Finished Product!

A Blink Away finished product!

Film: https://www.wevideo.com/view/2143390901

Instagram: _ablinkaway

Postcard Ad: 

Critical Reflection

 The short film, A Blink Away, presents the story of middle-aged Isabel Ramirez’s life after her son goes missing. With low income and poor knowledge of the English language, she is unable to treat her trauma and mental illnesses throughout the years, thus developing schizophrenia and depression. Through the use of lighting changes and flashbacks, the audience is able to view the world through Isa’s lens and as a result be misled of the truth. 

This drama tragedy was inspired by my genre research, which I learned will often end in the downfall of the protagonist. Shakespeare’s plays, Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet, for instance, are a few examples of pieces that contain a tragic ending for the main characters. A drama genre typically portrays pity or terror caused by a disastrous conclusion, so it was essential to include the downfall of Isabel by the end. Isabel’s character development was inspired by Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty. The Maleficent film created a new perspective for the so-called villain by focusing on flashbacks and the use of a singular point of view. My film utilized these techniques in order to deceive the audience into thinking her son had actually come back. 

Most viewers of the drama genre are teens or young adults, making my target audience mostly Gen Z. They are known for having a short attention span, therefore I kept the dialogue to a minimum. However, unlike a typical convention, I did not use a narrator to tell the story in order to keep the audience wondering what was occurring and as a result retaining their attention.  

Looking back on this decision, I realize this may have been a mistake. While the use of no narration will keep the audience captivated, it did not help explain the ending of the film. In the ending blink of an eye, Leo disappears from Isabel’s reality. Nonetheless, there are no proceeding scenes that explain what happened. A solution may have been to include the blink only when she disassociates from reality in order to set a pattern or to have filmed additional scenes afterward explaining what happened.

The relationship between the target audience and this brand is to be developed through the branding of the film. While Isabel is pushed around due to her vulnerability, the brand conveys a different message. This film serves the purpose of a warning to society, that others can take advantage of your vulnerability, especially those at different economic levels. This relationship between the audience and Isabel helped develop the branding.
The brand identity of this film is meant to develop a sense of mystery and uncertainty about the piece. For this reason, I tried to reveal as little as possible about the ending in both the postcard and the social media page. 
The brand is developed greatly through postcard advertisements. The decision to make the postcard advertisement and film poster a wanted sign is meant to play along with the narrative that this film is simply about a woman finding her son. The use of Instagram as the social media platform is perfect for the target audience, who spends most of their time on this app. The Instagram account includes the movie poster as well as behind the scene clips. There is also a clip included of one of the last scenes captioned,  “If you know you know”. This further develops the curiosity of the audience of those who have not watched it and it becomes an “aha” moment for those who have watched the film. The account is registered as a business account in order to create a label on the bio stating “movie”. Along with this title, is the date of the movie release and the tagline of the film. 

 
Another element of my brand is the development of the physique through the use of the colors black and red. As seen in the film, Isabel wears red in the flashbacks to indicate passion and love, as opposed to when she dresses in all black during the present. This color theory was applied to both the postcard and the social media page, making it the motif of the brand. Leo’s bright purple shirt contrasts the harsh red and black color hues used in order to further develop the idea that Leo is not a part of that world.

Through the seemingly simple plot, lies a much more complex meaning. Isabel is a representation of the lack of aid provided to those of lower income and language barriers. The officer Isa speaks with on the phone serves as a physical representation of the message behind this brand. The officer is aware of her mental illness but does not take action because she is not a violent threat to society. Instead, he laughs it off and hangs up the phone. While this is not true of every authority member, the message portrayed is that money and experience go a long way, The social criticism that those of authority often wait until it is too late to get help is portrayed by society’s lack of care for her well being.

However, due to a lack of set design variety, the location of the film does not represent someone of a lower class. The home of Isabela and the park where she took her son are well kept and furnished and do not portray the lifestyle of someone of low socioeconomic status. 

Despite having had plenty of time to complete this project, this reflection and analysis of the piece has led me to the conclusion that there were still aspects that could be improved and better communicate the message to the audience. Although the social media page and the postcard are well created and fit the branding of the piece, the film itself did not exceed my expectations and could be improved to fit the standards of the created brand. The concept of the movie should have been portrayed better throughout the film because the ending itself is a bit abstract and could be interpreted in different ways which alters the message.

