insensitive. A major theme of our opening is paranoia which will be represented through the reactions of our protagonist. These themes will all be represented through technical choices as well as the acting to demonstrate these issues to viewers. 

Software & Hardware:

Editing will be done in Adobe Premiere Pro where I personally will be in charge of piecing clips together and will manually add edits to video and audio to create specific choices as well as adding sound effects to add immersion and music that relates to the tone of the scene to add more detail which will bring all of our work together as one final brief. For hardware, we plan to check out a camera from our school's yearbook program to help us film with a high-quality picture. Also, the handheld aspect can be later manipulated to create shaky shots when relevant to the film to add meaning to a scene. 

Basic Plan:

We plan to make a psychological thriller opening by the name "Paranoia." The basic premise is a mentally ill woman dealing with trauma from her mysterious background that causes her to become extremely paranoid and wrongfully interpret situations and having a neglectful therapist who fails to help her manage her trauma causing her to mentally destabilize until a breaking point where during a mental episode she murders her only friend that can effectively calm her down and help her manage her trauma. 

Research - Opening Sequence Analysis

Introduction: 

In this entry I will be researching two opening sequences of films from the psychological thriller genre. Making sure to pay attention to details in the first 2 minutes to get an insight, and be able to identify similarities that relate to the conventions I previously research, while building an understanding of how to actually execute these techniques in a way that looks professional and improves the films quality rather than hindering it and that is effective in having an impact on audiences.

Pearl:

Pearl is a 2022 film directed by Ti West about a woman by the name of Pearl being isolated in a farm and spiraling into madness as she longs for the glamorous lifestyle and fame she sees in movies.

Pearl begins with a dark shot of barn doors which open to show the audience the farm Pearl lives on it is accompanied by the names of production companies in a font that resembles old light hearted films, this stylistic choice is used as a way to throw the audience off. The shot is accompanied by an orchestral score that has an upbeat and triumphant feeling to it, which is a contrast to the themes of the film. 

Shot then cuts inside the house to continuous shot panning to show family portraits and to a corner with darker lighting and off putting dolls that are not specifically supposed to be unsettling but provides a sense of discomfort as it is the first sign that strays away from the lighthearted front the film begins with. the pan ends with a slow push in towards a mirror showing Pearl for the first time, the music begins to quiet down as she stands ups.

The room then goes dark, and the soundtrack goes silent as the sound of stage lights turning off is heard. This is an asynchronous sound that hints to the character's longing to being on stage as the sound would do not match what lights in a farm would sound like. The lights going out also do not make sense as the light from outside is seen going dark indicating that she is imagining this. This scene also builds tension as the soundtrack goes quiet, and the room goes dark, all without cuts building a sense of anticipation. 

Next, a spotlight is focused on Pearl as a majestic soundtrack plays, and she dances around her room enforcing the theme of her wanting to be a performer. 

The scene is abruptly ended by Pearl's mother barging in her room and bereding her for wearing her old clothes. This gives motive to the beginning of Pearl's mental descent as her mother is shown to be cold, and unloving towards her. 

Blackwater Lane:

Blackwater Lane is a 2024 film directed by Jeff Celentano about a woman named Cass who drives past a stranded motorist on a country road. When the motorist is revealed to have been murdered, Cass begins to question her sanity and becomes paranoid believing she will be the next victim.

 

The film opens with a long crane shot of the estate where the film is set and a soft mysterious score plays while the shot moves through the sky, it then fades into a low angle still shot of the house across the pond covered by a tree, fades into a truck shot revealing the house from behind the tree. This whole sequence serves as establishing shots to introduce the setting. 

The shot then fades into a still shot of a dark tree while a voiceover narration begins talking about the changing seasons while a sequence of shots of the forest plays. The narration speaks in a past tense about an unknown event that changed her and speaks about constant change and trusting the journey, through the subject of the narration and the female voice we can infer that the narrator is Cass the main character, this is building anticipation for the reveal of the incident that changed her.

