COVID-19

Hello blog... Recently, we have been going through this unfortunate event that has made a huge impact around the world. A virus, named COVID-19,  has been spreading dramatically and the number of infected people is quickly increasing by the day. Many measures have been taken to avoid its spreading. School was cancelled and we are now on self-quarantine.

This situation has interfered with some of plans and ideas for my film opening. Therefore, certain changes will be made to adjust to the current situation.

- Location

 Since it is recommended to stay inside and avoid contact with people, I will have to change the entire setting of my movie, and perhaps even change the storyline. I will not be able to film in the places I had planned to film. For the first part of the film opening, The filming process was going to take place in my classmate's house, since she has the perfect location. However, now I will have to find and set up a place in my house that is similar to the one I had in mind. Since the character in my movie lives in a very small bedroom, I will have to adjust the lighting and the add elements and objects to create the perfect setting. Additionally, there was another scene I had in mind, that was going to take place in a very poor neighborhood. Since I can no longer go outside, I will have to change the storyline so that I don't have the need to film outside.

- Characters and Filming

 During my film opening, there were going to be multiple characters participating, since the main character lived in a community home and had contact with them very often. I had already chosen people that were willing to participate and act during the opening as those characters. However, now I won’t be able to include any of them and will change certain scenes so that only the main character will be shown. Additionally, I had also specifically chosen someone that fitted the main character (Emily) perfectly and matched her personality. Sadly, she, as well as any of the other characters won’t be able to participate. This is causing me trouble some trouble since I will now have to adapt the storyline so that there is only one character and so that I am able to film myself during every scene. There will be many changes made, so I will keep updating you guys on this situation. If filming myself doesn’t work, I am considering asking my sister or a family member to participate in my project.

Trouble With Blog 

Blog Titles

Lately, I have been trying to focus on the aesthetic and visual appeal of my blog, and while doing so, I have encountered several issues. Firstly, I was having trouble with the titles for each blog post. I was modifying and customizing my blog, and I accidentally changed something that made the titles change to white, so they were not visible. I tried changing everything and still I wasn't able to change it back. This little problem took so much time to figure out, so I started to get a little frustrated. Finally, since I was not able to fix it myself, I had to ask a classmate for help. And thankfully, she was able to make my tittles visible again.

Consistency

When I first started creating my blogs, I would typed them in google docs first instead of typing it directly in blogger, since I was scared that some of my work might get lost. After I was done, I would then copy and paste them into this platform, which ended up causing me a lot of trouble. I later started typing my blogs directly through here. Due to this, some posts have a different color and size, which I am not able to fix, unless I type the blog post again. Even if I put them both under the same color, it does not change. Even though I do not like how it looks, since it looks pretty inconsistent and messy, I will continue trying after I am done with the rest of my blogs. For now, I will focus mainly on the project and after I am done, I will change all of the details so that they are able to match and look consistent. 

Calendar

The calendars I did for my blog also gave me a little trouble. For some reason, I was not able to insert the document of the calendar into the blog. I tried saving the document in various different ways; however, none of them worked. I think the platform I was using to create the calendar interfered in the process of saving, and for that reason I was not able to insert it. I could either kept looking for another website that would help me create a calendar, or I could make it myself by hand and just take a picture of it and upload it. I decided to try a different website, which was Canva.com.  At first I was having trouble adjusting and adding everything I wanted to incorporate, but after I started playing with it, I kind of got the hang of it. Additionally, when I was finished, I realized that paying was required in order to save it. So instead of paying, I screenshot it and just added the picture later. Everything ended working out at the end. 

More about baking...

   Since my film opening is going to be about baking, I wanted to do some research on other baking shows or movies before I work further on my idea. This will be useful when filming and thinking of every aspect of my project - the story line, the setting, target audience, characters, etc... I will also be able to learn from these movies and perhaps incorporate some of its techniques into my project, and hopefully get some inspiration.

