GROUP MEETINGS - 2/27/23

Hey everyone, I’m back! My teacher had been mentioning group meetings for a while now and we were supposed to have one last week. However, there were many drills and code reds which took place of that so we had to postpone it to this week. So, this class she split up in groups of five and we discussed how we were doing with our projects, what we’re planning, with how we felt about other people’s projects.

      So there were five people in my group, 2 of the peoples projects are going pretty well. One person‘s project was going nowhere at all and one person‘s project was doing so amazing that I second-guessed myself a little bit. The two people I’m going to discuss are Lucas and Connor. So, Lucas was having a little bit of an issue with his project because he had no idea what to do. He was working in a group with three other people and I noticed that he was running into the same situation that I had been running into with my group in the past. The issue is that they all either had too many really good ideas or not enough ideas as a whole, and having not enough ideas as a whole can be really discouraging; this is what he was going through. I went through the first option: more of us having too many ideas that we can’t decide between. So, we looked over his blog and we noticed that all of his posts had 3 to 4 sentences max and we told him that he needs to start brainstorming a little bit more because his project is going to be very last minute if he doesn’t, and it’s going to mess up all the other group members as well. He started typing up some new blogs, and we were talking to him about his ideas and how they were the genre of horror and suspense. We discussed some things that he could do with it, and how he could present some new ideas to the group members. He seemed pretty relaxed about it, but as I know from the past, even if you’re relaxed that you’re not doing anything with your project currently, it’s gonna catch up to you and probably not going to end up well.

      Connors project was going very well and that is to no surprise because he’s very into theater and the kids in the theater program tend to have very good projects. All of his plans are set out, his blogs had very lengthy posts and he was actually one of the people who gave me a lot of criticism on my project, which was very helpful because in the coming week I will start filming my project. Connor actually loved my project plans which definitely helped with my self-esteem about it because usually he knows what he’s doing. He complimented me on my calendar that I made and said that even he hadn’t had it that organized but that he was definitely gonna start doing one, which he ended up doing near the end of class He worked out some stuff with me about my setting plans. I explained the whole metaphorical meaning of the title 11:59 and the whole group took that very well.

 

The blog post they liked the most:

      Overall, I think that the group meetings went pretty well. The two other girls in the group both had pretty good ideas. We helped one girl because she was deciding between two ideas. One of which to the rest of us was clearly the better plan because it was the idea that did not involve a driving scene as those can be pretty difficult to execute. The other girls project seemed like it was going pretty well and she had all of her plans set out, and some dates picked for filming and editing. I think that the group meetings helped me feel more organized and get my confidence back as I was lacking lots for the past week. Now I’m definitely confident in my filming plans and editing for the rest of the week!

I’ll talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies

STORYBOARD + OUTLINE - 2/25/23

     Hey everyone... it's almost time to start filming! I can't tell yet if I'm extremely excited or terrified; I know it's one of the two. Now that filming time is so close, it was only right of me to make a more detailed plan of what I am doing. I chose to jot down some quick notes on some sparse ideas I had along with some storyboarding!

What is storyboarding?

      A storyboard is a simple yet tedious task that basically plans out everything in your film. It's visual, all drawn out. These drawings contain each shot in the film, including camera movements like pans and tilts. It allows for more visualization on paper rather than unorganized thoughts in your brain. Storyboarding is a simple way to communicate your ideas through illustration. Storyboards also have captions underneath each drawing that states the shot and what the character in the shot is doing. They also contain little arrows which indicate different camera movements. For example, a tilt would have an arrow going up or down; while a pan would have an arrow going left or right.

      Below you can see a section of a storyboard. This is the beginning of my short film opening. I created a storyboard for the beginning of my film, left a space, and then put the storyboard for the middle of my film on the outline below the storyboard. Most people would probably be very confused by that; however, there is a method to my madness. Some of my videos consist of chunks of quick shots of props/items. So, I'm not necessarily sure of where those will be placed in the film or in What order. So, in the outline I discussed what they would look like; however, it would be pointless to draw them into the storyboard in an order that isn't promised in the final video. I will most likely determine where those shots will go once I determine the song I'll be using and when I'm editing. I also have to see which shots sync well with that song and don't look too awkward.

