Production Stuffs #2

 Want to know something incredibly stupid I looked up? How to do credit sequences. I know, Duke is off their A-game. Trust me, I am incredibly tired and it was nine in the morning when I did that. I cannot go back to that new low, I wish not to. And, I even researched this.

    Back on track, I had finished filming my video. Thanks all to my assistant/mother Mrs. Lugo! She is also an actor in this opening introduction; do not worry she is paid in cookies and less down time. I am not a bad employer after all. Would you like to see the rest of my video? Sure you would! And here it is:

    I lied, you are not going to see my unedited version of the video. But this is what it looks like to me. Trust me when I say this, ending this project has been the worst time of my life. My assistant/mother is not a good camerawoman, and I know she has been a little trouble to help me. I know she is trying, but by all things was this production day a struggle for me. 

    Another thing about this production day, I finished the production and I went over the time limit. Which, is a good thing because I still need to trim all of the segments of video and I believe I will not need to trim about 12 seconds off. If I do, I am still in the time section because the time minimum (and technically maximum but I have a couple of seconds more that is allotted to me without being penalized) is two whole minutes.

    Now, more production stuff also does involve me venting a little bit. I am not too much a fan of my work so far. But, hopefully it would end up better with my editing and such that. After my video recordings, nothing else much happened today for me to complain or tell you about. Other than the struggle and inevitable unhappiness that comes with me and video recording.

CCR Thoughts (1 out of 4)

     Okay so, a bit early for this type of thinking, but I have literally nothing else to post right now. You may be questioning, "Don't you have a project to post about?" Yes, I do. It just so happens that I messed myself up last post and a bunch of things were pushed back because of it. So, my schedule should have saved this for last, but no. You are going to be getting a hearty production blog post on Saturday and an editing post of Sunday. I would have saved this CCR for Sunday, but timelines are not time aligning.
 
    Back on track, what am I thinking about for CCR things? Well, one needs to know what the question is. Just so happens to be that the first question is "How does a product challenge conventions and social issues?". Also, CCR stands for Creative Critical Reflection, which I did not know until my boss told me. We do have to keep in mind that some may not challenge, and why it may be like that. I did have a meeting with my boss a while back about these questions, so here be me pulling from my handy dandy notebook.
    Some things to think about when creating a CCR: 
                                                ---Must talk about your genre (teen/coming of age)
                                                ---Which genre conventions are shown? (identity crisis/teenage                                                                                                 experiences/conformity/interpersonal conflict)
                                                ---Which are (not) challenged and why?  (Stereotypical family--separated parents or a normal type of tension between teens and parents-instead this is opening introduction is about a family casting aside their family member. I would not show drugs in my film, because many children are not at high risk for substance abuse is they are not exposed family members. I am not filming in a high school, so cliques are not needed.)
                                                ---CCR videos' examples can come straight from the blog or opening                                                             introduction. (YEAH BABY! NO NEED FOR EXTENSIVE                                                                           RESEARCH! WOOOOO!)

    Now, you did just read a good majority of text, but that pretty much summarizes the questions I have to think about and my shortened answers for them. But what about ideas for what my videos would actually be about? So, I have a couple. Here is the thing, I am not allowed to do any get ready with me types of CCRs or muck bangs--incessant eating while answering questions--type of CCRs. Which is overall fine with me, I was not trying to do a CCR about me packing up to leave for a trip nor do I want you to see me eating.

                        1.) A jeopardy style video but it is only one person that looks like they are constantly switching in and out of clothes to act out the different contestants. 

                        2) A weather broadcast that was interrupted by an arrogant--maybe whimsical--villain broadcasting about this opening introduction. May or may not act as if this opening introduction is their life before they became a villain. (I may or may not like hero styled types of media....) 

    Yep, this is it. For now, at least, I will probably add more to my ideas list about what I should be doing my video about. I actually really like the villain idea. I could build upon that idea more. But anyways, this is it for my current ideas sweeping the topic of CCR question 1 off the list. Be back for more CCR related ideas right after the finishing of my show. Have a good day/evening/night, dear customer!

Editing Starts Here

     You know of my initial forty-three second opening introduction. But have I talked to you about my editing? No, the answer is no. Anyways, since I have some video to start working on, this blog post is the editing starts stuff type of blog post. 

