Editing pt.2 :)

It's officially crunch time! As the due date is coming closer, we both knew we have to wrap up this project as soon as possible. Today in class Ellie and I continued on putting all of the scenes together, which once again took a while to find the right transitions. After we finished putting them all together we thought, what could be better than some peer reviewing? We knew that we were missing the sound, but any feedback was good at this point. We grabbed some friends in our Aice Media class and showed them the opening.

They all really liked the concept and thought everything looked more realistic than they thought it would be. Some things they pointed out to us was the color. They believed the color was to bright for a scary movie, and they were so right. The bright lights contrasted everything we were trying to prove in the opening. It completely slipped both of our minds, but that little changed made the opening so much better. Also the scene where we zoom out of the number 5 paper on the wall they believed was to fast. More emphasis was needed there.So to fix this we put a time lag to slow it down. This scene being slower really did allow the viewer to think and make that connection between Annie and the poster number 5.

 Other than these two things they believed that it was really good, but they want to see it with the sound. Sound really does give the scene a whole other dimension and is vital to the opening, but we agreed to do it at someones house this weekend so are in a quiet environment where we can make the voiceovers/folleys the best. We will show the next class after everything is finished ( hopefully)!

Editing!

It’s the time to start editing! Now that all of our clips have been finished we uploaded them to my computer to put them together in iMovie.  Both of us were a little unsure of how to use it so we watched a tutorial to help https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vbzDXk4vKk . This helped us learn the basic iMovie skills we needed to make the clips flow well and use effects that would help better our film opening.

After this we decided that we had to much footage and had to choose the best cuts from each scene. We even had to cut out scenes that we originally wanted in there due the timing being over two minutes, which is odd because we were so worried we were going to be under time! With all of our best scenes picked out we started to put them into iMovie one at a time. The hardest part was figuring out what transition to use in order for it to look natural. We ended up using a decent amount fade to white and honestly for some we didn't need transitions at all! We tried almost every transition for each scene and then we voted; we weighed out the pros and cons to each before choosing. Also some of our scenes had to much extra footage on them so we had to cut a decent amount of then, which gave us some trouble for a bit, but we just looked back at the tutorial and figured it all out.

Ellie and I worked for about an hour trying to finish as much as we can, but good quality takes time. We knew that we were going to need to spend a good few more hours working on this project to finish. Next class we are planning to finish putting all of the scenes together with transitions and this weekend to finalize everything with the newscast, folleys, voice-overs, and music.

Finally filming

The time has come! Ellie and I filmed today. Let me tell you it wasn’t as easy as we thought. First we had to clean out the room we filmed in, and trust me that took a while. Man was that room messy! After that task we had to layout all of the props strategically. This was more of a trial and error kind of thing. We placed everything and moved them around maybe 30 times to get the right feel. Of course this it was hard to convey a “layer’ kinda place in a bed room, but we really made our best effort. I believe we did a good job. For the psychopath character we used my Dad, Barry Zuckerman. We dressed him in clothes we thought conveyed the creepiness of his character and this situation. With lots of emphasis on his creepy shoes mostly because we plan on focusing a lot on them during the opening.

We started filming and immediately realized we couldn’t solely go off our story board, it was just not working. The angles and lighting all had to be tested, so we have a crazy amount of clips. I would say we had the most trouble trying not too get Barry’s face in the clips. We had to adjust many angles for this, though we do believe  that not showing his face calls for a better mystery. We did use a lot of close ups to show the emotions and complexity of the scene. This is vital in a scene like this because nothing else is really going on. We still haven’t done the voice over, but we decided to save the follies and newscast for later. Our first priority today was getting the filming done.

Our title, “Five” is hinted at at the begging and even written out at the end. We plan on using an iris opening inferring that Ellie is number 5. It’s supposed to be symbolic! Also in one of the last scenes it is written on the mirror as a credit. Another one of our credits says “AE films” and it stands for Alexa Ellie films ( very original, I know :) ) All in all we had a fantastic time filming and made some funny memories. Bloopers soon to come.

Props on props

Things are finally getting real! Today Ellie and I went and got our props for the film. We started at party city for some fake blood and then went to Hobby Lobby and for hair, jars, and a T shirt(Annie’s costume). Honestly we were concerned with the budget, but everything ended up being relatively cheap. Considering all of this, this was the easiest part of the props. This is because now we had to actually go home and customize them. 

