What's the Move??

 Soooooo as of right now, I only have the beginning parts of the script, and I'm planning on what I want to do moving foward. This is my plan for the next week!

1. Finish the script!

2. Make edits if needed to the script (hopefully done by the middle of the week)

3. Storyboard my short film! After I finish with the script I'm hoping I can start entering the production phase of my short film :)

4. (ONLY IF I FINISH THE SCRIPT/STORYBOARD) Start looking for locations/actors

This schedule is meant to be flexible, but my goal is to get to item three by the end of next week! 

I'll keep y'all posted!

Short Film Intro - What I Have of the Script so Far!

 

Hey y'all! This is what I have so far! Let's talk about it!

    I want the beginning of the film to remain suspensful, so I made sure I didn't give too much away. Hence, I had the Interviewer ask many questions where Eve could answer, and thus the audience gets a sense of her character and her purpose within the narrative. I wanted to start with the interview scene, because I wanted the audience to wonder how Eve, the protagonist, ended up in this situation, and why she is being escaped. I also had Eve reference the idea of "them" a lot, meaning the audience themselves. Of course, that information isn't given away immedietly, but I wanted to hint at the answer in the beginning for suspense. 

    The relationship between Eve and the Interviewer is awkward and cold, as Eve feels that she is being lied to, while the Interviewer is not giving in to her curiosity. I wanted to establish this relationship in the beginning of the short film because I wanted the audience to not know who to side with, at least in the beginning of the film. However, I did want to establish the root of this relationship, which is the different perceptions of reality. The Interviewer, unlike Eve, doesn't question the surveillence, because they see that as normal, and they see Eve's view as absurd. Meanwhile, Eve find the Interviewer, like everyone else around her, as fake personas, and like she said, she can no longer decipher what is real, even the conversation occuring right in front of her with the Interviewer. 

How does this remain in the conventions of the pyschological thriller?

    The suspensful component of a psychological thriller is prevelant within this beginning scene, as the audience is unaware of who Eve is referring to when she says "them", and they are unaware of how the interrogation became to be in the first place. The audience is left to wonder if what the Interviewer said about her "insighting violence" was true, and whether she is or is not imagining things. As for the emotional component, Eve is questioning not only her reality, but herself as well, and whether what she is sees and feels is real. Those around her, such as the Interviewer, doubt her beliefs and her feelings, thus making her second guess them, which there is a hint of in this scene. 

Gotta keep writing!!

I still have more of the plot to write, and I'm hoping by the middle of the next week I can have the script finished. 

That's all for now! :p

  

Meet the Characters!

 Hey y'all!

 I wanted to present the three characters in my short film that will have primary roles/focus. I wanted to highlight different aspects of their personality, and how they interact with one another. 

1. Main Character/Protagonist: Eve 

    When choosing the name for the character, I found that the name "Eve" was derived from Hebrew, and it meant "to live". I thought the meaning perfectly fit the character because Eve's surroundings and enviornment she is emersed in is entirely fake, and all she wants to do is live authentically. Therefore, this has led Eve to become curious and observant, particularly about her enviornment and how she can escape the world she is trapped in. Due to this curiosity, she is also stubborn, as she wants the answer to everything and anything, hoping that the answers to her questions gives her clarity. In this case, she wants to know why she and everyone around her is being watched, and if those watching her can stop, and if they won't stop, why? Eve is also reserved, but out of a want for privacy and space, not by nature. As her frustration with being watched becomes heightened, she becomes less reserved and more open about how she is feeling.

    Eve's curiosity is often used against her by others, especially the Interviewer because they don't want her to uncover the truth, so often times Eve second guesses herself, which leads her to feel isolated from others and disconnected from her enviornment. 

    Eve's relationship with Jane is the closest to "real" that she can get, yet unlike Eve, Jane is afraid of uncovering the truth because she is comfortable in the lie she is engulfed in. Hence, she lives in that lie willingly, and is fine with being watched. Due to this, their relationship does strain, and causes some indifference. As for Jane and the Interviewer, they have no relationship, instead both are curious about each other, as each are trying to uncover their own version of the truth. Their interactions are simply cold and they lack any connection. 

