Step 3: The Characters/Setting

The Characters

Sharon

Lily

Lily is strong, intelligent, and proficient. She can take care of herself and seems to be only one of the few that isn't affected by the means of the government to control its citizens.

When I wrote the pros and cons of doing an action film one of my pros was that I knew someone who would do a great job as my lead. That someone is my friend, Sharon. 

She's perfect for Lily in the sense that she is very athletically skilled and would do very well with the action portion of the scene. She also has a very independent personality which would suit the role very well. I never put much thought into what I envisioned Lily looking like since I learned from a class assignment where we made a music video that the hardest part of filming is finding someone with an empty schedule, so I was fine with having to tailor the physical appearance of Lily to the actress. As long as she was capable of looking strong and I knew she wouldn't giggle all the time during filming she could play Lily.

Carla

Thankfully, my first choice was free to film; although, we did run into some complications. We were scheduled to film today but Sharon's flight got cancelled and now she is scheduled to fly today. If everything goes well we are still on track and ready to film tomorrow.

If anything does go wrong I do have another friend ready to be her substitute which is also very capable of portraying the role. Carla has been in track and soccer teams for most of her life and is a very fast runner. She also has a very lean, athletic physique and can look very strong. I also know she can do a good job with the acting portion of it. Thankfully there aren't any lines for Lily in the opening so worrying about someone who can say them in a natural manner isn't one of my concerns.

Alex

Alex has also begun to resist the brainwashing of the government and has been exiled for refusing to take part in their militia. There is not much to him in the opening, other than establishing that he has wounded and has previously met Lily. 

The actor who will be playing his role will be my cousin, Alejandro. Ale has a slight Spanish accent but this won't be issue since he only has one line and its a name. He has a very small part in the opening so I think he is capable of portraying it convincingly. My only concern is how to establish to he is wounded without having to buy liquid latex to make a fake wound. 

He's going to be laying down on the floor which is the first clue that he is hurt. He will be covered in dirt insinuating that he has been there a while in fact, I bought a shirt today I can get dirty and rip a little too so I don't have to mess up any of Ale's shirts. Tonight I'm also going to try and draw some cuts on his arm to see if the would look real and utilize them during filming tomorrow. I hope this will be enough to establish something is wrong. 

The Setting

We will be filming in Markham Park, which has a "Primitive Camping Area" where we can go into the woods and will work as the setting I'm going for. I also considered Tree Tops Park but to make it easier for everyone I chose Markham because it is closer to home.

The Storyboard

I finished the storyboard for the opening today and a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. I finally have a clear map to follow! I'm sorry my drawings are quite rough and not the best..I'm not very talented when it comes to art but I think you'll understand the general idea.

I want the first shot to be the logo for the production company (Streit Productions) and I would also like to include another one like it saying Orinoco Pictures (named after a river in my home country of Venezuela) but that will take at least 7 seconds and time is very limited. I will see if I can include it after editing is done but for now I'm leaving it out.

Then the next couple of shots are establishing the woods setting and the opening credits. Lily will be the first character introduced as we see her running already having the audience asking questions (where is she going? what is she running from?) and engrossing them in the plot.

Step 2: The Idea/Concept

I haven't clearly explained what the plot of the adventure film will be- but that's because I wasn't quite sure myself. Luckily today I went out to lunch with two of my friends and they helped me develop and through concept for the film. It is slightly dystopian which is not the direction I intended to go in but I'm happy with the result. It is going to sound slightly ridiculous but the best ideas can sometimes sound quite crazy.

Like mentioned in my Adventure Awaits post, I want to make a film featuring a strong female lead which will still appeal to both sexes in the box office.

Lily is the main character of the story. Despite the fact that the government has tried to brainwash its citizens, Lily poses a threat to them by being curious, incredibly intelligent, and skilled- she's a prodigy. The government caught her hijacking the security system within a government building and attempting to obtain top-secret files. They've exiled her from her home and into the wilderness, however, they have not realized she's stole an artifact(that is in the shape of a rock) that is encrypted with vital information that can be revealed when inputed in to a special hardrive when she was being escorted out.

