Sound Exploration

    During sound research, made up nearly entirely of relentless hours of listening to a variety of genres of music and certain movie marathons, we selected a song to use during the intro of the opening, "Breakfast for One" by Topeka Clementine. What intensely drew us in was the song's beginning, using mainly a piano that conveyed tones as if being able to listen to the freedom of flight. The piano is soothing and light-hearted, which would perfectly portray similar tones of our introduction, as the opening's painting freedom section would embody such themes. Hoping to receive permission from the artist/company to use the song in our opening.

    Such song usage takes inspiration from a similar artist, Piero Piccioni, who's soothing music using a variety of instruments - violins, trumpets, pianos -  and has been enlisted to create the soundtracks of numerous movies. This artist experiments in jazz, contemporary, classical, funk and more genres, used for psychedelic, romantic, comedy, thriller, epics, and many more films. This expertise in variety producing simply beautiful melodies is something we wanted to convey within the opening's section of freedom of art. Similarly, we believe Topeka Clementine will help to convey such. 

    We also wanted to experiment in the use and differences between non-diegetic and diegetic sounds. In Tenet's introduction, there is use of high-note violins and similar stringed instruments playing, adding to the increasing suspense of the content displayed. However, this initially non-diegetic sound transitions to becoming diegetic, an interesting detail, as the shots continue inside the opera, showing instead that this diegetic sound came from the orchestra warming up their instruments, presumably. This creates a smooth transition between increasing suspense into the subsequent action sequences and ensuing chaos. Such could be easily imitated in our own opening, using the aforementioned song shown as being played on a record player during the introduction and grounding of the character - the first portion of the opening. This beginning portion is entirely dedicated to characterization and building context for the main character, who she is, what she enjoys, etc. This sound transition, perfect for setting tones and mood, would also work to build the audience’s idea of the character. 

    Everything Everywhere All At Once, for its “Part” scenes, there is a loud, and i quote from Nyx, BWAAA, noise. These sound fits the comedic tones of the film, and are extremely dramatic as such. We would like to use similar sounds to introduce the obstructive piece, to intensify the scene and solidify the impact it has on the character. Only not so in its comedic effect. 

Issues and Resolutions

    Unforeseen in our initial planning, the storyboard yielded various issues. The entire opening keeps consistent angle use, camera movement, and general easy flow between shots that doesn't feel disruptive or awkward in the context of the opening. The first issue is portrayal of increasing anxiety and if we should differ in camera movement and angle use. Initially, the best and main way of conveying this feeling is through editing, with increasingly quicker cuts, inserts, and sound inclusion. However, specific shots is something unforeseen. We believe using different angles and movements would add to the idea of increasing anxiety, showing differences and a disrupt in the character's natural flow as she paints. Of what these shots show, is undetermined, however we will simply leave that to be determined on set during filming since it would be much easier to vision how to proceed with that. 

   

    The other, main issue, is the sequence of the title card and obstructive piece's appearance. It would start (as seen in the storyboard), through a quick shot of her paint brush breaking (may it rest in blessed peace), subsequently showing her, facing the easel, with a small reaction on her face, saying the beloved, glorified, one and only piece of dialogue in the opening, a feces synonym. She will be framed on the left third, and encompassing the rest of the frame behind her, out of focus, would be the obstructive piece - it will be hanged to the ceiling using small hooks. This draws the attention of the viewer from her reaction and to the piece. The shot will cut to black in the middle of her turning quickly around, using sound to elevate its intensity. Here is the issue:

   

    Originally, the sequence would proceed as a slow, zooming out medium/long shot of the piece, cutting to an extreme close up of her eyes as she looks at it, and then the transition swipe title card thing I discussed previously. It feels as if it would be awkward since it doesn't give enough time or variety of shots to instill what is happening into both the character and audience before the title card's conveyance of the hallucination being a hallucination. A possible solution to be able to include the title's transition, is to simply utilize editing in timing and sound to occupy what's necessary for the intended tones, or to include more shots. So the sequence is changed to a semi-low angle of the piece, the close up of the eyes, a physical zone out of the piece - instead of a slow zoom out, the camera would physically move to behind the character's head (head framed on right third, piece on middle/left) and then start the transition. Swipe, title, swipe back, piece, and finally a medium or close up of her face again. Afterwards, using a sound bridge of running water, we will display the character getting water and as mentioned above.

Storyboard, Screenplay, Production

     We’ve begun the processes of story boarding, writing the screenplay, and all of the necessities in pre-production, hoping to start filming sooner than later. We met to discuss and create the obstructive piece, deciding on how we would film certain shots and our use of mise-en-scene elements. For example, we plan to lay out numerous art tools and scraps across the area as a context for our main character, including numerous previous projects and easels which we will gather from friends, or whoever wouldn’t mind letting us use it for some shots. 

