The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Symbolism

 Why is symbolism important?

Symbolism is an artistic technique to give indirect suggestions of emotions, ideas and states of mind. Symbolism is important in stories because it helps the audience connect certain key ideas to be able to understand the story better. Symbolism can be seen as a form of secret language between the writer and the audience. Symbolism should be subtle but noticeable enough so the audience can see it and understand it.

In The Dark Knight Two Face has half of his face burned which represents his fall from grace. The fact that he was a force of good to in Gotham to a corrupt side of Gotham.

How are we going to use symbolism to make our opening more effective?

In our film opening Dave is going to make a specific sound that will end up being part of the final beat that is played at the end of the opening. This symbolizes Dave's thought throughout the day, it shows how Dave only thinks about music because it's the only thing he enjoys and that actually makes him feel something. At the end of the opening we are going to show the start of a new day and it's going to be very similar to the beginning when Dave is depressed to show that it's not something for specific day but it's a daily thing. When Dave is at work, he's going to be zoned out and have no facial expression and then his boss is going to talk to him and the sound is going to be faded out to show that he's not focused on anything else. By adding these specific details we'll show that Dave actually has a big problem with his depression and social skills which add more depth to the character.

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/writing-101-what-is-symbolism-symbolism-definition-and-examples-in-literature

https://industrialscripts.com/symbolism-examples/#:~:text=The%20purpose%20of%20symbolism%20in,This%20balance%20is%20key.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Music Research

 How are we going to get music?

It is obvious that our opening is going to need music because our plot is about music. So we thought that the best way to get original music and still make it original to the piece was to make it ourselves. Fortunately we both have experience working on music, mostly my partner. He has what is needed to make music, like a microphone, instruments, and the software in order to work on the beats. This is the reason we chose to make our plot related to music, we felt like it was easier for us to go with something that we already know in order to have a more effective project.

Research:

We want to make the genre that Dave produces to be different from other music producing movies. In these movies, the producers mostly work on hip hop and we felt that doing that would be cliché, so we decided to make our character produce hip hop with alternative rock. We also feel like this genre fits our character better because of his inspirations and his personality.

What is alternative rock?

Alternative rock (also know as alt-rock) is the genre of rock music that refers specifically to the punk style. This genre emerged in the 1980s and became more famous in the 1990s. As a genre, alternative rock consists of various sub-genres that mix in order to make the sound, some of the genres that are mixed in are gruge, britrock, gothic rock, grubie, and indie rock. By unifuing all these different genres, alternative rock is made. Some artists are also influenced by reggae, folk, electronic music, and jazz. Some artists and bands that make this kind of music are Radiohead, Nirvana, Muse, Strokes, and Cage the Elephant.

Nirvana Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTWKbfoikeg

What is hip hop?

Hip hop, also known as rap is a music genre popular all around the world. This genre was created in the 1970s by African Americans, Caribbean Americans, and Latinx Americans that lived in Bronx.  However, hip hop is more than a genre, it's a culture. Hip hop includes rap, turntablism, breakdancing, and street art. Hip hop is the music that goes in the background of rapping. Rappers use rhythm, lyrics, and vocal tone to express themselves. The difference between rappers is their flow or how they rap on top of the beat. Some rap artists include J Cole, Kanye West, Kid Cudi, Travis Scott, Tupac, and The Notorious B.I.G. 

Rap Music Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WILNIXZr2oc

https://musicaldictionary.com/what-is-hip-hop/

https://www.last.fm/tag/alternative+rock/wiki

https://www.grammy.com/artists/nirvana/8026

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Set Design

 Me and my partner wanted to draw out sketches of our sets so we can make sure to add details into them. We know that detail is key when making a film effective, this is mostly in what most people forget, like costume design, and set design, so we decided to add details into our sketch so we don't forget. These are the start of our first drafts for the office set and the set for Dave's room.

The Office Set:

For this set we wanted to keep it really boring and dull. We want to show that Dave doesn't like his job and show that he wants to get out of there as soon as he can. The dull and boring environment also show signs of his depression because it shows that he doesn't care about his job and he doesn't see it as something long term either because he'll get fired or because he'll quit. On his desk there's only the essentials to do his job, a computer, a keyboard, a pencil, a notebook, and a phone. He also had his personal cell phone and air pods. The only reason he has a notebook is to write lyrics for songs that he is working on. This blunt environment just shows in many different levels, Dave's lack of joy and excitement for life.

