Foley

        Foley is the art of creating or adding realistic audio to a movie or television program, usually performed by Foley artists on a  stage in a Post Production studio. For my opening, I need to create all of the media necessary to convey its themes adequately. I have stated previously in the storyboard that the last scenes of the protagonist with the train will match cut to a similarly composed shot in a different setting. The key component to transitioning this smoothly will be from the ringing of the tracks with a similar ringing in the next shot. Fortunately for me, an ambulance happened to be passing by when I was at the train station so I was able to get the sirens and the train horns to use as background sounds. Also, at the lake I recorded the audio of the rock skipping through the water.


Resources:
Singer, Philip. "What Is Foley?" Art of Foley, www.marblehead.net/foley/. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017.

MavArt, Productions. "What Is Foley?" Sound Ideas, www.sound-ideas.com/Page/what-is-foley.aspx.

          Accessed 6 Apr. 2017. 

Carlsson, Sven. "Foley." Film Art, filmsound.org/terminology/foley.htm. Accessed 6 Apr. 2017.

Change of Plans

        In my storyboard, I planned that I was going to shoot the last scene at a pier or dock at the beach, but I ended up going to a lake that was closer to me. I realized that the color scheme of the beach wouldn't adequately match the scenery of the train station. Also, I had previously stated that the match shot would transition with the sound of a cell phone ringing through the next scene; Instead, I used the motion of the protagonist almost falling off the platform as a smooth transition, so I ended up with these shots instead.

Music Licensing

        Fortunately, there have been little, if any, road blocks in the production process of my opening. With that said, it is with immense excitement that I announce that Sony Music Entertainment has approved my account for licensing their copyrighted music. I applied to be able to license music earlier this week and they just sent me this attachment in an email, approving my request. The song I want to use in my opening is "Old Friends" by Simon & Garfunkel. Before I contacted Sony Music Entertainment, I tried getting in touch with Art Garfunkel's management, but they were unresponsive, so this is great news!

Script

        While I am editing, I have decided to post a draft of what the narration is going to entail. The goal of the narration is to convey major themes of the movie and hint at possible conflicts.

Narrator

(hoarse and tired)

                   Have you ever wanted to change

                   but were too afraid to do so.

(pause)

                   Have you ever been so disgusted
                   with yourself.

(pause)

                   I try but, there's no cure, 

                   no help.

(pause)

                   You look down upon me,

                   imprisoned in this perpetual

                   cycle of self hate, and chastise
                   me for desires you caused.

(pause)

                   You eroticize child-like
                   features in women, forcing them
                   to maintain near impossible
                   youth,

(pause)

                   Yet are repulsed by me for
                   being attracted to the same thing.

Rule of Thirds

       When filming my opening, I tried to focus mainly on the composition and lighting of the shot. There was even a point in the day where I went back to shoot the whole opening scenes again because the lighting wasn't coinciding with that of the later scenes. In terms of the composition, I kept in mind the "rule of thirds", where two lines are drawn horizontally and vertically, separating the frame into nine sections. The reason I stressed this in my opening is because it creates a balanced point of interest where the lines intersect, according to Digital Photography School. I of course broke this rule with some of my other shots because I didn't want to bore the audience with a repetitive framing sequence. As you can see in the below stills of my opening, using Adobe Lightroom, I drew the grid following the rule of thirds.

Resources

Rowse, Darren. "Rule of Thirds." Digital Photography School, digital-photography-school.com/ 

          rule-of-thirds/. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.
"Rule of Thirds." Photography Mad, www.photographymad.com/pages/view/rule-of-thirds. Accessed

          28 Mar. 2017.
Renee, V. "How to Break Common Compositional Rules to Make Your Images Better." No Film

          School, 17 Mar. 2017, nofilmschool.com/2017/03/ how-break-common-compositional-rules

          make-your-images-better. Accessed 28 Mar. 2017.

Progress

          Today is the day I started filming! I haven't dived into the extremely detailed editing yet, but I screenshotted the scenes that match my storyboard for reference.

