Costuming

 The first costume that the protagonists are wearing is regular teenager outfits. These include t-shirts, jeans, sweatpants, and sneakers. The reason we chose these is because they add realism to our characters. Hairstyles will also be just everyday styles like short, medium, and longer hair types. We also used this because it plays in the realism and modern aspect of the film They depict what teenagers in our day in age would wear. Another outfit is a police officer, which will use brown boots and khaki pants. In the scene, it'll only show the boots and lower legs using technical elements so no other parts show. Our props include a golden heart-shaped locket which is a main focus in the plot. This plays a major role to one of the protagonists during the opening. It's supposed to be reflective and stand out among the dark setting. The last set of props are flashlights which don't play major roles besides being light sources for the protagonists.

Preparing to film

 

Actors

The actors in our film opening are four group members: Nestor, Emily, Leon, and Anabel. Emily, Leon, and Nestor are the main actors who will be on camera mostly. I will play the police officer and then one of the protagonists as two separate characters. It's easy to film with each other since we are close and can communicate easily.

Costumes

Our costumes are mostly regular outfits that you'd see teenagers wearing(Shorts, t-shirts, sneakers). Another would be a police officer one in the beginning.

Props

The props in our film are a locket that contributes to the plot. Our prop was easy to acquire since we could order it online.

Locations

We will film in a dark woody area that has tall overlooking trees. The second location takes place in an abandoned building that's run down and decrepit. A challenge with the first location is timing and lighting. If we go too late it might be too dark to film. In the abandoned building lighting might also be an issue.

Dates and Times

Our films would be easiest to film on weekends. We could all meet up around 4:30 or earlier so the lighting is dark but enough to see in. The problem with this is coordinating between group members. Sometimes a person is too busy and we won’t be able to film.

Scripts

The script has been made and each actor has their own lines and roles. I will be playing as the officer and as one of the protagonists along with the other actors.

Film equipment

Film equipment being used is a phone camera to record the shots and a drone to record the setting. 

Story Mood Board

Our mood board depicts a mystery related genre. It captures a group of friends where one is clearly missing. We chose this because it relates to mystery where the audience and protagonists don't know where they went. The costumes besides regular outfits, are a police costume. A prop we are going to use is a locket which plays apart in the missing person. The setting is based in the woods and an abandoned building. These create elements that are meant to be creepy or mysterious. In the scenes, we'll use dark and moody lighting which contributes to the mood and overall feeling. We chose these images because they best capture what our film opening will be about and what mood it conveys.

 

Student Review

This is my groups review of other students works and what we could use and wouldn't use in our own film.

 View other student works 

Video #1:  Dare to Thrill

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=4&v=nYpjHCwRO6Q(Links to an external site.)

The film started by showing a master shot with all the characters going up the stairs. The wordings on the screen saying the characters names and title emulate how movies usually write the words on the screen at the beginning. The film opening uses many focusing shots that pull the audience's attention. For example, focus pulls are used to show the characters and the vehicle. These would be helpful in our own opening and can direct the attention of the audience.

It also includes insert clips in chronological order of them getting into the car, the car starting up, plugging in the phone into aux, and amping up the volume to create a dramatic effect of going on a thrill ride. Trucking shots follow the car around as the group of friends swerve and speed around the parking lot and highway. We can take away from this film the different movements and composition in place, making it more cinematic, to create the sense of mystery for our film.

Video #2: Always Watching 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-yrsmQS7bo&feature=youtu.be(Links to an external site.)

  Video two is a horror film opening where it follows the protagonist and his urge to stalk and become his best friend. The opening feels like a documentary, where we peek into the thoughts and motivations of the protagonist. Various technical elements help provide a creepy and discomforting mood that audiences can feel. For example, low key lighting is used multiple times which emphasizes shadows and a moody atmosphere. In our film, this would be useful since it involves mystery elements. More elements like close up shots, creepy music, and dark lighting emphasize the horror aspect. The close up shots further show the craze of the protagonist and emphasize his emotion. Creepy music and darker lighting further enhance the audience's feelings of uneasiness. Low key and dark lighting, creepy music, and other technical elements can be used in our film which would contribute to how audiences will feel.

Video # 3: The Blue Boar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvMH-1XdR9c(Links to an external site.)