Dave's Room Set:

In comparison to Dave's place of work, we wanted to give the set of his room a more exciting and energetic vibe. His room is the only place where Dave feels something and that's because it's where he makes music. In his room we're going to include specific details that would show his personality and his passion for music. For example, we are going to have a studio and all the things needed for it, like a microphone, instruments, speakers, a computer with the music producing program. We also wanted to show a lot about his likings and him in general. So even though it is not seen in the sketch, we want to add posters and decorations that show who he is. For example, some posters of artists like Michael Jackson, Tupac, Nirvana, MF Doom, and others because they are what inspire his passion for music and the music he makes.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Goal and Outline of Opening

Goal of the opening

The goal of the opening is to show Dave's passion for music and his numbness when doing other things. We want to show that the only time that Dave seems happy is when he is making music and throughout the day all he thinks about is music and what he is going to work on that night. We also want to show that he's depressed, that he feels numb throughout the day even when he's with his loved ones. The opening takes place before Dave blows up as an artist so we want to show that he is discontent with his life and that he wants a life in music. That is why we're going to show him enjoying making music night and feeling numb doing anything else, even when he's with girlfriend.

Outline of the opening

The film opens with Dave waking up with no expression on his face, he gets ready for work and still has no expression on his face, in this scene Dave makes a specific sound that stays playing in the background. While driving to work he still has no expression on his face, in this scene Dave makes another sound that stays in the background with the other scene. Then we'll show Dave at work and he's zoned out and has no facial expression he makes a sound that plays with the sounds of the other scenes, then while he's sitting at his desk his boss comes over and talks to him, while Dave's boss is talking to him the sound is going to be faded out and the sounds from before are going to be playing, then the sounds stops and Dave' says "What" and his boss repeats what he said before, when the boss leaves Dave zones out again and the sounds from before start playing again. Then we'll show Dave driving to his girlfriend's house again and he still has no facial expression, he makes a sound here that adds on to the other sounds from before. He gets to his girlfriend's house and they watch a movie and he still has no facial expression, he makes a sound here again that mixes with the other sounds. Dave then gets to his house and he starts working on a beat, while he's working on this beat he seems excited and the sounds from before stop playing for about 5-10 seconds. Then Dave falls asleep and starts playing the beat by accident, then the camera zones out and we show the title. Then we show Dave wake up again and a short version of the beginning when he's getting ready and he doesn't have a facial expression. 

Me and my partner wanted to work on something that we knew about and use our strength and advantages to make it different and more creative, so since the film is about music we're going to make our main character make a specific sound every scene that is going to add up to be the beat that he was working on at night.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Character Development and Effect

 Character Effect

Me and my partner made sure that we created our characters with a lot of depth and detail. We know that in order to create a more effective piece we need to add a lot of detail into our sets, costumes, and story. In order to have a more detailed story and more detailed sets and costumes we thought it was a good idea to add a lot of detail to our main characters. For example, Dave is from Montana and his dad owns a farm, we can add objects relating to that to the set of Dave's room. Since Emily, Dave's girlfriend, is a photographer, we can also add specific details into the set of Dave's room, like a camera that she left in his house, or some of her photos hung up on the wall. 

We also want to show how the life of having a 9-5 job and working on something that you're actually passionate about at the same time can have an effect on someone. We want to show Dave's different sides and how he feels when he works on those two things. We want to show the contrast of his mood through everything else and his mood while making music. 

Character Development

Since we are working on drama, me and my partner want to make sure that Dave experiences all of the emotions and we want to show how he develops as a character. The film would start with Dave depressed and what the audience would think is his lowest, however, he has many people that care about him. Then, as his music blows up he gets happy and is happy with life for a while, however, he becomes egocentric because he's a young artist and he thinks that he can do anything now that he is famous, this makes him end up alone, which is actually his lowest. At this point the only person that still believes in him and is still by his side is his dad, so he goes to his father's farm for a while. Here he grows as a person and realizes that the life of being a celebrity isn't good for him and that he can still make music without releasing it to the public.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Characters