         Using a Canon EOS 70D 20.2 MP Digital SLR Camera with a Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS II SLR Lens, I arrived at the train station to shoot my film opening. I uploaded the clips into Adobe Premiere Pro CC 2017 to start editing, but I still don't have all the footage I need to complete the full opening. Later in the week I am going to go to a beach to find a dock where I can shoot the last scene on.

Permit To Film

          Before I get ahead of myself with the actually filming, I need to make sure if I need a permit on Amtrak property. I decided to submit a request form to Amtrak's customer service, asking if I was permitted to shoot two minutes of footage at the Fort Lauderdale train station, and they responded quicker than I thought! They even referred me to sections in their policy stating that "the taking of photographs and/or videos is permitted within public access areas on Amtrak property". The email they sent is as follows:

         Now I know that if I want to follow through with what is written in my storyboard, I have to purchase a ticket to be able to stand on the train platforms.

Schedule

March 2017

April 2017

          Since I often forget what I am supposed to be completing on a certain day, I took the liberty in creating agendas for me to follow. The weeks I want to have at least 3 blog posts posted are highlighted in blue and the due date is highlighted in yellow. Using Microsoft Word (©2016 Microsoft Corporation) I have compiled everything I have to do onto two calendars. This should help me stay organized for the rest of the production process. 

Resources:

Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft Word. Version 1.31, 2016.

Storyboard: Explained

       A dissolve from black reveals an establishing shot of the Fort Lauderdale Amtrak Station. Distant chatter and train sirens fade in to establish the setting of where the opening is going to take place. Despite the color scheme of the above storyboard panel, the shot will be in color but highly desaturated and with cold blues and greens to emphasize the somber emotional tone. Faint music starts playing, constantly gaining volume but still relatively obsolete compared to the railway noise.

          A straight cut to the bridge overlooking the tracks shows what seems to be the protagonist, or a character that will later be of importance. A long shot is used to stress the environment and show their anxious stance, but refrains from highlighting any minuscule details. Another straight cut brings us to a medium shot, showing half of the characters face as they nervously watch the tracks. The music's volume has now increased, and the outside noise has been shut off. The character backs away from the railing and starts heading towards the other end of the bridge.

        The audience watches the protagonist make her way across the bridge, in a hurry to get wherever she's going. The long shot stays constant until she gets to the staircase.

        Right as the camera cuts from the long shot to the protagonist at the staircase, a voiceover begins, much louder than the song playing in the background. The audience can assume this narration is coming from the protagonist herself, as she asks hypothetical questions directly to them. The camera never follows the main character; It steadily remains in one location, contrasting with the character's frantic movement.

          The main character comes into a long shot frame of the above awning and the barren bench. She hesitantly makes her way over to it, takes a seat, and watches the trains and people pass her. Her knee is shaking while both the music and voiceover continue. The voiceover reveals that the main character is heavily disgusted with herself; Her questions mainly entail how she can be such an animal. The goal of the depressing music and narration is to give hints as to what the movie will be about, while still not revealing any major plot details. A straight cut to a medium shot shows the protagonist from her left side, tapping her knee vigorously.

         She seemed to be uncomfortable and restless on the bench, so a long shot shows the protagonist standing up and walking towards the railway. 

      A cut to a full shot shows her body inching closer to the edge of the railway platform, highlighting the distressing expression in her face. The music has stayed at a constant volume, but the distant noise has all of the sudden not become distant at all. The noise clogs up the protagonist's mind and increases in volume. Meaningless conversation, sirens, and the whistling of the train layer onto one another.

          A close up shot shows her legs, halfway off the edge, revealing that the depressing thoughts in her mind might be the reason for why she is assumably committing suicide. The music is no longer audible, only the white noise fills the mind of the main character. The narration is still continuing while the whistle of the train is getting closer and closer. A close up shot shows the protagonist's face tilted down into her chest. As the last line of the narration is spoken, and the train makes its way nearer, the close up shot shows the character look up blankly into the space ahead of her, and she motions forward.

