Hello my beautiful readers!

Today in class I met up with four other working students to share our progress and essentially help each other with any obstacles we were facing. Three out of the four students are doing the film opening just like me, while one decided to do the magazine project. I have to admit, I was a little hesitant with sharing my ideas as I wasn’t 100% sure about them yet. I know in my previous posts I explained that Onil and I were pretty certain about what we wanted to present, but over the few days I’ve begun to feel like we could do better. Although the story about the teenage girl had a great amount of potential, I feel like this idea is very basic, and I want my project to be unique and creative. Thankfully, my peers helped me think of new ideas, as I helped them as well. A win - win!

As I was about to write down all the ideas we brainstormed, I stopped myself. I keep presenting ideas and not following through with them; I feel like this step forward, step backward cycle is getting really confusing. Instead, I’m going to communicate with Onil today, in hopes of presenting our final film opening idea. Keep a look out for my next posting as it will have the new scoop. Enjoy the rest of your Thursday!

Xoxo,

Amanda

Welcome back!

After posting yesterday, I kept thinking about how my partner and I were going to execute our message in our film opening. This is the essential part that we want to truly focus on because the things that exemplify strong emotions are portrayed as more honest. We want our audience to be shocked by our opening and see that it came from our hearts. Many of our ideas started come out like a trailer, rather than a film opening and we must be aware of the difference. Onil and I thought of some technical elements that we hope to include in our film opening:

Mise-en-scene

1. The teenage girl will be wearing a plain clothing. This will represent her reserved personality, adding to the fact that she doesn’t talk about her feelings and she is very self-kept. We want our audience to see that she’s dealing with her issues on her own and she does not involve others.
2. The film opening will take place at her house, mostly in her room, as well as her high school. These settings are important as they are the places that her sad emotions are stemmed from and dealt with.
3. When our main character starts to gain confidence, her clothing will change to a more flashy look. This will clearly show our audience the difference of her self-esteem from the beginning, to when things start to get better.

Camera Shots & Movement

1. We will include establishing shots, so that the viewers are not confused with where the main character is.
2. When the teenage girl is crying, close-ups will enhance her true emotions by drawing in the audience closer. This will form a connection between the character and audience.
3. When she dresses up and breaks out of her shell, we will capture a long shot to display her full movement, establishing the emotion of her replenished power and confidence.

With all of these elements, we really envision a spectacular film opening. We are focusing on both the little and big things, really paying attention to the details. I can’t explain how excited I am for us to start filming and putting our ideas into play. Well, the picture below entails some of my excitement. Keep your eyes open for my next posting!

Xoxo,

Amanda

Happy Saturday!

As the time to start filming is nearing, Onil and I keep second guessing what we our film opening to be about. This might be a little alarming as by now, you would think we would have our idea ready and polished. In my perspective, I think our struggle to settle will in turn mean that our project will be meaningful and creative rather than quickly rush into things. This could potentially cause some setbacks as we have to stay on track, and not wait till the last minute to do or come up with things.

In my second posting, I mentioned that horror was the genre my partner and I were interested in, but then we decided to research drama and we still think this will be the best genre for our film opening. We really want our opening to be honest, showing real emotions. Drama entails these elements perfectly as they really enhance the characters, as well as problematic situations.

To continue, for our film opening we brainstormed some ideas and we came up with one. In this opening, will introduce our main character, a teenage girl who is dealing with some problems at her high school, moreover bullying. We believe that we can perfectly represent this as we, ourselves have dealt with similar issues. Not only will we be spreading awareness of this topic, but we will include how one can overcome it even when they think they’re all alone. In the series, 13 Reasons Why, Hannah (The main character) committed suicide. This show was very popular because many teenagers were able to relate to what Hannah went through, before deciding to take her own life. Onil and I want to deliver a message through our film opening, this topic means something to us.

Xoxo,

Amanda

Welcome back to Amanda’s blog!

Since the time I’ve last written to my magnificent readers, I’ve been working on promoting a band with a group. My group, Onil Drore, Sophie Solorana, and I came up with innovating and creative marketing and distribution ideas in order to successfully represent what we had in store for our audience. To follow this, we directed and produced a music video which was not to mention, a pleasure to be apart of. We presented our band, The Void, which is all about confronting daily issues and raising awareness through our lyrics.

Starting from scratch is quite a challenge. My group and I did extensive research on a company called RCA Records. Moreover, we looked into two specific bands to get some marketing and distribution tips that were successful. From Foo Fighters and The Weathers, we found that having a website with tour dates, merchandise, contact abilities, as well as other information was vital and essential for our band. Social media and streaming platforms are also extremely important as they attract a variety of people, staying in touch with our fans was our number one priority. With this research, we decided to go the same route and take on these marketing and distribution techniques, as they were proven to be successful.

To continue, we created products to market our band in the best way possible. We wanted to really focus on our Instagram account → @the.void.media out of all the social media platforms, ultimately making it our most popular source. We recognized that if we have too many platforms to keep up with, some could potentially lack information, which we did not want. Our stylish merchandise is made in all sizes so everyone can be apart of The Void. It is made for all genders and the colors are very generic, appealing to a diversity of people. Check out our website https://voidband.weebly.com/ !

To wrap this posting up, I had a blast coming up with ideas for our band as well as learning new things that I previously did not know. For example, making a music video was more challenging than I expected it to be. It contained many people, and we had to make sure we got the right shots and everyone was cooperating. Time management is extremely important and from this project, I am more prepared and comfortable taking on my portfolio project. Having a plan and not waiting till last minute will help Onil and I be super efficient and successful. Keep your eyes open for my next posting! Rock on.

Xoxo,

Amanda