Portfolio Project 2021: The Finalized Plotline!

I've finally figured it out!

Good evening everybody! I have some exciting news... I have finalized the plotline of this story!! You have no idea how relieved I am that I've been able to reach a definitive conclusion regarding this film's plot. I had so many ideas and after talking it over with my sister and my friend Lucy I finally have it figured out! I have combined and altered some of the ideas from my previous blog to create the final plot. Here's the plotline for my film!

PSA: I have not chosen the names for the older/younger sister yet so I will be referring to them as the "older/ younger sister" until I do.

FINALIZED PLOTLINE

These sister's parents died in a car accident when they were in their late teens. The younger sister was 16 when the crash happened and she was in the car when it occurred. She went into a coma and spent 8 months in the hospital. The older sister became the legal guardian of her. The medical bills became too much to handle so the older sister decided that using her looks to destroy men would be the best option. 2 years later the younger sister is 18 and has been accepted into MIT and is going to study computer science. She codes and knows how to hack which means that her technological skills and knowledge are top tier. 

There is a new victim that the older sister has on her radar but the issue is that he isn't interested in just any kind of woman, he likes women in the STEM field. The older sister knows absolutely nothing about computers or technology but her younger sister is well versed in it. It would be much easier for her to teach her sister how to be a femme fatale than it would be to learn technical terms, computers, coding, etc. The younger sister offers to help her with this mission because she wants to repay her for taking care of her after the accident. She also wants to be able to pay for her college education herself instead of putting that burden on her sister. The younger sister gets a job at the company that the bachelor owns and this is when the master plan will unfold.

The older sister killing the men that she uses is still going to remain part of this plotline. I think it makes sense to keep in and it contributes to the question of how far these women go to get what it is that they want.

I love this idea and believe that I'll be able to execute it beautifully. I am so excited to develop these characters, figure out their personalities, and how they plan to successfully pull this off. I already have an idea of some female characters that are classified as femme fatales or have strong personalities that I want to research. I'll be discussing the findings from my research in tomorrow's blog. See you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: Plot Ideas Part 2

Hello everyone! Today's blog is going to be about the different plots that I could potentially use for this film. In the last blog, we discussed the idea of having two sisters embody the femme fatale trope so I'm going to share the potential plot ideas that I have with you! The main plots that I'm considering are similar in some aspects but have different conflicts and other elements/ details. Let's get into it!

PLOTLINE IDEA #1:

In this plot, the younger sister has just turned 18 and asks her older sister to teach her how to be a femme fatale. The older sister raised the younger sister because when she was 17 years old about to turn 18 years old, their parents passed away. The younger sister survived the accident that they were in but she had a lot of medical bills and this is how the older sister became a femme fatale. She began using men to take their power to be able to provide for her and her younger sister. Becoming a femme fatale was done in order for her and her younger sister to survive. This would be the older sister's "why".

Her younger sister wants to repay her sister for all that she has done for her by becoming a femme fatale and because she feels bad for being a financial burden to her. The younger sister has always admired her sister for her strength and ability to successfully use her wit to gain wealth and status. She wants to help her sister but her sister makes her a deal, they'll work together on pulling off this "mission" but that's the one and only time her younger sister will participate in the femme fatale lifestyle. If they can pull this off they will be able to live extremely comfortable lives and the younger sister will be able to go to college or start her own tech company.

MURDER?....

The one thing that I'm apprehensive about is incorporating murder into this film. It is common for these women to kill the men that they use or have them murdered by someone else to obtain money. I'm still debating on incorporating murder into the plot or not. I was trying to steer clear of that but it seems unavoidable. The question is how far will these sisters go to get what they want and that includes harming others. Maybe the older sister kills the men that she is affiliated with after she gets what she wants but there's a young bachelor that can not be killed because keeping him alive will be easier for obvious reasons. Yet another thing to decide on, yay.

