Opening Plot

  After lots of thinking and going back and forth, I've finally decided on my film opening plot.  I had a lot of different ideas and different routes I wanted to take, so it was hard to pinpoint the idea I wanted to settle on, but I'm finally satisfied with my plot.
     My film is going to be about a boy in high school battling anger issues and depression, but it's going to focus a lot on the parent's perspective.  This is something not done very often, and while films about kids' character development are popular, it's less popular to look at how the parents are affected.  The film is going to include the parents hearing about yet another issue the boy has caused in school, but this time he made a death threat to the school, upping his consequences.  His parents decide that it's time to transfer him to boarding school.  The movie will look at not only how the boy reacts to the changes, but how the parents try to hide what he's going through, and how it drastically changes their lives and relationship as well.
     I'll go more in depth into the overall film plot later, but for now I'll explain my opening scene.  My opening will show a woman (the mother) walking through an office building and arriving at her husband's office.  The husband reluctantly stops what he's doing, hanging up the phone and beginning to talk to his wife.  The wife explains that their son sent a death threat about other students to the school; the man starts to ask how much money he's going to have to pay the school this time, but the wife cuts in and says she thinks they need a new route.  The husband seems annoyed, and asks her what she means; the wife says she wants to send their son to boarding school.  The scene ends with the husband looking increasingly annoyed and frazzled.
     I'll continue to develop the details of the opening, and get back to you guys with a storyboard soon!

Project Schedule

     In an attempt to keep myself organized, I created a timeline for the pace I want to be at.  Since it's super easy to get behind or put off work, I figured having a set calendar would help to keep me focused and to keep the process moving.  I created my calendar digitally, so that I can easily modify my timeline and change it as I need to.  If I follow along with these dates, I'll have plenty of time to complete the project and have time built in for when I run into any issues.  This way, I won't be stressed and overloaded when the due date gets closer.
     Even though I don't have a set plan for my opening or any concrete ideas yet, having a schedule will make sure I get my plans together before I loose track of time.  Here's the link to my calendar:

https://www.keepandshare.com/calendar21/show.php?i=2860459

Popular Dramas

In order to gauge what my film opening should be sure to include, I did some research on highly successful and popular drama films.

                                     The Godfather
     The first drama I chose to investigate is a classic: The Godfather.  Produced in 1972, this film is a crime drama set in the 1940s that focuses on a family patriarch.  After the family son is almost killed, the father plots revenge and causes a gang war.  The movie follows the fighting drama as well as the character evolution and change; the tone remains quite serious throughout.  Because of how the movie focuses on the track of the characters and the moves they make, it is a perfect example of a drama.  The opening for the film includes super dramatic low key lighting, with a man telling an emotional story of his daughter.  It explains a backstory, introduces characters, and sets a grave tone for the film.  This film is also based off of a book, as many dramas are.  The Godfather was politically relevant at the time it was released, and included immigrant perspectives and current events that appealed to audiences.  Because of this and the film's intensity, it was widely popular.

The Shawshank Redemption
     The Shawshank Redemption is another extremely successful drama.  Released in 1994, this film is a mystery drama that follows the story of a prisoner convicted for a crime he is innocent of, and how he forms relationships in prison.  It fits into the genre well as the movie revolves around the main character's progression in prison, and how his character changes over the course of his sentence.  The film shows how he evolves, exemplifying his struggles and how he overcomes them.  Like most dramas, it is rated R for its intensity and also for its violence.  The opening for the film is the supporting main character narrating and introducing the main character and his backstory.  At the same time, the setting is panned through and introduced.  With drab colors, the serious tone is set for the film. The Shawshank Redemption is also based off of a successful book, which they used to market the film; they also made use of popular actors to increase interest in the movie. 


Birdbox
     Birdbox is a good example of a more recently successful drama.  It came out in 2018 as a thriller drama, and follows a group of individuals trying to escape an uncontrollable force and find safety in a post-apocalyptic world.  It ends up focusing on one women with her children, and how she manages to navigate through the dangerous forces.  As in the other films, the main characters evolution is closely tracked.  The film is intense and emotional.  The opening for Birdbox introduces the main character and introduces conflict as the mysterious force starts causes destruction.  The force is not revealed right away, so the viewer is left as confused as the characters are, trying to figure out what is happening. The opening is immediately chaotic and intense, throwing the viewer into the story and showing the highly emotional aspects of the film.  Birdbox is based off of a book, but used modern marketing strategies like YouTube advertisements, Instagram posts, and actor interviews to promote the film, making it successful. 

Overall, I can see that all successful dramas focus strongly on character development, and are pretty intense and serious.  In addition, many are R rated and targeted at an older audience, with film openings that introduce the main character of the film.