          A match shot shows the same character, presumably younger, in the same position as the shot before, except this time she's nearing towards the edge of a dock and her friend pulls her back, warning her that she might all. The ringing from the train scene before is reflected  in this scene as her companion's ringtone. The audience now realizes that the opening scene was the end of the movie because it cuts to a time where the protagonist is younger, and where her story starts.

Resources:

4 Axis Solutions Private Limited. Drawing Desk. IPhone app.

The Vision

          Here I laid out my storyboard for what I wish to film in my opening. Using the Drawing Desk (© 2017 4 Axis Solutions) app on my phone, I was able to create an accurate representation of what my opening is going to entail. This is obviously an oversimplified version and probably very confusing, which is why I am going to explain shot by shot what I want to do.


Resources:
4 Axis Solutions Private Limited. Drawing Desk. iPhone app.

Color Me Impressed

         Although originality is crucial in the film industry, I believe its important to implement elements of existing films into current ones. I strive to take advantage of professionals' expertise by incorporating fragments of preexisting films' editing and composition techniques into my opening. Widely successful blockbusters I wish to reflect include Fight Club (David Fincher 1999), Memento (Christopher Nolan 2000), Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold 1999), Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry 2004), and Forrest Gump (Robert Zemeckis 1994). Not only do all of these have an opening in common, being that they all begin at the end of the movie, but they also use suspense and confusion as a main plot development tool. 

             For example, an eerie narration resides over the opening of Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold 1999) while an emotionless protagonist sits on the floor, distraught and bloody. This results in the audience being completely clueless as to what event caused the main character to be covered in blood. Of course all of the audience's questions aren't going to be answered in the first two minutes of a film, but the most intriguing of movies have openings that refrain from disclosing any sort of information and give the audience the satisfaction of figuring out the plot later on. An audience wouldn't want to see a completely predictable movie because they would want to use their minds to put the pieces together themselves. 

          I don't want to extract themes or exact scenes from any of the above movies; I want to focus on specifically what editing techniques provoke wonder and emotion in the audience and incorporate those into my opening. Girl, Interrupted (James Mangold 1999), Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (Michel Gondry 2004), and Fight Club (David Fincher 1999) all possess similar color schemes that reflect the overall mood of the film. 

Girl, Interrupted (1999) ©Columbia Pictures

Fight Club (1999) ©20th Century Fox

Eternal Sunshine of The
Spotless Mind (2004) ©Focus Features

          The lack of heavy saturation and the presence of cold, subdued, and bleak colors exists in these three feature films to represent the distressing plots that they compose of. Even though the character shown on the far right in Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004) is wearing bright orange, the color seems to be desaturated and dull. The significance of the color properties to the plot in these movies has made me realize how important it is to recognize that in my opening as well.


Resources:
"Fight Club (1999) 20th Century Fox." Cynobs, cynobs.com/2014/06/05/ 

          5-movies-that-show-the-harsh-realities-of-office-life/.
"Girl, Interrupted (1999) Columbia Pictures." Eidetic Traces,

          eidetictraces.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/ 

          girl-interrupted-the-film-not-the-book/.
"Eternal Sunshine of The Spotless Mind (2004) Focus Features." Mental Floss,

          mentalfloss.com/article/ 

          67681/15-unforgettable-facts-about-eternal-sunshine-spotless-mind.
Siddique, Ab. "Movies that Begin with the Ending." IMDb, 1 Jan. 2014, www.imdb.com/list/ 

          ls054814617/. Accessed 19 Mar. 2017.

