Aice Media Studies( Production 1#)

 Time to show off the set design!

Where it'll take place:

• Alright, to start off, the filming will take place in the house of one of our group members, Nicholas Mazone.
• We plan to film this throughout the nighttime to apply the darker visual effects I mentioned in my previous blog posts.
• The filming will take place on the upper floor of the house, using the staircase to get up to this level as well as 2 of the 4 rooms on this second floor. As I've mentioned I plan to use these rooms as hiding places for both the zombies and the humans to play out the horrific events I want to portray in this film. 
• We've taken photos of different areas in the house that we plan to use for the film process.

The locations:

• This is the hallway we plan to use for the film. 
• This hallway is a crucial point of the film as it is where most of the fear in the film-inducing scenes will be shown in the film.
• This hallway will show scenes like the zombie appearing, the father's last run to the room, as well as the father getting munched on. 

• This is the closet where at the very end of the film the son will appear.
• We chose the closet would be a great way to hide the son while he witnesses the entire event of his parent's death.
• We wanted to make sure he would have a spot where he could witness this to ensure the traumatic event for his development as a character.

• This staircase is also an important part of the set as it truly starts off the film by showing the zombie walking up it from the pov of the father at the very end of the hallway.

• Although this image isn't focused on in the film, I did previously mention in the summary how this window plays a part in the storyline as this was a planned escape route that they wanted to use with their son to escape their house.

These are some of the places in the set that are mainly focused on throughout the majority of the film, assisting in some of the components shown.

Aice Media Studies (Planning)

Today we make a planning blog of our choice!

Why is good casting needed?

• The topic I'll be talking about today is the castings. Casting is a really important part of the production process as it helps truly raise the quality of the story and the film's overall believability. Having good actors that fit the characteristics, personalities, and traits, helps allow for better meaning in the characters as well as boost the audience's connections to the overall storyline that me and my group are trying to convey. Being able to cast good actors to portray characters always helps translate the director's/author's true intentions or needs into reality.
• For example, a popular opinion that I believe to be true is the casting for MCU's Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. to be an EXCELLENT casting choice for Tony Stark. Many comic fans had always wanted Iron Man, one of Marvel's most famous comic book characters to come to life. Robert Downey Jr. was able to make this happen. In comics, Tony Stark is originally known as a spoiled, rich, yet intelligent person. He'd always thought of himself as "better" than others, he was a genius inventor and the CEO of Stark Industries, which then after becoming kidnapped and creating his first suit of iron, redirected his genius towards helping the world. Robert Downey Jr. was able to play this perfectly, through Iron Man 1 being shown as this entitled, genius man who was arrogant and had an insane ego about himself. Even in comics, he's known as incredibly reckless, always going out to parties and drowning himself in the money he inherited from Stark Industries. Before his kidnapping all he really thought of was himself, but this changed in the movie once he was kidnapped and learned he could use his intellect to create suits of armor that could save people. After all he really wanted to do was build a "suit of armor around the world." Through the countless movies he played as Tony Stark, Robert Downey Jr was able to show depth in the growth Tony Stark had as a hero, enough so to even sacrifice himself in Avengers: Endgame. This is a great example of good casting.

Now for the actual castings: 

The Father (Jason Gray): 

• For Jason Gray, me and my group decided it would be best for me to portray him.
• Actor: Luis Vasquez
• 
  We decided to choose me because I was able to fit most of the body characteristics we had in mind for Jason Gray, showing him as an average-sized man (5'11)
• I do believe I'll be able to play him out well, showing emotions like fear, shock, and adrenaline as he faces his wife being murdered in front of him, as well as the rising tensions of attempting to escape the zombie chasing after him. 
• I'll do my very best in trying to integrate audiences into the story being played, showing depth in the events being played, and trying to introduce the viewers to the world that'll be set for the remainder of the film. 

The Mother (Heather Gray):

• 
  For the mother, Heather Gray, me and my group chose it would be best for Shira to do it.
• Actor: Shira Cykert
• We've given her lead female roles on past projects before, for example, the Music Marketing Project.
• We'll be instructing her to try and convey the most emotion she can for these scenes, trying to make sure the essence of the fear provided by this event is illustrated in the final productions.
• I know she'll be able to accomplish this well.

The Son (Owen Gray)

• For the Son, we chose that Nic's younger brother, Anthony would partake in the filming of the opening.
• Actor: Anthony Mazone
• The main reason we chose him was because he obviously has younger features like height, facial features, etc...
• We also decided to choose him since it would be most convenient since as Nic's younger brother, he'll be in the house whenever we need him for filming instead of needing to wait for an extra person to get to Nic's house.
  

The Zombies:

• 
  For the zombies, my group and I thought it would best be to choose Nic as our two zombies
• Actor: Nicholas Mazone
• I have acted on previous assignments with him before, so I believe he'd be a great pick for a more antagonist character like the zombies.
• I mainly chose him for the fact that he has a more lean type physique. He's around 6'1-6'3 so it adds to the slender appearance that a monster like a zombie could have. 
• We've already filmed some scenes where he's acting as the zombie and as I mentioned, the physique he offers does enhance this character's appearance. 
  

The only other person who's needed for filming is Hannah, but she isn't acting as an actor in the film, she's contributing by acting as the cameraman for the opening.

Aice Media Studies (Character-Development)

 How will my character develop?..

Character traits -

I'm going to be marking off the characters, explaining their purpose for the opening, and how they'll help develop more important characters.

• Mom:

         - Name: Heather Gray

         - Age: 36

         - DOB: April 29, 1988

         - Purpose through the film: Her only purpose in this film is to introduce viewers to the harsh reality and world that is developed in the film. She is meant to be used as a horror factor (ex. when she gets yanked down, for a jump scare) in order to scare the viewers and have them thrilled for the film. She is also used as a main point of development for the main character.