    Before I tell you about my editing, here is a little change that I did to the logo. All it was the font after that there is nothing else. It is still looking like a viewing booth; I'd rather not change that. Anyways, back to actual editing.

    That was a lie, I am still going to talk about my introduction video for a second moment. Mainly because I put the logo in. With extra text that says "A Boneta Film," that fades out. The logo and the text both fades in and fades out for roughly a second.

    Anyways, I lied about the forty-three second video. It is actually forty one seconds long. Now, what exactly did I do? Well, I had adjusted the video's contrasting. Just barely though, to get that subtle warmth. This is technically what it looks like, for the most part because I had to manually adjust each video section to look like a warm overtone (I could not actually find a filter).

    "But Duke, you shrunk your progress!" Yes, I get it. I am also unhappy, but what is done must have been done. (There was an extra clip that did not fit at all, scrapped into the void.) I also had to adjust a couple of clips so they do not look like jump cuts. I somehow hated saying that word, jump cuts. I have full rights to blame my boss, whom integrated me into hating jump cuts. Anyways, to fix this minor issue, I had faded in the clips by a very small margin of time. It looks better, but in the finalization I may need to adjust this more.

    Another thing I had added was the title and some of the credits. I promise that the actual title looks better on the video instead of my screenshot. Actually, they all look better on video.

That is pretty much all that I have done, since my convenient filming day is on the weekend and I do not want to do anything. But you, dear customer, can rely on me to get you a product of any kind.

Group Meetings

    Welcome back, my dear customer, to another game show of who did I meet today! A bunch of great characters I have to talk about today, some of which may be friends from the past time that we have had these group meetings. Now, let me explain the rules and regulations (please note that this is posted days later to the actual event that occurred):

                                                     1. I will be talking about each of my new comrades (four new                                                                         contestants). 
                                                     2. For privacy purposes, I will not disclose any names or personal                                                                 information. Instead, I will be using their allotted blog names. 
                                                     3. I have a special contestant who has no blog, though I have notes.                                                             So, beware!
                                                     4. I will be nice about it! So have nice thoughts, dear reader.   

     Time to actually talk about our contestants! Starting with Aice Media Blog 1234. For time's sake I will be calling this contestant 1234. As this was described to me so graciously, 1234 called the horror/thriller film's start as "two losers on a couch". Now, the idea was that these "two losers on a couch" were being stalked by a shadow figure and the characters did not know it. Think of any cliche horror film, like Halloween for example, and then think of that one stalking scene where you see from the killer's eyes. Now you have the scene that was explained to me, dear customer. For traitorous scenarios where you want to shop somewhere else: Aice Media Studies Blog

    Onto the next contestant, Meliyah!! So, Meliyah told the group all about the two sisters that star in her movie. One of them is dead, insert emotional surprised gasp here. Died in a car crash, if I remember correctly. Now, this contestant had filmed on the beach with much more expensive equipment than I. May I be jealous for a moment? No, you may not be.  Now, if I remember correctly, I there was talk about showing the main character on the beach reminiscing about her lost loved one. There was an issue with maybe the sounds, and beaches never do truly have quietness. If you wish for more, here it is: Meliyah’s Blog

    Let's see, our third contestant is Amstqselny. I do not wish to pronounce aloud that ever again. Now, much like Meliyah right above, this contestant has also filmed on the beach. With much the same issues as Meliyah, Amstqselny will have those same struggles to overcome. Now, what is Amstqselny doing? This contestant is the one that wishes to show homelessness struggles. Their character is the one that is supposed to be all rugged and dirty, which I believe is a good look that they have going. To shop around more in their production: amstqselny.

    For our familiar contestant, introducing Aice Media Studies AOC. For differentiating purposes, they will be called AOC. Now, you may be wondering how this contestant is familiar. Do you remember Precooler from the last group project? AOC is their project partner. Much like Precooler from a different time, AOC is filming a detective introduction with the thief being an antagonist that steals jewelry. There was some ideas thrown about for their CCR (a jeopardy type of thing) and there was help with adjusting the lighting of one of their shots. AOC's blog project is portrayed here: Media Studies AOC.

