Filming... Was a Flop...

     So! This week I finished filming my combat scenes for my film opening, I had this grand plan and getting to filming took a while because I was waiting for props as making my own became too trying on top of my other school work. I filmed for about 3-4 hours in Weston's Town Center shopping center and came out with about 55 seconds of footage, which was fine because that wasn't the only thing I planned on filming, I was simply waiting for my car to come back from repair. Except... my footage was god awful.

    My app of choice was always going to be Adobe Premiere Pro for editing as it's what I'm used to in the editing sense. I really REALLY tried to pick out my good clips from what I filmed and use those except the clips simply weren't good footage. Now, most of these sequences actually came out well but for some reason about .5-1 second of footage from the beginning of clips was ALWAYS missing leaving out important movements. Along with that, the elevator sequence that my entire script started with was done terribly by one of the actors who wouldn't take it seriously (she's since been taken off my actors' group chat). 

    I'll have to refilm everything for these fight sequences when my actors have another available day all together, Friday morning has already been agreed upon. Tomorrow I'll be filming my car sequences with a drone I'm borrowing from a friend (thank you Santi!) and that'll make up about 40-50 seconds of my footage. I've had to entirely go off script for this film opening which is frustrating but I like what I've got planned so far! 

    Updates soon to come...

Stage Combat!

     Hey Cambridge! Obviously with filming comes what actors have to do, and obviously in a spy film, we'll need plenty of combat. Now teaching stage combat to people who have NEVER done it before is incredibly difficult but I didn't find troubles for the most part. Most of my actors are in theatre so they've taken previous lessons on this but others... have never done it before.

    Particularly my main actor, Enzo, who plays Thomas in my film opening had never even been on camera before or acted in anything. After the first time I saw him read the script and I met with him about the film, I knew he was a perfect fit and I'm so happy he's gotten into the role well.

    This one specific scene I was able to film with him and one of my stunt actors, Stephanie, really showed that he knew how to adapt to the scenarios around him. 

In this scene, Stephanie had to jump onto Enzo's back and practically beat him in the head, Enzo then had to fight her off of him and punch her. With the use of a very odd angle for me, the punch looked REAL! And the use of different angles used for the jumping scene, the fighting seemed a lot longer than I had filmed, which I honestly loved since these fight scenes were a lot for the actors, physically. Using high schoolers definitely makes this vision more challenging but I chose the right people.

My Official Props and Technology List

     Hey everyone! I've gotten in from Amazon (thank god for Prime) all of my props and technology that I'll be utilizing for my film opening!

Starting with the bottom, ski masks, now I could only find cheap, good quality ones in packs of 2 so I'm hoping to make the most out of it since I only NEEDED 1. I also bought myself a tripod so I could film easier as I tend to have shaky hands, hopefully it'll also help with different angles. My car keys are also there as my car is going to be THE CREDIT SEQUENCE, the opening scene of my car rushing through traffic (yes I'm being safe and using empty roads don't worry Cambridge) is where my credits are going to come into play. I also have bought Bluetooth microphones that connect directly to my phone for better sound quality, they also came with clips so I could hide them under my actors' clothes. Last but not least, Thomas' gun. Yes, I know it looks VERY realistic but it is just an airsoft gun with absolutely NO AMMO in it. It was an honest mistake on my part buying it without reading because I thought it was just a really good prop gun, thankfully my parents checked everything and it is absolutely safe to use with no ammo!

    Everything in this photo will REALLY make or break my filming experience, the mask is going to become a big part of the storyline I leave on a cliff hanger at the end of the opening. The gun is a simple prop that simply adds to the reality of the film, it being a spy film. My car is also a pivotal part of the storyline because in all honesty Thomas is fully of himself and is EXACTLY the kind of person to buy a sports car, and yes that was lowkey a dig on myself and my cute little sports car. The microphones will only really help with Thomas' dialogue as he's the only person that has any.

PRODUCTION LOGOOOOOO!

 Hey guys!

This week I made my official production logo for the “company” that will be producing and directing, and you know everything else, my film opening.

Here’s a quick time lapse of part of the process.

Production Logo Making

Here’s the finalized logo!

Logo

My OFFICIAL!!! Script

 Hey my British people! 

Here’s my offical script for… “Tommy”

SCRIPT

Do you hear that sound...

     Hey! Last post of the week :(

    I'm going to focus on my audio really quick here.

    This film needs a good foley sound because I can't shoot a real gun for the sake of this project. For all the gunshot sounds I was thinking a couple things. 

    Either clashing metal sheets together or popping a balloon might actually give me the sound I need. Maybe even mixing both of them might work. I was also looking into finding someone with a SPORTS sports car and having them rev the engine till we hear that "gunshot" sound that comes from the exhaust but that's the most unlikely option. I'll have to give more updates on this as I actually film the gun fight scenes in the film opening.