Initially, Lily doesn't know what this crystal does along with the audience other than it must be of high importance given that it was locked away with the files. She knows she must get away as fast as possible before the government realizes it has gone missing.

She has heard of a rebel group of exiles fighting against the tyrant government in the outskirts of the city and seeks them to find refuge and deliver mysterious item in hopes that it will aid them in the fight. Along the way she encounters the son of a close family friend, Alex, who was injured and also exiled for refusing to work for the governments militia. They make their way to the rebel bases together as their story romantically develops however it is not the main focus of them film.

  

Filming Report

Filming went well this morning, I got very nice shots of the sea during broad daylight in crystal-clear water which looked quite beautiful; however, when I got back to the hotel and was able to take a clear look at the footage I noticed the camera was slightly shaky when I was filming due to the angles I had to place it without a tripod to get the shots I wanted. This would normally be fine but I'm not really going for a handheld camera look. I want to shoot the adventure film because I know I can provide a better quality opening taking what I've learned from shooting the sea, if it becomes too complicated I always have that footage to go back to or reshoot it at a local beach.

On Location: Barbados

Given that I will be in the island of Barbados for an entire week I decided to allow myself some time to wander the island to see where I would best like to film and what I would like to film. Here are a couple shots from the locations we visited today.

The pictures of the animals where taken at the Barbados Wildlife Reserve. Although I'm not planning on including animals in my opening I'm not sure yet wether I want to establish the setting by including a couple shots of them so I just took a couple to be safe. The animals where all really tame so they allowed me to get quite close to them to photograph them and film them. 

The pictures of the beach are more of the shots I would like to include in my opening just that during normal daylight hours rather than a sunset. Although the sunset was beautiful it is quite brief so I would have to hurry up filming and if I come back to the hotel and see the footage and feel as if I need more it would be extremely hard to mix the shots given every sunset is different.

P.s - For anyone wondering the photos where taken on a Nikon D3200 with a 55-300mm lens.

Plan B

Now I know I haven't narrowed it down to one genre but here's why: I'm going away to the island of Barbados this week and I want to take advantage of the beautiful location. The only problem is, I'm an only child and the only two people accompanying me would be my parents so they would be the stars of the film by default therefore narrowing the genre down to a Romantic Drama. I want to do an opening scene introducing them both separately while also incorporating the setting but after meeting with my media teacher I've realized that doing this neatly and clearly might be a little harder than I previously though. I will try it and film as much footage as I can just to have another option to work with and if I really like the footage make it my opening; however, by now I'm treating as a Plan B just to have something to work with if the original opening I want to do for an adventure film isn't as good compared to the footage I'll get in Barbados.

Pros and Cons

Upon my research I wasn't completely able to define which exact genre I want but I was able to rule action out. When I thought about action I really had the idea of the adventure genre in my head but now that I know their differences adventure is the way I'd like to go. I am currently between doing a Romantic Drama or an Adventure film but it all depends on the next week.

Adventure
Pros:
- I know someone who would do a great job as the strong female lead
- Openings can be relatively easy to think of and engaging by opening with an action scene (like the read running)
- There are a couple locations easily accessible around to fit with the "exotic locales" part of the genre
Cons:
- An action scene could be hard to do without a dolly to move the camera along smoothly
- A fast pace opening is nothing really original

Romantic Drama
Pros:
- It can be shot anywhere - it is not as location heavy but more focused on the characters
- Opening can introduce the two characters to infer that their stories will eventually cross
- The genre I tend to gravitate towards
Cons:
- Might be a bit more script oriented
- It is harder to bring two people together to shoot than just working with the schedule of a single person
- Opening might be slightly more complex to film

Adventure Awaits

“Let us step into the night and pursue that flighty temptress, adventure.” 

