Audio

        For audio, we can use various sounds to increase suspense. We could use a heartbeat slowly getting louder and louder. We could use a clock that ticks faster and faster. We could have sound, then suddenly have it stop before the attacks begin. We could also have loud audio have it stop for something like 5-10 seconds, then continuing it at the same volume.

        We could have audio of the characters interacting with the environment. Like the sound of someone running then tripping while trying to get as fast as possible. Any audio cues that would increase the suspense. A key thing would be to review the audio various time and get the audio length to the best it could be, not too short while not lasting longer than it should.

MIse-en-scene elements (lighting)

        

The lighting of the environment matters greatly. It could help give off the mood of the situation or give information of a character. A dark room with someone in it could suggest they want to be alone with their thoughts or they do not care enough to turn them on. It may also tell the audience that the things inside the room are not important to the story.

        A bright room could show the audience that the film creators want the audience to pay attention to the room and gather information on the type of person the character is. Lighting could also give information on the character's wellbeing. For example. Light showing a clear layer of dust in a room.

Mis-en-scene elements

    

    In terms of costume design, the types of clothes the character's wear could determine their personality. Baggy clothes and hoodies could show that they prefer to wear what they are most comfortable in. Jeans with a single-color t shirt could show they prefer simplicity. A dress shirt with dress pants could show that they like to look their best.

        

The types of clothes we use gives the audience an idea of the characters personality and overall demeanor. Props also determine what the person is like. We could use posters of bands to show that they are interested in a genre of music or toys and decorations give information to the audience

character development

         The scenes where we will develop the characters will be the scenes in the character's rooms. We could show each character's room as nice and neat or messy and very unorganized. Then we could base the character's attitudes based off of their rooms. Like the person with the messy room could be uncaring and the person with the neat room could be the leader or clear with their decision making.

        Besides the rooms and attitudes, we could also use the types of clothes they wear to show the kind of person they are. Like unfolded clothes all over the room shows that they do not care how they are perceived. A clean room would show that they care about other people's opinions. We could also use the lighting show how the characters want others to perceive them. a dark room or a room with little light coming in could show that they may be dealing with something, and it is taking too much time and as a result, they cannot keep their room well cared for. Another thing we could do is give the characters names with meaning like if we gave them a religious name, they could be religious in the film opening. 

Theory

     One theory I would use is Todorov's Narrative Theory of Equilibrium. I would use this theory because change occurs in our idea for the film opening. Also, all stories need to have change to engage the audience throughout the story. I would show the character and how their home looks like to give the audience an idea of the type of person they are. Like if they are neat and organized or messy and what they are interested in to hook the audience into relating to the character more easily.

    The disequilibrium would occur when they are transported to the video game world, it would disrupt the characters life and show what goes on in the world. The end of the film opening would be part of the New Equilibrium, it would show a way to get back to the character's real world but not them returning. It would engage the audience, and they would want to watch the rest of them movie to see what happens and if the characters returned.

Storyboard

 scene 1: 10-15 seconds of the people entering the video game going to sleep

scene 2: 7-10 seconds of black screen to show closing eyes then 3-5 seconds of birds to signify it is now morning. Mixed with new noises from the video game world

scene 3: 10-15 seconds, opening eyes slowly to look around in confusion (or opening eyes slowly for a second but then opening them fast like the people are surprised and confused that they are not in their house)

scene 4: 20-30 seconds of the people interacting with the animals and starting to calm down now that it seems peaceful

scene 5: 10-15 seconds of the people noticing an animal and seeing that something is off about it.

scene 6: 10-15 seconds, it starts to rush animals that the people were watching and kills them

scene 7: 10-15 seconds as it looks at the people with blood on it, the people can see animals similar to it behind the animal.

scene 8: 5-10 seconds of the people get a message in the form of a quest or something of the like. It could say to survive a certain amount of time, or to eliminate all of the odd animals

Project idea

After switching to the living in a video game horror film opening, I've had some ideas on how to enhance the horror aspect. I think instead of choosing a video game of the horror genre, we could choose one that is of a lighter genre to make it even more horrifying. Something light like rabbits to increase the horror. Between deciding if should be people trapped in a video game or video game characters coming to the real world, I think we will see if we can do it as a person trapped in a video game. If we are not able to, we will have to video game characters appearing in the real    world.

   

This majorly depends on if we have the skill to make us in the video game world look realistic. As for the ending of the film opening, we could end it with a shot saying something like do this to leave. For the middle of the film opening, we could show us encountering a monster.

group meeting reflection post

     We shared a Word document and put our blog URLs on it. 

We described what we had so far for the plot of the film openings. 

We were suggested genres we could do like a horror type of film where a character is dragged into a game. 

I think we will be switching from law thriller to a video game horror type of film opening.

Some of the plots that the group described were:

psychological drama/ romance, its modern, about a toxic relationship.  