    Our second last contestant is Julia! There was only one thing that I wish to say about Julia, the blog postings and Meliyah's have the same format and coloring, to the point that I almost would have given you different links to their projects. What a coincidence! Anyways, Julia has decided to do a murder mystery about the detective's relative or friend (I do not remember which one) being murdered. Now, this contestant is the one I have least about (apologies dear contestant) however this contestant was the most helpful. Without this contestant, I would not have much of any links to give to you all. So, applause for contestant Julia! Thus is her link: Julia

    Our last and most definitely least of our contestants is Eman. What Eman was doing for this project is another coming-of-age type of opening introduction. To my knowledge, this contestant has a partner. Much similar to my own opening introduction, this teenager is neglected, however it is done in a completely different way. This teenager main character is going to be portrayed as a "bad kid" by going out with sketchy types of friends and doing sketchy types of things to look cool. The mise-en-scene will be in all black clothing and darker types of situations. One other CCR was told about during this section, a Hot Ones type of CCR. If you even know what that means, if not, I believe it is a eating questionnaire where the person eating hot things must answer questions. Do not take my word for this though.

    This is my closing sentence. You know how this goes by now, have a good day/evening/night! And until next time, dear customer!

Filming (2/21/26)

     The accursed day has come. Big starting of filming day, how fun. (Note the sarcasm.) Now, most of this day will be me filming alone. The rest of the introduction that I need another person in will be filmed over next week while I am editing. I figured this would happen, hence planning ahead my dear customer so I do not get overwhelmed. Structure is key, as my mother would say.

    So, as I write in my pink dress, I have come to realize that I definitely need help. All of my kitchen shots are done, and look decent enough for me. Do you want to know something funny? I had to scrap parts of my introduction, the balloon section. If you did not know during my planning stage, I had a balloon section in my opening scene where Mallory could not figure out how to blow a balloon without it popping. I do not have any balloons. So, I made a spot on change where Mallory could not find where she would put up a large garland that says "Happy Birthday!". So, some new shots were made, but the concept is the same where she asks her mother for help. The only change is the subject of why she is asking for help.

    Want to know another problem? My shots were all taken at very weird parts when I was not holding them. Initially, I would have a partner helping me out. But, said partner is now gone. So each of this start of my video is all me and my weird concoctions of ideas.

    This is a photo of where my phone was when I needed to take the shot above of the messy countertop full of garlands and decorations. I had taped my phone down on that small ledge where the door would have gone.

    Another way was for me to have the door closed, balancing my phone in between the door and the ledge. Now, if I even moved anything, my phone would have fallen. Gladly, it is still okay and I refuse to reenact that picture.

    The shot where I am holding up the garland was done by that. Propping up my phone on a ladder for the height and against a liquid measuring cup so it would stay up. Do you now see why I ended early and waited for my mother?

    Another tidbit that does not actually have anything to do with my filming process.

    My brownie both burnt and is raw on the inside. Now, you may not see how raw it was, but it was raw enough. The top, if you look hard enough in this photo, has bits and pieces of black stuff. I am pretty sure that the black stuff is just overcooked sprinkles, but I do not want to test that out. I blame you, Martha White, for my horrid baking skills.

 Back on track, I have gathered my videos together into one file now. Do you want to see my 40 second start up without any editing? You do not have a choice, here you go:

43 Second Introduction: Happy Birthday Mallory

More Production Stuffs

     Okay, per mandatory from my boss, I must do another production blog post. I shall now use this as a way to show you a collective of things I have done over the week. Have fun, as much as I have had at least (note the slight sarcasm, dear customer).

    Prop creations: 
        Outside of creating my logo, I have created props for my film. Because what is a film without props here and there. 

For my streamers and my garlands, we found them in the back of my closet. Those down below were from years ago on my mother's birthday tea party. Convenient, but somewhat confusing as to why they are in my closet. 

