Editing part 2!

Hello everyone, welcome back! In this blog post I’ll show a little bit more about my editing process and how is my progress so far.

So, I started editing the first scene of my opening, which is the one where my character enters through the door. I changed the color tone of the scene using the “filters” session in Adobe to make the scene more warm. Here is a picture of how I did it and the intensity of the filter, which was 20:

After that, I added the scenes where he sits at his chair and starts looking at the evidence of the FBI folder left at the desk. I had to add many different cuts of close-up shots between these scenes, including an extreme close-up of his eyes reading the evidence, the close-ups of the “wanted” poster and the crime report informations to allow viewers to understand more about the story. Here are some screenshots that I took of some of these scenes: 

Before moving to the lab experiments, I used a scene where we could see the shadow of Dr. Werner’s hand putting his gloves on, to show that he was about to start doing something and mark the shift of my opening to the science part. 

After that, I started putting the lab scenes together. In my script, the idea was to do a scene with fast cuts of the equipments being used and also use a suspenseful sound on top of each cut to make it more tense. I used the website “Pixabay” to gather my suspenseful sound effects. I chose one that’s called “suspenseful boom”, which is kinda of a deep beat that I’ll use on top of each cut showing the lab experiments, and a melody called “horror suspense” to put it as background music throughout the opening. The only scenes where I won’t use this background music, are during the flashback scene and the final scene where the scientist is speaking on the phone. It was kinda hard to put each audio layer correctly on top of each scene, but I tried my best and I think it created a nice effect in the end. Here are pictures of my current timeline with the audio elements and scenes: 

Now, I have a total of 1:39 minute of video, leaving me with a comfortable window of 20-25 seconds to add the remaining 2 scenes which are short and can be perfectly done within these seconds. Overall, I’m so happy that I could edit most of my project in two days! I’ll probably edit and change some details during my peer review, but at least I already have a big idea of how the project will look like when finalized. Also, I had a little bit of difficulty to edit scenes with many cuts like the lab scenes, so I think this was probably by biggest challenge because it took me a little bit more of time to edit those details. But still, I’m already really excited to just add the last touches and see how my project will look like!

Editing part 1!

Hii there! In this blog post, I’ll talk about the editing software that I will be using to edit my final project.

During our second group meeting, I asked for suggestions of which softwares I could use and Emma gave me the idea to use Adobe premiere, since she was also using it for her project because it was really effective. Honestly, I explored a little bit of the platform and I loved it, so I took her suggestion! After browsing through the app, I decided to watch a YouTube video on how to use the platform and how to improve. Here is the video that I watched: 

Since my project is about a suspense/thriller story, I need to be careful when editing the color, cuts and the pacing of each scene, so I figured that Adobe allowed me to do that. Also, since I wanted to have warmer tones of lightning in my opening, especially because the lab scenes need to feel serious and tense, I needed to use a platform that allowed me to use different color tones and explore them, and Adobe also had that. I can adjust the brightness, contrast and color tones to create the atmosphere I want.

Another important reason is the audio editing system. I plan to use a suspenseful background music and specific sound effects to build tension. Adobe allows me to layer different audio tracks and control their volume, which will help me create a more dramatic effect in important scenes like when we hear a “boom” sound from the liquid drops. 

I also chose Adobe because I want to improve my editing skills. We learned how to use different editing platforms in the beginning of our AICE Media course and Adobe was one of them. However, I used Adobe with the help of some of my classmates because we were doing a group project together, but now, I have the opportunity to do it by myself and work at my own pace. So, I chose Adobe Premiere because it’s not super difficult to understand and it also gives me the freedom to edit the way that I want, but still allows me to create a suspenseful film opening. I’m really excited to start editing and putting everything together!

Shooting process!

Hi there! In this blog post I’ll share my shooting process for my project, how we set up the setting and props, and also some behind the scenes videos. 

First, me and my parents set up the home lab at my kitchen countertop with the lab equipments that we bought on Amazon. We filled each beaker and lab tub with water, since we would add food coloring inside them. Here are some pictures of my dad organizing and filling them up: 

We started filming the lab scenes that will appear in the middle of my opening first because we thought these were the easiest and most fun scenes to film. One thing that we had to think about when filming these lab scenes was the lightning. I wanted a more yellowish color tone to make the environment more comfortable, since the scientist was working at his personal home lab. So, we decided to close all curtains and turn all house lights off and only leave the yellow floor lamp at the living room on. Honestly, it was really easy to film these scenes because it didn’t require any acting, since I mainly used close-up shots of my dad’s hand doing the experiments, and it was really fun to record also. Here is a short video that my mom recorded of me during the process of filming one lab scenes: 

After that, we filmed the scene that comes right after the opening scene (which is my dad just entering the house). This is one of the first scenes of the film and it shows my dad sitting at his chair and opening the FBI folder. I couldn’t film the scene with the FBI folder yet because the prop that I ordered will only arrive next week. So instead, I decided to film the scene of the extreme close-up shot of  my dad’s eyes, showing him reading the files and crime reports. Here is a BTS video that my mom recorded of me filming this scene: 

And finally, we filmed the last scene of my opening. It was a medium shot of my dad receiving a phone call of an unknown number to tell them that he found the evidence needed about the suspect through his DNA tests. I used my dad’s old phone to call his original phone because I was using my phone to record the scene, and my mom used hers to film the behind the scenes video. Since I was the one recording, my mom was the one in charge to call my dad’s phone. Here is the BTS video that she did:

I finished recording the majority of the scenes over two days, I’m just missing 2 short scenes that I’ll record next week because I couldn’t do it this week. The first one is the quick flashback scene of the crime and the other is the scene showing the FBI folder with the crime report because I ordered the folder online and it only arrives next week. Other than that, I finished all major scenes and will start editing shortly!

