First Production Post

Today I haven't been able to record as I expected because of some personal issues I had and because I don't have a rope to use for the first scene which messes me up a little. At least for today's blog, I got these pictures to give you an idea of the setting for the opening.

In my garage, I want to start the opening with the kidnapped character waking up lost, tied up to a chair. The garage is going to be with the lights out except for a creepy poor light that it's in there. Also, I'm gonna record this scene at night because there's a window in there and I don't want sunlight in the opening.

This is my front door, and the kidnapped guy is going to get out of the house through this door. I don't know if I will turn the light on the picture off because with a little editing, I think we could use it to make the shot creepier. If not, I'll just turn it off and use the poor lighting from the lamp posts in the street.

Recording Planning

I'm now in the fifth week of working on this project, and time is starting to feel a bit tight, since it's already Tuesday and I really want to focus on getting some recording done before the week is over. In this post, I'm going to talk about how I can plan out the rest of the week to make sure I have enough time to record some scenes.

I have to keep in mind that the recordings have to be at night as that's the time where the opening takes place but I don't like staying up very late so I'll have to try and record everything as fast as I can.

My plan for what's left of the week is to plan everything like lighting, setting, the shots that I will take, and actors confirmation on Wednesday and Thursday, on Friday record everything I planned quickly so it doesn't get very late, use Saturday to take some back-up shots just in case and I don't think I'll need but I can use Sunday too to take some more shots.

Sound

Sound is very important in a suspense-thriller film to create mood, tension and tone. At the start, when the character wakes up, the room should be silent except for his breathing that I can record myself heavy breathing and the ropes should make a rough sound as he struggles. When he escapes, the door creaks, and his footsteps echo in the hallway. Distant noises like dripping water can make the scene feel creepy and a low, tense sound can play as he moves toward the open door.

Outside, the sound should change to make the scene feel bigger but still scary, footsteps or distant traffic can make the streets feel empty. His breathing should be heavy as he runs, the music should build up to make the audience feel his fear and when someone grabs him, a loud, sharp sound should play, then everything should go silent as the screen goes dark.

Heavy Breathing:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/sound-effects/tracks/2edc4b24-d1b3-4d3d-b32d-d8066eaa0906/

Door Creaking:

https://www.epidemicsound.com/sound-effects/tracks/f1bf0ede-9fed-4d42-b5bd-317e6b4521e2/

And for the music when he gets out of the house and starts running, I could use something like this but that starts slower as the main character proggresively runs faster.

https://www.epidemicsound.com/track/s3XLbSOXwR/

Character development

 Creating a kidnapped character in a suspense-thriller film opening requires careful thought to engage the audience to the movie and in the character’s vulnerability and desperation.

By beggining with a close-up of their face, focusing on the bruises and cuts shows that the character has endured trauma. The confusion and fear in his expression will demonstrate that he doesn't know where he is, or how he ended up in that situation. This sets the tone for their emotional thoughts.

As the character wakes up and tries to move, his tied hands and feet add to his desperation, using close-up shots to emphasize the ropes. The mid-shot of him trying to free himself adds urgency, making the audience feel the character’s frustration.

Color and Tone

 In the last blog post, I talked about the mise en scene element, costume design and in this blog post, I am going to go over the color and tone. And my idea for the project is to do a suspense-thriller film about someone that was kidnapped, escaping away.

For the film opening, I will use cool colors like dark blue and black for the clothing to create mystery about the identities. I could also use this tone of colors to create a slow and calm scene with purple and blue lights maybe. And for a scene of escaping, I could use hot tones like red tilting lights or red signs to create a sense of danger.

Cool Tone                                                         Hot Tone

Costume Design

 A very important part of the opening is the costume design to make the role and personality of the character's more developed and obvious, but we want to keep the character's identity hidden and reveal them at the end of the opening or forward in the movie, so in the opening we will use masks or something similar.

For our opening, we want to do like if someone was kidnapped and ran away, but we aren't sure if we are going to show the kidnapper on screen, but if we do, we'll use a monster mask and black clothes. 

