CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: color and design

Welcome back!

    For today’s post, I wanted to focus on color and design in film, I watched some of the most recognized movies by color and design; Written on the Wind, Vertigo, Moonlight, Amelie, and The Grand Budapest Hotel. All of these movies have outstanding color and design schemes that show color is very important to a movie and give the movie a set and determined tone. 

    Color facilitates storytelling, color up-brings the watcher’s emotion, that be blue for sadness or red for anger, color is more sophisticated than that. Color includes “HSB” which stands for “Hue”(color), “Saturation” (intensity), and “Brightness” (light and darkness) which can help create a whole new visual transformation. Color in film can be used to bring attention to specific details, set tone, represent character traits, and show changes in the story. 

    Choosing the right colors for the right things will create emotions the audience will probably not even be aware of. Picking color for your film is more than just randomly choosing, it's a thought process and some might even call it a “philosophy”.

    In my film intro, since I want to give that retro/ vintage feel, I want to focus on very vibrant colors. Bright colored sunsets, yellow and reds so there is a great contrast with the blues and greens of the following sequence. I’m going to attach an example down below: 

(https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-use-color-in-film-50-examples-of-movie-color-palettes/)

    I want the change of the color scheme to show the characters' development or change compared to the past. Unlike “Breaking Bad”, where their character development is over time, this is going to be a dramatic change from one scene to another.

Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Sources:

    Risk, M., Mary Risk A freelance writer and producer, & producer, A. freelance writer and. (2021, June 8). 50+ examples of movie color palettes. StudioBinder. Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/how-to-use-color-in-film-50-examples-of-movie-color-palettes/ 

    5 ways to create a film color palette: How to use color in the film - 2023. MasterClass. (n.d.). Retrieved February 28, 2023, from https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-create-a-film-color-palette 

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: character background/ storyboard ideas

Welcome Back!

    So as far as my story goes, i want to merge both my ideas and focus on one story instead of multiple random shots. My story is going to follow the one main character. I still want to peruse the ides of an old film camera filming the main character’s past, but I think i am going to add more protagonist energy towards other characters as well. The main character will be filmed mostly with her best friends and as the scenes go on, when she is shown all alone I really want that contrast of being alone to being surrounded by people and love to be evident. 

Here is my story board of ideas, (not my final draft)

    This is just some brainstorming ideas as to what my possible storyboard could look like, in the end it probably wont be exact but these are my ideas for now. 

Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: getting my story together

 Welcome Back!

    So I dedicated myself today to get my story together, as I explained before I had some different ideas to the outcomes of the end of the into. At the beginning, I was thinking about a very laid back concept of a camera on senior kids being passed around. But the more I thought about it the more I came to the conclusion that this was a project that I couple really excel on so I wanted to step out of my confort zone. I wanted to try something new so I went with the opposite of my main idea, I went for a plot twist. I really want to leave the watcher wanting more. 

    As explained in previously, I had two main plot ideas (if you’re interested in reading them in detail go here) so I decided to combine them. One of my ideas included filming in a court room, i really wanted to peruse this plot line since I thought filming there would be a really fun and original location to include. I knew filming there would be extremely difficult to achieve, and it was. One of my friends actually have a law internship with the city in Weston and she works at the Broward courtrooms quite often. I texted her wondering if there was any way I could talk to anyone about this or if there was any type of procedure. This was totally a shot in the dark, she told me it might be a possibility if I used the “it’s for a school project” excuse. I actually got around to talking to her boss and I was told that due to privacy purposes I couldn’t film inside the courtroom but I could film outside. She was very nice and was a great help but at the end I decided to turn a different way. Not being able to film inside wouldn’t be the same and that was the essence I wanted to capture. Eventually, I came to the conclusion that maybe I shouldn’t complicate myself too much, I could just go for the simpler story. It was a story with great potential so I put my 100% to making it the best I could, but I’m leaving that for my blog. :)

    In the end, it was a very fun learning experience to go through the process of choosing a story to follow. I have a feeling that this is the one (finally).

Stay tuned to see how it tuns out!

CAMBRIDGE PORTFOLIO PROJECT: film analysis #2

Welcome back!