• Dad:

        - Name: Jason Gray

        - Age: 41

        - DOB: June 9, 1983

        - Purpose through the film: The father serves as the general point of view of the entire opening, letting viewers see these events through his experiences as well as his losses. I do this to trick the audience into not expecting him to die so that when he does it's more impactful on the story. Similar to the mother, his main purpose is to introduce the audience to the high-stakes peril that's shown in the opening. (ex. zombies) He is meant to induce a horror factor letting audiences know there is truly never any safety in the apocalypse. He is meant to be a traumatic experience to help develop the main character. 

• Son:

        - Name: Owen Gray

        - Age: 10

        -DOB: October 31, 2014   

        - Purpose through the film: Owen serves as the main character of the entire film, though he won't be shown until the very end of the opening. This was planned so that when he's listening and witnessing the gruesome deaths of his parents it helps add a traumatic experience to his overall growth as a character. I explained this in the project idea summary, but I wanted to make it so that if this were a complete film throughout the movie, Owen refers back to having glimpses of what a civilization is like from when he used to live in that establishment with his parents, but can barely remember it. I would want him to be encouraged to find an establishment like from when he was young so that he could help others not experience the trauma he did. I did state how in this process the psychological aspect of the film comes in and takes effect by enforcing the idea that men this far into the apocalypse have no societal structure, no control, and no remorse for what they do to survive, like a rabid animal. I want the traumatic experiences that he goes through at a young age to be the starting point of all of this, being the groundwork for his overall character, personality, and traits. I want him to have some type of vengeance towards zombies for taking his parents until he realizes throughout the film that there are truly too many and that all he should focus on is helping newer generations. 

• Zombies:

        -Name(s): unkown

        -Age(s): unkown

        -DOB(s): unkown

        - Purpose through the film: To be the horror-inducing aspect of the entire opening. I want them to help develop the son's trauma, leading him to become the character he is. As I've talked about in the project idea summer blog, I did want to overshadow them as the film continues. I want to trick viewers into believing they would be the main evil force, the antagonists that cause everything t go terrible, like a regular zombie movie. Instead, I want the barbarians that are humans to overshadow them and truly show the idea that zombies aren't the biggest threat in the world, men are. I want the viewers to truly understand how terrifying men can be at their early stages, like if they'd revert to Neanderthals. For example, in "Kingdom of Planet of The Apes," the entire point is to prove how humans over time, over generations have truly lost their way, becoming the actual animals of the world. 

Hopefully, this is enough explanation for my teachers and the people of Cambridge how I WANT these character to help develop the story in both the opening and if this were to actually be a real movie.

Aice Media Portfolio (Audio)

What am I going to do about the audio? 

Music - 

For the music aspect of the blog postings, I really don't understand how to "describe" horror music, but I want to use more low-pitched sound audios and songs to really enforce the idea of suspense and rising tension throughout the scenes. I'm kinda struggling to find out how and where I'll find actual good and professional audio. I have checked out the websites that my teacher provided for the audio, but none of them actually "call" out to me. I really want to succeed in this idea that I have where I'll have the audio rising, getting stronger and stronger in order to build up a lot of suspense, but just end it abruptly. Like for example, in the scene where I plan to make it like the couple believes they're safe after hiding in a room, I'll cut the music to make it feel like the suspense has finished and stopped, but then introduce it even stronger when the mother gets yanked down. For the main thing, at the time being (I stopped writing for like 30 minutes to continue searching for audio) I still haven't picked a song or music, but! I have been taking a liking to one of the websites my teacher provided called "Pixabay." This website proves like literally THOUSANDS of no-copyright audios that are easily downloadable, and (I believe) free!

Sound Effects -

For the sound effects, I was really thinking of using Foley techniques to make more of the more gruesome sounds throughout the film. For example, I want to individually make the sounds of the munching to match the speed, tempo, and vibe of what's happening on the scene. A lot of audios that I have tried are either too loud or some are like they're munching on something else or they don't fit with the atmosphere of the scene. I want to personally create the foley sounds for the stepping so that my opening actually realistically follows the weight of the steps, the type of show, and the distance of the audience from the steps. (what I mean by this is like the space between the feet to the camera) I also plan to make the sound effects for when the "knife" hits the floor after the dad drops it by imitating it with actual blocks as if the wood was knocking onto the flooring. I also really want to make the sound effects for the blood splatter and how it hits the walls. There's actually a lot of things that I know I'll be making audio for as I go. 

I was going through YouTube for foley tips and I found this video on a popular foley artist for PlayStation themselves and her overall explanation on how she made these audios and how she got into them. 

 

Aice Media Portfolio (Script)

Time to format the script!

 Screenplay - 

I'm going to be writing my script through the format of a screenplay (I expect it's supposed to be like that) trying to express all the ideas and actions occurring throughout the opening.

FADE IN:

1.

1. INT. THE ROOM - NIGHT

                        THE FATHERS POV:

                        

                       The fathers hand, smeared in blood while holding a bloodied knife in the same state. He's visibly trembling, shaking by the fear in him. His wife is with him, showing the both still alive. They're slowly walking through the door of the room they'd climbed into, heavily breathing and panting. 

                        CONSTANT SOUNDS OF ZOMBIES AND PEOPLE MAKING NOISE IN THE BACKGROUND (OUTSIDE) 

                            SIRENS AND GUNSHOTS IN THE BACKGROUND SIGNALING TO THE PEOPLE IN THE VICINITY FIGHTING THE ZOMBIES

                  THE HALLWAY 

                        

                        THE FATHERS POV: 

                        The father and mother have appeared outside the door, in the hallway, seeing a room they intend to geo at the very end of the hallway. The dad is looking forward towards this door until a dark, silhouette of a dark leg is slowly creeping through the hallways corner. The parents look around not knowing what to do.