      

      Here you guys can see some general notes included in my overall film opening outline. I jotted down all of the ideas floating around in my head so I can be more organized, organization is key! I've definitely learned my lesson after those group projects from this year... I wrote here what all of the quick shots will look like along with a storyboard for the middle of my film. I also included some major points that should be created while filming which are indicated by the asterisks (*).

I'll talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies

SCHEDULE - 2/24/23

      Hey everyone! I just finished creating my schedule for my portfolio project! I knew that this project was going to take a lot of time, but this calendar really put that not perspective. Hrre I listed due dates for every component of the project along with which dates I'll be working on them.

Here's the calendar:

      

      Just like Taylor, I am not the most organized, so this was probably the first schedule I've made in a REALLY long time. But, now that I've made it I see its importance.

Why is a schedule so important?

      With a schedule, I can make sure I have enough time for every component of this project as there are SO SO SO many. For example, If I think I need 2 weeks to film all the clips, I can make sure to leave myself with enough time to edit rather than overcompensate for creating blog posts or my CCR. if I'm not organized I could find myself struggling to finish my project as time runs out. I've had this issue before, especially in my group projects in the past. We spend so much time planning and brainstorming in the beginning, and when it becomes time to execute we have only a couple days left. Not only do our stress levels skyrocket, but we don't have enough time to meticulously do what needs to be done. We also don't have time to revise and collect peer reviews to further our revisions, which are really important.

      Now that I have this schedule I can make sure that I don't run into that problem ever again. It cost me my grade so many times, and now I can work as hard as I need to with just enough time to do so! I made sure that I left enough time for my CCR creations and I left more than enough time for the blog posts as I'll need to complete over 15. I also had to make sure that with spring break coming up that I plan accordingly; with less of a workload but still have an emphasis on the blog posts. Overall I think that this blog will be beneficial to me and would be beneficial to anyone taking on such a big project.

Talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies :)

PROPS/MISE-EN-SCEN - 2/23/23

       As the filming days are creeping up on me, it's important that I finalize my setting and my overall plot. For my plot, I've begun storyboarding, which I'm excited to share will you all in the near future. But now, I am working on figuring out what exactly my setting will look like. To do that, I need to determine which props I will be utilizing.

What do props do?

      Props are one of the most important components of a film, they are what fill up the setting and help tell the story without using direct language. It gives the film life and a purpose. Props can also help create a sense of character. By using props that the character uses often and relates to, we can get a deeper understanding of their life and personality. Props can also help create an atmosphere and help give a setting more meaning and more of a story. I visited this website to learn more about props to create my own film opening plans!

Example 1

80's bedroom: 

Posters

• Posters were a huge deal in the '80s: rock and roll, magazine covers, etc. Whatever you were into, you had a huge poster.

Cabbage Patch Kids

• Cabbage patch kids were popular among younger girls in the 80's so they would be likely to be seen on their beds or in another place around their rooms.
  

Example 2

Beach

Towels

• This is a common prop you would see in a beach setting as they are used to dry off someone who is wet. Most people tend to go to the ocean at the beach.

Sunglasses and sandals

• Because it's hot and sandy, these are two clothing items commonly used when going to the beach. They are also commonly found in southern states like Florida.

Beach Balls

• What is a beach without beach balls? Plenty of people play games using beach balls, along with other sports like beach volleyball.

Some of my props

Now that I have a pretty good idea of what props do and should be, I have to choose props of my own:

Good Grade Awards

• Taylor is studious and shows that she is by placing all of her academic achievements on her wall.

Abstract art painting

• This painting seems simple; however, it isn't. It appears to be just another painting. But its colorfulness represents how Taylor wants to enjoy the good in life but the abstract placement of color represents how her messy acts cause her to not be able to do so. The meaning may be difficult to grasp at first, but in the end, will make sense.

Clothes

• There will be random piles of clothes scattered in different places in her room to represent how he carries herself and presents her belongings. 

Papers

• Similar to the clothes, papers will serve the same purpose as they're scattered throughout the room.
  

      These props all support Taylor's messy behavior, and her inability to get her life together; at least that is on the outside. She may pretend she has everything together but she doesnt. She puts herself through too much stress and in return, treats her surroundings like they mean nothing to her.

