Midterm Submission

Filming Schedule

During the time period of when my co-director and I had accessibility to a proper camera, the weather was consistently changing. The ideal weather conditions for this film was to be bright and sunny to contrast the darkness inside the house. Of course, there would several random days where the weather conditions would be perfect for filming, but it also had to be on a day that every of the actors and actresses were available. This left only day in the month of December that we had ample time during the day to film. Unfortunately, the original actor that was opposed to be playing the boyfriend had an unexpected emergency come up and couldn't be in the film. My co-director and I  knew that rescheduling filming was impossible, so she suggested that I fill that part, which was the only option. This left my co-director to do a majority of the near five consecutive hours of filming, which didn't affect the final product at all in a negative way, so it didn't bother any of us and we continued with the project.

Shot List

1.) Establishing Shot

This establishing shot shows appears at the beginning of the film to show where 

a majority of the action will take place. The natural light shows that the time is 

approximately morning to midday and the Christmas decorations help indicate 

that the film takes place during the winter season. As to be expected with the 

concept of the film, the outside of the house is meant to appear happy and seem 

to have a normal family living inside of it.

2.) Pan / Low Angle Shot

This image shows one of the various decorations in the daughters bedroom, 

but this one shows many sports trophies to show that she's an active athlete. 

There is also an artistic mannequin to the right to show that she dabbles in 

the arts. These small features help drive the theme that the daughter is meant 

to take on the role of a perfect "all-around" high school girl that everyone 

knows. However, that's just a cover up.

3.) Pan / High Angle Shot

This is another pan that shows the daughter on the computer, but as a small and

interesting detail, my co-director and I decided to have the actual title of the

movie on the computer screen to make viewers feel just a little more immersed

into the film. The daughter then drags a different screen on top of the title to 

continue what she was doing on the computer. Another small detail we 

included was very dark and shady searches in the open tabs she has open on 

her internet tabs.

4.) Pan / High Angle Shot

This is another pan across the daughter's desk with textbooks and a school 

agenda to show that she is a hardworking student. This, again, contributes to 

her act to be a "perfect high school girl, incapable of doing any wrong."

5.) Two Shot

This image shows a Two Shot of the mother and daughter's interaction. After

the mother alerts her daughter that her boyfriend has arrived, she begins to exit

the room but is stopped by the mother. The mother's lack of movement indicates

her negative feelings towards the interaction and stops the daughter in such a 

forceful way that it clearly indicates she isn't a very good parent.

6.) Close Up Shot

The mother pulls out a knife to give to her daughter, but then pulls it away as 

soon as the daughter reaches for it. This indicates a hesitation in the mother to

give the knife to her. The daughter's slow reach towards the knife and quick 

pull away from it shows her reluctance about accepting it from her. The close

up of the knife shows the symbolic size and magnitude of it to the daughter.

7.) Two Shot

This image was taken from a scene where the mother tells the daughter to
"not mess up this time", indicating that whatever the mother is subliminally 

ordering her daughter to do failed the last time she tried. The mother's

expression indicates that sh'es very serious about this matter and doesn't 

seem like she's willing to allow another mistake.

8.) Pan

This is a pan to the daughter's photo board that has many photos of people 

she knows on it. Looking closely, it can be seen that several people have 

been crossed out and there are several arrows pointing to one particular 

photo. This is meant to be inferrerd that the crossed out people are her past 

victims and the arrows are pointing to her next one. This means that, even 

though she's reluctant to harm her boyfriends, she still chooses to keep

of all all her victims.

9.) Close Up / Low Angle Shot

These are two close ups of the daughter looking back and forth 

between her mother and the knife. Her gazes are slow and intense

to show her resentment towards her mother the dark deeds she's

making her do.

10.) Over the Shoulder / Two Shot

This image is taken from the scene where the daughter leaves the house to 

greet her boyfriend. The couple only speks a simple greeting to each other 

but the mother can be seen in the background watching them menacingly. 

An added detail to this scene was the inclusion of darkness inside the 

house behind the mother to show the darkness that resides in the house 

and the mother.

11.) Mid-Shot

This is the boyfriend looking back at the house and the mother with a 

suspicious expression on his face. This was meant to leave an unanswered 

question as to whether or not the daughter actually succeeds in killing him

and, if so, whether or not he has a significant role in the rest of the film.

12.) Close Up Shot

This is a close up of the mother watching the boyfriend, expecting him 

impending death. However, her lack of skills in hiding her emotions when it 

comes to these dark deeds could definitely have a significant effect on her 

future that would be seen in the rest of the film.

