CCR (meet the director

https://youtu.be/-6rGGkJqy3M
https://www.wevideo.com/view/1656277282
Here is my CCR, hope you enjoy.

End of the line

Well this project has honestly been a roller coaster I have first planned to film on Wynwood, but then after I thought and talked with my teacher and my friends of the class I decided to film on Davie. However Corona Virus stood in my way and I couldn't finish my film on Davie, therefore I had to restart all of my progress and start a new a new one, from Wynwood to Davie to Weston, Savannah, my community. Although I had to do a new one and had to start over with new ideas I think, it got finished pretty well. I had to learn to use all of my surroundings and how to to put them in my favor.

For example, right now they are fixing my crosswalk and they put a caution sign and a danger light, I used this on my favor to foreshadow what was going to happen. I used my car to create light when I needed it and I as well used nature in my favor to create a scary vibe. At the end this project taught me a lot, of how when things change you just have to adapt and make the most of it.

At the end of the line I also discovered how fun it was to create this project and gave a me a real new perspective on film, I figured that my strength was the music editing, At the end of the line I am thankful for all that my teacher taughted us because thanks to her we developed new strenghts and new knowledge which will be very useful in our future. Thank you for everything.

Film Opening

Here's my film opening.

https://www.wevideo.com/view/1648663741
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7BY_FIwd9AI

All about the sounds

My main goal in this film is to induce interest and horror and I will be doing that from shots, acting, mise en scene, lights and sounds. I have a strong belief that consist on the art of silence, silence is a factor which belief it or not can differentiate a good film and a bad film. Although it becomes very hard to use silence creates an impact in audience and I will be using this on my favor, on the right times just silence is the great factor. From the shots of the start I will be using the same sound that I had planned to use before the pandemic, the calm classic sound while the shots of the setting will be shown at night, creating suspense and fear, the thing is that people don't realize it yet but we are starting to induce fear without them noticing and that's exactly my goal. I plan to use this song for the whole opening film but sometimes sound effects will be on a higher level that the song will be. For example the level of the song will go down then a moment of silence then the moment for the sound effects. Sound effects will also help me achieve my goal. and when the title screen comes up I'm planning for it to be either silence or the sound of crickets.

Fixing the music

So I decided which music and sounds I want to grab in order to fill the opening. This songs and sounds that I used I combined them and created one of my own in order to fulfill my propose, thank god I got permission or were for free use because they complete my film and they are going to fit perfect. I must admit that one my favorite things about this project was choosing, mixing and editing the music. Here are the songs and sounds I used.

CCR idea

My idea for the CCR I consider is very original and very outstanding. But with great ideas comes great and hard work. I am a hundred percent into this project and nothing is going to let me go out of focus. Not even the coronavirus is going to stop me. My idea is to do a behind the scenes of the opening film and then I, the director will come out of set and will start to talk to the camera and introduce myself, then a random worker from the street will talk to me and ask me the question for the CCR I will respond fluently with research but not taking to much time, then another worker on the street will ask me another question and I'll respond the same way and then again until I have covered all the material that needs to be covered for the CCR. I got the idea from a Turbotax commercial in which workers on the street who don't know each other start promoting turbotax. 

Final Scene.

What happened if it was all a dream? and how could you go from a monster chase to a dream all of a sudden? Well, welcome to my world, the one in which we believe that everything you say to be impossible becomes very possible. I went from a really sudden chase scene to a room with a girl dreaming using the perfect sounds and visuals to combine both, from dark to a bright light in the camera. The only real problem I had was once I was in the room, and guess by what? by my arch enemy the lightning.

It was time to improvise. I used a portable charger light and hang it to my ceiling fan in order to provide me for the perfect amount of light I needed, not too much, not less, just perfect. It started as a shot outside the room and then closely coming near the main character, while she was sleeping of course. Once I came to her passed 2 seconds and then she woke up saying: "What just happened". I combined this scene with a very scary music like children singing a scary music and then a yell from a girl, that we can infer that it woke her up. This scene let's the audience know that there is going to be non-stop fear in this movie, without a moment for them to relax, just pure fear.

Filming the chase scene

So, I thought, what's a different way to film a chasing scene? On where we zoom in and we see the character running? Or one from the POV of the monster? None. How about one where even the main character apparition of the character gives you a jump scare? or How about one where the character exiting somewhere perfectly fills the music and adds both tension and fear at the same time? Now you're speaking my language. I did both, the last both. I succeeded my goal by perfectly recording my entrance door with color stability with two pots.