Then it cuts to a shot of tombstones which builds a sense of mystery and makes the audience begin to think of what the meaning of the showing the tombstone is and intrigues the audience.

The cuts to the front of the house where the camera pushes into the front door which is a dark contrast to the rest of the shot, then cuts to a long unbroken shot that tracks throughout the house showing the corridors while the mysterious soundtrack intensifies, moving up the stairs leading to a dark corridor at the end of the hall the way the camera moves and the lowkey lighting create tension and anticipation due to the unsettling stillness.

The camera then turns into the bedroom where Cass's husband is sleeping, then goes through the bathroom to an open room with Cass siting in the middle doing a tarot card reading. The tarot card reading adds a superstitious aspect to the scene which hints at a supernatural force which is then emphasized when Cass notices a mysterious sound and looks out of an open window then a crow crashes into the window startling audiences and breaking tension.

Reflection:

This research was very helpful as it gave me real world examples of the conventions I researched and by being able to identify them in a real film, it would make it easier to replicate and add onto those conventions in my product. Additionally, the pacing and plot points the openings of these films cover help me to begin planning my own plot and begin mapping out scenes and creating characters inspired by the protagonists from these 2 films.

Research - Editing Software

Overview (Premiere Pro): 

Me and my team have chosen to use Adobe Premiere Pro to edit our film opening, this is due to the past experience we have with the software as we have done work based around editing and learning to utilize Premiere Pro. Additionally, its accessibility is also a major reason as the software is provided to us for free through our student resources.  

For this entry, I will be researching different features that will be useful to me and my teammates while editing our product. 

Famous Example: 

While researching features of Premiere Pro I additionally looked for successful films that had been edited using Premiere Pro, through my research I found the Academy award winning film "Everything Everywhere All At Once" being primarily edited using Adobe Premiere Pro winning the 2023 Oscar not only for "Best Picture" but specifically "Best Film Editing" this shows that this software has adequate capabilities to make a high quality product.

Timeline and Trimming Tools:

First is the "ripple" tool bound to "B"; it is a faster way to make smooth cuts without having to do multiple steps to achieve a smooth transition between clips. It is best used when there is unwanted pausing in dialogue, lengthy shots that serve no purpose, and overall controls the flow between scenes. This tool is useful for fixing pacing issues in scenes but if not used correctly can lead to scenes that feel "off". 

The "roll" tool is next its shortcut is bound to "N" moves the cut point between 2 edited clips without changing the length of the full sequence of clips, this is useful for when you want better timing without shifting the scenes, best used to move a moment in a scene to begin earlier without changing duration of the scene.

Next, L-Cuts and J-Cuts are used to desynchronize video clips and their respective audios used as a way to overlap sounds of an adjacent clip with the visuals of another. L-Cuts are used to make audio trail visual and J-Cuts are used to make audio lead the picture, these cuts are an effective way to make scene transitions less harsh.

Reflection:

After researching about Premiere Pro and its software features and the previous knowledge I feel confident that me and my teammates will be able to edit sound and video in a manner that we will be able to create a high quality product. With this research I will thrive in editing and mix creative elements to make our product unique, also I was unaware that the film "Everything Everywhere All At Once" was edited on Premiere Pro, so now knowing I am assured of the software's professional ability.

Sources:

https://www.agitraining.com/adobe/premiere-pro/tutorials/trimming-clips-on-the-timeline-in-premiere-pro?srsltid=AfmBOoqYX88GqOcguH6FgsA0zjJ6tU2IpjPfyq5Q6MjWsTtVMM7ddMw6

https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/jkl-timeline-trimming-in-premiere-pro-cs6/

https://helpx.adobe.com/premiere/desktop/edit-projects/trim-clips/perform-j-cuts-and-l-cuts.html

https://postperspective.com/everything-everywhere-all-at-once-assistant-editors-talk-process/

Research - Intro to Scriptwriting

Storyboard: 

To begin writing a script, it is common practice to create a storyboard. The practice began in the 1930s at Walt Disney Studio by artist Webb Smith and has been used to plan out and create most films since. A storyboard contains a sketch of a scene along with a caption that explains what is happening in the scene, camera shot, and what the intended affected the audience is. 

