Group Meeting

 Okay LOTSSSS of updates blog!

Recently, my class had a group meeting where people could get together, discuss their projects and progress, and then get feedback from peers. I did not realize just HOW much this would help me and Andreina, I finished that day with a whole page of notes and suggestions. 

So for basic observations, one thing I really saw though was that my ENTIRE group was at multiple different points. One girl in my group hadn't even decided her main storyline, main characters, and just got her main conflict down. We obviously all helped to chip in, but seeing that some of my classmates were either at the same point or even behind me was reassuring. However, another dude was EXTREMELY ahead of the rest. He had his main scenes, how he was going to film, where he was going to film, character names, and the entire plot beginning to end of the ENTIRE FILM. He knew exactly where to stop the opening too and was free to suggestions without taking it to heart. I kind of thought it was a little funny, seeing that the group was so free with their progress. 

My group also suggested that for multiple characters that are the same type of person (ex: 2 teenage girls), that color coding their outfits would be a great way to distinguish who is who. I also suggested that the colors could relate to something with their personality and who they are. This idea will probably be applied to me and Andreina's characters' clothes, so I did research and found examples of color-coded clothes on characters.

I also found a small list that could guide me with the characters outfits. 

However, I don't want to just limit the coloring to the characters clothes, I was also hoping that all the characters could have distinct jewelry they always wear. A small detail I REALLY want to include is that the character who dies wears a certain top/jewelry, and the character who lives is later seen with it or wearing it.

Another thing I noticed was the diversity of genre. I don't know why, but I somehow expected everyone to choose either coming-of-age or even just see a common theme throughout, but my group was scattered with their genres. One girl had chosen horror/thriller, one coming-of-age, another sci-fi, someone else dystopia, and mine being mystery. Even though the genre's were extremely different, I got to see everyone's blogs with all their genre research. They all had amazing details that they wanted to add in to really create their mood, as the girl who chose horror says she wanted to start the opening with fast cuts, setting the fast paced for thriller. 

Now, onto the notes that my group gave me. I had mentioned that because Andreina and I had basically just solidified our main plot line, our idea of how to start and even continue the opening was extremely fuzzy. One girl gave me a suggestion that I really loved. I had said that we had planned to HINT that a character would die, but not tell or show the audience directly. She had said that during the 1:30 mark would be the best time (in her opinion) to just abruptly drop the character from all scenes, creating curiosity, and to spend the time before that building the relationship and character of the 2 main characters. I genuinely loved that she gave me a time stamp to follow, and honestly, I could see how this opening could play out. 

Another had recommended that there could be a montage of the 2 main characters, always roughly in the same place on screen, then it would go black, show the title, and one of the girls would be standing alone in roughly the same place. This would create a parallel and really show to the audience that something tragic had happened. He also suggested that there could be a brighter was of color during that part, maybe even a vintage effect to really show it was just memories. I genuinely could also see this opening play out. Maybe during the first half, we can show the girl that gets bullied closing herself off more and more until eventually she's gone. The scene after the title would probably be her at a funeral? Maybe her bedside? Me and Andreina are still unsure but we know this group meeting helped A LOT. 

Another small detail someone had recommended is when after phone numbers become unused, the texts become green. I REALLY like this small detail and I'm 100% sure I will find somewhere to implement this. Someone had suggested that throughout the entire opening, there should be no dialogue. Even though this is a creative choice, I cannot see myself being able to do this. When would the dialogue begin in the movie? Would the opening just be silence and background noise? Even though silence and background noise could create the uncomfortable feeling I want, I', unable to see how to do this. Because of no dialogue, everything would have to just be implied, and that would maybe have too much going on in the first 2 minutes. 

Instead, I think I'll just keep the dialogue to a minimum. However, the lack of background noise will still be used and I was thinking of using lack of sound, or maybe the sound of rain, to create the gloomy mood we need. One girl in my group recommended that we make theme boards on Pinterest for our characters, which is an idea I love and WILL DEFINITELY be doing. I think the next thing I will be working on is finding roughly how the opening will go; one girl in my group created time stamps for her entire opening and that could benefit me GREATLY, so I will be doing it too. 

The parallel of characters side by side followed by the title, followed by 1 girl alone where she was previously standing is an AMAZING scene that I DEFINITELY will try to include.

So far, what I 100% want to include is a green text message scene, distinct styles for each character, the jewelry/clothing of the passed character the living character later has, the parallel of characters side by side, minimal dialogue, and maybeeee the montage. However, if I do the montage, I will 100% be including the saturation effect and the vintage effect.

Bye blog!