2/21/24 - Smooth Sailing

 Hi Blog! These past few days, I have been creating outlines and making decisions on small yet significant details that will be in more portfolio project. I have been keeping an open mind on what I need to decide and when it will be done. I must consider what my protagonists will be dressed in, who I will be using to play their parts, what the script will look like, the font style I will be choosing, what I want my film opening to be titled, and mood boards for my main characters. This outline captures what my mind has been experiencing during the planning and decision making that this project consists of. 

 Before I start putting my opening into motion, I wanted to define who my protagonists are and what they represent. In order to do so, I used Canva to develop vision boards of how I see my characters that are being created. I believe this will make a huge impact to my planning as I keep writing the script and creating my storyboard. 

                                                              Teenage Girl Protagonist

For this mood board, I envisioned a dull teenage with a pessimistic mindset on how she perceives her life. After a representation lecture back in November, I wanted to show this through the messy room. This room shows the disorganization that consumes her life. Another example of this representation is portrayed through the messy hair and shoes to show how little she does to care for herself as well as other people. I am attempting to figure out what is truly bothering her that makes her act and appear this way. Is she being bullied? Are expectations of her set to high? Does she have any past trauma? I do not know what I want her primary struggle to be yet.

  Mother Protagonist

When beginning this vision board, I had a difficult time figuring out who the protagonist's mother is. She is shown to be a wealthy, educated, and successful individual which is shown through her style, car, career, etc. However, deep down she feels trapped with her past of being a popular and well-rounded high schooler who everybody adored. She is not unhappy with her life now, however, she has realizations that she will never be able to achieve the life she had previously. Now, she is secretly living through her daughters experiences because of her inner feelings. Due to her daughter being rather an "outcast", it is disappointing that her daughter is not having the same high school life that she did. That is why she is constantly encouraging her daughter to put herself out there, be more social, etc.

2/16/24 - Baby Steps

 Hi Blog! A few days ago, I did not have a clue what I would be creating my film opening about. Despite this, I have my idea! I even have started my storyboard and a to-do list of aspects that I need to make decisions on such as the fonts, title, protagonist, mood boards, etc. My first draft of the storyboard is not quite done yet because I do not know how I want to end my opening yet. 

I have a few different ideas for how I could end this opening. The first one being she gets back from a party she does not want to be at and then she arrives back to her room, receives a phone call, and has an ending reaction that leaves the audience questioning what the call was about. Another idea I had was to end the opening with the protagonist screaming into their pillow out of frustration because of her internal struggles. The endings may seem confusing with out knowing the beginning yet so I put below my first storyboard to get a glance at my idea. 

                                                    Storyboard Draft (I am not an artist)

As you can see, I do not know what I will be filming after car scene. So far though, I believe that I have made great progression these past few days. I have a developing story but I want to explore the characters I will be creating. This weekend, my goals are to develop more on my two characters (Protagonist and her mother) I would like to define how they look, their style, and make mood boards about who they are, interests, hoobies, etc. 

Not only I am developing my characters, I am currently making another calendar where I will label what type of post I will be making for a given day. I will most likely have my full story board done by the end of next week. I know that I have so many more tasks to complete but I am taking it step by step carefully crafting my every move so that this is a project that I can say I am proud of. By doing this simple step with storyboarding, it gives me an outline of what I will be working with. I will see you next week!

2/15/24 - Bouncing Back

 Hi Blog! I am supposed to be posting this on Wednesday instead of Thursday according to my blog schedule that I had posted week 1, however, I had a slight setback. My plan was to discuss the genre of my idea on Wednesday and then begin to discuss my approach on Thursday. When I was beginning the post on Wednesday, I knew that I could no longer go through with my plan. During the beginning of week 2, I created an idea of my film opening around something that recently occurred in my life but after a few sentences of the blog post, I had a realization that I do not have the strength yet to discuss these events for the next two months.