                                             ― J.K. Rowling

I'm finally on the last genre of my three top picks! Even though I only researched a very small amount of genres I've learned a lot and come to realize that a lot of them were different to what I originally had thought. I saved the one who I never even knew was a major genre for last- Adventure.

The AMC Filmsite describes the adventure genre as "exciting stories, with new experiences or exotic locales...the viewer of adventure films can live vicariously through the travels, conquests, explorations, creation of empires, struggles and situations that confront the main characters, actual historical figures or protagonists." Adventure is closely linked to action films since they provide action-filled and energetic experiences for the audience but unlike action there is not a predominant emphasis on violence and fighting.

I'm not going to talk much about the common genre representation within this genre because it is linked closely to that of action which I've already done an in-dept analysis of but if you haven't read it and are interested you can click here to view my previous post regarding the topic. In summary, the genre is predominantly male and is usually intended to appeal mainly to men, creating major male heroic stars through the years like Indiana Jones, Jack Sparrow, and Zorro (AMC Filmsite). Women tend to be portrayed in a sexualized way to appeal to the male target audience. However, through personal observation I've come to the conclusion that the adventure genre has been taking a shift in recent years and featuring more empowering females who aren't as sexualized or even at all compared to the action movie heroines talked about in my previous post.

The Hunger Games Trilogy (or should I say quartet?) is one of the big names under the adventure genre that does a great job at introducing a strong female heroine where there in never a focus at all on her figure. We follow Katniss Everdeen's (Jennifer Lawrence) story as the spark that ignites a revolution in a dystopian world and we are exposed to her experiences, skill, and emotional health. You could argue that she does wear some tight, figure-enhancing clothing throughout the series (like the 2nd Quarter Quell outfit) but the way the films are directed it is clear to the audience that these costumes weren't created to serve that purpose, they're just bringing the book to life.
One of my favorite promotional posters of the films is this one to the right from the last film of the series The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2. First off, poster is completely attention drawing and striking but it also portrays Katniss as such a strong, capable character. The way she is sitting, positioned right in the middle, and the red body suit contrasting against the white background depicts her as powerful and capable. We can also see the arrows poking from her back, a symbol of her acute skill in hunting. She is truly the face of the rebellion.

Another recent example is Rey (Daisy Ridley) from the newest addition to the Star Wars series Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. Although the series has generally had strong female leads we can see through the years the shift. Bellow are three stills from three of the 7 films each featuring the female lead.

Still of Anthony Daniels, Carrie Fisher and Michael Carter
 in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983)

The very first one is from the sixth episode of the series which was released in 1983. This scene has been very controversial and is often been criticized because Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) is depicted as a slave wearing barely any clothing. Leia being one of the most influential female characters at the time who was previously depicted as witty, brave, and strong throughout the films is suddenly stripped back to being an object of male lust showing that females can never really be seen completely as strong heroines while keeping their femininity. The sad thing about this too is that any time you search up "Star Wars Episode 6 Leia" in places like Google and Youtube this is scene that pops up the most- it is disgustingly iconic.

Still of Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen
in Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)

The second still is from the second episode of the series which was shot twenty years later (if you've never seen Star Wars and are confused by the episode order watch this video to clear things up). Now we've moved on from Leia to Padme (Natalie Portman). Padme is also a character for young girls to look up to, she is courageous and kind not to mention the queen of the entire planet of Naboo and later moved on to become a senator. Palme still wears revealing clothing in the movies but nothing relatively scandalous, just a couple outfits showing off her stomach which is a big improvement from the Leia's slave getup.

Still of John Boyega and Daisy Ridley
in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015)

The third and final still is from our most recent heroine, Rey. Rey is an independent character who supports herself and has an amazing knack for piloting. She is more pulled together and stronger than her male counterpart Finn (John Boyega) and is never sexualized in any way in the entirety of the film. The rags you see her wearing in the still is what she wears for the majority of it. Her figure is never marketed yet the film still managed to bring in an enormous audience and gross more than 500 thousand dollars more than the previously highest grossing film in the series (which is surprisingly Episode 1, the one regarded as the worst of the 7) proving alongside the Hunger Games movies that an adventure movie does not need to sexualize women to attract people to come and see the film and be successful.