         Anyways, for the brownie that shows the edited title was all made by yourself truly. Minus the mix that comes in the box, I do not know how to make mixes for cakes and brownies (maybe cookies) on my own. But, the rest of it I did create. Revel in the sweet glory of a sweet treat that you wish you could have, and I wish I could eat all on my own without a stomachache. (Spoilers, I will eat quite the bit of it). It is from the brand Martha White that calls for:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of milk
Approximate Cook Time:
14 to 16 minutes at 400° Fahrenheit

    Now you know what I plan to do the morning of production time. I am actually baking during my opening introduction. I can imagine it smelling great, so that is why I gave you the ingredients and what I did. You did not need to know that, but I am not going back. By the way, it may seem as if I am posting the day I am actually filming, do not worry about that. I may be slightly pushed back.

Production Company Logo

     Hello, hello, hello dear customer! Why I have prospects for you! I have officially branded my oh-so-great company. Now, you must be confused, I can see that look on your face. My branding is Duke, you know that! But I mean that I have officially made a brand logo! A marketable brand logo, that's why I am so upbeat today. This marks the start of my journey, officially, to be a marketable brand!

    Can I stop this act now? Okay, you get it. I have a logo. Want to see it? Well, this is it:

    So, you must be wondering, why have I been saying MARKETABLE BRAND LOGO! Sorry, had to do it one last time. Back on topic, the reason is that this logo will be in the start of my opening introduction. It officially starts my movie, and it is all mine for a logo, just like how any production logo is. And, if this was not already a product that was going somewhere, I would market it and get money off of it. What? (Greedy much?) Hush, I get it. But I need to pay for many things. Many things, like tomato sauce---fine, I'll stop.

    Back on topic, Duke, come on. You must know how I came up with this logo. You, dear valued customer, will not only get the product, but will get a mini process in a timeline of pictures on how I made this product with hand's and poorly scribbled subtitles included. But no video, I am not doing that while at work.

In between these screenshots there was not much, as it was mostly me drawing.

    Now, I definitely have had trouble trying to figure out what to make. My initial designs for a logo looked like this: 

    Nothing like now's logo, right? Nor did it fill me with all that joy to look at, so it was scrapped quite quickly actually. Now, I had many ideas bounce around in my cluttered brain that I named Brian. Some had fit my already curated image of Duke's Emporium, others did not. Hence the reason why my final product for my logo looks like a market. Anyways, that is pretty much it for this update about my life. Now, time to stop stalling and start working on the video.

Final Planning Post

     Okay, okay, this is my last planning ideas that I am throwing out at you all. Promise, because I know that you are practically done figuring out when I am starting all this. This last input will be smoothing everything out. 

    So, when am I planning to film? On the weekend, mainly because I need light as my main light source is from my windows, and I also need the help from my parents for shots I cannot do myself. Now, here is the issue, I do have something that I am doing all day Sunday. So, I have Saturday to do my filming. Personally, I am going to do this in sections, film specific parts of the opening on Saturday, and if I cannot finish, I would have to drag it out to next weekend. Lovely, I know. You must be asking, "Duke, do you not have time to work over the week?" Maybe for some parts, like when Mallory is interacting with her mother as I can maybe catch my mom as she is actually finishing up work before sunset comes in. 

Want an actual plan minus my yapping? (Now that I read back on it, I am making very little sense). Here you go:

        Week of  2/26 to 2/22: Start and finish production company logo. Set up the set of filming areas (I.E Create garlands and cake, mess up countertops, etc.). If possible; start filming minor areas of film.

        Saturday (2/21/26): Film majority of kitchen scenes (if all of it).

        Sunday (2/22/26): Start foley collection and get already filmed scenes into a whole video.(I would film on this day, but for a majority of this day, I will be gone).

        Week of (2/23/26 to 3/1/26): Finish up filming/foley if not finished. Put together film and start editing. 
            Saturday and Sunday (2/28/26 to 2/29/26): Let's say I did not finish a majority of the filming; I would have to do that on this day.

    Does that not look a bit cramped to you? Because it does to me, though I have my reasons. My reasons being: I have a bit to do outside of this class that just so happens to affect my scheduling. And that my actual film needs a lot of modifications to a big part of my house--my kitchen--which is a shared space that people need to eat in. Wanna know why I plan to start my foley on this day? Because I need to post another thing about my production, and foley is a production thing-a post-production thing-but a production thing that I can talk about. Anyways, that is enough planning for me, arrivederci mi clienti (like my Italian? I'm taking classes.). And as always, good morning, evening, and night!

