Quick Update

Just as a quick little check in I wanted to share two exciting things I did since my last post!! As relating with my last post we filmed some of the indoor shots that were going to be using in the film! We were going to go out and film some other shots but the weather looked questionable...
Together we watched a movie that I had suggested before so that we could relate some of the emotions shared within that film, The Edge of Seventeen. I was explaining to Emily the different personalities portrayed within the film and how in one moment of the main character Nadine was happy and on top of the world and the next moment was not so happy.

I believe Emily and I have a good understanding of each other and she knows now exactly of the type of mood and feel of the movie I am going for.

Until next time!!

film time!!

As I started to film some of my project my main character and I had bumped into a few different obstacles! While thinking of my film I didn't think it was going to be easy but I knew it would be worth it as the end of the day because the turnout was going to be good! It is not as easy to portray a happy person in a sad situation as I thought it would and in certain areas I wanted to film the lighting of the area was incorrect and would not properly flow within my project. I am glad that these problems were occurring now instead of when I am deep into editing my project and I realize that a percentage of my shots do not properly mix with the others and stand out. I want this to be as professional as it can be and I will not produce something that looks terrible.

Emily and I looked around for new locations to film certain scenes and came across a few that would work. I think the thing I am struggling with the most is that this is just an intro into what would be a full movie so it can't show too much but it also has to show just enough. There is a fine line of what to add and what not to add into the film.

As we fix the errors and mistakes we have come across we look forward to creating a perfect film opening!

Today I spent the day with my main character and we watched some of the past years videos for some inspiration and to give her a look into how this was going to play out! Together we mapped out some of what we were going to be filming! I explained each aspect of the film to her and the overall message that we were trying to portray! My friend connected with the story because being inclusive is something we both feel very passionate about to make sure everyone feels welcomed! I know this first hand with my friend Emily because when moving to Florida she was the first girl I had connected with and became instantly best friends! It is important for us to make others know they can talk to us if they ever need someone to just listen! This film isn't meant to make peoples lives seem better than this girl but to bring awareness to the fact that stuff goes on behind closed doors that we do not know about! Here is a picture of my friend and I while we discussed potential scenes and sets to create the magic !!!! :)

One potential outfit for the main character! This would be a school or everyday outfit when she is out in public! As I stated earlier the girl is not a happy person and enjoys to wear black but is trying to also hide the way she feels and not let people see how unhappy she really is. I am beginning to film in the next few days so I look forward to sharing new shots I create!

STAY TUNED!!! 

Pictured here is beginning sketches to the opening of my film! Throughout this process I have found that it is going to be very hard to portray a story based around 1 person. I am going to add another main character as well as some potential background characters! This is going to help create a more clear picture of what the story is about since the film opening is only 2 minutes of a full movie!
I am not a very good artist so coming up with images that the average viewer would understand was just a little difficult! :)

Please note: the two girls are different characters

A glimpse into how I chose what I chose

I have finally decided on what sort of route I want to go down when it comes to plot. I am thinking of showing the life of a typical teenage girl who wakes up into what might seem like the perfect life and putting on a smile as if it were makeup. People never know what is going on behind the closed doors of someones house. I know for me personally I know how it can feel to wake up and be "happy" in a time when it isn't so happy. Some can't and will never understand what it feels like to have to fake a smile that seems so real.

Throughout the time of when things were not so great I knew one person who was my constant, she never left and she saw things when it got really bad and was also there for the really good times. That was my friend Emily. Emily has been the person I have known from the time I moved from Colorado to Florida and since then she has been my best friend. Emily is in my theatre class and so I know her ability to act and she is amazing.

I want someone who is able to portray a realistic story without making it cheesy. The story I am going to create will be one that is close to my heart and meant to show anything can be overcome even when it seems as if it can not.

I saw a movie recently that reminded me of this exact message. The movie "THE EDGE OF SEVENTEEN" can be read about here. This movie was placed under the comedy and drama genres and was put up for awards. This was a real life movie to me since it was one that the average teenager could relate to. I find it often people enjoy the movies or films that make their life see better. I don't want to make ones life problems seem smaller than the next but the story I am making is not meant to make a person laugh!

