Group Meeting 1!

One of the most useful parts of the portfolio project process last year was the group meetings. During the group meetings we meet with members of other portfolio project groups to give each other feedback and advice. 

Today we had our first A level portfolio project group meeting. My group consisted of Victoria, Fabiana, Adriana, Daniela, Emi, and I.

I took notes during the meeting, splitting them between general info, concerns, and suggestions. Here are my notes from the meeting:

Emi: Working with Joaquin and Andrew

• Dark comedy short film 

• Critique of power struggles

• Statement about joining religions for power

• Completes task for devil, loses humanity at the end 

• Script is finished

Concerns: 

• Location filming

Suggestions: 

• 1 death (instead of 3)

• Film at markham park 

• Make your own symbol (instead of the pentagram)
  
  

Adriana Vega: Working with David 

• Comedy short film 

• Guys teleports by flipping a penny

• Everytime he goes somewhere new he tries to do a kind act and it backfires

• Interested in using fast cuts

Concerns:

• Scheduling

Suggestions: 

• End with David completing a kind act but when he tries to teleport again he drops the penny down a drain/sewer (for comedic effect)

Aneesa Bajaj: Working with Quinn, Nico, and Zach

• Meta dark comedy 

•  Heavy on breaking the fourth wall

•  Camera starts on initial subject and falls in love with another subject, subject 1 tries to win back its attention

Concerns: 

• Developing storyline and it making sense

Suggestions: 

• spotlight turning off on main subject 

• mic turning off of main subject

• -give context to studio setting 

• -casting call (actor desperate to get role)

 

Victoria Duque: Working with Kenna and Renn

• Coming of age 

• Message: even through fears and stress, you keep growing

• Girls plants seed, life gets stressful, she forgets about it

• Friendship breakup (friend gave her the plant) 

Suggestions: 

• End with voice over

• Buy 3 different plants to show the growth of the plant

• Focus pulls 

• Use calendar to show days passing

• Weeks instead of days

• Camera is calendar- writing on camera 

Mariana Aldana: Working with Audrey

• Drama short film 

• Starts with a therapy session 

Suggestions: 

• Quick death 

• Ideally have an adult play therapist 

• Maybe car crash

• Younger 

• Not dd 

• Therapy a year later

• Put date on bottom

Fabiana Castillo: Working alone

• Psychological thriller short film 

• Guilt is getting to him after killing girl

• Protagonist goes crazy 

Suggestions: 

• Give context at the beginning - like crash and show year of crash and then year 

• Dead person is signified by item specific to them

• Time doesn’t pass

• Hes like bipolar so he writes the notes himself and just through the movie show the different personalities 

• Limited dialogue 

• Daniela Gonzalez: Working with Gaby

  • Music promo

  • Annie Lemasters 

  • Dramatic vibe (olivia rodrigo drivers license vibe)

  • Story based 

  • artist in nashville

  • Story will be fully acted out 

  • Build up to running on the beach at the end (sitting on beach, walking, then running.) 

  Suggestions:

  • Go to the beach during sunrise instead of sunset

  • Have everything completely planned out before, as there is very limited time to film.

  
  

Overall, this group meeting was very helpful to all of us and gave useful suggestions and advice for each

of our projects.

Social Media Research

 Media text: World of Tomorrow (short film)

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts: World of tomorrow itself does not have any social media, but it's director Don Hertzfeld, has an account. Hertzfeld posts a variety of content including stills of his projects, personal images, and awards he has won.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): The branding of this account accurately develops the creators personal brand, but doesn't spend much time on the film itself. I will be posting specifically to market the film.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: I like the more casual approach to social media this creator takes, however I will have a more cohesive and professional social media to promote my short film.

 

Media text: The Carrot (short film)

Social media tool: Instagram

Description of types of posts:The production company for "The Carrot" has a professional instagram. They have posts such as clips of the films, meet the director posts, and stills from the short films. 

Description of how branding is developed (or not): The branding isn't super clear, the posts aren't all cohesive or their isn't some overarching theme within the instagram. .