Overall, it was really fun to shoot these scenes because my parents worked really well and they helped me a lot. Also, I could really feel like I was a real life director, so it was really nice to create something like that!

Group meeting #2

For our second group meeting, we were assigned into a new group with 7 different people: Lydia, Emma, ​​Benjamin, Amelia, Cristina, Eli and me. We talked about our projects' progress, some production footage and ideas for our CCR's. 

Lydia went first and she explained that her film opening is a sci-fi story about a scientist who wears futuristic glasses that can see the future. In one of those visions, she sees her death and she tries to find out why and what happened that caused her to die. Lydia is working with a group and she said that they filmed almost everything already. Also, she isn't sure of how to do her CCR, but one of our group members suggested that she could do something related to science and lab, like experiments, since it has to do with her story.

Lydia's blog: https://blogging4scool.blogspot.com/ 

Emma was second and she said that her opening is a mystery thriller about a girl called Raven (which spells nevar backwards and it sounds like “never”, and this word appears many times repeatedly.) who is accused of killing her best friend. The film starts with her already in a prison cell looking stressed, writing “Raven” backwards many times on the wall. They created the prison set using paper bars and a dog cage inside Emma’s room, which I thought was really nice. They also did an interrogation scene at her dad’s office as if he was the police. During this scene, she has flashbacks that show that she didn’t actually commit the murder. For her CCR, she plans to do an interview with her dad acting as the police officer. 

Emma’s blog: https://blogcreation4school.blogspot.com/

Benjamin was the next one and his opening is a thriller/mystery that starts with a teenage boy in his car with blood on his hands with police sirens in the background. He said that the opening starts with the ending scene and after that first scene of the boy in the car, the film cuts to a scene of the boy alone in his room. He starts answering the text message that his mom sends him asking where he was, but then he decides to call her, but a man answers his call instead of his mom. He starts asking where are the keys that are under his doormat, but they weren't there. After that, the man tells him to look at the mailbox and the scene ends with the boy shocked and scared. For the CCR, he said that he was still thinking of ideas, but we suggested that he could do something like an interview. 

Benjamin’s blog: https://universidadcatolica0.blogspot.com/

Amelia was the next up and she explained that her opening is a coming of age story about a girl never left her hometown to live somewhere else, so she has a dream of traveling a lot to discover what’s outside in the real world. However, she feels like her parents are kinda pushing her back, since they want her choose a college close to home and to them. For her CCR, she said that she isn’t sure of what to do also, so we suggested that she could also do something like an interview or a conversation between the director and the audience. 

Amelia’s blog: https://amesaicemediastudies.blogspot.com/

Cristina is also doing a coming of age movie, but it’s about a 17 year old teenager called Evan who is a DJ that is just starting his career. The film starts with a flyer for an audition to open for a famous house music DJ. The flyer says 18+ only, which is a problem because Evan is underage, but he doesn’t let that stop him, though. He rips off the part that says “18+” and starts making beats to prepare for the audition. For her CCR, Cristina said that she was thinking about doing it with her sister and then Amelia suggested that she could make a type of podcast. 

Cristina’s blog: https://crisc999.blogspot.com/

Last but not least it was Eli’s turn. Her opening is a thriller about a character who has schizophrenia and is accused of murder, but he thinks that he saw his psychologist kill someone. There is also a wolf character that it isn’t real, it’s only inside his mind, like he’s having an episode. Her and her group already started filming and they plan to meet again this week to finish the last scenes. For her CCR, Eli is thinking about doing an interview style video where she interviews her main character, but she’s still figuring out exactly how she wants it to look.

Eli’s blog: https://eliwritess.blogspot.com/

I think it was really nice to share our ideas with different people once again. Here is a picture of our group:

Company logo creation

Hello, in this blog post I’ll explain the process of creating my company logo!

So, to create my logo I chose to use Canva because I think you can create many things there really easily. I searched for “movie company templates” and chose the one that I liked the most. I edited the background and elements colors, as well as the text. I chose to use “GFS Studios” as my company name because I wanted a short, but simple name, so I decided to use my initials for it. 

For the colors, I chose to use a black background since my opening is a suspense story and I wanted to keep the aspects in my opening simple and serious, including the logo company since it appears right at the beggining and is the first thing that viewers see. I kept the movie clapper board element black as well to match the background. Also, I chose to use a light grey color to create my name, “GFS”, because I wanted to keep the color pallet of all elements in the logo within the same tones. 