 I did a pan left following where the character was running. Then a back shot following where the character was heading. Then I did a continuity shot with the leaves we saw in the introduction. Then (my personal favorite shot) I got in one of the bushes and started running inside them as I were to be the POV of the monster while the camera was following the main character. And finally a close up of the face of the main character while she's running. I looked at the shots and they were all pretty great I'm really excited on how this is going to turn out.
 Shot stability between the two pots. (looking like the shinning twins)

Introduction done!

So today was the day to film the introduction, in my case it was establishing the setting. I am doing everything time by time, this is in order to not be a mess and then everything gets mixed up, besides of the light of the night concerns. I grabbed my car and went to the nearest stop sign, this saying the name of the street (a self-explanatory way to establish the setting). At first I thought of doing a time lapse, but unfortunetly I didn't have the tools to make this happen (a tripod and a good lapse time app) I lasted one day (yesterday) trying to do the lapse time thing with my bare hands and a free app on the app store, the results weren't pretty and by the time I noticed this the light was all wrong so I had to film today. I did the still shot of the stop sign and then I used the ladder to film the street from different angles, the caution sign from the crosswalk in reparation, and some leaves that I found on the ground indicating that most trees are dead (allution maybe?) but it was also to establish time period on seasons.

   The stop sign used.

New plot

Okay so I've been thinking and I think that I'm going to begin my film as well as I was going to do it, but instead it will be shots at night of my street outside in Weston, Savanna. While a song a calming one but also one that induces fear is being played in a non-diagetic way. So then we get closer and closer to the house (my house) where our character will be hiding, in the dark from the creature that's hunting her. Then she will be escaping from her house but the creature will be following her. So while the creature will be following her and in that persecution the character will have some ocurrences that will cause the screen to go to black screen and some credits will be shown, and like that until the character has a moment of realization and a light from a car shows up and lights her up and the title screen will show up. Now I've been having some doubts, I have two options in what to do while she's running. I want to make her to entretain and induce the audience into the movie therefore I want her to drop something while she's running and my two ideas are either a bag full of hallucigenic drugs or an envelope which explains the cause of what's going. These two ideas will define all the film's plot to it's enterity, this since if we choose the bag of drugs then what she's seeing it's because of the drugs and if we choose the envelop then we enter a infinite world of sci-fi and it's posibilities. I also thought that we could combine both this will be by the character dropping the drugs and the events she is seeing makes her be a profet and she has to warn the town of what's going to happen. Or the junkie profet or the lonely survivor with knowledge of ocurrences, this are my two options.

Learning about light

For 3 days I have sat outside and have observed the sun. I think I developed a paranoia since when I was in Wynwood and the light wasn't favorable for me. So, what I did? I studied the light in my residence how the light post can help me achieve what I want to do, and at what time I want to film. I figured out that I should film from 9:00pm to 12:00pm.

I put a cronomoter and saw how the night was outside and how the camera of my phone reacted to it. My major obstacle was the temptation of using the flash of my phone. It's not that I couldn't use it but it's more that I didn't want to do it, a challenge that I put myself, besides, I feel like the flash of the phone completely damages the footage.

Learning to use my surroundings.... Again

So, since I'm planning on doing it at home I need to observe my surroundings again and how I'm going to use them in my favor. I was not thinking of changing my whole storyboard since I can adapt to a new setting using the same concept of scenes. So for the beginning which my goal was to establish the setting I plan on using a work ladder in the middle of the street since I wanted to climb on the roof of my house to film but my parents said no so I had to go with the ladder. this still shots of the street will help me achieve my goal of establishing the setting.

In my street they put this signs with lights and a caution sign because they are the crosswalk in front of my house, I also plan to use this on my favor. How you may ask? Well, The caution sign can make an allution to what's going to happen. The lights have a meaning in the story but I'm going to make the audience to figure it out what's the meaning of it.

Starring actor and Director communication

I have learned throughout life that one of the most important factors in life is communication, so I planned a whole day to communicate and incorporate the actor in all the different scenes and how I want each scene and with which expression I wanted it. We practiced the most important shots in our house in order to do it better when we get to film).

