Planning - Final plan

 Intro 

As we planned more we started our script and final plan for our movie; from now on we are going to start. production. However todays blog is going to talk about the final script and plan; in class me and Santi started doing the final script for our film. This script includes a "storyboard" , but we don't have images to show what we have planned.

Planning

Script

Here's the first page of our script, which explains the shot , dialogue if any and what is happening in the scene. Its a good way to have one story straight and not go off adding and taking stuff away which later on can affect the congruency of the film.

Having this script really helps us create a more complete visualization of what we want to do. Per example we want to play a heartbeat sound every time that the shadowy figure is very close to our main character. What this does is that it builds suspense , because every time that the audience hears the heartbeat they are going to start worrying about when and how it is going to appear in screen.

Overview

Working on this script wasn't easy because in the group we had clash of ideas , so making a decision on what the film says and what technical elements we use was challenging due to me wanting something , and Santi wanting other things. However this was solved easily by compromising on the middle and it need with both of us satisfied with the final product.

Planning - Story board Draft

 Intro 

As another day of planning was provided for us we started our storyboard to visually show a plan of what we have in mind. In the story board we include scenes with respective camera shots , techniques, and sound. But because we didn't have that much time in class ,and one of our group member wasn't in class we weren't able to finish the story board.

Planning

Here's what we have for our story board, and even though is not a lot we already have an idea of what we are going to do for our film what techniques where are going to use.

Overview

Having a story board for our event can helps us get more and better ideas , because original ideas can be improved for a better product. When we were doing this storyboard we were all pitching in with ideas of how we can carry out our film and how we are going to tell a story with visuals and sounds.

Planning- settings

 Intro

For the film we are planning to have a few settings that each In filmmaking, a setting is far more than just a background. It acts as an unseen character that actively shapes the story, the audience's emotions, and the characters' decisions. Filmmakers use different settings to solve technical problems, build atmosphere, and guide the narrative.

Planning

We are planning on three settings Lilly's house , the library and the car.

For  the first setting we are going to be in Lilly's house in the morning as soon as she wakes up, and as she navigates her house she is hunted by the shadowy figure. For the meaning of this setting I want it to mean that even though she is in her house, which can signify safety, she is still being chased by her illness meaning that it never stops.

For the second setting we have the bathroom which is where our main character is washing her face to get the day started. She is relaxed after a mediocre night a sleep , she puts water on her face to get herself up. She doesn't realize that something started lurking.

For the third setting we have the library where she meets with her therapist because the attacks are being more often. She talks to him in the library where it can seem peaceful and a place where people relax and study. However she is still getting tormented by this figure.

For the last setting we have the car where Lilly finally meets with her best friend to talk about the past few hours. She is going about it when she starts hearing something familiar and in her car while she is with her friend Lilly experience the big plot twist that changes everything. We chose the car because its a close space where people are close to each other, meaning that the problem is closer that Lilly thinks.

Overview
By already having settings we can already start telling a little more about the story of our film. It can be seen as just the back that doesn't matter, but for me it has more meaning than just that and that's what I want to convey in our film. I learned that setting have way more meaning when it comes to helping deliver the message. For us the message is that when u have a mental disease, your problem never stops even in your private time with yourself.

Planning- Characters of film

 INTRO

As we plan more of our film , we came to a conclusion of having 3 main characters for our film. 

Planning

First , we have our main character Lilly who is played by Laila; she is our backbone on the film because without her we don't have a clear plot. Lilly is the person that suffers from the mental illnesses that drive her crazy , ending with a big plot twist at the end.

Secondly, we have me as the therapist ( Mr. Fernandez) which is Lilly's therapist that is been trying to figure out what she suffers from, but gives terrible advice as if he's trying to not help Lilly fight her paranoia. Additionally, I play the shadowy figure that chases Lilly all through out the film.

Finally, we have Santi as Alejo which is Lilly's best friend and serves as the normal person that is there for Lilly to bring us ( the audience ) back to reality , but its part of the big plot twist at the end that reveals that he is the shadowy figure that has been chasing Lilly.

Overview

We are not trying to use that many main characters. Just the necessary to make up a story of a crazy woman that go through episodes of seeing paranormal figures that haunt her. Only the main character Lilly and the therapist that adds so much to the story. Not having that many characters allow us for each character to have more meaning and not having to worry for more elements; meaning is easier.

Research: Distribution companies

 Intro

One key element that is necessary for all film that come out are a way to be put out there and get distribute for people to see. A way films do this is by using distribution companies like Paramount, to get films delivered to theaters or streaming platforms all around the world.

Research

For today I'm going to be using the Paramount example to demonstrate how distribution companies work.

Paramount Pictures is one of the oldest film companies to exist, paramount is filled with successful movies and a lot of fame. It started with Adolph Zukor who founded the Famous Players Film Company in 1912; however, at this time Zukor was only using Paramount Pictures (start-up company) to distribute his films. In 1916, Zukor’s Famous Players merged with The Jesse L. Lasky Company, which was producing films in Hollywood, both creating Famous Players-Lasky Corporation which was soon recognized because of distribution. After a while all three companies became what you now known as Paramount Pictures. 