Editing... again

I began editing again and was working with postproduction and playing with the lighting of the film so whatever he sells in reality it would be in a bluish gray tent lower lighting sweetheart told her life is without her son and then the flashbacks it’s a vivid you with high saturation is image to conch trust her past with her reality and she begins to when she fights her son the Lighting will begin to slowly increase because her life is beginning to return back to normal however once he finds out he’s not real the lighting goes back to its darkness

New Actors!

 Hey guys! I found replacements for my actors!

Finding girls my age to play Isa was difficult enough the first time, so I changed her age so that she would be older, and that way you’ll be able to find a mother and son in real life who would be able to act for me. To prove difficult seeing as when the mothers would ask for the plot I would have to tell him it’s about a schizophrenic mother and her missing son so many people tracked me down. My mom offered to play the role which is perfect because our schedules would match and I could redo shots without having to reschedule and she and we are just a family friend Who has a five-year-old son and she said we could be able to to use him the only problem is he lives in Aventura so I will have to make use of one full day or two so I won’t have to make the trip again however I’m really happy with the turnout because it matches my initial character avatar where the mother is Hispanic dark hair and dark eyes while the sun is lighter hair and lighter eyes to symbolize the disconnect in society

Major Setback

 I contacted my friend and explained to her that I had to redo some scenes. However, when I hear back from her she told me her brother got COVID and is unable to leave her house for the time being. To be safe and prevent the spread of the virus, I told her to stay home and not worry about acting. Although I recently got the vaccine, I could still contract the virus or pass it on to someone else. For that reason, I will have to redo everything! I'm very frustrated because I believed I would have the time to be able to do and redo shots with time to spare, but I do not regret the decision I made. I am glad that I was able to film early on because it gives me time to be able to take a step back and find new actors. Since I have already filmed, redoing the scenes will be less challenging since it will be my second time around. 

The Title!!!!

 I finally found out what I wanted the name of the title to be! My short film will be called, "A blink away"

I decided on this name because it can be interpreted in two ways. Those who watch the trailer or the short film will think this phrase is figurative, meaning Leo is so close to the mom she could blink and find him again. However, it is also foreshadowing what happens at the end of the film, where he was literally a blink away from reality. 

A second look

I begin editing and started to look closely at the piece I am creating! 

As I was playing back the scenes, I realized I would have to redo some shots and rethink the concept a bit. This is due to the fact that you can see people walking in the background of some of the shots, While this is normal in public places, when Isa is at home there should be nobody in there with her, so a couple of legs in the back makes the shot unprofessional and fake. I also noticed some shots were a bit shaky, so I would like to be able to redo them to be able to get stiller shots.

 I also noticed there was a flaw in my plot as I was rewatching my work. In the story, Isa is supposed to think that she kidnapped a kid and mistook him for her missing son. For that to be possible. there would have to be two boys, her son and the boy she kidnapped, which I do not have; therefore, I would have to tweak the idea a bit in order to make sense of the plot. What I’m thinking is to make it seem as if she finds her son in the park and she’s very excited, she takes him home and calls the police to let them know that her missing son is found. This way I would only have to have one boy play the part because I wouldn’t be able to find two little boys who look the same and would be available to help on the same days. 

Now I have to be able to tell my friend and schedule another day for me to be able to go back and re-shoot the scenes

The blinking shot

 Hey guys! I wrapped up filming and am very please with what I have been able to accomplish. 

Many things will be post-production, such as the edited police sirens, so I have my work cut out for me. Regardless, I found this very fun to film. I had to redo a couple of scenes, for example, when Isabel takes the boy to the bathroom because she is paranoid that the cops are there. I redid this scene a couple of times in order to get Bekah into the character and get more emotion out of her. I found it really easy to film Leo’s parts because he was mostly standing still with no expression on his face. Whenever she spoke to him he showed no expression, which caused her to be more remorseful and further develop her paranoia.

I mostly had trouble with the POV shot of Isabel blinking. Basically, when she was on the phone with the police officer and she overhears the police officer saying that she was just imagining everything and there is no kid, I wanted her to be staring at Leo, and with a literal blink of the eye, he was gone. Honestly, I think I was thinking too much into it because I kept trying to use a shirt, for example, but I wanted to include the eyelashes by getting pieces of floss, coloring it black with eyeliner, and taping it to the shirt. This did not look good because eyelashes are curved. I was getting frustrated and decided not to be stubborn, so I looked up videos online. I felt so stupid that the method could be that simple! I got a beanie and I wrapped it over my phone and then closed the beanie over the camera slowly.

