Editing Software

 To edit our film my partner and I will be doing so on iMovie. We chose this for our editing software since it won't destroy the quality of the video. Additionally, my partner and I already have previous experience with using this software editing so it will make the process smoother to operate. iMovie also has numerous types of features which can be easily added like special effects, themes, sound effects, green-screen, and titles in the video.

Having previous experience helps immensely with navigating the editing process. We can import our video without difficulty from already doing so in the last project. 

How editing looks within iMovie:

Target Audience

 Naturally, as a Teen Adventure genre, our film already targets a younger audience around the ages of 14-24. In terms of gender, our film does not target either males or females specifically. Having a young teenage protagonist who is rebelling against rules taps into the teen mind of the fantasies they all create at times. In other words, Nick is doing what they all wish they had the guts to do at times. 

With further research into the Teen Adventure genre, we came upon the show Outer Banks. Outer Banks targets the same audience as our film. To do this, casting actors and characters who are roughly around the same age as the audience automatically catches the target audience's eye. Additionally, the demographic of our city includes lots of teens. 

Image of Outer Banks: 

Actors

For our character Nick Wayne, my partner and I wanted someone with dirty blonde hair and a charming personality to fit Nicks's role. The actor we chose has the exact character profile we are looking for to represent Nick. Our character Nick is 18 years of age so we needed someone of that same age or an actor who looks 18 years old. Luckily, our actor Simon is 18 years old. As soon as we began interviewing Simon we could immediately tell that he was perfect for the role. Nick is outgoing, charming, confident, and sarcastic which were all characteristics that we saw in Simon as well. This gives us an advantage as we know Simon will have no problem playing the role during production.

Then, we needed to move on to find someone to play the role of our angry teacher, Mr. Patterson. Mr. Patterson is the character that attempts to stop Nick Wayne from skipping class and essentially calls security on him. To play this role we chose Mr. Petraitis from our school. Mr. Petraitis may not be the best actor but we know he would be very willing to help and give it his all. Not only that but the role he is playing will fit into his real daily lifestyle of teaching, therefore, making it more natural for him. 

Lastly, Mr. Petraitis gave us a suggestion for an actor to play the security guard in our film. Coincidentally, his wife is a security guard at our high school who may be willing to play the role of chasing Nick down the school hallways etc. 

Shooting Schedules

During the actual filming process, my partner and I will be having to schedule times where we both can get together to film. Overall the filming will be taking place at school during study hall. Since our film setting revolves around school, we will have to be filming during school hours. This includes our class period during which most of our filming will take place since me and my partner are in the same classroom. 

Filming will most likely begin in one to two weeks. However, my partner and I do face an obstacle involving spring break. Both of us will be away for spring break meaning we will be losing a week of filming. To overcome this issue my partner and I will be taking extra measures to get the filming done the weeks before and after spring break to get the shots we need to put our project together.

Setting

For our project, our location will be located on a school campus. This fits in with our character Nick Wayne being an 18-year-old senior who is attempting to skip school and successfully gets away. The settings within the school will include a classroom, hallways, and the courtyard. At the end of our opening scene, Nick will drive off in his car. 

Having this be the ending, the setting will shift into a school parking lot. The decision to make a school campus our setting was a quick one as our high school already has all the factors we need such as a security guard and teachers. Not only that but the classrooms will be authentic and natural since they are already used as real classrooms. This is great for our low-budget at-home film production.

Here are example images of where most of the film will take place:

Our Technical Elements

          Nick is in high school and has never enjoyed sitting in the classroom with teachers speaking to him. To send this message to the audience that Nick doesn't enjoy school we will send signals through gloomy lighting within the classroom. It will add a boring touch to the classroom and how Nick views school through his eyes. As soon as he steps out of school the lighting will contrast the in-school lighting as it'll become brighter and more colorful with additional saturation. Veronica and I also planned from the gecko to use intense background music as he gets chased down by security and teachers. The footage will involve minimal dialogue since it's only showing him running through obstacles with friends helping him out. As soon as he escapes the relief will take over and the intense music will stop to demonstrate that he is safe and has succeeded in making it without getting caught. For Nicks's look and costume we want him to have ripped jeans and piercings to give an edgy look.