Sources:

 "Adventure Films." AMC Filmsite. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.filmsite.org/adventurefilms.html>.

IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

"Star Wars Movies: Production Costs and Global Box Office Revenue 2016." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2016. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/311356/star-wars-production-costs-box-office-revenue/>.

Drama Queen

"What is drama but life with dull bits cut out."

                            - Alfred Hitchcock

Before this course I never really knew what the drama genre entailed. I always assumed it was used to describe productions like Spanish soap operas or theater plays; little did I know that many of my favorite films where actually underneath this genre.

According to The Script Lab, drama “relies on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters.” The themes chosen play a large role in the plot and often derive from real life issues while aiming to tell an honest story of human struggles. Sub-genres include biography, historical, political, romance, and tragedy.

I'm leaning more towards the romance sub-genre seeing as I would love to do a historical piece but it would be really really hard to portray well with no budget. The Script Lab describes romantic dramas as a "genre that explores the complex side of love...the plot usually centers on an obstacle that is preventing love between two people." 

Still of Mario Casas as H in Three Steps Above Heaven(2010)
Distributed by Warner Bros.

I think there are a lot of ways I could go with the opening for a romantic drama. One that I really like is this one from the Spanish 2010 film Tres Metros Sobre El Cielo (Three Meters Above the Sky) directed by Fernando Gonzáles Molina. The opening (which you can watch here) introduces the two main characters switching between clips of H (above), the main male lead, riding his motorcycle in his leather jacket establishing him as typical bad boy and Babi, the main female lead, getting ready for school establishing her as the typical obedient school girl. This is a fairly easy concept to film that establishes the characters and their personalities instantly through mis-cen-scene, especially through costume design. 

Two of my favorite movies are Moulin Rouge!(MR) and Across The Universe(ATU) which happen to be musical dramas. I'm not considering a musical drama since I would have to compose my own music and unfortunately I have absolutely no idea how to do it myself and I don't want to rely too much on other people but I do quite enjoy the opening of both films (watch: ATU, MR). ATU begins with Jim Strugress' character, named Jude, singing looking straight into the camera. This choice by director Julie Taymor is very unique and not commonly seen in films of the genre. It instantly makes the viewer understand this is Jude's story and perspective, especially when paired with the words "is there anybody going to listen to my story..." MR also makes it clear within the opening that you are following the perspective of the male lead Christian (Ewan McGregor) but in this case through a narrative and the film begins a shot of a strange man singing a haunting lullaby in the corner of the screen in black in white. These films both begin in a really different way to other films but this works because both skew reality a little bit in their own way by having elements of fantasy and taking a more abstract route.

If I do choose to do drama I have to decide wether I want to go the more formalist route like Tres Metros Sobre el Cielo or more abstract like Across the Universe or Moulin Rouge!

Sources:

"Drama." The Script Lab. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. <http://thescriptlab.com/screenplay/genre/drama#>.

 IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 14 Mar. 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Lights, Camera...Action!

“Usually when you see females in movies, they feel like they have these metallic structures around them, they are caged by male energy.” 

                                                     ― Björk

Filmbug.com describes the action genre as one where "action sequences, such as fighting, stunts, car chases, or explosions, take precedence over elements like characterization or complex plotting," current trends include "development towards more elaborate fight scenes is Western film". The genre is predominantly dominated by males, not only behind the scenes where they tend to be the leads and directors but the targeted audience as well.
While I began to research the genre the first thing I encountered where a series of essays dealing with female representation in action films. Due to the fact that when I thought about doing action I always pictured having a female lead I decided to focus my research on gender representation within this genre.

