Production has Started

Yesterday, I began filming the scene. I got most of the filming done I'd say besides the part of the story with the flashback. I, of course, shot the same scene in various shots and angles. I'm sure throughout the editing process I'll notice that I will have to re shoot some of the shots and add different angles and lighting. My actors were very good apart from the laughing every once in a while. Directing is an interesting role because you chose everything that gets put into the frame, and you decide what the audience sees. It's really up to the director to be able to capture everything in the chance their given. I like the task of having the responsibility of showing all that I can.
My video consists mostly of over the shoulder shots and two shots. It's almost all conversation so those are the primary shots for that sequence. Towards the end there is a very dramatic zoom into the face which I actually like a lot. I think I'm gonna do plenty of swaps from shoulder to shoulder during the conversation. I have a pan when one actor stands up to do something which I think flows really well. All in all I think it's very good so far and i'm very excited.
I'm going to start editing real soon, so depending on how that goes, it'll determine how I set up my schedule for this upcoming week. Hopefully i don't run into too many problems along the way and have to end up re shooting the whole video. I will give you guys an update on the editing next time.

Script and Production begins THIS WEEK

I have almost everything in check at the moment. I have my actors, setting, the layout of the story, everything. Except the script. I have a couple rough drafts of the script but I haven't settled on a final script. The basic overview of the script is it begins with the credits, the protagonist is at his desk doing paperwork when his partner comes in. They have a small chat about something going on in the world when the protagonist then asks his partner if they've caught a break in the case. At this point the partner tells him yes and thats why she stopped by the office, she then questions him on his youth and the death of his parents. The protagonist is confused but goes on to tell her what happened. He finishes and asks what that is all about, she pauses for a bit and tells him that their lead suspects are his supposedly dead parents. The protagonist is shocked and cant believe the news as he demands his partners to run the prints 10 more times saying there's no way that it could be his parents they've been dead. After a short discussion the scene ends as the audience is left with mystery and suspense.

I don't think the script will be difficult to create but, I'm worried for production to begin because I know I will encounter some sort of problem, so the whole project is kind of stressful at the moment. This week will be vital for me to be focused and concentrated on all of the small details of my production. Hopefully I will be able to finish shooting this week and focus next week to editing it all up.

Female Detective?

I was thinking about how I would like to make the main detectives partner female. As I continued to read about other detective shows, I began to notice a pattern in the recent shows. Females begin to have larger roles in the Police force. This is clear in shows like Castle, Bones, Elementary, and Law and Order. It is very stereotypical to make the main detective and all the police force male. This is because the modern day society doesn't believe that women can handle being tough and athletic, whilst at the same time being beautiful and family-oriented. The character Dr. Watson in the hit crime show, Elementary, is a prime example of how female detectives are reinventing the detective role. A female will usually not go the option of force, but rather think of a plan and execute it to perfection, however they are occasionally very badass when pissed off. Dr. Watson, who is played by Lucy Liu, appeals to a broader audience of females. Women can feel more alike with the character due simply to the fact that she is female. Normally, television shows make the female detective stray from her feminine side to show that they can do the "mans job" so to speak. Some shows put very little make up on their actress to make her seem more manly.


Minorities have also had an increase in appearances on the television screen. Lucy Liu, is again a great example for this. Although she herself is American, her parents are Chinese. She represents an Asian culture and appeals to the audience as well. For my production I will also be using a female for my detective's partner. She is hispanic and will attract a broader audience.

Peer Review

So the other day we had a peer review session. I heard a lot of interesting suggestions from my peers. A concern of min, which I have stated in the past, is how to incorporate the protagonist's backstory into the scene, which my peers helped me in deciding that I should do a flashback with a voiceover of the conversation the protagonist is having with his partner in the present time. So the partner is going to ask the protagonist, aka the main detective, to tell him again what happened with his parents. As the the main detective begins to explain what had happen, there is a flashback but you continue to hear the detective's voice explaining what is occurring. My peers said I should have someone explaining to the young boy about the tragedy. This will be a pretty simple way to let the viewer know about the past while keeping it interesting and quick.
Another issue of mine that was resolved was the length of the credits, which the group let me know should actually be quite short due to the fact that I'll have to do quite a lot of dialogue. The scene will require a lot of story telling and dialect so I shouldn't really focus too much time on something that's not as important.
The next step for me is to develop the script which will take me a couple days. I'm going ton have to make it very interesting. I'll be back when I have advanced in that aspect.