In the beginning of the film (before interview scenes/before act of rebellion) Eve would conform to the dress standard, in which she would wear something basic and casual, such as this dress. Everyone around her would seem more put together then her, and while everyone would wear bright colors, she would wear dark blues/neutral tones in order to match her curiosity/touch with reality

Towards the end of the film, Eve will begin to strip away from the tweed/vintage look that her society conforms to and start to wear more modern clothing. Her clothing will become more baggy and less put together in order to represent her detaching from her society. 

2. Interviewer: Antagonist 

    The interviewer's identity is unknown, and only their voice will be heard throughout the short film. There voice will be dark and ominous, and their personality will be purposefully vauge. All that will be known is that their questions are straightfoward, and their only purpose is to find Eve guilty of trying to cause chaos, and attempt to uncover the truth. Their questions towards Eve, while simple, will be skewed and serve to present Eve as the villian. 

    Since they aren't shown, I wanted to find images that depict this character's eerie nature, as the audience will only know their purpose. At the end of the short film, however, it will be discovered that the interview was never meant to be seen, hence potentially compromising this character and their anonymity. 

3.  Jane: Eve's Best Friend 

    Unlike Eve, Jane has an outgoing personality, but is compliant with the rules set by the society, hence she doesn't try to break away from the false reality they were given. She is comfortable in the world they are living in, and tried to urge Eve not to break away. Since she is compliant, Jane is a people-pleaser, and tries not to break the rules. When Eve eventually tries to break away, she urges her to not defy the rules placed before them because she cares about Eve's well-being, and doesn't want her to get hurt. Jane agrees with Eve's cause, but is afraid to step foward due to the potential consequence of getting caught. 

    Both of these dresses go with Jane's aesthetic because their bright color schemes match her innocent, yet positive view on the world she perceives as her life. These items also contrast well with Eve's wardrobe/aesthetic since Eve is more grounded and reserved then Jane. 

When planning out what characters I wanted to have in my short film, I decided to jot down characteristics that came to mind for each one. 

What's Next

    I have the major characters of my film outlined and now I want to start writing the script. I'm hoping to have the opening done (at least), so that way I can make any changes before I keep going. 

Okayyy that's all I've got for now! Gotta go write!! :)

Writing a Psychological Thriller: Screenwriting Research

     Before I start my script, I want to ensure that I have the main components of a psychological thriller down so that I am staying true to the genre. Based off prior research (Genre Research), I know that psychological thrillers must include suspense and emotional connections via the protagonist, but I want to gather more research as to how I can strengthen those elements and make them clear throughout the piece. 

Below I am highlighting the main objectives I found throughout my research, and how I want to incoorporate them into my piece. 

Rule #1: Perspective 

    In order to engulf the audience into the story being told, I found through my research that it is important to have the story told through the perspective the main character/protagonist. Once the protagonist is identified, it is important to exploit the emotions that they are feeling, or more specifically, have them portray emotions that the audience can identify with and relate to, such as guilt, fear, anxiety, sadness, joy, etc. In regards to my short film, I know I want to main character to feel frustrated and angry with their surroundings, since they are tired of being watched and no longer want to be monitored for their every move. I want to focus on their frustration, but throughout different scenes, explore how that frustration was first reached, perhaps stemming from fear or anxiety of the situation. 

    By focusing on that emotion or select few emotions, it is crucial that I tie them with a flaw that my character poses, which in this case, the flaw is my main character's observative nature. No one in this film wants them to be obersavtional or curious, and the fact that they are is what gets them into trouble. 

Rule #2: Illustrate the Perspective 

    One of the examples mentioned while I was doing research was Macbeth and how one of the characters, Lady Macbeth, constantly washes her hands due to her increasing guilt. Actions, tied with dialogue, allow for the character's feelings and perspective to become more clear to the audience. In other psychological thrillers, a prop I've noticed that is constantly used to represent a character's inner feelings has been a mirror, such as in The Machnist and Spencer. I recently watched Spencer one weekend and I noticed alongside the usage of a mirror to illustrate Diana's feelings, cinematography was also used to demonstrate how Diana felt anxious and highly caustrophobic in the environment she was forced to be in. By using continous close-up shots to follow Diana, her anxiety and insecurities became more prevelant and unfortunetly, relatable, Despite being a biopic, the film wasn't really about her life, but rather how she felt, and I want to capture the same idea in my short film. On the surface, my short film is about the main character being constantly watched and followed in a society where entertainment is valued more than reality, but I also want to tie in the emotions of the main character, and have the plot be driven by their perspective. 