The first essay I encountered was written by Naamah Hill, a teacher at Thurston Community College, and it mentioned Laura Mulvey, a film theorist who helped establish feminist film theory as a legitimate field of study (Burke). Mulvey introduced the theory of "Male Gaze" which argues that Hollywood tends to take a heterosexual male perspective in movies and images of women in films are presented simply for the gratification of male viewers (you can read Mulvey's full essay on "Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema" here). Hill argues that since action is a male dominated genre it tends to portray females as sex objects; however, the definition of attractiveness has changed over the years and now males are more attracted to intelligent and empowered women rather than perfect housewives.

Hill talks about the 2001 movie Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, an action movie based on a video game with a female lead, portrayed by Angelina Jolie. The author mentions how throughout the film a lot of shots focus on Jolie's body and how there is even a scene of her in the shower that is completely unnecessary to the plot and just serves to sexualize the character. Even in the opening of the film Hill states that the variety of shots are of Jolie's body. I tried to find a clip of the opening scene to understand what Hill was talking about but unfortunately I was unable to find it, however, just by taking a glance at the movie poster (located left) I could already see the emphasis on the female figure. Jolie is wearing tight clothing that hugs her figures and teeny tiny shorts.
A lot of the marketing for the movie was geared towards men as can be seen by the movie poster. The billboards and posters for the sequel Lara Croft: Tomb Raider The Cradle of Life are no exception. They depict Jolie in a skintight suit with the tagline 'Come and Get It' which, like Hill states, "has strong sexual connotations." Seeing as the concept for the film was initially a video game, I can understand why the film was targeting a male audience, using the image of Lara Croft to sell the movie.
Hill does point out however that in the action movie genre the narrative tends to contain a hero, a dispatcher, a treasure, and princess or damsel in distress. Tomb Raider features a hero, Lara Croft, a treasure and dispatcher, but no damsel in distress breaking the typical conventions of the genre.

The author also mentions other female empowering action films such as Kill Bill: Vol. 1 directed by Quentin Tarantino and the Resident Evil series (also inspired by a video game). Looking at the posters for these two films (located above) I noticed that the women are also sexualized by posing in skin tight suits and short shorts (although the Kill Bill poster isn't as bad). Taking a look at the Kill Bill trailer however one of the very first shots shown is a close-up on Uma Thurman's butt. In the essay Hill does make a point to mention that both of these films sexualize women less than Tomb Raider and Kill Bill is "refreshing" as it includes the female character in a role conventionally given to men, with her femininity never really becoming an issue.

Given that I've never seen any of the movies previously mentioned I did want to talk about one that I was familiar with. The 2010 movie Salt directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Angelina Jolie (again) is about a CIA agent named Evelyn Salt (Jolie) who goes on the run after she is accused of being a Russian spy. This is one of the films I can remember shaping the image of what a strong, independent woman is supposed to be like when I was younger and I still remember my family and I gathered around the television to watch it 10 years ago. Salt was intelligent, quit witted, and agile and everything that a powerful female lead should be. I remember I was amazed by Salt's endurance and skill and when I asked how was that even possible I recall my cousin explaining to me that when humans are faced with dire situations adrenaline kicks in making us ten times more capable of handling pain. Now, don't quote me on this since I never checked but from that moment on I always liked to believe that when in danger adrenaline made women fierce and capable of handling anything.
I don't remember the film heavily sexualizing Jolie at any point and upon watching the trailer to refresh my memory there were really no shots sexualizing her with the exception of one where a couple is seductively kissing, this is probably due to the fact that the film was marketed towards both males and females rather than mostly males. Taking a look at the poster (left) it is immediately different from the other three, granted she looks beautiful but if anything it is highlighting her facial features rather than her body and curves (side note: does it not bother anyone else that her face isn't centered?!?). The movie does portray the her as emotional which is conventional for females in action films but someone took her husband... I think it's safe to say she's not overreacting.

