Week 3 Post #4

 Tuesday 2/20/24

Hi Blog! So now I am moving on towards choosing my film opening approach. I've researched some websites talking about how to approach a crime/thriller opening along with how the opening credits should be used. 

https://screencraft.org/blog/writing-your-suspense-thriller-the-john-carpenter-way/ 

^ This website gave me a lot of tips on how to  approach an engaging suspenseful thriller for my opening. One tip that I was not aware about was to lack dialogue when wanting to make my scene suspenseful. I plan that when once I find my friend dead from overdosing that I will go completely silent and in a state of shock ( sort of like paralyzed in a way ) when my friends are figuring out what to do and even when they are dealing with my deceased friends body ( from overdosing) . Being silent will add more tension and tone while showing how my character reacts to serious situations like this. Instead of screaming and crying like other people would in this situation my character goes into an emotionless and silent shock which adds more suspense and maybe of a little sickening twist can be foreshadowed. Other tips that were mentioned were pacing, scene description, and location. These factors will change once the tone changes halfway through the story. My pacing in the montage will be fast pacing to create that fun effect of teenagers without a worry in the world. To then switch the tone completely the pacing will be more steady and slower when getting into the dilemma of the opening.  Location throughout the entire opening will be on the boat in Fort Lauderdale, however the time of day will change to go from exciting to suspenseful and dark. I really hope my plan works out well I am a little worried that my product won't come out as well but I am going to try my best and think positively. I do feel that the hardest part of the opening is to create a suspenseful tone compared to the fun montage so I definitely will be putting a lot of thought and consideration into that half of the opening. Even though the montage will be easier to capture tone I hope to truly secure a fun experience in the montage making the viewer feel connected to my characters as much as possible. Then later on, change the mood and tone to make my viewer feel uneasy and unsettling in a matter of minutes. 

https://www.soundstripe.com/blogs/tv-film-production-how-to-make-a-captivating-title-sequence 

^ Now moving forwards with the credits I also researched tips on how to approach an appropriate credit opening for a teen/crime thriller movie. I feel like everyone overlooks the opening credits but now I understand that they're actually very important and I really want to make a good approach. Since in my story I plan on hiding my friends body in the tree behind the mangroves, I want to capture a shot where the water is crashing into the mangroves and input my title. Then for the opening credits I wanted to have a background of a water spots expanding in a thrilling matter. Here is an example I was trying to head for:

I don't like the material in the background because obviously that has no connection to my opening but as you can see there is water spots expanding and I think that would be very cool and create the sense that this is going to be a thriller film. Since the opening occurs on the water I think this would be a good idea while correctly connecting to the film. The website that I have imbedded really helped with ''How to Make a Captivating Title'' as that is what the website is titled. Here are some tips I jotted down that I will definitely use to create my title

* music in the title sequence is a good thematic fit for the project. 

*the video quality of a title sequence is extremely important-if the quality is low in these first couple minutes, this can lead to a bad first impression of your project. 

* make sure to ask myself ''which title sequence style is the right one for our project?” 

The one thing that is worrying me is how I am supposed to capture a moment of the waves crashing into the mangroves while making it look professional. As I am thinking about this I think I plan on having my friends making some waves on the boat to show the crashing of waves into the mangroves. So that means I have to get into the water with my phone and take a clip unclose to the mangroves without dropping my phone hopefully. That would be really bad... I am also kind of scared if there will be a fish or animal in that area since I am sure some sea animals will hide in there so maybe I can lay on the water tube and film from there because thinking about being in the water so close to the mangroves is scary. But I am sure it will come out good and I am going to do my very best to accomplish the goals I want to achieve. With the tips I received from researching how to make an appropriate opening credits for a thriller/crime movie I am sure I will do just fine and I plan to even research more along the process. When I do, I will update you guys on the new resources I have came across.

Genre characteristics and scene description for first half ( Basic Teen Movie) (Montage):

• peer pressure 
• partying 
• vibrant colors 
• fast pacing
• without worry
• reckless
• rebellion
• exciting
• underage alcohol use ( fake - a water bottle in a brown bag )
• montage 
• friendships 
• day-time
• pop-music/ upbeat soundtrack
• dancing

Genre characteristics and scene description for second half ( Teen/Crime Thriller) (Change in tone - Switch to overall dark tone of movie)

• dark
• night-time
• suspenseful
• thrilling
• conflict arrises
• rebellion
• crime
• drug use (fake- baking soda) 
• silence
• little dialogue 
• shocking
• pressure
• tough decisions
• shows who the weak and strong are
• main character is introduced
• tension arises

Bye guys hope you enjoyed!! Next post I will discuss my story outline. So excited to put all of this together and share it with you guys!! :)