Picture This

           That's enough of all the research that sets the foundation for my film opening. Now that I have an ambiguous topic, I think it's best to indulge in the specifics. I want to avoid choosing a horror or thriller genre to refrain from portraying pedophiles using common stereotypes. Depicting pedophilia itself as monstrous isn't helping anyone. As a matter of fact, that sort of depiction is detrimental to people suffering from pedophilic disorder. The goal I hope to accomplish in my film opening is to address a controversial topic, one that makes people uncomfortable to discuss, and examine the varying perspectives on it. I intend to make my film eye opening, helping people realize the importance of destigmatizing mental illnesses so those struggling aren't afraid to seek help. Although the disclosure of my goal this early on might be premature, I think it's important to be ambitious in order to track my progress.

          The genre I have selected to properly execute my concept is drama, with thematic implications circumventing identity issues and the coming of age. Despite the fact that I'm only creating a two minute opening, if the genre and themes were nonexistent, the film would be meaningless. These two components give the film substance and are therefore necessary. My film opening will involve the protagonist, a teenage girl, acting as one who is suffering from pedophilic disorder. Why did I choose such an unusual character to portray a pedophile? Well, the only reason one would think this is unusual is because they are influenced by the media's exclusive archetype of pedophiles- repulsive white men. Additionally, the main conflict will involve an inner struggle with the protagonist rejecting and suppressing all of her desires; She might even acquire strange mannerisms to deal with her resentment towards herself. Now that I have the basis for my film opening, I must create a plot or storyline to expose the themes and draw the audience in.

          Since I am already experimenting with a questionable topic and my film opening isn't going to be as predictable as others, I think the most effective way to further intrigue the audience is to start the film opening at the end. Some of the most iconic and monumental films I've watched have grasped the audience's attention by confusing them at the start. In Andrew Stanton's 2012 TED Talk, he emphasizes how "audiences don't tend to enjoy films with a lot of exposition and over-explanation or over-simplification of plot and character motive, because... it denies them the chance to engage in the story, to participate in it, which, in the end, doesn't inspire them to care". Therefore, I wish to engage the audience in the protagonist's life, showing them the unbearable distress, anxiety, and guilt that results from neglecting mental health out of fear. 



Resources:

Renee, V. "Pixar's Andrew Stanton Shares His Equation for Making Your Audience Care About Your Story." No Film

          School., 9 Aug. 2014, nofilmschool.com/2014/08/pixar-andrew-stanton-equation-make-audience-care. Accessed 12

          Mar. 2017.

Porter, David. "Pedophilic Disorder DSM-5 302.2 (F65.4)." Theravive, www.theravive.com/therapedia/Pedophilic-Disorder

          DSM--5-302.2-(F65.4). Accessed 12 Mar. 

2017.Harvard University. (2010). Pessimism about Pedophilia. Harvard Health Publications .Retrieved March 12, 2014,

          from http://www.health.harvard.edu/newsletters/Harvard_Mental_Health_Letter/2010/July/pessimism-about

          pedophilia

Stigmatizing vs. Sympathizing

          Which is worse: Possessing a mindset of such repulsion towards people with mental illnesses out of fear, or sympathizing with their dangerous desires? This dilemma stifles scientists, psychologists, and everyday people morally conflicted on whether or not pedophilia inherently makes an individual a threat to society. It is already perceived that pedophilia is shameful, but in what way does this stigma prevent pedophiles from acting on their attractions? Doesn't this just make it harder for someone struggling to seek help? 

           The most apparent exemplification of this presumption resides in the media we consume. In several popular movies and TV shows, for example, Criminal Minds (2005-present), The Lovely Bones (Peter Jackson 2009), The Girl Next Door (Luke Greenfield 2007), Deliver Us From Evil (Scott Derrickson 2014), and Lolita (Stanley Kubrick 1962), the present pedophiles are depicted as unattractive, undesirable rapists. The way in which these people are presented is intended to make the audience believe the pedophiles are subhuman individuals who could never exist in plain sight. Pedophiles are generally shown as scrawny, creepy white men unable to find love with a woman, so they resort to preying on vulnerable children. They also are commonly strangers, never portrayed as a sibling or close friend, making pedophilia seem so unfamiliar and abnormal. In my film opening, I wish to present pedophiles realistically, often looking and acting like normal people.

