Despite my sudden excitement to act in my own project as the lead character in the last post, I sat on it some more and came to the realization that it would be simply too much to act and direct in the same project, and with the fact that I have plenty of other people to ask about the role, I should keep at it.
So I did... until a "previous no" changed her mind entirely and was ready to take on a leading role.
For the past 2 days, I spent my time contacting friends of mine and asking them if they wanted to act in my opening as either Cade or the Mystery Man. Sadly, only one friend, Santi, was actually willing to act in the production, but he said he didn't want that big of a part in it. So naturally...
So, after an insane brainstorming sesh, I landed on two ideas for the narrative of my opening, both falling under different subgenres within the wider drama genre(that's a mouthful.) I found the pro/con approach to decision-making very insightful and helpful when deciding what genre I should make my opening last week, so I'm going to try it out again. Here they are:
CONCEPT 1: CRIME DRAMA
Premise: Opening would follow an inmate and his brother speaking behind a glass wall about whatever got the inmate in jail, the inmate trying to convince his brother that what he did was not immoral and he shouldn't be in jail as his brother heartbreakingly tells him that he can't be forgiven and his family hates him OR the inmate's lawyer telling him behind a glass wall that his case is still being worked out and he needs to stay patient as they work out his case
PROS OF USING THIS OPENING: an over-reliance on storytelling and dialogue choices as opposed to complex camera work and filming at multiple locations
CONS OF USING THIS OPENING: Finding a cheap way to actually make the opening look like two people talking behind a glass wall would be nearly impossible and the subject matter is far from anything that I "know" (familiarity with a specific element or plot point within the work is always helpful, but I can relate to nothing.)
CONCEPT 2: DRAMA/ THRILLER
Premise: Opening would depict the boring/mundane/repetitive life of a man, the man receives a card or letter from a mysterious person while sitting at a bench, card/letter is an invitation to a mysterious free getaway that will give his life value
PROS: Not dialogue-heavy, there are many ways I could work with the "mundane" life aspect (specifically location-wise,) and this is more in my wheelhouse when it comes to "familiarity" because with work and school I lead a very repetitive and boring life(ouch.)
CONS: The vision I have for the camera work that will "make" this idea will be very tricky(I will expand more upon this in a later post if I decide to choose this.)
After really/mainly considering the cons and troubles I could run into working on either of these concepts, it's clear that the second concept is way more realistic for an amateur filmmaker such as I and would end up being easier for me with the budget and time frame I have.
Concept 2 it is.
In my pursuit of knowledge, I came across a very insightful youtube video about the different ways one could start their film. The video is linked here.
The video broke down some of the possible narrative or stylistic routes one could take when creating an opening scene, namely character introductions, character relationships, and genre conventions. The films used to better explain/show how these film opening techniques could be employed majorly come from the drama genre along with some action films, but the genre didn't matter much in the context of the video-only for the part exclusively talking about genre conventions.
The video is enticing me to go with an opening that builds a character or a dynamic between two characters rather than something that "bends genre." I think as an amateur creator, going into something as complex as that is unwise and seems hard, as I would need to be familiar with elements of two whole genres. Character building seems much more in my wheelhouse and it seems easier to do it in my allowed running time for the opening(2 minutes.)
Dramas are quite possibly the broadest and least restricting genres to work with, which can be both an advantage and disadvantage, as the idea that my opening wouldn't be bound to specific redundant conventions could make it hard to define the genre in the opening itself. To avoid a total lack of standard genre conventions, I decided to research the topic. Here is what I found:
The most important element of a drama is the characters and their relationship with the narrative. Dramas usually stick to a protagonist vs. antagonist narrative structure, and, usually taking place in a realist setting, the characters should be representative of how people can act in real life(shouldn't be too unbelievable or exaggerated.) It's less crucial/necessary for the character to be likable to the audience than it is to be relatable in some sort of way.
