Creative Critical Reflection

https://soundcloud.com/hrisperiod3/chris-39-ccr

Final Project

Nearly Done

So I checked the camera's in CBtv and I found one that worked perfectly, it was called the HMC-80 (I don't know it's full name). I used several flashlights angled to make a certain objects in the shot appear more clear, while making the surroundings still look dark. It worked incredibly well, and the light from the computer, gave the scene a blue tint.  The blue (at least in my opinion) gave the scene a lot of style, and gave it the feeling of a horror film.





I failed to mention this in a previous blog, buy my main character was intended to give off a macabre feeling. Within the story he is a hit man who uses fear when killing his targets. The opening implies he has cut the power of the building, making the entire room his target is inside of dark. Anything that is illuminated in the room has a blue tint. Horror movies commonly use blue tint.

Although this isn't entirely the intro of a horror movie, my main character pulls off his assassinations by giving his targets the same feeling of fear a horror movie killer would give to their victim. These horror traits are why the blue fits into the intro.

"All Horror Movies." Pinterest. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Apr. 2016.

Filming Begins

     I gathered my filming crew (my friends who I trust knowing what to do with a camera) and we started filming yesterday. The scene's that took place in the morning were filmed first since we needed to take advantage of the day light. We used an iPad to film since it has better resolution than my phone. Unfortunately once it became night. it became incredibly hard to film and shots appeared very grainy. The majority of my film intro is in the dark so before I can film those scene's I have to either find a camera than film with high quality in the dark, or figure out if the iPad has a settings control so I can change the iris and shudder speed (which it probably doesn't have but who knows).  I can get my hands on a TV Production camera but I wouldn't know how well they film in the dark unless I test them myself (or Doster knows for some reason) so next time I'm in my TV Production class I'm going to test it in the studio or sound room.  At this point you're probably wondering why I didn't just use the camera from my class in the first place. Personally I think they're too much of a hassle most of the time, they're frail, if your battery dies then that's it since they don't give you a charger, I have to constantly be shifting the iris and focus nearly every time I move the camera. New Apple products tend to have higher quality images than those cameras, they automatically shift the focus and iris for every shot, this is incredibly useful when you have very little time to actually film. I am working on other people's schedule as well as my own so I need to film quickly. I will probably have a solution within a couple of days, the next post will either involve that or my current footage.

   

     

Acting isn't easy

     I have a clear image for how I want one of my characters to look like, and that's simply because I projected my own image on to him. As much as I imagined for the character to resemble me, I would much rather be behind the camera the entire time to get exactly what I want, camera work also happens to be something I'm pretty decent at. Despite how little dialogue there is in my script, I would still want somewhat decent actors in my intro. I have plenty of friends in drama who could do it but I would also prefer if they matched my image





   My main characters partner is one I wrote entirely thinking of my friend, because I wanted this character to reflect ratty criminals like Steve Buscemi in nearly every crime movie he's done. My friend loves Steve Buscemi, specifically the character of Mr Pink is "Reservoir Dogs". I loved the idea of basing the character off Mr. Pink so much that I made his proxy name Mr. Pink in the script since his name is never stated in the intro.

And The Script is Done!!!!!!!

      As the title implies, the script is done! At least for the time being if enough people tell me it's bad there are several things I should change then I'll revise it.  For now I like it a lot more than I expected. I was constantly putting it off, through self-sabotage. I would constantly tell myself things "like my idea isn't complete, I don't have an ending yet, I'm not good at script writing, etc." At the end of the day I was just making excuses to be lazy, and this is a great step forward. For an action/thriller it's intro takes a horror element. The reason for this is because the main character is seen as kind of a mythical figure. He's a criminal enforcer, and he adds theatrics to his assassination, so the opening exemplifies this with a stylized intro
     To get inspired I started to listen to different songs with a grim tone (or jokingly grim) I started listening to Simon & Garfunkel-Sound of Silence, The Specials-Ghost Town, and Pokemon Red & Blue-Lavender Town Music. It was actually really effective to start forming ideas. Once I got to the morning portion of the intro I started listening to  Summer Breeze, simply for the fact that it reminded me of Reservoir Dogs, and I feel like my film idea takes a few pages from that film.
  