13.) Over the Shoulder Shot

This is an over the shoulder shot that, again, shows the mother watching the 

couple driving away. It's meant to show the increasing tension leading into 

the upcoming scenes that, unfortunately, the viewers of this video won't be 

to see.

Script

Casting

Actress...........Kelli Elliot
Character........The Mother (Heather Miller)

In the very beginning of the planning for the film, the mother had a very small role. Her only appearance was coming into her daughter's room and saying that her boyfriend had arrived to pick up. This correlated with our concept idea of the daughter being the psychopath, however, the more my co-director and I discussed this concept, the more we realized how closed-ended it was. So, we decided to expand upon her character, but the only we could do that is make her role in this scenario was to make her psychotic herself.

However, the problem with this plan was that an entire family of psychopaths would create yet another close-ended concept where there would be no character development. That's when we decided to almost completely reverse the roles of the mother and daughter compared to our original idea and make the mother psychotic and the daughter sane. Our new story line was that the mother was forcing were daughter to commit dark deeds against her will. But in order for them to not get caught, they needed to take on the appearance of a perfectly normal family that was considered "poster perfect"

This is the idea we had in our minds when selecting the perfect actress to play the role. We wanted someone who was beautiful and easily approachable yet can be taken seriously if she so desires. We also needed someone who was taller than the daughter to show the difference in power when they were both shown in the same frame. And finally, aside from the unavoidable light hearted and fun friends have when undergoing projects such as this, we needed this actor to also be serious and cautious when she was expected to handle the sharp knife during filming and understand the danger of doing so.
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Actress...........Sigrith Ortega
Character........The Daughter (Chelsea Miller)

Even in the very beginning stages of planning, my co-director and I wanted the daughter to look and act as a perfect child. She's meant to have some of the best grades in her school, show exemplary talent in art and sports, and be nothing but kind and loving to her peers. She's the perfect "poster" child; but only on the outside. Now, we didn't want viewers to think that she's just as psychotic as her mother, but rather she's fully aware of just how wrong what she's doing is. But she can't disobey her mother's wishes because 'children are supposed to obey their parents'.

As for the physical appearance of the daughter, my co-director and I had the exact same vision of who we wanted to play the part. It's more than likely that our decision was biased because we both had a friend in common that actually fit this character perfectly, minus the psychopath part. But no matter who else we considered, she was the correct height to show her lack of power relative to the actress cast for the mother. She also had the look and demeanor of a cute and friendly high school girl that made people feel comfortable. This was exactly the type of person we were looking for, but only on the outside.
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Actor..............Garrett Gruttadauria
Character........The Boyfriend (Aiden Meyers)

The boyfriend required the least amount of thought when it came to significance in the film; he was one of those characters in films that has a slightly important role in the beginning to help set the stage but the is never seen again for the rest of the film. This is because, as they story would play out, he would be one of the daughter's latest victims and show the audience what her mother is making her do. So, my co-director and I were able to be much more flexible in the casting for this character; all we really needed was a young high school boy who play the part of the boyfriend.

Due to the vague specifications of the role, we had many options to choose from. Eventually we decided on a guy that was commonly known to be a good actor and was an active participant in theater; we thought that if we can pick any guy to play the role, they might as well be good at acting. However, on the day of filming, something unexpected came up, and he became unavailable. So, the only thing that could be done was to have myself fill the role of the boyfriend and have my co-director do a majority of the camera work.

This didn't pose any problems at all, it was just an unexpected obstacle that had to be overcome. However, having her be the one to film, it was discovered she quite the talent for getting the perfect shots, so we decided it would be best to let her do a majority of the filming even after I was finished filling in the role of the boyfriend. So, I suppose, it wasn't necessarily bad that our original boyfriend was unable to came after all.

Scout Locations

1.) Bedroom Location

This was my co-director and I's best option for the daughter's bedroom for 

quite a number of reasons. One major one being the accessablity we had to 

this location. We attempted asking multiple of our friends to see if they 

would allow us to film in their bedroom, as expected, almost everyone felt 

uncomfortable with the idea. That is until someone close to myself allowed 

us to use her room after we helped clean and prepare it for filming. The 

bedroom had many different details and decorations in it that fit in perfectly 

with the idea of having multiple slow pans of the room as the credits would 

play on the screen. The room also had several different sources that greatly 

helped avoiding awkard lighs and shading while filming.