Mise-En-Scene for Filming Areas.

     Now, after I showed you the mise-en-scene for the character, you must be wondering how I am doing my mise-en-scene for my surroundings. Nothing much to change the current surroundings to begin with, other than make it look like a party get together. Or the starting of one at least. So, today is not a day I can actually film due to the fact that I will be out and about today. That, however, does not mean that I cannot plan out what my surroundings will look like when you can see all of it. 

    For the kitchen area, it would look more cluttered and a mess of dishes and food. I plan to have streamers taped to the ceiling and garlands hung up. A lot of thing stretched out atop the ceiling. On the countertops, I plan to line certain areas with arts and crafts like the garlands were made by Mallory and over the oven, I plan to line the countertop with cooking utensils that were used to make the cake you immediately see. Obviously, right now my kitchen is not looking like a "birthday party" setting. So this is what I would plan to look like in the kitchen:

    Obviously I need to clear out a majority of the area. But, I can definitely get some of the filming in when I set up, just in case I want to put in more time (if needed).

The next area that is obviously needed to be set up is Ma's office area. For the most part, the room is already there in my setting up. Three computer screens, papers everywhere, a bit of clutter. I have to get rid of the blanket that we generally have and I would have to clutter up the extra desk a little more for it to look more used, but other than that the room is pretty good. The only issue that I may have is that my filming will be angled. In the office room, as you see, we have a treadmill that weighs quite the bit to move. So, I have to film at an angle so none of it gets into the camera.

    It definitely seems that I will be using the kitchen way more, which makes a lot of sense. Gladly, I am not complaining. Do not get me wrong, dear customer. I do like creating, but I have definitely been slightly overwhelmed as any small merchant in teaching would be. As is life, an overwhelming thing sometimes. At this point, I am just talking so I will let you go. As always, valued customer, have a good morning, good evening, and goodnight!

Mise-En-Scene for Character

     Alright, so as I am getting everything ready for this, I need to plan out different visual elements in my story. As I have been stating throughout my time planning out shots, the mise-en-scene for Mallory's (main character's) shots will be warm and childlike. Though that is a broad spectrum, is it not? So, what actually constitutes for warmth?
    
    Warm colors like reds and oranges, even yellows and sometimes beiges and cream. Each of these may make an appearance during the opening introduction. Though, I plan to, during the first half when Mallory is still upbeat, use brighter colors like reds, yellows and oranges. Although, near the ending half, I plan on using more creamy colors that still constitute for warmth but saturated compared to the first half.

    "But Duke, mise-en-scene is not all about colors!" Trust me, I understand, I just wish to show most of my film in all of it's oversaturated color glory. Mainly because that is how I see the world, cheesy? Yes, it is. I promise you, I get worse. Not the point, you want to see concepts of what Mallory will wear. 

    This is the dress she would be wearing, and I would like to add a shot with flowers and a little showcase of this dress. Do not mind the socks, as these are my only "fun party" type of socks that I think she would wear.

Now, I still need to either thrift or find a apron for her to wear. And either today or tomorrow I will be doing that as well as visualizing my set for upcoming filming (that I will hopefully be doing Monday, if things go to plan).

    
    With a makeup pallet that consists of this:

    Purples, pinks with reds. Though I plan to only use the matte pinks and reds, maybe I could sprinkle a bit of shine in there if my makeup skills turn out okay. A lovely combination that is supposed to show more of a childish side of Mallory. I even plan to use subtle makeup, a little bit of lip brightener and light pink eyeshadows that show subtly on my eyes like a touch up. 

    You may be questioning why Mallory is wearing a pretty dress when she is supposed to be setting up her own birthday party. It is mainly to show that despite her situation, she is setting up for herself and did not expect to be doing this to some degree. Hence the pretty dress while she is blowing up balloons and finishing up her cake. I like to use some form of juxtaposition throughout this opening introduction, is it obvious?

    So, that is just about it this time around. I shall see you all tomorrow. Good day, good evening and goodnight!

