Shooting the Bar Scene Inside
Friday, February 28, 2025
Production Post
Thursday, February 27, 2025
Planning Post
Planning for main character's costume:
As stated in my previous posts, my group and I settled on the aesthetic, vibe, and style that we want our character to be and represent. That being a young, aspiring businessman that is currently working a summer internship balancing college, work, and friends. The main character dresses well, choosing to fit into the business casual branch of clothing as he needs to represent himself as polished, put together, and professional. Given this, I had to put together the costume design of the main character as I will be playing him, this wasn't too difficult as I love fashion and moreover dressing up well, so I have a wide variety of clothes to choose from (except for a tie which I had to borrow from my dad). The business casual look relies on button up shirts, quarter zips, slacks, and things of that nature, so that is why I chose the clothes that I did (the image below).
Furthermore, I also am going to wear my orange boat shoes (Sperry's) just to further fit the character that we want to be portrayed in the film. I don't believe that my shoes will be shown at all during the film, and if they do most likely it will be only for a split second. But, I want everything that we can control to be as good and fitting as possible to the story so that the opening can garner the most points.
Sunday, February 23, 2025
Storyboard Post
As one of my previous planning posts included my group and I's script, this post will include the story board that we worked together to come up with. This story board was created after the script so therefore some things may not perfectly line up with what I have previously posted, but that is just evidence of our project continuing to grow as we fix hiccups and add things. Furthermore scenes, angles, and other things from this storyboard are subject to change depending on what my group and I determine is fit or not.
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Audio Post
For the audio aspect of the opening, we want to spend most of our focus on finding and creating sinister, eerie sounds like loud booms for jump scares, maniacal baby laughs, and scary background music. In addition, we want to add a variety of foley sounds to make the audio aspect feel new and fresh, for example, walking, echoes, and laughs. We brainstormed these ideas so that the opening is more suspenseful and feels like a real high-quality production. The ideas for more foley sounds include, twigs snapping, leaves crunching, and wind. We want to place these sounds when the opening is most bland which will further create a sensation of what is to come.
My group and I conducted research on how it is that horror films use audio to build suspense, and most horror films use audio in sudden ways that are unforeseen and for ambient noise. These all together create the most important sense of a horror film that I feel like I have said 100 times, which is suspense, and moreover uneasiness. This uneasiness and discomfort is what leads to the feeling of fear, that is why it is so crucial to nail the aspect of the audio for the opening. Because if we want the opening to be eerie in the slightest, the sensation of suspense needs to be created.
Friday, February 21, 2025
Mise-en-scene Props and Lighting
Thursday, February 20, 2025
Mise-en-scene and Set
Through my group and I's discussions and conversations regarding our project, any ideas, critiques with given ideas, inspirations, etc. we have come to the conclusion that our two main sets are going to be a bar and a forest, the "forest" that we are planning to film at is less of a forest and more of a nature walkway with a river that is outlooking the Florida Everglades. We landed on this as our final option because the forest at night is very primitively eerie, and has an offsetting vibe. In addition to this, the implication of dolls as commonly feared symbols of horror. Our location will resemble the picture below.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
Character Development Post
Through my group and I's discussions about the character we landed on the conclusions that our main character is named James, he is a very stereotypical male as he is in a frat and studies finance, he is an inspiring businessman working an internship during summer, is a college student, single, and 21 (Born January 5th, 2004). This story takes place in 2025, when James walks into the bar (which is the setting of the first scene) he is dressed well (business casual) as if he just got off his shift at the firm. James has acquired a dependency on alcohol to escape his stressful schedule of simultaneously working, school, and friends, due to being newly 21 he spends nearly every night drinking alone at the bar.
Monday, February 17, 2025
Media Theory
As my group and I were discussing the ideas, scripts, shots, and theories to be incorporated for the project, we came to the conclusion that the Semiotic Theory of Barthes best correlates with our story. This story speaks about how people portray meaning and emotion through signs and symbols. Roland Gerad Barthes is who came up with the theory and was a French literary theorist. The Semiotic Theory of Barthes is used very often throughout media as you interpret what mis-en-scene represents in the "bigger picture". Video on theory
The Shining (1980)
The Shining is an example of a movie that uses the Semiotic Theory of Barthes as the phrase REDRUM that is present within the movie, is a sign that when is reversed reads MURDER, adding to the suspense. This symbol helps the audience understand the deeper horror beyond just what they see.
Halloween (1978)
Another example of a movie that uses the Semiotic Theory of Barthes is Halloween. Withing the movie, Michael Myers' mask is a sign. It hides his identity which makes him more terrifying because he seems less human. His silent movements also symbolize death itself which is something inevitable and unstoppable.
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Post Including Script
Through my group and I's work this past week, we have created a potential script (more like a rough draft) for the idea we have come up with for the project. The idea for our title would be Into The Forest.
