Friday, February 25, 2022

Introducing...

Today progress was made on our psychological film "Can You Help Me?"

Mood Boards:

"Real Room"



"Imagined Room"


    The location will remain the same throughout the opening until the character goes to the restroom. We will show the differences through props. 


    Today I focused on character development. Our characters now have names!! Patti is the psychologist and Meredith the ghost-like figure who is Patti's daughter that committed suicide through drowning.  Our patient character is unnamed. 


character 

type 

purpose 

occupation 

Patti  

Main character 

Driving character 

Psychologist  

Meredith  

Main character 

Plot advancement 

Psychologist's daughter 

Unnamed  

Supporting character 

To establish psychology setting 

Patient  

Character Breakdown:


Ghost-like: Meredith – Meredith is Patti’s teen daughter who committed suicide and is now a ghost stuck at the age she died. She will have wet clothing since she drowned, something you could wear any day and she will have a little bit of makeup to add to the dark discoloration of her face and wet hair. 
Psychologist: Patti – Patti is a middle-aged female psychologist whose goal is to prevent suicides; this has been her goal since she lost her daughter Meredith. She will have two different outfits, one for the “real room” and one for the “imagined room”. Her real room outfit will be some sort of long maybe red colored top and basic pants. Her imagined room clothing will probably be a short sleeve black top and basic pants.  
Patient: Unnamed – Our patient is unnamed and has a voice that’s words cannot exactly be made out. We have chosen to keep our patient's identity private, as not all people are open about going to psychologists for help. We also think that this gives off the tone that Patti is not really listening to the patient. 

Side Note on Music!:


    I gained the idea of using music at the end of our opening as a transition. How will our audience know Meredith died by drowning? I believe the scenes after the films opening would be a montage or some sort of flashback as to when Meredith was alive and right after she died, which will allow the audience to connect with Patti, understanding why she feels a struggle in her job. I thought of the song "Fourth of July" by Sufjan Stevens. It is a beautiful, yet heartbreaking song about a moment between a mother with cancer who is near death as she talks to her child. Now yes, our story is very different, but around the first thirty two seconds of this song gives off an eire yet calm feeling I believe fits the film. I reached out to Asthmatic Kitty Records the music company that owns the rights to "Fourth of July" in hopes of gaining access to use the song to for our opening. If I do not receive an email back by next Wednesday, I will try and see another way of contact. If they happen to say no (please do not say no) I will look for other options that will not require rights.

Message I sent through the companies website:


"Hello, my name is Grace Decker, I am a high school student currently creating a two-minute film opening in my AICE Media AS class. My piece is a psychological thriller. I want to use sound from the first thirty-two seconds of Sufjan Stevens song "Fourth of July" This is solely for educational purposes and will make no profit. Please let me know if I could have the right to use this song, the piece will complete by May. 
Thanks!!"

Moving Forward:


    Over the weekend I will be researching specific costumes, hair styles, and makeup that will suit our characters. I will also be looking through my room and other rooms in my house to see if I have any props that I think give off either the real or imagined room. I will also be creating a list of anything needed to be purchased. Julie will be researching suicide and drownings, the drowning in specific will relate to Meredith's costume design so we will need to be sharing our findings! Storyboard still in progress, as it took the back row behind our deeper development of character and look.

Thursday, February 24, 2022

Plot + Psychology Research

The Reveal: 
Julie and I have a plot for our psychological thriller "Can You Help Me?"!!! 
Overall:
"Can You Help Me" is a psychological thriller that tells the story of a psychologist who is haunted by her past which causes self doubt about her ability to help others.  

Characters:
The film has three characters so far unnamed. A patient, a ghost like character, and a psychologist. For now, I will call the patient Penny, the ghost-like character Geri, and the psychologist Patti.  
Geri is Patti's daughter who committed suicide leading to Patti becoming a psychologist. Geri is seen in old family pictures in both the real and imagined room.  
 
Setting:
The setting is an office in two forms. One form the real form, a very bright, colorful office, and the other form the office as the psychologist sees it a very dark, colorless office. 