Going back to Hill's essay in the conclusion she poses the question "why can't women be portrayed as strong, intelligent, and empowered as well as being sexually attractive?" If I chose to make an action film I'd like to be able to answer this as yes, women can be portrayed this way. I would come up with a plot line where the female lead is still able to be portrayed as attractive but like Salt and unlike Tomb Raider, that wouldn't be an such important attribute for the movie.

P.s - I would like to point out that yes, men are also sexualized in film all the time (um Magic Mike anyone?) it isn't just directed towards women but focusing on the action genre it does tend to happen a lot more to women.

Sources:

"Action Movies." Filmbug. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/action-movies.php>.

Burke, Eleanor. "Mulvey, Laura (1941-) Biography." BFI Screenonline. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://www.screenonline.org.uk/people/id/566978/>.

Hill, Naamah. "How Are Women Represented in the Action Movie Genre." Slideshare. N.p., 14 Apr. 2014. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://www.slideshare.net/naamah/how-are-women-represented-in-the-action-movie-genre>.


 IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 12 Mar. 2016. <http://www.imdb.com/>.

Step 1: The Genre

As mentioned in the previous post, the first step in determining my plot is figuring out the genre. I unfortunately don't have enough time to research all the genres in the world so I've decided to pick three to research. But which three? I went on Statista (a great website to find statistics from a myriad of topics) to see which ones historically generate the most box office revenue and according to this graph, in North America from 1995 to 2016 comedy has been the top grossing genre. I found this slightly strange since I personally believe the quality of comedy movies has been decreasing over the years. I decided to take a look at another graph oriented solely on current years rather than an average of the last decade. In this particular graph listing domestic box office revenue of Hollywood movies in 2014 comedy ranked third behind action films, which came in first, and drama, which came in second. Action films grossed more than twice as much as comedy, bringing in 2,160 million US dollars more. Given this I've decided to conduct my research on action, drama, and adventure. I've chosen adventure as my third choice given that a lot of the films nominated for the Academy Awards this year fit within this genre such as The Revenant, Mad Max: Fury Road, and The Martian (you can check out the list of the of the nominees and winners here).

Sources:

Donnell, Jim. "Oscar Winners 2016: See the Complete List!" The Oscars. N.p., 29 Feb. 2016. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://oscar.go.com/news/winners/oscar-winners-2016-see-the-complete-list>.

"Hollywood: Highest Grossing Movie Genres 2014 | Statistic." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/433732/highest-grossing-movies-domestic-box-office-genre/>.

"Movie Genres by Box Office Revenue in North America 2016 | Statistic." Statista. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Mar. 2016. <http://www.statista.com/statistics/188658/movie-genres-in-north-america-by-box-office-revenue-since-1995/>.

Writer's Block & How to Combat It

I've learned that personally, to focus on little details I need to understand the big picture first. To work best I've decided that I need to determine the full plot to have the clear picture of the concept, the characters, their representation, and the setting to produce the film opening that represents my concept in the best way possible. There is only one problem: I still have no idea what direction I want to go with the film, what genre I want to work with, or what kind of characters I want to feature.
I've decided to break down the tasks I need to tackle to ensure that I will have a solid idea to work with.

Step 1: The Genre
To help aid in choosing the best genre I will complete extensive research on the three that I am most interested in working with and document my analysis on each to be able to compare and decide which one I want to tackle.

Step 2: The Idea/Concept
To help combat my bad case of mental block I will be bringing a group of friends together by to help me brainstorm ideas for the film. I will document this process and later decide on which concept I can work with best given the resources I have. Once I have a solid concept for the film I think the rest of the process will become much easier.

Step 3:  The Characters and Setting
Thinking about the characters and their traits ahead of time will help me begin to narrow a list of actors/actresses that fit these traits and begin to schedule filming. Determining the setting ahead of time will allow me to go out and seek potential locations to see which one best suits the setting I'm going for.

After these three steps I will have a very concrete idea of the film and will be able to begin larger projects like the storyboard, seeking the best music, and the script.