Calling Card: Editing Process

 Editing Thought Process

Before I get into the specifics, all of the editing is done my partner, Anders. This is because we made an agreement where I would be the main actor and he would take care of the editing process. Although he did all of the physical work, I helped him with a variety of smaller tasks such as browsing sounds, video and time managment, and also general advice on how to edit. I was also with him when he edited so that is also to be taken into account. 

As we gathered all of the shots we realised our undited footage exceeded the time limit by a mile. Andres then browsed over all of the shots and decided which ones were worth keeping and which ones were not. Andres then began the editing process. He started editing and that led to him cutting most of the clips by a bit so we fit into the time constraint. It then dawned on me that we forgot some of the shots. As we came to a realization, we decided to come to the filming location one last time to wrap up the filming process. Some of the shots were also just weird and felt wrong so that was another reason on why we wanted to re-film some stuff. An additional problem we ran into during filming was about lighting. During filming, our clips were a bit too dark or too bright. To solve this, we used the lighting option when editing to customize the effect of various lighting options and stuck to the ones that felt right.

Sound

With all of the visual additions out of the way, we decided to begin researching sound effects and soundtracks for our characters. The way we researched the sounds was through the websites my teahcer provided us, which are BenSound and Pixabay. On Bensound, we stumbled upon a perfect soundtrack for our antagonist. The soundtrack was called "Vanishing Hope" by Foepond. That piece really exemplified the vibe we wanted to portray with our antagonist which mainly revolves around eerie and creepy vibes. On Pixabay, we simply found some backround effects such as a door closing and opening. Unfortunately, we run out of luck and we could not find any protagonist music. To combat this problem, we will make our own musical soundtrack using foley sounds and whatnot in class.

Credits

After I and Andres finished working on the sound part, he took control once again. I would try to include myself here but to be honest, he did all of the work for the credits. According to him, he begun by looking at previous projects done by students a while ago for inspiration. After he decided on where the credits would appear and show, he started researching fonts. As he did not know anything about font choices, he decided to get some help from his mother. Also according to his blog post, his mom gave him some incredible advice which was that his font was too big and the font that he was using (Comic Sans), was really bad and gave him a top-teir font reccomendation and we really liked it. She also provided some advice on font color, credit placement, and the size of the credits. 

Conclusion

I'm not going to go around saying that I did half the project or anything like that because honestly, he put in all of the hard work, which is really commendable. After I reviewed the semi-finished product, I was really proud of what we created and I cannot wait for the finished product. I hope on Monday we get to complete the filming and also editing so that we can get started on our CCR productions.

Calling Card: Production post

 Production Process

We originally planned to go back to our friend's house to film more, but, it turns out that he was busy for the entire week. So we had to improvise. We had to make some last minute changes and that included going to my partner's house and bringing along another person to help us with filming.

 Once we arrived to our filming location, we firstly had to discuss the elements that we were going to use. We pulled out our storyboard, we had to bring the props we were going to use, and we also got our filming areas ready. This time, we were able to collect all the necessary props including the calling card, the relics, religious elements, ramen cups, newspaper, and the half-empty water bottles.

Protagonists

We originally planned to film the antagonist stuff first but we had to wait until it got darker so we could implement the low-key lighting we wanted. Continuing, We had to establish Oliver's and Matthew's relationship. We introduced Oliver and Matthew through a quick conversation about Matthew's girlfriend and then we focused on Matthew complaining about how difficult the case was. We then took a variety of shots that followed our storyboard and also we also focused on how to accurately achieve our intended message through our mystery film production. We additionally had our filming area be super dirty to really exemplify them as obsessed.

 We encountered a problem mid-way through filming though. Halfway through our production process it dawned on me that I used the wrong costume for Matthew. That really set us back for a little bit but we did come back stronger. Additionally, I feel like because of that reset, we were able to film better shots than before and become more dialed it when it came to filming the antagonist

Antagonist

As we transitioned from protagonists to antagonist, it started to become really dark. At first, we thought that this may be a problem because we are inexperienced with lighting so we worried that we would not be able to get our desired shots. But my partner's father came to us and presented a portable light with an adjustable brightness setting. This really helped us a LOT and because of the light we were able to effectively solve the lighting problem and continue filming according to the storyboard. So we turned off all of the lights, got our portable light, and began filming.