Rule #3: Locate the Problems of the Plot/Character

    Even though the problems of the main character take place in their head, where those problems stem from also need to be presented. According to my research, someone, such as the antagonist, or something has to be causing the problem for the main character, and because of their interference, the internal conflicts of the protagonist are able to occur. In my short film, those watching the protagonist, as well as those compliant with the rules established in this society are causing the main charracter to feel isolated and frustrated with the circumstances they are in. I found one short film on YouTube called Windblown, and the problem stems from the fact that Beth, the main character, lost her brother. Thus, as she experience's grief, she begins to visualize him as if he were real. Through the visualizations, we are able to see how she processes grief, and how she is unable to separate reality from fiction. Hence, her grief (emotion) stems from her brother's death (problem). 

    I also found that it is important to make the audience care about the main character, but the catch with my short film is that the audience is actually who my protagonist is upset with, since they "keep watching", so how do I make my audience care? My idea was to lead the audience on, make them think that those interrogating the main character (they are never shown on screen) are the villans, and then lead to a "plot twist" where the audience's active participation is revealed. 

Next Steps?

    Now that I've gathered key pointers on how to write a pyschological thriller, I'm hoping to get started on the script and figure out a set of of characters. As of right now, I only have the protagonist and the interviewer, but I haven't given them names yet. Therefore, I'm hoping to establish the characters, and get started on writing the opening for the short film! 

    Sources I used for research:

https://authority.pub/steps-writing-psychological-thriller/

https://industrialscripts.com/psychological-thriller/

Schedule for the Week!!

 Hey y'all it's Soph!

I'm writing out a schedule of what I plan on blogging + researching for the week!

I plan on doing the first two bullets throughout the week, as I hope to have a rough draft of the script by the end of the week. As for the last two bullets, I will probably get to those by the end of the week, so that while I'm writing the script/researching tips for how to write it, I can adjust based on further research that I find. 

-Screenwriting tips for psychological thriller/starting the introduction of my film

-Figuring out a plot (probably an outline/rough draft of the story)

-Finding examples of other psychological thrillers for reference/comparison 

    -I'm hoping that I can draw inspiration to better my film :)

-Genre conventions in terms of the production process

Piecing the Puzzle Together - Worldbuilding

    Originally, I mentioned how I wanted to finalize the plot of my short film (A Work in Progress: Short Film Concept), however, I realized that my story has many moving parts, including an entire dystopic society that I have to establish, especially since the setting plays a major role in the progression of the main character. Therefore, I now want to focus my research on writing this story, and how exactly I can worldbuild effectively while unraveling my plot. 

Where and When Does My Short Film Take Place?

    I want the world to replicate modern times, yet there is a sense of eerieness to it. In order to provide that weirdness, I want to have the characters dress with a retro/vintage aesthetic, yet be surrounded by modern items, buildings, technology, etc. Despite the modern surroundings of the characters, the retro feel to their clothing, way of interacting with each other, etc., is what makes their society strange and uncomfortable. I wanted to create a false sense of perfection through this aesthetic, so that the main character is easier to spot, since they will dress slightly more normal (representative of current styles) and act more modern than those around them. Therefore, the short film takes place during the modern era, but the inhabitants of this society dress vintage/tweed in order to present a dramatic idea of perfection/simplicity (kinda of like they were trapped in a bubble). 

Below are examples of how the people inhabiting this world would dress: 

This is Town Center, which is an area located in my hometown, Weston. I felt that the colorful buildings and surroundings of this location best matched the aesthetic for the "outer-world" since it's quaint, vibrant, and fits the idea of perfection due to how simple and happy it appears. 