Chocolat (2000)

This movie narrates the story of a woman, Vianne, and her child, who have just arrived to a new town in France where all of the community's activities are controlled by the local church.  They decide to open a very unusual chocolate store, across the street of the church. As a society, they are supposed to abstain themselves from these pleasures, however, Vianne tempts her with her varieties of chocolate creations. Her store becomes more and more popular as the time passes, however, the town's mayor is not happy about this and is willing to make her leave town. She is not giving up and with the help of another new person in town, she plans a chocolate festival.

No Reservations (2007)

This movie is a comedy-drama film, sort of towards the romantic side. It narrates a story where two chefs start competing for culinary perfection. Later an accident occurs, which makes one of the main characters, Kate Armstrong, take cake of her niece forever. This was causing trouble in her daily life, since she was the head chef of a restaurant. The owner decided to hire a new chef, Nick Palmer, who was a recognized chef that could work in any restaurant he pleased. Kate felt threatened by him since he had a particular way of running the kitchen. Even though it was always a competition between them, Kate felt attracted to Nick due to his particular personality. Kate's niece, was coming to work with Kate everyday, so she formed a special bond with Nick. By the end of the movie, they end up falling in love and opening their own bistro. However, Kate's pride sometimes interfered in their relationship. 

The Hundred Foot Journey (2014)

This movie narrates the story of an Indian family that moves to France. They decide to open a new restaurant in order to start over, but later realize that they have competition next door. Helen Mirror, the owner of the restaurant next door, tries to sabotage the Indian cafe. However, later in the movie, competing chefs start falling in love. This movie also sends viewers a positive message about multicultural acceptance. All of this movies are Drama/Comedy-Drama. They are not only about the same topic or theme (cooking), but also the same genre, which I think can help me extensively in the developing of my film. Each of this films have a plot where the characters face and encounter an important dilemma or problem, which later changes their entire life. This is similar to my idea. The character in my film, Ellie, has a major problem, which is that she doesn't have enough money to pay her rent, so she later finds this baking competition, which completely changes her life. She falls in love with baking and opens her own bakery.  

Planning!!

Hello guys! Here I attached my schedule for this project. I want to start by saying that planning has been a complicated step in my process since it has been taking place during the most busy time of the year, with college applications and finals... However, I have been able to manage my time appropriately and successfully work on my project.


At first, as you can see during my first blog posts, I started with research specific to my genre. Research is critical to this project, so I will be incorporating tons throughout this process. Later, I added some of the decisions I have made about my project, such as the brainstorming process and how the storyline of my film will be like. I also added the dates by when other research, the storyboard and flyers need to be done. This way I will make sure to have everything ready in time in order to continue with the project and be able to achieve a successful and well thought project.


I have also started doing my March planning calendar. It is almost done, but since I still haven't fully completed my storyboard and made a decision about the locations where I will be filming, I can't set any dates specific dates for that. For now, I will focus on finishing what I have to complete by this month, so that I will have many aspects of the project settled and can continue on the planning of the project.



Flyers


In my schedule I stated that I will be doing the flyers for my film, since I will be needing 2 of them. The first one will be inserted in my film opening when Ellie finds out that there is a competition. That flyer will be introducing the competition to the audience. It will contain specific information, such as the time, place, the requirements, the winning prize, and everything Ellie needs to know in order to enroll.

The second flyer will be the rent flyer. This is how Ellie is going to find out that she does not have enough money and that she might be kicked out of the house she lives in if she doesn't pay on time. This flyer will introduce the source of conflict in the film. It is not specifically a flyer; it is more like an announcement or warning that she will find on her door. I will make a blog posting documenting the creation of each of them, so keep posted!





Well... here's my calendar/shooting schedule! :)

Storyline of film opening 

Exposition (Introduction)

The movie would start by introducing the main character, Ellie. She is a full time college student with no parental figures. Her parents abandoned her at a very young age and left her living with her aunt, which was an alcoholic. She never received much attention from her family as a child or as a teenager. For this reason, as soon as she turned 18, she moved out of her aunt's house and started living by herself. She rented a small room in a house shared by multiple families, which later became her family. During the first part of the movie she is showed spending time with the people she lives with. They are all watching movies sharing the only sofa in the living room. I wanted to include this scene in order to show the audience what type of relationship they have and what a day in her daily life is like. At the end of the day, she goes to her room to work on some homework. The next morning, she is given her last warning saying that she must pay her rent by the end of the month, or else, she will be kicked out. She becomes really stressed and overwhelmed because she doesn't have any money, or time. 