While it was painfully simple, it still took me a while to close the beanie at the right pace. Her blink could not be too slow because the purpose behind this POV shot is how quickly reality can change. However, in that blink I had Leo move out of the frame so it was just one long take, but since I moved the beanie so fast, it just didn't look good on camera. I finally decided to make the scene in slow motion. When she overhears the officer, her vision blurs and she dissociates and drops the phone. Since she slowly turns towards Leo, her blink is in slow motion as well and there was time for him to get out of the frame.

Honestly, I did not know how frustrating it could be to film something that is just a couple of seconds long, but I'm glad I was able to figure it out!

Title

 I'm so happy I finally came up with a title for my film!! I want to call it "Inconstant" with the tagline "Nothing is What it Seems".

I came up with this name as I was explaining the concept to my mom. At one point she described Isabel as "Inconstante" in spanish and I liked the verbiage. This word can be used to describe both Isabel and the film itself. Isabel's mental stage is very inconsistent; She has her sane moments, but her manic episodes and hallucinations turn everything around. I also liked the title because it foreshadows what happens at the end and presents the idea that the lens through which the audience will watch the film is not the most reliable. My young target audience will has grown up believing what the media presents to them. It is for this reason that they will also believe that Isabel's story is being told straightforward. The plot twist at the end that she has schizophrenia is the inconstant part of the seemingly predictable plot. 

Filming!!

 Today was my first day of filming and it went well!

I decided not to write a script for this because many scenes do not have much dialogue. This is done not only to demonstrate Isabel's inner struggle but also to keep my target audience attentive to what is going on. Since my younger target audience tends to have a shorter attention span, including sporadic pieces of dialogue will keep their eyes on the screen. The first thing I filmed was the playground scene where Isabell "kidnaps" the boy. I decided I wanted to shoot for three days and each day working with a different part of the plot, so I would film the climax and end on two separate days. I'm glad that I did not do a script because Bekah was a natural. I often gave her stage directions and when I filmed, she thought about doing it exactly as I told her rather than acting and making it look more natural.

Taking advantage of spring break, I went to a local park in the middle of the day when it was most full to film the flashback scene from when Isabella was playing with her son at the playground. I then waited a couple of hours for the kids to leave in order to get to the park all alone. In those couple of hours, while I waited, we filmed the opening scene. We went back to the house and I filmed the establishing shots and Isa getting out of bed and ready to go to the park. Upon going back to the park, I filmed Isabel sitting alone at the bench looking at the empty playground in order to juxtapose the flashback from reality. We had extra time so we also shot the "kidnapping" scene where she sees a boy who looks like Leo and takes him back home.

Props/ Set Design

 Hey guys, I went looking for the props I am going to use!

I will be using a family friends house which they have let me use because they’re going to be away during spring break, so I have the chance to move around the rooms a bit. They have a younger son which is perfect because I can use that room for the opening shots. I also thought of the idea of putting all of his toys in boxes because it is a way of demonstrating that the boy isn’t there anymore. The idea of the boxes of toys shows how Isabell is still waiting for Leo to come back but is trying to move on. This also works in my favor because I won’t have to fill the room up with many props, as long as I have a couple that are just on top of the box, it can be portrayed that a boy used to live there.

I really want to emphasize the social class they live in, which means that Leo played with hand me down toys or did not have as much as other kids. I found old toys of mine, as well as some of my actressess's toys in order to show worn down, ragged items. I will also include other details around the house to hint at Isabel's lifestyle. For example, she will not wear clothing with brands and will drive an inexpensive car. There will be Bustello coffee in the kitchen during one of the scenes, which not only represents a cheap drink alternative, but also shows her Latin descent. A stack of bills will also be seen around the house. It is mostly small details, such as low popcorn ceilings, which also bring it together.

Casting Update

 Bad news! As I was looking at the Google Form I made for potential actresses in the film, I realized that only a couple of people actually filled out the form. :(

Of the three girls, two did not fit the character of Isabel. Although they had experience in acting, they were blonde and did not look Hispanic. For my film, it is important that Isa is Latina because I want this piece to reflect how society treats those in a lower social class, specifically Hispanics. The other girl who was interested is Hispanic and fit my character well, but she was going on vacation during spring break which is when I intended to film. I could have cast her, but that would mean I had to postpone filming for a week and that would just set me back even more.  

