Attempted

So today I went to  Markham Park to film my project, but ended up being cut short because the sun went down.  I got some good shots and i'm not totally angry because it helped me understand how the shots were to be filmed and some good spots to film. I don't mind making another trip out there because now I know what I want and it will be much easier and go by a lot faster. A lot of the shots were also blurry, but now I think I have a better understanding of how to use the camera and the focus on it. The tripod shots were very steady so I was pleased with that. I should have no trouble inputting the graphics into the steady shots, although I do not know whether I am even going to use these clips in my actual intro.  Many of them are dark because I got out there at around 5 and only had about 2 hours to film. Overall this was more of a learning experience more then anything so i'm happy I at least got out there. 
\

I found this really cool spot to film. A trial leads up to this so it would be perfect for filming. Its also very secluded, I didn't see one individual while I was out there. I think that the openness gives it a sort of post apocalyptic feel by itself, because of the wide, lifeless, plot of land.  There were many other cool spots in the forests, where I mainly focused my filming on.  I have no doubt that the location is a good choice for the film. The swamp area provides a cool look as well. 

This is another area that I want to film in. I planned out where I would want the graphics in the lake. The trees are also visible in this photo. As you can see they are dense and look rather abandoned.  If i can find a shack of some sort next time, I might not even have to go to Holiday Park to film, this place has it all. I plan on going back out there to film within the next few days. I have junior privilege every other day so I am allowed to leave school 2 hours early, which gives me some time to film.  Im excited to get back out there!

Until next time....  

No time

It is Wednesday and I have not started filming...This time it wasn't because I procrastinated, but because every time I wanted to go out, I either had no ride, or no one to help me film. The weekdays are incredibly hard for me to work out a good day, because my parents are working and a lot of my friends either don't have cars, or are on vacation. I still have a few more days left to film, so i'm not particularly concerned, but I want to get filming soon. 

I guess an upside to the magazine, would be that I wouldn't of had to go out of my way to complete it, because mostly anything can be done from home which is so much more convenient. I feel like I already have most of the aspects in line and I don't really have much to work on now, except filming and editing.  I think the only part thats still in the air is what i want to film where so here it goes: 

For starters i'd like to film the beginning in Holiday park, because there is an abandoned shack there that is a good location for my waking up scene. There are also some nice dirt trails around that area, so it would be easy to film the main character's journey to the city. Markham has excellent spots for filming forest scenes, which I mentioned is very popular in post apocalyptic films.  I could get a lot of long shots of the character in the forest and I also want to film the running scene after the boy sees a crowd of zombies. This is perhaps the hardest part, because I will need someone to run behind me while filming, which is almost certainly going to be shaky. As for the other shots (with the exception of the very beginning) they will be filmed with a tripod.  There is also a large lake that makes a good filming spot, not for any particular reason. I also want to add some PNG pictures into the water, such as a sunken boat, or bones of some sort. Vista View is my last choice for filming as it is not necessary to filming, but if I do not have enough clips, then it is always my plan C.  I honestly don't even think I need to go there, unless absolutely necessary, seeing as how this is only the intro to a film. 


Time to get out there and film.....

Inspiration

Okay so today is Monday and I did not end up filming this weekend..... I wish I had a valid excuse for why I didn't film, such as weather, or an unplanned vacation, but truth be told I decided to procrastinate and film later on. I know, stupid idea. But I have a serious issue with procrastination, which I hope wont effect me later on in the project. 
Although I did not film the I did do some research on other post-apocalyptic films. I wanted to see what was done to give the film a more apocalyptic feel. From my research I found that they mainly included things like dense fog, a slight ash slowly falling down, heavy blues or the exact apposite with heavy reds, a lot of scenic locations that mostly appeared dead, few actors, weapons, a lot of dead silence, steady long shots and a few other small details that were unique to the different films that i'd like to include. 


