Establishing a schedule

 This will be my timeline for what I am going to do each week for my project. 

Overall Plan

These are the major aspects of each week of my project

1st and 2nd Week: Initial research

• Skim and brainstorm ideas and genres
• Research film openings of my chosen genre
• Create schedule

3rd Week: Planning

• Storyboarding
• Create a supply list (Shop for the materials needed for this project)
• Find music
• Find possible sound effects, and plan for specific foley sounds (If needed)
• Sketch a layout for the set design 

4th and 5th Week: Production

• Create and prepare the set
• Filming (Animating) 
• Recording foley (if needed)
• Revise completed film

6th and 7th Week: Reflection 

• Research info related to the reflection and CCR
• Create final reflection
• Review CCR

Timeline (Time breakdown)

1st Week (1/21-1/25)

• Project start
• Research genres

2nd Week (1/26-2/1)

• Create schedule
• Test film?
• Final decision

3rd Week (2/2-2/8)

• Storyboard
• sketching
• Supply list

4th and 5th Week (2/9-2/21)

• Create the set
• Filming/animating

6th and 7th Week (2/22-2/28)

• Research reflection
• Finish final reflection

Portfolio Genre Research #2 (War)

 Although my opinion is mainly set on making my project a sci-fi film, I am still interested in earlier ideas I had. War is my third choice, just after horror as my second choice. The War and Horror genre can be very similar in some aspects, so if I am going to make a war film then it is going to have to  either be very unique or conforms to the usual tropes of the war genre. Typically the war genre consists of a male adult audience since most war veterans are male. 

The war genre typically depicts the effects of armed conflict on society: mainly showing soldiers, civilians, and leaders facing intense violence and loss. Especially when characters are confronted with situations that make them question their own morality and humanity. Movies that perfectly encapsulate this are Saving Private Ryan, Dunkirk, and Come and See. These movies not only have characters that question their own moral judgement but also people have different views of war. 

The type of war film I want to do. (Psychological)

If I am going to do a war film then I want it to mainly follow a soldier character wandering through a barren world. I cannot do a historical film since my project is not allowed to be a documentary, which probably also means that it cannot be based off a real historical event. Which is fine with me since the idea I have for my film is going to be very abstract and surreal. Famous director Martin Scorsese perfectly sums up how I want to depict my film, on his IMDb page on his quotes. "Cinema is a matter of what's in the frame and what's out". It does not matter if my film is historically accurate or not, I just want my message to be seen and interpreted. 

The main movies that I will be taking the most inspiration from will be Dunkirk, Mad God, and 9. These movies mainly depict war through visuals and no talking, especially Mad God and Dunkirk. Mad God and 9 mainly shows its war through beautiful wide shots and destruction, while Dunkirk takes a very different approach by not showing the enemy in person at all. 

Analysis of War (Psychological)

Dunkirk by Christopher Nolan has the most unique take on the portrayal of the enemy. Instead of showing the enemy outright like Saving Private Ryan, it instead does not show them at all. The closet the enemy was shown was through planes and a brief blurred scene at the end of the movie. By not showing the enemy, it makes the antagonists feel like predators hunting down and picking off the British one by one. I am still not sure if this is how I want to portray the antagonists in my project.

Come and See by Elem Klimov is a very horrific war film. Its depictions of war is not fantasy but of real crimes. I love this movie because of how much it makes the characters and the audience question their own morality. Not to mention the brilliant use of the lens gaze, where the characters stare directly into the camera and at the viewer, making the audience feel incredibly uncomfortable feeling as if they are being personally acknowledged by the subjects on screen. 

Mad God by Phil Tippet has a similar portrayal of war to Come and See, where the brutality of war is not dimmed but shown directly. The main difference is that Mad God is a very abstract portrayal of war while Come and See depicts a more realistic take. Mad God is incredibly artistic in its view of war, showing mountains of dead bodies and never ending battlefields. Artistically, I will be taking the most inspiration from Mad God. 

Other war genre sources that I would like to use

Paintings by Zdzislaw Beksinski

All Quiet on the Western Front (Both book and 1930 adaptation)

Paintings by Otto Dix

Empire of the Sun

1917

Portfolio Genre Research #1 (Sci-fi)

My opinion is set on making my portfolio film project on the sci-fi genre, specifically space. I initially wanted to do a horror film, but I decided to do space since it is more unique.

The sci-fi (space) genre is usually defined by humanity's, or at least a high intelligence's, interaction with the unknown. Such stories set in space are usually placed beyond Earth, like distant planets or space stations or other galaxies. This genre is usually followed by advanced technology, aliens, and artificial intelligence. The greatest movies that define this movie genre is 2001 A Space Odyssey and Interstellar. These films usually show the vast expanse of space and the uncertain fate that comes with the unknown.

The type of Sci-fi I want do do (Space)

My film does not have a main story or specific narrative that the viewers should only think of. I like to have my films make the audience think on their own interpretations of my work instead of one set definition. This is perfectly explained by Stanley Kubrick according to TvTropes quote page of the famous director. "You're free to speculate as you wish about the philosophical and allegorical meaning of the film...but I don't want to spell out a verbal road map for 2001 that every viewer will feel obligated to pursue or else fear that he's missed the point.". This point is still evident in the movie Interstellar by Christopher Nolan: many long shots of space ships drifting in space with no talking, music is only used selectively for pivotal moments in the movies, and each film takes its time to flesh out its story. Audience wise, the space genre mostly consists of young adult viewers and people interested in science. 