And the kidnapped character will be wearing sweat and dirty clothes to show that he has been through a lot. He will probably wear like a white tee to highlight the sweating and some shorts.

My Storyboard

Last blog post, I developed my idea for the film opening that I want to do, so in this blog I am posting about my storyboard that helps me visualize what I have in mind.

In the first two boxes of the first page of the storyboard, I drew a close up of the protagonist's face with bruises and cuts, waking up lost. In the next three boxes, I showed that his hands and feet were tied and that he got free of them. In the next box, he the main character is opening a locked door by force. For the last two boxes of the first page, he finds another door leading outside of the house and running away.

In the second page of my storyboard, the protagonist is still running away and turning in the corner of the street were someone was waiting for him to put a bag on his head, this person achieves his mission ,all in the main character's first person, and that's where the opening ends.

My Project Idea

 For my portfolio project or film opening, I was planning to use the suspense-thriller genre and start the opening with a close up of the main character's face with bruises and cuts, waking up confused, switching to a mid'shot from the side sitting on a chair in a dark room, then he tries to move but his hands and feet are tied with a rope shown with a close up of his hands and another close up of one of his feet. 

In desesperation, he slips his hands of the rope in a mid shot of his front side, leaving them free, and proceeds to untie the rope off his feet. He gets up and finds a locked door that he opens by force leading to a dark hallway. After looking for some seconds, he finds a door that leads outside opened, it was night time, he gets away and starts running away scared, lost in the street and the opening ends when he makes a turn to the left in the corner and someone or something puts a bag in his head and the screen goes dark.

Hermeneutic or Enigma Code

 At the start of the school year, we got a paper with Media theories, and now we have to choose a theory to investigate about it and use it in our film opening, and since I want to do a suspense-thriller and create mystery I chose to research about Hermeneutic or Enigma Code.

The Hermeneutic Code refers to the use of mystery and unanswered questions to create suspense and intrigue in a story. This code keeps the audience interested by hiding key information and slowly revealing it through clues or twists.

In a suspense-thriller, The film might start with a scene that creates immediate questions. For example, a character wakes up in a room with no memory of how they got there.

The film might also introduce characters or evidence that appear to be important but later turn out to not be, keeping the audience confused.

If the protagonist has memory gaps, the film can use incomplete storytelling to create more mystery. For example, a flashback of the character missing key information.

Resources:

Barthes' Five Codes

Roland Barthes' 5 Narrative Codes | Media Studies Theory

Understanding the Hermeneutic Code: A Comprehensive Explanation ▷ Ordinance - Rey Abogado

Group meeting #1

In today's class we got into groups separate from our group for the portfolio project and discussed what were our ideas for our openings like plot, lighting, coloring, genre and more. We also shared our blogs, and we were able to compare our blogs to improve them.

The participants of my group were David, Sofia, Gabriel, Bryn and me. First, Bryn shared her ideas for her opening and told us that she wants to do a Rom-Com where a teenage girl gets a random text from someone who claims being a student in her math class.

Then, Sofia told us that she wants to do a murder mystery comedy where the main character is a teenage girl who is investigating a case but nobody cares for the case, nobody wants to help her and nobody thinks she can solve it, and For her color, she wants to use like a dark orange, kind of the one used in knives out.

After Sofia's turn, David shared that he isn't very sure about the plot of his opening yet, but he knows that he wants to do a noir film and something with 2 detectives. 

Then, it was Gabriel's turn who's idea is to do an action film opening where the character was on a mission to kill some people (kind of like Jhon Wick) and when he finishes his task, he gets a phone call of the guy who is paying him for the mission who tells the main character that it was a set up as the main character sees the police siren lights from a window. Gabriel wants to do use a lot of black and very dark colors.

And lastly it was my turn and I told the group that I have in mind to do a suspense horror film, that in the opening there are going to be 1 or 2 characters escaping from someone or something, that Idon't want to use bright colors or lighting and they reccomended me to show the monster/killer with a silouette or a shadow.

Lighting in Suspense

 For the research of my preference I chose to investigate about lighting techniques since it can help build the vibe and create tension.