The antagonist part went surprisingly really well except for the fact that my partners dog sometimes barked and interrupted our filming. We also had a slight time constraint because it turns out that my partner had 2 more dogs that were aggressive. So his mom stepped up with a heroic move and took them to a park. Thanks to that, we got some amazing shots that I am genuinely proud of and many more. After this, we mostly wrapped up filming for that day because it was approaching a really late hour and we decided that we would finish the last shots on Monday of the following week.

Conclusion

As smoothly as that day may have went, we still need to complete a variety of more shots for the protagonists. We switched from the protagonists to the antagonist midway during filming because it was getting dark and we wanted to create a contrast between day and night to highlight how the detectives are the good people and the antagonist is the bad person. Additionally, the friend we invited to play Oliver happened to be somewhat bad at acting and articulating certain sentences so that took up a small chunk of our time. 

In conclusion, I think that we had a great day at filming and I hope we can wrap up the filming part soon and start editing the following week!

Calling Card: #1 question for CCR

How does your product use or challenge conventions and how does it represent social groups or issues

Firstly, I think it is important to discuss what type of presentation I want to do for my first 2 questions. When me and my partner were brainstorming about what we wanted to do, I decided on an idea that I think is doable. I have decided on doing a podcast with the interviewer being my partner and the interviewee being me. While we sit in a professionally decorated setting with mics that I plan to borrow from a tech shop such as Microcenter or even Best Buy, my partner will ask me a couple questions related to the filming process. Following that, he then will ask me questions one and two from the CCR presentation.

Script:

Alex: "Welcome to our show everyone, today we are interviewing a famous movie director: Marat Rabadanov!"

Marat(me): "Thank you for inviting me today Alex, how's it goin?"

Alex: "Great, but me and my viewers were wondering, how does your recent film opening, Calling Card, challenge and use conventions?"

Marat: "Well, our film opening revolves around two investigators that are working together to uncover the truth behind the notorious thief called Shade, right? So I would say that this film opening definitely follows the classical conventions of mystery shows and movies."

Alex: "nods"

Marat: " Continuing, our product uses conventions to our advantage to appeal to our audience that has seen previous mystery movies. Although we do aim to make a mystery movie that follows a status quo, we still want to add our own twist to this type of genre."

Alex: "What makes your film stand out from other ones?"

Marat: "The way we would personalize this is by adding an element that does not appear very often. We will be adding a deuteragonist, by the name of Oliver, that will be working alongside Matthew, which is the protagonist. These two characters are to be compared to as equals and we strive to make that clear in the film opening."

Alex: "So let me get this straight, you got two protagonists on equal footing to add a special twist?"

Marat: "precisely"

Alex: "Another question, can you explain how your movie strives to represent social groups and issues?"

Marat: "We will be representing social groups by challenging the "Lone Wolf" archetype."

Alex: "Interesting, can you elaborate?"

Marat: "Of course, think about characters like Batman and Sherlock Holmes. Normally, these types of characters are depicted as isolated, not friendly, depressed, and even superior. We are aiming to represent two detectives, but in our film opening, we will establish Oliver and Matthew as equals."

Alex: "Go on"

Marat: "This depicts a more healthy version of teamwork and further reinforces them as friends. We will also have those two characters be from different ethnic backgrounds, but strive to reach the same goal together."

Alex: " You're talking about Matt and Oliver a lot, how does Shade come into this conversation?"

Marat: To dive into social issues, I wanted to introduce Shade. Shade would be presented as an elusive figure, seemingly appearing and disappearing with the Calling Card left in the place he struck. This can be used to represent how shade is the fear and the unknown in modern society."

Alex: "uhuh"

" I could also add how Shade can be an example of how people sometimes do not feel safe in familiar environments."

Alex: "Well that is it folks, you have heard it here from the man himself. Thank you guys for tuning in to our show and special thanks to Mr. Rabadanov for taking his time and showing up today.

Marat: "Thank you again for having me."

Calling Card: Group Meeting #2

Second Group Meeting

Today we had our second group meeting. I was introduced to a whole new group with mostly new people and they all seemed pretty cool. We opened with an introduction of Sebastian and his film opening, which to summarize, revolved around a couple guys that came into a parking lot, then they saw a lit backpack, and then got put in a trance. The details Sebastien explained and the level of creation included in this made me think that this film was pretty creative because I did not expect this level of development. 