 I also scrapped my ideas from the week 1 blog post which lead me back to square one. After I realized I can think more outside of the box. My ideas were "been there, done that". As I have previously mentioned prior to this post, I want my audience to be hooked on the plot by only watching two minutes of what I am producing. I have created an idea but I thought that first I should introduce my genre which is... DRAMA

My inspiration for this film opening came from the film The Edge of Seventeen. While this film is not a drama, I was inspired by the main character, Nadine. She has trouble controlling her emotions ever since her father passed away. Her struggle is made clear to the audience that she is battling internally and that not many people are able to understand her feelings and reactions. These characteristics are inspiring the creation of my soon-to-be protagonist. 

                                                                       Drama Films

The Florida Project (2017)

This film is a documentary drama surrounding six year old Moonee and her rebellious mother, Halley. The two are barely able to pay motel rent. Despite these setbacks, Moonee continues to remain a kid with a huge imagination playing with her two best friends, Jancey and Scooty. This film captures Halley and Moonee's living on the edge lifestyle. Halley hides her internal struggle (which is a similar personality trait that I want my protagonist to have) from her daughter normalizing her rent to rent routine. Halley does not have a job so to pay rent she will go by doing whatever it takes to survive another week. The contrasting two provide different perspectives surrounding their unique situation. I have watched this film before I have gained inspiration from both the mother and daughters emotions throughout the drama. By analyzing their behaviors, it helps me realize that every action has an intended meaning behind it.

Thirteen (2003)

This drama film is another huge inspiration for my film opening as it surrounds A thirteen year old girl, her rebellious best friends, and her developing relationship with her mom as she begins to discover troubling subjects such as drugs, sex, and crime. Her best friend is having major impacts on her actions, behaviors, and views. The mise-en-scene and mother daughter relationship has inspired aspects that I may want to integrate into my film opening. The 2000's style and duller lights are other ideas that I may want to include when I pick costumes and lighting. This film is a reference I can use when it comes to adolescence, hormones, etc. Having a relatable film can help create a direct target audience for what I am trying to represent. 

These two films have greatly helped me with my continued research about the drama genre. Watching these films has reminded me that every move that I am making in this project has to have a purpose. After viewing these films, I have gathered many ideas on what I want to include in my film opening. I am proud of my progression so far and despite my minor scheduling set backs, I am on track to make this project one that I am proud of. I am super excited to share with you my ideas and storyboard next blog post. 

Sources:

https://www.charactour.com/hub/characters/view/Nadine-Franklin.Edge-of-Seventeen

https://www.metacritic.com/movie/the-florida-project/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0328538/

2/13/24 - Disoriented Brain

 Hey Blog! If I am being completely honest, I am lost. I realize how significant this project is not only to my grade but what my life will look like for the next few months. I am not super creative when it comes to initiating ideas. I should know more about what I want my portfolio project to look like but I do not have a starting point idea as of now.

Here are some things I do know...

- I want my film opening to be engaging and leave viewers want to see what happens next

- I want to be able to look forward to working on this project

- I want this project to be relatable

-I want this project to educate viewers

When I think of film openings my mind turns to...

                                                              The Devil Wears Prada (2006)

This film opening captures Andrea (Andy) Sachs as she prepares for her first day as a major magazine editor. Not only does it show Andys preparation, the opening shows her other co-workers preparing as well to foreshadow who Andy will be interacting with in events to come. As I instructed, I will not be creating a film opening where the protagonist gets ready for their day. What makes this opening stand out among other films that I have viewed before is the song choice (Suddenly I See By KT Tunstall) By having a catchy song to match your film opening, it helps your film remain memorable to viewers. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bG_xdkGrwSA

 The Breakfast Club (1985)

The first shots of this opening begin with establishing the idea of an empty school to leave the audience pondering. We see that only five students are entering the school on a Saturday. However, the could not be more different. As described in the film, "A nerd, a jock, a princess, a basket case, and a criminal." This film opening has unanswered questions as to why these 5 students were placed in detention. The director provides a sense of wonder and curiosity for viewers allowing them to stay engaged within the first few minutes of the film.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFyTK3QHuHE

By taking into consideration what I admire about certain film openings, I believe this will help my research and inspiration through out the course of this project. My research has gone well, however, I need to act fast when considering what I will be creating my film opening about. 

