Audi-uh-oh

Micheal Jackson is a pedophile piece of shit and it's ruining my project. As you may know, the truth about Jackson's sexual abuse allegations has reared its ugly head, revealing the king of pop to be the king of avoiding consequences for what he did to those boys. I watched the documentary Leaving Neverland and to me it has never been clearer that after years of manipulation it was extremely hard for those kids to give proper testimonies against Micheal so long ago. "But what does this have to do with your portfolio project?", you ask. Well, think reallllly hard: What is THE perfect song to start playing on the radio for when my trans main character looks into the mirror? 

Yeah. YEAH. So- screw Micheal Jackson and his ability to make beautiful music. Now I need to find another song about mirrors, cause I'm not going to contribute to the cultural indifference that displays itself every time a famous man is exposed as a sexual predator or abuser. To include his music in my film opening regardless of his controversy, would be an insult to the integrity of my message irresponsible as a filmmaker and to victims of sexual abuse everywhere.

Audi-OHHHHHHHH

Hello ladies and gents, today we're gonna be talking about a lil' thang called music. 

Since my movie opening is going to contain very minimal dialogue, I want to be able to tell the audience the beginning of this story through music. Throughout my main characters morning routine, I'm going to have his little brother downstairs eating cereal and fiddling with the radio. As the radio stations change, the audience will hear bits and pieces of classical music, rap, classic rock, etc. I'm going to use the lyrics and tone of the songs to create a sort of message about my main character and his relationship with his family, not to mention also to create context about how my main character's mornings usually go.

In my opening, my character is going to be administering his testosterone shot into himself. I want to capture the monotonous tone of a school morning and have it be disrupted by a very unconventional  morning routine act that people have never witnessed or thought about unless they have someone in their close circle or family who is trans.

When I think about artists who have made music that is both lyrically and musically meaningful, Queen immediately pops into my head. Micheal Jackson is also an artist i'm considering adding to my  project. I'm still figuring out how to navigate this whole asking permission to use copyrighted music thing, but I'm excited to work on the audio portion of this project! :)




       

Aitana + Drama = Tears

I have decided that the genre for my movie is going to be drama. At first I was playing around with the idea of a dramedy, but I think drama is more fitting. I love speaking out on issues that matter to me, so i'm going to make a movie about a transgender man. My character is loosely based off of my best friend, Lau. I'll be outlining the plot of my movie in another post, but for now let's explore some drama conventions:

In regards to the drama genre, I have found one common characteristic is to make the characters relatable to viewers, so the next logical step was to research who that audience is. According to a slideshow I found, the target audience for a drama was young adults and mature audiences regardless of gender. The main appeal for a drama is how the script is written and how relatable the characters are.

I went on artofthetitle.com and viewed some drama film openings, in order to view first hand what would be expected of me were I to do this film. I viewed 3 film openings:

The Neon Demon (2016): This opening was simple, it had a medley of soothing tones paired with unnerving music to create a contrast that everything may appear perfect on the outside, it is far from perfect on the inside. The majority of the opening sequence were credits and the names of the actors and director. I must admit that this opening was devoid of many techniques that were taught to me throughout the year and is not something that an independent director should do.

American Hustle (2013): In this intro, there is much more variety. At first there are the credits as simple as any credits are, and then it is followed by a long shot of one of the protagonist putting on his toupee. After that, the audience gets a glimpse of a luxurious house and the two other characters come inside. The two male leads have an altercation that prompts one man to mess up the main character’s toupee, which he had worked so hard on in the previous scene. Overall, the shots and camera angles were not as structured as most movies. Instead, the opening focused more on establishing a relationship between the characters, and intriguing the audience to see who they are throughout the movie.

Children of Men (2006): I also saw this film opening in class and loved it because it did a fantastic job of setting the tone and atmosphere for the rest of the movie through the newscast of the death of the youngest man alive, and the mise-en-scene throughout the first two minutes. The director is able to capture the cruelty of a war torn dystopian society within the first few minutes of the film, which is ultimately what I am trying to achieve during this project. This introduction would kind of be the one I would mostly lean towards (not the explosion of course) because it seems like it is the easiest one to get done with the timing that I have.

An Exploit into the World of Morning Montages

I HAD A BRAIN BABYYYYYYYYY. Oh yes. My film opening is gonna be a morning montage.

Personally, there's nothing I enjoy more than a good waking-up-and-getting-ready scene. Everybody starts their day off in their own unique way so filming a montage of someone's morning routine creates a lot of opportunities to introduce a character and their quirks.

Now, when talking about morning routines on the big screen, it is mandatory to take a moment to honor the gloriousness that is the Ferris Bueller's Day Off (John Hughes, 1986) film opening. Durr.

Rewatching this iconic clip, I'm reminded of how much I love it when characters break the fourth wall, but I'm making the conscious decision to have my character speak very little during the film opening. Since my movie is gonna be a dramedy, the tone I want to create is a little more serious than the one in this classic 80's film. 

