For this last blog of the week, I'm going to research the importance of the clothing and styling of the characters. Depending on the type of film, the costumes allows the audience to know what time in history was the movie trying to indicate. Costumes like a knight, gives an example that it was during the Medieval Ages, taking the audience to a different place in time.
According to (Theatre and Film Costume Workshop, 2024), states how costume is more than clothing choices, it gives life and shows the experience on the story plot. One of the important concepts of the costume design are the colors and the style that reflects a character's mood, feeling, emotion and overall culture, enhancing meaning to the characters background, allowing the audience to relate within the character and have a deeper connection with the character. Also it plays a significant role in setting tone and atmosphere for the film, helping to establish a visually pleasing mood for the production. For example, a light, colorful and extrovert outfit creates a cheerful mood, while a dark, emo costume may create tense for the characters story.
Additionally, costume design can attract symbolism towards the character. Devarazz. (2023, August 5). The role of costume design in film. Medium. This article explains how the detail in the design such as the accessories, can describe the personal challenges or emotional problems. For instance, a character who uses dark and heavy colors may represent a weak or lonely person, while someone who is always out-standing and vibrant in the film, shows a sense of confidence over the character. This also allows the contrast over two people, emphasizing their relationship.
Usually, in romantic movies, the girl is the extrovert, with light tone, while the guy portrays a negative or pessimistic relationship with life. A movie example is Me Before You, a 2016 romance movie, directed by Thea Sharrock, this film represents a disable person with his "nurse", which eventually fell in love, considering the impossible circumstances. The girl in this movie, has peculiar outfits, that some people might say that those colors do not match. However, that is what the film was trying to represent, the long socks with a colorful dress, emphasizes the girl as a person who loves and enjoys her life. On the other hand, the guy didn't care about what he wore. The messy hair, attitude, and the dark color clothing, represent that his character was dealing with life problems. The bond that the two characters had, is what spark a connection by portraying an impossible love is what engaged the audience attention.
After researching the importance of having a good outfit for the characters, I was able to learn about the different ways to convey the characters plot line. I think that having the time to plan the costumes, the representation of my film opening with the characters contrast of light and dark, confidence and weakness, happiness and loneliness, will engage the audience to understand the movie more deeply, by relating with the characters background information, by visually seeing the aesthetic of the actors. I am confident that by planning the clothing details, the film opening will be easy to follow and comprehend.
Another day, another blog! This blog similar as the last one, but it has a twist, now I'm going to research, analyze and discuss about the credit sequence of three different films. Before doing any research, from what observed, the opening credit sequences in romantic movies have a creative font, with different colors and sizes, and have a soft and gentle beat or song, this creates a friendly and sympathetic tone and atmosphere for the opening.
According to, Miller, A. (2021, October 13). Why a film’s opening title sequence matters. No Film School. This article highlights the importance of the title's opening as a part of the overall movie. By having a creative order in incorporating the credits, the audience can develop interest on the movie concept. However, if the sequence is not pleasant in "aesthetic, style, tone, or theme" then it is most likely to take away the concentration of the public eye.
13 Going On 30 is a 2004 romantic comedy movie, written by Casthy Yuspa and Josh Goldsmith, and directed by Gary Winick. This movie is about a 13 year old girl who one day found herself to be 30 years old and facing real life situation. The movie opening credits have a pink font and a blue background with sparkles, the color and music has an effect on the way the movie is percieved. The font creates a tone that the film will be friendly. Also at the end of the opening credits, they displaced both actors names in a slow, extended shot to allow the audience to notice who will be portraying the characters, and it also helps viewers see the intention and potential of the quality of the movie based on the cast. Additionally, the closing sequences had the same pink color and font, but this time, the directors and cast members name had rolling credits, as if it was less important than the credits from the beginning.
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is a 2012 romantic drama, written and directed by Stephen Chbosky, I haven't watched this movie if I'm being honest, but based on what I researched this movie is about a lonely teenager who finds healing through the relationship of new friendships. When the opening credits began, it creates an idea among the audience that it is going to be about a writer, because the font is like if it is written by a typewriter. This type of font also represents a personal or intimate tone, like if it is a diary or notes about an experience that the character witnessed.The opening credits chose the three most important actors, that will represent the characters that are in the movie. As same as the previous movie, this movie closing credits ends with a fast paced rolling down credits. This type of credits allows to fit more information than at the beginning. Rolling credits permits the movie to list everyone who worked or had screen time in the film.