    As for the rest of the audio it's dialogue or something I can actually put a mic up to and record it myself, like the elevator doors or the walking. Might need a couple more foley sounds but I'll update my progress as I go. Audio isn't my biggest concern right now but I know it's important!

THE SET!

 Okay so I'm practically posting these back to back but I need to continue about my mise-en-scene aspects, specifically my SET.

    The entire film opening is taking place when Thomas enters an abandoned workspace looking for the headquarters of a crime syndicate he's been chasing. He enters to an EMPTY first floor and goes into the second floor with an elevator. 

    For the elevator I'll simply be using my school elevator but I'll be filming an outside location for when Thomas walks in to ENSURE that it looks like I'm going through some sort of warehouse rather than a school. The elevator will have a fight scene so if it comes down to it I may need a more spacious elevator for combat shots.

    As we continue to the warehouse set I intend to make it simple. Utilizing the auditorium at school, with specific lights and using tables that I know are in there (Head of Tech for the school woop woop) I can make prop guns, prop electronics, and even prop spy gadgets to really tie everything in together. I'll need some form of an office chair (which I can borrow from a teacher) to allow our main villain to turn in her seat all menacingly (I know it's corny deal with it).

THESE ARE SORT OF MY REFERENCES FOR LOOKS!

We've reached my specialty.

 Hello! I'm back.

    This film opening needs a whole lot of stuff regarding the mise-en-scene aspects but I WANT to focus on something that I already know I got down. The LIGHTING. For context, I'm a lighting designer here at school for all the musicals and I know exactly what I have to do for this project. Between all this comedic dialogue I intend to add in and these comedic moments I REALLY want to add a part where all the lights shine on main character Thomas as he sees a special someone...(to be shown)... or to have specific lights during fight scenes that will enhance the fight. Lighting will also help create the illusion of abandoned workspace or warehouse as that's something I'll definitely need for this project. 

Warehouses tend to look like this but one used for an illegal crime syndicate may look a little more like...

THIS. So with the lights used in the auditorium (which is part of the set mise-en-scene by the way) I can make it seem like something shady is going on here by dimming all the lights and EMPHASIZING characters who are going to be important to the plot.

Introducing Thomas...

     HEY! So, we've reached introducing my MAIN CHARACTER! :O

    This film will be centered around the character Thomas, who hates being called Tommy btw...

    Thomas is a young adult (around 18-20 years old) who never went to college but is obviously wealthy, living in his own house and driving a sports car (yes these are things I have and will be added to the opening). He's... drumroll please... a spy. He lives in the suburbs because nobody expects spies in a suburb in Florida, but he drives out far to get to his missions. He specializes in hacking through systems but can do hand-on-hand combat if necessary. He's comedic and extremely sarcastic but there's obviously more than just the surface. Hopefully we can find out more about him together as I go through this journey of completing this project!

    Thomas only wears suits. 

Snazzy suits like this. He wears them everywhere. He has literally no business wearing them. He looks like he's 12 years old (this is a dig on me to be honest). Something you'll notice on Thomas is that he never wears dress shoes though. He will always wear sneakers of some sort with his suit. This is meant to play into his childish side, that comedic side that will be featured in the opening. It shows he's not exactly mature yet leaving so much room for growth if this was to be a true film.

Drumroll please…

 HEYY!

So, it’s finally time to reveal my final idea.

The plotline goes as follows…

An obviously younger looking boy wearing a suit drives a car through the city streets of Las Olas in Ft. Lauderdale. He enters a building with a briefcase and practically speed walks to the elevator. Once entering the elevator he encounters a man who seems friendly only to almost get beat down. The boy breaks the 4th wall throughout this fight, comedically, and continues to do so as he reaches his destination of what seems to be a floor of the building that is still under construction. The film opening includes fast paced action as well as constant 4th wall breaks and comedic jokes to “lighten” the mood. My inspriations come from the character of Deadpool and similar to the opening of Deadpool and Wolverine that came out last year. I also took set inspiration from Die Hard with the warehouse looking floor for a fight scene. The costuming and comedic timing is purely Austin Powers. I’m so excited for this project.

MEDIA THEORIES!

 Helloooo Cambridge!

So I’ve been brushing up on my media theories to see which one would fit my storyline the BEST. Simply on first glance I knew that my plot would depend on two things. The Action Code and actually going against the Character Theory. The Action Code simply states that scenes need to be utilized that lead the audience to want to know what’s next, I want to make such a cold opening to this film that audiences are forced to want to know why that happened and what’s coming next. Now the Character Theory states that characters can be fit into a specific 7 roles, what the theory leaves out is an Anti-Hero. Anti-Heroes are popular amongst action and spy films, a great example is Wolverine from the X-Men series, yes he saves people and he’s a hero but he does it in brutal and sometimes unnecessarily violent ways. I’ll be using my knowledge on these theories to be able to fully make a great film opening!