                             CONSTANT SOUNDS OF ZOMBIES AND PEOPLE MAKING NOISE IN THE BACKGROUND (OUTSIDE) 

                            SIRENS AND GUNSHOTS IN THE BACKGROUND SIGNALING TO THE PEOPLE IN THE VICINITY FIGHTING THE ZOMBIES

THE SOUNDS SLOWLY MUFFLE AS THE INTENSITY OF THE SITUATION HIGHTENS

                        THE DARK ROOM 

                            The parents rush into a room on the right side of the hallway, attempting to hide from "whatever" is lurking through the shadows. The couple successfully hides as the being walks by the room not noticing the couple hiding in the darkness of the room.

                           ALL SOUNDS ARE MUFFLED, JUST THE BREATHING OF THE COUPLE REMAIN.

INTERCUT CONVERSATION BETWEEN THE TWO

FATHER (JASON GRAY)

(Towards his wife while looking out the door)

Okay, I think we're in the clear.

MOTHER (HEATHER GRAY)

(Staring happily towards his husband, sighing of relief.)

Ok!

2.

        2. INT. THE DARK ROOMS TERROR - NIGHT 

                           THE FATHERS POV:

                              The father watches as hands crawl out of the shadows of the dark room and surround the face of his wife, yanking her down. The shots change between different inserts of the mans face in terror, his eyes shaking, and angles of him trying to pull his wife out. 

                                THE SOUND OF MUNCHING AND SCREAMING FILL THE ROOM

  THE MOTHERS AGONY

MOTHER (HEATHER GRAY)

(The wife screaming in agony holding her arm up while the father attempts to rescue her.)

AHHHHHH!!!

                        BACK TO THE HALLWAY 

                               VARIETY OF CLOSE UPS, MID SHOTS, AND LONG SHOTS:

                                The father runs out the room, knowing he can't save his wife. An fast tempo array of shots show the process of him running into the wall of the room, running out and slamming the door on his way out to then landing on the wall of the hallway are shown. 

                                      THE SOUNDS OF THUDDING ONTO WALLS, SLAMMING THE DOOR, AND THEN SOUNDS OF PANTING FROM CATCHING BREATHS.

                            

                        THE CLICKING ROOM

                                 FATHERS POV: 

                                    The father looks up upon remembering about the entity that had passed him in his wife when they hid inside the other room. The sounds of the mother were loud enough to get his attention. Now that the entity knows he's there, the father without a seconds thought makes a run for it, trying his hardest to make it to the room at the very end of the hallway.

                               THE SOUNDS OF CLICKING ENVELOPE THE ROOM WITH THE SOUND OF FINGERS TAPPING ON THE SIDES OF THE DOOR BOARDS.

                        THE SOUND OF QUICK PACED FOOT STEPS FILL THE ROOM WITH TWO SEPERATE BEINGS

                         THE ROOM AT THE END

                                

                                  FATHERS POV, INCLUDING MID SHOTS:

                                    The father will be running towards this room, seeing it get closer and closer, but then the camera will fall down signifying the father has fallen and before he's able to completely fall, a shot showing half his body (as a mid shot) as he completely manages to fall, with his hand reaching so close to the room. 

                                  SOUNDS OF FOOT STEPS, FOLLOWED WITH THE SCREAMS OF ENTITY, ENDING WITH A CLICKING OF THE SHOE AS IT MISPLACES.

THE FATHERS FEAR

FATHER (JASON GRAY)

(the father screaming in fear of him dying)

NO! AHHHHHH!

                            THE CLOSET DOOR.

                                    MASTER SHOT/LONG SHOTS:

                                        Final shot of the opening. The father is getting eaten in the background, in agonizing pain. The shot begins with the knife he'd previously been holding, now on the floor. A slow building puddle of blood envelops the blood, as blood is also being splattered around it and on it. After a bit of being deeply focused on this, the camera moves up, pointing towards a closet slightly creaked open. The camera starts to move towards the camera, zooming into the crack showing the terrified face of somebody watching (the son) with blood splatter across their face.

                                SOUNDS OF THE FATHER SCREAMING, IN PAIN, WHILE SOUNDS OF THE ZOMBIE MUNCHING ON FLESH ALSO ENVELOPS THE ROOM.

                            THE PREVIOUS SOUNDS OF SIRENS, GUNSHOTS, AND SCREAMING OUTSIDE BEINGS TO REAPPEAR.

                            BACKGROUND MUSIC IS INTRODUCED TO THE OPENING AS A LOW PITCH, MORE INTIMIDATING AUDIO IS PLAYED TO ENFORCE THE SUSPENSE OF THE SCENE.

FADE OUT:

I tried my hardest in trying to format this, looking at reference photos as well as using a website that greatly helped me be able to create this called studiobinder. 

studiobinder link

I tried to follow this specific picture which labeled different techniques and placements of 

One thing I do want to make clear is the reason why there's 2 scene heading and I didn't just make it one even though the entirety of the film takes place between like 3 rooms and a hallway. To explain this I wanted scene heading 1 to be when the story began suspenseful with the intensity of hiding from the entity then turn neutral due to belief that they were safe, and have scene heading 2 to be the intense change in tone to where the story becomes completely horrific, showcasing the terror jut experienced by the characters.

                           

                         

    

Aice Media Portfolio (Mise-en-scene)

 Mise-en-scene Planning Part 2 !!!

Costume Design -

    For the costume design, I plan to cut up shirts to force the idea and look of the shirts going through constant wear and tear. Hannah, one of my group members, said she had fake blood that we could use to apply as costume effects to both zombies and the parents. (even if she doesn't have any we'll make a side journey to our local Walmart!) I plan to do more raggedy, baggier clothes in a sense to give off the traditional post-apocalypse type of clothes mostly found in these types of films. I want to use darker colors to help aid in the effect that the main technique I'm applying, low-key lightning, will be able to have the best effect it can possibly have. I'm still thinking about it, but to fully apply the shadow-like appearance that the zombies are supposed to highlight then I'm actually very tempted to buy a full black suit just to insinuate the horrific type of appearance the zombies are supposed to highlight. 

