FIRST AND LAST SHOTS

Today I filmed a few shots of the band. Seeing as the group scene is actually the last scene we are including, I am going to begin to work backwards with the footage we got.

    

The current plan for music is to use a new song written by Vincent Mango called Sao Paolo (unreleased), and have it transition into another one of their songs, No Left Ear, included on their EP. Hopefully we can play around with the sound editing to have the sounds flow from one to the next unnoticed. The two songs differ greatly in melody and chord progression so this will be a challenge, as well as timing the shots perfectly with the song. I aim to edit the footage today and see what we're working with so we know if we have to film again or not.

NEW THINGS

Discussing with my group we've made various changes to the storyboard. The most significant being the incorporation of freeze-frames. In the introduction of characters we wanted to have their names appear somewhere in the shot nonchalantly paired with a freeze-frame. Another technique we wanted to use is graphic matching to better continue the flow of scenes.
Just to have it written down, I will explain how we are going to use these techniques with each character.
Deciding to use Isaiah in the Korean market, we would have him buy a soda and as he places it on the check-out counter it cuts to it being placed on his bedside table, paired with a freeze-frame when it lands where the soda says "IZZE". Later in the scene there is a close up of his face as he closes his eyes, the next scene will cut to Andy opening his eyes and begin to look through his camera. Later in the scene he opens his photo album where the photos spell out "ANDY"(freeze-frame). The next shot will be Alejandro's notebook image matching the photo album. In neat handwriting shows his name "Alejandro Lopez", he then closes the notebook to show a decorated cover with his nickname painted on the front "MCLOVIN" (freeze-frame). Later in the scene is a side shot of his hands stressfully running through his hair as this matches the next shot of Alex running his hands through his hair at the skate park. To introduce his name we would have a low angle of him and his skateboard off of a half-pipe with his name on the skateboard "SHAGGY" (freeze-frame).
After these introductions we would transition this by Alex skating out of frame as the shot is stays in place. This would then cut to band practice and the title.
The use of these types of transitions would better convey the idea that all of the characters are connected in a deeper way than just the band.

"Cinematic Terms - A FilmMaking Glossary." Cinematic Terms. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
"Match Cut - TV Tropes." TV Tropes. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.

KUMIKO INSPO

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter (2014)

Although I haven't watched Kumiko, from the synopsis and character developments I've read I can infer that Kumiko, the woman pictured above, had a bright personality. The plot included information of Kumiko leaving her office job in Tokyo to find hidden treasure in North Dakota as her "imagination transcends the confines her mundane life". The color choice in this shot exemplifies Kumiko's colorful and different personality against the (literally) dull and grey world. I'd like to have this, as I've said previously, prevalent in our own shots. The one shot I had in mind would be Alejandro's shot where he is in the library surrounded by dull and grey books where his clothing would be bright and colorful, representing his creative mind in his mundane studies.

"Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter." Rotten Tomatoes. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2016. 

GREAT NEWS

So! Seeing as I had limited wifi this spring break, I am left to post my drafts now as I finally returned home. The camera had finally arrived in the mail!!
My group and I have decided to meet tomorrow morning to approve the rough sketches of the storyboard so I can begin finalizing the final drawings. Next week we will have all of our required equipment (storyboards, actors, camera) so we can start filming then. Our planned film date where we have all of the members together will be on Wednesday, the 30th.

SEARCHING...

For the past three days my group and I have been in the search of a camera. After all the tweets and pleas for a camera to use I remembered that my sister had a good quality camera she shoots all of her videos on. One problem: she lives in Orlando. I actually planned to make the eight hour round trip and told my sister to leave the camera with her suite mate only to find that she had locked the camera inside her room while she was out of town. Concluding that we are forced to use our phones I received a text that the camera is being shipped down to us! With all of the shots in mind and filming left to do now we just wait. Hopefully the camera will reach us before this spring break ends so we can make good use of our time away from school.

I have started some VERY rough sketches of the storyboard, but we have the shots we want in mind.
The scene will be composed of parallel shots of each character going about their day. They will be doing things that will represent their personality and their character. After each character is shown we will have them join together at band practice as a sound bridge connects the scenes. The music will turn into a diegetic sound as it will be the song they are practicing. A pause in the music will cue the movie title in full screen "VINCENT MANGO".

BAND MEMBERS//ACTORS

We've decided on our character development for the most part. Seeing as this plays a large factor in the opening we need to have each of the actors with a defined sense of style and personality. Although this is only a film opening and we have the short time of two minutes, we'd like to construct a thorough backstory for each character. This would be shown through little messages here and there, hinting at their back stories that would develop further (after the two minutes). In this article it stated that creating a character's backstory would make it entirely easier to plan what/how this character would do or act in a situation. By creating a life for this character and not just including essential and obvious actions, it would be as if you were the character because you'd know them so well.
I liked this example here because it really shows that whatever your plot needs to show, it can all be told by actions of your character (exemplified by the one armed accordion player). How well your character is developed determines how far the plot can really go. Though the plot is the story of "Vincent Mango" and how they make into the music industry,

Andrew "Andy" Acosta

Isaiah "Izze" Ampuero

Alex "Shaggy" Alston

Alejandro "McLovin" Lopez

Andy is the most extroverted of the group, he loves meeting new people and making new connections. He is an avid photographer and painter and puts together photo albums. Although he is the mediator of the group, he has a tough life at home. His single mother is constantly on his back about everything and verbally abuses him. Not many people know about his home life, even his band mates have only a vague understanding of his situation.

Isaiah is the "sadboy", yet a dynamic character of the group. He spends his time writing music (that's usually very slow and sad) and is usually alone when away from the band. His biggest joy comes out of music, thus always has guitar or is singing.

Shaggy is the most serious out of the group, he handles all of the business related issues such as money and booking shows. Although stern, he spends the time away from the band at the skate park practicing tricks. Shaggy is still trying to find out what his true personality is and occasionally puts on a social mask to maintain connections.

Alejandro is the studious of the bunch. When away from the band he is studying, often times tries to cram for exams at practices. As his parents push him to sustain good grades he would have to leave practices early, causing conflicts within the band and their practice time.