This is a short film called FIELDS, which i think did a very good job at depicting the post apocalypse scene. The film also includes aspects of action, so it is cool to see what they did considering i'm doing the same thing. The foot chase at the beginning of the film is well done and adds a layer of suspense and excitement to the film. This is a very good representation of how I would like my shot composed and executed. They also did an excellent job at character design and filming locations. The forest is a very common scene in a post-apocalyptic film, because it works for the purposes of the film, so i'm glad that I chose my filming locations to be ones with large fields and small forests. 

Although that film was well done, I want some other effects to be included in mine. For example in the film, X-Men Apocalypse, they used heavy blues, with smoke in some areas. I think this gives it a more dismal and almost realistic feel, so I definitely want to include the same features of the picture. 




Other then that I want to include some graphics such as the outline of buildings. Ive already tried to include something like this and I found it very simple. I imputed a PNG file then color graded it to be a little darker than the video clip. I think that's pretty much all that I want to do, but more might come..... 



Image citation:

Truitt, Brian. “Review: 'X-Men: Apocalypse' Is Overpacked, Underwhelming.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 27 May 2016, www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2016/05/09/review-x-men-apocalypse-movie/84163328/.

Planning for post

At first I was a little scared that I would not find a good editing software that was user friendly, yet had a professional feel. Then after some thought, I realized that last year i had asked a buddy of mine, who had his own YouTube channel, about good editing softwares. He recommended HitFilm Express. The Express version, is the free version of HitFilms, that does not offer all of the same effects, but the tools are somewhat the same. 

The Express version offers: 

• Advanced cutting tools
• Keying for green screen effects
• Audio and video filters
• Compositing tools
• Layers and masking
• 3D video support

So I got this program and grew to like it. I had to search up a few YouTube tutorial in order to learn what some of the buttons meant, but in only a couple of days, I learned how to use almost all of the features. I still have the program downloaded, but I wanted to try something new, seeing as how some of the features were restricted until the purchase of the actual program. 

After discussing this with my mom, she told me that she pays monthly for an adobe cloud that gives her access to different adobe products including, Adobe Premiere Pro. This program features all of the same things as HitFilm, with more effects, because it is a paid version. The pros of Premiere Pro over HitFilm is that Premiere Pro has a much better color correcting system in addition to other unique tools. One tool that I found really helpful was the warp stabilizer, which kind of solves my issue of shaky video. Now although the program is made for professional use, I did not find it difficult to use at all. The layout of the two programs are actually very similar and even have the same names/icons for different buttons, which was useful, because I didn’t have to learn a whole program over again. I haven’t tried editing a large clip for an actual purpose on Premiere Pro, I’ve just messed around with it, but I am not too concerned about it and if anything I can always google how to use a certain feature. 

Now I think that Im ready to start my filming process......

Filming tools

Camera equipment:

Canon E0S Rebel T5:

Okay, so thankfully i have a camera at home that I can use to film the project. The camera is my mom’s, which she uses to take pictures of jewelry for her store, but nonetheless it works for the project. The camera has several settings for picture taking, but only one for videotaping, leaving only the focus as a manual component of the camera fir filming. I guess this is a downside to the camera, but I don’t really know how to use any manual camera’s settings, so I guess that having it automatic is a plus for me. Now there is one downside to the camera. I want to get several angles of the same shot, but I only have one of these cameras, so if I were to film with something else, such as an iPhone, as well as the camera, the shots would look different, quality wise. I either have to find a way to film the angles with the same camera, or just film the entire thing with iPhones, since getting multiple of them is much easier than getting multiple Canons. I would just rather not film with the iPhones, but if worst comes to worst, they are always my plan b. The camera obviously has better features, so i’d much rather use that, for instance,  it features “a powerful 18.0 Megapixel CMOS image sensor and Canon's DIGIC 4 Image Processor for easy recording of HD video and high-resolution photos and has a huge 3.0-inch LCD screen for Live View recording and review. With a 63-zone, Dual-layer metering system, an expanded ISO range for outstanding operation in less-than-perfect light, shooting modes like Scene Intelligent Auto to take the guesswork out of complex shots plus creative options like Canon's Basic+ function and Creative Auto, the EOS Rebel T5 is ready for anything,” according to the official canon website, which is linked above.