The main clothes in this picture that I would incorporate would be boot-like shoes, a black darker shirt, and darker baggier type pants. 

This is how I'd like to use the full-body black suit to enforce the idea of the silhouette. 

Prop choice - 

    The prop choice, it's really limited since it's really only just the pocket knife the viewers see at the beginning of the film opening. The knife will have splatters of blood on it as it hints at the idea that he'd had to fight his way into his building. The knife is meant to show the fear in the characters as even protected they're not certain of their own fates. I wanted to make it so the character holds the knife shakily, furthering this idea of fear taking over. Toward the end of the film opening I want to make it so that when the zombie yanks on the husband's leg and he falls, the knife falls at the doorstep, which then gets filled with blood as it slowly moves more and more into the room eventually turning into a puddle.

Aice Media Portfolio (Mise-en-scene)

 Mise-en-scene Planning!

Low-Key Lighting - 

    The entire purpose of the film opening is to introduce the immediate idea terror in the horror aspects of the film. I wanted to mainly create suspense, with increase in the tension of the film as the characters progress through this terrifying experience. In order to accomplish this I'm using techniques like low-key lighting in order to incorporate darker visual aspects to the film. I want to highlight on the idea that something always lingers, hiding in the darkness. I especially use this technique in order to add jump scares and catch audiences off guard, for example in the planned scene where hands randomly from the darkness wrap around the face of the wife. I want to incorporate fear when thinking about dark places, how anything can occur how "anything" could appear. I also want to mainly incorporate this technique during the reveal of the main character witnessing this entire ordeal. I want to highlight on the fear and trauma inherited through the eyes of the main character. This horrifying setting also including development to his character, adding trauma, and psychological harm. 

I want the low-key lightning to come out somewhat like this.

Setting -

    The setting is also an important feature throughout the entire film, this mixed with the low-key lighting will enforce horror and fear. The entire reason that I chose the hallway of a house was to give the idea of never being safe in a world like this, even from the sanctuary of your home. The idea of hearing, witnessing, experiencing the brutal death of your parents from your own home is meant to add on to the psychological side of the film. I also planned out how I'd use the rooms in the hallway to my disposal, mapping out the distances and the ways the rooms are faced so that I can utilize them in the film like I'd drawn out in the storyboard. Within the rooms, I plan to just have COMPLETE darkness, showing only the characters, I want to use low-key lighting here to insinuate a sense of suspense as something could be "lurking" in the background, then using this tension to create a jump scare. As mentioned, I want to focus on the idea that it's impossible to survive in groups, focusing on the loss o family, friends, love ones, and how you're never safe in this world.

The type of feeling I want to emit throughout the film opening.

Aice Media Portfolio (Theory)

 One Media Theory I wish to integrate

For this blog post, I'll discuss the media theory I want to integrate throughout the project, the opening, and the plot. 

These are pictures of the list of multiple theories I can choose from. I don't really know what the rest of my group decided to choose but I'll be choosing from the Narrative codes, "Proairetic or Action Code" This code refers to the use of plot points that lead to other actions and make audiences wonder what could occur next. I want to use this theory as it aligns with the idea of leaving audiences questioning which works with the ending of my opening. As the opening ends with the traumatized eyes of the main character, I want to leave audiences questioned, shocked by what they just witnessed and how that'll affect the main character as well as where he left off or where he is in the story of the film. Also, for the general plot of the story, I would integrate this theory to highlight the entire point of how people are turning to savagery, and losing their mentality. For example, whenever the main character was to encounter groups of bandits, I would use this theory to have audiences question how the main character would survive or escape this situation.

Aice Media Portfolio (Storyboard)

 Here's the completion of my Opening Film Storyboard

For the last couple of days, I'd been working on the storyboard for my team, since I knew best the idea of the opening to be able to express it in a storyboard. The storyboard will greatly help me and my group plan out our thoughts, know what we want to focus on and research how to create the effects needed like the visual effects and sound effects. I tried to draw it as best as I could to make it understandable in the sense of a horrific atmosphere, to enforce these traumatic effects. On the plot summarisation blog I went over in detail the entire story of the opening, what is being shown on the storyboard, adding context so that you, the reader could understand the storyline. 

 Points of the Storyboard

• Throughout the storyboard, I added details as in shading. I really want to explore darker visuals, showing lighting techniques like low-key lighting to emphasize how this entire attack happens during the nighttime. I also really wanted to add this to factor in a more horror-type atmosphere to express the genre of horror in this.
• Throughout a lot of these scenes, I made it so we could view this story in the eyes of the father. I made it this way to trick the viewers into believing this would be the protagonist, who we'd actually focus on, so that in the end when he gets killed off it adds a sense of mystery to who would continue the storyline. 
• In the storyboard I use a lot of blood effects, showing pools of bloods, splatter, and blood marks throughout their faces, arms, and shirts. I actually do plan to buy fake blood to create these effects. Hannah said she had fake blood from Halloween, but if she doesn't we agreed we'd have a field trip to Walmart!
• VERY IMPORTANT change to it: I'd talked to my teacher about the storyboard and she recommended that it'd be best for the first 10-15 seconds of the opening to be a pure black screen, showing the credits and at the end the title screen. I agreed with her because, in the original draft, I'd made it so that in the first 5-6 scenes of the storyboard I'd put the credits. My teacher pointed out to me that it kinda takes away the focus from the events that are crucial to the story as the eyes of viewers would be drawn into the text that would appear. I also moved the title card because my teacher also reminded me that it isn't recommended to have the title card at the very end of the opening as it isn't visually appealing or accepting. 

Aice Media Studies (summary)

 Alright here's the summary of my plot.