Figuring out the kinks

I was finally able to load some of my own test images for the opening. I'm trying to figure out different methods to add more light in the scene (it's intended to be dark but in a stylized way), either through the computer or having a projector somewhere in the room to put a cool effect in the room.

I'm gonna use this website , it gives a step by step guide to making a projector, if it doesn't work or it doesn't fulfill my needs I'll figure out another method.

Teaser Images

Since I've decided on a Thriller I've tried thinking of ways to get the audience thinking within the first couples of seconds. So with the opening scene I have a few sample shots that give the scene kind of a mystery element. This is the kind of imagery I want to use for my opening shot, it doesn't tell the audience much but at the same time they'll want to know more. I had my own images but they wouldn't load for some reason.



"Writer’s Block." Sweet with Fall and Fish. Wordpress.com, 07 May 2014. Web. 18 Mar. 2016. "Man-using-computer-in-dark-room-screen-glow-privacy-security-300x200 - Christian Blog." Christian Blog RSS. Christian Blog, 18 May 2015. Web. 18 Mar. 2016.

With idea of doing a thriller I've tried finding techniques on that I can implement.

For inspiration on on how to do my opening shot I've watched this

For a technique I might implement 

Advice from a legend

And finally one of the most intense opening's to film ever 

The tension from Inglorious Bastards is something I really want to capture in my film opening, but I also wish to utilize silence. As Alfred Hitchcock said give the audience the information they need, but once I've given them the information I want the silence drive them even further to the edge of their seats. Not only do I think this would be an interesting way to add tension but I also wouldn't have to rely on dialogue or acting to intrigue the audience.

 

Change in genre

Over the course of the past few days, discussing with my classmates, and mulling over several idea's, I've switched my project to a thriller/horror. I know I seemed somewhat set on comedy in my last entry, but it seems like to big of a gamble for my final huge project in this class. Thriller is easier to pull of. The acting and dialogue don't have to be as a great, it relies more on editing and camerawork than anything else. I already some scene's in mind, and I will probably be posting the script in a future post along with possibly some test footage.


I think I want more of a mystery with some horror elements in the opening so these are some films that I think I may take elements from:

IMDb. IMDb.com. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

Sharer, Wesley. "Gone Girl: What’s Lost in Translation and Does It Matter?" Literary Traveler. 29 Jan. 2015. Web. 13 Mar. 2016.

Let's find a genre

I can't stand this process. I'm stuck on idea's for this project. Nearly everything I come up with has something that can be done. Whether it be having enough suits for my crime idea, or using a restaurant as the setting of an accident. I keep realizing that something either can't be done or would  be incredibly difficult to pull off. At the same time, I think this attitude I have towards these ideas are just self sabotage, sure they would be difficult but they aren't outlandish for a film opening with no budget. The most doable idea I have is comedy, since it would mostly be dialogue based. The only issue I have is, whether or not I have the writing skills, to write something most people find funny. Once I'm done with the script, I'll show it to as many friends as possible, to see what they think. After that I'll make revisions.

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/10-ways-to-improve-your-writing-while-thinking-like-a-comedy-writer
Jasheway, Leigh Anne. "10 Ways to Improve Your Writing While Thinking Like a Comedy Writer | WritersDigest.com." WritersDigest.com. N.p., 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.
This may help with the improving process.

Jasheway, Leigh Anne. "10 Ways to Improve Your Writing While Thinking Like a Comedy Writer | WritersDigest.com." WritersDigest.com. N.p., 17 Jan. 2012. Web. 10 Mar. 2016.

http://www.movieoutline.com/articles/the-4-rules-of-comedy-writing-for-screenwriters.html
Gilles, D.B. "The 4 Rules of Comedy Writing For Screenwriters."Movieoutline. Nuvotech Limited, n.d. Web.
This is another helpful article, just thought I should share some of what I was researching.