I will begin storyboarding shots and angles at the beginning of this week and will share any pictures I draw along the process! (Mind I am not a good drawer!!)

See you in my next post! Until then.... <3

A GIRLS HARDEST DECSION: outfit of the day

As I woke up this morning in my hotel I thought about this project and how I need to get started. I am going to be posting some outfit ideas in this post so I can get a feel for the way it will look! I am looking forward to being able to put in all of my time once this competition is over!

First outfit: Leggings and a tee shirt for a school day outfit. I am thinking this outfit can be used in a school setting to provide a glimpse of everyday life for this main character. The girl who will be playing my main characters name is Emily. In my next post I will explain more about her so that a clearer image comes to mind when reading these posts.

Second Outfit: I think a nicer but not super nice outfit could be used to provide a fake reality of this girls life. Sometimes the way someone dresses on the outside is not how they feel on the inside and so this will show how it feels.

Third outfit: All black. Sometimes people need to be who they are and if that is dressing in all black to show their unhappiness on the outside than people should express themselves.

I know all of these ideas are just being thrown out into the open but this week I will be going to look for clothes for Emily and will take pictures of ideas to share with you! Until then.... happiness is the KEY to life :)

A look through a fellow thespian eye

For the past week I have been at a thespian theatre festival filmed with people who performed at a local district competition. Being surrounded by people who share a similar interest with me has been an interesting experience due to the fact that everyone has their own story. People around have two eyes, one nose, one mouth, and two ears yet everyone is so different. A lot of people have their own sense of style and with discovering the differences in people I have been noticing style. No one is the same as the person next to them and everyone has their own sense of their fashion. Seeing girls walk around in what some may see as guy clothes and seeing guys walk around in heels higher than I can wear. Black clothes signify “dark” mood to some while some it is their first preference. I have been thinking about possible costume designs that may work well within my film! I want to create a film that has a story line over more than just one day which will cause for more than one outfit.

 The story would take place in modern times so the outfits would not have to be backdated to an earlier time period. I am thinking about possibly doing a casual scene which would probably call for a pair of leggings or maybe even some sweatpants and a casual lounging shirt. The outfit could portray many different things and one thing it would create would be the emotional connection within the film. As I have noticed this week especially, the way people dress is a way that people express themselves and different personalities. The film I am creating is not really a happy attitude film and so bright colored clothing would not tie the story together correctly. Although one direction I am thinking about going down is to create a “fake” life story and show that life may see, great on the outside but not be so good on the inside and behind closed doors. For a scene where things may seem right, the main character could be dressed in clothes that signify not a negative feel. I really have no clue how to portray these emotions I NEED RESEARCH!!!

 Clearly, as you can see, I am still unsure about all of the details and I need to figure it out! I have another long day of competition tomorrow so I will be back with more!!

Scheduling!!

Week 1: During this week is when I did the basis of my research and really thought about potential genres and target audiences that I could possibly go with! This was a research based week. 

Week 2: During this week which was this past week I have thought more about the beginning stages of my project. I looked into who could play the characters I am going to try and portray and even did a little bit more research. The research aspect has been so important because of the fact that every time I open up a new link I am amazed by something new that I find out.

 Week 3: This week I will be in Tampa surrounded by a bunch of theatre kids who are doing what we love. This will be the second time I am attending and from past experience, you learn so much about yourself while here. I want to get a feel for people and the way they act and spend a little more time with my potential actors to see the type of workers and people they truly are. I want to know how diligent they are going to work! I will be finishing up last minute planning to be able to start my filming when I get home. I will be storyboarding and looking at potential costume designs.

 Week 4+: These will be the fun weeks, the making of this film! I will film multiple times during the week and at multiple different locations. I will begin my filming by taking many different shots and angles of all the different places we are at so when it is edited together it is seamless. I will spend these weeks bringing my computer with me when I find free time so I am working on this project to make it as perfect as I can.

