I did something yesterday in class, I contacted Sony Music Productions and asked them for licensing permissions for The Adults are Talking by The Strokes. I don't really expect a response, but it doesn't hurt to try. Now, we wait.
Legally Blonde
Going on the premise of a film opening about "moving on," I thought of the popular film, Legally Blonde. I also watched the film opening and it was a simple montage. It is attached below if you want to check it out!
This film opening does a good job at presenting the credits in the beginning, without the content being too distracting or the credits themselves being unnoticeable. Initially, I thought to myself that I wanted little to no dialogue in my opening, mainly because I didn't want the audio to be an issue in my post-production. With that in mind, Legally Blonde's film opening has become a new great source of inspiration for me.
Bits and Pieces
Here's my current dilemma, I know what I want to do, but I don't know how to put it together. I want to create something that demonstrates moving on from loss. I've had a revelation that this "loss" doesn't have to be of a person, it can be anything. This brings me to another variation of my idea: rejection. Once again, this can come in many different forms. Rejection from a crush, college decisions, or even being socially rejected in a group.
By the end of this week, I will have my final idea for this film opening. I am going to promise myself that. If I'm really productive, I would have started my storyboard too. I'll keep you updated.
Citations
Oliveto, E. I. J. B. A. (2021, November 4). What Does ‘Coming of Age’ Mean in Movies, Books, and Life? | Cake Blog. JoinCake. https://www.joincake.com/blog/coming-of-age/
M. (2021, September 24). Coming-of-Age Movies: What Is the Coming-of-Age Genre? MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies#3-characteristics-of-comingofage-movies
I do not have my final idea yet, but this post will be dedicated to showing the inspirations I have and how I have been using them to generate an idea for my coming-of-age film. Yes, we're going with that genre.
Films
The top three movies that have been a savior to me have been Clueless, Lady Bird, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I have been rewatching these three iconic coming-of-age movies hoping to gain a spark in my brain for a 10/10 idea.
I've already talked about Clueless and Ferris Bueller in previous blog posts, so I will mainly be elaborating on Lady Bird. However, before I do, I want to mention that from watching countless popular coming-of-age film openings, I found that a lot of them use a voiceover to talk about what is going on or establish a setting or characters. For example, Spider-Man (2002), The Breakfast Club (1985), and Dirty Dancing (1987) all have voiceover narrations.
Lady Bird is a film about a high school girl who is dealing with mother issues and wants to go to college to start a new life. This is immediately established when the film opening involves a car ride with Lady Bird and her mother, the two begin to argue and it pushes Lady Bird to literally jump out of the car. This film's opening is simple but does a good job at establishing relationships and setting. Watch the film opening below!
Music
I am an avid music listener. From rap to bedroom pop, I listen to most genres of music. For my film opening, I want to end it on a happier note so it can give a sense of excitement for what will happen following the opening.
What I had envisioned was the music would be sad or neutral in the intro, then the character would change the song, which shows that the song is diegetic, and they would change the song to a more upbeat song to change the tone of the opening.
The first song that I had in mind for the "upbeat" idea was The Adults Are Talking by The Strokes. This song offers a good 20 seconds of instrumental music, which is perfect since I would just need it towards the end of the film opening. Unfortunately, the issue is licensing and copyright, so until I know my final idea I will hold off on this. Let's take a moment to appreciate the album cover art (pictured right)... it is SO cool! I will never get over it. It's not one of those cringe album covers of a wilting rose or something of the sort, this is actually a piece of artwork that is perfectly color schemed together and, somehow, describes the album's vibe in the most accurate way an album cover can.
What am I to do?
With all of these inspirations, I have already figured out the vibe I want to go with, I just have to decide how I will execute this. Hopefully, by next post I will have my idea already set in stone!
The hardest part of this project has to be coming up with an idea. I know we've only started this last week, but I can't imagine it being more mentally blocking than this. There are so many routes I can take and I need to pick the best one for me, but then again I can't even see all of the routes that are available to me, aka, I haven't thought of them yet.
Prospective Idea #1
Ok, this might be the cheesiest thing ever, but that's why it's a prospective idea. Following the coming of age theme, my most put-together idea is the death of a family member or a loved one, or just any sad "loss" such as a breakup. The idea is that the character is moping in their room then in the end, they decide to get it together and move on. Bam. Coming of age.
Certain scenes that I vividly imagine in my brain are, for example, the ending scene would be the character opening the blinds and it would be a backlit type of lighting. I put a picture to the right that VERY roughly shows the idea I'm going for. Obviously, it would not be a child and my windows are not that big, but you get the picture.
Another scene would be where the credits are, it would probably show just signs of a very dirty and unkempt room. For example, dirty clothes on the floor (pictured left), papers on desks, and a messy bed, little details like that can show the outcomes of losing something important to you. Then, when the character decides to get back on track, they would clean up the same things shown from the credits, and it will all tie back together.
Pros and Cons of This Idea
Nothing is all good and nothing is all bad. With that in mind, let's review the pros and cons of this first idea that I have.