Film 3 takes place outside in a forest area. There is an action shot of a young lady walking in the dirt and it depicts her feet taking steps and the action is finished showing her face in the next clip finishing up her walking while her mother is talking to her about business. She then gets a lecture from her mother about not going into the churchyard and she looks into the abyss as the crosscut of her running into the churchyard appears. She is wearing a costume including mise en scene elements to maybe have the audience thinking about the time period she was in or if her family was the modest or religious type. The film is shot with natural lighting from the sun outside. The daughter then breaks into a song singing about her experience with embracing the nature around her, defying her mother. I would not take much from this opening film due to the fact that it does not fall within our genre type.

Video # 4: White coat 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=dvAsmo32uo0(Links to an external site.)

After watching this clip, I would say the genre is mysterious. It starts off by showing a potion brewing and then the rest of the clips are a  mixture of close ups, low key lighting, and slow pans to slowly reveal different details about the film to the viewer. For instance, it quickly pans to the wall that shows a paper saying “patient 0534” to reveal that the person tied up in the chair might be getting tested on. One cool thing about the structure of the film was the use of parallel cutting as it showed both what the scientist was doing and the patient waking up at the same time. Additionally, the music choice creates the feeling of suspense, which can be a helpful tip to keep in mind for our own film. Another thing I would take from this film would be the use of lowkey lighting since we both have the same genre.

Video #5: Stalker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxIZJKdc-Sw&feature=youtu.be(Links to an external site.)

After watching video 5, I would say the genre is mysterious. It starts by the protagonist waking up to the sound of her alarm and getting up and getting ready for her day. She heard a snapshot of a picture and her emotions quickly changed. She uses very tense music that helps set the scene and helps set the tense emotion. She uses various technical elements such as a low angle to show her getting out of bed, a high angle shot to show her starting her work and the note she received in her pencil pouch, close up shot to capture her reaction to someone taking a picture of her in the morning, and etc. The film has a very good sound however, the quality is blurry and it's hard to see and stay attracted to the video. For my video I would use the sound because it helps create tension as our video is also genre mysterious.

Video #6: Nostalgia

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1p8azlLRHyqaShaOJC6SBJwzGx7s9Cjpk/view

Video 6 starts off with a slow tilt towards the sky. Then we see a painting off a city or town and we see a grandma reminiscing on the wall of paint. Then we get a close up shot of her reaction, she seems sad as if this painting has significance in her lifetime. Then we see her picking a leaf from the bush and holding it up to her chest. It quickly shifts to a bunch of pictures on a table of herself, a city, and religious pictures. This video ends up with a little girl with the same outfit as if she was her younger self. This video uses a lot of cuts and not a lot of technical elements. One thing I did like about this video was the music because it gave it a nostalgic feeling. One thing I did not like was that there were limited technical elements so it disengages the audience. One thing I WILL NOT  take from this video is limited elements.

Video #7: Rise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9AKdUT8nyg&feature=youtu.be(Links to an external site.

Rise is a video opening that involves technical elements which show the skills of a soccer player. High angle shots let audiences know that the protagonist is a soccer player by showing the field behind him. Quick zooms are used for all the gear and him suiting up. These elements let audiences understand that this is a sports clip, and the protagonist is gearing up to play. Action matches and tracking shots follow the ball and the moves of the protagonist. In our own film, we can also use high angle shots. These would help show our surroundings and add to the setting. We can also use over the shoulder shots that follow our own protagonists. Most of the other elements in this intro probably wouldn’t fit in our own film. The sound choice and lighting is also upbeat, motivating, and bright which don't fit the mystery genre.

Video #8 Dear Lover

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_bKQDg6fiI&feature=youtu.be(Links to an external site.)

This film takes place outside and it uses a voiceover as a way of explaining to the audience what’s going on. In addition to the voiceover, it uses slow music and a series of longshots to help accentuate the sad tone of the film due to the fact that the daughter ran away. By utilizing fade outs to transition back to clips of the girl being interviewed, it helps the overall structure of the film flow.  One thing I would take from this film is how they started the clip by showing a couple shots of the setting. Since my group's film also has a flashback, we can also take note of how this person made the screen brighter to show that she was showing a memory.