I'll talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies

TITLE - 2/22/23

         As the past couple of weeks has passed, I have developed my plot, settings, characters, etc. However, one main component is missing... the title! In one of my first blog posts, I discussed a couple of options that crossed my mind: Mess., 11:59, The Mess, The Stress, and others that weren't quite as good.

      Now, most people would ask, "why does a title even matter?" The title actually matters a lot. The title sets the premise for the film. It sets the tone, and mood, and helps the viewer understand a bit about what they're watching before they watch it. In one word, the title creates meaning, the meaning of the story. It also supports the genre of the story. 

      For example, the movie titled IT. at first glance If you've never heard of "IT" before, you would be so confused. What's "IT"? Is "IT" a person? If so, who is "IT?" This title causes a stir within those who've heard of the movie. The title causes confusion among viewers, which actually helps with marketing. The title is short and sweet, yet provides so much meaning. It also helps with marketing and promotion as the stir causes lots of talk. The title goes hand in hand with its genre: Horror/Suspense. The title actually creates suspense within the viewers. They question what "IT" is for days, weeks, and even months leading up to its premiere. This can cause things as little as tweets on social media apps like Twitter or things as big as hundreds of thousands of people buying tickets to see the film because they're that intrigued. 

Now, my film opening is about stress. Taylor is all over the place which we see in the opening. We have different clips of her messy room and papers; however, she always pulls through in the end. We know this because of all the medals and awards she has on her walls for her grades. As I thought about what my plot truly meant, I knew exactly which title I would choose.

 

DRUMROLL PLEASE......

The title is called: 11:59

Why is the title called 11:59?

11:59 actually relates to a lot of things. The most known one is that most high school teenagers have their homework assignments due at, you guessed it... 11:59. This causes so much stress for these students since some could have up to 7 other classes in the same situation. These students happen to be my target audience: teenagers around ages 15-25! 11:59 symbolizes the feeling of clutter, mess, and disarray. That's everything that Taylor is, we see that in the clips we see in the film opening. It doesn't only relate to school and having assignments not being turned in, but it relates to the overall sense of mess. Teenagers are depicted as messy and all over the place, not caring about school; that is what this film symbolizes. But, Taylor is meant to break the barrier and show how although she's depicted as a mess for the way she carries herself, she's actually a very good student who turns everything in on time and does very well in school. I currently have a ton of assignments due on different dates at 11:59, and it stresses me out like crazy. I am one of those people in so many difficult classes that it tends to overwhelm me sometimes, so I understand what people like Taylor go through.

I'll talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies

CAMERA SHOTS - 2/17/22

       When I started out the year in my AICE Media class, we watched a short clip from the movie Raging Bull. My teacher instructed us to start taking notes on what every element of the film meant: color, setting, sound, and shots. What confused me the most were the shots. What do shots even mean? Do, they even have meaning? What I've learned throughout this class is that they definitely have meaning; every part of filmmaking has meaning. Of course, why wouldn't it. So now that it's time to be my own filmmaker, it's also time for me to research a little more into what each of these shots means and how that can influence my shot choices. 

      As I've begun researching these shots, I went straight to my notes; we noted around 20 different shots. I also went to this website to dive deeper into what they really mean. 

Close up

Close-up of Harry Potter in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

      A close-up is a common shot used to create up close and personal shots with the character. Sometimes meant to be uncomfortable, close-up shots show lots of details and emotions that go on within a character internally and externally.  These shots can symbolize importance, worry, fear, etc.

Extreme Close Up

      An extreme close-up is similar to a close-up in the way that it creates a strong sense of emotion in a way that's a little uncomfortable for the viewer, but gets the job done. These shots show more detail on the character's face or the object's physical appearance, Extreme close-ups can show the moving of the mouth or the blinking of the eyes, while a normal close-up would show the whole head moving at once.

Medium Shot

      The medium shot is the happy medium between the close-up shot and the long shot, so it's still a bit personal but not completely. This shot shows half of the character's body from the waist up but also shows some of the background. So, we can see details of the character's bodies while also potentially seeing what's going on behind them.