The good news, however, is that I was able to find someone else! 

I had initially thought my friend could act as Isa for the film because she fit the character perfectly, but she did not like acting or being filmed. However, once I told her my situation and begged her for hours, she decided I could cast her. This worked out perfectly because she has a younger cousin who is six years old that can play the part of Leo. The idea of the two actors knowing each other is a good idea because that way they will both be comfortable with each other and get along well. I had planned to hang out with her during the break, so I will take time before we meet to film. Although my sign up sheet was not successful, I think it worked out for the best because I was able to find a much better person to play Isabel!

Second Group Meeting

 Hey guys! Today I had my second group meeting and it went very well!

It is crucial to make it clear to establish that Isabel lost a child without explicitly stating it. This is where I was seeking input because this needs to be clear in order for the audience to understand the reason behind Isabel's mental illness. My classmates helped by suggesting to use the set design to suggest this idea in the beginning. For the opening scenes, I can include shots of an empty children's room as well as toys, but no sign of a kid. The car Isa drives can also have a booster seat as well as have shoes on the floor. They also brought to my attention that this only establishes that Isabel has a son, not that she lost it. In order to now let the audience know that she no longer has a child, it was suggested to use flashbacks. 

 My peers informed me that constantly switching back and forth may be a little confusing, but it can be done with effective lighting techniques and costume change. By using brighter hues in the flashbacks where the kid is present, it will juxtapose the blue-hued reality she is currently living. By also changing her costume design and mannerisms, the flashbacks will be further noticeable. Isabel will be wearing makeup with bright colors and a smile on her face in her flashbacks, whereas in the present time she is in darker colors and has a melancholic expression. By creating a noticeable difference between past Isa and the present one, it will be clear to the audience when a flashback occurs. 

I will have to focus a lot on post-production editing as well as set design in order to convey the message that she once had a child who is now lost. Through the props, costume design, and lighting, this will be made evident. I was glad to have this meeting because it helped me solidify the story through the eyes of the audience! 

Changes

I was looking back at a previous post and realized I am behind schedule :(

 Linked here is the blog post about the Calendar I will be addressing!

The calendar I created weeks ago no longer fits what I have been posting about. I created this calendar as a guideline, but I have found it difficult to stay on track. When I created this, I had left a week in the end to spare, just in case something went wrong. However, it meant I would have fewer days dedicated to research. As a result, when I began writing these blogs, I realized there were topics, such as social criticism and character avatars, that were necessary to address. If I had followed the schedule, I should be filming next week, but I have yet to cast the characters and create a script! However, I do not regret it because dedicating time to the research components has allowed me to create a deeper analysis of my target audience, which will drive my cinematographic choices in order to gain their attention.

 The topics are written on the calendar no longer fit my plan, so I have to create an updated version of it. What I have written there will just be pushed back a week. For instance, this week I was supposed to blog about typography, set design, costuming, and light scheme. This will be addressed next week, or maybe even while I am filming. For the days I set apart to film, I wrote "Filming" but did not say what exactly I would be blogging about. Therefore, some topics such as set design and the light scheme could be discussed during filming and give me even more space to generate new topics. As far as filming goes, I am going to film during spring break, which begins on the 19th. This will also increase the chance of availability for actors since many people are staying home this break and will have free time.

I'm glad I was able to sort this out because not staying on track was stressing me out!

Story Outline

 Hey guys, today I am finalizing the story outline!!

The film opens in silence, with a nondiegetic sound of a clock ticking as several shots of the inside of Isabel's house are displayed. The shots include her messy kitchen, an empty kid's room, and her sleeping alone. Her alarm rings and she wakes up to take pills and drink coffee before going on a walk. She begins walking around a school park watching the parents with their children. As she does so, she begins having flashbacks of Leo. The flashbacks include her pushing him on the swings she sees before her and sitting on the bench with him which she now sits in alone. The clear distinction between Isabel then and now will be marked by the costume design, lighting, and her attitude, which indicate that she was once happy. However, these flashbacks turn dark when she remembers that she left Leo alone in the park to grab something in the car and was unable to find him when she went back. Back in real-time, a boy that looks like Leo appears before Isa and smiles at her. Taken aback, she begins asking the boy if he is Leo, but the boy is mute. She walks away and sees the kid following her, so she takes him by the hand and they go to the car. Ecstatic she buckles him into the car seat she still has and drives away.