Other than the camera, my mom also has two tripods, that have 360 view and get be raised vertically up to about 5 feet. This is perfect for my steady shots that include no motion. This will take most of the shakiness out of the video. Now I just have to find out how I can have walking shots, that aren’t completely shaking, considering this is an action movie and there is a lot of movement. I think i’m going to use a skateboard for some of the moving shots, but that will only work if I have a road/sidewalk that I can push the skateboard across. For the other shots i might have to make/buy a handheld stabilizer, or resort to a post editing software that can eliminate the commotion, although I feel like having steady shots, will be easier than editing them in post. I also have not thought of a way to pick up sound, better than normally. I have a few attachable microphones that may work, so I am not all too worried about it. I also am going to add audio separately, in post. After i have finished filming i am going to search and create different sounds that fit the video.

Stay tuned…..

Time and place

Okay so here are the places I am considering filming at. I may go to all three of these, or only some of them: 
Markham park: 
This park is a 666 acre plot of land that includes, a large lake, small yet dense forests, and large mountain bike trails, that would be perfect for filming seeing as how it appears to be a path to somewhere. This park is the most crowded out of all of them, but i'm sure if I go during the weekday ill have no problem finding a space to film, with no people visible. 

Holiday park:  
This park is a 39-acre park, that is ranked top three in a Florida attractions. It is nicknamed “Gateway to the Everglades,” which if you don’t know is a huge plot of protected swamp that covers a majority of Florida’s south-west region. This is important because it means that the park has a lot of spots to film, ranging from large canals, swampy forests, large plains, long dirt roads and more. There is a lot of wildlife at this park, which I don't know if I like or not, for the purposes of this video. 

Vista view park: 
This park has a total of 272 acres of green hills and fields. The rolling hills offers a perfect spot of filming as it includes a really cool spot that overlooks an entire city and with some effects, a city in ruins. The sun also sets directly in front of where the hill stands above the city, so I could get some aesthetic shots. 


Times:
Okay so in order to get all of this done on time I have to start filming as soon as possible. Thankfully spring break is coming up so I have plenty of opportunities to film. I’m also staying in town, so all of the locations were chosen because they are close to home. This weekend, the 24th and 25th I want to start filming. If I am not able to get everything done on time I want to film at the beginning of the week, such as the 27th and the 30th being the latest, so I have plenty of time to edit the clips. The first shot is in the morning when the kid first wakes up, so any time when the sun is up is fine for that scene. The shots where the main character is making his was to the city should be around mid-day, so the sun should be high in the sky. The time changed recently, giving me an extra hour of sunlight at the end of the day. The sun is setting at around 7:30 now, which is great because knowing me I’m going to get out there late. If I do I end up going to the different locations, I’m probably going to do so on different days, so I’m not rushing all of my shots. I also want to overshoot everything so I have a lot of different angles and clips to work with because for the last project we did I didn’t have enough shots and I had to include blurry and/or shaky ones just to occupy time.  I may need to add different locations and therefore times, if the locations don't meet my standards. 

Storyboarding

Okay so these are the shots that i'm interested in using for my film opening. These are only the major shots, but I will add a few other ones in between just to make them flow smoother. These shots are susceptible to change, but as for now this is what I am going with: 

The Judges Verdict

So today in my media studies class we were randomly assigned to a group, to complete group critiques and provide opinions/recommendations on each others projects. When I first started to explain my story it sounded kind of stupid if i’m being completely honest. Surprisingly they actually likes the idea for my film. 