Set Inspiration



Time Period:
"Can You Help Me" takes place in the present, the characters hair, makeup, and the overall miss-en-scene will reflect this.
 
Current Plot:
The film opening starts in the real office with Patti as the focus surrounded by happy looking items such as self-care books, bright colored pictures, and signs that have words such as love and hope. Patti is sitting down talking to Penny, whose voice is muffled, and she cannot be seen. The opening credits would be displayed during close shots of the items surrounding Patti. There would be a quick jump cut to the same room but as the way Patti in her mind views it. Geri is in the room, but Patti is in the same exact position as in her real life. The scene goes back to the real room as the patient leaves and the door closes, taking the scene back to the imagined room. Close ups are shown as they were prior, but this time with the dark, emotional items. As different shots are shown the ghost person is seen. The noise of a door opening back up is played as Penny enters the room due to forgetting something, jump cut to the real room. The psychologist is seen trying to calm down but still in panic so fast paced edits from real to imagined room are shown as the patient asks if Patti is okay. Patti tells Penny not to worry and hopes that the therapy session helped her. The title "Can You Help Me" is shown. As Penny leaves and the door shuts and the scene cuts to the imagined office's dark bathroom, Patti is seen trying to calm down. The film's opening ends as Geri appears behind Patti in the bathroom mirror.  

Psychology Research:

Since our film is about psychology, I researched the common struggles psychologists deal with. A psychologist is someone who studies the mind and behavior. They find out why people think the way they do. 

According to Degree Query "Psychologists often say that feelings of helplessness, the stress of dealing with clients' problems, the demanding educational requirements and the tedious nature of billing for payment are among the hardest parts about working as a psychologist." 
 
Psychologists work for years to become licensed, you either need a Ph.D. or Psy.D to find a suitable job, and even once you have a job you are constantly learning and testing your knowledge. This could take eight years for schooling plus four or more for graduate studies, all these years rack up student loans. Once you are a working psychologist, billing may be a challenge as you must deal with insurance companies who may not always cooperate.  

Helplessness and Stress:

Helplessness is not usually caused by not knowing how to treat a patient, but by knowing, and the treatment not going as planned due to the patients' struggles. Psychologists surround themselves with other people's issues that may sometimes bring up memories for psychologists. The constant knowing of other people's negativity can bring psychologists' mood down. Stress causes most psychologists to burn out. 

Research Impact:

This research let Julie and I know that our idea is very accurate and that we must make sure our
psychologist character seems very helpless and stressed out. It also gave me the idea to include some sort of diploma from the psychologist's degrees.

Moving Forward:
Our storyboard is in the works, as we also continue to dive deeper into character creation along with the creation of props and costumes. Cast wise, so far we plan for the characters to all be in our family, and us so a filming schedule will be created soon. As we do this, I want to research suicide so we make sure our film deals with it respectfully.


Source:

Citation:

Dodge, K. (2020, May 3). What is the hardest thing about working as a psychologist? DegreeQuery.com. Retrieved February 25, 2022, from https://www.degreequery.com/psychology-degrees/what-is-the-hardest-thing-about-working-as-a-psychologist/  

Sunday, February 20, 2022

It's a Thriller!!

    Today I decided to research other genres and realized our film currently titled "Can You Help Me?" is not a drama, it is a thriller. While yes, our film has some tragic aspects it is a psychological thriller

Research: 


   A thrillers main goal is to generate interest, suspense, excitement, and exhilaration. There are multiple subdivisions of thriller one being psychological thriller.

    Examples of Thriller:

The Guilty (2021)



The Silence of the Lambs (1991)



Psychological Thriller:


    According to Master Class "The psychological thriller is a subgenre of thriller that exposes the psychology of its characters, who are often unstable." This subgenre of the thriller genre shows the mental and physical behavior of characters. Psychological thrillers can incorporate mental illness. Two important parts of genre of film is that the film includes plot twists and familiar elements. Psychological thrillers include tense situations and as the plot goes on more about the main character is revealed. 

