C O M P L I C A T I O N S // DATES

SO! I was really hoping on being able to film this week but between work and my actors' schedules things haven't lined up like I hoped they would and honestly, I'm panicked. Natalia or "Charlie" leaves for spring vacation on Thursday of next week, and I'm going to be gone as well most of spring break so most likely I'll have to film on Wednesday of that week which may be difficult to be completely honest. Obviously, I know I can do it I just want to be able to produce the best I can as I love and admire this class and creating the things I have.
I'm extremely excited to film though, I really believe I have a great opening and if I portray what's in my head well enough others will love it as much as I love the concept.

Updates to the script and actions during the scenes have already been minorly altered or added to so hopefully it won't take too long to film either, I predict a solid 4-7 hours of filming, mainly because we only have two settings which cut time, but Natalia will have to go through outfit and makeup changes to be the "demon" version of Charlie so that will also contribute in time complexity and ranges.

L O V E // REPRESENTATION

The topic of abuse and mental health awareness is extremely important to me as so many people around and including me have dealt with either one, or even both topics I hope to portray. Abuse within couples is very often missed by others, not necessarily because the others around you "don't care enough to look", many just don't think to, which is seemingly pretty fair as nobody should expect someone they care about to get abused.
Abuse within the LGBT+ community is either extremely shunned or exaggerated depending on the context and who you're talking to (in regarding their own views and opinions).
I didn't explicitly plan Charlie and Drew to be portrayed as a lesbian couple, but I knew most likely it was going to turn out as such, mainly because most of my friends who act well are femme.
Drew and Charlie are going to represent a more "realistic" version of being a queer person, as no commonly used stereotypes of gay people, and specifically in this case lesbians, in the negative connotation of being "butch" or "flamboyant" will be added.
My goal is to simply spread awareness of abuse and how it can affect anyone and the repercussions of said abuse on a persons mental health.

R E V I E W // UNAWARE

 In studying for the creation of my own opening, my friends reminded me of a short film produced by BuzzFeed about abusive relationships called "Unaware". To be truthful, I didn't enjoy the acting along with the dialogue as many of the conversations didn't flow and created an unintended awkwardness. Watching the film gave me some ideas to avoid and stick to in my own opening, I also noticed how some effects I intend to use were incorporated which validated my choices.

The short "Unaware" paints the story of two best friends, the new boyfriend, and the girlfriend of the main character. Through the short, you see the spiral of small to eventually larger signs of abuse by the main character's girlfriend, the film goes through the warning signs and acts as a reference for emotional abuse while also displaying the diversity in such as the main conflict occurs within a lesbian couple. 

-Things to avoid

• Bad acting- Granted I know I can't control a persons acting completely, but both my charecters are being played by two of my close friends who are experienced in drama so I have faith.
• The incongruence of script dialogue- I've been going over my script many times to add and take away items to get the story across in a dramatic but comprehensible manner, during shooting lines are most likely going to change to emphasize these features.

-Things to embrace

• The use of angles- Within Unaware, shot reverse shot was mainly used in serious dialogue as it draws the audience into the conversation. Most of my opening is dialogue from the two main characters so getting proper angles along with over the shoulder and SRS shots so those are going to be vital.
• SOUND- Sound is so incredibly important within horror/thriller films, within Unaware specifically towards the end the crescendo and muffle of certain audible ques added new dimensions in the experience of the actions taking place. Sound triggers can be used in place of dialogue at points but work best when added to create said multi-dimensional experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fpf0dbF0CFk&feature=youtu.be

S T O R Y B O A R D // DRAWN VERSION

Here's my storyboard so far!!

This is is very susceptible to change :)

R E V I E W // COMMENTS FROM OTHERS

In class we had peer review of our concepts and ideas for our openings or magazines, I went last in my group and I think that was a wise decision. In hearing others ideas I realized (at least in my group) that in every media project I focus on the grim and gory of the world, which I don't see to be a bad thing. I think I justify it by telling others I'm showing people what's really happening in the world but that sounds cocky to me. my other group members ideas were good and we all helped each other when it came to mine they got stuck in a way. Not that they weren't helpful, but they just didn't know what to add. I guess that gave me some sort of validation but I would've liked something to be questioned but they all really liked my ideas and explanations for events happening within my opening. the only real piece of criticism they gave me was how much content I'm trying to squeeze into 2 minutes which I now know I most likely will have to cut off the opening at the swerving scene. I remember when explaining my idea and even showing my script, one of my group members had just come back from the restroom to hear me saying "oh yeah they're gonna swerve off the highway as Charlie beats up Drew and then during that they're gonna see the demon", which he understandable yelled about in confusion as it was such a contrast to the other films talked about in our group.

L O C A T I O N S // OFFICIAL

OKAY! so, you know how I mentioned I didn't know how I would be able to film someone swerving off the road without actually dying? I FIGURED IT OUT!
My friend Natalia (elaborated: best and longest known friend) will be the one driving and I don't want to kill her but I do want the drama and anxiety caused by the swerve for my opening so I found a solution. Our old elementary school has a large parking lot that's usually empty late at night, the entire lot is beautifully lit with the perfect orange light I'm looking for as well. Most likely I will be using other internal lighting sources like my phone if within the car its too dark, but the surrounding orange will encapsulate Charlie's aura so perfectly. Also since the lot will be empty there will be way less of a risk of getting into an accident as she'll be able to not have to entirely focus on the road. I probably will get some shots of us driving on the 27 to use in some parts to give a more accurate context, my only problem is trying not to show our surroundings too much so that the audiences cant tell were just making 15mph circles in an elementary school repeatedly. Most likely ill just have to angle my camera specifically but that shouldn't be a major problem.

N A M E // THE PROCESS OF FIGURING OUT THE TITLE

SEVERANCE- The name within itself sounds cool and honestly I figured it out pretty easily. Since my film includes the fact of dissociation, of which I personally experience and go though I wanted to name it similar to that. In reality, I just looked up synonyms of dissociation and found the word severance, but I feel like it provides a whole new context for the film. My worry is that the film opening I want to produce will be too long, leaving me to most likely cut it off where Charlie and Drew swerve off the road (which I don't know really how we're going to do that safely), which I feel will leave more open endings and could be good for interest. I want the word "severance" to not only represent the dissociation felt by Drew caused by Charlie's manipulation and abuse but by the severance of their relationship as a whole, the split they'll feel within themselves.