The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: CCR

 Here I’m reflecting my experience during this project and I talk about what I learned doing it. I also reflect the techniques I used to create a more effective opening. 

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: Final Film

 We finally finished the project! I'm really happy with this experience, I feel like I learned a lot and I'll be able to apply it to my life in the future. 

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: Updates

So... why did we have to make changes?

It's most likely that in everything we do, our plan isn't going to go perfectly. For example, when we were planning our opening we had the idea of adding more scenes and making the scenes longer, we even recorded these scenes and shots but we couldn't add them because of the time limit. Another reason we had to make changes is because we couldn't get an actress in the scenes that we wanted so we had to cut off the scenes that is actress. At the end we think that if we had a bit more time in  the time limit we could've had a better and more effective opening because we would've been able to add the amount of shots and the scenes that we wanted to add but had to cut off.

What scenes did we have to cut off?

The most important scene that we had to cut off is the girlfriend scene. We felt that this scene added a lot to the opening since it showed that Dave wasn't even happy when he was with his girlfriend but was happy when he was making music, foreshadowing problems further in the film. We couldn't add this scene because we couldn't get the actress to go according to our schedule so it was difficult to film and we didn't want to rush this scene because it was important, so we decided to just cut it off. We also had to cut many shots from all the scenes that we wanted to show in the finished product. For example some shots from the studio scene that would have made it look better.

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: Editing

 How did we edit our film?

Our main focus while editing was to show the contrast between Dave's life at work and his life when he is making music. In order to show this contrast we lowered the saturation in the scenes where Dave is getting for work and the scenes at the office. Lowering the saturation shows the darkness of his life during this time, which contrasts with the studio scenes in which he's enjoying himself. We then had to added the credits which we decided to use a font and color that would match the color of the hat that Dave is wearing at the end to have the same color scheme. The hardest part of the editing was matching the sounds with the video but we figured out a way that if we made it like a song it would be easier to fill the empty spaces without sound.

What issues did we have while editing?

Editing our opening was one of the most important part of the project and since we have to use technology for it and technology isn't always reliable, we had many issues. The first issue we had was that many of the computers that we were trying to use wouldn't allow us to open Adobe Premier Pro which is the software that we wanted to use. We solved this by burrowing a computer from someone, however, this person needed their computer back before they left our city, so we had to finish editing before he left. Another issues that we had was that the sound didn't match what was displayed on the screen, so we had to make many edits in order to make this work.

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: Filming Part 2

 Me and my partner are finally done filming!!!

This week we were able to follow the schedule that we had planned and finished filming. We filmed the studio scene in Tuesday after school, and we knew it was the most important scene so we made sure that our shots were good quality and showed what we wanted to show. In this scene we decided to use a lot of color because it brought brightness to the scene, showing that music is what he likes doing. We used an LED lightbulb that changed color to make the scenes look better and more artistic.

Then after recording the studio scene, we wanted to be finished with filming so we went to the set for the office and filmed the office scene. We wanted to make this office look boring so we made sure that the desks and office as a whole was plain white and cleared so that it didn't show many details about Dave.

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: What I have learned so far

 What did I think about this project before starting it?

Before I started this project I thought that it would be easy, that if I followed my plan, I would be able to finish this without any stress. I thought that my ideas were going to look exactly like they looked in my head and that it was possible to do every idea that I had in the span of two minutes. I also thought that two minutes seemed like a long time and it was going to be hard to get to that time and finding a plot that would give me an opening that would say the plot of the movie in that time.

What have I learned so far?

After planning and working on my film opening I have learned and realized many things. One of the main things I have learned is that time management is key in the success of a film. I also learned that for a film opening two minutes was really short, I had planned a very long opening that I had to cut many of the things we filmed because it was way too long. Another thing was the fact that many of the things that I had planned to do I couldn't do because they were too difficult to film or edit, so next time I'll have to think more realistically.

Overall I'm glad I made many mistakes now because it makes me better for my future projects and helps me learn to do a better job at solving and avoiding problems.

The Process Behind Making a Film Opening: Schedule for new week

 Why do we need a new schedule?

My partner and I have been having issues staying according to schedule due to traveling and other activities that have prevented us from doing so. Next week we will have to follow the schedule we planned because if we don’t then we won’t be done before the due date. 

What’s the new schedule?

Day 1: March 30

Work on CCR script in class

Film studio scene in the afternoon.

Edit studio scene and morning scene

Day 2: March 31st

Film office scene 

Finish editing studio scene and edit office scene

Day 3: April 1st

Work on CCR script in class

Film girlfriend scene

Edit girlfriend scene

Add sound to everything

Day 4: April 3rd

Record CCR and submit project and CCR.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Issues

 What are the issues we are having?

This week we had spring break. Spring break could’ve  been the most productive week for our opening because we didn’t have school and we could have easily finished filming our opening and focused on the reflection and the editing instead of having to focus on filming and editing at the same time. However, we barely got any work done because me and my partner both had to travel. He had to travel in the beginning of the week and I had to travel at the end of the week, which means that we had to move all of our schedule to this week. 

