Group meeting #1

    So this week, my class was put into groups to share our ideas for our portfolio projects. There were six people in my group including myself and we wanted to help each other by giving constructive criticism and providing small tips to make each others ideas better. My group members names were Alejandro, Jacob, Oliver, Kiarmary, and Ale. 

Breakdowns:

    Alejandro was the first to share after myself and wants to do a project based on fast and furious. He has most of his project planned and is now just ironing out the details. His entire script is completed, he has a place to film, he has props and the main actors. At the moment he is looking for background actors to create a crowd. All the actors are going to wear street wear except for Alejandro because he's going to be the announcer of the race (he's going to wear more sophisticated clothing). I asked asked how he was planning on making sure the lighting was bright enough to see, but dark enough to fit the tone of the project. The group also suggested included many different shots and angles of the background actors to make it obvious to the audience what is going on.

The tone of Alejandro's opening

    Jacob also had a good amount figured out about what he wanted to do. His genre is going to be a sports drama and its obvious he has a vision for what he wants his project to look like, he just needs to work on a plan for executing that vision. The opening will start with just the audio before cutting to him punching a punching bag. There are going to be black and white flashbacks that make it clear that the main character had just lost his last boxing match. With each flash back the main character gets more upset and punches harder. The credits are going to be on black screens that are dispersed throughout the opening. The only audio in this entire opening is going to be the audience in the background and the announcer of the match. When the group started asking questions we were a little confused how he would do this by himself. He wants to have the flashbacks of the fight be of him in the corner of the ring not actually fighting another person so that was cleared up. A question I personally had was how he was going to find a boxing ring and he said he was going to ask his friend. 

The type of place Jacob's flashback scenes will be set in

        

    Oliver's genre is going to be action. He's going to be in a dark parking lot where some crime is happening. This escalates quickly and turns violent so the main character kills someone. Oliver is the one in our group with the least grasp on his idea, he has a general goal he's aiming for but doesn't really have a plan to accomplish this yet. During the meeting the group was trying to help him understand who his character was and why it would make sense for this opening to happen. He decided that his main character was going to be a bad guy. We also talked about how he would accomplish the scene and he said that all the audio would be diegetic sound, and he would put the credits at the bottom of the screen as the opening is playing out.

    Kiarmary is working with two other people, Gustavo and Isabella. Their idea about a spy who's meeting with a big guy at a dinner. She doesn't give him the item he asked for and it becomes a problem. I enjoyed the idea but I wanted to know how the audience would be able to tell that the main character is a spy. We recommended giving her an earpiece and someone talking in it to make it clear that she's meant to be good. Another member of the group also recommended a different filming location that might be more willing to work with them.

    I can tell Ale's idea is very good, the only thing is she's being very ambitious with it. She wants to do a zombie apocalypse where her and her best friend are surviving together. That is until her friend gets attacked by a zombie and dies. The rest of the shots are switching between flashbacks of them having good times together and the best friend bleeding out in the main character's arms. The first thing I asked was how she was going to do the zombie attack and she said that she wouldn't show it. I was also picturing a very different setting then she was. When I asked her how she was going to find a deteriorating city she said that it was going to be set in a more forested area. I'm still a little bit confused on how this is supposed to look but Ale has a plan and I'm excited to see how it turns out.

My critiques:

    After I explained my idea and plot, many of them had questions about how I would showcase the distance between the sisters. My original idea was to not show the other sister at all but they said that it would look weird and it might come across that was mourning her instead of missing her friendship. I hadn't thought about that before and they made me realize that I did need to include her, if only for a few seconds. 

    One member of my group didn't like the idea with the sister at all and suggested I change the story to be friends growing apart instead. He said it would be more realistic for friends to stop talking than sisters. I thought about it but then I realized that if I do that it wouldn't be the same story anymore. I'm really excited about my idea and much of this excitement hinges from telling a story about sisters who just can't get along. That might not happen every day, but it does happen and I personally don't think its too unrealistic.

Final thoughts:

    After taking all the suggestions into consideration I have a solid idea for my opening and how I want to accomplish it. I had a great time helping others with their projects and getting help myself. Honestly, just telling them my entire plan helped me organize my thoughts better and without their questions and suggestions I wouldn't have been able to see my project from an outside perspective. After this meeting I think I'm around where I need to be with this project and I'm happy with what I have so far.