Planning Blog

 Props: 

We have decided to do our movie about a highschool party. Because of this, most of our props will revolve around food and drinks you would see at parties. To make it appear as if the teenagers are drinking alcohol we will be using empty red solo cups.

Costumes: 

The two main characters along with all the background characters will be in casual highschool clothes. A few of the background characters will have glow sticks that they would wear around their neck and will have cheap sunglasses.

Schedule:

3/3/22 - Our group will begin our storyboard.

3/4/22- Our group will finish our storyboard.

3/10/22- Our group will begin the filming process

3/11/22 - We will finish any scenes we need to from the day before

3/12/22 - 3/17/22 We will edit the movie

Location List: 

All of the movie will take place at one of the group members house. We will go from multiple rooms in the house including the front lawn and backyard. Likely it will be at my house because I have a pool which we will need for one of the scenes.

Participants: Most of the participants are going to be friends of ours so we can make the party seem a lot larger than it actually is. There will likely be at least ten of us

Health and Safety: To make the appearance of high schoolers drinking alcohol without them actually drinking it, we will use empty solo cups that the background characters will hold. This way we wont break any laws and will not have the safety risks of drunk teenagers.

Back Up Plan:

The backup plan is to shoot at the other group member’s house if the other’s become unavailable. And if any of our friends cant come, we will film with angles that don't show a whole room to make it appear packed when it actually isnt.

Script Blog

 

Life of the party

Scene 1 - Jacob and Chris are scheming in the bathroom - Jacob is sitting on the toilet - Chris is standing in leaning against the sink - Someone knocks on the door - Chris: Occupied! - Jacob: Are you sure about this? - Chris: Dude, this is gonna make us legends. If this works, our names will go down in history. - Jacob: if you say so. - Chris approaches Jacob and holding his hand out - Jacob takes his hand and reluctantly allows himself to be pulled up. - Jacob and Chris do their handshake - Jacob and Chris: (says their catchphrase) - Jacob and Chris look at each other - Chris: let’s do this - Chris opens the door - Music starts playing loudly - Shows people partying and messing around in house Scene 2 - Shot of people with soda cans in hand - Close up pan shot of can in slowmo - Can shows one of the titles - Focus only on can, background blurs out and slows - Pans back to party in regular time - This repeats for multiple titles - Diegetic sound: party music - Lighting: party lights Scene 3 - Filler film of party occurring, different angles of the party - Diegetic sound: party music - Lighting: party lights Scene 4 - People are outside - Someone is on the roof - They jump down into pool - Tracking shot follows them into water - One of the titles is at the edge of the water - Diegetic sound: party music - Lighting: party lights Scene 5 - Filler film of party occurring, different angles of the party - Diegetic sound: party music - Lighting: party lights Scene 6 - Jacob and Chris are dancing with girls - The make excited faces to each other, happy that the party is working - They look content - Camera pans up and focuses on a light Scene 7 - Shot switches to a different unrelated location, focusing on the sun - Camera pans down to Jacob and Chris laying passed out on the ground - Chris wakes up - Chris slowly wakes up and holds his hand up to his eyes - Chris takes his surroundings in - Chris: Dude. Dude! Get up - Chris shakes Jacob awake - Jacob looks around with squinted eyes - Jacob: Oh shi- - Camera cuts to black

Title Design

 

Font: Barlow Condensed

Size: 36

Color: Red & White

Studio: Black Studios

Production: Marauders Production

Actors: Zack Zimmerman and Sean Driscell

Film Title: Life of the Party

Music By: 

Edited By: Bliss Deservio

Produced By: Bliss Deservio

Story By: Zack Zimmerman

The first title to come up will be the studio and production company that will not be integrated and will appear in the corner of the first scene. Once the party montage begins the rest of the titles will be integrated on soda cans, chip bags and the sides of sunglasses.   

Title Research: Dirty Dancing

   

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which Ones?