Sound Elements

     Ah, sound. Dear customer, I would like you to know that sound has always been my greatest enemy, whether inside my head or in real life. I just happen to be blessed with great enough ears that I struggle with loud sounds. (I.E. loud action fights in a movie theater equals the bane of my existence.) I will most definitely be hearing a bunch of loud sounds as I foley them. But, nonetheless, I must prevail to get you your so promised goods from my services. 

    So, the sounds will most likely have to be edited in after I film everything. Though the voice lines will have to be captured during filming so I will not have to worry, I was hoping I could get the foley sound for the balloon popping during the recording so I do not have to worry about that later either. Much of the foley will probably look like something like this: Foley Example. Such an example was some things that me and another had done earlier in the year for a project. I did not expect it to come in handy until now.

    For actually putting the sound together to match the video, that is the part I dread slightly. It is going to look a lot like layering a cake but into an online piece of media. It can look a lot like this, for example:

    Now, I have done this process before. (If I can find where I put the video, I would have shown you all.) It is more time consuming than hard to do, that is not counting my ever lacking attention span at times. As I stated before, sound layering is like layering a cake. One needs a lot of patience and time to do it, I would know.

{Citation of Image (Also a good source of how to input sound into a video)}
Film Editing Pro. (2023, April 28). How to sound design a video | Step-by-step tutorial. Film Editing Pro. https://www.filmeditingpro.com/how-to-sound-design-a-video-step-by-step-tutorial/

Character Development

     The idea is that Mallory learns that her parents are not good at the whole parenting thing and are slowly distancing themselves from her life, whether unknowingly or not. The idea is that you get to see hints of disruption very early on in the movie.

    Let us focus on specifics for the parents. Starting out with the mother, I plan for her to be there in the opening introduction, but how about the rest of the movie? The rest of the movie will portray her as an increasingly distant person. Almost as if she was there in life, but not there for Mallory in spirit. Think about the father from the movie Coraline™️, as he is a good example of who I am aiming for. An overworked millennial with little time for his daughter. Although, Coraline's real father does love her, the idea is that Mallory's mother grows to distaste her own daughter later on. So, a somewhat bad representation in some ways, but good in others.

    Mallory's father is not supposed to be there in the opening film. It should be hinted that Mallory is waiting for someone, assuming her father. So, is he going to be there in the whole film? Not much. This is where I was thinking that Mallory's father is not a consistency in her life anymore. He will probably be shown in moments where he is either resting in his "man cave," as I so generously described it (it is the garage), or just not there at all. Will he be brought up later in the movie as a character that has a lot of force in Mallory's life? Yes, because at some point in time, Mallory's father was there.

    Now, the juicy part, Mallory as a character herself. There are reasons that I plan to shoot and edit shots the way I do, and it is all because of this persona. Mallory sees the world with great emotion. Hence the vivid warmth and cool colors edited in scenes that is exaggerated. Mallory does not look her parents in the eye, hence why you barely see the top half of the parent's face, if you will see the parent's faces at all. But what will happen to her later in the movie? What is her character growth? There is a realization that Mallory and her parents are not as close as when she was little. The scenes will get darker and more bright as the parents' distance themselves from her and each other and Mallory realizes, the scenes will lose their colors. Mallory will lose connection with her guardians, and the movie will end on a sad note, end in a dark note. Everything that is shown to you, will represent the world how Mallory sees it. For the ending, there is an idea that Mallory will leave the nest of her once familiar note and never come back, the end of a once tight nit family.

    So, how do you like it? Does it seem cliche for a family to tear apart? Because it does to me, but this is from a person who does not regularly enjoy teen dramas. So, this is what it looks like to me, and I feel like I've got the right formula. Anyways, have a good day customer, see you later.

Storyboard

     Remember when I promised all of you that I would show you my storyboard with the scenes? Here this baby is:

    So, this storyboard is my rough sketch of what my opening introduction would look like. Now somethings are subject to change, as is with everything. The very first shot is subject to change itself. If I am unable to actually get a cake or even brownie mix going, I can do cookies instead. It took me a while to figure this out. This storyboard gave me many, many mini headaches. I wish I was lying, but at least the harsher part is now over for me. At least for now, as I am dreading the editing parts. 