Character Development

I believe the next big part to think about for my film opening of course would be character development. How can I explain who this person is in such a short amount of time or how can I share his story and what he's been through but at the same time keep it short and sweet. I think that's going to be a very difficult part of the process because theres is a 2 minute limit on this video. I already am wasting about 15-30 seconds on the opening credit, and then i have to create the mystery and explain the situation, so fitting in where to tell the characters story and how to tell it will have to take a lot of planning. In an article about character development, Frank Daniel of Columbia University, states that "a story begins with character development." If the storyteller doesn't know their character(s) inside and out then the story will have no shot at success. Character development should also be created in a hierarchal form, meaning that the most important characters should be the first ones thought of and the lesser important ones after.

Then there is the fact whether or not you want to make your protagonist evil or good, energetic or lazy, loving or mean. It is all up to the writer to shape how this development goes. The audience may not always love the protagonist and that's okay. For example, in "Clockwork Orange", the villain is the protagonist but that's what makes the story what it is. In this article it is also noted that "hierarchy in screenwriting and writing can be broken up into four main classes: main characters, supporting characters, subplot characters, and one-string characters." 
So for my character, he is a late 30 year old white male, who was orphaned at the age of 8 after his parents died in a car accident. His father was a cop which is what led him to becoming one himself. He never had a lot of money growing up due to the fact that he lived in an orphanage for a long time. He is from Miami, Florida He is also a very hardworking person. Now I want to be able to incorporate most of those details in my opening so that the audience gets an idea of who my character really is. I'm going to try and think of a way to bring some of that up through dialogue or for certain things, such as the setting, I could maybe use props to show location. 
That is it fro now, hopefully I'll have a better understanding of my character the next time I post about the project.

Research On Crime Dramas

This is the beginning of the research portion for this project. I've been researching a couple articles and powerpoint's now and have a pretty good understanding of how to develop the plot in my scene. The first article I read was about the components of an opening scene. According to that article, every good opening scene has 10 certain components for it to be compelling. A very important aspect of the opening scene is to explain the backstory, in my case being that the main characters parents were killed when he was young, of the characters. A good show that exercises this component very well is the Netflix original, "Bloodline". In the pilot episode of the Bloodline, the first scene opens up with a voiceover of the protagonist explaining the backstory with his older brother. This informs the viewer of why certain things are occurring in the manner in which they are. The article also indicates that a lot of the fault with backstories is that sometimes writers go to in depth and add too much backstory to a plot to the point where it gets boring and excessive.


Another critical aspect to an opening drama is the inciting incident mentioned in the article. The inciting incident is really supposed to draw viewers in and form a problem that will present throughout a big part of the show. Other problems also branch off of the main incident. This incident also affects the main character, typically. The show Gotham opens up with Bruce Wayne's parents being killed in front of him and detective Jim Gordon promising that he will catch the killer. The main plot of the show for those two is looking for the killers, but throughout that process they encounter a numerous amount of problems.

In my plot, these components are present, making it a very dramatic scene. It'll create mystery and suspense when the main character is informed that his "dead parents" fingerprints are at a crime scene 25 years after their tragic death in a car accident.

Planning

Week One: 3/6- 3/12
  Brainstorming, coming up with ideas

Week Two: 3/13- 3/19
Gathering up research on the genre, and beginning to plan for filming.

Week Three: 3/20- 3/26
Keep researching the topic, begin shooting.
Develop full details about the plot.

Week Four: 3/27- 4/2
Keep shooting and editing the video.
Continuing the research for the opening scenes of the genre

Week Five: 4/3- 4/7
Shoot and edit the final parts of the video.

Final: 4/9
Have it all edited up, and the blog done.