Setting Overview - Interrogation/Interview Scenes vs. Outer-World (The Show)

    During the interrogation scenes, the environment will be much darker and frightening in order to replicate how sketchy this universe truly is. It will contrast with the bright and vibrant retro/tweed exterior, since it will be revealing the "behind the scenes" of this world. The main character will be the only one in view, therefore they will look more dirty, imperfect, and most importantly, vulnerable. In order to match how the main character will look, the setting will be plain and lack color. I'm planning on using dim lighting/lack of saturation to fit this vibe and contrast with the vibrant outer-world or facade. Hence, the outer-world, so the environment that is being watched, will be eerily happy and vibrant, while the interrogation scenes, which is meant to depict reality, will be dreary and dull, symbolizing the comfort in fantasy versus facing reality. 

These two photos roughly depict what the "reality" or interrogation scenes would look like. I want it to contain neutral tones in order to present a sense of dullness, and I also want it to have an eerie/abandoned feel so that it represents how reality is often ignored and replaced with an alternate truth, in this case the outer-world/surveilled world. 

Finding the Right Match - Picking a Genre!

In my last blog post, (A Work in Progress: Short Film Concept) I elaborated on the concept I wanted my short film to focus on, but I was having trouble deciding on what genre I felt best fit the idea. After going through a list of possible movie genres , I found that "psychological thriller" best represented my short film, and here's why: 

Overview: What is Thriller and How Does it Coorlate?

    I decided to start my genre research by first defining thriller, and the overall characteristics this genre has before diving into the psychological sub-genre. The main takeaway from a thriller is that it always has an emotional purpose, and should always emit a feeling of suspense. With my short film, I felt that the suspense could be found in the unraveling of "who" exactly is watching the main character as they are being interrogated, and if they eventually escape the cameras. I also felt that the suspenseful aspects of the short film matched the main character themselves, as according to my research, the protagonist should be individualistic and isolated from the forces or people they once trusted. In this case, the main character of my short film is learning to not trust who's watching them, as well as the people forcing them to behave in front of the cameras. My protagonist questions the lifestyle posed to them, and thus their need for escape and attention to the reality of their situation makes their actions suspensful and engaging. 

hehe pun intended :)

Along with suspense, thrillers also contain a variety of  specific  tropes,  such as plot twists, paranoia, cliffhangers, unreliable  narrators, etc. In reference to my short film, I felt that some of  these  thriller characteristics matched my concept, especially the  use of plot-twists and cliffhangers. The plot-twist that would occur in my film is the discovery of "who" is watching, which would be the audience themselves. Throughout the film, it would be unclear that the characters are referencing the literal audience, but as the fourth-wall breaks become more consistant and clear, that message will start to unravel. As for the cliffhanger, the ending of my short film will have the main character tell the audience to "keep watching", and the film will abruptly end. Meanwhile, the audience will be left to wonder what happens after the main character reveals this. 

Why Psychological?

    When looking at the main themes of a psychological thriller, the characteristc that struck me the most was the perception of reality. In psychological thrillers, reality is explored as an idea, and the characters are put in positions or scenerios where they have to determine the truth within their narrative. I found this to be similar to a postmodernist concept we learned in class called "absolute truth", as it too explores alternative truths and how they are perceived. In my short film, the main character knows that the reality they live in is fabricated, but sold to viewers as the truth. Knowing this, the main character wants to dismantle the alternative truth and highlight reality, yet there are forces trying to stop this. 

While the environment the main character is placed in is dystopic, thus giving the short film dystopic traits, the story isn't focused on the society itself, but rather the main character's attempt to break from this society and bring attention to what's "behind the curtain", so to speak. The setting itself is only pushing the development of the main character foward, and aiding in telling their version of the story. Hence, my main focus is to highlight the emotional response of the main character to their surroundings, rather than the functionings of the society. 

    In order to portray the story and narrative of the main character, I plan on using specific film characteristics of the psychological thriller, such as flashbacks. Throughout the short film, two "timelines" will be taking place, the interrogation/interview, and then the main character's life within the society they are in. The second sequence of events (the MC's life within the society) will include the bulk of the story, and explain why they are being interrogated/what led them to their breaking point (the interrogation). Hence, the flashbacks will be moments leading up to the interrogation, and present the full perspective of the main character. 

Notes of Research Pt. 1

Notes of Research Pt. 2

The Sites I Used for Research 

Studio Binder

Thriller Overview

Psychological Thriller

A Work in Progress: Short Film Concept

Hi!