PLOTLINE IDEA #2

The older sister targets wealthy older men that are more vulnerable because when she murders them, the death appears to be of natural causes, freak accident, etc. The older sister goes undetected because of the men's old age but this new target is much younger and much wealthier than her past victims. This definitely puts a bump in the road for the older sister because she's not used to working with men like him. There is a slight problem with the new target, he's the CEO of a major software company and the older sister has absolutely no idea how to work with someone like that. Her younger sister is going to be majoring in computer science at MIT and is a genius coder/ hacker. It would be much easier for her to teach her sister how to be a femme fatale than for her to try to learn technology and how to code. Her younger sister agrees to help because of everything that her older sister has done for her and they begin femme fatale training.

PLOTLINE IDEA #3:

The third plot line would have similar aspects as the others but the reasoning for the older sister originally becoming a femme fatale would be different. In this plotline her and her sister were abused by the father and she decided to run away with her sister to start a new life. In this plotline the younger sister wouldn't want to become a femme fatale because she wants to repay her sister for the medical bills but because she took care of them and removed them from a toxic environment. I think that this reasoning behind the older sister becoming a femme fatale is the most logical because most of the women within this trope experienced abuse in their lives or had some kind of negative encounter with a man.

I have to really thyink about piecing the pieces of these plots together. There are parts of these plots that I like and make sense but then there are some parts that I'm not fond of or aren't exactly what I'm looking for. I'm going to map this plot out so that I can fully comprehend my idea and create a cohesive project. This blog really helped me visualize all of the ideas that I had in my head. This is the rough draft of my ideas but they'll be finalized soon. See you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: Meeting with Stoklosa & My Sister

Ideas Galore!

Hello everyone! In this blog, we're going to be talking about the discussion I had with Mrs. Stoklosa and my sister. Mrs. Stoklosa called me into a Teams meeting today to discuss my project and it was a really nice conversation. We talked about the change of concepts and possible ideas for the plot which helped me think of other directions I could go in. She liked the trope that I'm using and we both agreed that there are so many different directions that I could go with this trope.

Mrs. Stoklosa brought up potentially keeping the sisters component in my film. I wasn't even thinking of having multiple women or even sisters, I was focused on having one character and developing her character. I was thinking of developing the main character's back story but she mentioned that I don't have to put too much emphasis on that aspect of the character, I can focus on developing the plot and conflict. I really like the idea of incorporating sisters because there are so many different ways to develop the story from that angle.

I went into my sister's room after and we talked about the meeting and all of my ideas. She thought it was cool! I told her about what my original idea and the new concept that I'm developing and she came up with a few good ideas for me to think about and build upon. She came up with the idea that the younger sister wants to follow in her older sister's footsteps as a femme fatale. The older sister is hesitant about teaching her sister how to be a femme fatale and manipulate men but she agrees. I have a few ideas on how to formulate this idea better so that it is cohesive but we'll discuss those ideas in the next blog.

These conversations today really helped me move along in the brainstorming process. I am so happy that they were able to present me with ideas to ponder and evaluate because I was feeling stuck. I tend to work backward during projects. I knew the trope that I wanted to work with but I had no clue what the plot or conflict was going to be. Speaking with other people about my ideas and hearing their opinions and perspectives is always beneficial because it forces you to think about things differently. I love working independently but receiving feedback from other people is crucial. I'm considering all of the suggestions made today and will blog about my ideas soon! See you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: Conflict Ideas + Mini Vlogs

Hello everyone! Today I went on a walk and towards the end of my walk, I decided to film a few videos of myself just sharing where I am right now in terms of this project and some ideas I have. If I have learned anything from last year's portfolio project it's that I have to trust myself and my abilities. I have to trust the process and not stress over where I am currently because it'll all work out eventually! I'm focusing on the quality of my project because this is the last one I'll be doing for this class so I want to enjoy this journey and not rush anything. I got a bit ahead of myself there, here are the mini vlogs that I filmed today while on my walk! Enjoy :)

The femme fatale trope is known for having a clever woman be the cause of a man's undoing. I am definitely going to incorporate this aspect of the trope into my film because it's vital. That's kind of the whole point of the trope. I also began thinking about the man that this character would be destroying and then a thought popped into my mind. Why not incorporate more men in this character's long list of victims? This would allow me to go deeper into this character's history and help the viewer understand who this character is. The conflict has not been finalized yet as I am still developing the plot but once that is done the conflict will naturally follow.