There are a total of thirty-three titles listed in the film. The first two are is the first production company, A Version Pictures, and the company they are in association with for this film, Great American Films. The next state the film is a Linda Gottlied production. The title of the movie is then displayed, “Dirty Dancing.” The movie goes on the display the twelve main actors throughout the film, one being teen heartthrob Patrick Swayze, playing the love interest Johnny. Next comes the person responsible for casting, the associate director, and the production designer. Followed by the people responsible for costumes, the music, the musical score, and the choreography. Then it’s the director of photography, the editor, the two executive producers, the co-producer, who the movie is produced by, and who it is written by. The last credit listed is the director of the film.

What connotations do the images carry?

The beginning of the title sequence shows slow shots of different couples dancing together in slow motion through a black and white lens. This gives the movie a very sensual fell to it. It them shifts to the beginning of the movie while still listing credits as it begins to shit to a more innocent tone including the introduction of the main character, Baby. This shift to a brighter, more light-hearted scene and setting correlates with the introduction to Baby and her presumed innocence as a girl. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The introduction of the teenage girl on the cusp of adulthood and her explanation of herself towards the end of sequence sets up to show her as a character as well as presenting the scenery for which she will shift and eventually come-of-age, fitting the genre. The contrast between the first scene of the dancing and the scene of the family coming upon Kellerman’s shows the transition Baby will make, but in reverse. 

What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience.

The Fade in and out between each couple at the beginning provides a sensual feeling to the audience holding their attention after reading the title of them movie. Of course, a movie titled dirty dancing would need something like this to catch and hold the attention of those watching before transitioning to the lighter beginning. The first song continues to add to this passion considering it is a slower love song with suggestive lyrics. The male voice over provides the necessary transition from sultry to sinless that keeps the focus on the film. The long shot of the car sets up an introductory to the Baby, the setting, and the story line that is to come. The two shot of Baby and her sister shows to extreme contrast between the more seductiveness of her sister versus the conservativeness of Baby, making the audience wonder how this girl-next-door will become staple point of sensuality as suggested by the title and opening scene. 

Title Research: Fast Times at Ridgemont High

 

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which Ones?

In total there were 14 different title cards in the title sequence. The first one was the production company for the movie which was a Refugee Films Production. The next few were all of the main actors in the movie. And similar to other title sequences, following this was the most important production crew members including the production composer, editor, and designer. Lastly, was the executive producer ending with the directors title card.

What connotations do the images carry?

The images in the title sequence specifically show high schoolers all across the mall doing different things. But what they have in common is that they’re all having fun. This sets up the movie having several different plots that all take place at the same time and place but don’t intertwine with each other much.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

Like previously stated, the background images are all of high schoolers hanging out at a mall. Some of them are shopping, some are with friends and some are working. This represents the different paths high schoolers can take which ultimately is what a coming of age story is supposed to show you.

What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience

The most common convention of a coming of age movie is a high school atmosphere. By having a montage of all of these high school kids at a mall you hit the nail on the head with this convention. The other conventions of popular songs that fit the time period is true for this scene as well. This song being “We Got The Beat” which was very popular in the 80s.

Title Research: Heathers

 

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which Ones?

Throughout the title sequence of this film, there is a total of twenty-three titles displayed. It began with main production company's tag and title. This company being New World Pictures. Then in introduced the accompanying company stating, “New World Pictures in association with Cinimarque Entertainment (USA) LTD presents.” It then to goes on to show the names of the actors who play the two main characters, Veronica and JD. Veronica being played by none other than famous actress Wynona Rider. It then displays the title of the film, “Heathers.” Next was the actresses who play the three Heathers. Next is the other main actors, totaling five more people. They then name the two people responsible for casting. Next is the associate producer, then executive producer. After that is the costume designer and production designer. Next is who the music is by, then the editor. Lastly is the director of photography. All together that is twenty-three titles. 

What connotations do the images carry?

The movie starts off very innocent. The Heathers sitting and drinking their tea very civilized gives off a posh, superior vibe to them. They go on to continue this superior vibe when they step not over but on the little garden that surrounds the sitting area. It gives a lighthearted, poised lens to the film as they play croquet, showing bright colors and controlled action. But when we are shown Veronica’s head in the ground being hit with one of the croquet balls by one of the Heathers, we are shown that this movie is more sinister then we were first lead to believe, cadencing into what seems like a sweet movie about three sophisticated teenage girls into something a lot darker. 