Their main criticism was that it didn’t seem original enough, so they suggested adding a twist to spice up the movie a little. They said the objective was cool and well thought out, but the story would be much more interesting if the person the main character was trying to reach was someone that he knew, such as a relative. After some further discussion they told me that since I am a kid and I will be acting in the film, it would be best to have the other person be my mom and a group of others. I really like this idea. To create a wow effect I could have the conversation play through on the radio, then only indicate that she is my mother at the end of the conversation, when I say something along the lines of, “Love you, mom.” I think this is a really cool spin on a post apocalypse movie, because I haven’t seen anything like this before. 

They also suggested that I have the character wake up from a coma in a hospital only to find that the apocalypse has happened. I thought this was a cool idea, which is probably why The Walking Dead used the same idea, to start their show. So we ended up disregarding the idea, but I did think it was cool so I want to implement something similar in my story. I could have the beginning of the scene be a dream, where his mother is attempting to wake him by banging on the door but when he wakes he learns that it was actually a zombie banging at the door. Or I could just have a black screen where I say something and then he wakes up from the banging. I think I actually like the second option better mainly because the first one seems too cliche. I could also use the black screen beginning to introduce the problem through voice over narration without physically showing anything, which would make it easier on me. 

The group really enjoyed my character design, so i’m pretty much done working on that part. He doesn’t have a lot of dialogue in the film so I think I can get away with not creating his personality traits. Some of it will be revealed through indirect characterization so i’m going to skip that part. We are all kind of on the same step on the project, which is good because I thought i would fall behind after having to change my story idea and rescheduling filming. 

The two other members in the group didn’t even have a character designed, they just had a general idea of what they wanted to do for it, so I actually feel confident in my pacing now. I’m going to start focusing on my story and the shots I want to use now. 


See you guys next time..... 

The end of the world

 So i've decided to go with my first choice of a post-apocalyptic world. At first I thought that this would be too difficult to create, but after thinking about it I realized that I could imply that the apocalypse has begun without physically showing it. For instance if I wanted to include zombies in the story I could include the sound of them, without actually showing them. in doing so I'll be able to avoid the costume and makeup for a bunch of actors, while still giving the audience a picture of what is happening. I want to keep the genre the same so my story should include aspects of an expedition as well as action scenes. The action part is fairly easy to create because I can just include a foot-chase scene away from zombies, where the sound of multiple zombies could be heard as the character runs away from them in a panic. As for the adventure part of the film, I think a cool quest and end goal would be meeting up with another group that is still alive.  I could indicate this by a radioed conversation between the character and the group. This forms a sort of objective that the character must achieve in the name of survival. Because of this reason i'm going to have the character alone in this intro, making his journey seem necessary. As for the actual cause of this apocalypse I think that a good story would be that Cobalt-60, a radioactive isotope of Cobalt, was produced through nuclear fission inside Earth's mantle and transported through the crust, contaminating Earth's waterways. I could tell this story simply by including a newspaper article somewhere in the film, that discusses the causes of the disease. Most of the zombie movies like I Am Legend and World War Z, take place in the city, which shows how they have fallen and uses a tremendous amount of CGI. Obviously, I am not capable of doing such a thing, so I want to keep my character away from the city and possible have him go on a journey to the city to meet the people.  My scenery would mainly include forests and big fields, that appear abandoned. 

This is an example from the T.V., The Walking Dead, which depicts two characters that are standing in a scene, similar to the one i would want to film. It is simple, but it gets the point across because the scene looks desolate and abandoned, illustrating the post-apocalyptic feel. 





As for the character of the film, i'm going to play him. No, not because i'm self-centered and want to be the star of the show, but because I know what I want for the film and even if I suck at acting, I just want the message to get across. Im going for a run down and beat up look for the costume design, similar to that of the picture above. 

 I started out with a shirt I got from my brothers closet, that he must not need because he left it when he moved out. If he did like the shirt we may have a problem because I cut up a bunch of holes in it to make it appear over-lived and make it seem like the character has gone through some troubles that caused them. 