Long Shot

      The long shot is one step larger than the medium shot. So, we can see the whole character and a lot of the background. This shot allows the viewer to see all of the costume designs of the character and see the gestures and mannerisms they use. They can also see the body language of the character which helps develop the purpose behind the scene.

Two-shot from the movie The Breakfast Club

Two Shot

      The two-shot means what its name is; it's a shot of two characters in a film. This can be a close-up two-shot, a medium two-shot, etc. This can create the effect of any of those shots, but with two characters, so we can see their dialogue and body language toward each other.

High & Low Angle

      High and low-angle shots create completely different effects. A high-angle shot occurs when the camera is placed above the character's head to make them appear powerless. The low-angle shot is used to create the opposite effect. The effect it creates is the feeling of power.

      Now that I've gone more into depth about what each shot means, I can apply them to my own film opening. Because my opening surrounds a teenage girl and her stresses, it's only right to have the majority of my shots be close-ups. These close-ups will be able to show the audience the emotions and feel the true stress that Taylor is going through. I like close-ups more than extreme close-ups because they aren't as awkward. In most films, you'll see extreme close-ups rarely used in comparison to most other shots. Normal close-ups do the job of intimacy without feeling a sense of awkwardness between the film an the viewer. The only extreme close-up I am considering is one in which we see a close-up of Taylor's eyes when she finally submits her assignment so we see her true sigh of relief shown through her eyes. I have much to think about when meticulously choosing which shots to use in my opening; in the upcoming weeks, I'll make my final decision while storyboarding which I'll share with you guys!

Here's a page from my notes I referred to:

Sources

Team, NFI. “Types of Film Shots: 80+ Shots You Must Know.” NFI, 3 Aug. 2022, https://www.nfi.edu/types-of-film-shots/.

I'll talk to you guys later. Signing off!

- Amanda Margulies

GENRE + MORE PLOT DETAILS - 2/16/23

What even is "coming of age"

Coming of age is a genre that gives the viewer a sort of sentimental value and nostalgia. These films have an underlying tone of maturation either physically or mentally for the teenager or child involved. As I've been researching different movies that relate to mine, I found that my film opening will fall under the genre of coming of age. I came across 2 films that I think to relate to my film nicely. 

      The Edge of Seventeen is a coming-of-age movie that surrounds Nadine Franklin whos played by Hailee Steinfeld. Nadine is another one of those teenagers who just haven't found their place yet, she can't figure herself out or her friends. Nadine's brother, best friends, and mother all fall under the same category: popular and egotistical. Nadine is quite the opposite; however, she tries to fit in. She catches her best friend "stabbing her in the back" with her own brother. This strains their friendship and causes Nadine to want revenge and she turns to someone for help. This someone is the boy who has a crush on her in class. I'm not going to spoil the movie for you guys but the message I'm trying to tell here is that Nadine is one of those messy awkward teenagers, just like Taylor in my film opening. She goes through the highs and lows of teenage life just like Taylor will. Although Taylor is only dealing with stress, while Nadine deals with friends stabbing her in the back and the loss of her father, the same message is there.

      Once I found The Edge Of Seventeen, I didn't know which other movies to research that would relate to mine; however, this website helped me with that. While reading through the 12 different films listed, I didn't think any of the related to my film closely enough. But, I surprisingly found certain elements from Ferris Buellers Day Off that did.

      Ferris Buellers Day Off is much older than The Edge of Seventeen, so of course the films are much different stylistically; however, being in the same genre, they convey similar messages. Ferris is a teenager whose main purpose in the movie is to show the lengths he'll go to not go to school. He convinced his friend Cameron to help him skip school which then led to him faking an illness and then stealing his friend's father's Ferrari. In what world is that a good plan? No world, none. Ferris continues his day going through the town, going on floats, going to restaurants and baseball games, basically anything he could fit into one day, he did. However, everything he did was executed poorly and he wasn't great at covering up his tracks. Oh, and did I mention they totaled the Ferrari?! This movie relates to my film opening because of the "last-minute behavior" presented in both. As clumsy as Ferris is, that's how much Taylor waits until the last minute. This isn't because Taylor is lazy, it's because she has too much on her plate. Although Taylor and Ferris' work ethics might be nothing but opposite, they still relate to each other.

