Story Update

 I've been working on the story here and there, and I've nearly finished the storyboard. I just need to draw out the bathroom scene and the final 10 seconds.  Here's a storyboard that I've been working on, here it is!

This is for the establishing bits. It sets up the setting in which the film will take place and immediately correlates the piece to the theater. Then, it starts off with Jim practicing his monologue and messing up a few times so he can get it right (I cannot emphasize how much of a personal experience this is).

After, is the conversation between Jim and Rowan. This scene introduces Rowan and gives the audience a sense of what type of person he is. Furthermore, this is the first time in the film when we hear Jim, how he acts, how his attitude, etc. This conversation illustrates how serious Jim is about this; he rudely tells Rowan to leave after he has congratulated him, which, is something that most performers wouldn’t do after hearing someone provide them with critical remarks. In this conversation, I utilize the shot-reverse-shot technique. The infamous conversation from the wolf of wall street inspired me to use this technique. Here's a link to it:

wolf of wall street scene!

Anyhow, my next story update should hopefully consist of my screenplay and finished storyboard.

Can't wait to finish this, it's going to be beautiful man.  

CAST

 MEET THE CAST! 

Although I haven't thoroughly finished the screenplay or the storyboard, I have a pretty good idea in my mind of who to cast for the roles

                                                                        ROWAN

                                                                   (picture pending) 

I'm casting my friend Joey Mejia for Rowan, Joey is also heavily involved in theater, and he's seen me perform multiple times. Matter of fact, he's walked in on me practicing many of my monologues, so this will also feel similar to what he has experienced before. Joey is a good friend of mine; he's seen my performances get better and better and he has attended a lot of my practices. We're also in the school musical "School of Rock", so we're already collaborating together in a dramatic production. 

                                                                            JIM

Surprise, Suprise, I play the role of Jim. As discussed in my previous blogs, I'm a person who identifies with Jim massively and I can sympathize with his perceptions and motivations. I am super excited to play this role as I feel as if I can convey this character perfectly. I have a heavy chunk of lines in this production, so I need to remember them and execute them to a pulp in order to fully transcend the character. 

This is going to be a blast to film!

Shooting Schedules and Screenplay Idea

 Hey Blog!

Since the time to shoot is coming closer and closer, I would think to shoot it next week. My SAT is coming up this Wednesday and my mind is occupied with that. It's been pretty stressful to think about it and prepare for it so I can't do both at the same time. I want to shoot my film opening with a clear mind and have a sense of freshness and enjoyment as I shoot the film. I still have to finish my screenplay and finalize some plot aspects. I'm filming in the auditorium and in the bathroom after school, so I already know the environment of my filming location.  The only conflict I have is that there are rehearsals for "West Side Story" going on in the same week I'm planning to film, so I would have to check with my theatre director on the availability of the auditorium.

Now, on the matters of the screenplay. 

I have written a play before, so I have some experience when it comes to writing dramatized stories. I'm planning to use the same font as I did for the play; I'm also planning to type about 4-5 pages so it can fill up the 2-minute gap perfectly. 

The content of the screenplay wouldn't be too difficult for me to write. My character, Jim, is practicing a monologue and he keeps getting it wrong: as a result, he gets frustrated with himself. I have lived through this experience SOO many times. Last year, in preparation for a drama competition, I had been practicing my two monologues that I was going to perform for months, and it took me very long to get it right, I had grown so furious with myself that I would repeat a syllable more than 100 times in a minute to get the pronunciation right. Living in a Hindu household, my parents tend to say words differently than how they do here in America; I would receive their tendencies for some words as well. Matter of fact, I had perfected my monologue on the morning of the performance, I am a very picky actor who really is never satisfied with his worker

All in all, I am very similar to Jim in that aspect so I would almost feel like I would be writing a story about myself. 

Anyhow, now that I have talked about myself too much, here's a link to the play that I wrote a while back. I'm planning to follow this same format. 

The Shelby Brothers

This play is based on Peaky Blinders by the way. Peaky Blinders is a show on Netflix that follows a British family based in the early 1900s, the story follows Thomas Shelby and his family as they encounter the dangers of the regimes in Birmingham after World War 1. I highly recommend it. 

Had Another Talk with My Teacher and thought of some new ideas

 

So, I was planning to integrate a story about bullies teasing Jim, making him feel secluded and alone. My teacher didn't really like this idea, she repeated one question to me; What is the purpose? She repeated this question multiple times to me as she couldn't find the meaning of this opening. She also said that it would be too much to cram in 2 minutes, she suggested solely focusing on the character. I want to establish Jim as the main focus of the opening, and I want the audience to interact with his purpose. They should feel frustrated when Jim feels frustrated, or sad when Jim feels sad. 

So basically, I have a lot of ideas in mind for this. I feel as if the mirror scene can be crucial, and I have a few ideas on how to execute it. I was thinking of a mix of the La Haine and Taxi Driver mirror scenes. Jim would be doing his monologue in the mirror, and he's so frustrated that he can't get it right that he bursts into anger and starts saying outlandish remarks. 