This is the final product. I just used an old pair of jeans with a white tee-shirt that I had in my closet. The boots and belt I got from a summer camp for JROTC and I thought they were a nice touch because it makes it seem like I scavenged them because they don't match the rest of the outfit.  The boots are also something that would just generally be seen in a zombie movie because they could be useful.



Now i'm off to plan out the shots..... Stay tuned!






Image Citation:

Venable , Nick. “The Walking Dead Recreated By Kids Is Brutally Adorable.” Cinema Blend , img.cinemablend.com/cb/c/f/f/9/0/d/cff90dc043e52facf4e800eea6c4470c49956023a86d43ba79c82f46eb755641.jpg.

If the weather permits

As of today I was supposed to have most of my shots filmed and ready for editing, but shit happens...  On Saturday morning my parents woke me up around 7 in the morning and told me that the weather would not permit a camping trip to the island. Saturday night was expecting to have large thunderstorms and temperatures were said to drop to the 50s because of an incoming cold front. We still went to the keys but just to go fishing on the boat for the day. Our one-day trip didn't include a stop to an island and I felt like stopping to film would take up most of the time and ruin the trip for my parents. Thank god I didn't create a storyboard or even plan out a script. I am kind of happy we didn't end up going on the trip. First off I didn't have to sleep on the ground in the freezing weather, but most importantly I was not prepared to shoot this weekend. God was on my side with this one. Now I have more time to plan and make the end product better. Planning will also help me spend less time filming, which saves wasted time for me and the actors.

 Now that I have more time to plan, I am considering changing my story up, because I really feel like the whole island adventure thing, especially my character design, resembles, Indiana Jones all too much.  I also feel like the whole costume is the stereotypical outfit for adventures and I kind of took the genre too literally. I also don't know how I would have included a lot of action because my step-dad was the only one who was going to act in it. Now I can get more actors and dialogue. Another island location is also harder to reach and would require me to make a trip specifically for that reason.

So here are some other stories i'm considering (in order of my preference)

1.  A post-apocalyptic world where the main character has to meet a group of people for safety.
2.  A chase through the city by an enemy trying to get business information from the protagonist.
3. A stranded island featuring a character attempting to find treasure.
4. An adventure twist featuring an incoming high school student escaping bullies.  
5. Encountering dangerous animals on a hike through the woods. 

Playing dress-up

          So I asked my step-dad to be the actor in my film...... It completely slipped my mind that he is a 4 year old living in a grown-mans body. The second I dressed him he walked around the house saying Indiana Jones quotes. He yelled "Call me Doctor Jones, lady," about 5 times at my mom. He also claimed that he needed a whip so hw could fight the bad guys. In a weird way he indirectly told me that the outfit was very similar to that of Indiana Jones' and that got me thinking about the story too. The intro to Indiana Jones is similar to that of the one I want to create, so i'm going to have to think of a different approach to the story-line.

        

          Going back to the Character design I decided to go with the stereotypical adventurer look. I started with the hat, which was my grandfathers old hat that he left at my house about 10 years ago and never took it back, despite visiting several times after. The jacket was my brothers jacket that he got from a friend's dad. The hat and jacket are the primary components of the outfit and are commonly attributed with the expedition look. He wore a plain white shirt and cargo shorts to tie the outfit together. He is going to wear an old pair of brown boots when we go to actually shoot the video. 

      Here is what the final product looks like. The jacket to me comes across as unprofessional for some reason, perhaps because it looks like a costume you could buy at Party City. My parents said it looks fine, probably because they're my parents and anything I do is great to them, but nonetheless i'm trusting them. 

     

     I'm planning on only having him as a character on the film, considering i'm only going to be having him and my mom going on the trip with me. 


Until next time......