    The main issue in pre-production, because the storyboard is complete and the screenplay is written based on it (as there is no dialogue except for one teensy tiny human feces synonym), is the obstructive piece. Originally, the weekend was going to be dedicated to creating the piece in its entirety, to which we have made progress as to what the piece will be, what it will represent, how it will be used, and other factors. However, upon starting we realized, damn… we need a lot more paint and a lot more time. So our filming days schedule will be shifted, not drastically, but it does have its impacts.

     The filming and post-production schedule will dedicate previous filming days of the week into finishing the obstructive piece (referenced as below) and using only 2 or 3 days to film. However much isn’t finished within that timeframe, the remaining shots will be completed in the days of spring break, which is our only next available time after the end of next weekend. 

Created by Jill Dowell

    Our obstructive piece will take on similar elements, inspiration from this piece and Zima Blue as previously discussed, to emulate a disrupt mental connection to artistry and passion. 

  

Color selection and pre-prod. day one finish. - snacks and drinks not included. The piece is 6 x 9 feet.

     And, the storyboard:

Group Blog Reflection

   Today in class, we had group reflections on our projects' progress and ideas for improvements on different aspects of the opening. It was interesting to see how other people proceeded with their openings such as their chosen genre (and presentation of the genre), pre-production items like casting and props, and useful things for production. For example, one person was going to use constant references to the Bible, incorporated as a major theme, with excerpts (intended to be read) that would signify and represent themes in the main character's life. She had already filmed these inserts of the Bible's excerpts, using a lit match across the screen to light it, which contributed to the idea of a dystopian world, which was her genre. I was impressed with the product.

    Another project was similar in genre to mine, as he envisions a coming of age film of a black teen exploring his interests and where he fits amongst different communities. His form of creation specifically surprised me, but that is mostly because of a clash of interests. I am not much intrigued or enjoy specifically conventional, cliche teen flicks - coming of age films. But as he discussed his project it excited me to view the final product. Although my film is also a coming of age, I believe the reason I enjoy and have been well-vested into the project is because of the psychological, supernatural aspects of it. For example the main character experiences hallucinations, and the entire film opening is void of dialogue. The manner in which I create stories doesn't follow what Ms. Stoklosa advised: genre, research, outline. Instead, I generally proceed from an idea, (very rough draft) outline, research, and then decide on whatever genre fits the story the most.

    Some ideas proposed to me was to include shots that conveyed the opening wasn't a definitive ending. For example, Nyx and I decided to include a cut to drinking water at the end, but it isn't significant in portraying how the rest of the story plays out. So, the idea of grounding the character back into reality came to light, such as my dog pawing at her legs, and then, as Nyx proposed later, to have an appointment reminder on the fridge next to her, to have some allusion to the character's issues, and the film's remaining plot. 

    As for the obstructive piece, I discussed the issue of how to continue with its contents, to which we decided upon criticism, that the piece should generally be empty since logically it would intend for the artist to fill it up. From an artist's perspective, that would make the most sense other than a black hole.

Finalizing/Planning Part 2

    As previously discussed, the actor playing the main character will be my sister, and the location will be my living room. These factors are ideal as my sister already understands what it means to face artist's block, an interestingly consistency within my family as my sister draws and paints, my brother draws, directs, and edits films, and I am a writer. Anyways, she has experience that is beneficial towards our project and will help simplify the acting and direction portion of production. The living room has large, nearly floor to ceiling windows surrounding the space I plan to use, which would allow natural light to enter as the main lighting source. This feature adds to the peaceful tones intended to be expressed, and can be manipulated through eliminating the source and use darker tones instead (during the appearance of the obstructive piece). If need be, we have ring lights, able to use warm and cold tones, and a cylindrical light that is versatile in different RGB settings. 

    Evidently, in order to have natural light as the major source, production needs to occur during daylight hours, preferably before noon - noon, as this period is when the sun will hit the living room the most. This is somewhat restricting, and so is Nyx's schedule, so our filming days are limited, whereas we have much time for post-production and work on the CCR. To work around this problem, prop set up of the obstruction piece and discussions of how to position cameras and our use of setting will occur first, and afterwards, after-school time will be used to work on shots not needing natural light with Nyx. All other shots including the natural light will be filmed on my own, during weekends. It is a somewhat tight schedule, as I also would like more time for Nyx's help to overshoot preferably, but it is possible nonetheless.

Finalizing/Planning

     Nyx and I have become set on the aforementioned story, and planned out the direction we want it to take, including the format as to what sections of the story would take up how much time and what they would represent. 

    The initial 30 seconds would be introducing the character and setting, mainly used to present the necessary credits in the opening. The shots used to present these takes inspiration from 1917's ending, slowly closing in on the main character, using natural light and expansive scenery to portray a, for lack of better words, happy ending. They institute light-hearted tones and definitive-ness in its use of lighting, scenery, and shot. The opening will be portrayed similarly through mainly using my living room as the setting, which has lots of natural light entering. The room's contents, sofas, carpet, maybe the tv as well depending on its difficulty, will be removed out of frame so that the room is presented as expansive, limitless, a metaphor for the endless inspiration and ideas an artist can have. Using natural light and the same expansiveness, light-hearted tones will be conveyed, and because of the story centering around art and painting, the introduction will also portray the artist's deep passion. 