This is also going to be another concept that I have to develop, the character's back story. This is a major part of this story because this character did not become a femme fatale overnight. She had a history and a life before the one she lives now and I have to think of what her story is. How did she become a femme fatale? What was her childhood like? Does she have any unrevealed secrets? There are so many questions that I have yet to answer... 

Of course, I couldn't forget about costuming! I have been noticing that when I search images of femme fatale, they look to all be from the 20th century. I want my character to pay homage to the time era where this trope began so I have decided that her wardrobe is going to be 50s and 60s inspired. A combination of Marilyn Monroe and Jackie Kennedy in terms of fashion! (I just realized how ironic that last statement was whoops.) I'm not going to get carried away in this blog and delve into all of my costume ideas because this blog would be entirely too long. Let's save the blog about costuming for a later date. 

I hope you enjoyed the mini vlogs in this blog! Sometimes when I'm working on a project ideas come to me at random times and I feel an obligation to write them down or talk about them. This is exactly why I love blogging because it gives me the opportunity to do so. I'm going to try my best to develop the plot and conflict of this film as well as the main character's traits/ back story this week. I'm not going to rush or force it but that is my goal. I'll see you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: The First Mood Board!

Femme Fatale... A mood. 

Good evening everyone! Today I created my first mood board for this project on Pinterest and I’m so excited! The purpose of this mood board is to capture the essence of the femme fatale trope and aesthetic. I love using Pinterest for any and everything, especially projects. I knew that I wanted to create this board to help me develop my character and get inspiration for costuming to make sure my main character looks the part. Creating this mood board has actually inspired a few other ideas that I have for this project! But let’s discuss the mood board first!

This is my current mood board for the femme fatale trope! Mise-en-scene elements are my favorite aspects of a production to research, develop, and analyze so making this mood board was a riveting experience. Starting with costuming, this character clearly has a very dark wardrobe but still embraces her femininity and uses it to her advantage. A few adjectives to describe the femme fatale are scandalous, manipulative, witty, charming, desirable, and daring. Costuming is one of the most crucial elements of a character regarding conveying their traits so I’m definitely going to enjoy developing this mise-en-scene element!

I created the collage above to assist me in visualizing a character. The images of the two women in this collage represent key aspects of the femme fatale trope: sexuality, promiscuousness, and sophistication. The stereotypical bombshell is what immediately came to mind when I saw these women and this is another element of the femme fatale trope that I've come across. The phrase "seduce and destroy" is what the femme fatale trope is about. These women use their sexuality and femininity to their advantage to get what they desire, wealth, status, power, etc., and destroy men in the process. This appears to be the overall mindset of these kinds of characters and I am so glad that I came across this phrase because it helped me comprehend this trope even more.

This is another collage that I made and I chose these two images to make it because they complement each other. The woman in the image on the left is smoking a cigarette surrounded by alcohol and money sitting in the dark. This image is powerful because of the way she's sitting, the facial expression she's making, and the items she's surrounded by. Her appearance: hair, makeup, and dress all contribute to her femininity but the stack of money, cigarette, and alcohol add a sense of dominance. Females are typically not associated with dominance so this picture really spoke to me as I began analyzing it. The question "...how bad can a girl get?" stood out to me because there is a deeper meaning to this question and it can be implying numerous things. I'm considering this being the tagline of the film actually now that I'm thinking about it! I would change the wording of this phrase but it would still have the same effect.

If you don't know by now, female empowerment is my favorite concept to implement into my projects because representation is crucial in my opinion. Women being underestimated has been seen countless times in history and is still a common occurrence to this day. I chose to work with this specific trope because these women are seen as fatal antagonists but when you look deeper into their stories and lives, it's difficult to place them into one category. There are two sides to every story.