     

      

Treasure Hunting

After three days of pontificating, i’ve finally somewhat decided my story. It dawned on me that this weekend my family and I are going camping in the keys. A few months ago we went on a similar trip to the Florida bay. And to my recollection it would be the perfect spot to film an adventure movie to a new island. We are renting an island for the night where I have access to film all of its feature, unbothered. Since we are driving our boat there, I figured it would be awesome to film the boat ride and make it seem like the ride over to the island that holds a treasure of some sort. I haven’t yet decided on what the island holds, but I do know that I want it to be deserted and remote giving it an expeditious vibe.

The movie intro from The Revenant, directed by, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, depicted the jungle scene perfectly and was a large influence in my story making process. The master shot is beautifully created, starting with a slow tilt over a flowing waterway that reveals three men walking through it on the right third, then proceeds to rotate around a man holding a rifle to his eye. The scene is wonderfully shot, establishing setting and introducing characters that are obviously from an old part of history, indicated by their clothes and rifles. I want to create this level of characterization and setting development through the use of as little of shots as possible, due to the time constraints. I’m going for a sort of Indiana Jones vibe on this project. The only issue I can see so far is that one of my parents has to film me walking around the island, but it shouldn’t be too bad as long as I overshoot everything.

I don’t think i will include a lot of action in the opening, mainly because I feel like a lot of information doesn’t need to be put into the intro because it may come off a cramped and forced. I just want the first shots of the boat followed by the scenery and my interactions with the island. I think i’m going to keep dialogue to a minimum because I can really have only one other actor, my dad. I’m going to go closest diving to find something that resembles an adventurer.

I want my character to look something like this.

Citations: Image

“Harrison Ford in Negotiations for 2 More INDIANA JONES Films.” GeekTyrant, geektyrant.com/news/harrison-ford-in-negotiations-for-2-more-indiana-jones-films.

Action-Adventure for the win

This opening form the movie Kong Skull Island, solved my problems. As I mentioned before I really like action movies, but they are hard to make for someone with my talents. I also mentioned that I was considering doing an adventure film, which is grouped together with action films. I completely forgot that both of these were interrelated, so i’ve decided to go with an action-adventure film. I figured that crime and gangster although fun, would be difficult to execute, because of my lack of costumes and actors. As you can see Skull island depicts this genre perfectly, mixing a fight scene with an unknown creature on this exotic location represented by their plane wrecks on a large beach that appears to look like an uninhabited island. The mixing of these things will give me the pleasure of planning an exciting story with action-packed scenes. Now that I have chosen a genre, I’m going to start the boring part and research more about the genre and its characteristics. This genre includes films such as The Matrix and Star Wars. In these films there is a quest or discovery with an element that challenges them mentally or physically. They are designed to create an energetic and action-filled experience for their audience. These are different than action films alone because they include explorations and conquests. I’m a little concerned because adventure films take place in exotic locals and I have no clue where to film, but I guess that comes later.

I found this really interesting. According to this study action/adventure movies made up the most amount of viewers in the U.S. I feel more confident in my decision of the genre after seeing this because now at least I know that this genre is most preferred.

        The target audience is literally nowhere to be found, i’ve searched more than a dozen sites, but none of them want to give me their audience secrets. However, judging by my somewhat limited expertise on the matter, i’d say it is targeted towards younger males. This means that I would have to create the opening differently in order to fit the age group. For this opening, I would have to make it more action-packed so the viewers don't get bored. As of now i'm pretty much done with the overall research for the genre but i still have some small things to look up here and there.

Citations:

“Action and Adventure Films .” Film Reference , www.filmreference.com/encyclopedia/Academy-Awards-Crime-Films/Action-and-Adventure-Films.html.x

“Adventure Films.” 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., www.filmsite.org/adventurefilms.html.