The owner of the bedroom also had a classic desk that was used for 

schoolwork, and a bookshelf to hold her many novels. She also many areas 

where she would show off her many sports trophies and prized art pieces. This 

diverse work space helped drive the concept of the daughter being an "all 

around" and "poster perfect" child. The way the door way was built in 

relevence to the rest of the bedroom also helped my co-director and I film 

with ease.

2.) Outdoor Location

This outdoor scene location was actually the first location i told my co-director

about. This was because I had easy accessibility to it and it was similar to 

what our vision was about how the daughter would exit the house to greet her

boyfriend. The distance from the driveway to the door was also the perfect

distance because our vision was that the couple would be in the frame form the 

torso up while the mother would be much further in back in the doorway to 

watch them. One feature that about this location that we didn't envision was

abundance of Christmas decorations, which was unavaidable considereing it 

was mid-to-late December when the filming took place. However, these 

decorations wouldn't hinder our filming or tarnish our end product, so we 

decided not to worry them.

Storyboard

Film Project Genre Research - Get Out (Mystery/Thriller)

The film opens to a long establishing shot of a dimly light sidewalk at night with crickets chirping in the background. A man is walking past the houses and parked cars questioning himself on if he was on the correct route to get to his destination, all while the camera is rotating around him. This creates a feeling that either he is the main character of the film or he will play an important role in the beginning of it. This immedietly followed by a constant over the shoulder shot to show that he's being followed by a white car. Once the man crosses the street, the car is parked with its door open and its driver sneaks up behind the man and chokes him until he's unconscious. As this is happening, a faint old-timey and happy music grows louder. This either sets the time of the film or creates a contrasting mood to cover up the sinister act happening on screen. The only credits that are shown are the publisher, Universal Pictures, and the production organizations, Blumhouse and QC Entertainment. This popular film had a budget of 4.5 million dollars and a massive profit of approximately 252 million dollars worldwide. This film has won well over one hundred awards, including the USA Academy Awards' Best Original Screenplay in 2018, as well as nominated for many more.

Film Project Genre Research - The Call (Crime/Thriller)

The film opens to an interaction between a police phone operator and a young girl, with the camera going back and forth between them to show how they're reacting to the conversation. Through their dialogue, it becomes clear that the young girl is calling to report a man breaking into her house and the operator is instructing her how to hide and avoid him. Since the phone operator isn't moving much, most of her screen time is shown through close ups or mid shots while the young girl is running around her house and is shown through full body and close up camera shots. Towards the end of this scene, the already faint background music cuts out and the only sounds heard are the young girl breathing heavily and whispering to the operator. Once she's discovered in her hiding place and kidnapped, the man insults the operator and hangs up the phone. The operator is then shown in a wide shot jumping from her desk while her peers continue their work around her. This transition changes from a silent and anxious atmosphere to a more safe, noisy, and busy work environment. This change may be sudden, but it contributes to the difference in emotions and environment that each character is in. This film had a budget of 12.8 million dollars and had a profit of approximately 52 million dollars. This film may be more than a few years old but has been nominated for several awards and was named a winer at the Leo Awards for the best supporting performance by a male in a motion picture in 2014.

Film Project Genre Research - Split (Thriller/Psychological Horror)

The film opens to a mid/over the shoulder shot with the mian character sitting alone at a birthday party with everyone else taking a group picture in the background. After, some of the background characters are having a discussionwith their father about how they invited her out of pity which gives her the backgound of being possibly shy and a loner. After she and two other party goers head to the car to drive home, a man knocks out their dad and tries to kidna them. A two shot is used to show the dual reactions to the events from the backseat while there is a close up of the main character's unmoving face as she realizes what is happenig to her. There isn't much music being played in this opening scene, but in the car there are sound effects that make the sounds made from moving seem much slower because in times of fear such as this, people go through an experience that makes time seem to go much slower. This film was an unexpected continuation to the film "Unbreakable" and cost about 9 million dollars but earned 66 million dollars in profit.  This film may still be relatively new, but that hasn't stopped it from winning several awards and being nominated for many more. Some awards include the Fright Meter Award, the Golden Trailer Award, and several more film critics awards.