    Examples of Psychological Thriller:



Black Swan (2010)



Us (2019)



Research Impact: 

    This research made me question myself, without this questioning I would have likely thought all along the film was in the drama genre when this was inaccurate. 

Current plot for "Can You Help Me"




    "Can You Help Me" is a character driven psychological thriller showing the story of a psychologist and how they deal with their jobs tasks. It shows how a persons life is not always as happy as it may appear from the perspective of others. This film brings attention to the struggle of psychologists that is not often talked about or shown in the media.

    My next step in this planning process is to research struggles psychologists deal with, and try and learn directly from psychologists so my partner and I do not inaccurately display this serious topic.




Saturday, February 19, 2022

Reel Drama

    Research is crucial prior to my film opening being successful. I have researched how film impacts society and now will be researching the drama genre, which my opening will identify with.

Research: 
    According to Noelle Buffam "Drama film is a genre that relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters." My groups film, which name is undecided, fits this description since our opener idea is about a realistic therapist and the emotion behind the therapist's job. My film would tell of the struggle of the therapist, a "real life issue". 


    There are multiple subdivisions of drama including: Biography, Courtroom, Dramedy, Historical, Melodrama, Period Piece, Political, Romance, and Tragedy.


    I am focusing on dramadey and tragedy as I believe these two subdivisions could be where my film opener ends up.

Dramadey: 

    A dramadey film uses both drama and comedy to display the films goal. It has an overall dramatic tone, but comedy is inserted to keep the audience engaged while addressing a serious issue.

    Examples of Dramadey:
The Royal Tenenbaums (2001)

Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

Juno (2007)

Tragedy: 
    
    A tragedy film includes the downfall of a character leading to self destruct and sometimes death. Tragedies can include characters who are dealing with extraordinary conditions, but this is not always the case.

    Examples of Tragedy:
Romeo + Juliet (1996)

Crash (2004)

Babel (2006)




 
Research Impact:

    This drama genre research has led me to know that my partner Julie and I have some critical thinking to do about which subdivision of drama our film will fit in. No matter which subdivision the outcome is, we will use this information as a guide for our film. We will be continuing our research and planning of our film opener!!

Source:

Citation:

Buffam, N. (2011, March 14). Drama. The Script Lab. Retrieved February 20, 2022, from https://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/952-drama/ 

Friday, February 18, 2022

A Two for One: Idea + Research

    Today in class Julie and I came up with a film idea we are nearly for sure set on. I won't give it away quite yet but overall it deals with a therapist and how the therapist is able to handle hearing everything they hear daily. 

Research:

    Since my partner and I want to make sure our film opener changes the mind of viewers I have researched how films impact society.

    All films should strive to have an impact on audiences this can be negatively or positively or both.  In as early as the 1930's films were created and used by world leaders to make people feel a certain way and have certain beliefs. 

    Films often tell stories of history that inform people directly changing what a person knows and thinks of the time. An example of a historical piece is Gladiator, the 2001 best picture Academy Award winner directed by Ridley Scott, which is a fiction film, but tells of a real time period in Rome.

Gladiator (2000)



    Advertising done both directly and indirectly in films has a large impact on audiences. As the audience sees their favorite movie protagonist eating something, an audience member may want to go out and buy the food so they can be like the character

    Watching a film can impact a person to perform negatively. The murdering of twelve people at the midnight showing of "The Dark Night Rises" was committed by James Holmes a superhero movie specifically batman fan, who some psychologists believe committed this crime due to what he had seen displayed in films. Other negative impacts films can have on society include audiences gained desire to smoke like they see in the film. PG-13 movies are not supposed to include smoking but many films get around this rule by paying a fine. 

    The film industry's merchandise, movie theatre food, tickets, and other sales all play a large role in the economy. The industry also provides tons of jobs over 0.1 percent of all people working in the United States of America work in the film industry.

    Films have an impact on audience health. Horror films may seem fun for fans of the genre, but heart attacks and even death have been the outcomes for some movie goers. Yes, films provide negatives for health, but they also impact the body positively Watching comedies can help lower blood pressure and laughing during them/due to them can be seen as a workout to the cardiovascular system. 

