The Art of Sound

Good morning!

After reflecting back on the filming that Andrew and I completed, I realized that I definitely need to do more research on sound, especially because it is such an important element to my genre choice and film opening. The sound choice must match what is conveyed in the film to emphasize the spooky and mysterious vibe that we're looking for. Besides the non-diagetic sound that will be playing in the background of our film to add fluency to our story line, we also need to create diagetic sounds that pair with our actions. For example, for a portion of our film when the protagonist screams, we will import a diagetic sound of the scream to match what is occurring. We realized that layering a sound memo of the scream onto the action would sound better than actually screaming into the camera while acting, because there are noises in the background such as birds chirping. From personal experience with sound editing, I have realized that making noises into a microphone on a voice memo will come out a lot clearer than the on-camera microphone would. We may also experiment with foley sounds to create sounds for actions such as footsteps.

This is the microphone that we will be using for the sounds we create. 

In addition, the sounds that we plan on layering over our film opening are key to have because it is what truly makes the film spooky. For example, in the movie Psycho (1960), the shower scene would not be nearly as scary if there weren't scores and diagetic/non-diagetic sounds playing during the scene. The sound elements in the shower scene are a huge reason why the scene is iconic.

For now, we will be focusing more on completing all of our filming. Next week will be dedicated to finding the best sound elements and editing our film.

First day of filming

Hey guys,

Yesterday we completed our first day of filming! In this post I will be giving you the inside scoop of everything that occurred.

To start, the makeup ordeal was pretty complicated. I was trying to contact any of my friends that are good at that stuff, but nobody was awake early in the morning before we started filming. Because I had nobody to help me put on the makeup, I did it myself! To be honest, I was extremely proud of myself with the way it came out because it looked pretty good.

Here's what it looked like:

After I put on the makeup, we made our journey to the house. As we were setting up our props, we realized that we could make the setting even better. On the far back wall of the garage, there was a big white bulletin board. We realized that if we printed out a bunch of pictures of little kids and posted them on the wall, it would make the scenery a lot more spooky. (This addition to our setting was vital because it followed our story line and emphasized the genre.) After we came to this realization, we decided to leave the vacant garage and drive all the way back to my house to print the pictures. On the pictures, we wrote fake addresses, drew X's over the faces to show that the kids have been killed,  and splattered blood on the pictures.

Before 

After 

After we completed our set up, we started filming. All of the lightning in our film opening was natural; we messed around with the garage and left it open a crack so we can have minimal lightning in our film, just enough to see what is going on. After taking many retakes and different shot variations, we finished most of our film besides the flashback scene. We couldn't shoot this scene because the syringe still hasn't been shipped to my house, so we will shoot this scene next week.


Overall, day one of filming was definitely a success. After a long day of filming, Andrew and I enjoyed some delicious subs.
Until next time,
Ben

Mise en scene elements

Good morning!

This morning I drove to Sawgrass Party City and bought face makeup for the character that is injected with the memory serum. This makeup is imperative for our portfolio project because it makes the character look scary and eerie. It emphasizes that the character in the scene has been knocked out and aggressively injected by someone.

This makeup element will be used to make the protagonist's face look dirty and mistreated. It will show viewers that he was abused and  fell onto the garage floor getting his face dirty. 

This makeup will be used on the face of the protagonist to show viewers that he has been hit over the head and knocked out before he was injected. He will also have blood on his arm where he is injected to show viewers that it was an aggressive action. 

When I went to buy mise en scene elements, I was unable to find a syringe to use for the injection scene, so I am ordering one on Amazon and having it shipped over night to my house. 

Attached below is what the syringe looks like.

Now that we've purchased our mise en scene elements, our next step is to begin filming. I'm beyond excited to begin this process. 

Peace, 

Ben 

Setting

Hey guys! 

Good news... I have received the keys for a house that has a vacant garage that we can film in! Thanks to my dad, we have now made progress and have a setting for our film opening. This location is perfect because it is located in Weston Hills, which means that it is right down the block from where Andrew and I live. If we ever need to reshoot, the distance is not a problem at all.

In addition, this garage is perfect because it is rather empty, so we don't have to move many things around to get the shots we need. It definitely fits the setting that we portray in our story, and we can always alter it to make it more eerie if we need to. 

Attached below are pictures of the setting. 

Now that we've chosen our setting, our next objective is to buy our mise en scene elements and props.  

Stay tuned, 

Ben

Opening Credits

Good afternoon everyone!

Today, I will be discussing our  opening credits scene. This part is imperative to our production because it reveals the title of the film and who created and acted for the film. 

We have not come up with a name for our production yet, but we are  planning on displaying the title in an eerie and mysterious font. We chose this idea because it matches with our genre, and it would only make sense if the title font matched with what the production is about.  

opening title font example 

Coincidentally, this font name is called “Something Strange”, which fits well with the mysterious vibe of our plot line. 