Sources:
https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Godfather-film-by-Coppola
https://www.quora.com/What%E2%80%99s-so-great-about-the-Godfather-What-makes-it-one-of-the-greatest-movies-of-all-time-Why-is-it-considered-a-masterpiece
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OIBpHO1gZgQ
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111161/plotsummary
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM9c_MleWYY
https://cinematicslant.com/2018/12/18/bird-box-marketing-recap/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0-5BWUtesE
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2737304/plotsummary

The Tea about Dramas

     For my film opening, I've decided to work with dramas.
     Dramas are extremely important and take up a large chunk of the film world.  These films are a largely popular type of movie, and include a variety of films.  They typically rely on the use of heavy character development, showing how the characters deal with their problems and overcome them.  These films also include lots of emotion, and many of them work to challenge stereotypes.  A lot of dramas focus on relevant societal issues and concerns, drawing attention to the matters.  There are a multitude of sub-genres to dramas, some being crime and war movies, melodramas, epics, and romantic dramas.  Because of this, the target audience varies by sub-genre, but are typically geared towards mature teenagers and young adults, as well as older adults.   Since most of them include mature content, drama films are typically rated R or at least PG-13, forcing the target age range to be older teenagers and adults.
      Since dramas rely so much on their emotional appeal, they are often marketed by using emotional trailers that preview the plot of the film; many dramas also make use of big name actors to increase interest.  A lot of dramas are also based off of books, which is helpful for marketing purposes as well.  When people see that a movie is based off of a successful book, they become intrigued and interest in the film grows.
     Overall, the variety of drama films makes figuring out marketing and planning difficult, but the themes of high emotion and strong focus on characters will help to narrow down my ideas.


SOURCES:
https://www.filmsite.org/dramafilms.html
https://www.filmbug.com/dictionary/drama-movies.php
https://www.slideshare.net/ebonypeart/target-audience-16706479

Music Campaign

     For our group, we chose to dive into the alternative/ rock genre.  The typical target audience of this genre is teenagers 14 and up, as well as adults.  Groups in this field rely heavily on the use of a website for displaying information, using it as the center resource for all other aspects of marketing.  They also are always active on a multitude of social media sites, since the population of users is ever growing and expanding to new demographics.  Social media is the perfect way to instantly reach and market to a large audience, with each platform having a different, unique appeal; artists know this, and therefore have a variety of socials.
     We chose to create a rock duo, rather than a band, as this is less common in the alt/rock genre, and would help us to stand out.  Duos have been largely successful across multiple genres of music, so we decided to bring a fresh one to the rock world.  Since we are an alternative/rock duo, we branded ourselves as grungy and punk, to stick to the roots of rock.  We named ourselves Scorpion Cyanide, giving us a hardcore and bad ass feel and also an easily marketable logo (a scorpion).  In addition, we carried out the colors pink and blue throughout our work, further branding us while also softening the hardcore tones.
     To market Scorpion Cyanide we first created a website (https://gracesullivan10.wixsite.com/scorpioncyanide).  We then made use of a lot of social media pages, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and TikTok.  Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter are all highly established sites that reach teenage and adult age ranges, effectively reaching out audiences.  Instagram is useful for live streaming, Twitter for quickly releasing information, and Facebook for guaranteeing a connection with grown adults.  Snapchat is ideal for our younger audiences, with posts that feel more personal and relatable.  We included Tiktok since it is a trending app, and we think we could use it to blow up one of our singles.  TikTok is known for giving large popularity to previously unknown songs, so we would be attempting to gain fame for our song that way.  The main merchandise pieces we made were hoodies, t shirts, and beanies, as these are the most commonly bought merch items.  They all include the simple scorpion logo, and make use of our band colors to increase branding.
     We also partnered with two companies for marketing partnerships.  The first brand was Hot Topic, which is a grungy store that we would create clothes with.  Hot Topic customers are typically older teens that are into edgy and alternative music, which is perfect for Scorpion Cyanide marketing.  The other partnership is with It's Sugar, to sell scorpion lollipops. This is a more unconventional idea, but we thought the idea of marketing through candy would be unique and fun.  Since the candy features a scorpion, it is still on brand for us, while also reaching out beyond our comfort zone.
     Through creating a music video and marketing campaign, I learned that every small decision is important.  It's the little things that set aside your group from others, so every point matters. Doing research is also essential for effective marketing, to ensure that you are making appropriate choices that will give your band fame.  By making decisions based off of research, you give your group a greater chance of success and allow them to thrive in the music industry.  In the same realm as research, paying attention to trends is another important aspect to marketing and in production.  By incorporating trends into your group's activity, it ensures they will be relevant and gives them a greater chance of appearing in current media. 