Another post I liked was from a person from the first group meeting. Her film opening was about a teenager running away from abusive parents by sneaking out. She talked about her setting and different props which included empty beer bottles, empty chip bags, and soda cans & snack wrappers. I liked this idea because these props are just simple everyday items so obtaining them will not be a crazy hassle.

To summarize all of the other film openings, I will list them. One of them was about a track runner that struggled with mental health, another one included a girl that got pregnant and got ghosted by her boyfriend, another one was about drug abuse and unhealthy habbits, and lastly; one more included a phone usage abuse by a teen.

Finally, we ended off by discussing the first creative critical reflection question. I answered it by discussing how my genre impacts status que and if it challenges conventions. I said that it does not because my detective mystery film opening is a somewhat common type of film for that genre and it impacts the audience by making them think about the motives and the drive of the antagonist, as well as the protagonist's.

Calling Card: Production Issues & Obstacles

 Obstacles and Issues on Day 1 & 2

  After we set up our scene on saturday me and my friends ran into a variety of problems. We realized this after we glanced over the storyboard and outline andwe realized those shots just would not be possible. To start, we forgot multiple props at home so as a result we couldnt film scenes that contained said props. And for some other shots, they were not possible due to the layout of the house. For example, We couldnt film a mirror shot we wanted because the mirror we wanted to use did not have our desired proportions and also it wouldnt fit on any wall. Another example would be related to us forgetting the props; The protagonist's room wouldnt be possible because we didn't have the amount and props we needed. I also realised that the black clothing I had was getting way too small for me so I had to improvise last second and use a second viable option.

One of the problems we ran into while filming had to do with lighting. Since we arrived a tad late to our friends house, it was already somewhat dark outside. Since most of the shots we planned on shooting for the antagonist revolved around a darker atmoshpere, we couldnt create enough contrast between the dimly lit room and the already dark environment to see anything. 

And so we adapted. We had our friend hold a flashlight at a high angle to imitate naturally condesending lighting and that idea worked perfectly. With now enough contrast we were finally able to get some progress done. 

Another problem we ran into was the extremely cramped hallway we had to shoot in. A numerous amount of shots we had planned revolved around the hallway, but, the cramped space made it outright impossible to shoot the clips. I solved the problem by suggesting we open a bathroom door for the cameraman to fit into and that problem took care of itself after that.

After we wrapped up filming for day one, we decided to postpone the majority of the leftover scenes for the next day. This is because we had to bring all the props, the right costume, and the right mentality. 

As inspired as we were to film the next day, our hopes were sadly crushed by our filming place being unavailiable. This simply ruined our plans we had for the day completely and there was nothing we could do about it because we already shot a varity of shots in the house we were originally meant to film in; so changing that filming location would collapse our setting. Although that situation is horrible, there was a slight upside to this. Since we had more time to film, that gave us more time to prepare and refine our props.

Hopefully tommorow we can actually get to finish most of the filming to then start focusing on the editing aspect of our film opening.

Calling Card: Production Process #1

Setting up the scenes

This is the first shooting day we have hosted so far and it was all over the place to be honest. Firstly, once we arrived at our desired location, which is a friend's house, we got a bit distracted with some minor details but we eventually pushed through it. Next, we started brainstorming on how to move all the furniture to our ideal place and to free up some space for filming.

 After we eventually decided on a layout we were happy with, we started to film. Additionally, we had forgot some props at home so that put a slight halt on our filming process. But we eventually decided to postpone the scenes with said props to sunday. Some scenes illustrating us setting up the set are shown below:

Starting to Film

After we set up our desired set, we immediately began looking at our storyboard and decided on what to film. After some review, we decided that some of our chosen scenes were not possible and we had to improvise. For example, we had a mirror film shot but at the angle and position the mirror was, that was impossible. At this point, it was starting to get dark since we started filming a tad late. 

Additionally, today was a slower day due to us being introduced to the idea of filming and interacting together in a new environment. Considering this, we decided on treating this day as more of an "experimental" day and postponing our actual film day to the next avaliable day. This would also be a great idea because not only are we going to come ready with props but also because we can come at an earlier time and actually get the shots we originally wanted.

Hopefully we get to film even more stuff tomorrow and bring the props with us this time. Tommorow we will film Oliver and Matthew's part and also finish up Shade's part.