 I think for me the coolest part about this project is the fact that I am in control to do things at my own pace when I want to begin!

<3

Thinking about the film and thinking about the road I want to go down, I have been thinking about characters. I reached out to a few people who I am close with to see if they would be interested in helping me. I am in drama and so a bunch of the kids that I associate with happen to be actors or actresses. One of my best friends Emily is willing to jump in and help! I know I will end up needing more than one but logically have to start planning this out.

 One of my biggest obstacles during this whole thing was the show RENT at school because I have had little to no time to even eat lunch or dinner! I finish the show tonight and so I will be on and ready giving my full energy toward this project. I have started to plan out some of what I will need to be filming.

I know making blog posts will become easier as I will have slight clips and pictures to show of my work but right now it is just a lot of planning!

For my next blog post this week I am going to be making a schedule of the posts and work that needs to be done this way I know I am on time with everything! So here is to a new project and a free-er schedule! :)

Group Discussion and feedback

I met up with a group of friends to discuss blog posts and just the overall project and learned a lot from my peers. We all discussed the different thing such as genres and target audiences. I found that the target audience was stumping a lot of people because they could not figure out an exact age range of people they were trying to appeal to.

 For me it isn’t that the target audience is hard to come up with, it is just trying to find the perfect age range because the film I am thinking about could appeal to many different people. I am thinking that I will end up going with a teenage age group just because I feel as if teenagers love dramatic pieces because it can either relate to or make their life seem better. Certain films are aired with the intentions on making the average person’s life seem as if it was not as bad as they thought.

 A lot of dramatic films create a problem within the plot that could either be extremely dramatic and made to seem larger than life or a real world problem. Either way the viewer will try and connect themselves within the film to relate their life to it. One film that I know a lot of teenagers have been enjoying lately is Riverdale. Riverdale is a shoe that started on the CW network and has been aired through Netflix. I did a survey on 10 people and within those 10, 70% had watched or had seen at least an episode of Riverdale while only 30% had not. This survey was done with people who are in high school and are both boys and girls. I found though more girls that boys talk about Riverdale just due to the fact that girls relate more with emotion.

 Is the emotional aspects just hormonal? No. After reading an article from “The globe and mail” it is not just hormones. Girls have a lot going on in their heads and understanding the brain to try and appeal to their emotions for a film. After reading this article I know more about the female brain and know a little bit more about what direction I want to go with my film!

Just a little more research and some cuteness too:)

It's me again!!! Welcome back!

I needed to figure out something to talk about this post and I genuinely want to go with the fact that with the research done last night I am thinking I will go with a dramatic genre for my film. I have been researching more and more of the drama genre. This genre focuses and relies heavily on the fact that the characters are being created with realistic characteristics. Emotional and relational development development of realistic characters is very important to portray the fact that the character needs to be known. Drama films as well as portraying the characters it also relies on creating a realistic plot to make the film flow even more!

The plot of the film is how the narrative points arranged in the story to make the the story understandable to the viewer! The dramatic film needs to have some sort of problem within the story. Although that is not the case all the time it is normal to see a conflict within the story! I want to create a drama film that has some sort of life message in it! I believe that things happen for a reason and although things may seem sometimes as if they are not working out there is still a reason that it is happening! I want the meaning of the story to not be known right away but have hidden messages throughout it! I plan to create a message that is and can be felt throughout a wide range of people!

I am glad that I have started this project although it has been a long week... I can't wait for next week! Just to throw in some light hearted happiness enjoy this picture of puppies!

Have a good night:)

Research? Ya not really my favorite part of ANY project that I do but for sure a very important part in EVERY project I do! I started off by just researching all the different genres to try and get a feel for what I was going to make my film about!

I am aware that with only two minutes I am trying to create an opening to a WOW type of film! I want to create passion in my film. I want the viewer to feel what the struggle or obstacle the character is feeling. I want the viewer to know I worked hard to tell the beginning of a story. That all comes from understanding what I am doing. I began this journey by researching genres of films and viewing some of my favorite film openings to try and get a sense for what I was about to create!