    As I explained a couple of posts ago, I’ve dedicated myself to watching film intros even if they don’t necessarily relate to my genre. I found this great YouTube channel called “Opening Titles” that has all of the film intros I wanted to rewatch. I've watched all types of intros, including; The Matrix, The Social network, The Godfather, and Saving Private Ryan. Since my post on Sunday, I found a lot of information regarding “Scarface” by Brian De Palma. Seeing all these analysis articles made me want to rewatch the movie again. And funny enough, the first time I watched it I didn’t pay much attention to the opening titles. I believe “we’re all conditioned to ignore opening titles” as Mrs.Stoklosa would say, and she's completely right. For this project, I’ve rewatched many films I had already seen in the past, but I realized I didn’t pay attention to the opening credits and didn’t remember them. 

    Scarface opens with a genius tactic, they use real-life footage of the Mariel Boat-lift. This boat traveled from Cuba to the coast of Florida between April 15 and October 31st in the ’80s. These videos are shot with a home camera, they show families reuniting, people praying and overall the refugees getting to Florida. They use these shots in between a sequence of black scenes and Fidel Castro giving a political speech saying Cuba doesn’t need “Marielitos” (the nickname for those who were on the boat). This is a great way to open the film since it gives a sense of credibility for the rest of the movie.

    All these videos are connected by a black screen with the credits, and that is something I would like to incorporate into my intro. I think it’s a great way of making the intro seem less overwhelming. The shots are shaky and bad quality, but that black screen in between gives it a more professional look.

Stay tuned to see how it turns out!

Sources:

    H. F. Chacon Jr. | Oct 3, 2022. (2022, October 3). An analysis and review of Scarface (1983). The Tartan. Retrieved February 22, 2023, from http://thetartan.org/2022/10/3/pillbox/scarface 

https://youtube.com/@openingtitles364

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: fonts

 Welcome Back!

    Today, I’ve decided to take a new route and investigate fonts. I’ve never understood the “drama” behind fonts, it seemed to be a very delicate subject to graphic designers (my entire family). I would watch my brother go on adobe and spend h o u r s changing the fonts, length, space in between, anything really. Now, after reading a couple of articles and watching videos I’ve realized, it is that deep.

    Fonts are a first impression of your text before it’s even read. It is what gives your text or even your movie personality, it’s a preview of what type of content they’re about to watch. Fonts are more than just the text itself, arranging them correctly and using them consistently is part of their design. 

    As my research went on I learned about how fonts affect audiences. Cursive fonts are elegant and normally used for formal events, invitations, certificates, or diplomas. Modern fonts are cleaner and give a more neutral look. Display/ bold fonts are meant to immediately catch the reader’s attention and make a statement. 

    Typography is one of the most important things experts comment on, it is the art of arranging and designing. For example; line length/spacing, point size, tracking, and kerning (adjustment of space in between letters). Typography sets the mood and theme, it is a reflection of your content. One key point to keep in mind is to try and keep your number of fonts to a minimum, “less is more” this shows how it’s better to have consistency with two fonts than to have seven or eight different fonts. Fonts are meant to be effective, it is important too; to leave enough white space in between, have a distinction between elements, and keep it consistent.

    Color, is the next best thing recommended by experts. It is defined as “non-verbal communication” It has its own phycology, and each color can convey different emotions. It is important to research what color fits best for your target audience. For example; red is the color of excitement, energy, passion, and danger. The color red project a lot of emotion. The font color red used in the movie “Scarface” by Brian de Palma is used to show power and even violence at first glance. 

    Overall, I would like to use the font to give a preview of my movie’s “vibe”. Usually for my type of movie intro fun and funky fonts would be used to portray the coming-of-age/ teenager genre, but for my fonts, I want to insinuate “there’s more” to that sequence of fun clips. The clips will deeply contrast with my font and that is exactly what I want, for it to feel a little uncomfortable. 

Here are some examples:

Sources:

Serifs, scripts, and everything in between: How fonts impact your content marketing. Points Group. (2023, February 15). Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://pointsgroup.com/serifs-scripts-and-everything-in-between-how-fonts-impact-your-content-marketing/ 

Typography is a vital component in the world of advertising. Evok Advertising. (2020, June 2). Retrieved February 19, 2023, from https://evokad.com/typography-a-vital-component-in-the-world-of-advertising/ 

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: target audience

 Welcome back!

    An important part of our project is our target audience, who is my movie/intro directed to? After a couple of research, I’ve found that the most important part is understanding who your target audience is; their age, gender, location, and interests. To who is my film going to appeal to?