-The opening a scene will show the abuse in the relationship  

-The it will cut to the protagonist walking through the party and seeing her partner  

-When she sees him there will be flashbacks and then it will come back to the party, and they will hug each other  

-All sets up the drama and context for the rest of the plot.  

A film from the horror/thriller genre

drama. girl who is depressed and its summer, she's super lonely and is having suicidal thoughts 

 

and the old idea that we will no longer use:

innocent person put to the death row has one last chance to clear their name

Schedule

 2/9/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

2/10/25--Reflection post about group meeting #1

2/11/25--Research post about one media theory that you wish to integrate into your project 

2/12/25--Post summarizing your project idea

2/13/25--Post including your script or storyboard

2/16/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

2/17/25--planning post focusing on character development

2/18/25--planning post focusing on mise-en-scene element (costume, set, props, lighting, etc.)

2/19/25--planning post focusing on mise-en-scene element (costume, set, props, lighting, etc.)

2/20/25--Planning post focusing on audio

2/23/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

2/24/25--Planning post of your choice (see blog list)

2/25/25--Production post of your choice (should illustrate production process) 

2/26/25--Production post of your choice (should illustrate production process) 

2/27/25--Production post of your choice (should illustrate production process)

3/2/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

3/3/25--Production post of your choice (should illustrate production process) 

3/4/25--Post-production process post

3/5/25--Post-production process post

3/6/25--Research for #1 question of CCR post

3/9/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

3/10/25--Research for #2 question of CCR post

3/11/25--Research for #3 question of CCR post

3/12/25--Research for #4question of CCR post

3/13/25--Post discussing CCR production ideas

3/16/25--look at what to blog about within the next week

3/17/25--Post about production of CCRs

3/18/25--Post about post-production of CCRs

3/19/25--Post with final reflection on project

3/20/25--Post with links to CCR’s and film opening

Credit Sequences

Some films from that legal thriller genres, I felt could be used are The Firm (1993), A Few Good Men (1992), and The Lincoln Lawyer (2011)

I felt that the opening credits in The Firm were especially well made because it helped set the atmosphere and main theme of the movie. It sets the scene of corporate law, and the sound amplifies the theme of suspense.

A Few Good Men has a different version of the Star-Spangled Banner, which set the tone as patriotic or something to do with the military. Showing scenes that the military does help set the tone as a legal thriller that will include the military.

The Lincoln Lawyer had music that created a sort of energetic ring to it. The edits set the movie to show city life. Showing legal documents and things similar to it helped the set the theme of law.

Film Opening

Some film openings I feel could help us with ideas of what our film opening should be are 12 Angry Men, Witness for The Prosecution, and A Few Good Men. 12 Angry Men could be useful because the film opening establishes the situation that the accused person is in. Witness for The Prosecution helps establish the atmosphere with help of sound. One aspect we could take from A Few Good Men is putting deeper ideas into the storytelling, meant to engage the audience as much as possible.

A combination of ideas grown off of 12 Angry Men, Witness for The Prosecution, and A Few Good Men would be perfect because it follows the conventions of the genre. It creates an atmosphere that works for the situation, it uses sound to help enhance the atmosphere, and it is more thought provoking.

12 Angry Men

Clip of Witness For the Prosecution

A Few Good Men

possible genres

        A possible genre that is being considered is drama. Some conventions of drama are the detail and complexity put into the characters, emotions being the main theme, and conflict. Drama is a consideration because it is easier to make a homemade film instead of one that looks professional. I believe this because we can focus more on character depth than set design, although set design is still very important.

        Another possible genre could be horror. Like drama, we need the audience to feel horrified for the main characters. Some conventions are suspenseful music, blood, terror, survival, and the settings have to match the atmosphere. For this, we could focus more on the mis-en-scene elements than character depth. We will also have to use sound a bit more to help create the atmosphere we want.

        Although we considered these genres, we came to the conclusion of taking a little of both. The genre we decided on is legal thriller where can create a complex main character while also utilizing mis-en-scene elements. A legal thriller seems easier to use for a two-minute film opening because we could just focus on context and showing the life of the main character.

transition posting

         From now on, I will be starting on the portfolio project. The experience from my previous projects will make the portfolio project the best it can ever be. My initial plans for the project would be to create a drama of some sort or a horror film opening. The approach I would like to use for this project could be developing the character as they would be at the center of the film opening. I feel developing the character is important because it will help the audience relate to the main character much easier. The main character should have even more importance because the genre I want to do is a drama, and the film opening should revolve around them. If I were to make it easy for the audience to connect to the main character in a horror film, they would have a more emotional reaction than not focusing on developing the character.

           Another approach I am considering is focusing on the background because an audience has to be more familiar with the main characters to feel more emotional if something were to happen to the character. It would also be easier to make certain movies like and underdog movie. In horror, the film creators would want the audience to relate to the characters, and this approach is a sure way to attain that.