After calming down, Ellie grabs a newspaper and starts looking and for jobs. She started calling every place that was hiring, or where she though she had a chance. However, after calling multiple places, no one was willing to hire her. To relieve her stress, she decides to go for a walk. While she is walking, she finds a flyer on the street of a baking competition, where they are giving $10,000 to the winner. The competition only requires for you to make a cake of your liking, but in 1 hour span. She looks at the flyer and finds hope. Even though she is excited and willing to participate, she has never made a cake before, or anything similar. She has no experience with cooking or baking whatsoever. Moreover, as soon as she sees the flyer, she rushes home to start practicing. The competition is three weeks away, so she has time to practice.  

Rising Action & Climax

After she sees the flyer and goes home to start practicing, she first starts researching how to make a cake from scratch and all the components that come with making a cake. She practices and practices until she finally is able to make a decent cake. Over the weeks, she finally accomplished her mission: a beautiful and delicious cake that she made within the time limit. She is happy and excited and has lots of hope. The day of the competition gets here... she is really nervous and her friends are there to give her support. This competition will be streamed worldwide, so she feels a lot of pressure over her shoulders. 

Once she gets to the comptetition, she is taken to her baking station, where she has every ingredient and tool she will be needing to make her cake. There is an enormous screen with the timer in front of her table. There is a huge crowd cheering and waiting for the show to begin. Once it begins, she is the fastest of all the contestants. Everything is going as planned, until she realized that the frosting she made does not have the right consistency. This is a huge problem since the frosting is a crucial element in the assembly of cake. Although this took some of her time, she was able to fix it and keep working on her cake. She continued crushing the competition. When there were only 5 minutes left, she proceeded to make the final details of the cake and make sure everything was going as planned.. Once the timer reached one minute, she was already done! Her cake was precious compared to those of her competitors. It was different, creative, well assembled and frosted, and it tasted great!

A bell rung, which indicated that the competition was over. The crowd was cheering and the judges were anxious to try all of the different creations. They started trying and analyzing each cake, one by one.. they even questioned each of the competitors as to why they made each of their choices. Her friends were cheering for her back home, and hoping she wins. They were excited and happy for her because all of her hard work. On the other hand, Ellie was frightened for the judges to try her cake. She was really nervous and kept thinking that she was not going to win. However, when the judges got to her table, they were amazed of how good and beautiful her cake was. And so was she, she didn't expect the judges to react the way they did. 

Resolution

As everyone expected... she won the competiton. All of her work had finally paid off. She won the $10,000 and was able to pay all her debts. She will be able to pay her rent and keep focusing on her studies. However, after this crazy and unexpected experience, she reconsidered majoring in psychology and chose culinary school instead. She found her true passion, something she had never expected. She loves baking and spends her free time making all types of sweets for her friends. After finishing culinary school, she opened her own bakery, which became on of the most famous bakeries in the state. She later got married and started a family. She had two little boys, who since they were kids, knew how to make a cake. 

The Brainstorming Process

Hello guys! Here I will be giving you updates on my portfolio project. I will be documenting everything that goes into the creation of this project, from start to finish. Firstly I would like to clarify that the first few weeks of making this project are critical, since the basis of this project is going to be settled. I have had so much trouble trying to brainstorm, and coming up with possible ideas, and it has been a setback in my journey. I am in my second week of progress, and I am still indecisive on what my film plot will be. I have also had a hard time choosing one specific genre. For now I am thinking of drama, since it can expand to endless possibilities. Perhaps teen drama specifically with a target audience of  teens between 15-25.

Teen drama is gaining many popularity recently, and I think it will be something very fun to do. However, I think doing something different and specific to my hobbies will be better. Recently, due to all the trouble that I was having trying to brainstorm, my teacher helped me come up with an idea that relates to my hobbies and my passions. BAKING. Since I was a kid, I have always been a fan of cooking and baking, and basically everything related to food. I love making cookies and cakes and all types of sweets for my family and friends, and it is something I really enjoy that can sometimes be my escape from reality. Out of all the ideas I had, I think this is the one!