Project Idea

     Okay, so my main idea for this project is to showcase Mallory, the main character, and what situation she is in. The main purpose in the movie, she comes to the realization that her parents are not going to be there for her like when she was littler. Though that will happen later on, I just need to hint to that in my opening introduction. Neglectful parenting with an unknowing child, essentially.
    
    The idea for the introduction is that Mallory is setting up for her own birthday. That in itself seems a bit sad, but I plan to edit the scenes of the birthday set up with warm and bright coloring. A bit ironic right? It should be. Mallory is supposed to be represented with excitement; despite the circumstances she acts happy to be doing the set up alone.  The plan for me is to get multiple shots where she peaks around the door for her busy mother, or out the window to an empty driveway as if expecting someone. Essentially, multiple shots trying to represent a form of yearning for attention. 

    When I make script and such that, it may not be much but there has to be some because of how this will be filmed. I will try to use dismissive types of script for interaction between her parents and her. My main issue is that everything sounds a bit corny, I'm getting there, but writing a script is not my specialty I have come to learn.

    My major inspiration? There never was this one movie, game, or show. I truly do not watch or play any teen drama anything out of my own will. The funny thing, I find teen drama movies boring and slightly harsh to watch. Like love movies, though that is just my preference. So why am I making this type of movie? Because I can and it is very feasible for me with the amount of time given to me. I am not stunted in this field any bit either.

    How am I doing a type of introduction for a movie I do not watch? By asking a question. What does every stereotypical teen drama movie with neglect have? Horrid parents or a rebellious teen, even both. I am leaning towards bad parenting and a sheltered type of child. That was my question and my answer. Pretty straightforward, right? Well, the words do not account for the amount of planning that I do. My favorite, planning.

    But anyways, you probably have the idea that I am going for now. I'll leave this off here, dear customer. Until next blogpost which I will spoil by telling you it is my storyboard. You're welcome and happy daylight.

Media Theories

     A while back I may have introduced you all to media theories. You may be a bit surprised to why I am talking about media theories when I told all of you that I would be focusing on my project. Well, this project uses media theories, after all it is a piece of media.

    "Duke, which media theory are you using?" What a nice question to ask dear customer. I will be trying to implement the media theory of Symbolic Code and a bit of Narrative Theory of Equilibrium. Both of these will be directly represented within my opening introduction more than any other media narrative.

    Now, what is Symbolic Code? As Roland Barthes thinks, Symbolic Code is the signs and symbols within a production that represents opposition or antithesis. Throughout this entire movie introduction, I want to have a lot of juxtaposition in the moods. From the happy and excited tones of setting up for a birthday changing to a more anxious tone of waiting and sad tone of loneliness. Personally, I will try to show this in multiple different ways, not just from the editing and scene mood changes. The characters' and rooms' differences will be different to each other. A warm glow of natural lighting to the clinical white lighting of a more suppressing area. The costumes would be the same as well, from a young and naive type of dress to a crisp and dark type of clothing.

Below is the whole Narrative Code theory; I highlighted the Code I am implementing.

    How about the reasoning for using Narrative Theory of Equilibrium? Well, as Todorov tells, narrative has it's own parts. It just so happens that the equilibrium part of Narrative Theory fits what I am making. The Equilibrium part is the introduction of the main characters in the story. Disequilibrium is the idea of showing an "initial disruption." My initial disruption will be the lack of support that is happening with the main character and their support system (parents). 

(Credits:)
Special credits to my boss for giving us this paper all about media theories early on in the year. That is where the images and descriptions of the theories and codes come from.

Group Meeting One

    So, recently (like as I started writing this in the middle of class), I have done this group meeting. But Duke, are you not working alone? Yes, in fact, I am but my boss put us in these groups of seven to get constructive criticism. Now, I shall share with you all, what went down. No names will be shared mainly because I do not remember them and for privacy purposes. 

    So, the initial idea that was brought up was a detective versus at large robber type of mystery. Inspired by Sherlock and Enola Holmes, the idea was that the robber knabbed high priced jewelry and multiple detectives are trying to find the robber. There was a quick idea of riddles, and I had mentioned something akin to The Riddler™️ (I know, I'm a Batman™️ fan. Marvel is better than DC, try me). There was a bit of trouble with trying to find the proper location, the group member had retold. Though we tried to help, it is more a get-together issue with the group member's team that they have to worry about. If you want to go read their journey for the project, click here: Aice Media Blog.