My First Meeting with Myself…

 Okay. So. I sat down a couple nights ago and really thought about what I wanted this project to be and how I wanted to do it. I’ve finally sat down and decided I wanted to do a spy action/comedy because it combines all the elements of what made me love film. I’ve loved comedic action films since I was super young. I’m going to use my strengths for this film which includes lighting techniques and physicality. I want to make this film as dramatic as humanly possible for no reason. I’m taking inspiration from Deadpool, Austin Powers, Get Smart, and Mission: Impossible. I’m so excited to start filming soon and I’ll keep posting progress. Next up: Building my own gun props!

So... Fonts...

 FONTS.

The most important part of the entire opening. Kidding. I need to find a good font for the credit sequence that is entrancing but not distracting from the actual opening. 

This font is called Typex. It's quite simplistic but it gives a futuristic look to it. I think it looks great but it may be too simple for what I'm looking for, definitely an option.

This is Disclosure. It gives hacker vibes, but I really like that honestly. If I built my story on a spy trying to get sensitive information from an association. This could work well.

This is Federal Case JNL. I think that this works well it's not distracting but it conveys exactly the kind of font I'm going to need.

I feel that the font will be a really important part of the credit sequence as it'll be one of the first things that the audience sees in the film. I will come back with an update on the chosen font soon...

My Schedule…

 OKAY SO

Now we’re getting serious, the time to film is coming up and I practically have my entire story down. I have to get my schedule down first. So here’s the base plan.

1/30-2/6: Straight planning, simply working on how I want the story, making my storyboard, and researching the materials I need. Also, getting help from anyone I need to make this film opening possible. Looking into certain things like fonts and music as well.

2/7-2/11: Script writing! I want to get my characters down and how much dialogue I truly want to use throughout this project. I want to take these 4 days to ensure that I have made the best script possible that I can slightly tweak as the project goes on, as well as making dialogue that is easy for amateur actors to go along with.

2/12-2/16: Getting my actors and my materials for the mise-en-scene of it all. Making sure my actors have the available costumes (if not creating a budget for myself), getting or creating my props, ensuring I can use my planned setting, and seeing what I can make out of the things I can use in the auditorium of the school as my connection to drama may help.

2/17: First meet with actors and crew, discussing through the process and seeing who can help with what at specific times. Getting everyone’s schedules down and ensuring our next meet is planned well. Creating the artwork for my logo and opening as well as finalizing the font that the credits will use. Also, assigning certain crew members to film behind the scenes for the CCR.

2/18: Fight choreography. Meeting with actors involved in fight scenes and practicing the choreographed fights to ensure nobody gets hurt through the production.

2/19-3/1: FILMING! I want to get atleast the 2 of the 3 pages of what my storyboard and script shows in this time frame. Hopefully more will get done but due to the difficulty of my genre it may be harder to get everything done. 

3/2-3/9: Finish filming and work on editing. It is absolutely necessary that before the first week of March is over I am entirely done filming everything. I need to begin editing during the actual filming process not just here but it’ll be focused on here. Begin CCR editing here as well.

3/10-3/17: Finish editing project and CCR, finalize project and submit!

Credit Sequences in Spy Films

 Hey I’m back! 

This time around I’m looking into credit sequences specifically rather than these film openings. Obviously we’re back looking into spy films exclusively.

Mission: Impossible Credit Sequence

This opening title sequence shows a short montage or different clips of what’s coming in the movie while simultaneously displaying the credits with the staple font of Mission: Impossible. I like this idea of showing smaller clips of what the movie entails while rolling the credits but I feel as if it’s a little disruptive and takes up time from the film to just roll it’s own credit sequences as if it’s a TV show intro. I feel that with the shorter time frame I have I’m going to work to include the credits into the opening, I want to look into different fonts and see if I can make my own staple font.

From Russia With Love Credit Sequence

This credit sequence showed a montage of a female moving with projecting the credits onto her body. I personally think this was an incredibly artistic choice by the director. I don’t exactly like this sequence either as I feel it interrupts from the movie and the time. As I said before I like when the movie begins and the credits are just a part of it. I do really like the special effect of the projection onto the body I find that it entranced me into the credits.

Bourne Ultimatum Credit Sequence

In this credit sequence it’s quite simplistic. It’s also at the end of the movie instead of the beginning which obviously is necessary for a film but what I liked to focus on in this credit sequence specifically is the font. I think one of the biggest parts of credits in these kinds of action films is the choice of font, spy films have a multitude of smaller texts throughout showing locations or times, and a multitude of these films have a specific font that now belongs to them. I want that kind of font and I feel that this sequence really shows how a font can add to the overall visual affect of the movie.