This week we spent our time watching videos on how to storyboard. After watching the videos we started to practice drawing faces and bodies with the help of Mr. Bergen. We did this in hopes that it will help to improve our storyboards in the future. My partner Gracie and I were both responsible for creating our own storyboard. We started by creating pictures of how we think our film introduction will look. 

Our first shot will be of a book on a platform in the middle of a room. The shot will start as a far away wide shot and then slowly zoom in to a close up of the book with (title of story) written on the front. During this zoom in a voiceover will begin giving the audience a small background story of the main characters.

The next shot will be of the book open on the table with a preview of what is going to happen in the story. The book will open and flip pages on its own as if it is magical. During this shot the narrator is still talking.

The third shot will be after the book has flipped through all the pages and lands on a blank page. Once the book lands on the blank page the camera starts to zoom into the page. As it zooms in twinkly sparkles lead the camera into the nature. During this whole scene the narrator is still speaking.

These two films were made by me and my partner Gracie. They are the same film but have different soundtracks to them. We were assigned to make it that way to show that sound affects the way something seems. Like if you added a scary/creepy song to a video of someone walking through a hall making the audience think they are going to get scared and then taking that same film and putting a happy upbeat song to it making it seem as if they were headed to do something they were excited about. In our films we chose the iconic theme song from Pirates of the Caribbean to make it silly/fun and the theme song from Jaws to create a sense of suspense and horror. 

My role in this project was to help plan the shots and then film them. I feel as if the final project could have been better. We did much better with our first film which was a music video based on the song “It Is What It Is” by: Jenna Raine. In my opinion we should have thought over our shots a little more before filming the final product. I did like the songs we chose to go with our films; they fit really well with what was happening in the shots. I also liked the prop we used which was a leaf that we gave eyebrows to in order for it to look angry.

While watching my peers' videos I learned that you can change the focus of the camera from one person to another. I learned that from the films that Jae’Lynn, Mackenzie, and Caleb made. In the future I will try to incorporate a more steady shot. I will also try to make the shots flow together so it doesn't look choppy. Over all this was a fun project that really helped me understand film shots and how to make them better.

Down shot that zooms out from close up shot of leaf laying on the ground. (Where Pirates of the Caribbean theme song will start)

Flips to an up shot of Gracie looking down at the leaf curiously then looks away.

Flips back to down shot of ground where leaf has disapeared. (Where "Jaws" theme music will enter.)

Tranistion to a side profile shot of Gracie looking at camera then screaming and running away.

Transition to leaf standing upright with angry look on face as the camera slowly moves in closer.

Flips to Gracie running from leaf. Camera shakes as if it is the leaf running.

transitions to wide shot of Gracie running like Captain Jack Sparrow.

Throughout November we have been talking about gender representation in film and television. Gender representation is used a lot throughout many films and television. In class we were going to watch a little bit of Big Little Lies and reflect on it but instead we watched a Hallmark movie from a dvd Mr. Bergen had because we are currently unable to watch movies and television shows from any platform like netflix, hulu, peacock, etc… due to the new restrictions that have been put into place. 

The Hallmark movie we watched was called Moonlight & Mistletoe. This movie stars Candace Cameron Bure as Holly, the daughter of Nick. Nick is a single father who plays the role of santa claus at “santaville” the little area he owns and lives at. When Holly was young she worked for her father in the gift shop and her father called her his number one elf. In the shop she met Peter, a guy that “makes things” . She told him about the nutcracker and he left her a necklace he made. Fifteen years later Holly is working at an office and finds out that her dad got hurt in a sledding accident so she goes home not intending to stay for christmas. She meets an old classmate who sets her up on a date with a guy named Ben. She later finds out her dad is having financial issues and the man she met on the date offers to help her. Her dad realizes she is struggling and really missing her mother after having an argument so he shows her a box of stuff that belonged to her mother and in it was a mistletoe. Peter, the boy she met 15 years ago, now works for her dad in Santaville. She remembers who Peter is and then finds out that the dude (Ben) she went on the set up date with is trying to ruin her dad’s business. They sell the nutcrackers that Peter makes in order to raise enough money to save the business but it doesn't work until Holly's boss comes to buy a nutcracker for the exact amount they needed to save the business. The business is saved and her and Peter kiss. 

Holly was a businesswoman whose father got into a sledding accident so she went back to the small town where she grew up to take care of her single father because her mother passed away when she was really young and she has no siblings to help out either. Her father wants her to stay at home for christmas he even shows her a box of things that were her mothers which included a thing of mistletoe. As she spends more time with her dad she finds out that they are going through financial struggles. She starts to date a man that works in finance but then falls in love with a man who “makes things”. She met him when she was younger and he now makes nutcrackers because she told him about how she loves the nutcracker. At the end Holly and the man that “makes things” kiss under the moonlight.