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

Showing the Heathers, these three girls who are very well put together reenforce the teenage aspect of a coming-of-age film. But seeing Veronica’s head sticking out provides the introduction of angst usually found in movies of this genre. The transition between these two ideas sets up to introduce the genre in a way that also caters to the story line of the film. What starts out innocent and unsuspecting can be turned into something much worse.

What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience.

The close up in the first shot the main Heather putting up her hair behind the title of the movie introduces our first character and makes the audience interested in who this first girl is, even if we can’t see her face. This grabs the attention of the target audience, that being of teenagers and young adults, by showing a young teenage girl, whom they might come to relate to throughout the film. Then the fade out and into the next shot of the three girls introduces us to them for the first time and gives us the sense that these will be the main characters of the of the film regardless of if that is actually true, considering we wouldn’t know otherwise if this is our first time watching the film. It continues to show characters that those who are watching want to pay attention to. The close up of the girls stepping on the roses emphasizes they’re superiority and lack of regard to anything besides themselves, which makes the audience want to know more about their dismissal of care. The music playing in the background reiterates the feeling of soft innocence provided by the scenery giving the audience a false sense of security luring them in. the costumes show this young audience colorful clothing that—although most would not wear themselves—are stylish in a way only these characters seem to know how to pull off. The dialogue between the three Heathers gives us incite on the title and more information on these seemingly graceful girls. Lastly the acting between the Heathers and their joy after hitting Veronica as opposed to her displeasure shows the classic mean girl angst of antagonizing others which many of our audience can relate to. 

Title Research: Napoleon Dynmaite

How many titles are displayed during the opening sequences to the film? Which Ones?

In total there were 21 different title cards in the title sequence. The first 3 were the production companies involved, Fox, Paramount and MTV. The next few were all of the main actors in the movie. Following them was the most important production crew members including the production composer, editor, and designer. Lastly, was the executive producer ending with the directors title card.

What connotations do the images carry?

The aesthetics of the title card give a very early 2000s feeling which is when the movie takes place. These include light colors that contrast with the background and stand out. And its simplicity is overall the biggest foreshadowing for the movie which quite literally is a simple high school movie.

How is genre reinforced through symbolic and technical codes from the outset?

The way the names were shown in this title sequence was by integrating them onto props that the main character would hold. Many of the props used in the title sequence are thing you would find at a school. Those include a school lunch, a notebook, a pencil, and an eraser. All of these show clearly that its a coming of age movie because it takes place in high school.

What conventions are used to ensure the film appeals to its target audience.

As mentioned earlier, the movie, Napoleon Dynamite, was marketed as a simple high school movie. So by keeping a simple aesthetic, you ensure the audience that they are here to see the movie they thought they were. Adding on to that by having the names of the people involved integrated into these common school props, the audience is even further ensured that this is the movie that was marketed to them.

Title Website Research

 

artofthetitle.com

While looking for resources to research title sequences, we stumbled upon the website. We were worried we'd have trouble finding resources for our research. Luckily, it provides a variety of options. It shows many options over many time periods and genres. The search engine option is really easy to use. I'm so glad we were able to find it. The website was very easy to access and we could easily find many examples to examine. The website is colorful and well designed. We will be using this website to find our examples. Hopefully it will be able to aid us in coming up with ideas for our own project.

watchthetitles.com During our search, we also found this website. it proved to be less effective than the other. It is harder to navigate. the search option was unhelpful. It was also hard to find a variety of title sequences. Our genre specifically made it difficult to find using the website. Because the other website was so helpful, we don't really need to use this one. Overall, finding this website did help broaden our options and we were able to find a few examples. Still, we chose to use the ones from the other website. We will continue our research to get ideas on our project.

Movie Convention Research: Project X

CAMS

• Establishing Shots
• Birds eye view
• Point of view shot
• Three shots
• Tracking Shot
• Long Shot
• Pan
• Tilt
• 
  

CLAMPS

• Costumes: Typical high school casual clothing
• Lighting: Colorful lights flashing across screen and actors
• Actors: All look as if they're teenagers or young adults
• Props: Red Solo Cups and Alcoholic Drinks
• Set: School and a House Party

Editing

• Inserts
• Montages
• Jump cuts
• Action match
• Eye-line Match

Sound

• Soundtrack: Pursuit of Happiness
• Ambient Sound of party noise
• Sound Bridge
• Dialogue

Likes

• The montage of the party clearly depict the setting
• The soundtrack captures the energy of the scene perfectly
• The red solo cops and other props all add to the setting of the movie
• The Birds eye views and long shots do a great job of showing off the party

Dislikes

• Some of the ambient sound drown out the dialogue in some scenes
• There are too many recurring actors to keep track of them all especially in a montage
• A lot of the actors look to old to be in highschool.