 I also explained the movie and what my goal in this movie, which is to make the audience feel scared. After a few tries of all the shots we got them all really good, with each and every expression prefect in it's own way. My goal in this was to make actor know how I wanted the opening to go and we both be coordinated when we get to film. The communication between the director and it's actors are the key to success in any film.





                                                                            Here is us                                                                discussing the storyboard                                                          and it's scenes

Change of plans.... BIG change of plans

So as of right now I'm quarentined at my house and I can't leave because of the coronavirus pandemic. This is very bad, I cannot go to the location to continue filming, instead I have to change my whole setting and I have to restart filming. This is since I can't combine both ideas, the one where I film in Wynwood and the one where I film at my house.With a different story and different ideas this two can't be combined. Therefore I have to start over. But that doesn't worries me I have complete faith that I will finish this project better than ever but I'm going to have to be very quick and very precise in order to do what I want to do in the due date. It may be hard yes, but I have to adapt to the recent changes. My genre will be the same, a horror genre film  but the plot will be very distinct if you will.  It will be made purely at home since recent events and it's going to be perfect.

Progress Inbound

So I tried to film in Davie I got there with my sister with all the props for the opening and all the lightning schemes and even the costume design for the the main character and everything. Once we got there I only had time to film the setting of the street she's being persued, but after 30 minutes we left since my mom is very worried about the coronavirus. The bad news is that I've been in quarentine since my mom doesn't want me to leave the house, but the good news is that I've made a lot of the research on my genre and i have acquired many ideas to make my shots not only more interesting but more shocking, in order for the audience to feel what I want them to feel. That is being fear, suspension, and intrigued. I don't consider this a set back but a way to continue with my project.

Costume design department

I feel like the main character should use something and look like she's been through a lot, like not only a traumatic events, but also great loss. So I talked to my main actor Isabella Antor (my sister) and I told her what needs to be done. That is being in damaged and crying makeup we did a few tries at home to practice how we wanted it until it got done it was like a watered makeup with like a little of dirtiness. We applied this by using Mascara, eye shadow and water. We also made a shirt full of blood which the character will be using during the chase, to create mostly intrigue and explains how the character has suffered (the great loss), but it was not blood from her it was blood from somebody else, we created this effect by mixing red and black paint in order to make it look like blood. We made it splattered by moving the brush sideways and up and down. I must say the results are looking pretty good I am really excited about how this going to come out.

Learning my surroundings

So, I went to Wynwood to learn how and where I was going to film, and everything I saw was perfect. There was basically all I needed, a dark alley, dark and deteriorated setting and I found a way to establish the setting by climbing on a roof of the gallery. I asked to the owner of the gallery if I could film near the area and he told that I could. I waited until night to see everything but there was a huge problem. 

There was a lack of light, the area was so dark that you basically couldn't see anything I tried to use a few lights that I brought from home in order to see if I could fix the lightning problem, but I couldn't. But I didn't gave up, so what I did is I used the light of the car in order to see if the lightning was better but it wasn't, I filmed the shots from the roof how I could. 

When I finished filming as I was getting in the car a homeless came to me asking me for money and I didn't had anything so he kept insisting and I ran to the car. This gave me the realization that I couldn't film here not only is the light non-sufficient but it's very very dangerous to film at night. My other option is to film on Davie which also has a deteriorated kind of setting. This is not a setback but an improvement, I'm slowly making process you could say.

                                           This is the light that I used in order to improve the lightning in Wynwood.

Main Actress and Credits Idea

So, my main actress will be a Cypress Bay student which by the way is also my sister. Her name is Isabella Antor and she has agreed to help me on this project only if and if I cleaned her room for a week. Which in my opinion is kind of unfair but whatever at least she has a good atittude. Since our schedules were troubling for both of us we organized a calendar in which will work for both of us and will be favorable since the lightning in that day is the one we need in order to film.

About the credits I figured that I would use pretty clear and white words in order for the audience to clearly see who made the film and everyone who supported me. The first credits (and the least importants) will be shown at the beginning with still shots of Wynwood.

my whole script

I plan to do a silent opening film with just music and sound effects sounding. It will start with the start of a un-copyrighted eerie violin song. While showing a little bit of the setting from a high angle of the deteriorated streets some credits in a clear and white font showing some of the less important credits. Then we are shown a medium shot of the back of a building that has a door on it, 5 seconds passes by and then we see a girl running with a white shirt full of blood and  messy hair, with the makeup ruined. This is for the audience to infer that there was a tragedy happening. This whole shot will be in slow mo in order for the audience to notice the tragedy and the drama of the girl.