    Films inspire people and sometimes even cause a change in personalty and goals. Even characters who may not have the best personality, such as Jordan Belfoot in "The Wolf of Wall Street" directed by Martin Scorsese, can inspire audiences to want to be like the character. In this case it may be negative since he ends up in prison but in other cases such as Elle Woods in "Legally Blonde" who never gives up on her dreams the outcome may be positive. Audiences gain inspiration to become who they want to be from films and this inspiration even may lead a person to begin working in the film industry. 
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Research Impact:

    This research helped us learn in just how many ways society is impacted by films. I believe our current film opener idea would positively impact society by shedding light on a topic not often displayed in the media as psychology is very private.  This could inspire not only psychologists, but also others working in difficult roles to ask for help, and could result in the workforce prioritizing mental health to a greater degree in comparison to what is currently done. My partner and I will be continuing research on this topic, our drama genre, and psychology to have a set understanding of everything relating to our film.

Source:


Citation: 

How do movies affect society? Our Movie Life. (2020, January 8). Retrieved February 19, 2022, from https://www.ourmovielife.com/2017/01/15/how-do-movies-affect-society/ 

    

Sunday, February 13, 2022

Film by Numbers

 So it begins.. the first of many film opening blogs. I will admit I am nervous, the most difficult part is occurring now. What to make my film about and what genre and who are my characters and what is the setting and who is my target audience and where will we film and when will we film. All of the above and more are thoughts currently rushing through my brain! Exciting times! I am basically in a state of panic (when am I not?) but this is making my brain want to plan and get started!!

Ideas wise I created a notes page in my phone for brainstorming themes




This weekend I edited a music video for my Student Government class, while no, this is not a two minute film opening, it is a piece that helped me practice my editing and filming skills. Even though the music video was not fully done I calmed down while editing this music video realizing I got this (maybe).


I have decided to work with my classmate Julie, I think two is better than one in that we will work off of each others opinions to create one solid two minute film opening. Julie and I have decided we want to make sure our two minute film opening it something unforgettable, we are leaning towards something sad that will stay in the hearts and minds of our viewers.

I am hoping something from my notes page/mind or my partners thoughts will jump out to us and feel like the perfect fit for our film.


My most recent brainstorm thought was simply "paint by numbers" I need to take this project one step at a time and not panic about my end result since I will not have an end result if I stay panicked.

Monday, February 7, 2022

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 How Media Marketing Went?!


February has led me to discover that plans do not always work out, but luckily things fall into place.

In January I was given a project to create a Music Marketing Campaign. The genre my group was assigned was metal.  Learning how to market for the metal genre was difficult as it is a genre I had not had much experience listening to or viewing.  My group chose to create a marketing campaign for "Blind" by Korn but as Moral Bargains song "Cost of Life".


Moral Bargain Logo



Planning/Research 

I believe the planning was a successful, but challenging part of our marketing campaign. My five member group had a set plan (shown prior) of when each aspect of the project must be completed by. The challenge was that my group similar to me had little experience with metal music so we did a lot more research than I expected to do. We looked not only at the genre as a whole but also individual bands to get an idea of the way marketing works.  Not only did understanding our genre appear as a challenge but also our target audience. Moral Bargain similar to metal does not have one specific target audience so during my creation of the online aspect I had to remember that people from a vast age range would be discovering our media. We planned to film our music video based on a boy with bipolar disorder at Weston Town Center in the Publix parking lot and Carrot Express.


Music Video-

Shoot:

On January 29th the shoot of our music video at Weston Town Center went well!! To match our intended plan our crew brought the props of a car and pill bottle. Along with props the look of all actors/actresses on camera was important. For example, our band members were in darker colors (mainly black) and our concerned female character was in more positively viewed clothing (a pink shirt and jeans with smiley faces). While yes, it was a challenge for the band to feel the "vibe" of the song, I, from an insiders perspective, believe they were successful. Even our location of Carrot Express for our main characters going off scene went well as the staff member was excited in being a part of the shoot. With the Carrot Express aspect I was reminded yet again of the challenge that comes with filming in a crowded environment. 