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: They do "meet the filmmaker" posts which I really want to do for mine. Additionally, I think this showed me how to not make my feed look. I want mine to be more aesthetic and cohesive. 

 

Media text: Don't be Shy (short film)

Social media tool: instagram

Description of types of posts: "Don't be shy" doesn't have a specific instagram or social media for itself, so this analysis is on the production companies instagram. Short frame film is very cohesive, they have one type of main posts, which are clips from each short film. However I loved the covers of the reels, as they all were done similarly, looked great on the insta, and kept the brand of wave length going.

Description of how branding is developed (or not): Branding is developed by having a set color, and font to use for posts, showing cohesion. Additionally, since every post is the same idea, audiences will see the reels and automatically think of this account.

Analysis of how you will use this to develop your own social media presence: I like the top 3 posts to introduce our short film in a creative way, and the visual aspects of the account of a whole. I will probably do similar things with my social media, like the matching profile, highlights, etc.

 

Examples of breaking the 4th wall

 Hello Blog! In my last post I gave some examples of dark comedies, so in this post I'm going to elaborate on some films that break the 4th wall (the other main part of my portfolio film idea)

First up, a classic, "Ferris Buellers day off"

During Covid times and quarantine, my family and I would watch an older movie together everyday, in an effort for my parents to show me some "classics" as well as their favorite films. This movie definitely left a positive impression on me, and I rewatch it from time to time. 

This film follows a teenage boy named Ferris who fakes being sick and skips school with his best friend and his girlfriend. This film is unique as the MC Ferris breaks the fourth wall pretty often to explain his thoughts to the audience. 

As he directly addresses viewers, as an audience we gain a deeper connection to Ferris' character as we more deeply understand his thoughts and actions. Additionally the breaking of the 4th wall makes certain parts of the film more humorous as we understand how Ferris is always one step ahead. 

Next up, not a film but the TV show, "Fleabag"

Fleabag is a comedy show that is unique because of the protagonists constant breaking of the fourth wall. Whether it be just eye contact or speaking directly to the viewer, the show's breaking of the fourth wall connects the audience to Fleabag, and makes them feel more immersed in the story.

Petski, Denise. "Why Ferris Bueller's Fourth Wall Breaks Work So Well." ScreenRant, 12 Mar. 2021, screenrant.com/ferris-bueller-fourth-wall-breaks-analysis.

Bramesco, Charles. "How Fleabag's Fourth Wall Breaks Became the Show's Emotional Core." The Guardian, 18 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jun/18/fleabag-fourth-wall-phoebe-waller-bridge.

Examples of Dark Comedies part 1

 So since we discussed what makes a dark comedy a dark comedy, lets dive into two examples.

First up, Jojo Rabbit

This movie is a true dark comedy, as it blends humor and comedic moments with the events of Nazi Germany. The main character Jojo, is a young boy part of Hitler Youth and his imaginary friend is Hitler. Having Hitler as Jojo's imaginary friend is a metaphor used to show how absurd and dangerous indoctrination can be, especially because Hitler is portrayed to be a goofy and funny guy,

The use of satire helps the movie expose and discuss sensitive topics in a thought provoking way.Although some parts are ridiculous and downright funny, the movie still works show the Nazi side of WWII, a topic rarely talked about due to it being taboo. 

This film shows how sensitive topics can be discussed with using humor to make them more palatable and understandable. 

This scene shows how a very sensitive and taboo phrase "hei hitler" was used in a comedic way, to show how it was completely normalized and part of daily routine in Nazi Germany

Dark Comedy: Genre Conventions

 Hi Blog, last time we talked I was pretty set on doing a film with supernatural elements, however, after a few team discussions we have steered away from that and actually decided to go the dark comedy route. 

The subgenre "dark comedy" challenges typical comedy norms, as it discusses more serious or taboo subjects. Darker themes like death or tragedy are combined with humor to create a contrast. Dark comedies push the boundaries of genre, and give an interesting mix of different genres. One common characteristic of dark comedies is having a generally "unlikeable" or "rude" protagonist. While a normal film will usually have a moral and kind protagonist, dark comedies will often have mcs make flawed or bad decisions. 