Genre Standoff

I’ve decided to choose a genre as my first step in this endeavor. There are several different genres that can be viewed here. Like I mentioned before I will not be doing a horror film, so I can mark that off my list. Next is comedies, which have light-hearted plots, that are deliberately designed to amuse the audience. Comedies include some of my favorite movies like Superbad and The Hangover. Although I do enjoy watching comedies i feel like one would be incredibly difficult to execute, mainly because the scripts have to constantly include witty one-liners, even if the plot is serious. For that reason a comedy does not really appeal to me for the purposes of this project. Action movies are high-energy, constantly moving films, that often feature a fight between the “good guys” and the “bad guys.” To be honest this sounds awesome to me, but looking at it realistically, i do not have the budget or equipment needed to create a good action film. I don't want to turn in a subpar final just because I think explosions are cool. Another genre that is out of the budget range is the epic/historical category. These movies take place in imagined or historical events, with usually a legendary, mythic, or heroic character. The last genre that I can't see myself making because of budgetary restrictions is a western movie. Now don’t get me wrong I absolutely love western movies and their depiction of the early days of the American frontier; I could watch john Wayne movies all day, which I can’t say about many other genres. Moving on to musicals, which emphasizes song and dance in a cinematic form. Musicals are also my least favorite genre of movies because I find them extremely boring (other than high school musical because of the nostalgia)  and I find it stupid how people just randomly start singing in their everyday lives and everyone acts like it is normal. War movies is a tricky one for me. I feel like the intro does not have to include all of the fighting battlefield scenes, so I might be able to make one looking at only the budget and my filming/editing capabilities. On the other hand I would have to gather a lot of costumes and actors for this genre, which is a challenging task. Sci-fi movies are great, but futuristic technology and extraordinary lifeforms, all don’t really sound like easy things to create. I genuinely don't even feel like creating a movie of that sorts anyways. After careful consideration I think that my top three choices for a movie that can be made by a novice filmmaker like myself are: crime and gangster, adventure and drama. Crime and gangster movies are perhaps my favorite types of movies. Classics like The Godfather and Goodfellas, will get me sitting in front of the T.V. any time of day. These movies portray the sinister actions of criminals or mobsters. The movie goodfellas has one of the most iconic movie openers and could be useful if I go that route. Adventure movies tell exciting stories with new experiences and usually exotic locations. I think a movie like this would be really fun to shoot and I think that I could do it well. Lastly the drama category is possibly the easiest one to create for someone like me considering they portray real-life scenarios, with intense character development and interaction. The story for this genre could be easier to write, so if all else fails I could always go with this. I’m still debating on these different genres, but as of now I feel like i'm leaning more towards the crime and gangster category. I’m going to watch some openers from these three categories and see which one I feel most comfortable with. I’ll be back when I have an answer….

Citations:

“Main 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., www.filmsite.org/genres.html.

Today marks the beginning of my project creating process and I have never felt so lost. Since I was younger I always wished for teachers to give me creative freedom and stray from the textbook teaching style I have become so accustomed to, but like the old saying goes, “Be careful what you wish for.” For this portfolio project I have been given all the freedom possible and I am having trouble trying to decide on a certain genre or even organize any of my thoughts. I guess 11 years of school has robbed me of my creativity. I’m hoping this blog will allow me to organize my ideas and enable me to come to a consensus with myself. I have so many ideas floating in my head that I don’t even know where to start. 

To be completely honest I can’t say I am confident in my project considering I have only just started and I’m already facing an obstacle, created by none other than myself. I really do regret wishing for a way out of the predetermined curriculum; I feel like having a set procedure is much easier to follow and understand. I now have a love, hate relationship with teachers who performed a directive style of leadership, where they told me how to do a task rather than what to do, for all these years. 

I have decided one thing at least, which is not to do a horror or dark film, because 90% of the projects we have viewed in class fell into this category. I don’t know if this genre is easier than the others to plan and execute but I really don't want to have a similar project to a majority of the others and frankly, I don’t really want to take the easy way out. So I guess this leads me into the first step of my filmmaking process which is to research genre. Although I can’t say I am completely confident, I am excited to see what these next few weeks have in stock for my film opening. 

Stay tuned….