Pros:
- I can already envision it in my head and it's the first idea that's kinda stuck
- Production should be simpler because it'll just be me starring in it
- I can utilize a lot of techniques within this, color schemes, shots/angles. etc
Cons:
- An overused idea
- The music I really wanted to use for it is copyrighted
- This idea overall is kinda sad
Copyright
As I mentioned above, copyrighted music. When I was logistically thinking about this idea, the first song that came into my head was Mia and Sebastian's Theme from the movie LaLa Land. It is a beautiful classical piece of music that I think perfectly encapsulates what I am going for. Since it is also a piece from a movie, I am not sure if that impacts anything to do with getting permission, but we can cross that bridge if I get there.
Citations
Mia & Sebastian’s Theme. (2018, July 28). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwIyb6M6Aks&ab_channel=JustinHurwitz-Topic
K. (2020, September 22). 8 Common Cliches of Coming-of-Age Stories. Kingdom Pen. https://kingdompen.org/8-common-cliches-of-coming-of-age-stories/
While thinking about the most viable options for me and the production of my film opening, I think I could best represent a coming-of-age movie, since I am, after all, a teenager. The definition of a coming-of-age film is a film that "depicts one or more young protagonists facing a key moment of personal growth from childhood to adulthood." With this in mind, if I choose this approach for my film opening, I have to have a film opening that presents a character that can have development towards the end.
Characteristics of Coming-of-Age Films
An article (cited at the bottom of this post) states that a coming-of-age pieces should have three main factors: character growth, dialogue, and social commentary. For my film opening, I think that social commentary would be most prevalent in what I produce. I'm gonna have to brainstorm some teenagers, like me, face. If I can figure this out, then the rest will come to me. I'll let you know what I can come up with.
Classic Coming-of-Age Film: Clueless (1995)
Clueless is an iconic film that never gets old. Releasing in 1995, this film continues to be one that is timeless and appreciated by all generations.
I find that the film opening for Clueless does a good job of establishing the main character, Cher. Check out the video below to see the first ten minutes of the movie!
Based on the clip, you can tell that Cher is a spoiled rich girl, who seems to have a disregard for those around her. She seems to always get her way, and you can see by the way she boasts about her teachers changing her grades every semester. Her personality and way of living are set within these nine minutes and fifty-nine seconds, which can also be seen through the voiceover narration the film uses.
Although I don't have access to a Jeep Wrangler like Cher does, she and I do have a couple things in common. We are both high schoolers trying to be successful and find our place in the world. I can use this to my advantage as I stick to what I know.
Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
Directed by John Hughes, Ferris Bueller's Day Off follows a high school boy on his journey of skipping a day of school by faking an illness. The film opening perfectly sets the scene for this plot.
The film starts by establishing the setting, Ferris Bueller's house, then we are introduced to his whole family. We know that Ferris is the protagonist as he directly addresses the camera and narrates for himself. This is a different execution of what Clueless does, because, although they both use narration, Ferris Bueller's Day Off uses the direct address rather than a normal voiceover that Clueless uses.
What's the Point?
Keeping in mind that these films usually end with character development, this leads me to believe that my film opening should establish a character that has some sort of ignorance or issue that will later be solved, but this doesn't have to be the case, as proven the Ferris Bueller's film opening. This is a very interesting type of film that I will keep as an option when deciding my film's idea.
Citations
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) [opening scene]. (2018, September 14). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MAUvxPeTHEE
Clueless: Watch the First 9 Minutes and 59 Seconds | Netflix. (2020, June 1). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2sq0g7rkXZw
What Is a Coming-of-Age Movie? Definition and Top Films. (2019, September 27). LiveAbout. https://www.liveabout.com/coming-of-age-movies-4690625
M. (2021, September 24). Coming-of-Age Movies: What Is the Coming-of-Age Genre? MasterClass. https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies#10-notable-comingofage-movies
The first step of this project is to think about the genre that I want to use. So far, I'm leaning towards drama. I already have background knowledge on the subject and that is probably the genre that I watch the most.
One of the most iconic and notable drama films has to be Parasite directed by Bong Joon-ho. Ten minutes of the opening was posted to YouTube, check it out.
I love the number of techniques already used within these ten minutes, from focus pulls to close-ups, Bong is able to grab the audience's attention instantly, and this is the goal that I have for myself and my film opening. The intro also seems to be setting the scene and the living conditions of the family.
In addition to the opening of Parasite, Bong actually did an interview with Vanity Fair in 2019, where he and Woo-shik Choi, an actor featured in the film, break down the opening. Take a look down below!
Parasite is a film that talks about the disparities between the rich and poor and Bong is able to highlight this theme through the camera shots/angles and mise-en-scene elements he uses. For example, the house that the poor family is living in is "semi-basement and semi-overground." The audience is able to see this view of the basement through the shot pictured to the right. We see that the family sees the outside from ground level but at least they aren't fully submerged in the ground. Woo-shik says "It gives you a little bit of hope because it is not fully underground, but halfway.