Calling Card: Rewriting the screenplay

 Rewriting the screenplay

Earlier in one of my previous blog posts, me and my parthner submitted an incomplete version of the screenplay. After some reviewing we realised that that approach was not only unrealistic, but it was also a huge risk for us since we could be condemning ourselves to more work later on when we will work on shooting our clips. Since me and my teammate did not want to burden ourselves with a bigger workload, we decided that it would be better if we just simply created a viable script right now so we would not have to work in the future during filming process.

I personally did not know that much on screen play and scripts but after reviewing a couple of scripts from popular tv shows, i had realised what i needed to do. Credits to my parthner for suggesting I use Script Reader Pro, as he did as well, to research and analize a couple films. The scripts shown below provide excellent examples of well-written scripts and screenplays. The link for Script Reader Pro will be listed on the bottom for credits.

The films I will provide today as examples are Boogie Nights, The Way, Way Back; and Flightpan. After looking at these side by side, it was openly obvious that ours was just horrible. These proffesionally done scripts effectively build relationships and advance the plot while ours just existed for the purpose of submitting an assignment. This was not how we wanted to roll, so, we revamped everything. 

With our newly discovered information, we got to work. And after a tedious while, we came up with our own, effective screenplay. This new screenplay better develops the dynamics of our protagonists, or Olliver and Matthew, advances the plot in a meaningful direction instead of just being there, and it also better establishes the relationships between all of the characters. The new screenplay will be shown below as well as the examples I personally looked at.

Revised Screenplay

Examples of the movies + screenplays

Boogie Nights

Boogie Nights screenplay example

The way, way back

The Way, Way Back screenplay example

Flightpan

Flightplan screenplay example

Credits: https://www.scriptreaderpro.com/screenplay-example/

Creating The Logo

 The Logo Name

At first, me and my teammate did not know what to come up with, but, after some inspiration, we have decided on a name. The name of our production company will be "Viper Studios", and there is no symbolic meaning behind it. We just wanted to appeal to the mysterious/horror type of genre and we wanted our logo to kind of reflect that. Additionally, we created our logo to also reflect our name in it. Meaning, the S in the snake stands for studios.

Finished Product:

Logo Creation Process

Like I mentioned earlier, we came into this logo creation process with zero knowledge on how to create and publish a viable logo. After some research and inspiration from famous studios, we present our production process below in pictures:

We first created a base to work with, using simple shades of purple and then further in the process black. This is done to emphasize on the Calling Cards we will use in the film opening, and also to reinforce our production company as a company that does mystery movies.

Next, we had to add our actual logo, we have decided on a snake for a reason. We chose the snake because it is a very versatile creature and could be used to represent any letter/shape we want. We also added on eye because we wanted to add a touch of realism

Next, we added the final touches. We changed the eye color to green and invented our production company name. Plus, like i mentioned earlier, the snake looks like an S, which concretes our studio name.

And finally, we finished up on the logo and created the black background to contrast our white text and to also symbolize the Calling Cards and their signature colors. Additionally, we had to play around with the colors and sizes a lot because we had to find the perfect combination.

Character Development Part 2

 Research

Before finalizing the costume design for our characters, we have decided to do some research regarding the importance of costume design and its effect on the film opening plus the audience. As I researched more into the subcategory of mise-en-scene (costume design), it became clear that costumes play a very important part in the creation of a movie.

The costume of a character can reveal a character's personality traits as well as factors such as habits, character development, and the vibe of said character. It can also establish the character's identity and alignemnt. For example, mysterious characters, like the ones we are trying to portray, tend to drift towards more unrevealing, dark clothing due to the nature of the character. On the other hand, Characters that typically are considered heroes in fantasy, tend to wear more creative and bright clothing. With that said, this must be taken into account when designing our characters.

Costume for the Antagonist

As I established earlier, we are set on doing a mystery genre, and with previous statements stated above, it is clear what we have to do to ensure a successful costume creation for our villain. For shade, the villain, we planned to have him wear almost full black, this is done to symbolize the fact that he represents mystery, fear, and the unknown. He will wear a dark hoodie along with black pants and shoes, while having a purple and black mask to highlight the importance of the Calling Cards.

Costume for the Protagonists

For our protagonists, we wanted to achieve that proffesional and older look, while also presenting them as sort of obsessed. At first we thought about using suits, but that would seem almost cheesy, so we came up with another costume idea. The idea is, we have them wear ragged collared shirts with or with out accessories, and also maybe with a food smudge or two. This works the best in our scene because it brings out the aspects we want to highlight in our protagonists, which is, having them look extremely focused on the case and almost forget about their daily life, but still remain professional-looking, and this specific idea does just that. 