At first, I was thinking of an intro containing only shots of food along with the credits. All different types of shots, angles, and close ups. For instance a close-up while piping frosting, whisking eggs, different cakes, etc…  However, this is more of an opening to a cooking show rather than a movie. I have to introduce a story, and characters and create a plot.. So even though it was a good idea and would be very fun to do, it will not be possible to accomplish. This is where I started to get extremely stressed and worried, since I was completely lost on what to do. 

Later, after hours of thinking, some ideas surged to my head, still related to baking of course.
One focuses on narrating the life of a student who is struggling financially and needs money to afford
college. She lives in an apartment with other people (who she doesn’t know), and if she doesn't
pay her rent or college fee, she will be kicked out. So after being extremely stressed and looking
for jobs everywhere without being able to find one, she is walking down the street from school or
work and he or she finds a flyer of a cooking competition where the price is $10,000. She has hope
that she may win this competition and goes home to practice. At first, she is really bad at it, but after
a lot of practice, she is able to achieve an incredible job. The film opening will end with her/him looking
at the timer, with a smile on her face since she finished her cake on time. This would solve all of her
problems, and she will be able to finish college. In addition, something that happens in the movie,
is that she discovers her passion for baking and will end up opening her own bakery and be very
successful. 

I think this is the idea for my final project, but I am not sure; some changes will definitely be made
in the process. I will be giving you updates on my journey and every decision I make. Honestly,
even though I really like my idea, I think that it will be hard and I’m scared that it might not work out.
But we will see… 

Drama Movies

Here are some examples of good movies within this genre that incorporate all of the elements of drama movies.

Fight Club (1999)
This movie is based on a novel that was released years prior. The movie stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Carter. An office worker with insomnia, and a soap maker come together and form an underground fight club, hence the name of the movie. Little did they know that this would turn into something more. It is a controversial tale about a violent revolt against capitalism and corporate culture. This movie is a good example of a drama film, since the move is based on the solving of a conflict which they encounter, and it has a happy ending.












Roma (2018)
Roma is a newer film that won multiple nominations and awards. It is a different genre of drama, with a very intense plot. This movie portrays real life issues. it s more of a historical drama since it is set in 1970 and 1971, It represents a specific time in history, as well as a specific group of people. The movie narrates the life of a house-keeper of a middle class family in Mexico city. All the characters in the movie, together face various conflicts in their path to success. Like all drama movies, it is intense, dramatic, and it has a protagonist and an antagonist.

Titanic (1997)

We all know or have heard of this classic movie. It is a romantic drama movie, which narrates the love story of a couple. During the movie, the major conflict is that the ship they were in, starts sinking, so they face this terrible accident, separating both of them (which is the conflict of the film, that prevents them from being together) . Unlike most drama films, this film challenges the drama conventions, since it does not have a happy ending. This is an exemplary example of a romantic drama film. 

Some other drama movies...

Mean Girls (2004)

Clueless (1994)   

Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)

Drama

We all know or have an idea of what drama is. Drama is a very common genre within our current society, and it seems to be fairly popular as well. This genre is characterized by the emotional development of realistic characters and dramatic scenes throughout the plot. Most of the times, it is a narrative of the intense and real life issues of the main character. This is such a broad genre with endless sub-genres, but I will be talking about the most common ones for now. 

Tragedy - tragedy is a sub genre of drama where there is a downfall of the main character, primarily caused by a tragic flaw. It includes a conflict, suffering, and catharsis. The self-destructive behavior of the character is revealed. The flaw most of the time result in death.

Comedy - This sub genre's main purpose is to make people laugh (obviously). Besides being funny, it is also known for exaggerating or creating very improbable situations. There are very little serious moments or scenes and the resolution is usually lighthearted.

Musical -This type of sub-genre tells the story through music, dialogue, dancing. and performing. The songs of the characters are turn into the narrative.