Butterfly Effect.... In Action!

So after a talk with my teacher about my script I got to a conclusion. She had really guided me into a way in which makes sense and it's not just scratch and a bunch of thoughts in my head. My teacher ultimately helped me edit the film opening in a way which became not just easier for me but also better for the project. For example: I was planning to do a shot in which a homeless guy was being attacked by the monster and red eyes which will be reflecting on the glasses of said man, after a talk about it we agreed that this scene is really not important to the story and it will just take valuable time of my film. Then she said that there needs to be a part of realization of where the character stops and thinks about what and why this is going on. On the group mettings with my class I talked my problem about the location, how it's not only pretty dangerous to film at Wynwood at night but also how the lightning will not be on our favor. So I started playing and figuring out the different edits that can be made on WeVideo, I found a way in which I could film at day with a great sunshine and still make an edit in which it would still give not only a scary and fearful vibe but also will create suspense in between the audience. I am really excited for how this all will come out, let's hope for the best.

Inspirations

So, I want to do my opening film based on the chase scene of a film called prom night from the 1980's. What I want to adapt from this chase scene it's three very basic, subtle and vital factors which are how dark scenes can show and make the audience feel more scared and intrigued about the scenes, how to use silence in my favor (such as in the explosion of the satelite in interstellar), and how to make the audience feel immersed and scared in the movie without not even showing the creature or person who's supposed to be the villain. In my personal opinion this is one of the best accomplishments of this movie and my main goal is to accomplish exactly that, that fear and suspense which leaves the audience asking to themselves "the monster is so henious and evil that we can't even see it" they know it's there watching every move but they do not know what is it. 
Prom night (1980) "chase scene"

Story board

So, to better organize myself  I decided to do a story board in order to not film more than I should or less than I should. I shared it and explained it to my actor in order for her to understand it, as my concept I put my head on a piece of paper to better do my film. This storyboard is a very important part of my pre-production process this is since it clearly conveys how the story will flow, it makes us (me and my team) to better visualize our goal. It also allows me to see potential problems that would not go unnoticed, ultimately saving you time and space to film. 

Problem in music department

On the 20th of February I asked Universal Music Productions to use a song I wanted to put on my film opening. I was pretty excited since this song combined perfectly with what's being seen on camera and it would connect with the audience. The song was Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partirio. Today I received a email from Universal Music Production saying that to use that song I had to pay seven hundred dollars. I am currently devastated and I personally feel that is pretty unfair. I mean I am not going to gain any profit from this film, this is simply for my education. I guess I'll just simply continue looking for other songs, this time copyright free. Who knows maybe I find even a better one.
Because of my change in music I looked for non-copyrighted classical music which can also invoke the same effect as the song as chose before. My goal is to impact the audience not only though the visuals but also through the music. On my research to find a perfect song I found a song which mainly plays the violin and then comes in with a spooky tone. With this song came a new idea, which was to add a scene in which the main character performs a violin solo while she's running from"It". The violin solo will be placed in a antique filter in order to show that it was before and also to show that our main character has a backstory that is also important.

My troubling schedule

So if I plan to do the shooting at night it has to be in a safe place since Wynwood it's a pretty dangerous place to be in this time of the day. I plan to do the shooting of the wynwood streets at 7 or 8pm  in order to not be that late outside. I will dedicate a whole day just to the shootings. Then I will dedicate a whole other day to the shots of the girl and the homeless guy in the same time and date. On the weekend I will dedicate the time to edit the video and add the credits scene.

What's the content of it?

The film is going to start with a scientist playing a old cassette playing Andrea Bocceli's Con Te Partirio. Then it will be shown the various shots of Wynwood at night while the song is being played. After some shots of Wynwood at night are displayed we show a girl running out of a white room with blood on their shirt and really dirty running from something dangerous but the audience doesn't know what it is yet. The girl proceeds to fell and when she does it shows one credit. Then we show a shoulder shot from the girl running and we cut to a homeless guy sitting guy sitting on the streets with glasses. Then closeup to the glasses of the homeless guy and it shows red eyes while getting closer to him and while the guy is screaming and then it cuts to dark screen with white credits showing the credits of the director and the starring of the actors.

So....where do we start?