La Haine Mirror

Taxi Driver Mirror Scene

Obviously, Jim won't be pointing guns at a mirror, but I want to integrate a scene where Jim goes mad, and he becomes incredibly angry at himself; I feel as if this would indicate to the audience that Jim is very serious about this and he would go to a high extent to achieve his goal.

Side note: I think it would be a great idea if I were to put a quote in the first 5 seconds of the opening. Cool little addition that could help convey the message of my film opening. Keep this in mind, future Sachate.

develop the moment!

Lighting

  Since my piece is mainly based in the auditorium, there are a variety of different light patterns I can use.  For the first minute, Jim would be practicing his monologue in an empty auditorium. I am not entirely sure what exact light pattern I would use; there are many different options. I am aiming for just a plain white color of light, and I may just leave it normalized.  Or I could do different flares of blue, but I'm not quite sure yet. 

Here’s me recording an audition tape for a summer drama academy. I think this might be the lighting I’m going for since it’s not too blaring and it’s not dark.

Rent Cypress

This is a musical that my school did a few years back. It highlights pretty much all the different lighting patterns and techniques that are accessible through technology. I would also highly recommend you sit through bits of this musical; when I found this link, I almost sat through all of it in one sitting. 

In the bathroom mirror scene, there's a light that is on 24/7 unless someone turns it off, I am aiming to use just the natural lighting that's from the light bulb. The bathroom is also quite large, and the mirror is wide so it can complement the light blaring on my face.

The bathroom looks similar to this, so there's enough lighting and mirror width to see me clearly

Characters

 Meet Jim

Jim is a high school boy, aged 17, about 5'10, and relatively skinny. 

Jim, by appearance, is your standard high school 17-year-old, there's nothing that really pops out about him. He isn't the most social and lacks friendships within his school, he tries to be friends with people, but he is typically pushed away. He doesn't really care what people think of him as a performer, but he does want to make more friends who are into the things that he likes but he doesn't try to show it. Jim has pretty decent grades in high school, mostly A's and B's with maybe one C here and there. He tends to utilize his talents more in the arts and writing. He likes to write plays and stories in addition to honing his theater skills. One of the main reasons he even attempts to maintain a solid GPA is so his parents can stop bugging him all the time about school. His teachers aren't very fond of him too much, some are, but some really aren't. He's great at English and decent at Math, Although, his science skills aren't too great. He likes to watch movies sometimes, even though he's mostly into books and comics. He also listens to a lot of music, especially kid Cudi or some slow alternative music. 

 Meet Rowan 

Rowan is around 5'7, relatively skinny, and age of 16. He, like Jim, is also a very creative person. He plays the guitar and drums and is heavily involved with band activities at school, he also does theatre with Jim. Rowan has been friends with Jim since 5th grade and has stayed in touched with him since then. I intend for Rowan to be a caretaker of Jim, be there for him when he needs help, be there for him when he faces rejection or failure. Although Rowan is younger, he secretly treats Jim as a brother and tries to keep him in line. 

Meet Doug 

Doug is the antagonist of the story. He’s around the same height as Jim and he’s known him for quite some years now. He’s been a bully to Jim ever since he’s met him, he claims that he’s trying to help Jim by making him stronger, but really he’s just being mean to him. In reality, Jim is actually a good person, he’s had a very rough upbringing as his dad is extremely rude to him and he forces him to do things that Doug doesn’t want to do. His father has beat him up multiple times, he’s made him do all the work around the house, and he never really shows any love towards him. When Doug’s at school, he doesn’t really know what’s right or wrong since he really hasn’t had any role model to guide him through life. I intend for Doug to have a development in this film as a character by recognizing that his father is an immoral human being and that he needs to start making his own decisions in life and do things that he knows are right.

Some Tidy Genre Research

 I would categorize my film as a drama, sort of coming-of-age movie. It follows a dramatic storyline, and it has many coming to age elements such as dealing with teenager years, personal growth, friendships, and the pressure of life itself.  I'm going, to be honest; I am a bit of a film geek. Fun Fact: I watched a movie every single night during the summer, which accumulates to over 80 films in less than three months. So, I have some sort of knowledge when it comes to the topic of film. I did some research on the movies that I've heard about or watched, and I really went in-depth into some characters' purpose in their world and what they represent. These are some movies that I think hold a lot of similarities to mine and have similar stories or characters. 

These films hold a great deal of value to my heart (sounds extra but no really, they do), and I feel as if my film can aim to communicate the same messages and themes that these movies represent.

Good Will Hunting: Presence of a Role-Model and fulfilling your potential as a human

Whiplash: To always be determined and to work hard

Lady Bird: Not care about what other people think about you and try to value the things you love the most

La La Land: Illustrates the brutality of the acting industry and introduces us to the world of two struggling artists. Also taught me to keep striving forward despite failure. 

Overall, I want my film to express messages that can inspire people and I want to illustrate themes that common artists go through, I feel as if these movies express the messages that I intend to express.

Had A Talk with My Teacher About the Idea and....