This is a brief story of how Paramount Pictures was created and developed into the oldest and most successful production and distribution practices. 

Paramount uses multi-channel distribution to achieve a greater reach; they use both in-house and third-party partnerships to distribute their films. For in house distribution Paramount uses platforms like Paramount and CBS to display films for people that want to stay home and be comfortable. For third party distribution Paramount had made partnerships that allows them to handle marketing, on example of a partnership is Legendary Entertainment, Paramount now handles the marketing and worldwide distribution (excluding China) for Legendary’s major titles.   

Overview

After learning how distribution works in the film world, I understand that is not just about filming and let everything else work out by itself ; it has an extensive process that includes marketing and distribution practices. I get an idea of how we can distribute future projects that I or my partners would like to get out there.

Planning: Behind the Scene

 Intro 

From all the research we have done, we know that technical work acts as an invisible engine of a movie. While the actors and the script provide the soul, the technical craft (lighting, sound, editing, ) provides the sensory reality that makes an audience believe in the story.

Planning 

Since we are making a psychological thriller we have been shouting out and writing down components that we want our film to have in. Some examples are what camera movements we want , what type of shots, the sound , every thing that will help us achieve our goal with the movie. 

One example of a camera movement we already have planned is using the shaky camera effect, this is going to happen when Lilly (our main character) is running out of the house because she got scared by the shadowy figure. What we have planned is that the camera man is going to be holding the camera and track Lilly out of the house, but making the camera shaky so that all the panic can be captured and transmitted to the audience.

Transitioning to the sound of the film , we want to have  realistic sound effects having them be hyper realistic for adding that tension to the film. Some example of sounds that we want in our film are quiet moments , fade in heart beat , running and everything that makes the audience feel like they are there with Lilly while she goes through hell in her mind. So for one scene we have planned that when Lilly is running out of the house a fade in of a heart beat starts to be louder signifying how she is scared.

Finally, a little of what we have planned for lighting is obviously low-key lighting that will allow us to control the emotion of a scene , and it can help us with the plot by hiding the shadowy figure better. Another type of lighting that we have planned to use is clinical lighting to convey some type of discomfort to when it comes to Lilly being with the therapist or alone in a place.

Overview

As we discuss more about where and when to record scenes and how we are going to edit some scenes , we will be twitching around our liking and what we believe is the best for our film and the overall message of it. Having a previous idea of what we are doing really help us not waste time on not knowing what to do on the day of filming. The purpose of this is to be ready to get to the setting and just shoot and film.
 

Planning: Project Proposal

 Intro

Hello my name is Samuel Ruiz and I am working with Laila Harran and Santiago Acosta for our final chosen brief.

Planning

For our project we chose to do the 2-minute film opening instead of the magazine because we believe that its a fun experience. For our genre and sub-genre we all agreed that we are going to be filming a psychological thriller.

For the target audience, we want to direct it to young adults that  enjoy watching mentally challenging movies that have a deep message that leaves the audience shocked and thoughtful. So per example in our film we are planning to bring attention to mental illnesses like paranoia and schizophrenia which are silent killers that many people suffer from but don't really know how to fight it. So we want to impact society with the best message we can under 2 minutes.

Now moving on into the technical elements that we are planning to use for this film are Premiere Pro for editing every shot and every scene so that every feels more well put together with elements like sound , lighting and color grading. We want to use premiere pro because we had a little bit of practice with it in class and I believe it can take out movie to the next level. I would like to learn more about how the editing of a scene can help with the message of the representation that an author wants to give in certain scenes.

Overview

Our basic plan is to try to get all the footage done in one day so that we can have a lot of time to edit because usually that is what takes the most when creating any kind of video or film. Additional practices that we might do are trying different types of styles of film to not just have one type to make it more fun.

With this little introduction I can visualize better how this film is going to turn out as and i expect a decent film for everyone to enjoy.

Planning: Rough Daft of the Plot

 Intro

On this week we started planning what we are going to work on for our chosen brief, we already have the genre and sub-genre checked and some of the main plot done. For our film we want to create a message that can get through the mind of young people bringing out awareness about mental illnesses that go underground on a daily basis.

Planning

For the film we chose the title of PARANOIA which  is an intense, irrational, and persistent distrust or suspicion that others are trying to harm, deceive, or persecute you, often without evidence.

Our plot starts with our main character Lilly which is secretly mentally ill and sees shadowy figures that scare her and drive her to madness. The first shot we are taking is of Lilly on her bed waking up , but she is in a sleep paralysis for a few seconds that is enough to get her in a worried mood and be paranoid. After that we have a sequence where Lilly  is getting ready to leave her house , however she keeps seeing this shadowy figure all around her house, and it gets to the point where she cant take it and runs out the house to her car to hurry up to her appointment with her therapist.

While at the therapist Lilly keeps seeing  the shadowy figure which means that even though she seems in a a safe place with a professional she still gets haunted by an entity that she cant control. After being with the therapist for a while Lilly goes and hangout with his best friend Alejo to try to calm herself down , but as she spend more time with him she starts to hear the sound queue of the shadowy figure and her paranoia is at its peak making her do something against  her own will. 

