After completing my outline I am now able to create my storyboard. This made creating a storyboard a lot easier. The storyboard was actually my favorite part of the planning process. It gave me a visual representation of what my film will look like.
The first box is the scene where the firemen are sitting in the kitchen just talking to each other. The second box is where the fireman hears the call in the intercome from the dispatcher. This is where the action starts. The fourth clip is the fireman running to the garage.
The fourth box is the firemen putting on their bunker gear. The fifth box is the men running into the fire truck. The sixth box is the fire truck driving away with lights and sirens.
Before I start my storyboard, I need a general outline. I have decided that I don't want my film opening to have a resolution. I want it to end when it's about to get to the climax so it leaves viewers wanting to see more.
Exposition: It begins with Dalton minding his own business at the fire station. He will be sitting in the kitchen with the other fireman having a good time. This is where there will be some conversations with the other fireman at the station so that way Dalton's character starts to develop.
Rising Action: While the fireman are having a good time, they get a call on their radios and intercom. It says that there is an emergency that they need to respond to. It says that it is a huge structural fire. The men quickly get up and run to the garage. This is where the adrenaline starts. The men put on their bunker gear and get into the trucks. They turn the lights and sirens on and drive to the call.
For me to be organized, I felt it would be easiest to make a schedule. I am planning to add things to the calendar a week in advance. I started off with writing the days I can shoot because they have to correlate with my dad's work schedule. I can only shoot when he is working at the station, so the days you see below are the dates that I have access to the film location. I decided to schedule 4 film days but I may have to add more. We'll see as I go.
Some things I plan to add to the schedule are editing, extra shoots, and CCR responses. The schedule begins with week four. This week, I will begin my shooting just by doing some test shots and assessing the lighting at the location. Week five I will do the majority of my shooting ad well as start some minor editing. Week six I plan on finalizing my editing and completing the editing.
For my opening, I decided to have one main character so that viewers can deeply connect with him and experience his feelings. The main character is a 32- year old male firefighter that is tall and buff. He has black hair and brown eyes. This character is strong and passionate. Firefighters are known to be courageous and fearless so I want this to show throughout.
My first step is to choose a name. I did this by researching strong baby boy names. I chose Dalton. Even though the name won't be repeated often, I still wanted it to be something that sounded good to me. The character will show the traits of a firefighter by being calm and responding to the situation quickly. He will do things swiftly but wil show the adrenaline he feels throughout.
A major component of my opening is the setting. I want the location to be a real fire station so that I will have access to all the props. Since the film is about a firefighter I thought it would make the most sense for the setting to be a fire station. The main location will be Station 112 in Davie. My dad is giving me permission to film inside and outside. He is also going to take out the fire truck and will give me permission to use the bunker gear.
I want to incorporate the sirens and lights in some way at the beggining. By doing this there will be an indication of an emergency and I want that feeling to be portrayed in my opening. I feel that a fire station just overall gives off a feeling of adrenaline, so this will be a big help to me in my opening. Also, in my research, I found that all firefighter films take place at a fire station or are a big part of the plot. The reason is that the station is the place where the men get dispatched from. That is where the story begins.
During my research process, I was reminded to write what I know. This played a large role in helping me choose what I wanted to write about. This is important because by writing what you know, you are able to create something that you can connect with and you can portray real and serious situations. A topic that I know about is firefighters because my dad is one so I thought that would be a perfect idea for me. Access to a fire station and different props such as a fire truck and bunker gear will be simple for me to get.
The plot of the film will be that a firefighter gets trapped in a huge house fire. The film opening will feature the firefighter getting a call that there is a fire and will show the adrenaline that firefighters feel when responding to a call. The name of the film will be 1100° Fahrenheit. I came up with this name by researching the temperature of a house fire.
I continued my research by researching the most popular and well-made films featuring firefighters. Here are some that I found:
Only The Brave (2017)
This film is about a brotherhood of firefighters called the Granite Mountain Hotshots who have to face one fateful fire in Yarnell, Arizona.
Ladder 49 (2004)
This film is about a rookie firefighter who becomes trapped in the worst blaze of his career.
Sources:
“The 7 Best Firefighting Movies of All Time.” FireRescue1, 11 Jan. 2022, https://www.firerescue1.com/entertainment/articles/the-7-best-firefighting-movies-of-all-time-PuEpoIbhL4qYFiZJ/.
Research time! I have chosen my genre so now I am researching different ways that drama films created their opening. For my research process, I have been watching different openings of famous movies. I want it to start off with the main actor in a dangerous, high-pressure, adrenaline-filled situation. This technique I have seen in many films and I like the effect it creates.