Representation Analysis

Representation Analysis

     As media progresses, representation is a topic largely considered when producing a piece of media.  While some companies stick to old fashioned stereotypes and norms, others branch out to try and give all minority groups screen time.
     An ad by Tide features a young white mom sitting on a couch in what looks like a house owned by a middle class suburban family.  She sits with her daughter in front of her, suggesting that she is a stay at home mom.  The mom, dressed in pink and sitting with her feet crossed, discusses the femininity of her little girl, dressed in camouflage.  She talks about wanting her daughter to wear pink instead of camouflage, and for her to be more interested in feminine ideas.  This ad uses long-established stereotypes of suburban white moms, making the mom out to be very traditional.  By putting emphasis on these stereotypes, it puts a bad reputation on stay at home white moms, representing them as homophobic, unemployed, and obsessed with regulating their children's lives.  The existing stereotype is therefore drilled deeper into the audiences watching.  The ad enforces ideas about the middle class mom that are already being thrown around, contributing to the negative stereotype. 
     In contrast to the Tide ad, H&M produced an ad promoting free expression and the breaking of boundaries.  The ad shows a series of clips of people from all sorts of minority groups, including a range of weights, skin colors, religions, and disabilities.  The ad does not directly address the representation variety, but instead unites the people through the idea of all of them "breaking fashion rules".  The ad is tastefully done and represents all groups in a positive light, showing them all happy and pushing limits of fashion.  This has a positive effect on the audiences that watch it, creating "feel good" emotions while also promoting ideas of equal representation.  The audience is drawn to the fashion, but also to the unique portrayal of all of the groups.  This makes for a successful ad by H&M from both a fashion and representation stand point. 

The Appeal in Comedy

The Appeal in Comedy

     As time progresses and genres evolve and change, one thing remains true - people always enjoy a good laugh.  And while the comedy genre has progressed into a large variety of sub genres, the core goal of comedy has remain the same: make people laugh.
     One main thing most comedies have in common is the comedian.  This is typically the main character or characters, and include either one person's persistent jokes or a constant back and forth between a couple of characters.  They are often portrayed in a foolish manner, and might engage in mockery or horseplay. The comedians also have extremely good timing, and know just how and when to deliver their jokes. Another common practice in comedies is slapstick, where actors are portrayed as extra clumsy, and end up in dramatically embarrassing situations.  This puts them through frustrating and uncomfortable events, but in a light-hearted fashion.  Although the humor is often pessimistic or may be way in serious circumstances, comedies typically have happy endings that make the audience feel good. 
     In general, the settings in comedies are places where the character feels they "don't fit in" or that are new to them.  This works to establish the awkwardness and discomfort felt by the character. Almost all comedies use realism, setting the scene in a realistic setting that looks like home.  There are also shot types common to many comedies, including shot where items leave or enter the frame in a funny manner.  This could be a character walking funny, or an object flying into shot.   Comedies also utilize "there and back" shots, where the character walks away to end up turning around a moment later.  Many films include action that syncs up to music playing, and also sound effects that are carefully placed to add meaning to the shot.  An example of this could be the main character eating loudly in the silent moment of other characters arguing.
      As for marketing, most comedies utilize big name comedians as their main characters.  The name is what is used to gain an interest in the film, as they are actors that are already accepted as being funny.  If people know they are going to watch someone who as established as funny, they are more willing to want to attend the film. Comedy trailers also make sure to include a few of the better jokes and tricks from the movie, without exposing all of the best humor.  Marketers want the viewers to be intrigued by the humor, but also not exposed to every best line of the film.  Comedies are marketed towards a range of ages, some targeting families and others going for adults with an R rated film. 

COMEDY EXAMPLES

 "Old School" (2003)
"Old School" (2003) is the embodiment of comedy.  The main actors of the film include Luke Wilson, Will Ferrell, and Vince Vaughn, which are all big name actors who are established as being funny.  The men go to a college campus and attempt to form a fraternity - an example of actors being placed in a setting where they don't belong.  Throughout the film, the men find themselves in embarrassing or awkward situations, such as trying to escape eviction from their frat.  From start to finish the men are cracking jokes and keeping the film light-hearted, even through events of heartbreak and death.

 "Trainwreck" (2015)
"Trainwreck" (2015) is another good comedic example.  This film features Amy Shumer, a long standing comedic actress that is known and loved.  Shumer plays a magazine writer who lives her life without monogamy.  The film uses realism to portray Shumer in her everyday job and going out to bars and dates as the average person does.  Throughout the film she is found in less than ideal circumstances, as the attends her date drunk and often finds herself fighting with those around her.  While her actions carry most of the humor, so do her words as she jokes around a lot in the movie. 

OTHER GREAT COMEDIES

1. "Bridesmaids"(2011) 
2. "Happy Gilmore" (1996) 
3. "Step Brothers" (2008) 
4. "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" (1986) 
5. "The Producers" (2008)
6. "Napoleon Dynamite" (2004)

SOURCES
https://nofilmschool.com/comedy-genre-examples-film-and-tv
https://stephenfollows.com/patterns-among-successful-comedy-movies/
https://ourpastimes.com/five-major-elements-of-comedy-movies-12511523.html
https://www.premiumbeat.com/blog/8-comedy-techniques-edgar-wright-does-right/
https://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/best-comedies/

   

My name is Danielle, and I am creating this blog for the purpose of documenting the progress of my Cambridge portfolio project.