CCR

UNLACED

Proud to present my teams movie "Unlaced" I hope you guys like it because it took a lot of time, effort and lack of sleep. It has been great working with these guys and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything. So grab some popcorn, grab a friend and ENJOY!

The actual target for our movie

So i had already done a blog post about target audience but not For the genre that our movie ended up being. As you guys know we decided to go with the genre drama because we feel that with that genre we can relate issues of the 21st century (like gay acceptance in our film). Drama target audiences are usually geared to a broad audience because most people can relate with the events that occur. In our film the target audience is between young to middle aged adult male and females of middle or upper class. This movie appeals to the target because they are the youth of the world and they are more accepting to change. although our opening is vague on these issues it would be later in the filmed that there issues would be touched as you have read in my previous posts. I also felt like this was agreed towards the younger audiences because most of them like Brennan, the main character, are confused about their sexuality and personally i feel as if though somebody wants to be gay then they should have the serenity to do as they please without anyone bothering them or them bothering anyone.
This movie serves as example to our target audience on what not to do in a stressful situation.

Last day of filming!

So exited to announce that we finished our last day of filming on April 4th. We filmed a couple of important scenes. One of the scenes we filmed was one that indicates that Brennan is gay but in a subtle way. It was a mid shot of him from a low angle pulling a picture frame from under the bed and smashing it on the ground. Later in the movie we find out that the picture frame was of Leo and him holding hands.

To get the high angle shot of the car going by we got harrison (the most uncoordinated of the four) to get up on a tree and balance himself.


This is how we got the high angle shot of the tree as you see
Harrison is pretty high up and we were lucky enough to find a
tree that had a branch cut off so that Harrison could stand.

Even though don't have the best gadgets to film and what not
I feel as though we have done a fantastic job to film with the help of the techniques we have learned in class

Character Background

Hey guys I feel like I have talked about this movie too much without explaining the characters too much. In our opening we have 4 characters possibly 5 but for now we for sure have Brennan, Leo, Franklin, and Pablo. We may add a female character if needed...

Brennan (played by Austin Dunne) - An 18 year old male with black hair and blue eyes who is confused on his sexual preference and part of the reason he is confused is because he is very involved with his church. He is also confused on that because he is low key a homophobe. He is Leo's Secret lover but uses his girlfriend Cassandra as a disguise to his Identity.

Leo (played by harrison Miller) - An 17 year old, openly gay male with brown hair and green eyes, Brennan's secret lover and best friend but wants to come out into the light with it, murdered accidentally by Brennan.

Franklin (played by Jonathan Blake Linder)- An 18 year old male who is friends with Brennan, Leo and Pablo but way closer to Pablo than the other 2. If Franklin is called anything besides Franklin including (Frank, Frankie, Fran etc.) he gets really mad and starts crying. 

Pablo (played by Andrés Reveiz)- An 18 year old male who is best friends with Franklin but also  friends with Brennan and leo. He is a jokester and loves to dance. To mess around he calls Franklin by nicknames just to see his reactions. He is currently the only one of the group who has a car.

Filming Day

Today we started the filming of our two minute opening! We started by meeting around 1pm at Markham Park in Sunrise,  Florida. We wanted to film in this place known as the "Hobo Hole" which is a tunnel for construction workers on the high way. Although we didn't film inside of the physical hole, we filmed along the slope needed to get to it. Since the death of leo occurred through the actions of Brennan accidentally pushing Leo off the slope. We purpose made it look as though it looked like Leo died from jumping off the highway bridge. We didn't film the actual death scene because thats not part of our 2 minute opening. What we ultimately are gonna end up editing the film of "Leo dead" and all the scenery shots at Markham is the title opening accompanied with dramatic music to bring excitement and mystery to the viewer. We took shots of the highway, forest plants and the shoe "Leo" was wearing to create the title scene.



This is what the area looks like where the murder occurred. In the background you can see the slope.

Welcome to Markham Park .com. (n.d.). Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://www.markhampark.com/

D. (2008, August 5). Bridge overpass in Florida highway at the 595/I-75 junction. Retrieved April 02, 2017, from http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/bridge-overpass-in-florida-highway-royalty-free-image/505890823

A Fixed Idea... Finally

Hey all! Happy Friday! Since Fridays are fun and relaxed I would like to take this time to tell you about the movie we are going to start filming this weekend. 

The movie revolves around our main character who is gay... but not openly. We don't know this at first, in the beginning of the movie we think he is straight. In the movie the main characters best friend , Leo, had "gone missing" or at least that is what is presumed. The first half of the movie is the main character and his friends go out on excursions to look for their beloved friend but, it carries on for too long and his friends start to worry... They start to question if Leo is still alive. A couple weeks later they get a call from the police saying that they found Leo's body in an abandoned field. Later in the film we find out It was the main character, Brennan, which means sorrow in Gaelic Ireland, killed Leo through matching handwriting on "Leo's" suicide note. We aren't sure why he killed his best friend until the end when he comes out as gay but didn't that he didn't want to have people know. At the end of the film he is so overwhelmed with hate that he ultimately kills himself. (This is a loose plot subject to change). 