(best example I could find, so just imagine this but dirtier, more nerdy, and more wrinkly.)

Character Development

 Development for the Protagonists:

Originally, my parthner and I were going to give our protagonists a "whatever" name, but, After careful reconsideration, we have decided to update on this matter. Additionally, the characters name's we have chosen contain a symbolic meaning to them. This would help our storyline by highlighting their morals and what they represent. Firstly, We chose the name Matthew due to its origins as well as the name representing one of the 12 disciples of Jesus. Additionally, we chose this name because it is one of the most common names in the US, and we dont want the connection between the references to be obvious. For the second protagonist, we chose the name Oliver. This does not have a significant meaning behind it but it is the 3rd most common name in the US.

Portraying the Protagonists:

To start, we are going to portray them in a small, messy room to highlight their obsession and dedication to the case. This is also where the entirety of their screentime will be. The dialogue between the two protagonists will be limited to further cement the idea of them being exhausted and obsessed with the task. This also ties back to our original idea of having the protagonists be solely focused on the case and nothing else. Additionally, one of the protagonists will have a lover (undecided between a spouse and a girlfried yet) and have that protagonist leave the room because she called him. This is done to show that these are actual people genuinely obsessed with the case that also have an outside life but are choosing to ignore it. This may also appeal to a certain audience that may relate to this situation (having something important in their ongoing life but are ignoring it).

Mise-en-scene:

We will have their room be filled with props such as empty ramen packets, scattered paperwork, coffee mugs, and other props that can reinforce the tone of unending obsession. For their costume, we will have them be in ragged suits or lazy home clothes to make it clear that they have been up and not sleeping for numerous times. All of these elements can work together to bring to life our visualization of this film opening.

Antagonist:

Since we want to make the antagonist be super mysterious, we have to fully illustrate that idea. So, he will be show from a variety of angles but all of the shots will not reveal his face fully. This is done to hide any humanity, as well as to create a more mysterious tone and have him look as menacing as possible. This can also show the audience that they dont know the antagonist's motives and ideology. Next, the mystery aspect would also be highlighted since the main goal for the protagonists is to uncover this man's true idfentity and figure out his reason for doing all of this. Lastly, since our actors are teenagers, we would absolutely have to cover up his face or we face the risk of the antagonist not looking intimidating enough.

Approach to Audio

 Audio for the Antagonist:

For the antagonist, who carries a more deeper and evil vibe, I decided on trying a music track. The music will be focused around very deep vocals and/or very heavy notes. Instruments that would be accepted is a violin, since violins are associated with the devil/evil in western culture. The music will have slow parts that will have a lower tone, contrasted by quick parts of the music that have very explosive and fast-paced.

Like I mentioned earlier, the violin is associated with evil, but it also is a perfect fit for what i am trying to accomplish. since it can be played both fast and slow, with various tones, a violin is an instrument that will be almost necessary. Next, I want to have to sound to fade into the scene from the start, meaning the music would start more mellow at the start and reach its peak towards the end. Additionally, I want to add a sound of him breathing at some point, and have his breathing be more irregular, kind of like Darth Vader from "Star Wars". I feel like this would help me illustrate the idea of the antagonist being this evil person that has unknown motives better

Audio for the Protagonist:

Since the protagonist's are going to be in a very messy room, I was thinking about adding in some music that helps bring that to life. I feel like adding an untraditional beat, maybe even irregular, may be a good idea. I want to choose a song that can also help me in character development. The song I want to use has to be more mellow, to express their obsessed vibe. 

For the sound effects, there are numerous elements I want to include. Paper crumpling, muttering sentences, unfinished phrases, jittered clicking of a writing utensil (pen or pencil), Breathing, restless foot tapping, and a quiet fan are all elements I may want to include. Moving forward, I want the music to also warm up, just like the antagonist, but this time, I want the music to cut off after their character is developed and the last part of the film opening can take place. Cutting off the music can act as a wake up call for the viewers, snapping them away from the character development and putting the back into the main plot, which is them trying to solve a mystery. 

