Credit Sequences

Incorporating Credit Scenes Into My Project!

  Good morning or good evening Cambridge and welcome back to my blog! As I mentioned in my previous blog post I wanted to do some research on some credit sequences. These three opening credit sequences will be from three different movies in order to increase a variety of movies I can pull inspiration on for my own project. 

The Dentist (1996)

The Dentist (1996)

  The Dentist Film follows a dentist named Dr. Feinstone who has a successful career in dentistry who discovered his wife's affair. It's a horror based movie that's shown in a dentist office. This would be the reason as to why I picked this film because as I mentioned before I will be focusing my opening choices based on what I want my movie plot to be based around including Inspiration. The credits are shown with the utilization of showing the companies first with a black background. The text "A Film by Brian Yuzna" is displayed instead of saying the director. This would be a nice paraphrased version to say directed by in order to have some changes. In these credits the names are in a bigger text font than the titles. 

The rest of the actor names are shown the right side of the screen in a white text and show a stacked version of the names. Then after the production tea is displayed with hands in the back in a blurry white background with the text still on the side. The titles include "Director of Photography", "Music by", and more. These titles would be something I'd like to incorporate as well as the titles separate by the names with a line in a distorted font.

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

  This film starts off with a background of constellation of stars showing the company Orion Pictures and the formation of the O is followed with the music and it synced up. The rest of the credits are shown abruptly in a black font with a white border around the font, which is in all capitals. They start with showing another production company then goes to list the cast members by their actor name. The text is shown in the middle with big lettering and blocks out the background scene because it's not incorporated throughout the beginning of the opening. After they show the actors they display the title of the movie The Silence of the Lambs. As the scene progresses there is a lot of space between the actor names and the production team which is separated by dialogue and are a minute apart which obviously I cannot incorporate into my 2 minute opening due to time shortage. The production team includes titles such as "Casting By" and "Production Designer" followed by the name. The titles other than casting and music is just the title followed by the name which is in a different text size. 

The opening goes on to display the actor names again but in a stacked method that looks choppy and distracting from the background scene of the woman walking through the woods. This takes away attention from the film. The picture beside this text is an example of these credit sequences. Something else I wouldn't want to incorporate into my film is spacing out the credits so oddly because in this opening the credits are spaced out at least 10 seconds apart for the second half.

The Conjuring (2013)

The Conjuring (2013)

  The last credit sequences I will be analyzing will be from the film The Conjuring which is a paranormal horror about a couple that seeks demons. The opening follows the couple and they're presenting afterwards, they go on to show a transcript in yellow font in a small text to say that the film is based off a true story. The credits roll as if they are in a transcript and the title The Conjuring is shown in the same yellow font but much larger to emphasize the title. 

 

   This is something I like because of the font color matching from the context of the story to the title. It's a nice way to represent the color theory because usually demon's eyes in the conjuring like in The Nun (2018) show the eyes to be a very bright yellow as seen in this movie because the nun in that movie is known to be an evil spirit. This is also seen in many other of the Conjuring films where the demon's eyes are yellow. I personally would like to get inspiration from the color matching.

 

Researching Film Openings

   Hello Cambridge and welcome back to my blog! Today I will be analyzing three film openings within the horror genre to have an idea of what I want to include in my own film opening with inspiration from different films that were also set in the 90's.

The Black Phone (2022) Opening 𐙚

The Black Phone (2022)

   The opening of The Black Phone takes the approach of a character vs character conflict and focuses on adding a sense of intensity and fear and has a repeated theme of missing children, kidnapping, and suspense. The opening starts with a upbeat song with a teenager riding his bike and then the music starts to fade away into the iconic suspense music when a mysterious black van appears alluding to its importance and correlation to the kid's reaction. After this a series of establishing shots and inserts are seen to develop the setting and place of where this film will be taken and still have a sense of mystery. The music gets more intense as more close ups of children show up on screen as well as tight close ups of the word "Missing" and "Caution" lets the audience have awareness that this will be a reoccurring theme in the movie. In terms of mise en scene elements, the lighting and props such as shoes, posters, and balloons to express the important plot devices that are critical for this movie. As the opening goes on the shots are seen to be more shaky from hand held movement and appear to have a distorted image with more reoccurring themes. 