She arrives back home and starts to fix the boy's food until she hears police sirens in the distance. This breaks her hypnotic-like trance and she realizes what she had just done. She realizes that is not Leo and begins to freak out upon discerning that she had just kidnapped a kid. Isa goes to pick up the phone, but quickly puts it down and is in an internal conflict with herself as she questions whether to report herself or not. Hearing the sirens again, she becomes paranoid and believes the authorities already know what she has done. She panics and takes the boy to her bathroom and locks them both in there. The boy simply stares at her as she begins pacing back and forth waiting for the police to arrive. She begins apologizing to the boy, explaining what she had done and why but he simply stared back again. Isa realizes the cops are not actually after her, but after confessing everything to the boy, she knows what she must do. 

Isa unlocks the door and they both leave the bathroom. She makes the boy sit on the couch as she picks up the phone and calls 911. She tells the officer that she has kidnapped a boy and that he is sitting with her right now. Another officer is heard on the phone saying, "That's just Isabel, she does this at least once a week. Just leave her alone she will realize soon enough".The story flashes back to when she found the boy in the park, when she was driving him home, when she was preparing him food. and when they were in the bathroom, except in these flashes the boy was never there. Now revealed to the audience that Isa has been imagining everything, it flashes back to the present time where she is on the phone with the police. Confused, she hangs up and looks over to the boy, only to find out he is not there.

Casting

 While I finalize the story concepts, scripts, and scenes, I need to begin looking for actors. It is important to begin looking for them now in order to be able to schedule appropriate days to shoot the scenes. 

I created a google form where people who are interested in playing a role can apply to see if they fit the character. The form includes name, age, the character they are interested in, physical description, dates available, and Instagram account. While the physical description they provide can be helpful, the Insta account will give me more insight into the person and if they resemble the character. This google form is mainly focused on the casting of Isa and the police officer. Since Leo is a little boy, I will need to get in contact with cousins and family friends for his role. 

In order to get the attention of people, I will be creating flyers calling for actors/actresses to play the parts. During this week, I will be posting the flyers on Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter and will be checking next week to see who filled out the form. I think posting these flyers will not only help cast the characters I envision but also serve as a great advertising tool for my film. My target audience is mainly teens and young adults, so promoting the casting towards where my TA spends most of their time will certainly get their attention. Even if they do not audition, the constant exposure to my flyers is a marketing technique itself to start introducing my film, so I get to kill two birds with one stone!

Character Avatars

 Hey guys! I thought I should start looking for people to cast Isa Ramirez and her son Leo! I have a couple of ideas as to how I envision each character. I used the website facemaker.uvrg.org to design what I imagine them to look like. I know that due to limited casting options my character may not look the same, but this will help further develop the identities of the characters. 

I see Isa as a worn-down girl. She has dark circles around her eyes and wears no makeup to cover them. She looks like a stereotypical Hispanic with dark brown hair and eyes and a kind of tan. Her lips are slightly downturned to demonstrate discontent. I envision Isa to be short and appear younger than her age. This will make her seem like a child, therefore explaining why society does not take her seriously. Isa's hair color and eye color are not a necessity, but I do need whoever plays her to look rough and constantly tired.  

 I see Leo as more of a white-washed Hispanic, to indicate that his father is not of Latin descent. His big eyes and slightly upturned smile portray innocence and wonder. He's short, kind of chubby, and an introvert who mainly only spoke to his mom. Whoever I find to be Leo does not have to have light hair and eyes, but I will try to aim for this because it shows how he does not even look like his mom, therefore showing another factor of disconnection between the two characters.

Using this website was honestly kind of creepy because of how real the people look! It was also a little hard because I did not get to choose an age, so I had to play around with the eyes, chin, and face size to help portray certain ages. I really hope I get to find people to cast who resemble these avatars!

Social Criticism

I wrote a little about this in my last blog post and wanted to elaborate more on it, so I will be covering the social criticism of mental health. 

In the final scene of my short film, Isa will realize she was hallucinating when she said she had kidnapped a child. The police officer's reaction to this is what I want to represent in this social criticism. As stated before in the last blog post, Isa came from a low resource and dysfunctional household. When her child "dies", she is completely devastated with nowhere to turn. The police officer is meant to represent the hypocrisy found in the powers of authority in our community. An officer is supposed to be a leading example and role model as to how society should function and how people should act. The fact that this one brushes off Isa's illness shows how authorities often act on situations when it is too late. 