Example of gloomy lighting in the classroom:

Inventing Our Plot

When discussing the plot for our project, Veronica and I really wanted an opening scene that defines Nick. For this, we came up with the idea of Nick partaking in an action scene. He will be running away from school security as he gets away with skipping. To escape he will be throwing objects and obstacles at the security to get away. Nick's friends will also be helping him out by creating distractions and such. As he runs away he escapes by jumping into his car and driving off. Throughout the plot, Nick will encounter obstacles like security cameras, teachers, and of course, escaping the security guards.

Picture from our Google doc:

The opening scene from Baby Driver showcases a young teenage boy driving off, similar to the one we think of for our film:

Our Main Character

          For our protagonist, we want to create the embodiment of someone who is laid back but still seeks trouble. Veronica and I brainstormed together on the sort of character we would like to create. We wanted someone who doesn't necessarily mean any harm to anyone but does seek trouble. Our character will be called Oscar, he will most likely be around the age of 17 or 18 as he nears his final years of high school. Oscar has dirty blonde hair with brown eyes and a slim-fit physique. Our character is very likable. However, not in the sense of a cool jock but more so as the class clown who knows how to have fun. Although Oscar may be likable at school with friends, that is not the case at home. Oscar's mother left when he was young leaving him only with his father. Due to the heartbreak of losing his wife, the father quickly turns to alcohol and is abusive toward Oscar. Because of this Oscar has learned to be quick on his feet allowing him to run away from security. He has a witty personality and can always find humor in not-so-funny things and is somehow able to convince anyone to do anything. To extend, Oscar gets away with many situations that seem impossible to get out of due to his charm. 

Here is an example of some of the research for the running scene:

Choosing Our Genre

          Me and my partner Veronica began brainstorming for ideas of what film genre we would like to do, we decided on Teen Adventure. When coming up with this idea, we initially took inspiration from the 80s film called Ferris Buellers Day Off. Having a main character who rebels and skips school is where the idea was created. The character will be doing some sort of rebellious act in our opening scene, preferably with no dialogue to fully capture the moment. However, we will be doing more brainstorming to completely establish the plot and the individual action that the character will be performing.  

Examples of other Teen Adventure movies:

Transition Into Portfolio Project

           To transition into my portfolio project, I have partnered with a friend of mine. During the next class, we will begin developing the plan we have for our project, this includes what type of video we will want to make. I worked with my partner on the past music marketing project where we connected well together. This gives us an advantage for our portfolio project since we will be able to communicate our ideas to one another with no hesitation. I look forward to working on this project and am excited for what's to come!

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

           While researching for my group's music marketing project, I had to sort through many articles. My group and I began to sweep through our genre of punk rock to gain more knowledge of its background and origin. After gathering enough information on punk rock to develop an overview of our genre we began to brainstorm how we wanted our project to look. First, we started by imagining the image we want for our band. Since most of the images online for punk rock consisted of many mohawks and leather we still wanted to keep that edgy element to our image. However, our song consists of a more beachy vibe mixed with an edgy one too so we decided to merge the two. In our presentation, we incorporated lots of skulls to attribute to the element of edginess but added greens and pastel colors to touch on the side of beachiness. 

          To also add that feel of beachiness our music video to promote our band was mostly filmed at the beach. However, once again to add to the element of edginess we incorporated a scene in our music video of a girl crawling out of a window to sneak out. This shows the rebellious side of our band which connects with its genre of punk rock. For this, a storyboard was created to make a layout for our music video and the way it should be filmed. This allowed the process to go smoother as we already knew most of the shots that were to be filmed and an idea of how we wanted to take them.

Scene in video at the beach:

          In creating the name for our band, we searched for a name generator to help get the group's ideas flowing.  After many attempts of names, we combined two to get our band name "Freight Patrol." Fright is used to incorporate the side of punk rock that includes scary skulls and spikey clothing since they may be seen as frightening in a sense. However, the way its spelled is not grammatically correct, this is to show rebellion in following grammatical rules, it gives a sense of edge.

          For social media usage, we included the band's distribution and marketing techniques throughout social media platforms. Some of these social media platforms that our band takes part in include TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter. These are used since our target audience includes 16 to 35-year-olds. TikTok and Instagram both attract the range of 16 to around 25-year-olds. Those older may also use Instagram and Tiktok but are more likely to use Twitter. 

          Overall the project was very helpful to learn how to research properly for a certain subject and develop the skills to be able to put it all totgether. For our cambridge portfolio, this project was additionally helpful in adding practice for the filming and editing that will take place in our portfolio. However, i really think that the research aspect of it was the most helpful, it allows us to have a sense of what we should search up to get the answers we need to apply to out project that will involve a main topic.