    The second idea that was brought up at the table was a mystery about a doctor unintentionally murdering his client. They were thinking about starting the scene with a sort of interrogation room, focusing on that idea with sprinkles of flashbacks to what led to that point. There were notes of how they would get to that room or a doctors' type of room for the flashbacks. The conclusion: use the medical academy's stuff because some of the rooms do have medical-esque stuff. Other types of things like how the lighting should be done over the scene--overhead hanging light for the interrogation--had come up with a couple of little tweaks. If you want to see their journey, click here: Santi's Aice Media blog

    Another film opening presented was about this runaway teenager in a bad household. The idea was a good one, with the beer bottles (that if needed could be empty cream soda glass jars) littering the ground and the protagonist's room being messy compared to the rest of the house being picked clean. Though, the way it was presented to us in the group meeting was a bit rushed as if she was trying to create an entire story instead of a movie opening. The idea was brought up that they could cut a scene in half after all of the credits just in case. If you want to see their journey, click here: KBlogs

    The next person's movie intro idea was a found footage that would be filmed near night or dawn in a forest with a "abandoned" building. Now, the only issue that I remember being a big thing with them was the lighting and where to film. Turns out, I was wrong about the nearby park because it is open past the night. There was throw out ideas for the lighting issue, a headlight or maybe a block light placed the right way. But other than those issues, I do not remember much of what happened. If you want to follow their journey, click here: blogcreation101: January 2026

    The next one that was thrown up is a cheerleader, popular and happy, yet hiding a dark secret. Of drugs! The cheerleader is a drug dealer! How exciting, now what were some issues that needed to be straightened out? The fact that the idea was way too rushed to fit into for an introduction, like the other's before. But, with a small rework, as in a clearer way it was told, it made much more sense. If you want to know of how they are working along, click here: aide media blog

    Last but not least, the last person to bring up their idea and what needs to be tweaked. Creating an animated movie with a dragon whom terrorized a village to burning. Their issues was to create certain scenes, ideas were thrown about with this. A couple were of credits in the dirt or fire. Some were of the title being on a burning tavern name. One was of bringing the dragon to blow the title out of fire, but that would probably be too much to animate for them. If you want to follow their journey; click here, Spilling the Tea

    Now, to my idea. There was idea passed around for me to have music in the background. Diegetic of course, where in the scenes which the main character is away from the music it is still faintly playing in the background. That it should be upbeat, ironic with the scenes were the main character is blatantly put off. When setting up, I was told I could make the lighting warm and happy with the main character wearing happy tones. But that the contrasting scenes, where she needs help should be clinical looking and cold. Overall, ideas that make sense and that I need to actually try to work out when fixing up my storyboard. 

How it is coming along?

     Imagine you are in my shoes. Right? Got it? Okay. Your boss tells you this, "Research post of your choice," to include as a mandatory blog post. Now, it does say right after, "(refer to blog postings list)" and under is a bunch of blogs that give examples of what others have posted. But each of them look like examples of the other blog posts you have to do and you do not understand which one is the example you are supposed to look at. Now, some of you may be going; "But Duke, this is a form of freedom!" I know, I read that with my eyes instead of my head. It took an ungodly amount of time for me to realize that. So, here is how the planning is coming along.

    Rough, my planning has been rough. I have so many ideas to choose from and I am struggling to pick which one I want to do. Referring to my first posts of this project, I passed around an idea of using trash as a main focus. Currently, I have not stuck with that idea. My new, more feasible idea, is a two-minute intro of a teen fretting about the house for an event with neglectful parents. Now, the idea is that she can have an arc later on in the movie with realization that her parents are not always going to be good parents. 

This is my ideas board right now. It needs more context and such that of course, this is how it looks. Now my actual storyboard where I am planning out what the opening intro would look like is still in production. Now that thing has been hard because everything that I do I have been erasing and redrawing again and again. How fun it is to be indecisive. So, I will post about that when I am finished with it and content. After all, what is the point of showing you all something that is not done?