 The NCBI reported that "In a survey that included respondents from 27 countries, nearly 50% of persons with schizophrenia reported discrimination in their personal relationships. Up to 2/3 of these people anticipated discrimination while applying for work or looking for a close relationship" "Generally, people want to keep greater social distance from a person with schizophrenia than from someone with depression. For unclear reasons, this social distance has increased during the 21st century. One possible reason might be that the process of deinstitutionalization increased public discussions about community psychiatry and associated perceptions of risk." This represents how society thinks today. Due to the growing sense of individuality, many people often think of themselves and lack community involvement. Therefore, something that is deemed as risky such as schizophrenia, is a mental disorder that people do not want to get involved with. 

During the 21st century, the growing use of technology has caused isolation among people and as a result lack of empathy. As a result, people like the cop in my film will not act upon a situation until something bad actually happens. The fact that Isa is not being helped is also a criticism of the distinction of social classes. While there are therapists and psychiatrists to help with her disorder, it is not something she can afford. By the officer disregarding her illness, he is demonstrating that those who have less money are deemed as less important. This creates the thought of, "If they don't have the money to help themselves, why should I even do anything? 

Character Identity

I think it's about time I developed the identity of the main character I keep writing about so much. My main character's name is going to be Isabel Ramirez.

Isa comes from low socioeconomic status and grew up with no mother figure and a younger sister. When she was 16 years old, she got pregnant and had her son without the father's help. She was kicked out of her house because her dad did not want Isa's sister to grow up with a bad example; therefore, she has had to maintain jobs and live on her own the moment she turned 18. She raised Leo, the son, for five years until he got kidnapped and was presumed dead. My short film takes place one year after his disappearance. At just 22 years old Isa has multiple undiagnosed mental problems such as schizophrenia and depression. Due to her low income, she barely has enough to pay for her necessities, let alone go to a doctor for her untreated trauma.   

According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, " Exposure to death of a first-degree relative before 18 years of age was associated with an increased risk of schizophrenia in later life, regardless of relationship to the deceased, age and sex of the child. These findings suggest that bereaved children could be considered as a “high-risk” group of developing schizophrenia, particularly those of parents with mental health problems, and public health program is needed to provide health and social support for the bereaved children. "  Although public health plans may have helped her, Isa's low education and income limited the amount of help she received. As a result, throughout the film she will experience hallucinations in which she believes she is kidnapping a child until she goes to the police and realizes she was imagining the whole thing. This schizophrenic disorder developed by Isa is her manifestation of the depressive stage of grief. Although her son's body has not been found, she has lost hope that he is still out there.  

The reason behind her hallucinations being related to how her son went missing is due to the guilt that she feels for what happened to Leo. His kidnapping took place while she left him alone at home while she went to work for the day. Knowing this could have been avoidable, Isa was not only heartbroken that her son was missing, but was also overcome by culpability for what happened to him. This was the reason for her breaking point, ultimately triggering her early age schizophrenia. The end of the film will reveal that when she calls the cops to inform them that she has kidnapped a kid, the police officer shrugs it off, knowing that Isa is schizophrenic. This is also a manifestation of what she wishes the kidnapper would have done with Leo, instead of keeping him unknown. The way the officer reacts to Isa's call by shrugging it off and hanging up the phone is a social criticism as to how society treats the mentally ill, especially in the lower class (more on that in another blog). This idea that nobody is looking out for her is another trigger point for Isa.

Target Audience Pt. 2

 Hey guys! I know I promised to come back with the survey for the adult section of my target audience, but I came up with a better idea instead. I want to make the main character a teen mom, that way my target audience can be narrowed down and I am able to market it better. When I was conducting the survey for the adults, I realized their options were the opposite of what the younger end of my target audience liked. Within the drama genre, they were most interested in romance and violence rather than illness and society. This is when I realized it will be too difficult to direct my film towards such a large target audience. Seeing as I am a teenager myself, I believe it will be easier to market a film to a target audience around my age since I will know some information firsthand. 

The idea of including a teen mom is going to make the TA identify more with the main character. Although many teens are not moms, they do go through mental health issues that are more relatable when it is presented in a character their age. In addition, this will make the casting much easier. As I was beginning to think who I could cast, I realized I had very limited options because not many adults have the time or interest to play a part in this film. A teen mom is much easier to find since I know many people my age that want to act. 