In our film we're focusing on a character being trapped in a movie, and using fourth wall breaks to make the issue more personal to the audience. Since the protagonist is directly interacting with the audience there are many opportunities for jokes/humorous moments. However, the actual theme of the film is more serious and tragic, as the protagonist is stuck with no way out. 

The combo of a dark comedy and fourth wall breaks is very interesting to me and I'm excited to see how it goes once we flesh out the story.

More research coming later this week blog!

Stay tuned.

 some examples of dark comedies

IMDb. Interest Page for in0000035. IMDb, https://www.imdb.com/interest/in0000035/.

Lawrence, Gregory. “What Is Black Comedy? 9 Movies That Define the Darkly Funny Genre.” Backstage, 3 June 2024, https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/what-is-black-comedy-77322/

Project Schedule

 Time management is.... not really my thing. In the past I've struggled with procrastination, which has affected the quality of my work. Which is why for this project I want to work on that and have a set schedule to strictly follow. This will ensure that every component of the project is completed in a timely manner. 

After a call with my group mates, we decided on a 2-2-2 schedule. Two weeks to write, two weeks to shoot, and the rest for postproduction. The portfolio project is not something that can be done rushed, especially since it isn't just a short film, but two other components. Our schedule should give us enough time to finish each component without rushing. If we finish ahead of schedule, we'll move on to what is next on the schedule. 

A very important part of the schedule is working around every group members commitments and extracurriculars, which is why we decided to make a shared calendar to put what days we are available. The calendar will prevent any confusion on when we can work on the project versus when we can't. We are utilizing google calendar to do this. 

OFFICIAL SCHEDULE

Week 1 - 2/17-2/21

    - Decide Project Type

    - General Planning and Scheduling

    - Brainstorming Story

Week 2 - 2/22-2/28

    - Case studies

    - Genre Research

    - Develop key plot details

Week 3 - 3/1-3/7

    - Half of week consumed by STN

    - Pin down plot points

    - Begin scripting when we return (3/4)

    - Decide on brand identity for social

Week 4 - 3/8-3/14

    - Finalize Script

    - Plan shooting locations

    - Shot list

    - Plan shooting times

    - Create social media posts

Week 5 - 3/15-3/21

    - Begin shooting

    - Start title graphics

    - Begin posting on social media

Week 6 - 3/22-3/27

    - Wrap shooting

    - Sort footage

    - Postcard Design

 Week 7 - 3/29-4/4

    - Finalize edit

    - Announce distribution plan on social media

Week 8 - 4/5-4/10

    - Write critical reflection

Stay tuned for more updates next week!

Call the Chiropractor, I'm back

 Yes I copied Zach with the title, No I have no shame.

Hi Blog! I am currently writing from sunny Phoenix Arizona and I am somehow melting in the dead of winter (a chilly 80 degrees!) 

This week in class we discussed the A level portfolio project, and the options we have to choose from. After hearing the various options I was in between making a short film, or a documentary. A documentary is more in my comfort zone, since I have practice making news segments, mini docs, and even a 10 minute documentary. 

bts of a mini doc I directed

On the other hand, I have only worked on a handful of short films, and only played a major role in one. 

bts of a short film I produced

Each option had its pros and cons, but after thinking it over I decided I wanted to take a leap and make the short film. 

Then the easy part, finding a group. I already knew exactly who I wanted to work with going into this project: my documentary group! Zach, Nico, Samuel and I worked very well together when making "Faith" (watch here) and they are also my close friends. 

After finalizing our team, we had a brief discussion about potential plots. Samuel wanted to go in a supernatural direction, which the rest of the team thought was a cool idea. From werewolves to witches we discussed a few ideas, but more about that later...

one of our inspirations

I am very excited for this film, and updates will be posted frequently! Stay tuned!