Comedy, oh comedy. At first look why wouldn’t I want to do a film based off a comedic story? That’s me. That is who I am. Comedy is a story in which the main emphasis is on the humor in the film. Based off of the indiewire.com list of 25 best comedic films in the 21st century, #1 was a film called sideways filmed in 2004. Although this performance was “one of the greatest performances to ever go un-nominated by academy” this film still made the list and in fact #1! Comedy films are based off of creating a comedic feel for any one who is watching. Comedic films are made to make people laugh based off of the exaggerated characters played and amusement played by the characters.  Compared to other film genres comedy films are focused on individual stars. Films that are under the comedy genre usually have a happy ending with the exception of “black comedy”. 

Transitioning from stand up comedy into the film industry, many stars who start out as stand up comedians transition into starring roles in comedy films due to popular demand. There are many sub genres under the COMEDY genre. With romantic comedies and anarchic comedy films there are even films that are underneath those. Romantic comedies back in the day were also known as screwball comedy films. There are so many different routes to take when creating a comedic film and that is why it is a very popular genre of movies.

Although the comedy genre is one of my favorite genres to watch when I personally am picking a movie, for my film I am choosing to go out of my norm and try something new! I researched other genres that were extremely interesting. The next genre I researched and I am thinking I may go with is drama. 

Drama? Oh ya my absolute favorite! Just kidding, besides the class I absolutely can NOT stand the drama that flows through the school hallways. Drama at my school spreads faster than a cold! Anyways, back to the genre of drama, drama is a genre of narrative fiction intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama films are serious presentations or stories with settings or life situations that portray realistic characters in conflict according to filmsite.org. Dramatic films are said to be the largest film genre because of all the broad spectrum of films. Did you know crime films developed under the drama genre? I didn’t! See that... you learn something new everyday! Dramatic films are often said to include current issues even current social issues. They are intended to keep the viewer interested!

For me researching these two genres were most important because I am a comedic type of person but I am also wanting to portray more of a dramatic type of film. Maybe I could put the two together and create something absolutely fantastic!!

Overall I did not think the beginning to my research was as bad as I was worried it was going to be! I guess that is a step in the right direction!

Until the next time I am back to talk about my film...

Have a good night:)

Hi I’m Danielle Serota but I prefer to go by Dani and this is my blog! I am starting this out by saying I am struggling with the beginning obstacle of figuring this whole thing out! :/  I began my post by looking up different genres of films and trying to start by going down that route. I know that for me there are going to be difficulties throughout this whole process due to my busy extracurricular schedule. I am currently rehearsing for the musical RENT at school but have been looking forward to starting this project since joining the class. I am excited because I got my first lead ever! I enjoy learning about this aspect of arts because it is very different from the theatre and arts I am used to!

For my film I have a few different ideas on what would be the best way to go about this. I am thinking of possibly going down the horror route because I feel, contrary to popular belief, it is easier to portray sadness and scary things rather than happy things. Although I am one of the happiest people some will ever meet and for about 97% of the time will be seen smiling, I have gone through some tough times. For the things I have been through and overcome, I am also thinking of creating and empowering film to show people that under any circumstance things can be overcome. I want to portray a story that can be felt by the people of the world and provide a feel good story! In under two minutes I know this may be a little hard to attain but I would like to at lease create the start of a feel good story! As you can see I am a little confused on which route to go down and I would absolutely LOVE if things would flow together!!! These are a few obstacles that I need to figure my way out of because unfortunately only ONE film can be made!

I am one that is not very good at pointing out my flaws but I do know that with this blog it will be easier to talk about those flaws. Pointing out the hard times and obstacles will be step one in making those things better! I can't wait to get started on this.

I hope that eventually this project will become much easier and start to flow together! I will see you very soon when I tell you even more about me and my project! <3

Have a good night :)