 Ok, so, continuing from the last post, I approached my teacher with my idea, and she wasn't very fond of it. She said that it would lack shot selection and wouldn't express my techniques learned in her class. Oh, and she also said that my opening is too similar to the beginning of "Whiplash", it's funny because I did draw major inspiration from that opening and I was starting to realize that my opening is strikingly similar to Whiplash.  So, I had thought my opening would leave the audience to question "what's next?'', but my teacher told me that there would have to be a purpose and that the audience would have to care for that character. Why is this monologue so important? Why should the audience care? What can be the possible outcome of this and how would it affect the character? These were the questions that I and my teacher were discussing and the questions that were looming in my mind. 

So, I recommended to my teacher that there would be some internal conflict with the character, some sort of loneliness, or the feeling of being out of place. She liked this idea, so I kept that in mind. First things first, I wanted to get the monologue portion out of the way. I feel like it's a very crucial moment for the character and the monologue is a monologue that holds great value to me. So, that weekend, I worked on the storyboard, it took me around an hour or two to finish, but it came out nicely. Here's a picture 

The handwriting and drawing aren't the neatest but it's no big deal. Practically, the monologue scene is one very long shot that's zooming out slowly, and I'm aiming to include some shots from the audience's perspective as well. 

Anyways, here's some fancy links to the monologue and the opening scene of Whiplash

Whiplash Opening Scene

Death of a Salesman - American Perspective (weebly.com)

First Day Thoughts

 

So, first post of the blog. 

Starting off, I had been very excited to start this project, it's been looming in my head ever since I enrolled into the course. For a while, I had this idea of doing a robbery, a gang film, or a kidnapping because I thought it would be action-packed and enjoyable (and also I was a big Tarantino fan at the time of these ideas) so I thought it would be cool. Then, my teacher told me to go nowhere near this genre of film, she didn't want her students to do anything that they wouldn't experience, she wanted us to do something that we can sympathize with and something we can maybe relate to. Then, a light bulb in my head turned on, Suddenly I wanted to do something that connects to me, and something that may inspire me or leave me in awe. 

For a long time, I've wanted to be an actor or someone who is heavily involved with theatre. Immediately, I wanted to do something that can display my passion for drama and maybe even inspire others to be involved with it. I had the idea of a story about an actor who is trying to get a role in a theatrical production and he practices his monologue for his next upcoming audition and while he's practicing for his next audition, the head of his theatre school walks in and is impressed by his performance and gives him the nod to meet with him the next day.  When this idea I came to mind, I had no doubt that I would proceed with it. I've wanted to film something in this genre all year, particularly a story about an actor. I can't wait to get started!

- something personal that c

Music Marketing Project Reflection

  For starters, I had a very enjoyable experience referring to the process of this project. From the idea-making, the creation of the websites, social media, filming the music video, and the making of the presentation; I enjoyed working with my partners on this to a very high extent.

The first step to the music marketing project was the formation of the idea for the music video and the outlook of our band. When we first selected our song "Night Running" by Cage the Elephant, we didn't exactly know what we would do with it. After some thinking, one of us decoded the song and tried to find the meaning behind the lyrics of the song, on the website named "Genius", we found the meanings and themes of the lyrics and it was along the lines of "teens partying, running from cops, living life young", when we found the connotation behind the song, the ideas came thick and fast. We started exerting ideas for the music video, the theme of our band, and the message we attempt to put out to audiences.

After we knew what route, we would head towards, we immediately started taking attention. Some of us started working mandatorily on the website and brand image, and some of us started working mandatorily on the music video storyboard. We worked effectively and we we're getting things done in a well-timed manner, we never really had to rush or feel a sense of confusion and urgency within the process of the brand, website, and the crafting of the music video. Although a few of our group members were sick, we still worked sufficiently and continued our progress at the same pace we left off at.

Then came the day of the music video, we were all prepared and ready to go. Although it was quite cold for us, and we weren't in suitable conditions to film the music video, we still got to the finish line in the end. It was roughly a 2-hour shoot, and we managed to get nearly all the shots we wanted, and we drew a good image in all of our heads onto what the music video would look like. We also had a very fun time as well, which I feel is very important. We're all eager to record this video as it was a humorous, engaging, thrilling piece to be a part of and we embraced that by putting effort and determination into filming and constructing this piece.

In the end, came our presentation, we found a very nice theme that fits our band motto and we rolled with that. We distributed the work evenly amongst ourselves the best we could, and we explained our purpose, marketing plan, distribution methods very sufficiently. We added our own creativity to the presentation by trying to make it engaging, finding popular quotes, and inserting jokes throughout the presentation. We all spoke well and presented with confidence and integrity about the subject. Overall, I saw it as a great learning experience and definitely a very fun time. 

Presantation

Music Video

For my next project, I think the main thing I would have to work on is planning alternative shots for the production in case one of the shots or elements of the story does not come out the way I would perceive it to be. Another major aspect of my next project that I want to improve on is maybe starting the presentation quicker, we did some of it at the last minute and parts of it feel rushed, we got it good at the end, but it could've been better if we had paid more of our focus to it.