Week Eight - Plot Revisited

I'm going to be filming soon, so until then I'm working on getting together my props, planning set designs and scripts/outlines of my film opening. I figured that writing out everything here about the plot would be beneficial, maybe help me get my thoughts together. Especially since I haven't given an update about the plot in weeks.

Hemlock is about a couple who are planning to kill somebody together. They've been planning it for some time, and one of the characters had to search for Hemlock flowers which they'll use as a murder weapon (as it's poisonous). In my film opening, the characters meet up for a picnic that one of them set up and they talk about the target. They have a journal where they've recorded their plans and information about their target- and after looking into finally giving them names I decided the couple would be Amelia and Danny, and the target Alex. Their last names aren't all that important considering they don't ever mention them throughout the opening, but Alex's full name is written in Amelia's journal. 

I'm still debating why Amelia and Danny hate their target so much. I got a suggestion from a classmate that Alex could have cheated on the both of them; this gave me the idea that Alex had cheated on them and that, totally unrelated to him doing this, Amelia and Danny met. Not long afterwards they started dating, but they also discovered that they'd both been taken advantage of by Alex. Not only that, but after doing a bit of asking around they found out several other people have been taken advantage of by Alex too. Amelia is outraged by this and decided that instead of speaking up about it, she'd take care of it herself.

Obviously she's a little crazy for wanting to straight-up murder someone, but I did this on purpose knowing this is supposed to be a Thriller film. Her bad, eerie decision making would be leading the film. With Danny too, but her driving force is more of a creepy fixation/love for her girlfriend, and instead of stepping in the way she participates. I'm sure if I were to hypothetically making this a whole film, I could use Danny's character for comic relief between more frightening scenes.

Amelia and Danny both know that Alex loves tea, from dating him of course. Amelia has definitely done more of the research, and after deciding they'd kill Alex by having them ingest something, they narrowed it down to plants. Amelia did a little more research about local poisonous plants in their area and voila! She walked herself down to a local riverbed and with gloves, packed quite a few of them in a container. Her research let her know that ingesting a small amount can lead to paralysis of the muscles, lungs, and will lead to suffocation and death.

They're quite the problematic duo, these two. Creepy gals. 

Week Seven - Another Life Update

I discussed my set ideas with my parents, who both vehemently told me that nobody's allowed at my house. I get it I guess, since my grandfather lives with us and they're worried that anybody in my house would get sick and spread it to him, but wow this situation sucks. I knew that finishing this project would be difficult now that we're all stuck at home, but not this difficult. 

My mom suggested a grassy area near my community pool to film at instead. She claims that it has trees and would most closely resemble what I had in mind with the forests at Markham, but I still feel like it's not going to vibe right with my project. I'm concerned about the weather and overall if filming this is gonna work out the way I'd hoped/envisioned.

In the end, all I want is for my film opening to be cohesive and for the idea to get across, but there's a lot of setbacks piling up one after the other that are discouraging me from continuing to pursue this plot. It may be too late in the year now to change this plot anyway, but I don't know what other options I have. Working with other people has proven to be the worst choice I've made during this project so far. 

Week Seven - Adapting

Although I'm still unable to buy all of the props that I'd wanted, I found a pack of the same kind of candles I'd added to my Prop Searching post at home and are even vanilla scented! It's not much but I'm still glad to be making progress- the less money I have to spend, the better.

The picnic set up that my parents bought for my family is still pristine; we've used it a few times but it's perfectly convenient to use as the tea set my characters are interacting over. They're not exactly what I had in mind, but they're still white plates and cups even if the paint on them is gold and not pastel colors. The dishes are also not as dainty as I'd like, but I can use smaller foods/fruits to balance this out.

The gold on the dishes changes the mise-en-scene when it comes to my costume and character design. When I'd envisioned pastel colors to be the main focus, giving that sense of femininity and romance, I wanted their costumes to be similar colors or white to symbolize purity- which contrasts the truth of the matter that neither of the characters are. However, since gold is a very dominating color, I'm going to have to abandon that idea. 

Gold symbolizes extravagance and prosperity, so this definitely gives my characters a sense of entitlement and importance, and due to the fact that they're murderers, probably narcissism. Thankfully I can hold onto the color white in my mise-en-scene and implement this in the character's costume design. I'm questioning whether or not I want to make their clothes red though. Now that I've abandoned light colors such as the pink I'd wanted to use, I'm planning on making the title red. This will reinforce that these characters are dangerous, and also that they're in a relationship although this will be hinted at in the film opening anyway. 

