Pre Production: Casting

My group and I have been trying to figure out who were are going to cast to act in our opening film sequence...

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Characters in our film

"Dad"

Kid #1

Kid #2

Casting Ideas

"Dad"- So for this part, we need someone who resembles a father-like figure, so we figured that one of our Dads would play this role.

Kid #1 and #2: We also thought that the man would kidnap one boy and one girl. So we can have one of our siblings play these roles.

Research: Glitches

So after my group and I had finished discussing a basic outline to our final film project we decided to get down to specifics in how we could construct our film. So, to recap, the theme we came up with was a psychological thriller. The overall plot is of a man who has kidnapped a bunch of kids and mentally believes that they are his children. We thought that we really capture that essence of a psychological thriller by incorporating glitches throughout our film, especially in the final scene where the man's fantasy of the kids actually being his family 'glitches' to reality where they are actually kidnapped. In order to do this I researched ways about how to make glitches in IMovie.

Pre Production: Location Ideas

After coming up with an overall idea for our film, my group and I decided to come up with some location ideas for it.


So throughout our whole film, the main setting is really going to be at a house, showing clips in the kitchen and the dining room. So we've realized that we are going to have to shoot those scenes at one of our houses.










Other scenes in the film consists of missing posters or a bulletin board, so those scenes can also be shot at one of our houses.












We can also shoot some scenes at a park to show the past/his process of how he kidnapped the kids.

Pre Production: Storyboard

After struggling to come up with an idea that incorporated all of my partner's ideas, we were finally able to come up with a pretty good idea for our final film project.

So the theme we came up with was a psychological thriller. The overall plot is of a man who has kidnapped a bunch of kids and mentally believes that they are his children.

Some ideas that we have come up with to make our idea come into reality is by alternating scenes from him making dinner to feed his "kids" and scenes of what happened with the kidnapping (ex: showing missing posters/a bulletin board consisting of pictures of the kids, etc) which shows the difference from fantasy and reality.

We were also thinking about using glitches to also  show the difference between the kidnapper's fantasy with reality. So, for example, at the end where the "family" is happy and sitting around the dinner table, a glitch will change the scene to the kids being in handcuffs and the man is the only one eating, showing the reality.

The Secret Life of Mrs.Cowden: Editing Project

After learning about different types of edits, I had the opportunity to use this new knowledge by creating a short film out of my teacher's previously filmed clips.

For example, we utilized transitions such as dissolve, fade in/out, wipe, jump cut, iris open, etc.










And edits such as reverse on-screen motion and time lapse.







When figuring out where to put these simple edits, it was easy. After learning what the edits were for and how to utilize them, we made sure that transitions (ex; Fade in/out and Iris open) were put in places that made sense (ex; fade in in the beginning, and fade out at the end).

The project, overall, helps me when thinking about my film, because it showed me that putting certain edits in without a specific reason makes the film look sloppy, but when it is utilized in a beneficial manner, it can bring out a certain emotion/feeling which can improve the film.

Obstacle #1: Conflicting Genre Ideas (with partners)

     

                

     

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So recently I have paired up with my partners for my film opening and when discussing what genres we want to portray we all have different ideas. 

As I have said before I have been wanting to do a suspense/thriller genre much like movies Se7en or maybe Split (I have been drifting more to psychological thrillers rather than horror)




Meanwhile my partners have wanted to take a different approach of Teen Comedies such as The Breakfast Club and Princess Diaries.

As of right now we have not really come up with a great combination of ideas but as you can see this has become one of our obstacles so far for the opening film sequence.

Research: Psychological Thrillers

I've realized that my genre idea of horror/thriller/suspense for my opening film sequence is too broad, and after researching three sequences from various films, I have noticed that I really enjoy psychological thrillers and that I could possibly be able to portray it in my film. I have also taken the time to research a bit on this particular genre as well.
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Psychological Thrillers: a thriller narrative which emphasizes the unstable or delusional psychological states of its characters.

Movie Examples: 

         


What makes a Psychological Thriller?

-To make the thriller 'psychological" the threat/suspense has to come from the mind rather than being a physical element, and the protagonist has to use her/his mind to solve the trouble or mystery she is in.

-  A thriller's (specifically)  main aim is to keep the audience alert and stressed where the protagonist faces with series of problems that she/he needs to solve (ex: a mission, an escape or to solve a mystery).

-Psychological thrillers generally emphasize the unstable or delusional mental and emotional conditions of the characters, and focus on the devious depths of the human mind.

- Popular themes portrayed in these films: Death;Mind;Perception;Identity;Existence.