Other than 2001 and Interstellar, other movies that I have found that define the space genre is: First Man, The Martian, and Apollo 13. I chose these films because I do not want to make my project like Starwars or Guardians of the Galaxy, where the space genre is used to show technology out of bounds within human reach. I want an aspect of realism for my film, as for all films, but I just want my film to be leaning more on the realistic side. 

Analysis of Sci-Fi (Space)

First Man by Damien Chazelle is about the true story of astronaut Neil Armstrong and the long decade it took to get Armstrong to become the first man to walk on the moon. I love this movie because of its amazing use of lighting and color. Not a surprise since Chazelle is the same director who made La La Land and Whiplash, two movies which use incredible use of colors. I mainly want to look into this film because of its realistic portrayal of the space program and the process of men becoming astronauts, along with accurate depictions on how astronauts pilot their space crafts. 

The Martian by Ridley Scott is about how an astronaut named Mark Watney gets stranded on the planet Mars after a severe dust storm separated him from his crew. This movie is realistic in its own way by showing, mostly, accurate science on how Watney is able to survive and produce life on the desolate red planet. I like this film because it shows the big differences between planets like Earth and Mars. People are so used to their lifestyles that they forget that large objects like Mars exist that used to house life, but are now reduced to large red rocks floating about. 

Other space movies I like to use as inspiration

Alien (1979)

Ad Astra (2019)

Andor (2022-2025)

Project Hailmary (Book from 2021)

Transitioning into Cambridge Portfolio Project

 From now on until March 17th, I will be blogging my research and production process of my portfolio project. 

For my stories, I do not like to add much context nor do I like to use much dialogue at all. I prefer to use the classic "Show don't tell" technique, make the viewers piece together the context of the story instead of straightforwardly telling them what the story is about. I prefer this because most of the narratives I make does not have a deep plot that needs a lot of dialogue to clue the viewers in. Instead I prefer to focus on a simple yet impactful meaning to my stories that can still be told through just visuals. 

My first approach is to break my plan down into very simples chunks. For the first week or two I want to brainstorm ideas, along with starting a shopping list of items I need for my project. I also want to make some test animations on lighting and editing for my film. 

For my film, whether it be sci-fi or a different genre, I want it to be stop motion animated. I am mainly leaning towards doing a space film, but I am not sure if most of the film techniques that I know of will work on a significantly lower budget film like mine. So I want to first conduct some film tests, including test footage of animation and lighting. If the test footage comes out not the way I want it, then I will consider other ideas such as the war or horror genre (Although my teacher recommended not do horror). Lighting is the main obstacle I see in my project, since I am not sure if I can recreate space scenes like from Interstellar or 2001 A Space Odyssey in just my bedroom. I am going to have to research more into the film techniques of these space movies to see if I can actually recreate them or not. 

Blog Posting - Music Marketing #2

Link: Music marketing project blog video

Blog Posting - Music Marketing #1

For my music marketing project, each group were given 3-4 songs to choose from. My group decided to choose "We are young" by Fun. My group immediately began to brainstorm ideas for what we want for the presentation, blog, and music video. It was great for us to brainstorm ideas first before starting the project, since we are able to suggest what we want for the project first before exploring the specific aspects of our film. 

My group decided to do a boy band for the music video, specifically a new boy band who just got into the music industry who are all about partying and having fun. From this, my group now has a template to work from. My group named the boy band we are showcasing "One Dream", using boy bands such as One Direction as the main inspirations for our hypothetical band. 

Mise-en-scene project

 In this project, I was put in a group with three other people to make a character station based off a prompt given to us. Our prompt was “Quiet and enigmatic, this character keeps their past hidden and observes from the sidelines. As the story unfolds, their secrets come to light”.

My team's activities consists of: making a mood board, make an interactive slideshow, getting decorations, making a diary, and making a story for our character. 

For the character, my team decided to go with a Hannah Montana type character, a girl who hides her identity as a pop singer. We named the girl Violet Smith, and her pop persona Scarlet. Violet Smith decided to leave the stage of Alabama in order to keep her identity a secret. Now living in Florida, Violet keeps her head down although the risk of someone spying on her is still at risk. 

For the mood board, we did two sides. One side is organized and normal, characterized by purple and blue colors, and a symbol of the moon. The other side is the opposite, being messy and characterized by the color pink with pictures of concerts and crowds. Other decorations were also used, like Harry Potter books and a microphone, both objects showing Violet’s hidden and pop star lives. 

Me and my team organized all these elements by laying out a table cloth, before adding the Harry Potter books and mood board. We made sure that the laptops are open with the slideshow on.

When brainstorming for the prompt, we began looking at well-known films and tv shows that show a mysterious character protagonist like Silence of the Lambs and Hannah Montana. We decide to go with the Hannah Montana type character. When starting our construction, we wanted to first narrow our characters story down, first giving her a name. With the name violet, we built from her story that she is a pop star who goes by the name Scarlet, who selectively keeps her identity hidden with a mask. This would be a boring story without any drama, so certain events would cause Violet to move away because of fear that her identity might be leaked. 

I personally find that our group did a great job at fleshing out our character, especially the story and background of Violet. Maybe we should of been creative, since one of the other groups made a tinder for their character which was very creative. But overall me and my team did a great job. 

Multimedia Mise-en-scene Project