The Kissing Booth is a 2018 romantic comedy movie, written and directed by Vince Marcello, this movie is about a friendship, that then the girl fell in love with her best friend's brother, putting her long lasting friendship in danger. When I first watched this movie, I like that this film has a way to let the audience engage and relate with the type of friendship the teenagers had. This movie had an interesting way incorporating the credits, by editing them as if the production company names were part of the movie. Moreover, the names of the actors were incorporated so that it was visually aesthetic on the setting that the were located. This movie shows more information than the other movies that I've discussed previously, such as the casting directors, background characters, production designer, and much more. While the credits were appearing on the scene, the story already started, so by having a big font on the screen, it will allow the audience to gather their attention over the names of the people who worked in the movie. While the closing credits had BTS of the process in developing the movie, this choice may affect the visibility and importance of the credits.
With all the research I have done so far this week, I am able to keep learning of the techniques and the importance of elements such as lighting, costume, and credit sequence, to make my film opening smoother. By this, I learned that the choice of font and type of song it is accompanied has to reflect on the theme, tone and visual aesthetic, to get the audience an idea of my story line.
This blog is interesting to make!!! Personally I love watching movies, and better if its sad and romantic movies. When I connect with the characters life it means that the movie did an amazing job in portraying the relationship, because in any movie where something bad happens, such as a breakup or death, I'm going to be the first one crying in the room. This blog is fun to make because I have to research, analyze and discuss three film openings that fall in the category of romance.
My first option I chose Purple Hearts. This movie was created in (2022), directed by Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum. This movie is about a singer who suffers from health problems, Cassie, and a hard working Marine whose goal is to secure military benefits, named Luke. The two characters had different perspective in how life works, but eventually fell in love, and turned their challenges into a loving relationship. This movie starts with the production names of Alloy entertainment, Netflix, and Embankment, then it begins with a variety of shots of the characters life, describing the characters, there are shots with a piano and the voice-over is a girl singing, emphasizing a singer that is one of the main characters of the movie. The male actor is introduced with a close-up of his military tag and uniform. In my perspective the importance of the setting and emotion towards the way the characters behave at the beginning, is significant because it engages the audience attention with the story line of the movie. Moreover, when I had the opportunity to watch this movie, I found interesting how the movie can incorporate both health and political issues into a love story. Actually I found an interview of one of the cast members.
In this interview, Sofia Carson explains how this movie is not only a romantic movie, but also it reflects upon a metaphor of the division of “red and blue” (representing political and social issues) of this country. Additionally she claims that the movie is beautifully done by putting health care problems, in this case it was type 1 diabetes, to a love story. This topics were delicate on the movie, having a crucial moment to explain the problems that both characters had. I think it created a sense of connection with both the characters by being able to share their challenges and grow as a couple, and also the audience who can relate with health care and political issues.
The Titanic is a 1997 historical and romantic film, written and directed by James Cameron. This movie is by far my favorite, because of how perfectionist the producer was with every detail of the characters, the boat, background characters, plot line and script throughout the movie. If I'm being honest I thought that the relationship was based on a true story, but then with interviews, and videos, the truth came knocking at my door, over the fact that the relationship was fictional. This movie is about a love story, explained by the girl who experienced the tragic boat accident called Rose Dawson, who was engage at that time, but was unhappy in the marriage. Throughout the days in the boat, she realized she fell in love with a guy she met on the cruise named Jack, and throughout the movie, they share special moments. The film opening shows the production companies name (Paramount), and begins with a sad, reflective music, showing people boarding on a boat and waving their goodbyes to their loved ones. The title was introduced in a big, pink font, making the audience understand that the movie is going to be about the tragic event that happened in 1912. Then at the end of the opening, it shows a submarine looking for something, with a male's voice over, highlighting the character as an explorer. What I like about this movie, as I recently mention is the overall setting that helped the story develop deeper.
In this interview, one of the main actors in the movie, Leonardo Dicaprio, talks about how the producer James Cameron, does a great job in the character development, which then leads to the audience to get attached, and connected emotionally towards the relationship. I agree with him, thanks to the props and script, this movie created a deep connection towards the characters life, by describing the experience of such a tragic event, awakening the emotional aspects that true love actually exists.
Marriage Story (2019) is a drama film, written and directed by Noah Baumbach. This is one of the movies that is in my bucket list of movies to watch, I’m going to watch it soon and I’ll update you about my opinion, but what I have researched about this movie, is that it is very emotional to watch, because of the plot that the movie has. On the other hand, this film opening starts with the productions company (Netflix), and right away starts with the title in a big, pink font and a black background, so the title can stand out over the background. A reflective music starts to play, appearing a female character, but the voice-over is a male, describing his partner. The setting and the different shots of the house enhances the families status in their city. Also the lighting with the shots of the couple spending quality time, emphasizes the relationship as friendly and stable. Additionally, I saw an interview of one of the characters talking about the process and their own opinion of the overall movie.