Resources:

Shroyer, Owen. "DISGUSTING: MEDIA NORMALIZING PEDOPHILIA." Infowars, 10 Jan. 2017
          www.infowars.com/disgusting-media-normalizing-pedophilia/. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.
"Hollywood and Corporate Media are Crusading to Normalize Pedophilia." Living Resistance, 2 Feb.

          2017, livingresistance.com/2017/02/13/hollywood-corporate-media-crusading-normalize-
          pedophilia/.Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

Mevertis, Judet. "Why are pedophiles in the media always white, physically weak, insecure and
          skinny?" Quora, 29 Dec. 2015, www.quora.com/Why-are-pedophiles-in-the-media-always

          white-physically-weak-insecure-and-skinny. Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.
Demyan, Ashley. and Kosonovich, Carleigh. "Portraying Pedophilia: Depictions of Pedophiles on

          Network Television" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of

          Criminology(ASC), Los Angeles Convention Center, Los Angeles, CA, Nov 01, 2006 <Not

          Available>. 2017-03 11 

Make Film Great Again

          Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States on November 9th, 2016, in a stunning culmination of a campaign that epitomized long-held, traditional ideals of American democracy. How does this relate to my film opening? Well, in light of a discriminatory, misogynistic racist being sworn in to the most prestigious position in our government system, I feel it is necessary to represent minorities who are often ignored or portrayed with negative stereotypes in my project. Despite it being incomplete, I know the full concept of my film opening must shed light on people who aren't always humanized or considered worthy enough to have rights in our society.

          With that being said, I am proud to reveal that my film opening will be centered around a very taboo and controversial topic- pedophilia. Don't get the wrong idea here; I'm not laying the groundwork for a case involving the humanization of child molesters. There is a drastic and a commonly misinterpreted difference between a pedophile and a convicted rapist. A pedophile, or one suffering from "pedophilic disorder", is a person who has a sustained sexual or romantic attraction towards children, generally prepubescent. A child molester by definition is one who committed a "a crime involving a range of indecent or sexual activities" between themselves and a child. A more pellucid distinction, as put by sexologist Ray Blanchard, psychiatry professor at the University of Toronto, is as follows: "Child molesters are defined by their acts" while "pedophiles are defined by their desires". We live in a society where the stigma of pedophilia and the fear of criminal consequences is so great that non-offending pedophiles rarely seek mental help for their disorders. The deep suppression of some of these people's desires could potentially cause them to act out on them for fulfillment or satisfaction. The point I'm trying to make here is that seeking help for medical illnesses and especially pedophilic tendencies needs to be normalized in order to prevent any sort of escalation of these feelings or possible misdemeanor to be pursued. We as a community need to end the shame and disgust that embodies pedophilia. We need to support people who are seeking help. We need to acknowledge that mental health is just as important as physical health- and it starts with the media.

Resources:
Letourneau, E. (n.d.). We Need to Make It Easier for Pedophiles To Seek Help. Retrieved
          March 11, 2017, from http://time.com/3486493/preventing-child-sex-abuse-stephen-collins/
Martin, L. J. (n.d.). What Is Pedophilia? Retrieved March 11, 2017, from
          http://www.webmd.com/mental-health/features/explaining-pedophilia#1
Horton, Yurii, and Raagan Price. "Portrayal of Minorities in the Film, Media and Entertainment
          Industries." EDGE, web.stanford.edu/class/e297c/poverty_prejudice/mediarace/portrayal.htm.
          Accessed 11 Mar. 2017.

It's Only The Beginning

          Hello there! I guess you've managed to stumble across this mediocre blog about something that you might not even be interested in. I'm not going to raise your expectations just to have them plummet as you read post after post regarding the same exact topic, but I will tell you this: You're going to want to pay attention.

          My name is Michaela Hogan, I'm a 17 year old senior at Cypress Bay High School, and I am here to captivate your attention in this elusive search for a film opening topic.