I also researched different movies in the coming-of-age genre on YouTube. Here's the link to my favorite video!

https://youtu.be/UTrZXfQgnXo

Target Audience

I referenced back to my notes that I took in class on "genre theory," and I found lots of information that will help me throughout this process:

      What I found most interesting about these notes was the need for a specific target audience; so, I dove a little deeper and did some research. While I scrolled through this website, I found that target audiences are a bit more complex than they seem on the outside. target audiences aren't just "the people who watch your film" or the "people who read your book." They are the specific people you advertise and market to. For example, if you market your film to teenagers, you won't post the trailer only on Facebook. You instead should post it on YouTube or Instagram. Similar to how you shouldn't market a knitting kit on Snapchat. I learned that films should be created around target audiences; the audience shouldn't have to "adapt" to you. You adapt to them. Although this may create what seems like fewer opportunities for the filmmaker's creative mind, it has many more benefits. With the target audience, you can be completely sure that what you produce will be accepted and viewed by specific people. This makes marketing and production much easier because you aren't trying to please everyone, technically only one kind of person. This led me to figure out what I will be using as my target audience. Since the plot surrounds a teenage girl, of course, my target audience should be teenagers. It doesn’t necessarily have to be gender-based but it only makes sense to have teenagers. The whole point of the film is to be relatable and it relates to them. This will relate the most to teenagers who feel that they’re overlooked and should be noticed for all that they do. In this case, a teenager burning themself out over school. In my opening, I can include things in Taylor's room that people in the target audience would appreciate seeing. I can have electronics, video games, and other things teenagers know and love. I'm not going to leave a knitting kit out if my target audience isn't grandmothers.

Plot Update

      I've been researching more and more about this genre, and I've decided I need to make the film opening less dramatic, and a bit more comical. I'm not sure yet how I will do so but I do know there will definitely be a slamming of laptops or throwing of papers. I also decided that at the end of my opening, the music will go quieter and we will see the click and submission of the assignment and hear the huff and puff Taylor gives as a sign of relief once she's done. I definitely want the opening to be fast-paced with fast music, with many different shots and angles. It will be tedious, but I think It'll be worth it. My goal for the plot is to convey the message that Taylor is a good student, but at what cost? Her stress? Her mental health? The viewer should feel a bit stressed watching the fast and "chaotic" video, they should feel what Taylor feels. But, I also need the viewer to understand that she's a good student too, she's not just lazy and doing all of her work late; she just has a lot of work and that takes time. I'm going to include some short clips of honor roll papers on her wall and her good grades which will help convey that. The title in works right now is "11:59," which is meant realistically and metaphorically. She is submitting this assignment right up to the due date, 11:59, but there's also an underlying meaning to it. The messiness of her surroundings should show the viewer that she's so consumed with her work that she has no time to do anything else, it's all done at the last minute. Hence the name "11:59" which is the last minute to submit the assignment.

More Coming-of-Age Films

Perks of Being A Wildflower

Sixteen Candles (1984)

The Breakfast Club (1985)

Sources:

Kench, Sam. “Coming of Age Movies Explained - Examples and Characteristics.” StudioBinder, 5 Dec. 2022, https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/what-is-a-coming-of-age-movie-definition/#:~:text=Coming%20of%20age%20films%20always%20include%20dramatic%20elements,%E2%80%94%20often%20the%20protagonist%20%E2%80%99s%20first%20romantic%20experience. 

Lake, Laura. “What Is a Target Audience?” The Balance, The Balance, 31 Dec. 2022, https://www.thebalancemoney.com/what-is-a-target-audience-2295567#:~:text=Key%20Takeaways%201%20A%20target%20audience%20is%20a,target%20audience%20can%20leave%20other%20potential%20customers%20ignored.