We wanted to incorporate lots of fake blood and weaponry into it. With the help of some scotch tape, we were able to make amazing looking props that were used as credits. We just simply put tape on the props and wrote over them ( In one super cool fonts, shoutout Ellie). We made sure they fit the theme because we know how important they are  ( http://filmshortage.com/typography-and-titles-in-film/ ) It may seem silly to put so much thought into the font, but seriously it made the storyline much better. We worked for hours trying to make every detail perfect, because we know that one thing out of place can be disastrous. It was messy task, but the way everything turned out made it so worth it.

One problem we did endure was finding 17 pictures! So now the title of the movie is "5" because now she will be the fifth girl! Other than that, we didn't have many hiccups. Seeing all of the props played out ready to be used is making me more excited than I thought for this project. This journey is coming closer to the end, but yet we have only just started! Up next, filming!

Helpful opinions

Today in class we had a very productive time. Instead of normal class, which we have been working on our project, we met in groups and gave critiques to our fellow classmates. During this many things were brought to my attention: for example, I need to elaborate more on my blog, I was given ideas on how to condense the opening to a shorter time, other prop ideas we can use ( Knifes,syringes, and jars). On another note, from all of my group members I got lots of positive feedback, which really helped my confidence level. Now I feel stronger going into the filming process. With several people supporting my ideas, putting my film out there isn’t nearly as scary. Also another thing I noticed, viewing other classmates blogs I noticed that I need to step up my game a little. Many of their blogs were very colorful and creative, while mine is kinda boring. I need to go back and add some pictures and elaborate on my previous blogs.

After meeting in group , Eliie and I decided that we are going to film this weekend. Seeing the due date creeping up on us was getting us nervous, considering we are expecting some sort of obstacle. Also before we film we need to go out and get the props, so we are going to go sometime before we film. We just need to make sure everything is in out price range (no more than $20 each). Making everything look real with this budget will be hard, but we will make it work one way or another. We are going to use old jars, knifes, and fake blood that we had previously. One thing that we never discussed was the target audience. For our film we are aiming to reach the ages of men( mostly) and woman ages 15-30. This is because before the age of 15 this horror may not be appropriate and after the age of 30, many adults would nor prefer this genre. When choosing this I used http://www.filmmakingstuff.com/define-your-movies-target-audience/ to steer me in the right direction. I considered age/genre/ethnicity, nationality, class/status,employment, marital status, and the media used when deciding. With all of this into account I believe that I hit the correct target audience.

So close, yet so far!

With everything we felt needed to be done finished,we decided it was time to start the storyboard. We know this will help organize our thoughts ,which is must needed. Considering I have close to no artistic ability, Ellie took the role of drawing everything out. We really want to focus on the beginning grasping everyone's attention and the end to really make it something else. It's true that most people remember the endings more than any other part so with that being said, making the ending the best part will leave everyone with a good impression and want more . We learned about this on here: http://www.polleverywhere.com/blog/remember-beginning-ending-presentation/ .

 Another thing we wanted to incorporate was the constrast between this horrible situation and the normal lives of others around her. To show this we wanted to start the opening off with a family in a car listening to the newcast and then that's when the graphic match/sound bridge would come into play. This would highlight the differences in their situations, which infers that that was the poor little girl that was taken just a little bit ago. One thing Ellie and I disagreed about was whether or not we should reveal the psychopath during the opening. I thought we should and Ellie said we shouldn't. After weighing out the pros like the fact we could make the movie even more scary with his clothing and possibly makeup and cons it could take away from the mystery, I agreed with Ellie in the end. So now we were gonna focus a lot on his feet keeping lots of high and canted angles to help portray the eeriness of the scene. 

This is what we have so far!

Most of the story board will be  the credits, which will be written on objects around the room. Their won't be too much going on with moving around and such, but for that we will use folleys magnify the sound. We still have to finish some of the story board before we go ahead and film, so next time we meet we will definitely do that.

