Introduction to the Short Film

The video linked is my introduction to a short film. The music used in it is the song "First Light" by Django Django. All other contents in the video are all created by myself and my production help. Ben Zeiper and Gabe Zeiper both helped me to film, act in, and produce this introduction.

Link to the Final Portfolio Project

Character and Motifs Research

In order to research how my character should act and feel I did research on archetypes based on my original idea for the film's protagonist. An archetype is a widely recognized symbol for someone or something. The archetype that I felt most suits the protagonist is that of the outcast. The outcast is typically characterized as someone who is rejected from the group and becomes a wanderer. A popular example of this is the character Simon in Lord of the Flies by William Golding. I chose this archetype because it embodies a major theme in my film, isolation. I felt that the character should represent a feeling that everyone has. Through this I hope that it not only attracts viewers but also captivates them as they see someone that they can relate to. Obviously, he is an extreme of that trait. For this post I researched archetypes and came upon a prezi presentation from an Anonymous source. The link to the prezi is below.

https://prezi.com/4ctaf-58broz/outcast-archetype/

Process and Creative Critical Reflection

The following link is to my Creative Critical Reflection for my Final Portfolio Project.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFd6cJIvts4&feature=youtu.be

Music and Casting Updates

I finally got a response from one of my two choices for music from the band. Originally I tried to email and contact the producer or record label directly. After about two weeks of no response, I tried tweeting the band directly. I expected to be lost in a sea of tweets that these bands get. However, Django Django did respond and gave me the go ahead. I will be using their song, First Light in the introduction to the short film. The account is verified as authentic by Twitter.

I also made some decisions on the main character this week. I finally decided that my main character is going to remain male. At first the thought of having a female protagonist was interesting but I felt I would be better able to portray this character if he were male. I then decided on a slightly older version over the young teen I originally looked at. I felt it was slightly awkward having a young clean boy being homeless over a troubled young-adult. My friend, Gabe Zieper, was my final choice as he had a thespian background and the same drive for this project I had.

Location, Location, Location

Mise-en-scene is very important in any live-action drama. It helps establish the world that the character lives in. Location is a vital part of mise-en-scene as it sets up the setting. Particularly, my plot for the introduction requires two distinct locations, a middle-class home and an open forest type area. 

The first location was relatively simple to find. Living in a suburban city allows for plenty of middle class homes that are often prey for petty thieves. For this introduction I will be using my own home. The layout allows for variations in shots, from close-ups to wide shots. It also has the ability to shift for what the scene needs. We have plenty of blank areas that can be cleaned up and added to in order to give the appearance of wealth from which our character is stealing from. 

The second location was a little trickier to find. My aim was to find an open clearing in a forest that has a view of a sunrise/sunset. Unfortunately, these types of locations are not easy to come by in South Florida. I did find two public parks that would be relatively close to the description I envisioned. I looked at Markham park's campground first as it fit the forest landscape. However, there was no view of the sunset and it was relatively populated. My shooting time would be very restricted. The sunset was an idea of hopefulness and the coming future that I did not want to give up, so I went to the next location. Regional Park has the most western part of my town, Weston. It overlooks the Everglades, has plenty of open space, and was void of any people when I went. I decided on the latter even though it might be a little more swampy than I preferred. The two pictures in this blog are of this location.

Sound

The introduction of my film will mostly lack dialogue between characters. To make up for that music and diegetic sound will be very important.

Diegetic sound is sound that comes from the environment of the film. The couple's conversation in the very start will have the news playing in the background as one watches while the other gets ready for their night out. Once they leave I want their to be nearly absolute silence. Possibly a cricket can be heard through the open window where our character comes in. The idea of silence gives the characteristic of our protagonist as an almost professional home robber, going unseen and unheard. 

The next part of the introduction relies heavily on the music. The song I have chosen both "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz and "First Light" by Django Django. With time running short I chose two in order to have options. These songs are my personal relaxation songs. It was very serene and calming while also having a lot of instrumentation and sound. Our character uses music and particularly this song as his "in the zone" song. He focuses but also unwinds with this song as the music continues through the cut to his makeshift home. The music shifts from diegetic to nondiegetic at this moment. Nondiegetic meaning not belonging to what happens to the scene. However, there is still some diegetic sound as we here the character coming "home" in the forest. Sounds like him opening the bottle and walking on dirt will be recorded and hear.  

http://www.wmg.com/contact

Kings of Summer

In order to do research for elements to incorporate into my film I looked for films with a similar topic. Based on the summary for "Kings of Summer" it seemed to be a similar concept to the one I had. Kings of Summer is an independent comedic drama from director Jordan Vogt-Roberts. It stars three young actors playing the leads along side people like Nick Offerman and Alison Brie. The previews had a light hearted feel to it but also some clear serious themes that it wanted to tackle. Today I finished watching the movie and overall I thoroughly enjoyed it.

There was a lot in this film that I hope to model in my film. The three boys make their own home in the middle of the woods. This is an undisclosed location only the three of them know and it acts as their escape from society and their parents. This idea of a safe-zone for the characters to go was very central to the plot. I want a similar base for the character in my film. Some place to go to that would be shown at the end of the opening. The home would be sloppily put together like the one in this movie.  Since my character has turned to theft and being technically homeless the small home would be filled with some of the things he has collected.

Another element I want to incorporate is the humor. The entire cast was fun and relatable. Particularly the character Biaggio who played the weird kid that takes the situation very seriously. The consistent humor kept the film light and fun. It helped distract from some of the film's short comings. This seemed to have worked as I remember more about the funny parts over the serious conflicts that were left unanswered. Ultimately the ending did not really tie any ends up as nothing really changed compared to the beginning. The humor I can use will hopefully come through in my character's actions as he encounters situations.

Ultimately the film was highly enjoyable and helpful in giving me ideas on what to incorporate into my final project.