Here are some examples of films starting off with actors in a dangerous situation right off the bat:
First Man (2018)
This is a drama film about an engineer, Neil Armstrong. This character has to go through serious, extreme, missions. The opening features the main character in a conflict situation. The astronaut is in his spaceship but the sound effects, camera movement, and editing all contribute to the feeling that he is in danger. The camera movement isn't steady which shows that the aircraft is shaking abnormally. There is an added sound effect of heavy breathing and shaking metal. The heavy breathing makes the viewer see that he is nervous and stressed. The shaking metal sound effect shows that there is danger and it creates a fearful effect.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014)
I choose to include this clip in my research because it is a great example of the actor starting off in a dangerous situation. The first clip is of Spider-Man minding his own business and then stumbles upon a police chase. He sees the police chase and the bad guys destroying and killing so he decides to do something. Siren sounds are added in the editing which shows there was a situation happening. There were also sounds of people screaming and cars honking. The music also gets more dramatic as Spider-Man goes into conflict.
Sources:
First Man Movie Clip - Opening Scene (2019) - Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA-28z6Ip_Y.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 | Opening Scene | 4K 60FPS - Youtube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dAhiTQOAKAY.
Picking what genre to choose has been a challenge for me. At first, I wanted to choose mystery as my genre. Films in this genre are interesting to watch and enjoyable. The issue that I faced with choosing mystery as my genre was that I couldn't think of anything that hasn't already been done. I thought about creating a scene about a girl who has a double life but that isn't something I can connect with.
I then realized that my main goal was to create something that can make others feel something. I wanted viewers to feel the adrenaline as they watched the opening. So, I decided to choose drama as my genre. I want my film to be serious and real, not a cheesy romance movie. Movies in this genre usually portray real-life scenarios with high stakes. Dramas are known to be emotional and have extreme situations. This is a genre I can form a deeper connection with.
It is finally the time of year to start something new. From now till the end of the year, my focus will be on creating something myself, from start to finish. I think this is an amazing opportunity to be able to showcase what I've learned throughout the year and do something creative.
I've started thinking of ideas for my film opening but I haven't decided on one yet. I want it to represent me as a person and show the things that I like to do. I love fitness, fashion, and traveling so I want the opening to showcase all of those things. I want the genre to be either a drama, mystery, or coming of age. My next step would be to research the genres and see which can connect with my ideas the most. A film opening sets the scene for the entire film so the opening has to set the tone almost immediately, as well as introduce the characters. The audience should be excited to watch the film just based on the opening, so I know that it has to make an effect on viewers. I know that I want the opening to have one main character, a teenage girl. My main goal is to create something with an idea that hasn't been done before, or isn't done very often.
My next step would be making a pros and cons chart for the few ideas I have. I feel that this will be the best way for me to organize and decide which idea will make viewers the most interested. In this upcoming week, I'll hopefully be able to organize my ideas and put something together.
Our research process began with researching the pop genre and famous artists in that genre. One of the artists we researched was Dua Lipa. We found that she gained her popularity through Tik Tok. Her song “Don’t Start Now,” gained popularity when it became a sound that creators can create dances to. As more and more creators made videos, the song’s popularity increased. Dua Lipa was successful in her marketing because she choose social media which caters to the younger generations. Her target audience is teens and yo9ung adults, which are the primary uses of social media.
We began our research for the actual video by thinking of a theme and a target audience for our presentation. Our target audience was teens and young adults. Since our song is "Send My Love," we agreed that the theme should be love and the music video. We also agreed that the logo will be based on a love letter. We researched different websites that artists have and used that as an example for our marketing website. We then created a website and a logo that reflects our ideas. Then we made social media accounts such as Instagram and Twitter that we linked on the website. Since social media is extremely popular, we decided to focus our marketing there because it will reach our target audience the most. We also created merchandise such as t-shirts and hats that we made a page for on the website. We then brainstormed for our music video and wrote our ideas down in a Google Doc (see below). We decided that we want the video to be about a woman who writes a love letter to someone who she no longer feels that she needs. We agreed that I will be the singer in the video and we also decided what I will wear and what props we need. One of our group members will bring a projector when we should so we can create the effect of words projected on a girl as seen below.
For the actual presentation of the music video, we filmed in two different locations. First, we filmed at Town Center and then we filmed at a group member’s house. In Town Center, we filmed the artist writing a love letter, sitting inside of Starbucks (with their approval). We then filmed the actor walking out and going to her car. We then filmed at a group member’s house so that way we could film the words being projected on the wall.
As a whole, I learned a lot from this project. I learned that it takes many different clips and shots to make a successful production. This will help me with my portfolio project because it taught me that I have to have many different ways to get the points across. There has to be different shots, angles and camera movements so the viewer is interested in the piece.