I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off

- Amanda Margulies :)

CHARACTER ("TAYLOR FULLMAN") - 2/15/23

       One of the things that I was most excited to research and create in this project was my one and only character. As I was researching, I came across something called a character profile, which I'd never heard of. these profiles usually apply to books, but I wanted to see if they could apply to films too, which they did. The first step the website talked about was about figuring out what kind of person the character is, before planning how they look. By figuring out their personality, you figure out what kind of lifestyle caters to them; and in return, it's much easier to dress them and cast them. The name of the character is also very important. For example, if the character is from a specific place in the world, you would want to use a more common name from that place. The age of the character is also important, that's another way to figure out the target audience. This age will affect the character's mannerisms and the way in which they speak. Are they more formal? Do they use more slang? Do they have perfect speech? What about a speech impediment? How about their level of education? All of these questions also help with the next step of creating the character. The character's appearance should be a somewhat exaggerated version of how they act. For example, someone who acts lazy would look extremely lazy: messy hair, pajamas, etc. Although the character profile is used for books and storytelling, I found it interesting to try and apply it to my film opening!

     Now that I have a general idea of what I want my setting to look like, it's important that I design a character that fits it. I created a board out of photos I found on Pinterest which shows a basic overview of what I want this character to look like. I named her Taylor Fullman, which would appear to most as a basic common name, as she is supposed to be "just another student." Taylor will be the only character shown in this film opening, so she's the only one I'll be focusing on in this project. Taylor is a bit of a reflection on me, she's "what [I] know," as my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa would say to do. I created a character board that helps me collect my ideas in a visual orderly manner.

Taylor Fullman Character Board

On this board, we see that Taylor has a very messy room and an overall messy look to her. She wears baggy clothes and has messy hair. I intend to play the role of Taylor Fullman, as she is supposed to mirror how I feel and how I act. 

Taylor Facts - 

• 16 years old
• Blonde
• Pale skin tone
• About 5'8
• Overlooked
• Burnt out
• Most of her time is taken up by her studies 

Hair - Taylor will begin the movie with her blonde hair down in a straight nicely combed style, but as the 2 minutes pass by we will see her hair go up into a bun and become messier and messier. 

 

Outfit - Taylor will have a sweatshirt and sweatpants on which are her normal everyday clothes. This outfit gives off the lazy teenager vibe which everyone assumes of teenagers; when in reality Taylor is a hard worker.   

Bianca Piper (The Duff)

      While researching different teenage characters, the one that I felt Taylor would relate to the most was Bianca Piper (Mae Whitman) from The Duff. Bianca is always overlooked as a girl based on the way she looks and Taylor is overlooked as a student based on the way she carries herself and how she makes her surroundings look. Bianca and Taylor dress like the average teenage girl and are treated as nothing more than the average teenage girl. Although their stories and looks may not completely match up or look the same, I think that their overall overlooked vibes do. 

The Duff (2015)

Group Work Update

As I said in my previous posts, I was having an issue deciding if I'm going to work in a group or not. Well, I have made my decision! I am going to work alone. I don't know necessarily if that's the best idea, but I'm sticking with it. It's the better plan. I only have to work for myself on my own time, nobody else changes up the plans without telling me. I hope this plan works out for me and I'll update you on how it goes soon...

Sources:

Yen, Cabag. “How to Create a Character Profile: Complete Guide with Template.” TCK Publishing, 10 Aug. 2021, https://www.tckpublishing.com/character-profile/.

I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off

- Amanda Margulies :)

 

         

FILM OPENING SETTING + NEW IDEA - 2/14/22

       Since my last blog post on Sunday, I've had a bit of a change of heart. I reflected upon my most recent AICE Media class last week. We had a whole discussion on how to come up with a perfect film opening, all of its parts. The most important thing that she mentioned was how we should create our opening based on something that we've experienced ourselves, our own story. Now, not to say I'm bland... but I actually had absolutely no idea what to do. So, I came up with the idea that would surround some sort of morning routine of polar opposite twins. But, the process of executing that would suck, and I didn't really know how to develop that into a real story. She told us we can't do anything about kidnappings and stalkers, because who has really been through that? Well, fun fact I was almost kidnapped once! It was absolutely terrifying. I'm not going to discuss it that much here, but I thought that it was a pretty comical thought once she said that.