Inspiration:

• Using the psychological thriller/ horror genre, I developed a plot that I actually enjoyed and integrated into a film opening. I convinced my group about the story's overall structure. 
• I love zombie movies, watching the struggles of humanity and how many get together In groups to try and combat hordes, the changes in the world, and issues with distribution, teamwork, group affairs, etc...
• Although I love watching this, many zombie movies also highlight the idea of changes in people's mental stability, the changes in societal structures, and modern living vanishing, as if the savagery in people were coming out with these drastic changes to the world.
• The movie "Apocolypse Z" is a great zombie movie (a really new one at that too), expressing the beginnings of a man's adventures through the apocalypse as he tries to get in contact with his sister and her family. In the movie, there were instances where he could partner with people to benefit each other, while there were examples of people's ruthlessness, enslaving, and capturing others for beneficial reasons, this shows how knowing the worlds revolving to chaos nothing is holding them back. 

Plot:

• Alright, for the plot I'm making it revolve around a protagonist in his high 20s, venturing throughout the remains of the world, trying to find any civilizations. This would signal that the man himself was born already into the apocalypse, not briefly what "modernistic" living would be like as this type of living would die out throughout the newer generation. He goes throughout his life trying to imitate memories of "this life" while exploring the world. The story itself would take place 50 years into the apocalypse already. The apocalypse itself began in 2025, meaning this would be set around the time of 2055.
• 
  Unlike Apocolypse Z, the reason I chose the story to be so already far into the events of an apocalypse is because I find it somewhat unrealistic that in only 10-15 years modern ways of living through the use of societal structure could diminish as most people throughout these times of the apocalypse had experienced the old versions of living. 
  
• My main focus throughout the film is to truly highlight the idea that over time throughout this desperate era, people lose their sanity, resorting to wild-like living, resorting to savagery to get a proper meal. People wouldn't be held back by social norms, any restrictions, taking, killing, fighting, and endless struggles. While the main protagonist tries to survive and make friends in this world, the brutal reminder that not even zombies are the biggest threat in this world, it's "humans" comes to show throughout this film. This is my biggest focus, this is what I would want to show if this were an entirely planned out, processed, filmed, and edited movie. 

Plot of the opening:

• The setting would take place inside a house in the middle of an early establishment held by other people with rations, food, water, etc... 
• The problem is that the opening takes place when a horde of zombies has actually broken down the hand-made walls, entering the facility and leading everyone to panic. This wouldn't be shown throughout the opening but would be interpreted due to the voice lines I intend to add, as well as the sound effects of an alarm that would alert the people in the establishment. 
• The opening focuses on two characters which would be revealed near the end of the opening to be both the father and mother of the main protagonist. The main protagonist however wouldn't be shown till the very end of the opening as I wanted to create mystery on who the story truly revolved around and catch the audience off guard. (you'll see why)
• Their main focus is to get to this room at the very end of this hallway throughout the opening since they already have an escape plan waiting at the window of this room. 
• They'd climbed in through the back of the window of the room parallel to this room since their main doorway to the house was blocked. The father would be holding this bloody knife he'd used to fight while outside of his house. (This is to add context to the reason why he holds a whole-bloodied knife at the beginning of the opening)
• While they snuck out of the room, a dark leg appeared at the end of the dark hallway, instantly causing them to run into the room to their right. The zombie walked past the door, while the father watched from the creek of the doors opening. 
• The father would think they're in the clear, with the idea of closing the door behind the zombie and making a run for the room at the end of this hallway, verbally expressing to his wife that they're in the clear.
• This is when the horror aspect of the movie begins. Right from behind her a dark pair of hands would rope around her face, immediately dragging her to the floor. It's assumed that the zombie made it into the room and was hidden in the same way they did, through a window.
• The scene would be gruesome, showing the father trying his hardest to pull his wife out from the grip of the zombie's clutches, while the sound of screaming and munching echoed through the room to the halls. The dad would indeed give up, trembling in fear as he ran out the room behind the room, closing the door on his wife. A pool of blood would then flow from under the door.
• The husband would be panting while leaning on the hallway wall in pure terror of what'd just happened. Unbeknownst to him, he's faced towards the room the first zombie had run into, the room he climbed into a window from. He'd forgotten to lock the door, while all that sound was made. Hearing clicking noises, the arm of the zombie would appear gripping the side of the door. Without a second hesitation, the husband would run, while looking behind him, making a last-ditch effort for the room at the end of the hallway. Unlucky to him though, the zombie manages to grip onto his leg, making him fall right in front of the goal. The camera would shift towards the dark, void-like, emptiness of the hallway, while the only things you can hear are screams of pure agony and the sound of munching. 
• Blood would slowly just move through the opening of the doorsteps, now angling the camera next to the pool of blood towards a closet in this room with the slightest creek. The camera would zoom into the closet, slowly yet surely, and in the end, would highlight an extreme close-up of the eyeball of somebody, who would be revealed as the main character, the son who'd heard, and witnessed this all, adding trauma to this characters development.

I really, like REALLY enjoyed creating this plot, and coming up with an enjoyable yet actual achievable way to express the genre, making it about a topic I really enjoy watching. I was able to greatly assist my team, helping toward the overall development of the plot, opening, and storyboard. 

Aice Media Studies (Group meetings)

 Group Meeting 1 Reflection

Today during class my teacher, Mrs. Stoklosa separated us all into 4 groups (around that) so that we could learn what our peers were doing, gain some inspiration, and talk to our partners about what they should do better, strive to elaborate, just something we could all take as a learning experience. I actually like my peers' ideas, so I want to list their summaries here and tag their blogs so that others can see their process. Some people still haven't decided what their openings will be and just explain an overall view of what their plot will be, so for some of these summaries it's just the opening or the plot alone. 