I believe it’s easy to say my target audience is young adults, mostly teenagers. Since this project is a film intro and there’s not going to be no “marketing” or “distribution”, I want to focus on how the content reaches their audience. 

    Stanley D. Williams quotes “Successful stories subliminally invite audience members to participate mentally with the movie's main characters” in How Filmmakers Connect With Audiences, he reflects on the way the audiences immediately make connections with the film. Finding similarities in things like; personality, appearance, style, and age. They get “emotionally involved” as they find relations with the film so they find it “relatable”.

    To make the audience feel a greater connection with the film, directors like to incorporate physical structuring techniques. These include; POV shots, over the shoulder, long tracking shots in which the feeling of being in the same room as them is given, and long extreme close-ups to create that sense of intimacy. Emotional structuring can also help viewers feel connected, generating the feeling of sympathy, jeopardy, and relatability building an attraction that is purely emotional to the characters. Lastly, filmmakers use moral structuring to create a sense of connection. All films always have some type of moral conflict, and this is meant to be a conflict that is understood by the audience. This conflict engages audiences at a deeply emotional level developing sympathy or rejection towards a character. It is important to have an emotional, visual, and moral connection with the audience.

    In conclusion, I want to create a relationship with my audience by displaying what most of us see as our “daily lives”. Maybe an exaggerated version, but my viewers will experience a true taste of youth, no matter their age this will create a sense of relatability. Even though there will have a drastic change by the end, viewers will still understand and maybe even relate to the previous shots. 

Stay tuned to see how it tuns out!

Sources:

Understanding audiences. Independent Cinema Office. (2017, July 27). Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.independentcinemaoffice.org.uk/advice-support/how-to-start-a-cinema/understanding-audiences/ 

Hardy, R. (2020, September 1). How to build a profitable audience for your films. Filmmaker Freedom. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://filmmakerfreedom.com/blog/audience-building-fundamentals 

Hardy, R. (2022, January 18). 3 types of audiences that drive indie film revenue. Filmmaker Freedom. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://filmmakerfreedom.com/podcast/three-audience-indie-film-business-model 

www.nuvotech.co.uk, N. L. (n.d.). How filmmakers connect with audiences. Movie Outline - Screenwriting Software. Retrieved February 18, 2023, from https://www.movieoutline.com/articles/how-filmmakers-connect-with-audiences.html#:~:text=Filmmakers%20emotionally%20suture%20the%20audience,beautiful%2C%20charming%2C%20and%20hospitable. 

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: film analysis #1

 Welcome back! 

For this blog post, I would like to research and analyze films from the same genre I would like to produce. The thing is, I’m not sure I have a set or specific genre for my project. It could be called a coming of age? But then it has this big plot twist, drama? Maybe... it’s not necessarily “dramatic”. Instead, I’ll leave it as “to be determined”, and I’m going to show film intros I’m inspired by and how they’re going to impact my own production. 

“10 things I hate about you”- Gil Junger

    As mentioned previously in my first blog post, this movie is a great inspiration not just with the opening but with the mise-en-scene, it truly captures 1999. This movie is a vague adaptation of “The Taming of the Shrew” by Shakespeare, it is said to be one of the best film adaptations following many failures in the past. This movie’s design is not flashy or complicated but accurate. From the clothing to the music, this intro starts off simple. We’re introduced to the main settings of the film, such as their neighborhood and high school. 

    Two cars approaching the camera are shown; one blue bubbly car, full of young girls smiling, dancing, and having fun suggests the idea of a typical teenager, but then in dramatic contrast, we are introduced to the main character Kat Straford. She appears in an old-looking red car by herself, this suggests that she doesn’t have many friends and is not a typical teenager. 

    The song that was previously playing in her car “Bad Reputation” - by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts, is still playing as the scene goes on. This song does not only represent the year the movie is set in but also sings the words; “ I don’t give a damn ‘bout my reputation, A girl can do what she wants to do and that’s what I’m gonna do.” Giving the perfect representation of the main character's personality. 

The intro continues with a wide shot of the school, it gives off the impression of a high-class modern high school. Kids are shown playing hockey with roller skates and a full high shot shows all the students representing the fun environment. 