Another issue with our opening is that it has been had to record the girlfriend scene because the actress playing it with a jot available most of the time and we are going to have to record this scene too next week. We also know that we are going to edit the sound because it is a big part of the opening and our plot as a whole. We also have some shots that we don’t really like for our film so we are going to have to reshoot many shots that we have already shot so that we can have a better and more effective project. We are also going to have to write and film the reflection individually, and this is a big part of our project so it should be a great focus this week.

How are we going to resolve these issues?

We know that next week it’ll be a busy week, so we will have to have a schedule that we will follow so that we can still have a chance of having a good effective project. We will plan to focus each day on a specific scene and that same day I’ll edit it and send it to my partner so he can fix the sound because I am better at editing and he is better with sound. We will also use our class time to write the reflection and the record it over the weekend, we feel like if we use all of our class time for this we will be able to write the reflection while still being able to focus on the opening itself

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: New Schedule

 Even though we were able to record some of the opening this week, we still have a lot to film and we weren't able to meet our schedule due to complications during the week. Therefore, me and my partner are going to have to make a new schedule that will allow us to still have time to edit. Me and my partner know that following this new schedule will be key to the success of our project. Fortunately, it will be easier to follow this schedule because it's mostly going to be during spring break, so we won't have any other classes or things to worry about.

Day 1: Monday 3/21

Record the studio scene 3-4 hours

Day 2: Wednesday 3/23

Record the girlfriend scene 1-2 hours

Day 3: Thursday 3/24

Record the office scene and reshoot previous shots 1-2 hours

We feel like this schedule spreads out the work and will give us time to have good effective shots that will make our film opening better. It will also give us good time to edit the film in the way that we have been thinking about in the beginning.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Group Meetings

 This week my class had group meeting in which we shared our project ideas and our progress to our classmates. In this meeting I shared my idea and was looking for help in some aspects of the project. For example, me and my partner weren't sure if the name "It Comes in Waves" was right for our project, but my classmates said that it was and that we should keep the name. My classmates also gave me the idea of making the saturation darker at the beginning of the film opening since we are showing that he is depressed and then have more brighter colors at the end to show how he is enjoying making music.

This meeting really helped me figure out some doubts that I had about my film. It also helped me build confidence towards it because my classmates said that they really liked my idea. Also, the fact that I was able to answer questions that my classmates had also helped me because it showed that I know a lot about my project and have clear ideas that I know how to execute. It was also revealing knowing that a portion audience that me and my partner were targeting liked our idea and all we had to do was execute it correctly. Overall, this meeting was very helpful and I thank my teacher for giving us the opportunity to participate in it.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Filming Part 1

This week my partner and I finally started filming. We realized that our plan in the storyboard was difficult to accomplish with the resources that we had so we had to change some of the shots and some of the order of the shots while keeping the same story. One of the problems that we had was lighting. We need to have a dark room while still having good shots so we had to use soft light but we didn’t have that kind of lighting so we had to work with what we had. This week we filmed the morning scene and the car scenes which doesn’t go according to schedule but we thought doing this the same day was smarter than doing it in separate days, so we decided to change the schedule to go according to what we recorded this week. 

Some difficult shots that we had to take were the car shots because we didn’t have a tripod or any way to hold the camera so my partner had to record me while I drive around. We also think that we are going to have to film these shots again because it was raining and in order to be able to keep these shots it’ll have to rain the other days that we film which is unlikely so we will probably have to record these scenes again. 

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Shooting Schedule

 My partner and I wanted to break up our shooting days into four days. This would allow us to have more time for blog posts and for editing. For the office scene we are going to have to travel to a different location that is 30 minutes away from our city. We know that we will need to manage our time well and at the same time have good shots in our film, so we decided to add breaks so we are not overwhelmed with shooting all the time.

Day 1: The daily routine

We are going to film when Dave is getting ready for work. We will need to get the necessary outfits for filming and go to the necessary location which is my partner's house.

Day 2: The office scene

We are going to have to travel to a location 30 minutes away from our city and we are going to have an actor play the boss.

Day 3: Driving and Girlfriend

Filming will be at the actress playing the girlfriend's house which means we would have to travel to another location. We will also film the scenes where Dave is driving which won't be difficult to shoot.

Day 4: Studio and Bedroom Scenes

This scene is the biggest part of the opening so we know that it will take the longest time so we are going to schedule more time for this specific scene.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Issues we have experienced

 As expected my partner and I have experienced some issues throughout our planning of our opening. However, we have been able to solve those problems easily, so they haven't really affected our film opening.

Some issues we have experienced and how we solved them

One of the main changes that we have made to the project is the addition of the scene with Dave's girlfriend. in this scene we want to show the importance of her character in the film. We also wanted to highlight how Dave still feels no emotion when he is with her but doesn't care enough to tell her that. At the beginning of our planning we didn't think of this scene but later on we thought it was a very good scene to add to our opening because it shows how depressed Dave actually is.