Currently, I have an idea that I can't get out of my head, and I know exactly the topics I want to explore, but I haven't come up with a cohesive story yet. The concept that I have so far has postmodernist/thriller aspects, but I haven't quite figured out it's main genre yet. 

Here's what I have so far:

Concept Name: Keep Watching (a somewhat working title - a classmate gave me the idea)

    In this story, the main character is apart of a society in which they are constantly being watched, but it is never said by who (at least not in the beginning). The film would open with an interrogation, but only the main character is put into view, while the "interviewer" is not in frame so that their identity remains a secret. Off the bat, I want there to be a feeling of suspense, almost eerie and uncomfortable in nature. Throughout this interrogation/interview (I haven't decided exactly what it would be), the main character is asked questions surrounding why they won't comply to the society's rules. As they are being asked these questions, there will be scenes in between that showcase the lack of compliance, which is that the main character is constantly looking into the camera, not wanting to be watched. Therefore, this society's main objective is to put on a performance of reality for whoever is watching, and they aren't allowed to "break character". The main character, however, does not agree with the character they are forced to portray, hence they try and get those who are watching to stop. At first, the scenes that cut away from the interview/interrogation will demonstrate the main character suspicious of who's watching, but eventually they catch on, and try to stop the camera (essentially turning it off). At the end of the short film, we come to discover that the interrogation/interview scenes were never meant to be seen, in fact they are supposed to represent the truth, or reality. The camera was supposed to be "off" during those moments. The main character not only was aware of the camera being on, but breaks the fourth wall for the final time and tells the audience to "keep watching". 

    

    The constant "watching" that takes place throughout the film is essentially played by the audience themselves, thus commenting on how people view only what they want to see, and any semblance of the truth isn't welcomed, nor should it be confronted. I also wanted to explore the idea of masking, and how far a twisted truth could go. From the beginning of the film, it's unclear whether the main character should be trusted, since the interrogation scenes would be constructed in a way where the main character looks villainous/in trouble. However, as the film unfolds, the audience is forced to interact with the main character, especially since they continuously break the fourth wall out of fear, confusion, and desperation for them to stop watching. The main character's purpose would be to alert the audience of the "show" being performed, rather than allowing them to experience a lie. The end of the film, where the main character tells the audience to "keep watching" means that their purpose was successfully completed. 

    My main concern and fear with this idea is that it is similar to projects that have been done before, such as The Truman Show. I would be sure to make that distinction, however my worry is that it won't come across as clearly as I want it to. I feel that in order to separate the idea into its own, and make it its own running concept would be to develop the scenes in between the interrogation/interview scenes, which is currently a work in progress. I know I want to have one scene where the main character reaches their breaking point, essentially begging the audience to stop following/watching them, but its unclear how I'm going to reach that point just yet. 

This is the best representation of how I want the main character portrayed during the interrogation/interview scenes. I don't want it completely dark like in this image, but I do want it to seem eerie/ominous, as if the main character shouldn't be trusted (at least in the beginning).

The notes I took while coming up with this concept. It's a rough draft of what I want the plot to look like, but this is subject to change.

This is another representation of the interrogation/interview scenes, since I visualize the main character sitting in a similar setting such as the one shown in the image. I want to present the main character as lonely, at least the beginning, I want them to be perceived as untrustworthy and deranged. Therefore, as the story unfolds, the audience realizes that they shouldn't judge what they immediately see, or the truth they are fed. 

During the fourth wall breaks, I want it to feel uncomfortable at first, similar to this scene in Wandavision where Vision is aware that he is being watched, but can't quite put a finger on who is watching him, or why he is being viewed. The main character in this short film will at first feel similar to Vision, but as the plot progresses, they will begin to rebel. 

 

 

 Now What?

    My main goal is to complete the story, and fill in the spaces of the plot, meaning what is needed to develop the full story. I also want to finalize what genre I want to classify this story as, which means I want to do a bit of research about possible genres this could fit into, and see which one best represents the story being told. The next several blog posts will be focusing on genre research, and finalizing the plot of this concept.                                                                                                                                                                 

Reflection: Brand Identity Project

 Hey y'all its Soph!

