Blog Schedule

 Hello Cambridge! This is my layout for the project's schedule. I have 7 weeks to complete this project, and we are currently in week two! Our teacher gave us a schedule for our blogs as well, which I will implement into this schedule.

Week #1 (1/27-2/2): This is the transition to the project, we picked 2 dramas to research and gain more knowledge on. We mainly focus on creating a plot and generating an idea in the sports drama genre. 

Week #2 (2/3-2//9):  Narrow down to one main genre. Research the chosen genre, in film openings looking at techniques and fonts. As the week continues, we need to make an overall layout for the project and then continue researching specific film-making elements.

Week #3 (2/10-2/17): Research media theories and create a blog post that will integrate into our final project. The idea of the project needs to be complete and we need to summarize it in a blog post. In addition, the creation of our storyboard and dialogue should be done and blogged about. 

Week #4 (2/18-2/25): We should begin filming our project and finalize it, with the inclusion of foley sounds or voiceovers. The editing should be started and the first draft should be produced.

Week #5 (2/26-3/5): The first draft will be reviewed and cleaned up. Any re-shoots that need to be done will also be completed. The re-shoots will be to emphasize and improve the pacing and our emotional impact on the audience. 

Week #6 (3/6-3/13): Final revisions for the film will be made. The Creative Critical Reflection will be introduced, and we will edit and finalize the reflection. These two upcoming weeks will be simply focused on cleaning up the finalized production. We will compare the versions and decide on the best one. Then we will begin on the CCR and have it ready for the upcoming week.

Week #7 (3/14-3/21): This week is mainly for catching up if anything was missed or needs to be re-done. There isn't going to be anything new produced unless it is ABSOLUTELY needed.

With this schedule created, I am devoted to staying by this schedule and making sure I stay on task and ensure I have efficient time management. However, I cannot predict every circumstance but I will try my hardest to overcome and accommodate any surprises (knock on wood everything goes smoothly). The one thing that will kill the success of the project is procrastination so I will promise to avoid that at all costs.

In addition, I wrote the first 5 week's blogging schedule on my personal calendar: 

Film Openings Credit Research

 In my film opening, I need to include credits throughout the film. For my film to have a certain aesthetic or vibe, the font and color of the credits need to match the overall color theme. Looking at film openings in my chosen genre, (sports drama), will allow me to understand the techniques the producers used to create their film openings. 

Film Opening #1: An American Girl: McKenna Shoots for the Stars (2012)

The film's opening has blue and pink lights emitting through the gymnasium. The credits roll in every new clip, and they have the same pink and blue color scheme. I like the idea of the color scheme, maybe I wouldn't use the same lighting but maybe costume designs. The font they used is a sort of techno style, which goes along with the music they are playing. I think the animation of the credits rolling in is pretty neat as well and definitely will be using that since it will just make the film opening more visually aesthetic and engaging. Unfortunately, the film opening has poor quality so I will not be putting pictures, but here is the URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kjNxGiWqeR4

Film opening #2: Bend It Like Beckham (2002)

The credits imminently begin with a football flying and the words popping up afterward. They use a deep orange color, with a sort of skinny font. The orange color represents happiness, confidence, and someone creative. Towards the end, they have the title of the movie, but the "Bend It' is green, and "Beckham" is in black. I really enjoy all the football-related details, such as cleats and the little football being thrown across the screen. Maybe I can try including something gymnastics-related with my film opening! All the little details add a nice cute touch and would build the vibe and mood of the film opening. Here is the URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NysSdbN02co 

Film opening #3: Black Swan

The credits in this film's opening are white and skinny letters. I think the choices represent this well since it shows her fragility. The white font portrays innocence, and purity fitting this specific theme extremely well. The simple nature of the credits goes well with the opening, too much going on with an elegant film makes it tacky. The classical music playing in the background makes this all the more angelic as well. Here is the URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BDTkid65K0

All in all, the font and color would help establish the tone and mood of the film, so it is important to choose wisely. I will be looking at different color schemes to see which ones work the best to aid in portraying the film's opening accurately. One thing I will definitely try implementing is some icon related to gymnastics, like the football in Bend It Like Beckham. 

Film Openings Research

 Hey, I am back Cambridge! Me and my partners decided on a genre and it is going to be.... A SPORTS DRAMA! To gain a better understanding of film openings in this specific genre, I will look at and analyze three film openings.