Fabiana -

• Her film opening idea was inspired by a mystery novel her dad had written. The idea was about a man going to work as any other regular day, prompting viewers to think this is just a regular occurrence in his life, he sits in a taxi, and upon getting in he finds his own wallet. The driver already knows where to go, puzzling the protagonist as they arrive at the man's work. The man steps out of the vehicle and a newspaper is to appear at his feet, dating the exact same day a year beforehand. This article will highlight the events of a tragic car accident that had happened. This would trigger the immediate idea that the man had always been dead, that the driver had already known this, and that the man still tried to live his own life, in denial that he'd die. The genre is supposed to be a mystery.

Fabis Blogger

Jayden - 

• 
  His film is inspired by movies like "Love Exposure," especially the director who made them called Sion Sono (I think this was the director). The opening sequence is based around a little girl who at a young age had lost her mother, caring for her deeply. The father, taking time to move on had decided to move out, but the girl refusing to leave would cause her father to be abusive, hitting her, while taking the picture of her mother and burning it. Jayden chose his genre to be a psychological drama. 
  

Jaydens blog

Amparo - 

• 
  Her idea is to make a movie with inspiration from Project X. The plot is focused on a huge party, people just enjoying themselves and partying all night, (this is what I mean by Project X) until something bad apparently happens, and to figure it out they go questioning people who had been at the party that night. Wyatt had actually offered a great idea that even Amparo said she would probably use it. The idea was to find out what happened the characters would collect footage from multiple viewpoints of the party, different people taking videos, and photos, using Polaroids, etc. They would continue using these different sides of the store and viewpoints to figure out the events of the previous night. The movie genre is to be a mystery thriller film, where they're questioning the events while mixing the anticipation of what truly happened.
  

Amparos Blog

Wyatt - 

• 
  His idea was inspired by movies like The Truman Show. His opening consisted of a man waking up one day to continue his regular life until he felt something was wrong, missing, or different. He had no idea what it was, but it was like an immense gut feeling. Everyone continued on normally, everyone else continued their regular living, not having this same type of sensation the man did. The opening is played from the point of view of the main character, noting, discovering, and showing his entire thought process, giving a sense of mystery to the plot as well as the viewers as they have little to no idea of this random "change." The movie's genre is that of a mystery, leading the viewers to question his reality. 
  

Wyatts blog

Kailen - 

• Her idea was actually inspired by our group, helping her choose what ideas would be best for her overall subject. The plot is about a girl who wakes up some morning believing to going through her regular day until one of her friends appears at her doorstep confronting her with a supposed picture of her from a party the previous night. She'd apparently done something bad, prompting anger and frustration from her friend and they're apparently in trouble, while the girl puzzled has no idea about the actions she's being famed for. The genre of the film is a mystery due to the girl attempting to clear her name while figuring out who'd begun this issue.

Kailens blog

I actually did get a lot of help from this group meeting as the constant review from my friends helped me keep adding to my plot, giving me an entire idea for the plot and opening to the movie which I actually enjoy. I talked to my group about it and even they said they'd like my idea wanting to fully pursue my idea of a dystopian zombie world.  

Aice Media Studies (Research)

 Welp, there isn't really a set direction it's just a research post!

Target audiences:

    Alright, let's talk about the target audiences of genres like horror and psychological thriller.

Age:

    -Psychological Thrillers

• Psychological thrillers are popular with people under 25 and adults up to their 50s. This broad age range gives the genre the potential to reach a wide variety of people.
• Adults rather than children below 18 are targeted for most psychological thrillers because the nature of this genre is often intellectually demanding, violent, and/or psychologically disturbing.
• With regard to gender, slightly more women watch psychological thrillers than men. This is most likely because thriller subgenres like crime and action lack physical conflict, which is common. Emotional and mental conflict attracts fewer males than females.
• Research shows that females are more attracted to psychological mysteries that delve into the intellectual side of thrillers, with the inclusion of psychologically challenging behaviors that feature in them. 

  Moffatt, S. (2016, November 29). Psychological thrillers: Target audience. prezi.com. https://prezi.com/_tx5rlgdlb1u/psychological-thrillers-target-audience/

    -Horror films (in general)

• Unlike Psychological thrillers, Horror films tend to attract a slightly younger audience, especially those under the age of 25. Roughly 42% of horror audiences are women, with 58% being men. Horror films tend to intertwine with thrillers in ways that thrill and scare by dividing audiences into a world that isn't their own. Younger audiences tend to be more prone to seeking out this feeling, hence why horrors don't appeal to elders.
  
  
  
  

Weebly. (n.d.). Genre: Horror films target audience: Http:// ... GENRE: HORROR FILMS. https://cmpalexgilbey.weebly.com/uploads/3/8/8/7/38878453/horror_film_research.pdf\

How do I want to integrate this into my opening?

    Knowing these now that I've researched, I want to make an intro with darker aspects (which I've mentioned before) that audiences that enjoy the build-up of suspense and tension in films can enjoy. I want to feed and fill my consumers with that thrill that all horror lovers strive for. I want to introduce characteristics like low-key lighting, awkward angles, and shaky movements (hand-held cameras) which can help build up this wanted tension. Hopefully, me and my group can accomplish this goal and turn it into a project we're all proud of and able to call ours. Recently me and my group have shifted ideas from demonic entities like Smile and twisted characters like the slashers from Scream into ideas like zombie cliches, being able to bring out the true fear in humans as the end of the world is among them. Although we might change our minds and delve into different storylines, I hope we;re able to reach a solidified goal and get this right. 

Aice Media Portfolio (three credit sequences)

Researching Three Credit Sequences.

All these credit scenes are meant to help me and my group brainstorm ideas to depict these psychological aspects while containing the idea of horror. All the following sequences give credit to the authors, directors, producers, and main cast.