    In my A level class, one of our first projects of the year centered around creating a brand for ourselves, and how we wanted to advertise ourselves to others. While doing this project, I had to reflect on myself as a person, and what my main goals were when I communicated and greeted others. 

Aesthetic 

    One of my main concerns for my presentation was how it looked, especially since I wanted the project to match how I present myself on the outside. I decided to go with cool toned colors, such as blue and purple, in order to portray a relaxed, yet energetic vibe. Specifically with seeming energetic, I blended the cool toned colors with funky wallpapers, mainly retro spaced themed because not only is that my personal favorite aesthetic, but I thought it would compensate well with the color scheme I have created. However, I noticed that when I received my feedback after the presentation, that combination of color and style didn't clearly establish my brand, instead it made myself seem more vauge and complicated, thus not allowing people to get a clear sense of who I am. 

Communication of my Brand

    While I did outline the premise of my brand, which is that I always want to remain honest and open to those I meet, I wasn't clear on how I would share my brand. I mentioned how I would share my brand when I'm face-to-face with people, but I failed to consider social media/digital communication. I noticed that the other presentations in my class mentioned their social media and the most efficient ways to communicate with them, which is something I should have also taken into consideration. I also noticed after receiving my feedback that the points I made centering around the culture I wanted to create were redundent, and I should have been more specific with what I wanted people to know and understand about me rather than giving them a general overview. For example, I constantly retierated how I was supportive and treated others the way I'm treated, but I never made a distinction between what support is from me, and how I was going to provide that support. I think a large part of that mistake is due to how I didn't provide efficient ways of communication.

Brand Identity Video 

    I wanted the video to remain simple so that people who watch get a general idea as to who I am without overcomplicating my goals. I found that by using images to convey my message, especially in the beginning of the video, allowed me to not only share my sense of humor, but I noticed that it is a popular way to edit on YouTube amongst my age group, hence I thought it would be appropriate to advertise myself that way. As for the rest of the video, which is simply a montage of different moments in my life, I wanted each moment to reflect raw events in time, whether I was happy, excited, angry, etc,. I wanted to include videos where I felt most like myself, hence I included moments from not only this year and the previous year, but videos from when I was turning twelve, or videos of me at age eleven competing in a swim meet. I felt that by conveying these small moments in time, I was allowing my audience to see that my main goal in life is to take in every moment I have in my life, and see the positive through each one, whether it a moment of bliss or frustration, I was able to learn from it and continue on. 

The image above is the logo I created for myself. I have a moon placed in the center because it symbolizes my love for the night time, as well as the space aesthetic I was trying to recreate. The surrounding colors are mainly purple and blue, once again reiterating the relaxed vibe I wanted people to gather from my presentation. "Est. 2003" represents the year I was born, and "Sophy" is the nickname used to refer to me by most people.

Brand Identity Video  

Brand Identity Presentation

^^Click this link to view my brand identity video and the presentation 

Reflection: Film Distribution Project

    Hey y'all it's Soph! It's been awhile since I posted on here but I'm back! In this post, I wanted to share a project I recently did in class, and reflect on what my group I did well, and what we could have done better :)

What Was the Project?

    For the film distribution project, we collaborated with the creative writing class and were assigned to turn one of their stories into a teaser/trailer for a potential film, as well as outline a plan for how we would distribute the film to audiences. 

    The story that my group and I selected was titled Rot, and it follows the story of two characters, played by Cristian Velazquez and Olivia Wagner, who are trapped within an isolated junkyard as one tries to escape, while the other tries to kill for survival. Throughout this murder chase, the two characters are both longing to escape the junkyard, which drives them further to insanity and fear. 

Choosing the Story/Pre-Production Process

    After our group was given a small list of stories to chose from, we decided to go with Rot because of its eerie concept, and we were intrigued with the setting of the potential film, which was in an abandon junkyard. Our group was interested in taking on the challenge in re-creating the location and filming at night, as it would allow us to play with lighting and hopefully present the empty and frightning atmosphere of a junkyard. When planning for how we would film the teaser and the trailer, our toughest challenge was deciding on a location, as it was difficult to coordinate our schedules and meet in an area that was nearby. Originally, we were going to shoot behind a plaza where there was a mini, empty parking lot and a dumpster, but we decided not to go with that option since it location was too small, and it wouldn't be enough space to portray what is meant to be a void of darkness. Therefore, I showed my group members an area in my neighborhood that was more open, and had areas surrounding the space that resembled parts of a junkyard, such as electric boxes. We decided to settle for this location since it was easier to meet with each other there, as well as meet with the actors that took part in our project. 