Week Seven - Life Update

Covid-19 is getting in the way of normal living as we know it for the time being.

Living through a National pandemic while going through my Junior year of high school isn't at all ideal, and even before this started I was having a rough time, but all of the things that we humans do to keep up our mundane daily routines, such as school and work, continue. Fortunately these mundane things are now the only things I can do to keep myself from being driven crazy while stuck in my house with my other 6 family members. Yet somehow I still procrastinate. Unfortunately though we are being issued a mandatory quarantine and shouldn't attend public gatherings, let alone leave our house for anything other than necessities. Just like I feared, I won't be able to film at the place that I'd settled on so happily. It would've been perfect.

I'm going to have to improvise and film at home, or somewhere private and within walking distance. I live in a gated community with a lot of people and not any of the creepy wooded places I'd wanted to utilize at Markham Park so badly. This situation really just changes the whole vibe of my project, but school's continuing online and so are my Aice classes. There's no use dwelling on it so I might as well move on and figure out a back up plan on what I'm going to do to adjust to my circumstances.

I have no further updates on those items from Amazon yet; my family's waiting for a large check to come in before we can spend money on props or other things that aren't immediate necessities like food. I'm a little concerned about the quality of my project now that my hands are tied in a way and my resources are limited.

Since I can't think of any place to go to within my neighborhood, my other options are my backyard (which is underwhelming but has potential if I clean it up a lot) or a table in the corner of my living room, which is crowded with my parents' framed art and photography props (I'll need to move all of that temporarily to perfect my set design and then move it back when I'm done filming). Neither will live up to what I'd envisioned at the beginning of this project, but it will have to do and I'll make best with what I got. 

Week Six - Target Audience

As I've discussed on this blog previously, the target audience for Thriller films are 18-24 year olds. 

In 2018, the ratio of males to females who liked Thriller films was 84:83. This is in contrast to those who liked Animated films, which was 65:75, or those who liked Action films, which was 90:86, etc. 

This target audience enjoys thriller films because they enjoy the suspense and excitement they get from watching them. I know that I have to use mystery and suggestion to draw my viewers' attention in, and coupled with nice imagery/mise-en-scene and a bit of psychological aspects I'll be able to attract this younger, thrill seeking audience. I may also be targeting the LBGTQ+ percentage of people within this target audience, considering the main two characters are a lesbian couple. 

My actors are within the age of the Thriller film demographic as well, which will help the story be much more relatable- not exactly when it comes to the actions of my characters, but since they're within the same age range the intensity of their feelings can be empathized with more closely. Young people always make dumb decisions anyway, ironically enough. You just hope not stupid enough to try and commit murder, but teens are a whole 'nother breed of human beings.

Week Six - Representation

There are a lot of ways that I could go about representation in this project. At first I'd wanted the couple to be straight, but as I continued molding my ideas into something useable I began to think of the characters as an lgbt+ couple. Overall it depends on who I'm using as actors, but most likely the couple will be two gals, as half of my friends are- and I'm fine with adapting. 

The friends that I'd reached out to about being an actor in my portfolio project are feminine and people of color; they're each respectively black, Korean and Puerto Rican. I didn't plan this, because before I'd thought to ask them for help I imagined the couple as two white people. I think this is because of the light color scheme that I had in mind, which in my head was associated with paler skin tones as well. 

Over time representation in the media's gotten better, but of course there's still more work to do to get rid of stereotypes and societal norms placed long before my time- and as you can see and probably already know, women and people in minority groups are represented less in the film industry. As someone in one of those minority groups, I'm glad to have actors among other minorities to represent in my project. 

I would have also liked to represent an older audience, but that's out of the premise of my film and it would be unnecessary and much more difficult to accomplish. 

Week Six - Font Research

When it comes to fonts, these are the ones I were interested in using for the title and/or credits. I don't want anything too fancy, but I want the font to fit a certain style. Some of the Thriller movies that I'd researched over the course of this project have their titles in all caps, and I want to incorporate that into my film opening. 

For example Get Out uses a thicker, bold font for their title. Us isn't in capitals but the font is slimmer, and obviously color choice plays a part in this as well. Deciding a color will have to wait until I have my filming complete; I'll have to choose what looks best against the color palette in the video, but I'm interested in using paler colors to contrast against white. I'd like to use a pale pink or a red if I can.