With this said, my final target audience will be teens and young adults ranging from about 14-24. It is known that this age range has a short attention span, therefore I will try not to make the film heavy on dialogue in order to keep the audience engaged. I will also be focusing more on society's influence on the main character's mental illness as a way to try to resonate with the TA. Since my last survey showed that they enjoyed action/violence, I will additionally try to include scenes with sudden movements or camera jerks. 

I know I'm super indecisive and keep changing the idea, but I really think it is starting to come together!

Target Audience

Hey guys! Now that I have researched and define my genre, defining my target audience is the next step before developing the plot outline. 

I am thinking of rating my short film PG-13 because while it does have a twisted ending, my desired target audience does consist of teenagers. I asked 21 teenagers of varying ages between 14-19 what specifically about a drama film is appealing to them. About 1/3 of them chose illnesses, violence came in second, romance in third, and societal problems last. 

The results fit perfectly with the premise of my film because it is mainly about the struggling mental illness of a past mother. Although violence came in second, I do not think I want my character to be violent, especially since I want to humanize her. There will also be no romance, but there will be love. The love I want to portray is not one of a romantic couple, but of a mother-son love that is said to be much stronger. 

This is merely the younger end of the spectrum for my target audience. This film should also be found entertaining by young adults and maybe even adults because they are more likely to have had a kid and be more emotionally invested in the piece. However, the only problem I see is that my target audience is too broad. I still need to create a survey for young adults/ adults, so when I get those results I will make a part two for this blog in order for me to finalize the target audience!

Genre Research

Hey guys! I know in the calendar I made I was supposed to have the plot outline ready, but I decided to move that down to next week and instead focus more on researching. Today I am going to be focusing on drama genre research. 

The drama genre follows a defined narrative plot structure revolving mainly upon the development of characters. Real-life scenarios are portrayed and realistic characters are introduced with the goal of telling an honest story. Inside of the drama genre there lies subgenres such as historical drama, melodrama, period piece, romance, and tragedy. Of these subgenres, my short film falls into tragedy. A  tragedy, as Webster's Dictionary defines it, is “a medieval narrative poem or tale typically describing the downfall of a great man; a serious drama typically describing a conflict between the protagonist and a superior force (as destiny) and having a sorrowful or disastrous conclusion that elicits pity or terror; the literary genre of tragic dramas.” This originally derives from the Greek language where tragedy meant suffering and devastation of humans. 

Shakespeare's plays were often tragedies; Romeo and Juliet, as well as Hamlet, are just a couple of examples. Romeo and Juliet show the story of two kids in a forbidden relationship who ultimately die for each other. This demonstrates the tragic end of two good characters as a result of love. However, Hamlet demonstrates that although many tragedies include the death of a hero, it is not true of all pieces of this subgenre. This play revolves around revenge as Hamlet goes out to avenge his father by killing his uncle, but they all die in the last act. 

My short film fits into this sub-genre perfectly because it demonstrates the idea of a good character becoming broken by the end. My main character will experience a dramatic end as well as be presented in a realistic manner. The death of a child is a traumatic and emotional situation, which can often lead a person into depression, or in my character's situation, a manic episode. 

Group Meeting

 Today was my first group meeting!

 I got to talk with four other students which all gave me very useful insight into my project. The dilemma I was facing was coming up with scenes to film. My initial idea was for the story to take place in a house where the woman is hiding with the kidnapped child. During the five minutes of the short film, she will be inside the house with the cops surrounding them where she reflects on her life and ultimately turns herself in. However, my classmates explained that it might be a little hard to feel empathy for the main character if she kidnaps a kid from the start. Instead, they suggested that her kidnapping take place at the end, where the audience has already formed an emotional attachment to the character. Another piece of advice they gave me was to use flashbacks sparingly, or else it may confuse the audience from constantly shifting between past and present. 

With all of their advice in mind, I have a much better idea as to how I want to portray this story. The story will begin with her taking a kid around town and when she sees certain objects she will have a brief flashback. Within the first minutes, it will become apparent to the audience that the kid is not hers and she has kidnapped him. The next minute will become overwhelmed with paranoia and guilt as she realizes what she has done. When she goes to the police station to turn herself in, it is revealed that there was no kid. The main character was in fact struggling with mental health issues after dealing with the loss of her son, so this was her coping mechanism. 

I really like this new idea because it is easier to humanize this character as well as give the audience a plot twist. However, I am so indecisive that I will come back on tomorrow and see if there is anything else I want to change!