A picture from the trailer that specifically highlights the emptiness of the location. There were dead palm trees lying on the ground that we thought would best resemble the dirty atmosphere that the characters are surrounded in. 

Filming Pros and Cons

    Once we selected the location, we knew we wanted both the teaser and the trailer to present an eerie and isolated atmosphere, hence figuring out how we wanted to portray that became another challenge. Rot only contains two characters, so we had to be strategic and careful in how we presented their time on screen, as well as their relation to each other. Hence, the teaser starts off with Cristian's character alone, as he is engulfed by darkness and little to no resources, only his lighter. We felt that by gradually closing in on him, we would bring the audience closer and closer into his secluded bubble, thus allowing them to feel isolated with along with the character. Additionally, we felt that emphasizing the lighter Cristian is holding, it would create intrigue as to how he got a hold of it, how that is his only resource, and who is alongside him in the junkyard, since the lighter was mysteriously thrown back at him.

    Since the teaser creates suspicion as to how Cristian's character landed in the junkyard and who is the mysterious person with him, we had the trailer purposefully give away two main questions of the teaser. The trailer not only presented the mystery person to be Olivia's character, but we also provided the audience context as to what each of the character's motives were, and how that adds to the premise of the film.  In regards to filming the trailer itself, we found it difficult to stay on track with the storyboard we outlined earlier in class, as the dialogue we originally wanted to incorporate didn't properly outline the plot of the film, hence we had to rework the scenes we initally planned during filming, which unfortunetly ran our time behind. However, we were pleased with the final result of the scenes we did change, because it provided clearer context to the story we were trying to tell. 

A scene taken from the teaser in which Olivia's character threatens Cristian's character. 

    Both the teaser and the trailer were filmed at night, so lighting was definietly a major obstacle. On the two days we filmed the teaser and the trailer, we used three different types of lights, which included a bright flashlight, our cellphone lights, and a tiny blue light used for darker/intimate moments, such as the close on Cristian during the teaser in which he looks out to see who returned the lighter to him. While some shots could have been lit better, we felt that we were successful in keeping out external shadows from our shots, such as shadows projected from our own bodies, or of the actors that weren't on screen. 

Post-Production 

    Our group decided to edit together and edit both the teaser and the trailer. While Paola and Andres worked on the trailer, I worked on the teaser. I wanted each shot to be focused on for about 3-5 seconds, so that as the subject comes closer into the view, the audience is constantly wondering who the person is, and why they are by themselves. Since the shots we had were dimmer than we expected, I had to brighten them up during post-production using the color correction features provided by Adobe Premiere. While editing, I also noticed that the audio provided by the original clips distracted from the action being presented, so I decided to find nature sounds from YouTube in order to insinuate the isolation felt by Cristian's character and how he is mainly by himself, or at least he thought he was. 

Image of editing the teaser (to the right is the color correcting system I used to brighten up the shots shown in the teaser).

Film Distribution Plan

    Since our film is apart of the horror/thriller genre, we wanted to distribute with companies such as A24 and Neon, since both companies are known to distribute independent films, and A24 is known specifically for its horror projects, while Neon specifically targets low-budget films such as ours. While we outlined the reasons for distributing with them, we did lack detail in how we would market the film, and how the marketing would in turn effect the way we distribute. What my group could have done differently is delved into more extensive research, and compare our distribution plan to previous plans that worked for successful projects. One group in our class highlighted this, and I felt that it clearly demonstrated their plan, and we could have incoorperated this research as well. What worked well with our plan is how we wanted to reach our target audience, as we wanted to do initally do a limited release of the film in order to test its engagement with people before we wide release it. If it were to be unsuccessful, we decided we would release the film on demand, so that people still have the option to watch the film and we would still earn revenue from it, even if it wasn't as successful as we hoped it would be. 

Link to the Full Project (includes teaser and trailer!)

Film Distribution Project: Rot