      My new idea will develop around something that I know much about, stress on schoolwork. I want this film opening to surround all things "stupid teenage problems." I think a huge part of any film is the setting, the mise-en-scene. I went through plenty of websites such as this one, which showed a bunch of different types of rooms that teenagers and kids would have. There were rooms with bright happy tones, all the way to dark, sadder tones. I want to go with the average teenage girl's room. Lots of patterns, paintings, and photos. I want this person to have things sitting around everywhere; she will be very messy. The whole point of the film is to make the statement that lots of teenagers feel stressed because they simply don't have time for everything they're told to do. This messy room will symbolize the feeling of scatteredness that occurs in this young girl's brain. 

      This feeling of "scatteredness" is a feeling I go through every day. This year I'm taking 3 AP/AICE classes and the rest honors; next year I'll be in 6 AP/AICE classes as a junior, crazy right! I want that to be completely conveyed in this opening. I want the room to have clothes everywhere. I want papers to be on the floor, on the bed, on the dresser, etc. Hopefully, I will find a fast-paced song that will rhythmically allow me to place thought-out cuts throughout. In between the cuts of the girl doing this assignment that's due at 11:59, we will see different parts of this messy setting from numerous different angles. 

Set design isn't just about aesthetics?

      We always talked about setting in class, but I never really understood why it was so important. It's just there to look pretty right? WRONG. While I was researching to design my setting I came across this website. The setting isn't just about having a pretty house or a cool backyard; the setting actually does just as much work as the characters to convey a message or tell the story.

What does a setting communicate?

      Settings can communicate a variety of different stories or messages, it's the main goal should be to communicate certain themes that pertain to your story; what it represents. For example, a student comes home from school to their parents sitting on the couch waiting for them. These people are clearly sad. How do we know this? Well, it's not just because they're crying with a tissue box next to them. The setting can act as a metaphor for this sad situation. Let's say a family member died and the news is about to be broken to the child; the house can have dead plants that we see. These dead plants symbolize the death of the person, without actually saying to the viewer that the family member died.

What else does the setting communicate?

      If you are producing a movie in the 2000s, homes and buildings don't look the same as they would in the 1960s. However, the set design is able to adapt to different time periods which lets the viewer know what time period the film takes place in. Films occurring around the 60s and 70s would have homes with many patterns on the walls, and bright carpets, while homes in the 2000s are more modern with whites and greys, along with tiled or marbled flooring. 

      

      Of course, aesthetics do matter; however, representation does too. The visual aspect of the setting does tie into these metaphors. It's not like the set of a movie about saying a slow and depressing death will be filled with neon pinks and bright yellows. Just like how a movie about winning the lottery won't be filled with blues and blacks.

Sources

BBC. “The Purpose of Set Design - Set Design - Edexcel - GCSE Drama Revision - Edexcel - BBC Bitesize.” BBC News, BBC, 2023, https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zjp4vk7/revision/1.

Happy Valentines Day, I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off

- Amanda Margulies :)

TRANSITION INTO PORFOLIO PROJECT - 2/12/23

       This upcoming week, I will transition into my AICE Media AS-level portfolio project! For this portion of the project, I have to create a 2-minute long completely original film opening. In this film opening, I am supposed to use everything I've learned so far in the class about shots, editing, sound, mise-en-scene, etc. If I'm being completely honest, I'm a little scared. Creating such an intricate piece of media is difficult; there are so many factors to take into consideration. What genre do I wasn't to use? What do I want my characters to look like and say? What will the setting look like? All of these questions I will be researching all throughout next week. 

      As I look back upon my recent projects, there is one common factor in most: working in the same group with 3 other students. This brings me to my newest conflict, should I work in a group for this project? Right now, I have no idea. If I work in a group, there's a chance that the brainstorming process will go smoother, but there's also a chance that it will be a complete mess. On every group project I've done in this class, I've had issues with agreeing on anything, along with issues executing the project correctly in the first place. I guess I'm just scared of trying something so important on my own. I even went on safari to grab some advice because I really don't know what to do! I went to this website which might have actually confused me more. On one hand, the number of creative minds is increased, but from my prior experiences, productivity is likely to decrease. However, the project will go on for 7 weeks so maybe that won't matter like it has in the past; I don't know, but I'll have to make that decision in the next few days.

