Day 16: Group Meeting #1!!

Hey there! In class today, we had our first group meeting. Our teacher divided the class up into 4 different groups and we each shared our blogs and our general ideas for our film openings. The goal of the meeting was to get feedback about our ideas from other people and establish a pretty good understanding of what we want our final products to look like.

(Left to right) Isa, Mia, Maia (Me), Luke, Vanessa, Emma, Giovanna

We each took turns explaining our opening ideas and I went first. I explained that my idea was about a girl who started a blog and explained the plot as well as I could. When explaining to a group of people, I found it a little bit harder than just one-on-one. In my next blog post, you'll see exactly what I explained to them and some of the shots I want to incorporate. Later in the week I'll also be sharing my script/storyboard as well. Out of everyone in my group, I was definitely the one with the most solidified idea of my opening.

Emma also suggested to have a medium shot where the camera is behind my computer and I am looking down (the shot on top). I could use this in a scene where my brothers could kick a plush soccer ball at my head and basically snap me out of my thoughts. If I don't use it for that scene, I could also use it for the ending, where I shut my computer. I could also use it for both to remind the viewers that in both scenes my character is being snapped back to reality.

Mia suggested that my credits could be scattered and add a typing sound effect as it is going on screen to further enforce the blog as one of the main features of the film. 

Mia went next and she introduced her idea for a COA film. Her idea is similar to that of the "Boo, B..." (2022) sitcom. Basically, there will be two best friends who hang out at a park every day, and one day one of the girls gets run over by a car. The other friend mourns the loss of her bff by going to her funeral and then figures out that she can see the ghost of her ex-bff. Emma suggested that the title card could represent the car crash, with a black screen and then it cuts to a short bit of the funeral. I thought Mia also had a very clever title, "Best FriEND". Mia's blogs went really in-depth on the analysis and I think are helpful to understand the level of analysis I should be incorporating into future blogs.

Isa also wanted to do something COA/Comedy. Her idea was to do a horror fake-out by having someone knock on the door of the main character's house and they look around and trip on random things around the house, like Legos. The fake-out would end in the kitchen, where her best friend would be and there would be some comedic dialogue in-between. I suggested that the credits be scattered in things around the house, in a similar way to the credits of "Napoleon Dynamite". Her blogs were very short and about a paragraph long each, which the group recommended that she focused a bit more on making good blog posts.

Then, Luke went. He was really set on creating an opening for a film of the dramedey genre. He really wanted to have funny dialouge between two best friend characters, but wanted them to be complete opposites. One would be extremely extroverted and the other would be the definition of an introvert. Pretty much, opposites attract. I suggested that he use complementary colors (like orange and blue) when choosing costume designs to further reinforce the fact that these best friends are truly opposites.

Next was Giovanna, who wanted to do a suspense piece, but wasn't sure what she wanted to do at all. The group helped her decide on something science related. The opening could include many shots of the equipment, like beakers, depending on what she wants the rest of the movie to be. We also suggested that she talk to the Forensics teacher at our school to see if she would be able to borrow some finger-printing materials. We also made sure that whatever Giovanna decides her portfolio to be about, she should make sure that the opening research effectively shows that.

Emma explained that her opening will be for a mystery film. It will follow a psychotic girl who is in jail and she will have scratches on the walls with a name that will be important later in the film. Emma had already bought pieces for her set, such as the jail cell bars and a grey backdrop.

Finally, Vanessa explained her thriller idea where the victim of a bully fights back by murdering the bully. This does NOT seem like a film I would be interested in watching, but Vanessa's idea was very interesting. She wanted the film to explore how and why the victim decided to murder, but wanted the victim to truly seem crazy. I suggested that the actor that they choose could have spiked up hair and possibly a bit of makeup on to make him look like a crazy person.

Overall, this group meeting was very helpful because everybody was being honest to what they thought and not sugarcoating anything at all. I really enjoyed my group members and thought that we communicated our thoughts and feedback well. Our group really clicked and we shared many laughs. I really liked the supportive environment and the way that everyone was actively listening. This makes me very excited for the next group meeting and to see their progress.

See you on the next one!