 Melodrama - This type of films appeals to the audience through the emotions of the characters. It is highly emotional and often includes exaggerated  characters or situations.  It often deals with "crises of human emotion, failed romance/friendship, strained familial situations, tragedy, or illness.

Romance - Romantic drama films focus on exploring the complex and romantic side of love. The most common plot of this genre centers on an obstacle between the love of 2 characters that prevents them from being together. 

History -  This sub-genre centers on a specific time in history or group of people. Most of the time their purpose is to portray true events and people . It often features characters of royal-image or of legend. 

Genre Conventions

Narrative Structure -  Drama movies focus on exhibiting real life situations with realistic characters, settings, and stories. They are a serious representation of life and the struggles we all go though; the stories do not often include fantasy during the plot. The purpose of the dramatic story line is to engage the audience emotionally. They portray emotions at its best and worst. The plot generally involves realism. The protagonist is easy to relate to; his/her life and journey is narrated while they encounter an obstacle.  Almost every drama movies has a plot twist or a complex plot. This conflict can be dramatic, hence the name "drama". The conflicts include inner and outer realistic struggles - hardships, difficulty, pain. Additionally, the protagonist's journey is full of emotional peaks. It is crucial for a drama movie that it portrays heavily character development. The plot is structured with climaxes and anti-climaxes to keep the audience fully entertained and create tension. It finalizes with a happy ending or a form of realization. 

Some popular themes within the drama genre are

• Love
• Pursuit
• Revenge
• Sacrifice
• Death
• Family
• Justice
• Maturation
• Education
• Escape
• Transformation

Sound - Within this genre, only realistic sounds tend to be used, as it helps portray the sense of realism, and it creates more credibility with the audience. This realism helps the audience feel better connected with the film and create an emotional connection with the characters. Sound effects are mainly used to establish the setting, weather, time of day, or something that is happening off-stage.  For instance, if the movie takes place in the beach, there will be sound effects representing the oceans, the breeze, the birds, etc... Additionally, music is a crucial element of drama. Music is always used to enhance what is occurring in a scene, and intensify the trauma, making it more "dramatic". Many drama movies create their own music or soundtrack. It is used as a marketing way so that whenever the song is heart, it is quickly linked to the film. Moreover, dietetic sounds in drama films mostly include the dialogue between the characters, although there are some diegetic sound effects used to add suspense and a dramatic effect to a silent scene. On the other hand, non-diegetic sounds are also popular. Many movies integrate voice-overs, which helps adding narrative and a background inner voice of a specific character (most of the time, the protagonist). Voice over helps giving the audience an insight on the main character's life and events, coming directly from them.

Lightning -  Within this genre, lightning is not limited to only certain techniques. A very common lightning technique used during drama films is low key lightning. This is used to make a scene more intense, in order to inflict a reaction from the audience. On its contrary, high key lightning is also used for vibrant scenes to portray or express a specific, for instance, happiness or joy. In addition to low and high key lighting, the spot-lighting technique can also be used to increase the dramatic effect, and isolate the character from what is happening in her surroundings. Besides those, normal lighting is also used, with the intention to portray a realistic atmosphere. In addition to those techniques, colors can also be used in specific scenes to create a theme and make it more dramatic.

Characters - These type of films often portray characters based on personality, rather than appearance, although appearance is also key on other movies. Since there are endless possibilities within the drama genre, there is not a specific scheme of characters. since drama is supposed to be a realistic environment, there is often heavy on representation. Having an "every day" character is very important, since this helps the audience to create a relationship with the characters and being able to relate to them. However, in most films there is always a protagonist and an antagonist

Props - In the drama genre, props vary depending the sub-genre as well as the story. For instance, in a musical drama, there most likely will be an auditorium and microphones. In a drama-romance movie, there will be objects that represent love, such as a rose.

Cinematography - The cinematography in drama movies must reflect the serious issues and emotional struggles of the characters. Close-ups and reaction shots are key! These shots will allow the audience to see and feel emotion from the characters face or actions, and emphasize their facial expressions, emotions and reactions. Close ups can also bring relevance to a particular object of the film, or act as foreshadowing.  Another common shot used in drama films are two-shots. They are used so that two characters can easily and directly be compared with each other. 