Character Development Ideas

 Developing the Antagonist:

Since The antagonist is going to be very mysterious, the development of his character will not be explored too deeply. The antagonist will be portrayed through his mystery elements, which will make up the majority of his screen time. Props such as his calling cards are going to be the main element we will focus upon, and his personality and character will be illustrated in the riddles that are in the calling cards. Additionally, his costume will be made up of entirely black or black and purple (we are still deciding), which will be used to highlight his signature colors and emphasize on the unknown.

The antagonist will be shot from various angles, but, we will show him either without showing his face, or showing him with a mask on. We are choosing to hide his face for 3 reasons. Firstly, not showing his face will allow the audience to use their imagination to fill in the blank which can hopefully make the film opening a bit more mysterious. Secondly, the mysterious effect of the film will be highlighted and the protagonists will have a harder time trying to find and pinpoint who the antagonist is. And Lastly, since all of our actors have softer facial features and exemplify a teenager, we just decided to not show his face entirely which will make the villain look more sinister and intimidating (example in the picture below).

Developing the Protagonists

Starting off, The protagonist's setting will be a small, cramped room where they will spend their entire screen time. We will have minimal conversation between them to emphasize the obsession they have with the case, which ties back to our intention, which is to illustrate the protagonists as obsessed people that are entire focused on the case. One of the protagonists' will have a girlfriend, and then he will leave the room to talk to her. We added this element to show that these are grown people with an outside life but are still very obsessed with the case. This can also appeal to a certain audience / those who can relate.

Moving on, the protagonist's room will be messy and dirty (filled with empty ramen cups, empty coffee packets & mugs, and paperwork everywhere), which is done to further cement the protagonists as preoccupied adults. The detectives will also have one singular monitor which they all share, this is done to again, make them look like obsessed adults. The costume the protagonists will have are just basic pajamas and some will have glasses. Adding all of these mise-en-scene elements is done to project the protagonists as messy and out-of-tune with the world. Meaning, the only important thing on their mind is the case and nothing else.

Script + Storyboard

 Storyboard:

After careful consideration and rigorous brainstorming, me and my parthner have came up with a storyboard that we will execute and film.

Script:

Media Theory Intergration Ideas

 Chosen Media Theory: Enigma Code

Ronald Barthes created this media theory to explain how plot holes and mysteries keep the audience engaged and to create suspence. The Enigma Code can relate to all puzzles, unexplained events, plot holes, mysteries, and questions that occur in the story. These elements can further encourage the audience to keep watching the show by incentivizing possible answers to unexplained questions. 

Why This Works in my Project:

The mystery story about a detective trying to stop a thief from stealing a relic provides the perfect context for unexplained mysteries. For example, the questions I could pose to the audience could be: "What is this relic so significant," and "Where is the antagonist going to strike next?". These questions can delay the answers and push the audience to sit and wait for the potential answers getting revealed; plus, this gives me enough footing to potentially continue from my film opening into a full potential movie. This can also engage the audience by having them try to solve the mystery before it gets revealed, triggering a dopamine release which can leave a positive lasting memory for the viewer.

How I will Accomplish This:

• Using calling cards as potential mysteries waiting to be solved.
• Not revealing the antagonist's motives and history.
• Withholding information to create tension.
• not revealing the history and importance of the relic.

The Enigma Code is a great fit for my project because my story revolves around unsolved mysteries and decoding the calling cards. These mysteries can help elevate the concept of my plot and provide valid reasons for the audience to try and guess the mysteries and finish the show. These elements can help illustrate and create suspense and conflict which can further positevely impact my film opening.

Summarizing Project & Inspiration

Summarization:

So, our idea is to create a detective mystery genre film opening that has a conflict between man and man, specifically, the detectives and the antagonist (name is still in development). The story revolves around the antagonist going all over the country plundering museums and stealing precious relics. The antagonist will be a dark and mysterious figure so we decided to not reveal his face. Note that the antagonist leaves behind "calling cards" whenever he steals an artifact. They are riddles that provide clues to our protagonists to advance the plot forward.  Next, the protagonists are put in a very messy environment to highlight their obsession with the case and to make the film opening look more realistic. Essentially, They are detectives who use those calling cards to their advantage and try to figure out where the villain will go next. This plot revolves around props and character development heavily, so we need to emphasize on that.