2/9/24 - Brainstorming

 Hi Blog! This week is the start of The AICE Media Cambridge portfolio project. After learning the rules and requirements for this project, the first thing that I felt that I needed to do was to organize how I am going to tackle this task. I went to Canva to create a calendar for the month of February to label what task I will be doing for each given day. By doing this, I believe it will help me keep my cool in order to not get overwhelmed by this bulky project. To keep this organization flow, I have set the dates on my reminder app to send me a notification in the morning to remind me that I have a blog post due that day. I may not have an exact idea on what I will be creating my portfolio project about yet, however, this planning before hand will be beneficial during the long run of the next two months. 

When this project was mentioned, I slightly went into panic mode. I knew that it would come eventually but now that it is happening, the nerves of what I will create my film opening on are hitting me. I started my research immediately on who my target audience would be, what genre I wanted to have, and certain topics I may mention. I went on to Blogger to research portfolio projects to gain inspiration on a story, shots I may want to implement, lighting, sound, etc. I know for a fact that I would like to pick a genre and story that I would want to see myself as I will be working on this project for the next two months. For me personally, sitting through an entire film can be too much for me at times which is why I love the idea of simply producing a film opening. Since the opening is only two minutes, my main goal is to make it engaging and make viewers want to see what happens next. 

My first idea of a filming opening would be about a rockstar. She would be in a band and be regarded as one of the trendiest stars across the globe. She is seen as perfect to her fans who could do no wrong. When in reality, her internal struggle is hurting her voice and career as a whole. Through out the opening she would be shown performing with segments of her drug use catching up to her. This opening is slightly inspired by Euphoria. If this were to be produced in the real world, I believe it could reach an audience with fans who are interested in topics presented in shows similar to Euphoria. As cliche and typical this idea may sound, I believe it can inform my target audience about the dangers and side effects that doing drugs can have on your life. It would encourage others that as temping as drug usage may be, it is never worth losing your life over. I want to create this opening with a purpose to educate while also keeping an audience intrigued and entertained. 

My second idea of a film opening idea I envisioned was a girl who is struggling with the idea of turning 16 and not wanting to grow up. As I am going through this right now, I believe that it can be relatable for people around my age. It is a simple and small idea but I will continue to research now going on into the weekend. I do not know exactly what I may want to produce yet but my goal is to have an outline of my idea by Monday. I will be continuing to brainstorm this weekend so I will check back up on soon enough!

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

 Hi Blog! After completing this complex yet rewarding project, I am very proud of the way it turned out. Coming up with ideas is usually difficult for me, however, we had a clear vision of what we had to do in order to implement this project. We began to brain storm about what the band would look like, how they would dress, marketing strategies, etc. We came up with a family band "All 4 One". Since band is new to the industry, the main idea of the band is to spread their name around locally. We came up with posters, a website, and a link tree filled with social media accounts that the band can use to interact with their fans. The website would also include show dates of when the band will perform at live events to reach their target audience. Originally, we made the target audience 14 to 21 year olds but after having a class discussion about what a target audience does for a band or artist, we created a new description. The audience would reach teenage girls from the same age range that would appreciate indie, 90's, and punk bands. The band having this style would be influential to future generations to come. We had members of the band dress similar to school of rock with a slight edge to differentiate the band from others to avoid competition. After finalizing the research for the music video, we created a vision of using promotional aspects to further the bands career while also having a story to go along with it to entertain viewers. One thing I look for in videos is to want to watch it over and over again. I think our video provides the best of both worlds within both the promotional and storytelling aspects to make this potentially a top selling music video. 

After filming the music video, we started our campaign to reach our target audience. All of the members in our group contributed to the Canva presentation about All 4 One. We added slides such as the distribution, target audience, and social media presence. We all worked on different slides and created different images for what we envisioned about the band. I believe our marketing strategies work well with the image of the band. We included in the Canva presentation about doing pop-up performances inspired by Ed Sheeran  and doing local performances to engage with a smaller audience in the beginning of the family's upcoming career. The Canva presentation provides a full run down as to what you can expect for the future of this band. I am especially proud of the creative marketed implemented into our campaign. An example including a TikTok challenge can create videos with the song showing viewers their "Electric Feel"

My primary job was producing the website to inform others on who the band is and what recent/ upcoming projects are. When designing the website, I focused heavily on the display and image that we wanted the audience to see. I implemented bright colors, newspaper clippings, unique designs, etc. The website is a great way to get to know the band for new fans who happen to search up the name All 4 One and will click on the website to become knowledgable about their upcoming songs, covers, and future performances. I put the bands contact information on the website to reach local restaurants and bars to not only raise money for the business but extra money to further our name down the road. Performances like these can directly reach the target audience we set as people among the range like to go out with their friends, party, and listen to music.