My partner and I also had difficulty deciding on the title for our film. We know that the title is a key part not only to show the audience what it's about and add more depth to the film, but also to market the film. We decided to go with the title "It Comes in Waves" because or opening relies a lot on sound and we wanted to use that for the title so we used the word sound waves and we thought about the saying "it comes in waves" and thought it symbolized our film very well because of Dave's up and downs throughout it.

Overall, my partner and I did have some issues but we were able to overcome them. For example, we didn't agree about some scenes but we each gave our pitch on why we thought our idea was better and then together ended up deciding what could fit the opening better. We think we have worked really well together and if we continue like this our project can have a very good result.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Storyboard

Why are storyboards important?

Storyboards are an essential part of filming. Storyboards allow people to organize their thoughts and ideas by showing the shots and details in camera work. Storyboards are also a good way to not forget ideas in a film, a person can write down and draw out exactly what they are thinking and this allows them to look back at it and remembering exactly what they were thinking at the time. This also allows the filming process to be easier and run more smoothly which makes it faster and more efficient. Furthermore, storyboards allow for mistakes to be identified in the early stages so they don't affect the film more later in the working process. 

Our Storyboard

In our storyboard we wanted to show the details of each shot and show the camera shots and angles that we are going to use. This allowed us to display our ideas very well and we feel like later on it will allow us to work faster and more efficiently. We also decided to add the shots that the sound would be added in and go throughout the opening. We showed this because we wanted to plan out our shots and start thinking about how we are going to edit the beat at the end to fit the opening. Another reason why we decided to use a storyboard is that it allowed us to think about the sets and outfits we need for the opening which allowed us to start thinking about the shooting schedule.

https://www.elementalmedia.co.uk/the-importance-of-using-storyboards-video-production-malvern/#:~:text=The%20storyboard%20is%20a%20very,saving%20you%20time%20and%20money.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Symbolism of name

Importance of Title

The name of our opening is "It Comes in Waves". My partner and I realized that the name of our film was a very important part of our film. The title tells the audience more about what the film is going to be  about and gives the story more symbolism. My partner and I wanted to choose the right name that would fit not inly the plot but the opening itself and since it's about music the word "waves" was a good word to use. At first, we thought about just using the word Waves as the title but we thought something was missing so we decided to go with the saying "it comes in waves".

Symbolism of Title

The title "It Comes in Waves" really displays what we want to show with our film and our film opening. First of all, throughout the film Dave has ups and downs, he is seen at the beginning as a depressed person until he makes music, which is what we show in our opening, it's like a waves, he has his downs and his lows. Furthermore, throughout the film Dave also has his highs and his lows, for example, when he loses his friends and girlfriend because of egocentric attitude when he's famous, and then he is seen depressed again, but after stopping his music career and isolating himself, he is seen happier and actually enjoying life. The fact that our film is about music is also another reason we decided to use this title. Sound is a big part of our film and our film opening relies a lot on it, so using the word waves for sound waves is a good way to show what the film is about.

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Locations

 Importance of the sets in our opening and what locations we are using

The sets and locations that we choose for our opening are very important because we want to display specific feelings. The room has to be where Dave expresses himself and actually feels emotions, so we want to add specific details about Dave throughout his room that show more about him. The location also needs to have instruments and music productions tools in order to show that Dave is passionate about music and to have the scene of Dave making the beat. My partner works on music production so we are going to use his room for the scenes that take place in Dave’s room. In order to make it easier for us and to not have many filming locations we are going to film the scene in the kitchen in my partner’s house too. Even though his house doesn’t show what we want to display in Dave’s house, we are going to use different camera angles to have a better effect. 

One of the most important locations is the office. We want to display a feeling of boredom and a depressive tone to further show Dave’s feelings about his job. The office that we use has to not have many decorations and has to have the items that an office needs in order to make it easier for us. Dave’s depression is show mostly in this scene of the opening. We show that he is not happy with his life and doesn’t want to be there but needs to in order to stay alive. We know an adult that works in an office really similar to what we were thinking and we feel like we could display what we want very well in this location. 

The Process Behind Creating A Film Opening: Music

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What was the thought process in making the music?

Since our opening is very reliant on music we realize that what the music we produced has to match our opening and our plot overall. Our opening is very reliant on sounds since in each scene Dave is going to make a sound duty’s will add on to the beat that is shown in the end. My partner and I decided to use every day items to make the beat. For example, we used a pen tapping to make the drums because we know that Dave will make a sound tapping that will add on to the beat. Other everyday items that we used are salt shakers, a chair, and many other items.




What difficulties are we going to face in the future?

We know that the beat has to match the opening and since each sound is added after every scene, we are going to have to edit the scenes and the beat so it match the whole opening. We know that this will be a difficult task and our beat will have to change a lot but we think that the music is the key part to making this project different and more effective. We are also thinking of changing the sounds that we previously mentioned in order to make the opening better and easier to edit later on.

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.