And now for the credits sequence. Before the protagonist of our story wakes up, we’re planning on having a long take of items surrounding our protagonist that have our names on them to describe what roles we played in the production and who we act as. The protagonist will be passed out throughout the duration of the opening sequence, introducing the character and starting off the film with a mysterious beginning. In addition, we will have a spooky non diagetic sound that is playing during the duration of the opening credits to add continuity to our production. 

Like Napoleon Dynamite (2004), our opening sequence will have the credits on different items, but it is different in a way because the items in our sequence will be shown in a long take of a pan around the abandoned garage. 

Hasta la vista,

Ben 

Andreasowhat. "Napoleon Dynamite Opening Titles." YouTube. YouTube, 29 June 2011. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-gjywJN6tA>.

Harris, Jonathan S. "381 Free Scary Fonts." FontSpace. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar. 2017. <http://www.fontspace.com/category/scary>. 

Low Key Lightning

Good morning and Happy Saint Patrick's Day!
Today's post will focus mainly on low key lightning. Because low key lightning is huge part of our film opening and I am not very familiar with it, I will be collecting research to understand it more. For those who don't know, low key lighting is a film element that uses most dark tones to create a dramatic, ominous, and mysterious image. Low key lightning uses as little amount of light as possible, so it makes the subject look scarier than if the whole face was lit. It is possible to create low key lightning with natural light, but its very tricky so we will be taking the easier route by using flashlights and a studio light.

Steps for creating low key lighting:
1. set up a dark black backdrop behind your subject
2. Keep the light source focusing on your subject, not the backdrop
3. Have a reflector next to the subject (optional)
4. film away!
Below are two examples of what we plan on having it look like:

example of low-key lightning set up

example of low-key lightning set up

Stay tuned for more details! 

Ben 

Harpley, Gil. "Advanced Photography Studio Lighting." Photography Tips. N.p., 13 Feb. 2012. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <http://www.photographytips.net/advanced-photography-studio-lighting/>.

"High/low Key." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <https://www.pinterest.com/silvaTree/highlow-key/>.

Peterson, David. "Using Lighting Style to Create Mood: High-key and Low-key Lighting." Using Lighting Style to Create Mood: High-key and Low-key Lighting :: Digital Photo Secrets. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <http://www.digital-photo-secrets.com/tip/3558/using-lighting-style-to-create-mood-high-key-and-low-key-lighting/>.

S.R.L, TDM. "Top Design Magazine - Web Design and Digital Content." Top Design Magazine – Web Design and Digital Content -. TDM S.R.L, 18 Mar. 2017. Web. 18 Mar. 2017. <http://www.topdesignmag.com/learn-how-to-create-better-photos-by-reading-these-extremely-useful-tutorials/>.

Storyboard/setting

Greetings colleagues, I'm back again to update you on our progress. The last time Andy and I met, we sketched out what our film opening should look like. We're still working on brainstorming ideas for the credits and the sound elements. We're definitely leaning towards stings that add continuity to the mysterious vibe. In addition, we are also searching for places to film that would match our eerie story.

Our storyboard is attached below!

the storyboard masterpiece 

As you can see in our storyboard, we will be using techniques such as quick cuts, diagetic sounds, stings, cross cuts, close ups, low key lightning and various shots to make our film the best it can be.

In addition, our setting is a major element for our film opening. My father is a realtor, so one of our best options is to use one of the abandoned garages that he is that haven't been sold yet. This coming weekend we plan on going with my dad to some of the houses he has and choosing the best fit to match our story.

Attached below is an example of what we're looking for.

Abandoned garage example

Next week we're going to focus mainly on filming our opening. 

Until next time,

Ben

Salonen, Robin. "Abandoned Garage." Abandoned Garage. Robin Salonen, n.d. Web. 17 Mar. 2017. <http://robinsalonen.artstation.com/projects/KRkkB>.

Exclusive story sneak peak!

Hey guys, we've finally came up with a film opening idea! Here's how it looks so far:

Our genre will be a mixture of Mystery, Suspense, and Thriller. The film opens after opening credits end with a shot of a man walking up in what appears to be an old abandoned garage with blood dripping down his forehead. He wakes up with a raging headache and cannot figure out what happened before he got to this setting. The scene fuzzes out and cross cuts quickly to a shot of a man grabbing another man and injecting him with something (which is later revealed to be a memory serum), but the faces are not revealed. The camera pans around and in the darkened back corner of the room, the camera pulls in on a VHS tape that is on the ground. The man gets up and proceeds to walk out when he sees a girl dead on the floor. This opening will allude to conflict and set the mood and plot for the rest of the story.