Latino Representation Bebe!!!!!!!

          In the earlier days of television and film, African Americans were the racial group most likely to portray domestic workers. Black housekeepers played key roles in television sitcoms such as 1950’s “Beulah” and films such as 1939’s “Gone With The Wind.” By the 1980s, however, Latinos increasingly replaced blacks as Hollywood’s domestics. The 1987 TV show “I Married Dora” was even about a man who married his Latina housekeeper to prevent her from being deported. Even megastar Jennifer Lopez played a housekeeper in 2002’s “Maid in Manhattan,” a romantic comedy reminiscent of the Cinderella fairy tale. The late actress Lupe Ontiveros estimated that she played a maid as many as 150 times on screen. In 2009, Ontoveros told National Public Radio, “I long to play a judge. I long to play a lesbian woman. I long to play a councilman, someone with some chutzpah.”

          Hollywood has a long history of portraying Hispanics and Spaniards as Latin Lovers. Men such as Antonio Banderas, Fernando Lamas, and Ricardo Montalban all starred in a number of roles that perpetuated the idea that Hispanic men are incredibly suave, sexy and skilled in the sheets. The stereotype became so popular that a film called “Latin Lovers” debuted in 1958. Ricardo Montalban and Lana Turner starred. Tired of being typecast as a Latin Lover, Fernando Lamas, father of actor Lorenzo Lamas, told the Free Lance-Star in 1958 that he wanted to redefine the term. “A Latin lover shouldn’t be a greasy character,” he said. “He doesn’t even have to be Latin. But he must be a guy who loves life, and since life includes women, his loves include women. Sometimes he gets a girl and sometimes he gets his face slapped. The most important thing is that he be a real man with problems to solve.”

          

Genre Review: Spooky Edition

          For my second venture in genre, I will be going over the conventions of horror films.

1.            Codes and Conventions in the Horror genre Horror films are unsettling films made to frighten and panic their audience but entertain them at the same time. Films have different codes and conventions that separate them into genres and sub- genres but most horror films have similar codes and conventions and specific symbols to make up the films iconography which allows the audience to identify the genre.
2.           Narrative structure and themes
3. • Death and murder 
4. • Revenge 
5. • Religious beliefs 
6. • Survival 
7. • Supernatural 

Genre, Shmonra, and All That Jazz

          Can I just say, it's really hard to find a good romantic comedy? Cause it is. I don't think I'm gonna be creating a rom-com for my final project, but I love the actual sound of the term rom-com, so I've decided to do my research project on it anyways. Here's what I found about this hard-to-master film genre.

          Conventions of the Romantic Comedy genre A Romantic Comedy, also known as a ‘Rom Com’ are also, alternatively known as ‘Chick Flicks’ The Romantic Comedy genre are films which contain light-hearted humor, they centre around this idea that true love can overcome any obstacles which are thrown at them. The definition of a Rom Com, can be summarized as ‘a funny film with a complicated love story, that somehow ends up with a happy ending’. The screenwriters, and Director of the Rom Com, will make it obvious that the two protagonists were meant for each other. This then makes the audience feel as though the two protagonists were also meant for each other, this is because the Director will create different hints that suggest this theory, such as: them having a common interest, constantly bumping into each other, making one another laugh..
          
          Evolution and sub genres Extreme Circumstances – Some Romantic Comedies have adopted an extreme or strange circumstance for the main characters. This is shown in ‘Warm Bodies’ whereby the protagonist is a Zombie who falls in love with a human girl, just after he has eaten her boyfriend. This makes the film stand out from other Rom Coms as it has a unique storyline. Serious Elements – Other remakes of Romantic Comedies include plots with similar elements, however, they explore more adult themes, such as marriage or disability. For example, the film ‘Knocked Up’ contains these adult themes mentioned. Flipping Conventions – In other romantic comedies the conventions of a traditional Rom Com can be flipped. For example, in ‘500 days of Summer’ the two love interests do not end up together and do not receive their happy ending.

          Codes and Conventions The plot of a Romantic Comedy • There is the typical ‘boy meets girl’ scenario, these are the protagonists of the film. This hybrid genre stays true to the original plot of a ‘Romantic’ film. • The film is usually set in a location that the audience can relate to, for example, an office or just in their general day to day life. • Due to the fact that this genre is a hybrid of, Romantic and Comedic elements, there are a lot of funny sexual innuendos, this stays true to the original plot of a ‘Comedy’ film. • In most Rom Coms, we see the film from the point of view of the female protagonist, this is because the target audience of a Rom Com is mainly females. This is true to the ‘Romantic’ genre. • Throughout the film, there will be obstacles that will segregate the two protagonists until they realise their love for each other. This results in the film ending with a happy ending, either a marriage, a relationship or a baby.