This is a key element of pre-production as it is shown to producers after the initial script to be given the funding necessary to create the film. Additionally, a storyboard is what plans the flow of the movie containing scene order and descriptions on camera shots and angles to be considered when filming. 

A storyboard is also the first time that a film's plot is being put in visual media in a cohesive manner, allowing the initial plot mockup and character descriptions to interact in chronological order and how they impact the audience through the caption. 

Structure:

Scripts are commonly structured into 3 acts: setup, confrontation and resolution, while there are some exceptions most if not all mainstream movies follow this archetype which serves as a "skeleton" to keep the script on course and appeals to audiences as it mirrors the way humans understand stories. The structure also allows for the development of characters as the story goes on by having their values and views varied in different acts. 

 Act 1 known as the "setup" is where characters and the world they are a part of is introduced and shows the intentions and motivations of the characters, the setup also includes an inciting incident, a pivotal point in the story that disrupts the characters, sets up conflicts and puts main plot points into motion. 

 Act 2 which is known as the "confrontation" is when the protagonist faces obstacles based on the conflict, this is also where side characters are usually introduced to help further the plot by expanding into their subplots which tie together towards the end, this act is known for the increase of tension due to the rising stakes leading up to a major turning point in the story that sets up act 3 and the climax. 

 Act 3 named the "resolution" is the final act of the story containing the climax of the story which is the highest point of tension where the conflict is resolved. This act includes the protagonist facing the final challenge. The act finishes the films by showing how the characters and or world were affected in the aftermath of the conflict and ends with closure or by showing a final plot twist. 

https://rockethousepictures.com/blog/exploring-the-3-act-structure-in-filmmaking-and-video-marketing.html

Developing Characters: 

Having developed characters in a script is crucial to creating a high quality film product, to begin developing a character you need write their descriptions and backgrounds before incorporating them into the plot, this allows for characters to be their own entities and have unique traits that can make the difference between a uninteresting character and a highly loved character. Writers do this by creating character profiles that give a description of the traits of a character. These may include their goals, age, physical traits, and other aspects that make them unique. 

Next, it is important to have character arcs to change characters throughout the story to give them more depth and value in the plot. A character arc should resonate with the audience to emotionally connect with them, a character arc should additionally highlight themes of a stories plot, and their choices should drive or affect the plot.  

Character arcs begin with a character's limitation being shown or exposed, then the character will go through major challenges and obstacles, then the character will have a turning point where they confront the external or internal challenge and either adapt to it or yield to it, finally the character is forced to make a critical decision which shows which demonstrates growth or shows decline.  

A popular example is from the film "Fight Club" where the unnamed protagonist struggles with mental health issues and creates a destructive personality in his head named Tyler Durden which makes him become rebellious as a way to feel free, which then he confronts and later symbolically kills Tyler and becomes self-aware and find his identity. 

Reflection:

After researching about scriptwriting basics I feel confident to begin preparing to write a script with a cohesive cast to create the highest quality film opening me and my team can create after learning about character arcs and the structure of a film plot I can use first act as a guideline to follow when creating the film opening by introducing characters, their environments, and having an inciting incident to set up the film opening to be able to flow into a full film. Next, I will apply these concepts to my genre of psychological thriller and begin thinking of drafts for an early storyboard.

Sources:

https://inkshift.io/resources/character-arcs

https://www.centreofexcellence.com/creating-a-character-arc/

https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/three-act-structure-filmmaking

https://www.bbcmaestro.com/blog/how-to-storyboard-a-film

https://www.lafilm.edu/blog/storyboarding-101/