Credit sequence 1: "American Psycho" 2000

In this credit sequence, many factors help the viewers understand the type of man Patrick Bateman is. The sequence contains a bland white background, using fancier fonts, allowing viewers to expect this man to be one of class. The director chooses to create an image of red liquid drops. This could be depicted as blood, when in reality is sauce for gourmet food. Further images are shown when a chef swings a knife down on a piece of meat. This provides some types of violence throughout this depiction of elegance and professionalism.  This can be further implied by the classical type of music which helps create an unsettling atmosphere, adding beautiful sounds, mixed with the disturbing depictions. This helps develop the story's tone, by offering insight into the professionalism exuded by the sequence, while hinting to a disturbance in this elegance, like something off.

Watch only the beginning 1:48 seconds of the video to watch the opening credit sequence.

Credit sequence 2: "The Black Phone" 2021

In the Black Phones credit sequences, I really enjoy the VHS-style credit sequence they make. The movie takes place in 1978 so it makes sense to do this, but it also adds a form of disturbing visuals with the constant bugging and glitching in the credit sequence, as if it were breaking, and decaying,  adding a more unsettling tone to the style the credits are played. Throughout the entirety of the credit scene, the music used is extremely sharp and eerie, haunting, making the sequence more horrific to listen to. The credit sequence contains a lot of imaging, showing constant missing persons posters, hinting at the overall plot of mass missing person cases throughout that area. The images played throughout aren't played vibrantly like in regular fillings, but due to the quality of the VHS tape style, makes these colors more dreadful, darker, and bland setting a darker tone for the movie hinting at the terror it's supposed to induce. 

 

Credit sequence 3: "Alien" 1979

In the movie Alien, director Ridley Scott chooses to begin the title sequence with a slow build-up of a camera just shifting from left to right. This build-up mixed with the simple visuals of just space just gives off the sense of isolation. These dark, empty spaces, it gives the immediate idea of the cold and known space, giving viewers the truly known fact that nobody could hear you in space. In Alien, they don't offer the idea of looking at the stars and seeing "wonder" all you see is dust and darkness. The music used in the title sequence contains two parts, these ambient droning sounds which sound to be used to show the echoes of space, but at the same time, the other part is this high-pitched, screeching sound which gives this tone to stay on edge. This greatly helps to build on the psychological tension.

I've actually been enjoying these credit sequences, they keep me on my chair feeling the pure utter terror that they're meant to start the film with. Sometimes I even take off my headphones for these or lower the volumes cuz they disturb me. Especially that black phone one...

 

Aice Media Portfolio (Schedule)

 Making a followable schedule!

Here I'll write and list the planning schedule myself and my group for the development for my portfolio and Aice Media Film Opening Project. We're all trying to work on the same schedule, being able to hold meetings, plan our actions towards the project, and thought process when doing our blogs.

1. Research

• Research over the chosen genre (Horror, Psychological/thriller)
• Analyzation over several film openings, for encouragement for the final project.

2. Planning

• Decide on a genre.
• Develop the background, context, and plot of the film opening
• Storyboard development
• Deciding the casts of the characters
• Location and dates for filming
• Script
• Uses of songs in the opening.
• Costume elements, mise-en-scene props.

3. Production

• Record Foley scenes, sound effects.
• Produce the film, successfully filming each scene. 

4. Editing

• Edit in the title, in either the beginning or middle of the film opening.
• Include credits to the opening, Including, Authors, Casts, Producers, etc..
• Use proper editing tools for the film opening like Adobe Premiere Pro

5. Revision

• My group plans to go through the final production of the film, checking to see if it meets all the qualifications, if we exceeded our expectations if all the editing is correct, and if everything is in order.

6. Have fun

• I know I'm going to enjoy this process, watching films for references, and being inspired and encouraged by my peers.
• I enjoy getting to film and plan to work out with this group of friends I have. 

The project is due March 25th, meaning I only have eight weeks to plan and complete all of this production. My group and I have also planned our schedules, so we can work together at our owns times.

Week 1: 1/29-2/2

• This week encouraged us to introduce ourselves to the blog postings and plan and discuss initial ideas for the project.
• We were told to post about 2 possible genres

Week 2: 2/3-2/9

• We were meant to finalize decisions on our genre, we chose options like horror and psychological/thriller.
• Meant to decide on our groups: Me, Hannah, Nicholas, and Shira
• This week's blog postings.
• Plan to draw out the storyboard, and develop the plot.
• Choose castings and locations for the film.
• Meeting with Mrs. Stoklosa to discuss plans, and make sure everything's on task

Week 3: 2/10-2/16

• Blog Postings of the week.
• Beginning the film production
• Using sounds from databases, or utilizing Foley sounds.
• Develop script (I'll be using that storyboard I did previously now)
• Commence the group meetings

Week 4: 2/17-2/23

• Develop characters, and express their plot and overall story.
• focusing on mise-en-scene elements.
• focus on audio components.
• begin film editing.

Week 5: 2/24-3/2

• We'll analyze the film's first version, ensuring it's all right.
• We plan to create multiple versions, maybe 2 or 3 more edited versions to identify which is most liked.
• Complete the corresponding blog postings

Week 6: 3/3-3/9

• We'll choose the best version possible, analyzing it even more
• Reflection 
• We'll work on the 1st question of the CCR post.

Week 7: 3/10-3/16

• Continue research on the following CCR questions (2-4)

Week 8: 3/17-3/25

• The final week of the project, making sure that every goal is reached, and everything is completed and ready to be posted.

We'd all joined a call that night to prepare ourselves for the upcoming production days, editing days, etc. Hopefully, everyone's able to stick to this schedule and not have any last-minute plans or somewhat.