Calendar

 Before I go any further with this project, I thought it would be necessary to briefly map out my schedule in order to complete everything on time; I also kept a couple of extra spare days just in case anything goes wrong. The calendar begins today and consists of what I will be doing and what my blogs will be about from now until April. 

2/22-2/28- For this week I will be defining my character and plot as well as creating a storyboard to help me plan since I am a visual learner

3/1-3/7- I will write the script/ screenplay for the film, accurately define my target audience in relation to the genre, and cast my actors

3/8-3/14- I am going to define the fonts I will use as well as research and define set design, costuming, and light schemes

3/15-3/21- I will film for 3 days and edit for 3 days after that (These blog posts could be behind the scenes of shooting, editing software information, and obstacles I may have faced)

3/22-3/28- Seeing as this is spring break, I will take this week lightly and focus on researching examples of social media accounts and ad postcards in relation to my TA and genre

3/29-4/4- I'll create the social media accounts and postcards and give myself 2 days for each in order to include detail

4/5-4/12- Final reflections and CCR 

This is only a quick layout so this schedule might change, but this definitely helped me set deadlines and be more organized about all my tasks!

Character Development Research

 Hey guys! Today I am going to be building on the story idea I talked about in my last post. I realized that in order to accurately portray empathy for a villain, there needs to be character development found in the kidnapper throughout the short film. In order to gain more understanding as to how to create such a complex character, I researched the movies, Maleficent and Joker. 

Maleficent is a spinoff from the original movie, Sleeping Beauty.  This movie shows the backstory of the villain, Maleficent, specifically what drove her to become a villain. As a child, she lived an ideal life in the forest where she met a human boy named Stefan. Throughout the years they became closer until Stefan's father, the king, orders him to kill her in order to be named as his successor. Unable to kill her, Stefan betrays Maleficent and cuts off her wings. He becomes king and his wife gives birth to Aurora, whom Maleficent later places the sleeping curse upon. Despite her trying to kill the king and Sleeping Beauty, the audience cannot help but feel pity for her, especially after seeing how she became the villain she is and by who. 

Joker is a movie that presents the story of the Batman villain, the Joker. As a failed comedian Arthur Fleck tries to live his life with the intention of being praised and making a difference. However, seeing as he is mentally ill and has a condition where he laughs uncontrollably when nervous, everyone in society often looked down upon him and viewed him as a joke. It wasn't until Arthur killed someone that he finally began to feel something. He took it upon himself to kill those who ridicule him as he spiraled into darkness. Though he kills many people throughout the movie, Arthur is the product of a mistreated mental illness, which is pitiful among viewers.

The purpose of both these films was to provide a new perspective to a classic movie by humanizing the villain. Maleficent, often seen as a monster, was portrayed as a traumatized and broken creature as a result of loving the wrong person. Arthur Fleck, the Joker, was deemed as a heartless killer when he was actually a mentally ill man broken down by society. What made the audience empathize with these characters was their relatability. Villains are often hated because they appear to be evil and wicked with the intention of causing harm. These films show how there is another side to the story, and present the case of a villain who became bad due to life experiences that many people face such as heartbreak and bullying.  

This definitely helped me understand what it is I need to do for my own movie. Stay tuned for the character development of my own character!

Welcome Back!

Hey guys welcome back to my blog! 

For this year's portfolio project I decided to work on a short film because it's a project I have still not done. Last year's project was a movie intro, and the other options were to do movie trailers or documentary excerpts, all of which I had already done. When completing these projects I often thought of what the ending to these pieces would look like, but since it was never required I could not do it. For this reason, I was excited to choose the short film package, where I am able to develop the beginning, middle, and end of a topic of my choice. However, my problem lied in what I wanted this topic to be. 

After speaking with my teacher we narrowed the genre down to a drama that will make the audience realize that not everything is what it seems. My idea is to present a seemingly villainous character that will be humanized by the end of the film. What I came up with is the following story: A woman has kidnapped a kid and is stuck in her house while she is surrounded by the cops. For the duration of the film, she will be presented as cruel and heartless for having abducted a child, but by the end, it is revealed she is a broken and mentally ill woman who had lost a child of her own. What I think could be the most difficult is being able to make the audience empathize and feel pity for a criminal. In order to do this, I am going to be relying on sad music to set the tone and warm-hued flashbacks to indicate that her life was not always dark.  

I will be posting about this in more detail tomorrow, but I needed to write down what I had so far as a form of brainstorming!