      For the video itself, I also don't necessarily know what I'm doing yet. In class we watched professional and student samples of film openings and my jaw dropped for almost every video. My teacher kept on saying how some of the students were amateurs just like me, but I don't know... some of those projects were REALLY good. I definitely want to go the route of having a super girly teenage girl in the opening. As a kid, I always loved videos that began with girly girls getting ready on YouTube, or in movies. So, I would like to reflect on that and tie it into a story for my video. One idea I had was having 2 girls who are identical twins, but the complete opposite. The film opening could be them getting ready for their day, and reflecting upon how completely different they are. This film's opening would fall under the teenage comedy/drama genre. I'm not sure yet if that idea is good enough to develop into a rich story, but I'll find that out as I brainstorm more this next week. I would love to make the girl's vibe contrast just like these rooms:

I'll talk to you guys later! Signing off

- Amanda Margulies :)

MUSIC MARKETING PROJECT REFLECTION - 2/2/23

       As my music marketing project has come to a close, it's important to reflect on how it went, as a whole. My group and I are very hard-headed in a way and want things to go our way 100% of the time. So, the brainstorming process was definitely a huge struggle. Every idea that we created was different from the others causing plenty of fights and major issues later on. I took it upon myself to create a schedule for us to rely on when going through each step of our project: research, storyboarding, filming, editing, etc. Although the schedule felt like a good idea, it ended up stressing us out more than if we didn't have one at all. The schedule covered a two-week period and gave us a task to complete each day of both weeks.

SAMPLE SCHEDULE

First, we focussed on research, where we researched different singers like Harry Styles and Halsey; we were assigned the pop genre. We conducted this research because we needed to have inspiration for our own project, as we were told to make a campaign for our "up and coming" pop artist. We researched their marketing and distribution trends as well as how they utilized cross-media and technological convergence. We then used this information to create our own band name: w3areyoung. Our motto was that everyone deserves to have the chance to feel youthful. We then began storyboarding. Our original story ended up having a completely different story than our final music video did. This is because we couldn't agree on anything. We filmed the first video, scratched it; filmed our second video, scratched it; filmed our third and final video, and finally agreed to keep it. We had three completely different stories so each time we had to re-plan our settings and mise en scene elements which became pretty annoying.

      Once we finally finished filming, we had to begin the editing process. But of course, this was difficult for us to agree on too. We couldn't decide who would do the editing. Once we decided, then the group members' computer wasn't working. But, in the end, we were able to edit our video. The video was promotional, to showcase our singer as a member of w3areyoung, which is the same name as her first song. We did this so that every time someone saw the name "w3areyoung," they would associate it with the artist and the song since it's the first big hit. The video consisted of the singer being dressed in an outfit she would wear to a concert or show event. She was told to perform as if she was having fun with it, just like someone young would. In the video she came of as bubbly and fun which was the main goal for her image. 

During this whole process, we created a presentation in order to get our message across and store all of our campaigning ideas. We focused heavily on cross-media and technological convergence. Because our target audience was teens and young adults from the ages of 15-25, we relied on social media as our main source of marketing. We planned to utilize apps like TikTok or Instagram to post updates about the band. We created a website and a YouTube channel that would focus more on merchandise and music videos. The music video was to be uploaded on YouTube as our first big hit. we also planned to distribute our music to Apple Music, Spotify, and iHeartRadio, as they are pretty common places for this age group to listen to music. We also planned to partner with food and skincare companies utilizing the names: w3arehungry (for the food) and w3areyoung( for the skincare). These partnerships will help us gain more fans and get our name out. Our plan was to begin our distribution with the company Amuse, and move to a larger company as the artist becomes more well-known. We also had different performance plans:

My class then began our presentations in which we were able to critique each other's campaigns. I loved this because it opened our eyes to over 20 more opinions than we had before, which allows for constructive growth. This growth can be used to help me develop my Cambridge Portfolio project. This project has taught me that utilizing all of the time given to me is an important step in making sure production and presentation go smoothly. It also taught make a lot about the target audience and how to utilize different genre elements in order to appeal to that specific audience. I also learned that sometimes i8ts okay to listen to other people's advice and critiques. sometimes the idea that's used doesn't have to be my idea. This will make the project go smoother and in the end, give everyone more time to complete the project.