The actress Scarlett Johansson, believes this movie is heartbreaking as both characters fell love and passion towards each other that “grown to hate each other”. Johansson, also says how the film did a great job in showing how even though hate is present in divorce, love will forever stay strong in the life of divorced people, no matter how long the marriage lasted.
After researching this three film openings it gave me an idea on what type of vibe I would like to produce. This research and analysis will be crucial in my opening because the different use of techniques, like lighting, props, and music, will guide my process to the final step. Also, I want my audience to relate and feel like they are apart of the characters journey throughout the opening.
Over this past school year of being in this class, one thing I have learned is to not procrastinate! Having a plan and schedule is useful to know what and when to start recording and editing my project, so when the due date is coming I'm not rushing with producing, filming and editing. This blog is to guide my way of creating this project, I'm going to break down what I'm doing for the next eight weeks. My goal is to finish filming and editing on week seven, so in week eight I have time to check if something went wrong, and have time to solve it.
Week One (1/16-1/23)
Research and analysis
Research about genre:
- Have a base line on what the film opening will be about.
- End of the week, choose one of the two genres ( romance or thriller).
Start planning:
- Plot of the movie and the script.
Week Two (1/26-2/1)
Production planning
Finish planning:
- Script development and correction.
Research:
-How to make the opening engaging(ex. music, lighting).
-Plan the logistics of where, when, and how to edit and film.
Week Three (2/2-2/8)
Corrections and revisions for finals script
Define the plot of the opening .
Find setting:
- Costume, actors, and locations
Start filming scenes.
Week Four (2/9-2/15)
Continuation of filming
Continue filming.
Start editing:
- Experiment different types of music or beats that go with the vibe of the film.
Week Five (2/16-2/22)
Keep editing and revisions
Keep editing:
- Add music, and transition.
-Record foley or voice overs if needed.
Week Six ( 2/23-3/1)
Continuation of editing:
Keep editing new shots.
Revise the progress of the filming.
- Adjust audio with the clips.
Continue filming ( if needed).
Start thinking of my CCR.
Week Seven (3/2-3/8)
Critical Creative Reflection (CCR)
Research how to write a CCR.
-Start to develop the reflection.
End of week seven: revise it and check for errors (grammar).
Check for errors in the opening film ( if not everything will turn out to be just fine).
Week Eight (3/9-3/17)
Chill week?
- Revise the CCR and opening.
If something happens this is the week to find a solution and fix the problem.
With this plan I'm going to try my target is to achieve and complete every step for the next eight weeks, if I can't, I will modify the step and put it for another week. I know that procrastinating is one of my biggest obstacles when it comes to school work, but I would like to challenge myself with this project so that I can learn to be organized, and become more responsible in the upcoming projects in life.
Welcome back!! For my second option, I'm going to research about the genre thriller, with this important information, it will allow to guide me on how to record my opening for the project. "The Sixth Sense" (1999) or "The Others" (2001) are thriller films that create the feeling of curiosity towards the audience of what will happen next. What I would like to incorporate in my film opening is the tension that this type of films make when the music rises its density and the lighting starts to fade making the audience more interest of what follows next.
Normally the audience of this genre are young adults and adults who enjoy unexpected twists throughout the movie, and immersive their attention by the quick and unclear pace. Also this age group enjoys this type of movies because of the preference over crime, and mystery rather than fantasy, because of the deep thinking and the feeling it creates at the end of the movie. Additionally the movies tend to portray a group or a person that goes through peculiar, mysterious, and dangerous situations throughout their journey which leads them to solve their problems out of the situations with life threatening or unexpected turns.
The conventions of content for the storyline of thriller movies are often life or death situations with short information, and throughout the plot, the information starts to reveal, allowing the audience to understand or keep them thinking of how the situation will come to a solution. In addition the conventions with techniques is crucial for this types of movies, because it gathers the targeted audiences attention. With the short and fast pace editing and the tense music builds up tension alarming the audience that something bad is going to happen. Also the dark lighting makes the audience have a feeling of stress and anxious towards the ending of the character.
"The Lie" is a 2018 thriller/crime film, written and directed by Veena Sud, it starts by showing a girl who is the main character and her friend, illustrating their closeness and trust they had towards each other, by showing this, it awares the audience that the girls will go through a dangerous situation. Then it leads to the main character to keep a secret throughout the movie. I liked this movie, because it represents how the girl would do anything just to keep her friends secret, the use of dialogue of the characters makes the viewers triggered on what happened with her lost friend. Also the dark and cold environment and the slow tone conveys the audience to understand how the girl is feeling, guilty and sad, alarming the interest of if she is saying the truth or if there is something that needs solving. This is crucial because by experimenting with lighting it builds up tension, I want to corporate the different lighting so that at the end of the opening, people are interesting and engaged throughout the movie.