Characters and main character description

We created four characters that add more depth to the plot in order to have a better film opening with more details about the main character. Our four characters are Dave Walker, Dave’s father, Emily, and James. Our main character Dave Walker was born and raised in Great Falls, MT. He lived on his father’s farm and went to school where he met his best friend James. They met when they were in elementary school and had been best friends since then. While being at school and helping his father with the farm, he developed his passion for music, he learned how to play guitar, piano, the drums, and sing. In high school he got a job at a fast food restaurant because he wanted to start producing and he needed to buy the equipment. In high school he learned how to produce and started working on his music. He showed some friends and family, and they told him that he had talent and that he should pursue a career in music. After graduating high school he decided to go to Montana State University to study recording arts. After finishing college he decided to move to New York to pursue a career in music. While being in New York he met Emily, who he started dating. Pursuing his career was harder than he thought so he decided to get a 9-5 job at a company that sells music products and instruments, where he learned more about the field and made connections.






Descriptions of other characters

Some of the other characters that we created are Dave’s father, Emily, and James. James was Dave’s best friend and they met when they were in elementary school. He was always interested in computers and coding. He decided to study Computer Science in college and when he moved to New York with Dave he started working in a software company where he moved up in rankings and became the CEO of the company. Emily was born and raised in New York City, since she was a little girl she was very observant of the city and in high school he started the hobby of photography. In high school she took a photography class and it became her passion. She would take pictures of school events for the school paper, and after school she would go around the city taking pictures of what she saw. She decided to study photography at NYU which opened many doors for her. She started working for a big news company but she wasn’t enjoying it. Then she met Dave and once they started dating she started helping him by taking photos of him for his social media and for his advertisement in order to grow as an artist. She started learning more about film and editing in order to help Dave to make music videos, so she taught herself and created Dave’s first music videos. Dave’s father owned a farm in Montana and worked in it for years. He always supported Dave’s passion for music and encouraged him to pursue it. He also noticed Dave’s talent so he was certain that Dave could be successful in the field.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Plot

 

What is our plot?

Our story follows a 22-year-old man, Dave Walker, who moves to New York City, New York with his friend James in order to fulfill his dream of becoming an a successful artist. Dave struggles to find his place and his identity in the city and goes through a stage of depression. He didn't know how to handle his 9-5 job with his music, which is was his passion. Walker releases a mixtape online that goes viral so he quits his job and signs to a big record label while James becomes the CEO of a software company. As Walker creates a big name out of himself he starts to realize that there is a lot of corruption. 

Walker decides to take a break from music and isolate himself from everything at his father's farm in Montana, and he makes a promise to himself to not make any music during his time there, but he breaks his promise because he feels like he is not fit of that lifestyle, and his music starts to blow up again, so he starts touring around the world as an independent artist. Walker then starts depending on substance abuse for a cure to his lack of self-fulfillment. This makes him separate from his friends and family, which he starts regretting. Walker's girlfriend then leaves him after they get into a big argument about his drug and alcohol problem and how he has treated his family. At the end of his tour Walker crashes into a wall of empty desire, misery, and narcissism so he starts to rethink his entire career. He comes to the decision to take a break from music again because he feels like that world brings out the worst in him. He keeps making music because it helps him cope and spaces his mind out, however, he doesn't release it to the public.

How does our plot showcase drama?

We feel like our plot really shows the characteristics of a drama since it shows the main character at his highest and at his lowest. It also shows a midlife crisis that the character has to overcome by making hard decisions which can affect the people around him. We also feel like it is a relatable piece which is a big aspect in drama, this is key because it makes the audience connect better with the film and makes it more effective and successful. We also tried for our plot to have a message that our audience will think about after they finish watching the film. We decided to add romance to the piece since it's something that everyone experiences in a way every day, so adding it to the plot makes it more relatable and makes the audience connect better with the piece.

The Process Behind Creating a Film Opening: Research

Research on drama

Research is one of the most important parts of a successful project. So me and my partner decided to research about the genre that we're going to work on so we can have a more effective and better film opening. We decided to work on drama because we felt that it gave us a lot of flexibility and facility with the film opening. It's also the genre that we are more familiar with since it's a very popular genre. We also felt that it was easy to work with because the shots don't have to be complex, the costume design is easy since it could be someone dressed casually, and the sets are easy because we wouldn't need to go to specific places to film a drama film opening. Also, the plot is easy to make but we wanted to have more detailed explanations on how to create a more effective story and a story that the audience could connect better with.