Film Project Genre Research - Happy Death Day (Mystery/Slasher)

The film opens to a quick aerial establishing shot of a brick clocktower surrounded by other smaller building to reference the location of a college due to its similarities to most other ones. It the cuts to a girl waking up from in a bed in a dormitory thats not hers. There is another boy in the room who tries to help in any way he can and, through their dialogue and camera shots showing their faces when they speak with each other, it can be easily inferred that they both went to a party the night before where she drank too much and he took her his dormitory room to rest. This would most definitly cause her to be defensive towards him which is why I assume she was so cynical and rude, that and her hangover. During their conversation, her music on her phone went off which indicated it was her birthday, as the title of the movie would indicate. As expcetcted with most modern films, there aren't many, if any, credits in the beginning of the movie and this one shows no exception. This modern take on a mystery and horror film cost approximately 4.8 million dollars but had a gross income of around 26.5 million dollars, almost five times the original cost. This film is still relatively new and has only been nominated for the Fright Meter Award and nothing else.

Film Project Genre Research - The Shining (Mystery/Psychological Horror)

The film opens to an establishing wide shot that changes from following a body of water to following a car driving on a street through the wilderness with foreboding music playing all the way. The camera following the car indicates that the people inside will have an important role to play in the film or just in the beginning to help "set the stage" for the rest of the film. This role, whatever it may be, is most likely negative, dark, or dangerous due to the dark music playing as the car is being followed. All while during this, several credits move across the screen from bottom to top, starting with the film director Stanely Kubrick followed by two other names before the title of the film is shown. Several other names are shown without their roles except for the executive producer and who's novel the film was based upon. The film was released in 1980 and has since become a staple of the horror film genre with a budget of 15 million dollars and a gross income of approximately 44 million for a profit almost three times the original cost. This critically acclaimed film has won a few awards such as the Saturn Award for the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films, USA in 2012 and the winner for the Online Film and Television Association Hall of Fame induction in 2014.

Project Selection - My Decision

After carefully examining the possible efforts and results I would get from either project type, I've decided that I will focus my skills on a film production project. I truly think that I would excel in this field because I have a wild imagination of fictional worlds and ideas that I know others would find appealing. Also, being an artist, I know which camera angles and shots would best fit every scene to help make the movie flow smoothly. Now, in regards to my vision on this film project, I definitely want to delve into the theme of plot twists and secrets. That's why I chose to produce a film that's a combination of a romance-horror-thriller genre. It will circulate around a teenage girl who feels she's had her heart broken too many times, turns into a psychopathic killer behind the disguise of an innocent teenage girl, and wants revenge. Producing a film such as this requires me to work within a group that would be able to help me cast the film, locate appropriate settings, and edit it. As of my current group, I am working as a co-director/writer with Julia Chu, but as for the others, we have yet to find them.

Project Selection - Film

The aspect of film production that has always interested me was the ability for writers and directors to show others their visions. Depending on what these visions may hold, they can can influence audiences into thinking and feeling in ways that no other form of media can do. This could be taken in forms like creating a cinematic universe that people love or filming themes and ideas that can affect people and the industry for years to come. In Ferris Bueller's Day Off, John Hughes had done something similar to this when he first filmed scenes breaking the fourth wall and having an end credits scene. Now, many comedies replicate the fourth wall breaks and many more posses end credit scenes, like Marvel or DC - cinematic universes that people love. Away from the popularity films can achieve, writers can also fill them with hidden meanings and themes that can make it a work of art instead. For example, in All the President's Men, the reporters were constantly conflicted on doing the right thing or ensuring their safety. This was an extreme theme many people could relate to which caused the film to be a major success. However, I believe the true aspect of film production that allows for it's success is the amount of signiture creativity a director puts in it, whether it be amazing characters, specializing in specific genres, or anything that will make it unique and stand out amongst other films.

Project Selection - Magazine

Going into the field of print journalism would interest me greatly on the grounds that I believe the exchange of information is necessary to make a relationship, community, or even a nation thrive. As shown in The Newsroom, the news organization had a segment in which only the most important stories were pursued and covered. In their attempts to inform their audiences, they caused their ratings to drop, and thereby, less people viewed their stories. But the information they were presenting went deeper and presented more thought provoking questions than any other news station. But that's where it can become a challenge, journalists need to find that perfect balance in their stories which will both inform their audiences and entice them to read or view them. Also, being an informant of the events that happen in the world to the audience, there is always a pressure to be correct - no matter the urgency. Just like in All the President's Men, the reporters needed to make sure they were going to print the correct iformation of they could be charged with serious federal offenses. But that's also an interesting aspect of the journalism; being extremely thorough and checking every angle of the story for complete coverage. One more reason I'd like to go into print journalism is the fact that all the information given directly to the readers, nothing is left open to interpretation or misjudgement; something I struggle with when communicating to more than a few people.