The script is the guide and blueprint of the entire project as it is what we will follow before, after, and during recording to make sure we capture every aspect necessary. Of course the script is subject to change, but for the time being this is what we have. And the script would consist of the following:Saturday, February 15, 2025
Summary of Project Idea
Summary of Project Idea
Through all the group discussions and conversations with our teacher, we are inching closer and closer to having our idea set in stone. But what we have for now is a horror film that centers around the mystery and unknown. The main character will start at Town Center, fully dressed up, taking drinks (alcohol) and getting more and more uneasy until he goes to the bathroom and passes out, (this will be indicated by a fading black effect and the title and credits will play). Once he is awake he will wake up in a forest without a clue of how he got there. Once he is in the forest he will have an increased heartbeat and will be panting heavily throughout. While he is traversing the forest he will encounter a sign that states (do not continue). Our character will ignore the sign and take off his tie as a mean of trying to figure things out. As he leaves the tie on the floor he will continue on his pursuit, later on he will encounter a gruesome doll hanging using his tie that he left. He will get tapped on the should, turn back, and not see anyone, and when he turns back again the doll will be gone. A laughing sound effect will play and echo as the opening scene ends. For the doll we will purchase a doll online and customize it ourselves to our liking.
Doll type we are trying to buy:
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
2/11 Group Meeting #1 in Class
This is officially the beginning of week 3 for my group and I's project, and in class we got into random groups of 5-6 people and discussed our blogs, ideas, and details of the project. We gave and received constructive feedback about our blogs and opening scene ideas.
My group included my peers named Camila, Mackenna, Natalia, Michael none of which are in my group for the project. This helped me as I had to think deeper on my idea and explain it from scratch as none of them had any prior knowledge on what it was that I was doing.
The first person in the group to speak on their ideas was Camila, and her idea revolved around the story of a drug addict and the fact that he owes people money. He is ironically best friends with a cop and has to have a full circle moment as he asks his friend for help whilst he is a criminal. I really liked the beginning scene and gave some ideas on what to do for the costuming and lighting. Suggesting that she make the main drug addict have a black hoodie with the hood on and have holes in the hoodie, and said to buy a cheap hoodie online and use it as a canvas.
The second to go was me, and I received tips on what I should do for the foley and lighting but most importantly my blogs, as my most recent blog was completely wrong from the instructions. They also informed me to analyze at a deeper level. They also gave me ideas for foley sounds and shot ideas for my idea that is still in the very beginning stage.
Third, was Mackenna and she spoke on her ideas for a coming-of-age film that revolves around an alluded love triangle, I gave her ideas for the music she should use, and I mentioned Somebody that I used to know by Gotye as it is a very good and popular whilst being free. I also mentioned that she should have the girlfriend give the loser (girlfriend, boyfriend, loser love triangle) a empathetic and apologetic look when the jock boyfriend throws a cup at him to further indicate to the audience the triangle.
Next went Natalia, and she spoke on her idea for a murder mystery opening that revolves around a boyfriend that doesn't know her girlfriend is a killer. I suggested that she use a rack pull on the trash can when the boyfriend sees bloody gloves (or whatever evidence Natalia wants to use to hint to the audience that the girlfriend is a murderer). The rack pull would indicate a sense of realization felt within the boyfriend.
Lastly, Michael needed the most help as he had ideas for the beginning and end of his opening but had a lot of open room for suggestions. His idea was to have an opening based on a mechanic and his preparation for a race, and to have the opening and ending scenes as opening the garage and the two cars lined up for a race. We suggested to flip the two and have the first scene being the cars lined up, and then show what led up to that, as our teacher has stated that it is preferred to not have your title at the very end of the opening.
Sunday, February 9, 2025
Study of another blog
Study of Another Blog
The blog from the list that I chose to study is https://brainfogcentral.blogspot.com/2024/02/i-cant-wait-to-quit-my-job.html. I chose it because it is much more human and personal than any of my blogs have been. You can tell that this person genuinely enjoys to create these blogs as a form of expressing themselves (not that I don't like it, just that they really like it), evidence of this would be the fact that this person continued to post updates of their life even after they completed this course and graduated.
The overall contents of the research were definitely more in depth than mine, but not by such a severe margin. The main difference is the analyzation and intertwining that with their own personal decisions. By doing this you better understand and display what is needed from your particular genre, so that your project piece can be improved.
What I will improve on because of this: by reading and dissecting this blog I will try to implement more human and personal language to connect with whoever is reading, whilst still maintaining proper expression and a formal tone. I think this will make my blogs much more entertaining for me to write which will have a domino effect and boost the level of depth that these blogs go into.