So for my film I plan to film with a Nikkon camera pictures of Wynwood at night. This will be the perfect setting for a horror film, this is since because the streets of Wynwood all completitly deteriorated and create a sense of mystery and danger. This photos will be taken at night to create the same sensation. The credits will be on a clear and simple font on white while these photos will be pretty dark, that way it will grab the attention of the audience.

I will be using a stabilizer in order to film not only the slow motion shots but also the regular shots. I will be using also flashlights to create lightning sand invoke suspense. My main plan in this opening film is to not show the monster but to create anticipation for it, but showing small details of the monster such as shadows, red eyes, and silhouettes.

Film openings that represent genre

Some film openings that represent the genre which I'm using for my film opening which is horror are based on the comparison based in peace and terror at the same time. This creates a feeling in the audience which only induces terror, since from an all rainbows and happiness world then comes all the massacre and tragic events creating a great impact on the audience.

Some film openings that represent the horror genre successfully are "Dawn of the dead" (2004) which starts with a couple having a great time in bed but then suddenly their child becomes a zombie and attacks them viciously. My favorite film opening and where the technique I consider it's the most perfect is the first "Jaws" opening. It starts with two teenagers playing around on the beach and then the girl gets viciously attacked by a monster which we don't see (2+2 not the 4) while the guy is sleeping right there in the beach, perfectly completing the contrast with peace and terror.

I intend to combine and contrast peace with crisis effecting which will result on impacting the audience in a way which not only will leave them with wanting more of such content but also impacting them with terror.

film opening research genre

I chose the genre of thriller and horror, since it's a genre that appeals to young teens (such as myself) and also are known to be very successful if executed appropietly. Horror in film is a genre that is made for the sole purpose of frightening and panicking, to cause dread and alarm, and even to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience. This genre tends to focus on the dark side of live, creating a sense of horror in the audience. This genre can either be science fiction or based on real life events, nonetheless the majority of this films are based on science fiction. 

Thriller is a genre that characterizes by suspense and provoking fear at the same time. Thrillers generally keep the audience on the "edge of their seats" as the plot builds towards a climax.

I plan to do my film opening by not showing the monster or the victimizer in the scene but showing all the danger and chaos that it caused. Also using low lights and dark setting in order for the audience to interpret what's happening rather than showing it (2+2 but not the 4) this creates not only suspense but also horror. Also I plan to use high audio in order for the audience to feel the agony and sense that the character is feeling. 

Music Marketing Project

We developed our Music Marketing project based on the genre of Pop. This genre mostly develops songs about love and relationships. This genre brings a target audience of mostly females of the age of 13 to 26, which are from the middle class, usually with a part time job or are full time students. This young adults tend to be fashionable and and they spend most of their time on social media.
We based our case study on Beyonce, which is an one of the most famous Pop stars in all around the Globe we used her strategies through social media by creating hashtags which not only made the artist more famous but also sent a good message that can inspire people to become better, this way it grabs the attention of all our target audience by spreading the hashtag. We also inspired to put our merch like the artist Bruce Springsteen which is easily accessible and very simple.
We chose to develop our artist as a new innovative one, one that will really change the game and not to be as a regular famous pop star, but more like a mysterious guy who doesn't express himself so much leaving the audience not only intrigued but also with anticipation to what's going to happen next, we made our artist (Wayne Parks) a Pop star that will revolutionize the Pop industry. Our Pop star will also be relatable to teens since in his social media and web page shows what's he is doing, which is what a normal guy would do, our artist is more relatable than fun, because we know that's what teens want.
We created an Instagram, Twitter and a Youtube account that showed various photoshoots, the music video and even a behind the scenes video. We also created a web page in which we developed various tour dates, a blog post, and a merch which is made especially for our target audience like hoodies and long sleeve shirts (trendy cloth). In the Web page there is also a sample from our song which the user can download for free and the actual music video that our users can also easily access.
From our Music Marketing campaign I learned that the genre which is used takes an essential and important role for the development of this campaign, including all the requisites the artist has to meet as well as all the marketing and distribution strategies. I also learned that an artist in order to be successful needs to be different and unique from the rest from the audience point of view. I also learned that through the music video an artist not only expresses itself but it also represents the artist, therefore the music video needs to comply to the requirements that the artist was to be seen from the audience either to be a rebellious type of artist or a mysterious type, the music video needs to represent that, through not only the shots made but also the lightning and the set design.