Rivers, F. (2012, February 10). Brennan. Retrieved March 31, 2017, from http://www.ohbabynames.com/meaning/name/brennan/1429#.WN5_UzkpChA

Oops...

Hey guys, I'm back! Really sorry about not having posted all week... I've had some internet problems along with personal issues I had to deal with, but whats important is that i'm back now!

I really am sorry to tell you guys this, but... NEW MOVIE IDEA and we are actually going with this one... I hope. 

So the idea is that the movie is about this kid that dies, but his best friend accidentally caused the death. We are not really sure how he dies yet but we liked the idea.

The scene would start off with some credits followed by a group of kids in the car blasting music. They all seem happy except for one who is looking out the window with a sad face. Theres just something that seems off about his attitude and we find out that his friend "committed suicide" a week ago. 

We decided to take this rout of a drama because we didn't want to go too cliché and with a horror movie that would've been the outcome. We wanted to make a film opening to something people could more easily relate to... not that people can relate to causing someones death that commonly but more so than horror.

Can't Go Wrong With a Blondie ;)

Hey guys, I found something funny just now. So I looked up "Victim actresses for horror movies" and I was not surprised to find that most of the Actresses were blonde, ditzy, young looking girls... kinda like the girls on the cheerleading team lol. Here are some of the pictures I saw...

      

My guess to lead actresses being being blonde and around their 20's is because this attracts the target audience which is in his 20's too, but I did some research and what I found was that back when the films were black and white; the color white represented purity. So the blonde actress would serve on a pure soul for the monster to feast on. Now their female counterparts, the brunettes, were seen as the monster if the monster so happened to be a female, like Dracula's daughter. 

Now in modern day the blonde isn't seen as the "pure soul" but more as "the dumb blonde" or "the slut" which went well with my guess to why they're the main ones on screen. Their look is still preferred because the director can use he fact that their stereotypical dumbness makes them more prone to be the first murdered because of their poor choices. Which while I was reading this article made me laugh because it made me realize of all the things about stereotypical blondes being the first to die. 

Personally I think we are going to go for a blonde not for the but with a twist. Like, a good girl but that it's like just like her dumbness that makes her pure but this idea is still pending...

Stay tuned for next weeks posts! 

Rizzo-Turpin, C. (2013, September 16). 6 Horror Movie Sets That Were Actually Haunted. Retrieved March 19, 2017, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/159314905541643826/ 

Peitzman, L. (2013, October 16). The 25 Fiercest Final Girls Of Horror. Retrieved March 19, 2017, from https://www.buzzfeed.com/louispeitzman/the-25-fiercest-final-girls-of-horror?utm_term=.mqRqGXe2Nm#.bh36pKVxyA

Colangelo, B. (2014, September 19). The Importance of Blondes in Classic Horror. Retrieved March 19, 2017, from http://iconsoffright.com/2014/09/19/the-importance-of-blondes-in-classic-horror/

I Got a Target... And It's You

Yo what's up guys I got a target, and its you! LOL i was doing some research and i found out that the most successful target audiences for horror/thriller films are between the ages of 15-25.

This target audience is great because a lot of our test audiences are going to be peers from class and friends. I was reading that these ages work best for the genre because these thrills cause excitement in the younger generations. It also says that younger audiences are not put off by disturbing images in my opinion it gets your adrenaline running.

Males are typically more likely to watch horror films because they are more incline to violence like the one that is shown in the films. our movie is perfect for this i mean how much more violent can u get than death by knife... I am personally a perfect fit for my own target audience. I like to watch horror movies because i like to bring a girl along with me so she gets scared and has me comfort her. This boosts my confidence and makes the movie better.

Now, I don't think anyone would want to  go see a Horror film alone. These types of films draw a good amount of audience because viewers invite guests to accompany each other.
This may be a good first date idea because you and that lucky girl can go on that first date and get some conversation starters coming out of the film.

Since Horror movies don't need a huge budget (Thank God!), the entry to the movie doesn't cost much this is good for our young adult target to motivate them to watch our film. It's good quality entertainment for a low price and even better if you're paying for two it doesn't hurt your pocket as bad!

Mattmosey1 Follow. (2014, January 07). Horror Movie Target Audience. Retrieved March 18, 2017, from https://www.slideshare.net/mattmosey1/my-target-audiance

The Research Begins

Today I started researching Successful horror film techniques and was pleased with what I found. I found a nice straight forward article titled "5 Rules From James Wan For Making a Successful Horror Movie in 2016" and I was pleased with the very first rule! As you may remember from my previous blog posts about my concerns, I was a bit worried about not having enough money for the film opening we were creating. Rule number one was that a Horror movie doesn't have to be expensive it even says that "If you can’t scare an audience with a low budget, you’re probably going to struggle to find success in the horror genre." This was such a huge relief for me because personally that was my greatest concern!