    From then on to 1:15 would portray the artist's freedom in painting, and her deep passion for it, portrayed mainly through accumulation of shots, and possibly sound, rather than facial expressions or direct conveyance. I feel a direct presentation of the emotional values of painting to the artist would degrade the product, and using shots, sound and editing (through slow movements, elongated cuts, maybe jazz? I'm simply a big fan of jazz) would portray our skill in filmmaking, and how we can implement the techniques we've learned in class through implementation of our product. This timeframe would also include rising anxiety of reaching an artist's block, unbeknownst to the artist herself that the block is coming - only feeling the anxiety like the artist. This would be portrayed generally through editing and sound. We will include faster cuts, closer shots, and sound, through maybe stings of a ticking noise or an increasingly louder ringing, to portray this anxiety until its final accumulation. At this point, there will be a supernatural, mind-bending moment where at this peak of anxiety the sounds, quick cuts, and all would cease and in place of it, there will be a large obstructing piece, as described in the previous post, about 9x5 feet in dimension. What will be on it is to be determined, however, Nyx found a large canvas we could use from Amazon that would be perfect for it - it's cheap so... literally perfect.

    As seen in the planning sheet, there are storyboards of a transition that includes the obstructing piece and the artist looking at it. It transitions, passing closely behind the artist's head, closely to be able to include a cut for the transition, to the opposite side of the artist's head, with the obstructing piece now replaced with the title. This shot takes inspiration from a previous film opening project, available through Ms. Stoklosa's wonderful website, which I will link in a moment. The project use the character's movement to present the title appearing slowly, as the character moves from the left side of the screen to the right. It was beautifully and creatively done, which we will use in our own way. The title will appear in similar fashion, or simply blatantly appearing without the clever appearance the students used, instead to represent that the artist is seeing this obstructive piece in her mind - that it simply doesn't exist in reality, only in her mind that is representative of her artist's block. I realize I've been talking about this character without explaining a crucial part, casting. Simply, my sister will be the actor. This hallucination will be detailed further, so that the audience definitively understands that it is a hallucination by using other shots to portray it. This definitive-ness is necessary since films often use transitions with titles only for creative purposes, so the audience may interpret it as creative technique, not hallucination. 

    The storyboards, finalized obstruction piece, and possibly filming, will start the next week.

Scrapped... Again..

     Again, as the title suggests, we scrapped our idea again. This isn't because of inability to film, or gather necessary locations or attain intended mise-en-scene elements, the opening was feasible. For example, I already have appropriate clothing to fit a lawyer in the workspace, my father would have acted as Death being he is overwhelmingly tall and owns a large dark cloak he wears for Halloween that would both instill preferred tones for a "Death" vibe, and my mother's company's workspace is similar to a generic office building location so we could have filmed there. However, I simply didn't click with the idea, and I couldn't brainstorm ideas, enjoy the work, nor did my interests align with the genres the opening would embody. Thus, we begun researching other ways to genre-align our opening additionally with our interests, again taking influence from previous film opening projects. 

    Although I currently am not set on what genre this opening idea would be, but I had begun brainstorming from what I have, what interests me, and the possibilities from the two's possible versatility. To start, artistry runs in my family amongst my siblings, as my brother was a previous student of Ms. Stoklosa's, of whom I can receive assistance from, and my siblings both enjoy drawing, painting, and other mediums of art. Personally, I aspire to be a writer, and so something consistent within each is an artist's block, which is the issue of the film, and introduced by the opening. From this, I thought of casting my sister as the main character experiencing the artist's block, using inspiration from the layout of where we live to present the mental struggle and the interior spaces to represent the struggle in a physical format. For example, I plan to completely remove all furniture from some rooms to create the sense of a serene, expanding space, which would be emphasized by the lots of natural light entering the room. Some ideas for representation are as follows: 

(brainstorming sheet)

    Noticeably, there is a large, rectangular piece, entirely black except for the very middle, which would be white and a similar piece below in reverse. The inspiration for these pieces, which I plan to create from large pieces of cardboard or canvases each representative of artist's block and surpassing the block, comes from the show Love, Death, and Robots. In the episode Zima Blue, the artist consistently, and increasingly uses a zima blue square in the middle of each piece they create, instilling an ethereal and ascendant sense of personal art. 

    This ethereal sense can be applied into the film opening by using a similar mostly black piece as aforementioned to be representative of artist's block, appearing in an abrupt manner, a scene similar to an extreme close up of a pencil breaking cutting to a black screen (an idea input by Nyx, which I enjoy). Soon I will upload most likely several storyboard outlines and discuss them to decide which interpretation would be most versatile in production and one to be proud of.