An idea of the website

Overall, I believe my contributions to this projects were beneficial to the final product. Every piece of work that every member did crafted into the final result. I am very proud of the level of creativity that went into this campaign and all of our ideas turned out better than I ever could have imagined. Our idea came ton life no matter how impossible a matter may have seemed. If this band were to be produced, there is no doubt in my mind we would have gained a decent sized audience. This project has been a fun one that will definitely remain as a good memory during my time in this class. I learned how important music videos are for marketing artists, the importance of having a specific target audience, and most importantly teamwork. I believe that this project is going to further my knowledge about not only marketing and media but help me before I enter the long term journey of My Cambridge portfolio project. 

Music Marketing Blog Post #1

 Hi Blog! This week, my AICE Media class has been focusing on creating a music video and a campaign for a new artist/group. This past weekend, my group got together to brainstorm ideas that we could do for our project. We were given the song Electric Feel by MGMT. We immediately started to think of the artist marketing and branding. We all agreed on having a band called "All 4 One" it would be a family band. The name is significant because we are highlighting the unity and family values that we are showcasing to our audience. The band will have a 90's/punk/rock feel while remaining light hearted. The costumes consisted of white button ups with ties to have a preppy feel. However, we got creative with ties to have a chaotic and rebellious image. Once we identified what our ideas were for the group, we began to decide what we were going to film for our video. After having a lesson on different types of music videos, we knew we had to make a decision. Since this is a new and upcoming band, we did not want to make this soully a promotional video. Therefore, we wrote a story to go along with our promotion. We came up with a story that a girl and a boy will meet at a party where they both receive an "Electric Feel".  All of this brainstorming led us to our final vision for our production. So... we shot the promotional half of the video on Thursday. Look below for a sneak peak!

The filming on Thursday was successful! We took many shots of each member playing their instrument incorporating different techniques and angles. It is so fascinating to see what we have envisioned come to life. I had to be on drums which was slightly challenging because I was not coordinated AT ALL. In the end, I thought all of the filming was going to look great for our video. Despite scheduling conflicts, I believe we all played our part into contributing what we wanted our project to look like. I believe our marketing and brand ideas are matching with the feel of our band which is exactly how we wanted it. Since the filming, we are beginning to create social media such as TikTok, Instagram, and even our own website in order to reach out to a larger audience. We would make all of our accounts accessible by using a link tree to make it simple yet efficient to view who we are and how we want others to perceive us. On top of using social media, we are creating a flyer to promote upcoming show dates that the band would be performing at. These venues can include anywhere from a family restaurant to a local bar. We would also promote this dates via social media because of that being the main source of communication in our modern day. We have shown off our marketing strategies in our campaign which will be presented next week in class. Now we are shooting the storytelling half on Saturday! 

What now you may ask? We are beginning to edit what we have filmed and creating our social media accounts to engage our audience. Our target is primarily 14-21 year olds who are able to appreciate what our band is providing for others. This age consumes TikTok more than any other group. Therefore, we would start a trend entitled the "Electric Feel" challenge where creators can post under the hashtag to involve themselves with our upcoming song. By doing this, it allows our campaign to grow even further with new fans which can lead to better opportunities.  I think it was a perfect idea that we decided to do a back and forth between promotional and storytelling shots to keep viewers entertained. We tend to watch music videos more because of how timeless a select number are. By differing our from others, it allows us to remain unique. One of the box idea that we implemented was by making an "Electric Feel" using a black sheet as a backdrop to show our lead singer having this feel.  Our target goal is to reach as many people as possible in order to make our band a force to be reckoned with. I believe that all of the strategies that we are implemented can lead this band to the top headlines. I hope you have enjoyed this process as much as I have so far and I cannot wait to see how everything turns out in the end!