Friday, February 7, 2025
schedule
Week 3 (2/17-2/23)
Thursday, February 6, 2025
3 credit sequences from films within horror
3 credit scenes from horror
Within horror, credits scenes tend to have common characteristics like; ominous music, slow creepy rolls, flicker/glitch effects, retro effects, jump scares, gothic fonts, and many other things. In this post I will be researching 3 specific credit scenes from horror movies and dissecting them to conclude what is needed to be implemented into my future horror opening scene.
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
The title sequence begins mixed into the opening, what is being shown is a bunch of fast cuts of VHS footage displaying disturbing scenes of zombies and a politician saying the doctors do not know if "they are alive or dead". The text that is shown on the screen is in a red font and seems to be written in blood. Writing first that "Universal Studios presents", and then goes down the list of entertainment companies for production. The title is then shown written in blood as an eerie country song begins to play in the background as people discuss the virus, all while disturbing images are still being shown. Then the same formula repeats but what is odd is that it just lists an abundance of name, without stating the role they took in the movie for about 25 seconds. Then it states who did the casting, who the music is by, the co-producer, etc. After this continues on, the credits finish with a cut of the VHS tv and the politician speaking on the zombies as the music ends, creating an uneasy cliffhanger.Smile (2022)
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Three film openings from Horror
3 Film openings from Horror
Recap; As my group and I inch closer and closer to filming and all the good stuff we are discussing more and more our ideas and the direction that we want to go in. We have came to the conclusion that our genre of choice is going to be Horror (it was a deeply discussed issue as I was leaning more to drama). So the following research will be based on all the characteristics of Horror film openings.
Halloween (2018)
The film begins with an extreme close up on a clock and silence so you can hear the clock tick to create the feeling of suspense, there is then an extreme close up on a woman's eyes then a close up on a mans face as they seem to be in prison. There is faint murmuring in the background as the clock keeps ticking with laughing that seems from a crazy person. Everyone is dressed in what seems to be either rags from a prison or mental institution, and the all the colors of the scene are very bleak and gray. A man then signs a paper and checks tv's that have a camera's signal on it. The audience gains more information as there is a close up showing an officers police badge and you can hear the radio saying that it is a rehabilitation facility. The officers speak about a "monster" that has been in captivity for 40 years and has not spoken a word (Micheal Myers). They then speak very hesitantly about moving him to another facility, this foreshadows that something will most likely go wrong. They begin to walk and speak of him, calling him pure evil and saying over 40 doctors have seen him and they all have different opinions.
This scene is good because it uses traditional techniques of horror, like bleak and colorless sets, and having a typical main character that is "pure evil". These techniques have been used and proven to create suspense, but they are pretty typical and not innovative.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
Picking The Genre for Cambridge Project
Potential Genres:
Drama and Horror
My group and I decided on the genres of horror and drama because we feel that we will have the biggest variety of creativity within these genres and that we could still produce a quality piece of media within a budget and lackluster production equipment. For other genres like action, we feel as though it is more difficult to create something of quality, because if there is fighting the sound effects and acting need to be spot on, along with the editing if there are gunshots or anything of that nature. And for that we chose to stick to drama or horror.
Horror:
There is an abundance of indie, low budget, short films, that are horror that I really enjoy. And because of that, I think that horror has the highest success rate for low budget media. (example of short film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FUQhNGEu2KA )
Characteristics of horror:
Horror movies typically have very dark mise-en-scene with color palates of black, grey, and red. They usually utilize dark and claustrophobic settings that try to make the viewer uncomfortable. There is almost always underlying themes of death or the unknown and there is constantly tension with jump scares sprinkled within. Many movies have very creepy and graphic costume designs for the main character, while others just focus on the plot and make the story what is most eerie.
Transitioning into the Cambridge Portfolio Project
Transitioning into the Cambridge Portfolio Project
My pervious posts were more centered around what I was learning in class, the projects I was doing, and the steps around them, but from this point forward for the next 8 weeks my blog posts will be dedicated mainly to the development of my Cambridge Final Project. Within this project I will use and display the skills that I have been learning and refining all year which you have seen grow through the timeline of blog posts.
These are some of the notes that we took in class regarding the upcoming project. In addition as the project is based on movie openings we had to complete a nearpod that had a lot of information based on movie openings. In class one of the main things that was emphasized was the fact that the opening has to allude to the fact that there is much more of the movie to come, and that the opening cannot reveal too much information or substance of the movie. This being said, my mind instantly started running to one of my favorite movie openings of all time from the Godfather.
Group Meeting in Class 3/12
Today marks the day that we are less than 2 weeks out from the final submission of our projects, and today to get ideas, tips, and con...

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3 Film openings from Horror Recap; As my group and I inch closer and closer to filming and all the good stuff we are discussing more and...
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OWF (One Word Film) Post: My partner and I were assigned a word and with that word, we had to brainstorm and plan out a story that cou...