With our research we found that normally in drama an individual, or a group of people going through their everyday life and facing obstacles and struggles. Normally in this genre the man character or character experience all emotions, happiness, anger, sadness, and fear, and the goal is to get the audience to connect with the characters so they experience the same emotions the character is experiencing. These films show the main character at their worse and they show how they overcome obstacle and struggle to get to where they want to be. Many times they have a theme or a message that they want to give to the audience in order to make them think about the movie when it's over. Some examples of drama films that have been successful that we want to follow in order to have a more effective project are CODA, A Star is Born, Tick Tick Boom, and Titanic. These films are very different from our plot but we feel like we can be greatly inspired by them and how they open their film.

 

https://nofilmschool.com/drama-genre-film-and-television

https://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Start

 We just finished the Music Marketing Project. This project helped me learn and understand ways to market and some filming strategies. While me and my group made the music video I learned a lot of ways to have the most effective shots that can make the audience connect with my work. Now that I'm going to start my portfolio project I can use these techniques to make my 2 minute film opening better.

My partner and I want to stay organized and keep a schedule so we don't have to stress out over time management. We also feel like this will make our project better since we're not going to be in a rush to complete the tasks that we want to complete.

In terms of the film opening, we thought about the genre that we want to work with, and we decided between two; suspense or comedy. We feel like these two genres would be easy to create a story and make an effective opening. We also started thinking about people we know that can be actors in our project and talked to them to see if they would do it. Me and my partner are going to try to meet every weekend or every other weekend to work on it so we can keep up with the schedule we are going to make in the upcoming week.

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 The music marketing project was a great learning experience and it helped me learn a lot about marketing and the music industry. When me and my group started working on the project we were stuck because none of us were very familiar or passionate about the genre of country, however, once we brainstormed for a little, our ideas started coming fast and everything was put together well at the end. We started thinking about the theme and color scheme of our duo. When we watched the original music video for the song we saw that they used many dark colors and most of the video was at night, so we decided to use a dark theme and the color schemes of dark colors like black. Then we had to create the name and this took us a long time because we couldn't find the right name that would fit the band, but then we thought of the name O.N.L.Y and to give it more meaning we decided to make each letter in the word to be the initials of the singers, so the first two letters are the male singer's initials which stand for Oscar Newborn, and the second two letters are the female's initials which stand for Lila Yeager. Then we proceeded to create the logo, we wanted the font and design of the logo to match the song and the theme of our duo, so we decided to keep it clean, and have a black background with white letters to contrast the two and make it look clean, attractive, and easy to read. While doing this we also created merch with the logo and designs that would match the theme of the duo and the presentation.

We then decided to plan and create our music video. Since we wanted to stay with the dark theme and color schemes we wanted for most of the shots to be at night or during the sunset. So the video starts with the couple fighting and breaking up during the sunset which is a very beautiful shot during a really heartbreaking experience. The song starts with the words "Picture perfect memories scattered all around the floor" and to make the video correlate with the song the first few shots after the shot of the sunset are of the couple by themselves looking at photos from when they were together, we thought it was a really good idea to connect the song with our video. To match the video with the theme of the duo and song, we filmed some shots at night at Weston Town Center, mostly the shots of the duo singing their parts while walking around. We thought that the setting of Weston Town Center portrayed the feeling of a small town which is what we wanted the video's and our duo's theme to be. 

https://youtu.be/jXb8rcXrD-s

Then we had to create the presentation to present our duo and our song. We wanted to stay with the same simple color scheme and theme so that our whole presentation was consistent and easy to understand and take in. We also didn't put a lot of writing in our slides because we thought that it wouldn't be appealing to the audience and we would lose their interest in our presentation; so we decided to put little information and for each of us to know our part and be familiar with the other parts of the presentation. When we presented, all of us were familiar with the presentation and it ran smoothly, we also kept it entertaining and thought that the audience was engaged most of the time.

I learned a lot about marketing during the course of this project. I learned different ways to market mostly in the music industry and how an artist's growth is very dependent on the way that it is marketed. It also helped me learn a lot about the music industry and the distribution of music digitally and physically in order to make an artist grow. It was also a great way to learn and practice my time management and to have a schedule in order to have a better project. Time management and scheduling will help me have a better portfolio project because if I am organized, the results will be better because the work won't be rushed.