Correlations Between Dopamine and Hallucinations

    As highlighted by the article, large amounts of dopamine factors into the likeliness of emerging hallucinations and delusions. As a result, taking drugs that would repress dopamine production, formally labelled antipsychotic medications, would alleviate the prevalence of hallucinations. In our original storyboard, we had decided to transition after the title card/obstructive piece into the character drinking water to calm her nerves and displaying a doctor's appointment held up nearby. To further solidify the fact the previous sequence was a hallucination, we decided to add her taking pills with water and include the doctor being a psychiatrist so that such is thoroughly defined. Additionally, my dog coming into frame can be interpreted similar to a support dog for her. 

    Kumar, S., & Soren, S., & Chaudhury, S. (2009). Hallucinations: Etiology and clinical implications, Industrial Psychology Journal, 18(2), 119-126. 10.4103/0972-6748.62273

Color Theory and Costume Design: A Professional Psychologist's (me) Review

    As the wonderful Ms. Stoklosa has taught, color theory would have to play a significant role in the creation of the obstructive piece. Similar to Jill Dowell's painting, we'd like to not paint something specific along the border or within the open space, but to simply have randomized splotches along the border of different colors to represent her creative freedom, with the blank space representative of her restricted mind. Color theory dictates colors are generally representative of certain emotions or concepts, and after reviewing each, we believe it would be best to avoid use of specifically green and yellow, that signify forms of health. Additionally, they aren't as potent colors, and wouldn't fit naturally with the rest of the colors, which would most likely be darker.

    Another significant factor in characterization and tone-setting is costume design. My sister and I reviewed our closets and found that we practically wear only dark colors and definitely did not have clothes to fit our character and opening's tones. However, I found a thin white blouse and lightly faded jeans that she could wear, which looked fitting for the story, despite opposing some logical concern of if people would wear a semi-nice blouse and jeans to paint when paint would most likely get on them. We also didn't have a large selection, or really any other option for her to wear so let's chalk it up to her simply being extremely neat. 

    

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.