   Something I'd like to get inspiration for my opening is mostly the color scheme and mise en scene elements like a more yellow undertone in the lighting to give off a most uncertain feeling as well as have a reoccurring prop show up in my opening. A prop that could keep showing up could relate to the character in my opening like they did with the missing posters, black van, and black balloons to represent the Grabber in The Black Phone.

Scream (1996) Opening 𐙚

Scream (1996)

  This opening from Scream (1996) follows Casey Baker who is getting anonymus calls from someone she doesn't recognize and when she repeatedly says he has the wrong number he reels her in closer to play his game. We see lightning themes to be more inviting and homey as seen from her house lights when she's making popcorn but once the killer reveals his true intentions the atmosphere gets dark and eerie which is also seen through the dark coloring of the lighting by casting shadows on her face with hues of dark blue. There is usage of dialogue to help provide context about her relationship with this other character. This is also the utilization of character vs character approach because she is being hunted down by this serial killer who she later finds out killed her boyfriend. 

   Inspiration from this opening would include background props that are from the 90's as well as the language characters spoke in. Props would include examples like the popcorn, computer, and phone she uses. Also the end of the opening right before Casey is killed off she takes off ghostface's mask and she finds out who the killer really is. I think this would be something interesting I could incorporate. However, not exactly the way she did it but something similar since I can't have the ability or money to produce a well written gore scene with killing.

Misery (1990) Opening 𐙚

Misery (1990)

  The last opening I will be analyzing will be Misery (1990) and in this opening there is plenty utilization of foley sounds like the type writer, grabbing paper, and many other background noises in the car. We find out this guy is a writer the story he wrote has some importance. When he gets into his car it's a time skip montage where he is driving in a snowy road at the edge of a mountain or hill of some sorts with upbeat music in the background. As the scene progresses there are more hand-held shots that give off a raw movement to indicate stress as the clips get faster between the guy's face and the front view of the car with continuity editing. This keeps happening until he crashes his car and the car is just upside down for the rest of the opening.

   I'd like to focus on the editing techniques used in this opening because the focus pulls from objects give a significance to certain props and leave mystery to the audience but not so much with context and background which is something I want to have in my own opening. So i wouldn't focus so much on making my audience confused because I will be dropping hints at the end but they would be able to know what's happening due to the dialogue.

Now What? 

   I will be focusing on making my storyboard and doing more research on the credits and how they appear on these openings or on three new ones to get more inspiration. Stay tuned for these updates on my movie plot and overall sequences that will fit into my 2-minute opening!

Outline of Schedule

    Welcome Back everyone! So before I continue my project I need to stick to a set out schedule in order to ensure my work won't be lacking in quality. Making a timeline for myself will allow me to breakdown this 2 month long project into minor assignments needed to completed in a week instead and will allow me to have some weight off my back.

Portfolio Project Breakdown 𐙚

1. Initial Research 
• Researching and analyzing examples of film openings within my chosen genre.
• Researching and analyzing credit sequences within my chosen genre.
2. Planning
• Coming up with movie plot idea.
• Scripting (On word document)
• Find music (Either foley or background music)
• Storyboarding
• Finding actors/crew members.
• Choosing location and date for filming. (With permission)
3. Production
• Filming scenes
• Recording foley (if needed)
• Recording voiceovers (if needed)
4. Editing
• Editing the sequences
• Include title card and credits.
• Record foley and voiceover (if needed)
5. Revisions
• Review and analyze current version of the video.
• Either make revisions or clean up mistakes (if needed)
6. Critical Creative Reflection
• Research information relating to the reflection.
• Create the reflection.
• Edit and review CCR.

  For this project I have 7 weeks left to complete all the critical components of this project in order to be successful I will put this schedule and break it into those 8 weeks.