Film opening #1: The Blind Side (2009)

This film begins with a woman narrating a football play. She breaks it down and analyzes each play, pausing and commenting slowly. This enables the audience to gain a little bit of background information in not only football alone but in a specific position, the defender. Then, the woman asks what position pays the most, and shockingly, the second most paid position is the left tackle. The woman goes on to describe the typical characteristics of these kinds of players, and then the main character is introduced. He walks down a street and he has the same qualities, foreshadowing the film. These techniques work together. to inform and foreshadow the film, engaging the audience. A narrative approach would work well with my idea, and it will allow me to establish a character within two minutes in my film opening, so it might be helpful. 

Here is the film opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMLSd6NSuqs

(put picture for film)

Film opening #2: Rocky (1976)

 The film opens with a boxing match in the 70s. Two men are fighting and they use a mix of long and tight shots. The crowd is cheering as they fight, creating tension. During a time-out, the protagonist sits and his coach gives him advice and calms him down. The main character wins the match and the crowd boos afterwards. The camera techniques and the dim lighting create tension, meanwhile the film opening gives information on what the movie will mainly be about. The shots from the crowd make the audience feel like they are part of the spectators which is a cool technique. It would be a little difficult, however, since a crowd requires a big group of people in a small space, which I cannot really do. I enjoy the vibe and the mood the ring makes so maybe if I play with lighting in some shotsin my film opening it will help create a different tone. In addition, maybe including a coach or mentor would aid in storytelling.

Here is the film opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhs9jl3W9P8

(pictures of the film

Film opening #3: I, Tonya (2017)

The film starts off with people who the main character was close with, such as her mother, coach, etc, being interviewed. The Mise-en-scene is bland, and the characters are represented mainly through costume design. Then, they go back 44 years, when the main character was a little girl. They show her ice skating with her mother and the harsh training she went through. This approach overall establishes the context and background. I think the interviews are neat but it would be a little difficult to get that many people to be interviewed. However, what I do think we could do is a scene of the main actor back then when she was little, doing her sport.

Here is the film opening: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGGYfhokQXM

Overall, these film openings inspired me and I will definitely keep these techniques in the back of my mind. Such as the narration, long and close shots, interviews, and going back in time. I like how these techniques will help me build a character or context, for example, the interviews would illustrate what different people think about the main character. (They would be interviewed to tell their story with the protagonist) 

Portfolio Project Genres

Hey Blog! I am back. This week,  I began pondering possible genres or ideas in general, I was bombarded with ideas. However, I concluded that I wanted to do something related to gymnastics, since I was a competitive gymnast for six years and now coach gymnastics. With this in mind, I believe choosing either a coming-of-age film or a drama would suit the idea well. 

Characteristics of a Coming-of-Age:

In a Coming-of-Age film, the main character is underage and typically undergoes a transformation, showcasing the hardships of life. The individual is taken on a journey to improve themselves and towards the end of the film, they are a "new person". These films can cover WIDELY different topics, such as an easy-going romance or something serious like mental health awareness. However, some coming-of-age can do poorly, due to unrealistic or inaccurate expectations. A high-quality coming-of-age film needs to have a clear mission and accurate character representation through things such as mise-en-scene, costumes, character personalities, etc to develop the character(s). The goal is to make the audience cheer for the protagonist on an emotional level. To connect the audience with the character, they need to be represented well. 

Here are some examples of coming-of-age films: 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

Characteristics of a Drama: 

Dramas typically have a lot of conflict and a lot of pressure on the main character. Dramas have a very clear plot and are driven by emotionally-driven characters. They basically exaggerate characters and their setting, creating dramatic situations. A good drama film has well-developed characters once again using Mise-en Scene, (costume designs, props, lighting, music, etc) these characters connect with the audience and a well-written plot that is believable, and performed with good acting is crucial to achieve a high-quality drama film. Dramas can discuss various topics like love and family as well. However, if a drama does poorly, it is mainly due to the plot lacking something and/or bad acting.

Here is an example of a Drama:

The Pursuit of Happyness (2006)

Citations: 

https://medium.com/@english_grammar/characteristics-of-drama-2d42c83e9a08

By: Education Help Published: September 10th, 2015 

Title: Characteristics of a Drama 

Date Accessed: January 30th, 2025

https://raindance.org/coming-of-age-genre/#:~:text=Their%20character%20arc%20often%20goes,coming%2Dof%2Dage%20film. 