Movie Convention Research: Five Feet Apart

CAMS • Voice over • Tracking shot • POV shot • Eye level • Pan • Zoom • Close up • Medium shot • Long shot • Two shot • Over the shoulder • Soundtrack • Dialogue • Incidental music Editing • Cross cutting • Cutaway • Jump cut • Action match CLAMPS • Hospital clothing • Natural lighting • SFX make up for injuries/disease • Medical props • Hospital set/outside set Likes • The voice over is actually done well in the film and fits well with what’s going on • The pan and tracking shots help establish what is being discussed a scene • The dialogue isn’t cheesy and does a good job conveying the emotions of the characters • The set looks very realistic • The make-up is really well done and looks realistic Dislikes • Some of the soundtrack is outdated and could fit better with what is going on in the scene • Some of the wider shots might’ve been better as closer shots

Movie Convention Research: The Kissing Booth

 

CAMS • Voice over • Flashback • Jump cut • Eye level shot • Long shot • Two shot • Three shot • Over the shoulder • Diegetic sound • Dialogue • Soundtrack • Incidental music Editing • Action match • Eyeline match CLAMPS • Current teenage clothing • (bad) Dramatic acting • Suitable set • Natural lighting Like • Eye level shot because it helps the audience understand what the character is looking at • Soundtrack because it helps the audience get a vibe of what they are watching • Dialogue because it helps convey added knowledge to a scene • Incidental music because it provides a noticeable mood shit from one scene to another • The costumes the fit current times help the audience understand when the movie takes place, along with help from the setting of the movie Dislikes • Dramatic acting is over the top and sometimes doesn’t fit the scene, and if it does fit, is overall too fake • Voice over is cheesy and could’ve been done better • The clothing did help covey the time period but they were overall things most real teenagers wouldn’t wear

Going With a Coming of Age Film

 After much deliberation between the two of us we have decided to go with a coming of age movie. There were a couple reasons as to why we thought this would work the best. The first one thing reason is that we can use younger actors without having to make them seem older. Coming of age movies are by definition movies about people teens growing up and the lessons they learn from that. So instead of having all of our teenage friends play adults, it’s much easier for us to play teenagers since that’s our actual age. The second reason is that it matched our pitch. Just a reminder out pitch is about two high schoolers who throw the party of the year but when they wake up the next morning they realize the entire house was robbed. Since the setting is at Highschool party it and the two younger characters are going to learn some valuable lessons from their actions, this genre seemed to fit perfectly. Our third main reason for choosing a coming of age movie is the simplicity of them. Unlike science fiction movies, action movies or horror movies, coming of age stories are very practical with their story telling. What this means is that we don’t have to put any extra effort into special effects that we wouldn’t even know where to start with. Ultimately keeping it simple was the best way to put our time into more important things like the planning and filming of the movie. And lastly my partner and I love coming of age movies. And this is especially true as we hit the age where most of the characters in the story are. Movies like Superbad and Project X inspired us a lot when we were thinking about ideas and both of these movies are coming of age films. We also had some issues with the other genres. We had an idea of having the same plot as our pitch from a revere perspective where two characters were pulling a heist at someone’s house and would have obviously used a heist movie. But we didn’t think we could set up the genre well in the first two minutes because movies never get to the heist until at earliest the second act.  And lastly we almost went with a romantic comedy as our genre with the same plot as our coming to age film but our friend we convinced to be a co star is a male. So seeing how the two male co stars were both heterosexual, it would have been hard for them to have any on screen chemistry. 