A perfect example of an unlikable protagonist is Walter White from the tv-drama Breaking Bad (2008-2013.) Walter White starts out as an unhappy high school chemistry teacher who regrets his life choices leading up to where he was. When he gets diagnosed with lung cancer, he loses the motivation to keep his good-guy persona and conspires to build a meth empire with an old student of his, Jesse Pinkman. His character starts out weak and puny but all he does throughout the series is turn increasingly unlikeable through his heartless and rash actions. The reasoning behind this odd likeability(despite the unlikeability) is rooted in the fact that the first time audiences see him they see the sad chemistry teacher, and they root for him to find happiness and purpose as opposed to the devilish human he is becoming. A complex, multilayered character like Walter White is one that audiences like to watch.
Also, drama pieces are very plot-driven. Because of the plentiful amount of sub-genres within the drama genre, conventions are more situational and don't apply in every type of drama, but it is integral to the effectiveness of a story that the narrative has stakes. Without stakes, dramas simply aren't worth watching. Drama films don't need to be as fast-paced or high-staked as an action movies, but it is crucial to the audience's investment that there is some reason to continue watching. Further, it is important that stakes are defined and obvious to the audience during every scene. One scene lacking substance can be the difference between a good drama and a bad drama.
An important thing about the openings of dramas is that the theme and tone are communicated in that very first scene, and those two things need to stay consistent throughout the work. A major tonal shift sometime in the middle of the film not only lifts the importance of the first scene but can also destroy audiences' investment in the narrative. Consistency is key.
Starting today, for the next eight weeks, I will be beginning work on my portfolio project for my media studies class. The project itself will be the creation of a 2-minute long movie opening, and I have to say, I'm really looking forward to this project. With this project, I am finally able to make something of my own rather than having to work under the creative limitations of a rubric grade. For the next few weeks, my blog will break down my creative processes, such as brainstorming, writing, filming, and editing.
Following the storyboarding of the music video and the filming of some rapping scenes at school, my group and I moved on to filming the rest of the video. We decided we'd film in a local strip mall-type area because there were plenty of alleyways and a long empty road behind it we could use. Also, we made the choice of filming later in the day because it could simulate/give the viewers(once they eventually saw the fully edited music video) a sense of time passing throughout the work. Out of the four members of our group, three of us acted in the music video, and each of us decided to wear clothes that looked as 90s-esque as possible to match the vibe we were aiming for in the music video.
The editing of the music video came next. Since I was the most well-versed in Adobe Premiere out of all of the members in my group, I took on the challenge of editing the music video all by myself. It was a tedious 4-hour process, but I enjoyed doing it. It was fun figuring out what rapping shots or storytelling shots looked the best at what time, and editing to the beat of the music was fairly satisfying.
While I did that, the rest of my group worked on the PowerPoint presentation that would include the music video in it, and it turned out great. A theme that was not only aesthetically pleasing but complementary to the vibe we were trying to associate our artist with was put onto the slides, and little text was put on the slides themselves to make them easier to look at. The handful of social media pages we all aided in creating as well as the website we made to promote the single and the artist's merch were all put on the slide alongside pictures of The Vanquisher.
After all was done and submitted, we showed up to class to present our entire project in front of our media class. I had rehearsed the information I wanted to say during the presentation multiple times the night before, but once it came to my turn to actually speak in front of the class, I scrapped most of it and went with the flow of my thoughts at the moment. I didn't look back or read off the PowerPoint once in my presentation, and neither did any of my group members. According to some of the critiques given to us by our peers, we did a pretty good job and people were fairly impressed by the music video.
I feel this project was beneficial in my media production education because, in retrospect, I realize now that I unofficially took on the role of director, writer, and editor while filming the music video. I was given the chance to direct other people and tell them how I envisioned them to act in a scene, and (as aforementioned) I edited the entire music video. As I approach my Portfolio project in the coming week, I feel that the experience I was granted through this music marketing project served as a worthwhile practice for the directing and editing I will need to do in that next project.
OH MY GOD ITS TIME HERE'S MY FINAL PRODUCT!! FILM FILE GLUTTONY POSTCARD FRONT BACK SOCIAL MEDIA TWITTER: @gluttonymovie