Pride and Prejudice is a romantic/drama film that was published in 2005. The publisher of this film is Joe Wright. Wright does a really great job of setting a scene. The scenery of this film really helps to represent the mood and period of this film. It shows this when the cows are running in the background and the geese are in the pond that is in front of the house. It also shows it when the maids are cleaning the white linen and the man is feeding the ducks. The house in the film also represents it because it's an old brick house from the 1900’s.

As the beginning scene starts the sound of a piano like music slowly comes in over the diegetic sound of birds chirping in the wild. In this scene the camera slowly pans in over the scene of trees and a field that surrounds the Bennet estate. In this scene the sun is slowly flooding in over the trees and the field. This happens until the name of the film fades into shot. After the name of the shot it shows the main character with the sun shining behind her making it seem as if she is glowing. In this scene the main character is reading a book as she walks in the field. She then towards the end of the shot closes the book and pats it in a friendly and loving way.

The continuous shot starts at one minute fifteen seconds where Elizabeth Bennet, the main character, is walking through the white linen that is hanging on the clothesline outside the Bennet estate. It continues to a door where Elizabeth leaves the scene and the shot starts walking into the house. As the shot goes through the house Elizabeth's family slowly starts being introduced to the film starting with one of her sisters sitting at the piano playing the song that we thought at the beginning was a non-diegetic sound. Then it presents the eldest sister at the bottom of the steps and then the two youngest sisters running down the stairs giggling. Then it shows Elizabeth again but this time she's walking outside the front door where we see ducks and a man throwing the ducks seed. After it shows the ending of the shot which is an over the shoulder shot of Elizabeth's Mother and father talking in her fathers office. 

This week we have been working with Forrest Gump. In the beginning of the  film Forest sees a feather  that landed at his feet and he picks it up and puts it in his book. He later on sees the feather float away after he sends his son on the bus to school. The feather seems to represent forest's destiny because it comes in at an important part of his life. It comes in while he's at the bus stop waiting for his bus to Jenny's apartment and then ends at the school bus stop where he drops off his son.

Forrest Gump returns home when he finds out that his mother is sick; this is when destiny is first mentioned. His mother says to him that everyone has a destiny and she believed her destiny was being Forrest's mother. Forrest asked what his destiny was and she said that was for him to figure out. Destiny was mentioned again close to the end while Forest was at Janny’s graveside under their favorite tree. He said to her that he doesn't know whether we all have a destiny or if we're all just floating around all accidental like.

What I got from this film is that the feather seems to represent Forrest's destiny because it comes at an important part of his life. It lands at his feet and he picks it up and puts it in his book while he's at the bus stop waiting for his bus to Jenny's apartment. The feather leaves when it falls out of the book while he's at the school bus stop sending his son Forrest to school. I feel that his destiny is similar to what his moms was only his destiny is to raise a child that is smart and has no physical issues.

Forrest Gump (1994): The film of Forrest Gump follows third throughout the whole intro. The font and sound of the beginning is very soft and calm. As the film starts there is a feather that floats across the screen going up and down the screen as it floats through the sky into the city making its way to Forest's feet. The main scene of the film after the credits finish is the bus pulling into the bus stop. As the feather floats it is in a continuous shot until 2:38 where it switches to the clip of the bus pulling in. This film represents diegetic sounds by playing soft piano music throughout the whole scene then it shows non diegetic sounds by adding sounds of cars and people walking in the background. The feather that is shown eventually stops floating and lands at forest feet, then soon after the film cuts at 2:38 for the first and only time. The last two minutes of the film slowly zooms into forest gump. Throughout the zoom in they keep forest in the middle third of the screen. The end of the scene ends with Forrest Gump trying to remember his first pair of shoes.

Top Gun (1986):    During the opening scene of this film we can see that the background is black during the credits all the way till after the name of the movie pops up in bold lettering. During the credits it plays a more masculine song while presenting a more masculine font on top of a black background. As the film goes the music starts to intensify. Throughout the first two minutes of the film there were roughly ten different shots taken. The music slowly builds into a more intense song called “Highway to the danger zone”. When this song starts playing it causes the shots to be more frequent. You can tell very quickly that Top Gun is a different genre then Forrest Gump. Top Gun is more of an action movie while Forrest Gump is more of a drama/romance movie.