Editing and composition - The editing is also a very important aspect of a movie. It influences how the audience sees and interprets the characters within a scene, Not only that, but it can also hep establishing the mood. A shot-reverse-shot is fairly common within the drama genre. Although it is used almost every scene, it is specifically important within the drama genre since it allows the audience to see the each character's reaction to a specific action or scene. Long takes can also aid in the connection between character and viewer. Long takes gives the audience the opportunity to clarify the character's feelings and intentions behind every of their actions. 

Costume and Make-up -  The costumes in drama films are supposed to represent the character and their personality. For instance, the antagonist in a movie might wear black clothes or more dark tones colors in order to represent its negativity and intentions.

Music Video Project

During the music marketing project, my group and I did research on Alternative rock, which was the genre of our song, called “Float on”. Throughout our research, we noticed that there was a specific trend of marketing strategies used that is particular to this genre. Most Alternative Rock bands, such as Rex Orange County, ARIZONA, or Absofacto, are likely to use social media as their main marketing method to promote their bands, given that the target audience of this genre (16-34) relies heavily on the use of social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. We also noticed that Tiktok is becoming a popular medium for bands to increase growth as well as recognition. Through these platforms, bands post announcements for upcoming or future shows or music videos, and they interact with their audience by asking them questions, creating contests, posting stories or live streaming, which will potentially create a deeper connection with the audience and expand band growth and recognition. For instance, ARIZONA, a relatively new band, utilizes Instagram as their main marketing platform since it contains its main demographics, 72% out of all instagram users are teens and young adults.

A personalized website is also another marketing trend very popular among bands within this genre. It is a great way for fans to find out about new music videos, song releases and future shows or events. They are able to purchase concert tickets and learn a little bit more about the band. Some bands even include blogs where they upload specific content that fans can interact with by liking or commenting. Additionally, according to our research, merchandise is also a trending theme within bands; many alternative rock bands sell personalized clothes, phone cases, or accessories with the band logo or album cover in addition to vinyls. In my opinion, this is an amazing strategy that all bands should start implementing. It is a way in which fans can promote the music to a newer audience, acting as a “walking advertisement”. It is a non-technological method to reach other audiences and maximize audience interaction.

The band that my teammates and I created for this project is called Odyssey. We decided to incorporate an artistic aspect to our brand, since our target audience fits within this description. We wanted our band to be unique and different, so we made it space themed! Our band features two astronauts as the band members, which will never reveal their true identity. We wanted to include a sense of mystery and intrigue to our viewers, given that it is not a common idea among alternative bands and it will help increase our fanbase. This is also a way where we are able to relate to our fans. For instance, the video narrates a story where the astronauts arrive on planet earth and are new to the world. They are alone, surrounded by humans, where they are being seen as outcasts. They discovered a completely different part of the universe which they want to experience. By incorporating this feeling of isolation and not belonging to society, we are able to create a deeper connection with our fanbase.

We also created Merchandise and a vinyl for our public featuring mini astronauts, our album cover, as well as our band logo. Throughout our research, we discovered that this is a great marketing technique to connect with our fans and to expose our brand to a new audience.

Merchandise

Shirt with album cover 

       

Socks with band logo and signature astronaut 

                

Band logo sticker

 New album vinyl

iPhone case with band logo

    Throughout the creation of this music video, we understood how laborious and long the process of creating a marketing campaign and music video can be. There is so much technique and thinking behind every decision made. Moreover, extensive research is critical to a create a successful brand for a band. Based on the research made, you are able to define your target audience, which is one, if not the most important aspects when choosing how to create or elaborate your brand. You need to know your audience demographics, how old are they, their likes and dislikes, where do they live, what do they do, their gender. Depending on how well you know your audience will dictate your success. Additionally, during this process you need to think of ways in which you are able to create a connection with the audience and interact with them, as well as ways to expose your band to newer audiences, to potentially obtain a loyal fan base. This is an long and extensive process, which, in my opinion, many people underestimate. But with time and lots of research, you will be able to create a successful brand.