Sunday, February 16, 2020

Portfolio Project Blog: Research #1




Welcome to my blog! This is where I will be posting all of my research, tribulations, and everything involved with the process of creating my film opening! In this blog, I will be outlining the key elements of some films that I watched that embody the overall theme, plot and creative direction of my film opening. Let's get into it!

First I need to tell you what the genre of my film opening will be. The genre of the opening is definitely going to be thriller/ crime but I'm still debating if I should make a film opening where the group of characters introduced in the opening is bad guys trying to seek revenge on wealthy people in their town that are responsible for the death of their group's leader or good guys trying to avenge victims of wrongdoings. Either way, the characters are going to be avengers (minus the superpowers like in marvel). The film will also have a heavy female presence so all of the cast will be females.

GENRE
Characteristics of the thriller genre: The thriller genre revolves around suspense and anticipation. The whole purpose of thrillers is to keep the audience on the edge of their seat and evoke a certain emotion. Thrillers tend to have a protagonist and an antagonist, the protagonist is trying to prevent the antagonist's evil plans from transpiring.

Characteristics of the crime genre: The crime genre is all about debating between right and wrong, good and evil, and the judgment of one's morality. There is going to be the criminal/ villain and the good guy/ superhero but depending on whose perspective the film is focusing on, the whole story will differ. Obviously, this genre includes elements of lawbreaking and legal issues, hence the name of the genre. the crime(s) committed are usually the center of the narrative and shapes the plot.


Something that I definitely want to implement into the film opening is a voice-over narration by the main protagonist introducing all of the other characters that are important to developing the plot of the opening. I will most likely incorporate flashbacks while the narrator is giving background information on all of the characters in the opening. The closest example of how I want to have this element in my film opening is from the 2016 film "Suicide Squad" directed by David Ayer.

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At the beginning of the film, the viewer is introduced to two characters (Will Smith and Margot Robbie's characters) that are in jail and you see what life is like for them in jail as a fugitive, the dynamics of the relationships they have with the staff at the jail, and how each of them behave behavioral wise.







In the scene following this part of the opening, at around 5 minutes into the movie, the actual introduction of all of these characters occurs. A woman is going through each of the criminal's profiles and narrating their lives, personality traits, the crimes they've committed, etc. during this part. I want to implement this type of narration because I think it does a fantastic job giving the viewer enough information about the characters to satisfy their inquisition while also keeping the mystery alive.









The first film that I will be going into detail about is the 2018 film "Oceans 8" directed by Gary Ross. I chose to research this film because it capitalized on girl power and female empowerment.  Unfortunately, a lot of people, men in particular, are misogynistic and don't think women are capable of certain things,  like being criminal masterminds, because of their gender. Even though the women in the film were all criminals working in a highly complex robbery operation, the movie still managed to make the viewer watching aware of the fact that women should not be underestimated just because they are women and a lot of them are highly intelligent and multitalented enough to pull off things even in the world of crime.

                                      Image result for oceans 8

I wanted to research this film because if I do decide to go with my idea of my film opening being centered around female fugitives that want to avenge the death of their fierce feminist leader, Ocean's 8 is a great film that incorporates the most important element involved in this kind of plot: female criminals.


In Ocean's 8 film opening, Sandra Bullock's character is being released from jail and make the false statement that she's learned her lesson in prison and wants to live a normal life without committing any more crimes. I think since she was the main character of the film this was a great way to start off the film because you're immediately introduced to the main character and what kind of morals and beliefs she has as an individual.

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The second film I researched was the film Charlie's Angels (2019) directed by Elizabeth Banks. I picked this film to research because it does a great job of displaying female empowerment and how strong these females are fighting against men who think so little of them and their abilities due to them being women. Another reason I wanted to use this film as an example is because of the fact that they are female crimefighters that go through a lot of obstacles to prove their worth in a male-dominated world. I loved the lessons that were learned throughout this movie not just lessons about women being capable of all things men are but also lessons like you shouldn't be so trusting of people you think you know well, being self-confident goes a long way, and teamwork definitely makes the dream work.




At the beginning of the film, Kristen Stewart's character is on an undercover mission with a criminal in a hotel room and she's acting like a stereotypical dumb blonde to further sell the idea that men have this mindset that women are easy to manipulate because they can't think for themselves. This film opening was fun to watch and was action-packed which I loved because she was kicking some serious butt. I liked this opening a lot so if I do decide to go this route, I will be using this film to help me compose my film opening.

See you guys in the next blog!



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