Portfolio Project: 03/12/17

Music & Sound

Sunday, March 12, 2017

I briefly want to discuss the type of music and sound I've been considering for my film. I want the introduction and ending of my production to include music, which is where I think there will be no dialogue. Since I think the introduction will basically consist of a robbery scene, I also want to include side effects that will resemble alarms and sirens.

Some of the music I have been considering is that of Moow, Grimes, Spirit Ghost, Tame Impala and Manu Chao. All of these music groups seem to "fit" with the film direction I am planning, but ultimately I won't know what is best until I actually produce the video. Here are some samples of what I have in mind:

Grimes: Oblivion

Moow: Honey

Tame Impala: The Less I Know The Better

Spirit Ghost : Young In A Garden

Manu Chao: Bongo Bong

Besides Tame Impala and Manu Chao, the bands above are still relatively small and independent. Since these songs are also copyrighted, I would need to get permission to use them. I decided to research each music group and see how to contact each:

-Grimes: via website | Contact: Lauren Valencia info@grimesmusic.com

-Manu Chao: via website | management : manuchao.mgmt@corida.fr

-Moow: via bandcamp | contact : moow.contact@gmail.com

-Spirit Ghost: via bandcamp | contact : spiritghostbooking@gmail.com

-Tame Imapala: via website | mangement: tameimpala@spinningtopmusic.com

By the end of this following week I plan to contact each of these bands to ask permission to use their music. Hopefully I'll have good news soon!

xx Maria

Citations:

(n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.tameimpala.com/

G R I M E S. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.grimesmusic.com/

I can't tell you how much it hurts, by moow. (2017, January 27). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://moow-beat.bandcamp.com/

Manu Chao.net. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.manuchao.net/

Satan's Hands, by Spirit Ghost. (2014, July 01). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://spiritghost.bandcamp.com/album/satans-hands

Character & Genre Ideas

Sunday, March 12, 2017

As stated in the article from No Film School, I want to deeply develop my character in order to have a more intriguing story. Usually movies (such as Memento and Inception) have multi-dimensional characters that help the audience gain a more intimate relationship with them. Since I want my film to be especially character driven, I want to develop my main character before I start developing the story around him.

As for specific characteristic, 'Wes Andersonism' strikes again. Like many of the director's protagonists, I want my main character to be quirky, mysterious, and charming. I also want to incorporate some of MY personal traits to shine through within the the film. Since I'm an artist, I figured it would be an good choice to make the film about something I'm passionate about. It led me to creating the overall idea for my introduction, and develop some traits that would fit with it for the main character.

Introduction idea:

A man walks into a hardware store and steals paint.*

The concept of it seems simple enough. Just a robbery scene? No, not really. Apart from the overall action of stealing the paint, I want each scene to be aesthetically pleasing and have underlying symbolism that foreshadows future events within the film. But stealing the paint does serve a purpose, it connects to the overall genre ideas I have compiled for the rest of the film. Like Anderson's 1996 film Bottle Rocket, I want my film to have some components associated with the crime genre. I want my film to have the overall essence of a comedy and drama, but I also think the main story will be about multiple robberies. This puts my production under the CAPER genre. The caper genre is basically a story about organized crime, more specifically, robbery. However, it is separated from heist films, since capers usually include elements of comedy.

The following video also exemplifies the kind of character(s) I want to include in my film, similar to Anderson's:

*Adding on to my idea, since I want my piece to be very artistically centered, I also want to feature my titles (Directed by....Produced by....) on paint swatches as the main character picks the colors.

Maybe after developing my story further I will decide to incline more towards other genres. But for now, those are the ones I have in mind. I also will build my character further in order to expand on what exactly the story will be about.

xx Maria

Citations:

Capers and Heists: The Movies. (2015, November 17). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.genrify.com/2014/10/capers-and-heists-the-movies/

Renée, V. (2016, March 22). Jake Gyllenhaal on How to Make World-Changing, Character-Driven Films. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://nofilmschool.com/2016/03/jake-gyllenhaal-how-make-world-changing-character-driven-films

W. (2016, January 22). Top 10 Greatest Wes Anderson Characters. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCLVxFpftwo

Introduction: My Inner Wes Anderson

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Hello all! Welcome to my blog ☺ Here I will record the entire process of my two minute production to every last detail. Even though I'm probably one of the most awkward beings on this planet, I'm really passionate about my ideas and I'm excited to share this entire experience. I want to start off by presenting my biggest inspiration throughout the making of this production: Wes Anderson.

After previously watching The Grand Budapest Hotel and analyzing Moonrise Kingdom in class, I decided to indulge myself further in the Wes Anderson world by watching/rewatching some of his films. There's something about his cinematography that really intrigues me, but I wasn't 100% sure what it was until I did some further research on his film direction. I decided to watch The Film Guy's feature on Wes Anderson on Youtube, which is an overall breakdown of his style ⤵

I don't think I want my film to resemble the same kind of stories Wes Anderson produces, but I do want it to have similar stylistic choices. Anderson's films usually contain themes associated with grief, loss of innocence, dysfunctional families, parental abandonment, adultery, sibling rivalry, and unlikely friendships. However, he always includes a touch of comedy or a love affair within his movies, which is something I would like to add to my story. I think I want my film to have a sort of indie feel; what I mean by that is trying to develop my own style and concentrating on the more artistic elements of my production. I also want my story to fit either the drama or crime genre, or maybe both... But so far there's a couple of Wes Anderson motifs I 100% want to include:

Storytelling/narrative direction: Anderson makes all of his films seem like a children's book with the use of his camera shots and angles. He usually avoids any depth in his shots and makes them as flat and symmetrical as possible. He also avoids excessive camera movement, but does include many zooms, tracking shots, and wide angles.

A Specific Color Palette: As seen in the video, each scene or shot has a specific color palette ranging from 4-5 main colors. I think this adds on the story book feeling of the film, and makes it more aesthetically pleasing.

Character Drawn: I want my film to be especially character driven, which is something Wes Anderson never fails to do. I think I want my opening to introduce the main character and establish the setting, that way the audience immediately feels like those aspects are more significant throughout history.

Including titles as tangible objects: Most Wes Anderson titles are also PHYSICALLY embedded into an object in the film, making it seem like the characters actually are aware that they are in the movie. This gives the movies a more surrealist twist, which is what I would want to go for.

Wes Anderson is overall my biggest inspiration for my project, and I plan for his films to creatively fuel many ideas I'm excited to explore.

xx Maria

Citations:

Hill, K. (2014, March 16). Wes Anderson's Cinematography: Color and Balance. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2014/03/what-do-wes-anderson-films-and-geometry-have-in-co.html

R. (2015, October 25). 14 Whimsical Motifs That Every Wes Anderson Film Has in Common. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://mic.com/articles/84731/14-whimsical-motifs-that-every-wes-anderson-film-has-in-common#.mWwnR2PWy

T. (2017, January 31). How to Direct Like Wes Anderson - Style and Trope Breakdown. Retrieved March 12, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JDeo49wtvdU

Obenson, T. A. (2013, February 25). How Do You Define Independent Film? Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.indiewire.com/2013/02/how-do-you-define-independent-film-138001/

TSPDT. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2017, from http://www.theyshootpictures.com/andersonwes.htm

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