Group Meeting 1

 In our recent group meeting, each of us provided updates regarding our final film projects and got feedback on the same by the class. It was also useful to listen to the various ideas being formulated by people and the issues that they are grappling with.

Aneesa is collaborating with Zach, Nico, and Quinn on a dark meta-comedy. Their idea is centered on the breaking of the fourth wall in which the camera itself is a part of the narrative. The topic in the film will always attempt to draw the attention of the camera and this encounter becomes more pronounced as the story unfolds. The group has just altered their concept thus they are still in the heavy planning phase. Clarity and simplicity of the idea are one of their primary considerations. They intend to do their script over the weekend so that they can develop the plot to the fullest extent and how the camera will act as a character of its own. Other ideas proposed by the group were the possibility of shooting in a studio and setting the plot as a casting session where the protagonist is playing with the camera.

Mariana is collaborating with Audrey in a short drama based on grief. The novel is about a boy who is deprived of his sister and cannot cope with the fact. The movie will probably be told by the boy in his initial therapy session that will lead the viewer through flashbacks of the happenings that resulted in the tragedy. The group deliberated on various ways in which the sister can die and it was agreed that it should be an accident rather than a prolonged sickness to ensure the story concentrates more on the emotional aspect of the situation. The other recommendation was that the sister must be younger than the main character so as to enhance the sense of guilt and responsibility he feels.=

Fabiana is developing a psychological thriller whereby a rich man appears to have a flawless life but has been involved in a fatal accident several years ago. He later on gets a mysterious package that makes him face the past and slowly lose his sanity. Fabiana raised the issue of shooting some of the scenes, particularly those that involved a police station. The group recommended that the filming should take place outside the building rather than inside so that production becomes easier. The casting was also discussed and it was advised that the protagonist should be changed to a teenager to get an actor easily. The other interesting concept proposed was the presence of several personalities in the lead character such that one personality will commit a crime and the other will be unaware of it.

Adriana is collaborating with David to produce a comedy short movie concerning a character that has the ability to teleport through a penny. Whenever he attempts to do something good, things always go astray. In the film, David will perform and Adriana will concentrate on shooting and directing. She was a little worried about the editing aspect of the film as the teleportation effect will need very specific cuts in order to make the transition realistic. Another problem has been scheduling since David is busy doing his theater and spring break is on the verge.

Vicky is collaborating with Kenna and Renn on a coming-of-age narrative that is about personal development. The main idea they put across is that human beings keep on growing despite fear and stressful situations. The plot of the story is based on a girl who gets a plant as a gift given by one of her friends and cares about it, yet as life becomes more demanding the plant starts to wither. Her emotional state is a metaphor of the plant. However, the eventual growth of the story culminates in a friendship breakup, yet the plant grows on, an element of personal growth against all odds. The team proposed the use of variable size of the plants or artificial plants to demonstrate growth more conveniently than attempting to grow a real plant with time. The other recommendation was to make a voiceover at the end which clarifies the metaphor.

Emi is collaborating with Joaquin and Andrew on dark comedy film concerning a character who enters into a deal with the devil so that he can acquire power. As the story progresses, the character engages in activities to attain such power but loses his humanity. They are already done with their script, yet they worry about locating the right shooting places. The crew proposed to make the film less complicated and have just one death rather than a few and to shoot in the Markham Park. The other recommendation was that they should come up with their symbol rather than pentagram to make the film seem original.

Towards the end of the meeting, I presented my own project. I am producing a narrative music video, which is based on the style of such artists as Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo. The song that I am working with is I’ll Call You When I have Made It by Annie DiRusso. The video is based on the storyline of a breakup in which the relationship is happy, but it becomes more toxic as the song unfolds. Among the challenges that we discussed is that the chorus is repeated a number of times, and I would like each of the choruses to demonstrate something different rather than the same visual images. I also discussed the discussion of shooting a scene at the beach, where the conclusion would be the main character running and having the relationship off her back. According to the group, the beach scene was supposed to lead to that emotional release of freedom. Another suggestion they gave was to take pictures on the beach as part of the vinyl package part of the project. On the whole, the feedback enabled me to consider more how the final scenes are going to visually portray the character as a moving on.

Here is us in our group!