I’m not done with this mood board! I will continue adding images and videos for inspiration because you can never have too many on a mood board. I’m looking forward to adding a lot more to this Pinterest board and referring back to it frequently to be inspired, develop the main character, plan out costumes, etc. I am thrilled to have remembered this trope because I am already having so much fun thinking of themes, a plot, characters, conflict, and of course.... costuming! This will certainly not be the last mood board for this project, get ready guys. See you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: Plot Twist!

 We're switching it up!

Good morning everybody! I was brushing my teeth last night and I had this idea come to mind and I got so excited! I was going to blog about it last night but it was almost 2 o'clock in the morning and if I tried to blog about it, nothing would've made sense and the blog wouldn't have served its purpose of effectively communicating my idea. I was actually just taking a practice exam for AICE Psych but I couldn't wait any longer to get this blog started and get my idea out of my head! I'm thrilled that this idea came to me last night because it's exactly what I want in terms of theme and concept so let's talk about it!

A few weeks ago I watched a Youtube video that discussed the manic pixie dream girl trope used in film productions. A manic pixie dream girl is classified as a "bubbly, shallow cinematic creature that exists solely in the fevered imaginations of sensitive writer-directors to teach broodingly soulful young men to embrace life and its infinite mysteries and adventures." That's the elaborate way of saying that men fall in love with wild and free women because they make them feel alive again. 

A lot of people misidentify quirky female love interests as manic pixie dream girls. It was interesting seeing the breakdown of this character and the distinct differences between a manic pixie girl and a quirky woman.

This video was published by the Youtube channel Trope Anatomy. I'd recommend checking it out! I've never heard of this classification of character before but I was intrigued by what they were talking about. This is not the kind of character that I want to develop for my project but I thought I would mention it in this blog because it's relevant to the type of character that I discovered shortly after I discovered this character type!

I watched another Youtube video right after the first video mentioned because it was on my suggested video list. I watched the entire video and it was fascinating! The man in the video was explaining the femme fatale trope and I loved learning about the traits of this female character. Femme fatale is French and translates to 'fatal woman' in English. I have a history of working with the concept of female empowerment in my productions so creating this is kind of character is right up my alley! I completely forgot about this video that I watched and it wasn't until I was brushing my teeth last night that I remembered this video and the femme fatale trope. This trope is perfect and I immediately started thinking of plots that involve a female fatale. Now I have something to research, films that use the female fatale trope. 

I’m completely changing the tone and focus on my production which is fine! I’d rather make this realization and change now rather than further down the line when I’m deep into the project. It's okay to start over and change paths because I knew that something was missing with my original plot idea, I just couldn't pinpoint what it was. I liked the ideas that I came up with but I wasn't absolutely thrilled about them. I don't want to complete this project with the "let's get this over with" mentality. I want to have fun with this project and enjoy the process. This is my final project for this class and I want to make it a good one! See you in the next blog!

Portfolio Project 2021: Plot line dilemma

 Hello everyone! I’m back and in this blog we’re going to talk about a dilemma I’m having in terms of the plot of this film. 

So we know that I’ve chosen the plot about two sisters being separated because the oldest one is going to college. My issue is that I’m not sure if I want to have the older sister present the entire time. I’m going to try my best to explain what I mean. The basic idea of my plot is that a sister and her older sister spend time together the summer before she moved off to college by completing all of the items on their bucket list. I was thinking about this and I thought to myself “what if the sister leaves for college during the film?” But then how would I incorporate the bucket list into the film if the sister leaves for college in the film? The sisters completing the bucket list is essentially the main event of the film but having the sister leave for college in the film would mean the focus would shift dramatically.

I definitely want to incorporate the feelings of the younger sister in regards to get sister leaving. I want to show her development as she learns to be independent and realizes that her sister isn’t leaving her forever. If the sister leaves for college then that would allow for the focus to be in the younger sister and her self discovery as an individual during this time away from her sister. I love the bucket list concept though because it shows their relationship dynamic as siblings but it also would align with the coming of age concept. 

Both of these directions are great but for different reasons. One idea allows me to convey the thoughts and feelings of the younger sister while the other allows me to portray the wild and free coming of age concept closely associated with teen movies. I’m not sure which way I’m leaning towards at the moment but I’ll update you either way! See you in the next blog!