Adding to the First Idea

    I've continued to think of the possible mystery style opening. The scene would be in a detective's office, with a desk, cabinets, paperwork, etc... Like I said before the protagonist would be approached by a partner of sorts and the partner would tell him that the leads they have on the case are his parents. The two would be wearing a plain colored button down with a tie (ill research the attire later, this is just my assumption). The leads on his parents are that their finger prints are at the crime scene and all over the murder weapon. The protagonist will be completely shocked at the news since he was made to believe that his parents had died while he was around 8 years old. His father was a detective and thats what inspired him to become a police officer.

    I would like to allude to mystery because, personally, I believe it draws the attention of a lot of viewers. I feel like when viewers watch a mystery its because they get drawn in and they wanna solve the mystery themselves, so they kind of stay along for the journey to try and solve it. It's kind of like they want to solve a puzzle and the more you watch the episode or film the more and more you advance in solving the puzzle. It makes the viewer use their brain unlike other shows that you just watch for leisure.

     I will continue thinking of ideas in this coming week but I have this one to fall back on if nothing pops into my head. There's a unique storyline to run with on this one which will be challenging to incorporate in just 2 minutes of footage but it can be done. There's just doing straight dramas or even maybe a historical piece but I feel like I can best represent mystery in my case.

Brainstorming

      I currently don't know what I'll be filming or even what genre so I'll have to start there I guess. Personally, I've always been into action and crime films and shows. Whether the production has a superhero or just regular people, the concept has always caught my attention. I love police/detective shows like Hawaii Five-0, Bloodline, Chicago P.D, Gotham, Grimm, and even superhero vigilante shows like Arrow and Flash. I think each one of those shows is so good and is able to draw viewers in due to the fact that each episode has a its own plot but is related to the show's overall plot. The action sense of each episode also grabs the viewers attention with fire, and fighting, and guns, but whilst challenging the viewers mind on how it all relates to the plot. I love mystery so its always fun for me to see these sorts of productions.

      If I were to choose mystery I'd like to do something along the lines of bloodline where the problem is in the family. Mine, however, would result in a young successful cop who believes his parents are dead but really aren't, and he finds out when they end up being the prime suspects of a murder case. Eh, maybe? It sounds a bit too corny maybe. It could work though. If i do go with that it'll be a challenge to try and get that with only 2 minutes of footage. I'd probably start off in an office type setting with a detective bringing in the protagonist to tell him that they caught a break in the case and have a lead but he wont believe who it is. This actually is starting to sound too bad. Of course, this wont be my only idea, but I don't think it is a bad start.

     The protagonist, we'll say is in his late 20's early 30's, has a distinguished military past which gives him the skills he needs to tackle all of his difficult tasks in life. He was orphaned at 8 years old and was made to believe that his parents had crashed in a car accident. This could be good to be honest. I think I may be able to run with this. I'll obviously ask my peers for feedback and see what they think before even thinking of getting started with this.

Welcome All

      This is my, Lautaro Martinez, blog for my Aice Media Studies final. In this blog I will be taking you, the reader, through all of my thoughts and processes from the start of the project to the final product. I think this is going to be an awesome experience, its something that i've never really tried before but it seems really cool. I've read multiple blogs about experiments or just about a person's thoughts so I have a pretty good idea as to how these things work. At the moment I'm pondering how I will such a large experiment due to the fact that I've never done something like this before in my life. I'm sure it will be challenging and for that very reason I'am looking forward to it.
     
       My project will be a short film opening for any idea that I come up with. I'm usually a very creative thinker so I think i'll be able to come up with something very interesting. Since this is something that I've never done before it's going to be a test setting up how i want to take this challenge on. If whether i just want to jump right on to the first idea that pops into my head or if I slowly and patiently plan out every single idea. I'll probably plan everything out very carefully which is obviously the smart thing to do, but i also need to make sure that I am on track time wise on this project. I know I'm going to enjoy this whole process because I've always loved to film and having a camera in my hand and capture everything that's going on around me.

     To send you off, I hope you stick with me along the way and pay close attention as we build a great project. It will be an interesting experience and hopefully it all goes smoothly and well. I know at moments I will fail and get frustrated but that only creates motivation to do even better. So i guess we'll see what happens soon...