• Silhouttes: Using the silhoutte of a character or object to hide their identity is helpful to create mystery.

• Shadows: The shadow of a character can be used for the same purpose as silhouettes and you can use them to show that someone or something is hiding.

• Hard Lighting: It is when the light focuses only on a character's face to highlight facial features, and giving them a siniester look.

• Unstable lights: Malfunctioning bulbs that turn on and off by their own can create a sense of unpredictability and fear.

• Underlighting: It's when the source of light is below the character distorting their face features and making them look more menacing.

• Poor light source: When the character's vision is reduced to a flashlight or a candle creating tension and anxiety in the public.

Portfolio Project Shedule

Since the portfolio project is going to take some weeks to get it done, I am going to need a schedule so we can stay organized. 

The first two weeks are mostly about research of techniques, credits and other openings, but they are almost done.

In the third week we are going to plan the characters, setting, scenes, audio and we'll do the storyboard to help us do the script that we'll also start in the third week and finish on the fifth week so we can get started the recording of our opening.

And lastly, we will finish recording in the sixth one and focus on editing it in the sixth one and maybe the seventh too. We don't know yet what we will have to do for the CCR, but it might change the schedule depending on how long it is but we are thinking about doing it in the seventh and las weeks of the project.

Credit sequences analysis

 For this blog post, I am going to be analyzing three credit sequences from the same genre I chose so I can learn about them and use this technique in my film opening. Something I will have in consideration since my teacher reccomended us in the class we started the portfolio, is that the credits on my project, won't be rolling or will appear in the middle of the screen.

Nobody(2021)

First, with a dark background the "presents" credits, in this case, Universal Pictures, is shown, They disappear so the credits of "In Association with" that is Perfect World Pictures, can take place. They also disappear to leave space for the "A/An Production" being 87 North for this movie and as they disappear, an extreme close up of a injured man's eyes comes to the screen which then turns into a close up of his face while the casting credits start taking form which take turns at the lower right and left parts of the screen as the movie keeps on going. Then, in the same parts of the screen as the last credits, the "Music By", "Costume Designer", "Editors", "Production Designers", "Director of Photography", "Executive Producers"and the "Producers" credits took turns.

Inception(2010)

The film starts in a deep hallway where the "Directed and Produce By" credits appear showing a white, thin and not very big front type, in the lower right part of the screen and with a cut, the "Produced By" credits are shown before the "Cinematography" credits take place. With a fade away, the shot changes and the "Music By" credits take turns with the "Edited By" credits and when they disappear, another fade away changes the background and the 'Casting" credits start being the last ones.

A Quiet Place(2020)

    The credits are a thick, mustard color front type, in the middle of the screen being the center of attention and are shown in a pitch black background. The order of the credits is, first the producer, the association, the distributer, the main character's casting, the music creator, visual effects supervisor, costume designer, editing, production designer, director of photography, executive producers, producers, writer, , screenplay and lastly, the director.

Suspense films analysis

 For the project's second week first blog we have to analyze three film openings from movies of the same genre we chose so I will analyze about "The Silence of the Lambs", "Zodiac" and "Black Swan" as they are suspense films and very well rated.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The film starts in a forest not focusing on anything, and seconds later, the camera lowers to a long shot of a woman climbing a rope and getting closer to the camera. When she reaches the top of the rope, she stands up to a close up of her face smiling and changes to a mid, tracking shot of her, jogging, from the back but the camera starts slowing and the woman keeps her rhythm, so it cuts to a close, tracking shot of her jogging but now facing her face and not her back for a few seconds before changing to a mid, tracking shot recording her from the back. Then the camera focuses on a close up of her feet running and then to a close up of her face before switching to a long shot of her climbing ropes with the form of a spider web and when she gets down the camera stays behind waiting for a male character that was running from behind, as she keeps jogging but then the woman stops to speak with the man who tells her to go back. Then it cuts to a long shot of the woman running by a group of men in what looks military uniforms and gets into a building, all while the camera is steady in the same place.