Getting Specific

Last time Ellie and I met we had the intentions of filling in the little gaps next class, and that's exactly what we did. First on the list was finding a  person to play the psychopath. We went through lists of friends who we thought would be good for it and concluded that it really can't be one of our friends. Honestly a 16 year old boy doesn't look to scary. We thought using one of our Dads would fit the job perfectly. The psychopath needs to fit the stereotypical vision otherwise the vision may not be seen as well as we want it to be. Along with features some of the qualities shown below will be incorporated. A man in his 50s would defiantly do the trick. Even though his face will not be seen, his body will be ( thats why it is so important).

https://otterlover58.files.wordpress.com/2015/06/psychopathy_diagram.jpg

 So with that done now we had to think about how we are going to start off the scene. We really want to do lots of cool angles and cuts to keep the viewers interested. Both of our favorite transition is a graphic match so we were trying to figure out ways to bring this into play. We thought we can use the radio in a car to a radio in the "layer" as a way to do it. It turned out being harder than we thought. We had trouble figuring out what angles would look best in the scene. Basically we ended up thinking that the beginning of the films angles are something we are going to have to play around with once we start filming. Although,we named a few that we thought would look good and are going to try them all out. If something better comes around too we will absolutly try it out too! Assuming things are going to work isn't good enough at this point! We are getting closer to the end of the project as the weeks go by and really need to test the waters.

Because of the we set to film in one week, this gives us extra time we may need if everything doesn't go the way it's supposed to (which is very likely). We're both super excited seeing it all come together. Trial and error is going to be our main method of filming at this point, it may be hard, but we are willing to put all of our efforts in.

Slowly, but surely

Today as Ellie and I were trying to think of all of the specific props and other aspects we can bring to the film opening, we had a really tough time thinking of ways to make the background look like the 70s. From the types of outfits to the looks of everything in the scene, it just was not realistic. Also finding an old fashioned radio was not working out in our favor. Due to all this, we decided that we're just going to place this in present day. It wasn't like the 1970s was a huge part of our storyline anyways so it was not a big deal.

 As I talked about earlier the way we plan on conveying the storyline is through the props we are going to use; we started to name out things we can add to the "layer". Some of the things that are creepy aren't  realistic for us to use . This is where we were struggling. We needed to find a way to make this "layer" look real. If everything were to look fake it would ruin the opening. 

We decided on lots of fake blood and looked into getting a fake body parts. Nothing to gory though because we don't want to scare away any viewers.  We did find some good ones and believe that this will bring our film opening to a new level. Also their will be a bulletin board with all of the girls he has taken before. Everything in that room builds on the idea of the man being a psychopath.

We discussed where we would lay everything out and where we will film (in a bedroom). We're going to try and  find a bland room and we'll hang up sheets around it to get rid of the extra items in view. We don't want to have anything distracting from the scene. We read about how important everything in the setting effects the film from http://www.steves-digicams.com/knowledge-center/how-tos/filmmaking-tips/mise-en-scene-everything-within-the-frame.html#b  .In the short amount of time Ellie and I met today I think we really got a lot done, even thought there are still some things we need to figure out. Next time we meet our goal is to work these out.

Getting closer

A key aspect in the film opening is our newscast. This will be the only narration in the whole opening so it is imperative that we get the story across and not get the viewers to confused. This news report is going to talk about the missing girl and layout an even bigger storyline because it will reveal that she wasn't the only one taken( because he has taken 16 others over the course of 10 years) . This is where we got the title name , "Seventeen" inferring that she is the unlucky number 17. We will go on later to discuss the common characteristics of all the girls: Blond hair, age 15-19, green/blue eyes. Although the report will go on to say that none of these girls have been found, the whole concept of this movie is based on the idea that she may be the lucky one to escape. We portrayed this by adding elements of hope in the newscast. Obviously the basic elements like last seen, physical traits, etc. were added in there to give it a real newscast feel.

In order to have a newscast we needed to decide on a state and county. Due to  Orange county California being a well know and big county we decided to use that. Also since we are using a radio newscast we found that placing it in current times wouldn't be realistic. We chose to use the 1970s because it was a decade of lots of conspiracy theories.

As Ellie and I were reading the newscast over we felt that it lacked emotion so we had to put our brains together to fix that. After a little time we thought what could be more heart warming than a mother reading out to her daughter on the radio? So we added a little clip of her talking, clearly being emotional( even thought at this point it wasn't confirmed that she had been kidnapped, the evidence was pointing towards it).

Both Ellie and I are working super well together and are really complimenting our ideas. We learned that being honest is the best way to get the job done well. The only problem we are encountering is the actors, we both agreed Ellie will be the subject, but we feel like me playing the psychopath wouldn't really help the storyline. This will be a big struggle to find someone to do it, although the pay off will be amazing. I can't wait for this to all come together as one, I have a good feeling that it will workout for the best!

