SONGS

Since my film opening is going to be like a memory recollection I want to incorporate a song that can give that nostalgic feeling, but at the same time can express the sense of "not being able to live without THAT person," since my main character is going to be more emotionally dependent on the other. 
Now, I have some options that I feel that each will establish a totally different tone for the movie... 

• Walking on sunshine - I'm walking on sunshine, whoaaaa. This song gives me the feeling of a more energetic and goofy movie. At the beginning when the recollection of memories of the two characters is passing, I feel it would be a good background song because it gives that joyful feeling that correlates with the relationship between the two characters.

• Sunflower - "I want to know. Where I can go. When you're not around. And I'm feeling down. So won't you stay for a moment? So I can say. I, I need you so. Cause right now you know." The lyrics on this song helps the idea of the vitality of each person in their friendship. In addition, the rhythm of the beginning of the song helps convey the sense of a recollection of memories, it gives a nostalgic yet not so calm melody. 

• All Star - I also considered this song because... Because I felt like it was a good fit for two friends and it would be perfect to represent the goofiness of their friendship,  but the tone of the movie I feel like it would completely change. Also, the beginning of the song "somebody once told me the world is gonna roll me. I ain't the sharpest tool in the shed" I think fits the main character though he is not somebody who goes after what he wants, nor do much to get where he wants.
  

• Mr. Blue sky - "Runnin' down the avenue. See how the sun shines brightly in the city" I feel like this song also represents a little of the relationship between the two characters. Is an energetic and happy song, and for this I feel like it would make it more difficult for me to do the recollection of memories because it would have to be at a fast pace and quick shots.   

• You're my best friend - Oh, you're the best friend that I ever had I've been with you such a long timeee. The tittle of the song gives it away, I chose this song because 1. Queen is one of my favorite bands, 2. It represents what the main character tries to express to the other character, and 3. I feel it also fits that nostalgic recollection of memories. 
  

• Happy Together - I can't see me lovin' nobody but you for all my lifeeee. In a non-romantic way I think this song can also represent a friendship like the one the two characters have and just fits as a good happy nostalgic song for the film opening.
  

Inspo

Lars and the Real Girl

In this movie directed by Craig Gillespie in 2007. The main character, Lars, is extremely shy. His weird way to interact with people due to the schizoid personality disorder that he has makes it difficult for him to be able to socialize and form relationships. When he finally brings a girl to his small town, his brother and his sister-in-law, Gus and Karin, are the firsts to know. The only problem is that the girl is no real, is a sex doll, but Lars is the girl of his dreams. As soon as Karin and Gus meet Bianca, Lars' dream girl sex doll, they get worried about his mental health. They proceed to go along with the idea that she's real and eventually the whole town does too. 

I took this movie as an inspiration to see the way Gillespie interprets the idea of someone that's not real but the narrative world, the main character does, and see how the people around them react according to the surroundings where the character lives 

Fight Club

"A nameless first-person narrator (Edward Norton) attends support groups in an attempt to subdue his emotional state and relieve his insomniac state. When he meets Marla (Helena Bonham Carter), another fake attendee of support groups, his life seems to become a little more bearable. However, when he associates himself with Tyler (Brad Pitt) he is dragged into an underground fight club and soap making scheme. Together the two men spiral out of control and engage in competitive rivalry for love and power. When the narrator is exposed to the hidden agenda of Tyler's fight club, he must accept the awful truth that Tyler may not be who he says he is." - IMDb 

Jojo Rabbit

In this satire, the story revolves around Jojo, a German boy who dreams to be a Nazi. He is presented with a "problem" that turns his world upside down, he discovers that his mom is hiding a Jewish girl in their attic. Jojo and his imaginary friend, which is Hitler, Jojo confronts his nationalism along with Hitler. 

The idea of the imaginary friend for Jojo is more of a support system for him, he goes to Hitler to ask him for ideas and opinions. Jojo is conscious (I wanna say) of his imaginary friend not being real.

90s fashion

This article helped me a lot as an inspiration for how I want my characters to dress. 

Artists like Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, and Will Smith are some fashion icons that I'm going to look up to for the image of my character

Brainstorm(ing)👽

Story Ideas

So I have four ideas for the film opening, two of them are just for generic backup and the other two are the ones that I really want to be able to make.

• First one: Katherine used to be a successful woman with everything material that one can dream. She worked in a small bank chain, Bank of America, helping her friend gain more money through malpractice. After a small error in her swindle transaction, everything falls apart as she losses herself too. The film opens with her alone in a cell and the movie goes by with Katherine remembering what she had and what she did to end up where the movie started.

• Second one:  This one I'm not sure of like the scheme of the story but it would mainly be about catharsis after a couple divorces. Two stories in one of tow different perspectives.

• Third one: The film starts by a drone shot (hopefully) of the victim, you see a body with no head and then the frightened face of the murderer, John. The movie is about discovering how and why John kills that person. Because you never see the face of the victim at the beginning of the movie, it intrigues you to guess who John is going to kill

• 💚Fourth one, the one that I'm doing: Two friends grew up together, since they were kids (I don't have the names yet, say friend 1 and friend 2) they would do everything together. Until one day friend 1 disappears because he was an imaginary friend, but friend 2 doesn't know he was imaginary. Friend 2 sticks to the idea that friend 1 was real and tries to find him, he gets depressed because he just lost his most important person. The film opening would be a recompilation of them "growing up" but you never see their faces, you would only see two people playing but nothing else until the end of the opening you see two young men in their twenties just vibing which sets the setting to the rest of the movie.