Genre Research: Rom Coms

 

CAMS

• Over the shoulder
• Two shots
• Close ups
• Extreme long/Establishing shots
• Medium shots
• Point of view
• Single
• Panning
• Eye level

 

CLAMPS

• Costumes relating to time period of movie
• Natural lighting
• Make up that matches time period
• Props that fit the time period
• Setting relating to time period

·       (if the movie is a period piece, the props, costumes, and make up would reflect this. The same goes for if it takes place in current times.)

Editing

• Fade ins/outs
• Eyeline match
• Zoom
• Split screen

 

Sound

• Dialogue
• Voice over
• Score—love songs, sad songs
• Incidental music
• Diegetic sound

 

Examples

• Stars Fell on Alabama
• Locked Down
• To all the Boy: Always and Forever
• The Map of Tiny Perfect Things
• The Kissing Booth 3

 

Positive Elements

• When done right, dialogue provides so much to a romantic comedy.
• Eyeline matches along with close up shots convey emotion really well.
• Two shots help you better visualize the couple
• Over the shoulder help you bounce back and forth during a conversation when used in that manner
• Scores always add so much to a film
• Establishing shots help the audience visualize where the scene will be taking place

 

Negative Elements

• When the movie takes place in current time, the outfits usually don’t look like actually people wear and are unrealistic.
• Voice overs are cheesy.
• Fade ins/outs are overused.
  
  
  

Genre Research: Coming of Age Films

 CAMS

• Establishing Shots

• Two shots, Three shots, etc. depending on how many main characters are present in a scene

• Over the shoulder shots

• POV shots

CLAMPS

• Young actors

• Casual everyday teen outfits

• Setting could be at school and/or a party

• Props include backpacks 

Editing

• Jump Cuts

• Eye-Line Match

• Split Screen

Sound

• Songs listened to by the youth of the era the film is set in

• Ambient sound of other conversations

• Dialogue between main characters

Examples

• Good Boys

• Blockers

• Love Simon

• Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Long Haul

• The Hate you give

Positive Elements

• If portrayed correctly, the actors can really show the characters development which is the main purpose for coming of age films

• Catchy Music typically used for sound track

• The setting, costumes, and props can create a lot of relatability with younger audiences.

Negative Elements

• Often comes off as unrealistic when adult film makers try to recreate high school

• Most young actors either aren't as good or older actors seem to old for a character in high school

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Genre Research: Heist Movies

 Heist Movie

CAMS

• Tracking Shot

• Establishing Shots

• POV shots

• Close-up

CLAMPS

• Props could be the item being heisted

• Actors typically dressed up nice

• Setting can be a bank or museum

• Also setting can be a planning bunker

Editing

• Action Match

• Jump Cuts

• Split Screen

Sound

• The score is typically creates suspense

• Sound Motif

Examples

• Oceans 8

• Baby Driver

• Army of the Dead

• Cheery

• Hobbs and Shaw

Positive Elements

• When done right the score can have the audience at the edge of their seat

• The constant twists keep the audience engaged

• Usually incorporates comedy in the movie

Negative Elements

• Many times is very predictable

• Hard to follow many characters when they each have their own plot.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Our Pitch

   Pitch 1:

• The party of the century turns into the biggest mystery when the two who threw it can’t remember a thing in the morning...

We will need to get a decent amount of background characters for it to look like a party. We will have to move everything for one of the scenes to make it look like everything went missing. We’ll cut music when the scene transitions from the party to the next day. We will have some of the names be labels on the drinks. Well have one of the into the pool and the camera followed them into the water and it would show one of the names. We’ll do about 30 seconds intro, a minute of party footage, and 30 seconds with the next day roughly, subject to change. It will be filmed like a documentary by the two people throwing the party, as well as a regular movie. 

 

Pitch 2: 

• When a boy wakes up 70 years in the past with no memory of how she got here, how will she ever get home. 

With this pitch, our biggest difficulty will be creating scenery to match the past. It would also require a bunch of background characters. We wouldn’t have the costumes or the props to make it work. It would be an interesting option to pursue though. We would have to spend a lot of money t make this work, and even them, it will be very difficult. We could maybe change how far back she goes, but by then it wouldn’t really be drastic enough for someone to care enough to watch the movie. All in all, the cons out way the pros and it will be two difficult to do this pitch idea. 

 

Overall we are going to go with pitch one.