My Timeline Breakdown 𐙚

Week 1 (1/29-2/2)

• Genre Research
• Make overview of plans of how to approach 
• Decide what genre to focus on

Week 2 (2/3-2/9)

• Research
• Compare film openings for genre
• Conventions of films in 90's-2000's
• Brainstorm plot
• Script & Storyboard based off openings
• Plan for filming
• Find Locations 
• Find actors or actor and crew
• Set filming schedule for crew and actors to meet

Week 3 (2/10-2/16)

• Production
• Create props and set design based off last week research
• Set up costumes
• Production
• Record any behind the scenes of prop and set making
• Start filming
• Record foley sounds

Week 4 (2/17-2/23)

• Production
• Finish up filming video
• Record foley's for editing
• Editing
• Edit first cut (no sound yet)

Week 5 (2/24-3/2)

• Editing
• Edit second half to finish up
• Incorporate foley sounds into the whole video
• Edit in background music

Week 6 (3/3-3/9)

• Revisions
• Revise any sounds link
• complete the final opening
• Creative Critical Reflection
• Research information relating to the reflection.
• Create the reflection.
• Edit and review CCR.

Week 7 (3/10-3/16)

• Creative Critical Reflection
• Finish up the CCR 

Week 8 (3/17-3/25)

• Final Revisions
• Use this week in place of any delays or conflicts

March 25th is the FINAL deadline, so I should have my actual video done

 two weeks beforehand and finish my CCR the week before.

  Personally, I use my laptop every day and in order to remind myself of my set schedule and to keep myself on task I will be able to have a note on my screensaver in order to visually see my timeline which will be updated each Sunday for a different week. 

  For example, today is in week 2 and this is the notes I have for week 2.

     

Genres for Portfolio Project

Hellooo Cambridge! Today I have fully set on two genres that I have in mind for my film opening! This is an important first step to take in order to have a set plot in mind as well as decide what choices I will be making prior to producing my opening. I will also be focusing on my inspiration I will incorporate in this opening including many films in the horror genre as well as drama including classic movies like Scream (1997) and Legally Blonde (2001). It's important to note that I'm focusing on the genre and conventions within the openings of these two movies and deciding which to choose from there.

Horror

So let’s get started! In the horror genre, The Scream franchise movies always start off with an opening of a “kill-off” where the main slasher (known as ghost face in the movies) kills someone that’s in the movie. A perfect example is the first movie where ghost face encounters the blonde girl that we later find out is named Casey Baker. You can click on the link below in order to fully understand the mise en scene elements, set design, and makeup that is used to perfectly portray a sense of fear in the audience in this opening.

Watch Scream (1996) Opening Here!

Scream falls under a more slasher horror category. We haven’t addressed this, however, there are multiple sub genres to horror including but not limited to… supernatural horror, psychological horror, slasher horror etc. With the horror genre the audience will be able to expect a sense of fear conveyed by my opening which i could allow to be either unsettling or  disturbing.

Scream (1997)

Drama

Moving on to the other genre I am considering which is drama. This is a genre that portrays real life experiences through dialogue, conflict (character vs character as mentioned from my previous blog post), and Legally Blonde (2001) is a great movie to portray this category in their opening. In the opening there is context and background that is giving the audience a sense of what is happening in the movie. There are also different sub-genres for Drama as well but I would like to consider a more comedy drama that has comedic timing which also conveys real-life experiences like in the movie with Elle Woods going through her town which is seen to be a college campus and she is portrayed as the perfect sorority girl who doesn't have a care in the world. With this drama comedy genre, developing context and background in the opening would be critical and many dialogue choices, song, and costuming would be very crucial if I were to pick the drama genre.

Legally Blonde (2001)

Now that I’ve narrowed down my decisions towards genre, conflict, and what type of approach I will be taking towards this project, I can finally access which decisions will be perfectly adjusted to what I will like to do. With this said, I have decided to take my opening with a horror genre  with mystery to intrigue my audience. This also means that I will have my work inspired off scream and have some mise en scene elements from this time period the film was portrayed in. 

Thank you Cambridge! Stay tuned for more blog updates on my portfolio project and the process I will be taking into this lengthy production! See you all next week 🎀

Transitioning to Portfolio Project!