After the opening scene, the film will proceed with this plot:

The man is trying to decide exactly what happened before he got to that abandoned garage but he can't ever figure it out. He walks to a nearby small town and uses that town to settle down for a while before he tries to embark on the rest of his journey. The man will go to the police station to try to figure out if anything has happened recently in the story, and it is revealed that there is a serial killer and another accomplice who have been nearby and 17 young girls and guys have been missing over the last 3 months. The man throughout the movie will keep having flashbacks of the injection scene but faces are never shown. As the movie reaches its climax, the man has a flashback of the moment he was injected,  and in his hand is the VHS tape from the opening scene. The man runs to the abandoned garage place and searches for the tape. The tape has a message on the back that says play me, and the man runs to the town to play the tape to the police, believing that the serial killer probably attempted to murder him. Watching the video, it is revealed to the audience that the man has been the serial killer the entire time, and the video is of the man killing a little girl. (He records himself every time he kills someone) . The police arrest the man, and the camera slowly zooms out to see a man who was lurking behind the scenes throughout the entire movie, hinting to the audience that this man at the end is the accomplice who injected a memory serum into  his accomplice and framed him. The screen fades to black.

It took us a good week to finally brainstorm this story idea, so I am thrilled to finally have the base of our project.

Now that we've created our story, our plan for this upcoming week consists of:
1. creating a storyboard
2. doing more research for our film
3. find a setting and props for our film
4. planning out our filming process

I can't wait to share more details with you guys as our journey progresses! Now its time I celebrate the weekend and enjoy a nice burger.
Peace out,
Ben

Research!

Hey guys, I'm back again. Andrew and I met up once again and we decided that we must do extensive research to figure out what we should incorporate into our film, as well as what parts of the genre stand out the most. I've been watching Youtube videos to get a better understanding of the thriller/mystery/suspense genre mix.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKukhIw5eY

In the opening scene of Scream (1996), the sound elements truly emphasize the thrill and suspense displayed. The scary stings added throughout the dialogue between the protagonist and the killer/antagonist make the scene way scarier than it would be if its silent. The sound also adds to the eerie vibe.  As the protagonist is running through the house to lock all the doors, the sting added in the background creates suspense and makes the viewers want to know what is about to happen. This video shows how sound elements are imperative to a thriller movie opening. It also introduces the main characters for the rest of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I0sFdL3khs

In the opening scene of The Bourne Ultimatum (2007), the camera movement and editing are key components. Throughout the whole scene, there are fast editing cuts from the protagonist to the cops who are chasing him to create an energetic and chaotic scene. The cuts play a huge role because it emphasizes that the scene is intense and adds fluency and dynamism to the scene.The editing helps the characters understand and grasp onto the plot a lot more because the fast cuts let the viewers see many different aspects of the scene.  This scene helped me realize that camera movement and editing skills are important to intensify a scene and add fluency to a film. It also showed me that you must use the proper editing techniques to match the tone and mood of the scene to add continuity to the scene.

One of the most important elements that we must tackle in our film opening is the setting. According to thewritingplace.wordpress.com, "Setting is the time and place where a scene occurs. It can help set the mood, influence the way characters behave, affect the dialog, foreshadow events, invoke an emotional response, reflect the society in which the characters live, and sometimes even plays a part in the story." If we're working on a thriller genre, our setting must perfectly match the eerie and mysterious mood of our content. 

Thankfully, this research has created clarity for me and gave me a better understanding of the thriller and mystery genre mix. 

Until we meet again,  

Ben

"The Bourne Ultimatum 2007 : The Opening Scene (HD)." YouTube. YouTube, 27 May 2016. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6I0sFdL3khs>. 

"Scream (1996) - Opening (1/3)." YouTube. YouTube, 01 May 2015. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZgKukhIw5eY>. 

"Story Elements: Importance of the Setting." The Writing Place. N.p., 13 Apr. 2010. Web. 12 Mar. 2017. <https://thewritingplace.wordpress.com/2010/04/13/story-elements-importance-of-the-setting/>.

The Beginning.

Hello, my name is Ben Eiglarsh, and this is where I will be updating you throughout the process of my AICE Media Studies film opening project. I am thrilled to be able to collaborate with my partner Andrew Briceno, to create the best  film opening we can produce with all of the elements we have learned throughout this course. On the first day of the project, Andrew and I viewed a few examples of film openings in order to get an idea of what we should do. The first obstacle we encountered was choosing a genre. We decided that we would choose a genre that we both find interesting, so we narrowed it down to horror, suspense, or mystery. These are also genres that we can mess around with and think of many different ideas. It was pretty simple to eliminate the genres that we didn't like, but the main challenge is coming up with ideas with our remaining genres. I know if I continue to brainstorm and stay patient, eventually I will come up with a brilliant vision that Andrew and I can expand on. For now, I'm pretty satisfied with our progress because we've only just begun this journey. Anyway, stay tuned for all of the behind the scenes details throughout my pathway to success!

Dirks, Tim. "Detective-Mystery Films." DETECTIVE-MYSTERY FILMS. AMC, 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. <http://www.filmsite.org/mysteryfilms.html>.

Dirks, Tim. "Thriller and Suspense Films." THRILLER - SUSPENSE FILMS. AMC, 2017. Web. 08 Mar. 2017. <http://www.filmsite.org/thrillerfilms.html>.