    Kat is shown walking in as she tears down a poster, this is one of the first acts of anger we see of her. One thing they need to understand about her character is that she is ANGRY. Kat is as some would be described a “raging feminist” in her eyes the world is gross and misogynistic. She describes Hemingway as “ an abusive, alcoholic, misogynist who squandered half his life hanging around Picasso trying to nail his left-overs.".

    Overall, this film’s intro does a great job of introducing the characters. I would like to also focus on using mise-en-sene to develop my characters with music, color, and clothing. 

Sources:

Wilkinson, A., Grady, C., Romano, A., & Frank, A. (2019, March 29). 10 things I hate about you is as fresh as ever, even 20 years later. Vox. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/3/29/18287403/10-things-i-hate-about-you-20-anniversary-heath-ledger-julia-stiles-shakespeare 

 Junger, D. by G. (n.d.). 10 things I hate about you: Film review: Spirituality & practice. 10 Things I Hate about You | Film Review. Retrieved February 17, 2023, from https://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/reviews/view/1878/10-things-i-hate-about-you 

CAMBRIDGE PORTAFOLIO PROJECT: change of plans?

How can I make this an original plot while not losing my main idea? A drastic change? Setting change?.. These are all questions I’ve been asking myself these past few days. “How can I make my intro original?” I still want to captivate that coming of age sense of youth… but what if that turned into something else?

I’ve been brain storming ideas of how to develop that idea into something deeper. Remember when I said “I don’t want anything serious” in my last post, well I think i might have to take that back. So here are a few of my plot possibilities: 

#1:

- Opens with upbeat music (for now I’m thinking Kids by MGMT), same idea of an old vintage camera montage; kids are having fun, senior year, shots in school, packing for college, going to the beach, etc.. This montage shows one girl specifically (me probably, unless i find someone) living all these experiences. Dramatic cut into some kind of body shot/ tracking shot? Of someone looking around for this camera in a box. (Inspired by the Fiji water shots from bullet train).

The pov turns into the camera’s: sees some papers being moved around and hands searching for it, the papers get moved and a face is shown. A woman looks down, stares at the camera and then yells “yes, I know I found it”. This woman dramatically resembles the girl being shown in the vintage camera montage: her younger self.

The camera cuts to a mid shot of the woman kneeled down next to the box. Her surroundings are an absolute mess, the change of mood is drastic; cold hues. Boxes and papers all over the floor, and…. (Not really sure I need to figure that out :)

#2:

- (same beginning of the teens in the camera)

- Cuts to a close shot of a girl in court, she gets asked by the standing judge “The last time she was seen was in your camera footage, is that correct?” And she answers “yes, your honor”.

I’m not really 100% convinced of any of both outcomes, I think the important thing is to keep the ideas coming.

(Here is a mood board I made for the beginning of my intro)

CAMBRIDGE PORTFOLIO PROJECT

Welcome back!

For our next project, we have been assigned to primarily produce a two-minute film intro. This got my mind going 100 miles an hour, not just because of the open opportunity of being to create 2 full minutes of anything I want but also because of the wide options of possibilities I can pick from. 

After the project was presented, I immediately started thinking of film intros I admired; Spectre, Baby Driver, Goldeneye, and The Dark Night. Even though these are amazing film intros, I think for my own good I need to admit I probably won't be able to have such a professional production. So, I want to focus on “what I know” as Mrs. Stoklosa explained. My idea is to make it look purposefully “cheap” or underproduced (maybe like Project X?) to also introduce my genre. 

As for my genre, I’m not sure what I want, but what I do know is that I don’t want anything serious. Since this year is my last, I think I want to produce a bit of what senior year feels like. I think it would be fun to take an old-school camera around and film some stuff around school (planned, not too spontaneous, or documentary-style). I do want this to follow a storyline. I’m still working on that part but some things wondering my mind for inspiration are very specific. I remember very clearly when I was little watching the Hannah Montana “Ordinary girl” music video on Disney channel and dragging my sister to help me recreate it (probably my director uprising). The video consists of Hannah giving her digital camera to a fan at her concert and the journey of how it brings “color” into her life. 

Link to the video: https://youtu.be/Ymy_WA-0o-w

I want an old 2000s rom-com look but I don’t want it to be cliche, one of my main examples would be the “10 things I hate about you” intro scene, this scene is pretty stereotypical, but it still uses editing, color, and sound to greatly develop their main character. 