"Missing" is a 2023 thriller and mystery movie, directed by Will Merrick, this movie is about a girl trying to figure out who is the kidnapper of her mom and her boyfriend, during the movie, the girl is finding clues, calling professional agents and people that might have a lead to finding them. This movie is edited with the movement of the girl's computer and phone screen. This interested me because it was produced differently as other thriller movies, also with the lack of background and setting, it didn't allowed the audience to fully see what was going on in the real world. However, the editing of this movie might be hard to make. I admired the dialogue, because the leads of the clues create hope and courage to keep looking for more and that the mom is still alive. Also the movie always had dark lighting to represent suspense. I want to have this approach because the feeling of being on the edge of the couch trying to figure out who is responsible for this problem, is worth to keep watching the movie.
Hi readerss!! for this assignment, I have the opportunity to create a 2 minutes opening film about any type of genre or sub genre. I am excited to be able to explore how to produce, write and direct by own short video. For this blog I'm going to research about romance, and its audience, marketing and much more!!
For romance movies, the typical audience are females, especially ages 13 - 40, because young to mature audiences are more sensible which leads them to feel more affection towards this type of content. Furthermore, this age audience is starting or have this types of romance going on in their lives, which allows them to easily attach and relate with the story plot of the movie. Teenagers romanticize and enjoy watching romantic movies, because they dream on having the perfect boy, relationship and having a happy ending as normally this genre tends to end. Usually the narrative picture for romance is creating the plot about a couple facing positive or negative drawbacks of being together, which has a solution at the end, resulting often in a happy ending, which are usually targeted to the age group who enjoy the emotional stories.
The conventions with content means the plot of the movie with its themes, narrative structure, specific elements, etc. For romance, the typical theme of the genre is two people fall in love, the relationship has challenges and obstacles such as distance, jealousy, or infidelity. Then it leads to a separation or solution, and normally ending in a happy ending, or in different cases an emotional ending. Moreover, the conventions with techniques refers to how the producers use different tools to transmit the message with emotions towards the audience. An example for romance is the soft lighting to create an intimate connection, the use of slow and emotive music for romantic scenes, and also the word choice of the characters allows the audience to connect and relate with the movie.
"To All the Boys I've Loved Before" is a 2018 romcom movie directed by Susan Johnson, it's about a teenage love, which the relationship goes through ups and downs. When I first watched this movie, I admired the type of relationship and love the two teenagers had towards each other. I think this feeling is crucial to portray in the opening because it generates the audience to feel a connection and hope of true love. I want to corporate the soft lighting and music this movie has, because it made me feel relaxed to understand that the movie was going to have its happy ending. The word choice of the movie and the way the different settings each character had made the movie more interesting, and less boring to watch, which plays an important role in this type of movies.
Another movie is "Five Feet Apart" created by Justin Baldoni in 2019. This movie is about a girl and a boy who both had a vulnerable genetic disorder called the cystic fibrosis, which meant that people who had this disorder couldn't get closer than six feet from each other. This movie shows how they fell in love, but couldn't touch because they had to maintain the distance. However, this movie successfully created a romantic movie that did not have a happy ending. This is one of my favorites, because of the unexpected, sad, and emotional ending, which is not a typical movie ending for this genre. The set of the whole movie was in a hospital which allowed the audience to understand it was about a sick person. So I think that having a specific and story related background will make my opening understandable. Also the use of dark and greyish lighting creates tension, highlighting the possible plot of the movie.
Hi Cambridge reviewers!! From this moment on, my blogs will be about the development and process of my final exam. The posts will be mostly about research of different topic of interest which will guide me to create the final master piece. With almost a two month project, I will use this space to write down my ideas, with pictures, videos and much more. With that being said, my teacher introduced the class with crucial information towards how to develop a film opening.
With this information, I am able to have an idea or base line for the creation of the film. For example, by developing purpose, the audience will have an understanding about the main character, tone and background. However, I'm going to do more research on how to create an understandable tone for the film opening so that my idea is clear.
Another approach I would like to include is establishing the setting. I enjoy watching films were it is clear where the movie is going to be located. The setting is crucial because it allows contexts for what will happen for the rest of the movie. I admire the opportunity to explore and experiment different types of shots, visuals and settings to make the film opening get the audience attention.