HEMLOCK 

(Average)

HEMLOCK 

(Georgia)

HEMLOCK 

(Bitter)

HEMLOCK 

(Merriweather)

HEMLOCK

(Playfair Display)

HEMLOCK 

(EB Garamond)

HEMLOCK 

(Oswald)

HEMLOCK

(Times)

Week Five - Trying To Stay Productive

I went out of town a couple days ago to attend a funeral and wedding over the weekend and get home by Monday. I haven't forgotten about all my homework, so I brought my laptop and materials with me in case I need to work on anything during the night. I'll be spending most of this trip with family, but hopefully I can find the time to continue planning for this project.

I should have printed out storyboard sheets and brought them with me. My mom, sisters and I rented a house with my uncle and there's useful stuff lying around, but unfortunately not a printer. Hindsight would've been useful there.

The media is really anxious about the Corona virus right now and it's driving me a little crazy hearing about it. My mom has been paranoid and telling the rest of my family and I conspiracy theories about it and the government. It freaks me out a little bit that people have begun to mention quarantine, because that would get in the way of my project. Humans are just unpredictable and it's made me wonder if I should figure out a back up plan for my project.

Week Five - Finally Grew A Pair

I finally found an opportunity to ask within my group of friends who could be actors in my film opening. That being said, the two people who I wanted to use as the actors never got back to me about it, but another two of my friends volunteered happily. It's up to me to figure out the days and times with them to maneuver around work schedules. When I get the chance I can discuss costume design with them and help them get into character.

Ideally I want the costume design to make up mostly white; I know my friends can be edgy but I don't think it's to the point that they have no light clothes, so I'm remaining hopeful that it'll sort itself out. If they don't have any clothes I could definitely let them borrow some of mine.

Week Five - More Prop Searching

While searching for props I thought about using candles and ran into these bad boys.

I'm a little concerned about working with fire (but not really). I can use them later in my opening, putting them on plates so that I don't start a wildfire. They can add depth and suspense if I edit just right, and candles can help reinforce the relationship aspect of my film. 

I have a lot of lights but I still thought I'd look into something more portable, like a flashlight. I chose this model because it's the cheapest I could find, but I'll search more until I find what works; the flashlight I have at home is old and the light isn't strong enough to use, and I worry this one is too small.  

Either way, I'm getting these light filters. They'd be useful to me during this project and helpful to me in the future when I'm filming other pieces, or while taking pictures. 

Week Five - Prop Searching

At first I thought I wasn't going to be able to find fake flowers that could pass as Hemlocks, but after a bit of scrolling I found a vaseful. I could always cut a few petals off of the flowers to use for close ups. 

It took a while to find blankets that would fit into my price range. I knew I'd still be spending a lot of money on props, but all the blankets I ran into previously were between twenty to fifty dollars- so when I found this product I was satisfied. My only issue is deciding which color scheme I want to use. 

I'm tempted to go with the blue blanket to suggest a psychological or twisted aspect to my film opening, but it goes against what I had originally had in mind for my mise-en-scene. I'm also tempted to buy the pink one as it would suggest tenderness and romance to help reinforce the characters' relationship (but most importantly it's so cute and I'd get to use it after). 

These are a couple other options that may look good or at least be back-ups in case the other two get sold out. I like that they're both neutral colors in case I decide to have a more subtle approach to suggesting this is a Thriller film. I'd usually go for being bold, but for the sake of experimenting I could find other ways. 

Week Four - And I Mean Really, Really Slow Progress

I've procrastinated finding a couple actors to use as the couple in my film opening, but part of that is I'm nervous; the couple that I had in mind are unavailable from what I know because one of them is at FSU, and it'd be a pain to make her drive down here from Tally every time I needed some footage. While in our Group Meeting I mentioned this, and one of my classmates suggested I ask them about it anyways and see if they were going to be together over Spring Break- then I'd be able to film with them both. I like this idea, but I hate the thought of bothering them during the only time they get to spend together. 

My other issue with using this couple is that my friend who isn't at FSU is currently working on the same portfolio project as me, and I'm afraid that this would inconvenience her during the times she needs to be filming. All my worries aside, I've yet to ask them and I really should get on that soon; that way if I need to find other actors I'll have time. 

Week Four - Really Slow Progress

I decided that I'm going to be filming at Markham. This is where I wanted to film originally; it's not too far, which is practical as it's easily accessible, and it's one of the only places I had in mind to film that's even semi visually interesting. I'm very optimistic about this set choice considering the plot of my project. I want to convey at first that my characters are just a cutesy couple going on a date, but reveal that they aren't as basic as they seem and are actually planing something evil, and have really thought it through. I want it to be surprising to my viewers.