 

Day 1, genre

↬FILM OPENINGS in drama

Films like To Kill A Mockingbird have title sequences that do not have any characters in the excerpt. The close-ups and slow cuts allow the audience to connect in a sense with the child character that although is not ever seen, the voice over and the different elements. At the end of the opening a drawing of a mockingbird is seen that later on is divided reflecting "to kill a mockingbird."  

In The Breakfast Club, the audience only see the opening credits along an upbeat  background music and then the credits "breaks" into the first glance of the setting of the story, there's a school and the shot is in black and white. The lack of visuals in this opening leaves the audience intrigued of what's going to happen next.

Forrest Gump opening scene starts with a contrast between the ski and the feather that represents the innocence of the character. While the camera follows the feather, the setting of the story is set, a small historic American town. The feather then lands in the shoe of the main character, Forrest Gump, giving the sense of fate because it could have stopped at any moment but it was led to him. 

Film Opening Project

↬The drama continues...

So I decided to do drama as my genre for this big project. 

Drama is the broadest movie genre with many subgenres that allow the movies to transmit differently depending on the story you're trying to tell.

• From adventure which its content is based mostly on human relationships or inspired by them and greater dramatic issues. Like Star Trek: Picard and The Life of Pi
  

• Crime like Pulp Fiction and Uncut Gems, which focuses on the life of either fictional or realistic characters. 

• Mystery like Midsommar and Horsegirl, is primarily focused on resolving a puzzle while recurring to motivations like greed, lust, and revenge. 

• To even romance like Little Women and The French Dispatch. It deals with a romantic relationship between two or more characters, some movies deal with the characteristics of "typical" romance movies of a couple that has to pass obstacles to get to each other.

 For my project, it will mainly revolve around one of these subgenres BUT under the umbrella genre of ↬drama↫

music marketing project

LlLIANA REED

Liliana Reed is a 24-year-old upcoming pop artist from Long Beach, California. She won the 18th season of The Voice, after that, she proceeded to sign with the music production company of Atlantic Records, which also represents artists like Sia, Bazzi, Kiiara, and many more. Here, Liliana starts to build an audience which will help her to establish a starting brand for her future career in pop music. The prize for the winner of The Voice is $1,000,000. She's going to use this money to start off her music career and create her first single "Royals."

Pop genre

Pop is a combination of rock and house music, sometimes with R&B characteristics. Pop songs are recorded to sell the most because they have more catchy pronounced melodies so they are radio-friendly.

Artists in this genre rely heavily on music videos and visual performances. This genre generally tries to include everyone and have fun and also tends to seek attention and hold it. Mostly, the target audience for pop music is females between the ages of 16 to 26, who most of them are middle class and have a job. This age range of the audience is mostly on their phones, on social media and are more likely to be attracted to colorful, original, and modern cover art (the ones that you see above were created by me for the project).  

Marketing Strategies - Expanding her brand

Creating the name and the visual representation of the artist wasn't one of the most difficult parts of the project. We wanted a different name form the genetic ones and someone that would be easy to relate to and approachable as opposed to some pop artists. We decided that Liliana Reed was going to deliver her point of view about societal and political statements through social media platforms like Twitter, which would allow her to have a more diverse demographic. Through Instagram, she would provide insights for her music releases, concerts, and events. On Snapchat and Youtube, a more personal and intimate part of the artist would be provided, this way the audience has a more relatable and personal point of view of Liliana. 

We stuck to a base of colors and an icon for the artist (an eye) which was reflected on her merchandise and social media platforms. We wanted to create a calm but diverse pallet of

colors so the artist would be able to continue her brand and her target audience would feel identified and she would be able to effortlessly stand out.

Thanks to the fact that she already had a fan base from the show, her start off in the music business wasn't as rough as it is for some upcoming artists. Our campaign goal was to reach a wider audience far from California where she's based.  Her music was going to be streamed in major platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Pandora, and Soundcloud. The music video was going to be posted on the youtube channel which would also serve as a different interaction with the audience since she would be posting blogs and insights about her music.
To promote and expand more her brand, we thought that collaborations with influencers on both, Instagram and Youtube would benefit her a lot, though they could make a video and feature her songs as background music. Also, since her target audience is heavily on social media, paid advertising would benefit her a lot since it would be a way to reach a wider and more diverse audience.

Merchandise and Website

With the large started income, Liliana was able to release a broad selection of merchandise that can be found on the website. We chose to do pop sockets, phone cases, beanies, joggers, and hoddies since it is an easier way to promote because people see it more and are the things that sell the most within our audience age range.

We also wanted our artist to be consistent in her way to communicate her ideas, so 20% of the profit from the merchandise will be donated to a monthly charity featured on the website and her social media. On the website, an information tab is available to the public to inform them of the charity of the month. Also, you can access to every platform of social media of the artist through her website and view the most recent video or release of a song. We wanted our website to be easier to access to the public, so everything is available for you to see on the main page, but also by clicking the tabs you can go to every separate part of it.

By this project, I learned that every choice matters and has to be related to your knowledge of the medium that you are working on. On the production of the video, I noticed how difficult can be to tell a story that already has been told from a different point of view.