By: Kathryn Butt 

Published: July 30th, 2018 

Title: What Makes a Coming-of-Age Film? 

Date accessed: January 30th, 2025

Portfolio Approach

 Hello Cambridge! From now on, I will document the entire process of developing my Final Project. This past week, we reviewed film openings and were introduced to this project. I can't wait to see the final outcome! However, when my teacher explained the project, I was intimidated, but I know things will turn out well thanks to all the tips and techniques I have learned in class. Now let's transition into the project.

 I have to create a two minute film opening of any genre, as long as it is fiction. I began pondering possible ideas and I am pretty set on doing something related to gymnastics since I coach gymnastics and competed competitively for seven years. I am still debating on what genre I will do but I'm sure I will figure it out soon. I asked my manager for permission to film in the egym and she said yes! My friend who I did gymnastics with also said she would help out and be one if not the only actor! 

Here are some notes I took in class:

 

 As for the approach I'd take for the film opening, one that I am considering is developing context and background. Using this approach, I would use Mise-en scene details to help create context without heavily relying on dialogue. In addition, this would work with many different kinds of genres since I am still figuring out which one to pursue. Another approach I am still thinking about is developing character, perhaps if I do a coming-of-age film it would fit in well. I'd us dialogue primarily, with things like tone, accents, register, etc, to create context, Mise-en scene elements, and of course interaction with other characters. I want to be as creative as possible in my film opening and developing a character enables me to have all the right tools in my hand. Both of these approaches would tie in well with the premise of the project, and alow me to create a clear, exciting, film opening. Overall, my objective is to create a piece that engages audiences and keeps them wanting to watch more and I can't wait to see the final result!

Music Maketing #2

 Here is the behind-the-scenes of my Music Marketing Project. Here's the link to the Google Drive.

drive.google.com

Music Marketing #1

   Hello Blog!

   In my Aice Media class, we were assigned a Music Marketing Project. t is worth half of our mid-term and 500 points in our grades. Our class got to choose our own partners this time too!

Here is a brief introduction to the objectives of the project: 

  Our project involves creating a full-scale marketing campaign to introduce a new rock artist by merging creativity and strategic planning. We began with research on subgenres of rock, considering Cage the Elephant, Coldplay, Paramore, and Tool to determine an overall understanding of marketing/distribution trends within our given genre. In our research, we included some brief information about record companies, such as RCA Records. We each picked one band/artist to do our research on and included the following: brief history/information about the brand/artist, the band's/artist's target audience, and their method of distribution and marketing online, as well as offline. This allowed us to gain insight into what worked well and the key elements needed to build a rock artist brand.

  We choose "The Righteous Ones" from The Owllers for the debut single of our artist, reflecting the edgy and diverse qualities of rock subgenres. The campaign will need to have a dynamic social media strategy, professional online presence, innovative distribution plans, and engaging performance ideas to connect with the target audience. A very important part of our project is producing a 1:30 music video for the song, supported by a 20-slide storyboard to ensure a cohesive vision. Moreover, we document behind-the-scenes footage showcasing the process of blending creativity with teamwork in bringing our artist's brand to life.

Our teacher instructed us to create a plan to ensure we stay organized and on task.

Here is the overview:

My partners are: Juan V, Sergio H, and Nico P

  First, we made a group chat. Then we reviewed the project's due date, December 17th, and planned how many in-class days we had to work. On the first day, Juan and I completed the storyboard for the music video, while Nico and Sergio worked on campaign research.

Resistance is a band that's meant to mean rebellion and non-conformity, created by four friends: Ace, Archer, Ryker, and Axel, coming out of high school in Utah. This conservative setting has channeled frustration into music that critiques societal norms and encourages young people to embrace individuality and freedom.

This identity is reflected in the music video. It follows a rebellious girl who sneaks out at night to tag graffiti, narrowly avoiding getting caught by a police car and a passerby before speeding off in her car, embodying the adrenaline and defiance central to Resistance's philosophy.

Next class, on 12/9, we’ll finish campaign research, and begin transporting the information to our PowerPoint. On 12/11, we’ll work on the PowerPoint and film the music video after school, which is already storyboarded and ready to go.

Summary of our personal due dates: 

Music Video- Sunday, December 15th

Storyboard- Friday, December 6th

Campaign Research- Tuesday, December 10th

Presentation- Monday, December 16th

I look forward to filming the music video and seeing this whole campaign come to life!