Inspiration:

For my choice of inspiration, I decided to pick the movie: "Sherlock Holmes". This is basically the iconic pinnacle of all detective movies, so, I thought this would serve as a fantastical inspiration. One thing I like about the movie that solidified my vote for this movie is its unique style. It is more of a faster paced mystery movie which I am all for. The movie also puts a spin on classical detective movies by adding subtle touches of humor and creative visuals. The protagonist, Sherlock Holmes, is presented as not only a detective, but also a brilliant inventor that is also a highly skilled fighter. The plot follows Sherlock Holmes and Watson through a mystery where they try to uncover the schemes of Lord Blackwood. This movie keeps its original characteristics from Arthur Conan Doyle (author), and adds a modern twist that involves a broader audience. In conclusion, this is my inspiration because this movie is genuinely so well paced while still keeping the original mystery vibe and whenever I think of detective movies or even detectives in general, I always think of Sherlock Holmes, so, that is my pick.

I wish to follow through on most of the key elements I listed above but I'm sure it is bound to have some type of trouble. My biggest issue right now is location. Filming a villain that travels the country will be a pretty hard task to pull off on its own due to the variance of location. Not to mention all the props we have to buy and the costumes. I just hope that the project goes smoothly and I will try to figure out the issue with location.

Group Meeting Reflection

My First Group Meeting

So it all started with us introducing our names and sharing our blogs. I was the person that went first and presented my idea and genre. I actually did not get much feed back, probably due to us not being very comfortable to share our opinions. Then, we started a counter clockwise rotation and had those chosen people introduce their ideas. As we got further into the meeting, we became a lot more expressive around each other, probably because we all started bonding.

 There were a lot of really cool ideas I really liked, like for example, there was a girl next to me and she said she was doing an animation. I personally think that's extremely impressive because you don't see that everyday and it must be a lot of work animating everything, not even mentioning the amount of resources you have to use. Also, Katherine, I think her name was, she was doing a drama between the protagonist, her mom, and her dad. I thought that that was really creative and cool because it seemed like an original idea and also because it relied heavily on props.

As the meeting was nearing the end, we went back to my idea and I actually got some feedback. The use of props, mise-en-scene, and setting was talked about and I got some valuable advice. Originally, I was going to introduce the protagonists first, but after some critique, I decided to the antagonist first and also list the credits next to antagonist. Also, I needed to talk about my location for the filming because my idea makes it kind of hard to film all of the scenes in one house/location. So I ended up coming to a solution where I would film the protagonist in one room, and the antagonist in the rest of the house. Lastly, I came up with the title for my film: Calling Card.

Analyzing Credit Sequences

 Credit Sequence 1: The Pale Blue Eye

The credit sequence of "The Pale Blue Eye" establishes a cold a gloomy mood right from the start. This is accomplished by the haunting music and an creepy landscape that contrasts the music. The camera moves slowly over the green forests and landscapes, which then makes the set feel lonely and mysterious. These elements can be taken as a hint to what may come in the film. things such as detective work and emotional tension can be expected. The title is presented in red over the green and peaceful background, almost implying that the pure is getting stained. Most of the other credits are presented over a dark screen with barely any action whatsoever, which is unique.

Credit Sequence 2: Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

This film is particularly unique due to the film having upbeat music and playful illustration. The title is appears in bright bold yellow letters and has an aggressive font. The music takes the primarily lead in this opening while the visual effects are not very stunning. Still, this film is a contrast to most mystery genre films by containing energetic music and a somewhat laid-back vibe. Some of the credits are shown in a more basic style, while others have their own illustration. This may be done to highlight more important people in the film, and as well as to bring those people to attention in front of the audience. The colorful style can suggest that this film is about a plot where intellect is dominant over strength. The opening may also throw some people off by having a upbeat opening and a contrasting story that follows, enhancing the surprise element of the film. Since this can be somewhat misleading, the audience should prepare to see from another persepctive and to believe that everything is not what it seems.

Credit Sequence 3: Knives Out

In this opening, The credit sequence helps set the film's tone and vibe. The credits themselves have a traditional font which is used to make the film seem more old fashioned, like a traditional detective story. The color for the lettering is white and plain, reinforcing the more simpler idea for the opening, which may reflect in the movie. Just like Glass Onion, some of the credits have illustrations to them, which once again, highlight the importance of the characters. Lastly, The music is somewhat calm and reassuring, almost like telling the audience that the film is over. This creates a lasting nostalgic tone that can stick with the viewers and make a lasting impact.