"Missing Persons." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/missing-persons>.

Moving along

Today Ellie and I chose to work on specific elements of our mystery story. We were reflecting back on mysterious shows we have watched and were really inspired by the show "Stranger things". The concept of an illegal study caught our attention. This added to our storyline making it more of a mystery. We really struggled on how to convey this setting,  which was very wrong and definitely not supposed to be going on. We thought long and hard about what aspects we can bring into the mies-en-scene to make it better. Like in the credits we discussed earlier, we thought this could be the best way to convey mystery and horror of the situation.One thing we decided on is that the"subject" would be laying on the bed against her will.  Also their will be several Operating tools lying around the room.

At this point in time Ellie and I agreed that in order to have a psychopath character in the film we are going to need to know how they act. We took some time and researched common characteristics of psychopaths and found out elements we can add like the character lacking remorse, being impulsive , showing signs of delinquency, and much more. The actions he will take will reflect these traits greatly. We used https://www.sociopathicstyle.com/psychopathic-traits/ to help us in our research.

Ellie and I started mental mapping the story to get an idea and decided that the subject was in a room by herself tied down (unconscious) and the newscasts is playing simultaneously. The story will be describing her situation and traits perfectly and have a little bit about the background of her life. Towards the end of the newscast the psychopath will walk in and without any remorse start doing some sort of operation that is not to be know. If the story were to go on it would be about why this girl is there and how and/or if she will ever escape this hell. At the end of this we agreed the next time we meet we would focus on the news report. I think we are making great progress, but we really need to make sure this can turn out how we are playing it in our minds. This "psychopath" idea we are trying to convey is new to us and we need to work extra hard to nail it.

"Psychopathic Traits." The Sociopathic Style. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://www.sociopathicstyle.com/psychopathic-traits/>.

Introduction

Hi, my name is Alexa Zuckerman and I'm going to be taking you through the journey my partner, Ellie Sachs, and I  encounter creating our film opening. Day one began with lots of brainstorming; Ellie and I defiently had more bad ideas than good. Our first thought of how to start was to pick a genre we believe we could create the best possible opening for.

In order to keep all possible types of genres in mind we used Filmsite's list of  genres                           ( http://www.filmsite.org/genres.html ), which contained nearly all genres possible. Immediately, we both nixed out most genres including comedy (mostly because we can't create a humorous script very well), action ( due to lack of props),romance ( due to not having two solid actors), and the others due to the lack of interest we had in them. We believed we would be best at making either a mystery movie or a Sci-Fi comedy because those are our two favorite genres and have both seen lots of movies within those genres. Shortly after we narrowed our search I came up with a Sci-Fi opening idea: It would feature a switch on two peoples' personalities that were on different end of the spectrums, whether it was one rich or one poor, or one popular and the other more of a loner. We concluded that this idea lacked originality because it sounded a lot like the movie ,"Freaky Friday, and started to think of alternative ideas in the mystery genre.

After discussing common characteristics of a mystery movie on teach scholastic ( http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/comprehension/genrechart.pdf ) , we decided that it would be the best fit for us. Reading the common characteristics almost instantaneously gave me an idea: a murder mystery. Ellie loved it as much as I did and we began creating a storyline. We decided that it would have to based around a girl being kidnapped in her hometown. We chose this so one of us could easily fit the role and be able to act in the film. Also we decided that we needed a creative way to display credits. We want to add something that would make our film opening unique, and the credits were a way we were going to try. We thought long and hard about this and came to the conclusion that the setting would be in a lab room environment, with the girl kept hostage inside. Our credits would be written on elements in the room used to " test" the girl and other creepy things we decided we would choose later on.

As our planning session was coming to the end we chose on the idea of using a newscast to explain the storyline behind the mysterious girl. Clearly the newscast wouldn't give away to much, but it would be just the right amount to keep the viewers wanting more. We decided next time we met we would continue on adding elements to the story to give it more of a mysterious feel.

"Film Genres." An Award-winning, Unique Resource of Film Reference Material for Film Buffs and Others, with Reviews of Classic American-Hollywood Films, Academy Awards History, Film Posters. Amc Networks, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2017

http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/bestpractices/comprehension/genrechart.pdf