Zodiac (2007)

The movie starts with an establishing shot of the city "San Francisco" and cuts to a mid shot of the bathroom in a little apartment where a kid is sitting on the sink and a man goes in while both of them brush their teeth and then it switches to a close up of both of their faces while they have a conversation. Then they get out of the bathroom in the same mid-shot as before and it cuts to a long shot of the kid and man getting into a car. After that they get to the kid's school and in a close up of their faces, they say goodbye to each other. After, the man gets in the car, it cuts to a mid shot of him sketching in the car while the traffic is honking at him and then switches to deep focus shot where the camera is focusing on the building behind the man that it's a chronicle inferring that he works there. He proceeds to get in the building in a mid-shot but when the camera loses sight of him because it's outside, it focuses on a mail van like if it was going to be important in the film. Then a mid shot of the man getting in the elevator and a long shot of the van parking and a man getting out while a sliding gate opens and a guy gets out of the building with a cart where the mail man puts all the mail. After putting the mail, the scene follows the man from the beggining and the cart with the mail while they both go to the same office and then showing with a close up of the hands of some people ordering the mail that had already got to the first office it was directed. Then the mail and the man are shown going to their destiny and finally they get to where they wanted with a mid shot showing the man and another mid shot showing the cart. The opening has a very fast background music to create a sense of lateness.

Black Swan (2010)

The film starts with a light slowly turning on and aiming to a woman dancing in a long shot and everything else is pitch black, then switches to a tracking close up shot of her feet dancing showing her remarkable footwork, she slowly sits down and when a man followed by the camera appears on screen, she stands up and they start dancing syncronized while he is always facing her back and with a close up of her face the music gets heavier and she gasps like she was afraid and then the camera turns to the left while the dancers turn to the right. The dancer gets close enough to the camera to make her face visible showing that she is very scared and then while dancing they keep turning to the right until with a mid-shot of the man, he spins where he is standing and switches clothes unexplicably. He proceeds to dance faster, aggresiver and then makes her spin so she changes clothes too while the background music gets faster and faster. Finally with her new clothes representing a swan she starts dancing with her arms like she was flying with wings and the close up turns into a long shot while she and the light start fading away.

Film Opening Possible Genres

Of the film openings we watched in class from previous students, there's one that called my attention and gave me some ideas about what I can do for my opening and one of them is the genre. The two possible genres I would like to do the most for the opening are suspense and horror since you can create a lot of mystery, not show any charachters's entire body, record the opening somewhere with poor lighting, and more.

Suspense Characteristics:

JAWS(1975)

1. Slow-Building Tension: building tension is the best way to make the public unease by slow-pacing the scene, using slow and eerie music, making sudden noises and hiding information of the setting or characters. Like in JAWS where the film builds tension by not immediately showing the shark. Instead, the audience sees the impact of its attacks or the slow-revealing of the shark, combined with false alarms keeps the audience anxiously waiting for the encounter.

GRAVITY(2013)

2. High stakes and Danger: High stakes and Danger are situations where the protagonist faces extreme consequences, like death. These stakes create urgency and tension, making the audience very focused in the outcome. These scenes maintain suspense by putting characters in very hard situations where every decision matters. A good example is the movie from 2013, GRAVITY, where Dr. Ryan Stone is stranded in space with no rescue, limited oxygen, and debris threatening her survival. Every action she takes could mean life or death.

Horror Characteristics:

The Blair Witch Project(1999)

1. Fear of the unknown: It creates fear by hiding information like who, why, what, where and when, leaving the audience to imagine the worst. It relies on the idea that what we don’t see or understand is scarier than what is shown. In the film The Blair Witch Project from 1999, it's never clearly shown the entity haunting the characters. Instead, eerie sounds, unsettling symbols, and the characters’ growing paranoia build the fear.

The Conjuring(2013)

2. Jump Scares: This technique is used in almost every horror movie because it builds tension in the public and then a sudden shot scares you only for a moment but it grows tension within the audience for the next jumpscare. A movie with very good Jumpscares is The Conjuring from 2013, because it carefully builds suspense before delivering sudden moments. Unlike cheap jump scares that rely on loud noises only.