Rule number two was Tuning a classic on its head which basically put your own twist on a classic idea and basically that's what we want to do with our own film. We want to make a horror film about a serial killer but from the detectives point of view. This is an idea that hasn't really been touched yet and that is going to put a different flair to the serial killer movies.

Rule 3 is creating a Great set piece which we will produce in the film opening. As i explained in my previous blog post, the serial killer will be wearing the victims dress before he kills the rest. This is the iconic scene that people will talk about for the restive their lives.

Rule 4 is to undermine your audience like the set piece we have come up with the element of surprise is the most important effect. When the serial killer is unexpectedly viewed on a couch with 3 other kids wearing the 4ths dress it throws you off a bit. This element of surprise keeps the viewers at the edge of their seat.

rule number 5 is appeal to primal human fears which is basically saying to tap into child hood fears that may cause flashbacks. Although we haven't come up with any ideas for this for our own movie im sure we can incorporate elements to make the movie scarier than it already is.

These 5 rules are sure to help me and my group members succeed on our film opening.

Winfrey, G. (2016, August 04). 5 Rules From James Wan For Making a Successful Horror Movie in 2016. Retrieved March 17, 2017, from http://www.indiewire.com/2016/07/5-rules-from-james-wan-making-a-successful-horror-movie-in-2016-1201709025/

Something New?

Whats up guys sorry for having 3 posts on one day! But I just wanted to tell you guys about some new stuff....

So my group and I have recently made a group chat on Whatsapp to brainstorm some ideas and its also an easy way to communicate with the whole group. Two of my group members, Jonathan and Harrison, told me about a cool Idea that they came up with. They came up with an idea about a student dying while taking the SAT, because supposedly if a student dies everyone in the room gets a perfect score! it sounded very interesting to me although we have to do some research... What do you guys think?

Everyone Has Problems... Right?

My group and I are puzzled in some aspects of creating a 2 minute opening for our film. It can't all go perfect right? But I think that if we work together we can solve some of our problems.

Problem 1: We have no money! In order to create a movie with costumes and perfect lighting and controlled conditions we'd have to have money. A lot of money. Although we have no money it doesn't mean we aren't going to make a well made film, it just means we are going to have to be creative and use what we have around us. Our biggest concern with money was costuming, while brain storming we had some ideas about superhero movies but we decided not to go that route because good costumes would have to be bought in order to make the movie not look mediocre. We decided to not do any science fiction movies at all because the costume expense would just be too high. So as u read in the previous post we came up with 21st century movie ideas that could be professionally made with clothes we have right at home.

Problem #2: Actually picking a genre for a movie! As you read in the previous post we are stuck between 2 ideas but before we make the final decision we have to do our research. Starting tomorrow each of our 4 members will start researching about both horror and suspense films so that we get a better idea of which would be better suited for us as a whole. Hopefully we decide soon because I'm very eager to start actually creating the production no matter which way we go.

These are two main problems that my team and I have had. Once we decide which way to go though it will be a smooth ride.

The First Time the Group Teams Up

So as of now, my group and i don't have much yet... We had a debate on whose idea we should pick. We all had great ideas but we haven't really decided a winner. In the middle of the week my group and I brainstormed during class and were stuck between 2/4 ideas.

My idea was that we make a suspenseful thriller about a couple. The the female of the couple is secretly in a Mafia. The scene would start out from a bystanders point of view (point of view shot) looking into a coffee shop. In the coffee shop we see the couple and u can tell that something is not right. The female finally breaks up with the guy and the guy leaves the coffee shop crying. It cups to an extreme close up of his eyes and you can tell that he's lost some sleep over his ex. His apartment is hot boxed and we can tell it's the day after the breakup because he gets up out of bed and proceeds to cook breakfast. While he cooks breakfast we see the credits on the eggs. Theres a knock on the door and he goes to answer it. when he answers it two men put a bag on his head and we see darkness. this is where the scene ends.

I really like this idea because its not a cliché topic that is usually shown on film. It brings the audience in and makes them want to see more without it being a horror movie.

Although I personally didn't want to go down the horror film path, my group member, Harrison, came up with a fantastic horror film.

Harrison's idea is that the scene starts out as a mid-shot of a group of teenagers sitting on the couch watching a movie but are distracted on their phones. One of the girls.... lets call her "Jenny",  gets up for a glass of water but the camera stays on the mid-shot of the group and we hear what is assumed as a glass drop on the ground. One of the guys says "you ok,  Jenny?" and she responds with "yes, I'm fine" we see Jenny walk back to the couch and sit down. One of the girl asks "what happened in there, Jenny?" while still looking down at her phone. We hear no response, and then the same girl goes "Jenny?" we see a close up of a grown man in jenny clothes with a mask sitting in her spot and all the kids freak out. All the kids run to the door to get out but the same man is there waiting for them. We see an extreme close up of the man pull out a knife and it is assumed he kills the teenagers. The scene cuts the a crime scene the next day in the house we find out all the teenagers died and that its the serial killers 5th killing this month.

This idea is a safer way to go because suspenseful horror films are good films to draw an audience in. I can see myself and my group having a lot of success with this film. Hopefully we'll make up our minds soon!