    Hello Cambridge! The following blog posts over the span of 2 months will be towards the creation of my portfolio project. I have been doing research and will be applying everything I have learned throughout this course and implement it into this project. This transition will help me have a more planned and successful approach to my project. With this being said, let's start the process of jumping into this project by accessing the different approaches to take with the opening:

My notes to the film opening portfolio project!

    These notes have helped me realize which opening i was really fond with and which ones I wanted to approach this project with. I'd like to establish a sense of conflict concerning character vs character. This would be inspired of the opening from Scream (1996). With the opening scene focusing on a horror genre as well as include a sense of mystery. I prefer this type of approach because in this 2 minute film production opening I will be able to use up my time to develop a plot without giving away the entirety of the plot and intrigue the viewers to watch this movie that I made the opening to. With this approach, I will be able to focus on my favorite aspect of filming productions which are mise en scene elements like costume and setting design as well as lighting in order to effectively give off the vibe im trying to give to my viewers. I will also be able to produce foley sounds and incorporate knowledge from my previous project in order to create sounds to represent off screen elements like diegetic sounds.

   I also have another approach I would like to consider which is developing context and background for my opening. This approach is very generic and would focus on mise en scene elements as well which is a prime reason why I'm considering it. Establishing context would also be a good idea for an film opening due to it being natural and still giving the audience a lot of hints and try to figure out what's going to happen in the story while still not telling them explicitly. With judgements on environment, set, and tone the characters in the film will be established as well as what they will be experiencing in the film with this opening approach.

Music Marketing Project - Recording Video

     This is the behind the scenes video for my team's project on the music marketing campaign for Disco Landing. This video was filmed by many group members including Me, Maria, Samia, and Sofia. It was also edited and voiced by Jacey.

Music Marketing Project - Planning Process

    For this project, we were tasked to pair up into groups of 4 or 5 members. My group was chosen to do the Pop genre and do some background research of the genre marketing and distribution practices amongst 5 singers in the pop genre. We were told to make a marketing campaign for a artist that our group will build up from the bottom up based off of the background research we made. 

    We were advised that it was better to break this project into many parts. The first part consisted of us doing background research about the five different pop artists in the certain genre along with a case study for each artist. We had two distribution labels, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, along with the three artists for Universal Music Group and two for Warner Music Group. The three artists we researched for Universal Music Group was Ariana Grande (the one I researched), Justin Bieber, and Sabrina Carpenter. We also had researched Melanie Martinez and Charli XCX for Warner Music Group. We learned how certain artists used social media in order to appeal to target audiences to stay active on platforms like TikTok, YouTube, X (twitter), and Instagram. As well as, distribution practices including producing music and publishing it on online platforms such as Apple Music and Spotify. We are planning on using YouTube and Instagram to promote our artist. Moreover, most of the pop artists had websites to sell clothes, vinyl, and other merch which is also related to how we will promote our artist. 
    Background Research: Music Research Chart.docx 

    My group's music marketing project planning began with us picking a song that will lead most of our decisions for our artist's marketing, internet presence, performances, and other distribution practices. The song we picked was 'Awkward' by San Cisco. It is also worth mentioning that we will make our music video that will pertain to our artist's marketing campaign. 

    Original Song: San Cisco - Awkward

    

    Recently, we have tried to make a timeline or schedule to figure out how we will work on this project and stay organized. This timeline has each person's role in the project along with dates and estimated due dates we expect that section of our project to be done. It's divided in sections such as planning the music video, outline the presentation, and finalizing the music video and editing. We have also organized a storyboard to keep the scenes of our music video in tact with how we will shoot, where, and with who.

    Timeline: Music Marketing Project Development.docx

For now, we are following the timeline as closely as possible and making alternations as needed depending on how efficient or if we finalize ideas for our artist. Our storyboard for the music video is finished and we decided how we will pertain our artist, Disco Landing (alias name), as a retro 90s-2000s vibe which is very retro. We have decided that the music video will be a combination of promo and storytelling which is a duet between our artist and another female lead that will promote Disco Landing, a male singer, and get him known. I will be back with an update on how our project has gone!