A quote from Bong in the video that sticks to me is "I really wanted to make the audience curious. Something funny is happening, something going on, but we don't know exactly." This ties in with the idea from Andrew Stanton of giving the audience 2+2 but not 4. Pretty interesting how two major people working in production have similar viewpoints on how to approach a film!
Citations
Parasite | The Best Picture Winner’s Opening 10 Minutes | Now on Blu-ray, DVD, & Digital. (2020, January 14). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNFdGfouBh0
“Parasite” Director Bong Joon-ho Breaks Down the Opening Scene | Vanity Fair. (2019, November 12). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bP-eqx2X9AY
It doesn't feel real that we are already starting the portfolio project for this AICE exam. I remember before I picked AICE Media Studies, I looked up the syllabus for the class and saw an exam component was this project. Hard to believe that the time has actually come and I have learned the necessary skills for this project in just five months.
My Plans
From the previous projects, my class has done, such as the Music Marketing Project, One-Word Story Project (my favorite), and Sound Project, I have already learned so many skills that I can put to use for this portfolio. As someone, with no previous experience or skill in the production field, I believe that I have already gained so much appreciation for the complexities of production and all the bits and pieces that go into it.
For my film opening, I want to take a simple approach that wouldn't be too confusing in production or post-production. I learned from my Music Marketing Project, it becomes difficult to stick to an original idea when that idea may not be realistic. A point that was emphasized during the lessons in class was to "stick to what you know." This is a very broad yet narrow range because I know lots of things, but can those things resonate with an interesting and engaging film opening? I've watched past film openings and the ones that stood out to me were 'Barely Legal' and 'Untitled,' because of their simplicity yet they do a good job of setting a story. From these inspirations, I think I will have the best luck coming up with an idea involving the drama genre or something of the sort.
My Approach
The first and foremost thing, is I CAN NOT fall behind, especially with blog posting. This means I have to have strong self-discipline. I am going to be utilizing the project schedule that was so kindly provided for my class and I, hopefully, this will steer me on the right track. Throughout this week and next week, I will be vigilantly looking for any bursts of ideas in my everyday life that can constitute and be transformed into a creative film opening.
As the Music Marketing Project comes to a close, it is always good to reflect and think about what could have been done better and what should be improved for any similar future projects.
Research
The research portion was a clean process. My group members did what they were supposed to by picking a company and researching specific case studies. It was a very interesting aspect to see all the different ways our genre is marketed. Compiling all these together was ultimately very beneficial, especially for the media context essay we wrote in class.
Brainstorming/Planning
Our Schedule
The planning for our presentation and music video was one of the most time-consuming parts. For one, there were days when one member of our group was absent so we had to catch them up or had to come up with ideas without another person's opinion. We created a schedule to figure out what the whole plan would be and tried to follow it as much as we could, and in the end, we got it finished. None of my group members were very familiar with the metal genre, so this also made it more difficult to think of a viable plan for our music video. Although we tried to think of ideas while we were doing research and creating our schedule, the best and most effective way for us to come up with an objective was by listening to the song individually and spitballing ideas that came to our heads then choosing the one that stuck.
Production
My group and I decided to meet at Town Center. Unfortunately, we decided to meet on one of the coldest nights of the year, but despite the low temperatures, production went fairly well. We filmed the parts of the storyboard we planned for, but there was an issue with the initial intro scene which would've been set in the bathroom. Due to this, we decided we would film in school, but then our main actor had an emergency and could not film. This made our main objective, which we drew on the storyboard, much more challenging to execute.
Post-Production
Editing Process
Once I got home and reviewed the footage from our filming, I realized that we forgot a big part of the music video. This made my job of editing more difficult because now I couldn't edit the story in the way that it should've looked. I communicated with my group, which has been super important throughout this whole project, and they came up with the idea of what became the final music video. The editing process took me the weekend to do because there were many changes that I had to make in order to work with the footage we had. However, I loved seeing the progression of the multiple clips from my camera roll come together to create a music video.
Presentation
Creating the presentation itself wasn't too much of a challenge, it was mainly thinking of what you would say and compiling all the information into your brain so you can be knowledgeable about your band/artist. My group's presentation went well. I definitely think I could have done better, and said more examples of case studies. I was proud of my group's presentation skills, especially those who said they did not enjoy presenting, and how we put together our brand.
Reflection
The Band Picture
Overall, this project has not only taught me about the importance of marketing and how much thought truly goes into it. I also learned how important communication among group projects is, I am also glad that filming a music video turned out to be an easy way to break the ice with my group. This project will be very useful in developing my Cambridge Portfolio, because not only have we written blog posts for this, as we will for the portfolio, but I also gained a better understanding of how the production of filming works outside of school. Considering the many obstacles that we faced throughout the whole process, I am happy and proud of my group for what we created. I learned many lessons amidst the project that will be beneficial to a smoother process for future projects.