Aice Media Portfolio (The Three films)

Research/Analyze/Discuss Three Film openings About my genre

Opening 1: "Fall" 2022

In the Fall, it begins the scene showing Becky, her husband Dan, and her BFF Hunter. They're climbing up mountains with little to no equipment, most likely hinting that they're experts in this field of expertise. The beginning sequence starts with lively music after a very risky jump Becky had to make to get to the other side of this crevice along the mountain. The camera angles cruise throughout the mountain tops, and sides, showing inserts and different viewpoints of the entire mountain from a long shot to sometimes extreme long shot point of view. This leads audiences to believe everything will go well, a sense of freedom in this sense of living, showing what this trio enjoys best. The entire mood of the opening switches as the camera is then placed inside what seems to be a hole, zooming inwards while facing the exit of the whole. Mise-en-scene can be used to discover that the hole most likely is used as a bird's den, following the depictions of feathers throughout the hole.

As the camera zooms farther and farther in, the tone of the music switches from the lively one mentioned, transitioning to this more eerie and sharper vibe. Following this Dan (The husband) reaches into the hole (to apply an anchor to hold him) and unfortunately loses footing, plummeting down, snapping the safety thing holding him, and falling to his death. This opening scene helps introduce the viewer into the environment of what is to be the movie, immersing them in the high-stakes that this type of hobby includes, forming the suspenseful environment, and encouraging them into the sense of dangerous heights, isolation, and the threat of danger. I believe this is an excellent choice of how to set the mood for a psychological thriller, adding intense moments with near-death experiences, as well as adding crucial moments to the development of characters like giving Becky, a traumatic experience, giving her mental issues, and insecurities. This is a crucial part of developing the psychological aspect of the film. 

Fall (2022) Opening sequence

Opening 2: "The Invisible Man" (2020) 

In The Invisible Man, dim lighting is used throughout the entirety of the sequence. It shows a blonde-haired woman, Cecilia, escaping her abusive partner in the middle of the night. (not specified but implied) She carefully moves all cameras angling into spots where she can check them if needed to know if her partner wakes up. This house uses a lot of mise-en-scene, to emphasize the fortress-like appearance of this home. It includes a lot of white coloring, like paint, using darker furniture to show off the modern type atmosphere of the home. This sequence focuses on the intense atmosphere that he created throughout every precise movement. This creates a feeling of urgency and anxiety, showing the audience that this woman desperately needs to escape. Mise-en-scene continues to enforce this stress, showing props like duffel bags filled with money, passports, and legal transcriptions to show how this woman is packing to leave the home.

Further mise-en-scene is used to show a laboratory of some sort within the man's home, showing countless PhDs, multiple computers, and mountains of high-tech equipment for possible research and experiments. This offers attention to detail of the surroundings, cold, lifeless, bland, and unsettling atmosphere. Furthering in the opening, more establishing shots are taken of just empty, showing low-key lighting, encouraging this idea of the unsettling and empty environments, as if something could be watching. As she starts changing her clothes, with everything ready to escape, the scenes become her high pace, showing her speed walking through the house, incorporating tracking shots to follow this haste. This offers further insights into her paranoia and fear of getting caught, offering uncertainty about whether she'll be caught. Right before she leaves, she goes back to the dog of the boyfriend, using mise-en-scene with props and costume design, viewers can tell the dog has a shock collar on, not letting her get so far. This further implies the idea of abusiveness of the boyfriend as even he keeps the dog captive. (As soon as the collars are removed, the dog goes sprinting out, so it's also implied) In the final events of the opening scene, Cecilia runs out of the garage while taking off the dog's collar, the dog bumps into the car, setting off an alarm. This inclusion of Digetic and NonDigetic through the pace of the music, as well as the car's alarm, adds intense amounts of intensity to the scene, a thrill whether she'll escape or not. I believe this is a good example of an opening for a psychological thriller as it includes traumatic experiences, as well as troubled pasts, as someone like the abusive ex-boyfriend could haunt her psychologically. The thrill, mixed with paranoia and uncertainty also exemplifies how horrific a situation like this could be for anyone. This helps prove, that you don't need ghosts or monsters to create terror, the situation is enough.

The Invisible Man Opening Sequence

Opening 3: "10 Cloverfield Lane" (2016)

I also believe this opening is a great example of a psychological thriller, also like "The Invisible Man" the scene incorporates mise-en-scene to show the main character, Michelle, picking her things up, packaging her belongings, offering near empty room to the audience, while zooming on an abandoned wedding ring, this signifying she's also running away from something or someone. Before this, she was on call with someone, showing uncertainty in her expressions, hinting at relationship problems, or emotional trauma. Throughout this entire part of the opening, no diegetic sound is used, relying only on the characters, facial and body language to incorporate the anxiety shown throughout this part. With this tone mixed with the non-diegetic sound of the pace of music, it creates a feeling of mystery. 

To further the opening, the following scene incorporates inserts of shots using, long shots of the outside of the vehicle as it drives on a road, using close-ups to show the character's facial language, and then switching to an extreme long shot/ Master shot of the camera zooming backward, tracking the car, as it moves down the highway. This builds up tension with the recurring theme the author uses to incorporate the feeling of distancing away.

The story shifts, further building the tension as throughout the night while checking through her phone, bam! She gets struck by another car. This immediately ends the music played, switching over to purely dietetic sound, including inserts, showing different mid, close-ups and hand-held camera shakes to incorporate the dramatic switch within the tone, enforcing this violent crash. The opening ends but uses cuts in between the scenes showing the crash to show the credits. This type of cutting allows the viewers to take in what they're watching, understand this, and drag the devastation of the crash. The opening ends, leading with mystery to what happened. I really like this opening, as it starts the movie, making viewers believe it to be a sad coming of age as it leads those into thinking that'll be a Coming-of-age movie while adding some sort of urgency to why the woman is leaving. The dramatic switch leads audiences into a state of shock and confusion as the crash is unexpected, allowing it to make audiences truly think about what this story could lead toward.

10 Cloverfield Lane Opening Sequence

I actually really enjoyed going through these openings, finding them on YouTube, and watching them. I hope my analyzation.