Selecting Genre

     Realization:

    This morning my teacher was giving a lecture regarding our project. After viewing an example opening, a student asked a question regarding the filmmaker's accessibility in having an artist in her opening. The question made sense as there was a whole art studio set up for the filmmaker to film in. My teacher informed the student that the student's mother was in fact an artist. My teacher then proceeded to say something along the lines of "use what you have". When she said this I immediately thought of the retro fashion boom box my friend gifted me. For some odd reason, I related it to the opening of Guardians of the Galaxy where Chris Pratt begins the scene by playing his cassette player. I really liked the dystopian feel that Guadian of the Galaxy portrayed. It was an adventurous plot based in a dystopian realm. When I began thinking about the environment of the film, I immediately thought of this location I used to go to as a kid. It's a sort of miniature forest right at the end of a walkway. It is completely untouched by man and is very rugged. This chain of ideas began after my teacher gave the simple advice of using what you have at hand. By the end of class, I was forming possible plots to incorporate an adventure aspect into the dystopian setting. When I got home, I began doing research into the dystopian genre starting with notes on the video below.↓

Creating an Apocalyptic World:

    This video was super helpful in my understanding of creating a dystopian piece. Will Magness director of the short film "The Manuel" comes on an episode of Film Riot to describe his process. The film is based in a post-apocalyptic dystopian society where the last human on earth is raised by a robot. The robot runs by a "composite religion" that is outlined in a device called the manual. One thing that the director constantly pressures is asking others about your plot. He described how it's essential in gaining unique opinions that could be implemented in final production. After the script, the director described making a shot list. He states that when he is creating the shot list, he visualizes every scene. This is definitely something I am going to do when creating my shot list. He also puts emphasis on creating mood boards. These mood boards, as he describes, should be a mix of photography and video. He recommended creating mood boards for wardrobe, production design, and location.  Next, he creates a storyboard of every single scene. He states this not only helps in production but also in scheduling. Lastly, he recommends creating a "unique" element to your world, in his case the manual. The mood boards and storyboards will be an essential part of my planning for this project. I am going to use his list of recommended mood boards and get pictures/video examples. I am also going to try to really develop my storyboard and plan my schedule accordingly with it. Throughout this whole process, I am going to make sure to gain opinions from others and consider their implication. But like Magness said, I have to be aware of which ideas won't fit into the world I create. After I gained so many useful tips from Mr. Magness, I went and watched his short film.

The Manuel Short Film:

    After viewing the film, I got some key insights on how to create a dystopian feel. 

• Dark lighting 
• Showing the distress of being alone
• Creating an ominous feeling 
• ominous sound effects, silent and lonely scenes, eerie night noises when indoors, etc...
• Showing the audience different areas of the dystopian environment 

   I also got some insight into potential shots I can implement into my forest scenes.

• Using trees to hide and reveal character 
• Long shots showing the depth of the forest 
• Tracking shots are usually handheld when the character is moving chaotically or quickly
• Close up shot with the camera focusing through leaves onto an insect(in the film a frog)
• Wide shots of the whole area when a character is searching 

    This short film really gave me a good example of creating a lonely environment. It also was partly shot in a forest, something I plan on doing. This gave me some good shot ideas listed above I could use in the opening. The overall tone of the short film is dark, ominous, and lonely. There is a true sense of a dystopian society within the short film. This is the exact feeling I plan on achieving in my opening. I will definitely use the information above gained from this short film in the creation of my opening. Specifically dark lighting and eerie night noises I am going to implement in my in-door scenes. Something really useful I took away is showing different areas of the dystopian world. I feel like this would really help me in illustrating a global dystopian world. For me, it immersed me into the world the main character was trapped in. Overall such a useful video I am extremely glad I came across it.