I want to work with as low a budget as possible, so I have to think realistically. Originally I wanted to go online and find props (such as tea sets/dish sets that have floral prints) that are aesthetically pleasing that I could incorporate into the video. I'd completely forgotten that my family has a giant picnic set at home until my mom reminded me of its existence.

After checking over the set, the dishes all follow the theme of white that I envisioned but there are no flowers; instead they have a more simplistic design with a limited color palette of blues and yellows. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it saves time and money to use what I already have. Now I can focus more on finding picnic blankets with floral designs, hemlock flowers and any extra clothing that I may need for filming.

Week Four - Progress

I've mentioned in my previous blog postings the songs that I considered using in my film opening. One of the songs I was seriously considering was Freaks by Surf Curse.

On the 27th of last month I went to their bandcamp and messaged them asking for permission to use this song in particular for this project, but they haven't gotten back to me yet unfortunately. I'll post updates on my blog when they do answer, but for now I'm waiting (anxiously) patiently for them to email me back. Hopefully they do, because the vibe of that song would be perfect for this project and the content I'm incorporating in it; I love Freaks and will inevitably be tired of it by the time I've finished editing my film opening.

Week Four - Group Meeting 1

At first I was nervous to do group meetings; I was hesitant to share my idea because my outline for this project was vague in my mind, or even felt like it wasn't enough. The meeting not only helped me figure out new ideas about what I want to do, but gave me insight on what my classmates were doing; seeing their blogs and each of their creative processes made me feel inspired. Each project was different and original in ways that I did not expect. It told me a lot about each classmate, what's important to them and their goals for the end result, but it also showed me that everyone's in about the same spot- still trying to figure out what they want to do, what's practical and it calmed me down a little bit.

After presenting my idea to my group, I found that it resonated with them, which caught me off guard. They were able to give me ideas and input that really helped me form the plot of my movie, but more specifically my film opening. I hadn't thought past what I wanted the film opening to be like, but I needed to consider each of the characters, their relations to each other- for example, why would the couple want to harm this target in the first place? I had no clue, and although I'd thought to myself that I needed to figure this out, nothing stood out to me. My group helped me consider my options, for example maybe the target had dated and cheated on both of them. 

I hadn't looked into font types, and then it occurred to me that I hadn't come up with any titles either. When I mentioned all of this to them, one of my classmates suggested "A Crime of Passion." I'd mentioned that in my mise en scene and prop and costume design that I wanted to incorporate flowers, so we began looking up flower types. We stumbled across "Gardenia" specifically because it sounds interesting, but then one of them suggested looking into poisonous flower types, which I was very interested in. 

While we were brainstorming poisonous flower types such as "Aconitum, Amaryllis, Lily of The Valley" etc, my teacher walked by, overheard and suggested "Hemlock."

Hemlocks fit the dainty, vintage-aesthetic idea that I had in mind when I was first planning out this project, and they're white, which coincidentally is the color that I wanted to incorporate heavily into my video through the couple's outfits. Hemlock is poisonous when ingested, and can give some people a severe rash when they come into contact with it. After ingesting any part of the plant, it causes muscle paralysis that can lead to paralysis of the respiratory muscles until dying of oxygen deprivation. Death can be avoided via artificial ventilation for 48-72 hours, when the effects wear off. Ingesting more than 0.1 grams of the plant, about 6-8 fresh leaves, or a smaller dose of the seeds or roots, can be fatal in adults. 

Not only does the name "Hemlock" spark something in me as it's simple and catchy, but after researching the flower itself I settled on this as the title of my film opening. It also gave me the idea to use this flower as a prop for my film opening, using it as the method that the couple wants to use to kill their target. I'm deciding between how they're going to have this target ingest this flower, however. I thought they could do this through tea or a drink, but I want to get across their idea in few words, as my film opening won't have much dialogue over the music I want to incorporate in it. Their plans for killing this target will be shown through props and their materials: notebooks with notes and writings, various pictures of the target etc. 

Overall this group meeting really helped me form a better idea about what I want to convey in my film opening, but I still have a lot of work to do finding props, costumes and actors.

For this flower in particular, because I can't use an actual Hemlock flower, I'm going to search on Amazon for fake Hemlock flowers, or any flowers that look like they could be Hemlocks.