(Link for the full scene: https://youtu.be/PaIWHB-m_yY)

The contrast of the two cars not just in color, but in music, body language, and attitude is a very creative way to introduce the character that is Kat Stratford.

Another idea I would also like to incorporate somehow is a project I made for this class at the beginning of the year. In this project we had to create a poster or a way to get out a message to a specific type of audience, mine was “create memories” (literally). 

I wanted to incorporate the idea of Polaroids being blocks of “memories” being built. I would like to use this Polaroid idea on my intro somehow. 

Anyways, this is all I have for now :)

Music Marketing Project Conclusion

 Our music marketing project has finally been finished and presented and I am very proud to say we got an A :)

When we were first presented this project I’m not going to lie i was pretty nervous about having to work with a group. Yes, I am that control freak that likes everything done her way, so I always struggled with group projects. Luckily I got back together with a group I had worked together before so I felt confident enough. They were younger than me there was that unspoken barrier of me being a “senior” so I believe i was taken for a know it all, when in reality I had no idea what was going on just like them. 

As I talked about in my last blog post, we were assigned all different genres. My group and I got Indie rock, there was no better pick for our group. It seemed as if it was written in the stars. We all got to work so fast we ran through a million ideas like a race. We agreed upon the song “The Man” by the Killers. This song gave off major 80’s vibes and we all felt it. As you should know by now we had to begin the assignment with a research chart, which was actually extremely beneficial in the end. We all got to research two record/ recording companies for our case studies. This part of the assignment helped us not just understand but really analyze the processes of creating a successful band (the point of the whole project). We learned about marketing strategies, social media fan interactions, and tour benefits. All of these came in more handy than we ever could’ve expected. 

We proceeded to working together to find how our music video would work. As you should know what a hassle this was (if u don't go to my last blog post), it ended up being some great bonding time for our group. We were all talking of shows, movies and other music videos we could take inspiration from. We discussed; Stranger Things, Dancing in the Dark, The Breakfast Club, That 70’s Show and the “Take On Me” music video. 

As we all chattered excitedly about our upcoming music video and marketing campaign, ideas came and went. We took much inspiration from our case studies specially when it came to target audience and brand marketing. We focused on; social media reach, merch, distribution, and logo. We all chose a different job we felt comfortable with.

As expected, I automatically named myself in charge of the music video, and lucky for me they all agreed. Now, I wont repeat everything you guys already know, but I had so much fun making that music video it made me question all my life decisions. It was such a surreal experience to for the first time ever have the creative space to finally develop what I love so much to do. My inner bossy self continued to tell everyone where to stand, how to pose, where to look, what to wear, which way to walk… and they listened!! I knew for the beginning i wanted a very asthetically pleasing look while the video still being a promo for the band. We had so much fun dancing and messing around, I believe it’s what made the video genuine. As seen by the end, we all dance the breakfast club iconic detention dance. In reality it was us joking around talking about the movie, and It ended up making the cut and I believe its one of the scenes it makes the video fun and interesting to watch. I played with camera angles and movements spontaneously just pretending I was some fancy movie producer who knew what they were doing.

But nothing compared to the editing. I believe it was probably hard and a little confusing for the rest to film the video since they quite didn’t comprehend how I planned to edit. But for me, it was glory to put all those videos together. Even though, we filmed for two days straight, that 1 min and 30 video captured the essence just the way I wanted it to. I enjoyed editing those cross-cutting shots no matter now long they took, looking at the outcome was incomparable. 

For our presentation, we planned everyone’s slides and their explanations. The nervousness was in the air, we were the first group to present, and I was proud to be the first. I wanted to show off our awesome presentation we worked so hard on, and I confidently wanted to set the standard (I believe we did:) Out of unexperience, i found us to relay too much on our flash cards, but I believe it  necessary to really go in depth for each subject properly. My favorite part was looking to people’s reactions to our music video. Not out of pride, but genuinely to see how would it be perceived by others. 

Overall, this project did not only encourage me to change majors, but also helped me create a greater understanding of how marketing works in the media world. I did not only create some hilarious memories with my group, i grew to understand the depths of production. If i could go back in time to do it all again, I would. Not to change anything, just simply to get that trilling feeling of directing all over again.  

Link to the video down below :)

https://youtu.be/y_-Swg4ZITM