Editing of Music Video:

Post shoot my crew member Zoey edited the video using the advice of all members. I decided to create a social media promotional video, which I should have likely used the more appropriate term of a teaser. This teaser only features Moral Bargain, as we did not want to give away the videos message. Looking back at the music video I do believe our message could have been made clearer, in the end we resulted in a message of a male looking back on his anger issues as our theme rather than a male with bipolar disorder. I believe the shots were successful in showing a sense of panic, the fast cuts set this pace well. But on the other hand, I think I would have enjoyed our original plan by showing the males not only lows of his day but also the drastically different highs. To do so, deeper research on bipolar disorder would have been conducted.


Screenshot of editing process

Marketing-

My main role in the project was getting the band's digital image alive and known. An important factor of our social media/website was making sure all aspects were user friendly as some fans have experience with bands internet presence, and other fans do not. 

Website:

Prior to this music marketing experience I had never made a website, the idea of creating a user friendly website appeared to me as a challenge. The creation of the Moral Bargain official website was time and mentally consuming. But, I worked through the initial challenge of more or less believing I could not complete the task and created a website with a home/merchandise page, a tour page, a contact page, and a frequently asked questions page. I did not expect to enjoy this creation but I did as I believe my hard work led to a realistic website. 

Website home page


As the home page, I uploaded all created merchandise and sectioned the pieces into collections. Merchandise, being the first thing any website user views, was important as the purchase of merchandise is a way we gain profit and popularity. 

I was able to plan a ten stop tour, The Bargaining Tour. I never realized just how many venues there are in America. I researched everything from bars to stadiums. By researching some of the locations similar artists toured, I learned that most new bands will really play anywhere they can get in. With this knowledge, most of the venues we chose host around a thousand people and are in large cities since we are an upcoming band trying to grow our audience. 

Both the contact and frequently asked questions pages were created to meet the goal of user friendliness. The contact page links to all of our social medias and has all basic information. The FAQ page is full of more specifics such as the accepted methods of payment.


Social Media:

Social media wise, I created the basic structure of our platforms and uploaded merchandise flyers along with the teaser and music video. My group member Gianna controlled the Instagram and made it very user friendly and interactive. My group member Brooke controlled the Twitter and did the same.

YouTube page

Guerilla Marketing: 

My group member Miguel came up with a creative marketing device. This would be to have a motorcycle statue, with our tour logo on the side, travel to all ten of our planned tour locations to promote the shows. 

Tour Logo


Presentation:

Our presentation google slides was last minute, we got it done, but I believe it could have been better. Personally public speaking is not my strong suit. I dressed nicely for the day to try not to fear my future presentation but in my opinion I ended up failing under pressure. Eye contact is near my least favorite aspect of life, so I do not believe I engaged with my audience well. I believe all of my information was spoken just maybe not in a pleasant looking way. My group members carried this part of our project.

Presentation 

Overall, the Music Marketing Campaign creation majorly helped me in my thinking process towards my upcoming Cambridge portfolio project. At first look at the project's rubric I was doubting whether I would play a successful role in the creation. I can confidently say I did it! The project increased the level of trust I have in my AICE Media AS work. I found myself wanting to take charge, so now I am very interested in the director role in my future project.  Not all was positive, I found troubles working in a group of five, specifically with depending on members to complete their tasks in time. The waiting process I endured whilst waiting to be able to post all of our merchandise on both the website and social medias is not a scared feeling I would wish on anyone. This project has led me to now be set on working with only one or two other people on the upcoming project, as I believe I would work better in a small, trusted, and dedicated group. Nevertheless, my group I believe was successful in our Music Media Marketing creation. I am grateful for this knowledgeable project expanding my knowledge of the metal genre, marketing, and working as a team. 

Oh.. and yes.. Moral Bargain's facebook name is still "Mo Ba"
I will learn how to create a Facebook!!!

Here is the music video along with presentation:

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/1/folders/1juzjE6_Q9YM4amnu8_Lcfhx218mgQurT 


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