Overview

This is the rough draft of our plot this means that we can edit whatever we want as we go through to make it to the 2 minute mark. By now we already have an initial form of how out film is going to be looking like and what we will be trying to convey and get a message through. We believe that we can make this a good film and reach our goals.

Research: Character types in thrillers

INTRO 

In movies, character types are very important due to the mental map that the audience will guide themselves. Without them, a plot is just a series of random events, having the problem of the movie not having a central message and disconnected scenes. They are important because they provide structure, emotional resonance, and clarity for the audience. 

 

Research

In thriller movies, especially psychological thrillers, characters are not usually heroes in the traditional sense. Instead, they are defined by their secrets, their traumas, and their proximity to danger. 

 

Some characters that are usually used in psychological thrillers include an unreliable narrator, innocent bystander, and the puppet master. All of these are character types that could be used for other genres of movies but are best in psychological thrillers.  

 

Unreliable narrator 

The role of this character is to tell us the point of view of the story; however, we cannot trust everything that the narrator tells us. The narrator might be telling us the wrong story on purpose or not; they might be lying or can have memory loss. On example of movie that does this is  Knives out Wake up dead man which starts with fathers Jud narration which can be misleading to the final plot twist, which at the end makes the audience that everything they have watched is false and just a mirror of what is really happening. 

 

The puppet master  

Unlike other genres where a typical villain uses a gun, the thriller antagonist uses manipulation to have other characters waste time and even controlling them to bring chaos. They are often highly intelligent, calm, and stay behind the scenes for most of the movie. They know the protagonist’s weaknesses and exploit them. A clear example is Saw X movie in which the character is a puppet; however, he controls his victims with psychological weapons like putting friends or family in danger. He makes them play dangerous games where they can die this being the whole plot of the movie, making them see the villain without him being in any action but in the shadows. 

Overview

Each genre has their valuable set of character types, in psychological thrillers character types serve as a psychological mirror, shifting the focus from physical conflict to the fragility of the human mind. I like knowing this because it would help my film by letting me know what type of character we want to use and how each character is going to contribute to building the guide for our film. 

https://www.arcstudiopro.com/blog/the-7-main-character-roles-in-film-ultimate-guide-to-archetypes

https://screenrant.com/the-killer-narration-explained/

Research: Camera movements of Thrillers

 Intro

Camera movement is one of the most powerful tools along with lightning  in a director’s "visual grammar." It isn't just about following the actors; it’s about shifting the audience's perspective and emotional state without saying a single word. Some examples of camera movements that are usually used in film are , the pan, tilt, tracking , zoom , trucking , static shot and many more that build a movie on how the audience takes scenes.

Research

Things that camera movement can transmit are panic with shaky tracking or low angle tilt that can create dominance/ fear.

In thriller movies, camera movement is less about showing action and more about controlling the audience's heart rate. In this genre, the camera acts as an invisible character sometimes it represents the eyes of a stalker, and other times it represents the growing instability of the protagonist’s mind. Thrillers use a lot of pan tracking shots to transmit to the audience as they are watching something that is not supposed to. 

 

Another big camera technique that many directors use for thriller movies is the dolly zoom effect; this is when the camera moves forward but at the same time it zooms out. This technique can be especially useful to show internal panic or vertigo, which can transmit to the audience the panic that the character is experiencing through weird stretches. A lot of the times that this technique is used is to break reality to something or someone shattering that sense of protection that the characters feel and changing it for the sense of consequences coming. An example is when the character realizes they have been betrayed or that the killer is in the house. 

Another example of camera technique that is frequently used in thrillers is the shaky handheld cam, which can be combined when tracking someone and is meant to recreate the physical movement of a human body. What this does to us the audience is transmit instability, chaos, and lack of control, creating the sense of reality immersing the audience deeply into the movie creating physical anxiety  

 

Shakey Cams 

 

 

Diving more into the psychological subgenre of thrillers, we have camera movement that are used as tools to blur the line between reality and delusion. While a regular thriller use movement to show you where the killer is, a psychological thriller uses movement to show you how the protagonist feels. 

 

One example is  

• The Dutch Angle  

 Dutch angle which is when the camera is tilted so that is not aligned with the ground and is meant for it to mean mental instability, disorientation, and that feeling that something is wrong. By physically tilting the world, the director makes the audience feel uneasy. It is the visual equivalent of a panic attack. It tells the viewer that the character’s internal world is no longer balanced or sane. 

 Overview

After finishing researching camera movements that could be interesting to use in my film. I feel better about how our film is going to look like and how it is going to help us transmit the message we want to transmit. Camera movements are one of the technical movements that is the most important because it helps the movie not feel clinical and distant. Movement keeps your nervous system engaged. By moving the camera, the director controls how you feel. 

Physical effects of camera movements

Dolly zoom effect

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/different-types-of-camera-movements-in-film/

https://www.videouniversity.com/art-of-video/shaky-cam/