After editing the text and colors, I decided to add motion and animate the elements. I clicked in each element and went to the “animate” section of my Canva page and chose the ones that I liked the most. I decided to make each letter appear slowly, at the same time that the clapper board slowly appeared from the top right corner of the screen. I wanted to add motion because it makes the logo look more creative and fun.

Here is the screen recording that I did from my laptop, showing step by step of how I created my logo: 

Finally, here is my finalized logo!

Prop Creation!

Hello and welcome back! For one of the props that will be used in my opening, I decided to create an FBI folder with a crime report case file inside of it. I will have a scene where Dr. Werner opens the folder and looks at the criminal’s file with the informations of the crime that he is running DNA tests as part of the investigation. A close-up shot will show the criminal’s face (Kate Lima) on a wanted poster, as well as a crime report with the type of crime she committed to make the audience understand what kind of investigation Dr. Werner is helping to solve. 

So, I bought this folder online and I thought it would work really well for my project since it shows FBI on the cover and it looks pretty realistic: 

Now, for the crime report file inside, I chose an online template on Canva and I edited the original information on the template and added the information of my suspect, Kate Lima. Here is a picture of the original template and the edited one that I will use in my opening: 

For the wanted poster of my suspect, I took a picture of my mom’s passport photo (since I needed a picture where she looked serious), and then I blurred the picture on my phone to make her seem more mysterious and not show her detailed face yet. Then, after I blurred the picture, I edited another Canva template of a wanted poster with a mugshot background and put my mom’s picture on top of it. Here is the original template and the finalized one:

Finally, the last prop that I created was the DNA analysis report. I once again created this on Canva but for this one I couldn’t find a ready-made DNA report. Instead, I chose a medical report template and edited it into a DNA report document. I had to do a little bit of research to see how real DNA analysis reports looked like, so that I could make it more realistic and accurate to a real life scenario. I gathered the most important details and elements that I needed to add in order to create this document and wrote my character’s information there. Here is the original template and the one that I created: 

Costume Creation!

Hi there! So, today I’ll show you the costume that my main character, Dr. Werner will wear throughout the opening. 

My dad will play Dr. Werner in my film and since the character is a scientist, I decided to buy a lab coat on Amazon to make it very realistic. I also told my dad to wear a plain white shirt inside the coat to match the colors and make it look more professional. Also, he gave me the idea to add a small detail, but it could still make a difference, which was adding a pen inside his pocket to make him look even more like a real scientist. Here is a picture of my dad wearing his outfit, ready to start filming: 

 

Characters background

Hello everyone, and welcome back! In this blog post I'll be talking about Dr. Werner's, my main character, background and I'll also explain a little bit more about the other side characters who appear really quickly in my opening and who they are. 

So, Dr. Werner is a well respected forensic scientist from New York with more than 20 years of experience who has been working at the FBI for over 15 years. He has always been interested in science and investigations and he decided to follow the career because when he was just 19 years old, the hospital accidently swapped his baby with someone else's daughter. After more than 20 years, he is still in search for his biological daughter, that's why he decided to pursue the career of running DNA tests in order to try to find his kid one day. Dr. Werner is really serious about his job and was recently promoted to be the director of the forensic science department in the FBI, so he is the one in charge of searching and solving the major and most serious cases reported involving any kind of DNA testing.

Now about the side characters! So, the blurred picture of the suspect inside the folder at the first seconds of the opening is a woman called Kate Lima who committed a murderer, as listed in the files, which will be clearly shown with a close-up shot to make the viewers understand what that's all about. The victim was Dr. Vanessa, the last director of the forensic science department (that's why Dr. Werner assumed her position). But who is that woman? The criminal is actually Dr. Werner's missing daughter who was swapped when she was born! You would have to watch the movie to discover that, but all these information are hidden in the opening to keep the suspense and mystery of like "who is the murderer?", or "who is the victim?", or "why did this happen?".

And last but not least, the unknown number who calls Dr. Werner during the last scene of the opening is one of his coworkers who is helping him to solve the case. 

I hope you could understand a little bit more about my characters and my story as well! 

My project’s audio elements

Hey there! In this blog post, I will break down the audio elements for my film opening and explain them,

For my opening, I decided to keep most of it almost silent, instead of using a lot of different sounds or dialogue. I chose this because my film is a suspense and crime story and silence can actually make scenes feel more tense and serious. Instead of loud music, I will use a very soft suspense background sound that slowly builds tension throughout the opening. This helps create a feeling that something important is happening, even when not much is being said.

Along with this background sound, I will include a few small sound effects to make certain moments stand out more. For example, I will add sounds like a “transition” sound to show the scene of the scientist putting his gloves on, to indicate that now the opening focus will shift to lab experiments and chemistry. Also, I will use a type of  “boom” sound drop during a slow mo scene where the liquid is being dropped in the beaker to make it sound more dramatic. Right after this scene comes the crime flashback scene and at this moment, the suspense music in the background will stop and a sound of ambulance will appear to make the audience focus on that scene.

One of the most important techniques I will use is silence. So, at key moments, especially when the scientist discovers the result and the DNA analysis says “positive”, I plan to remove all background sound completely. This creates a strong contrast and makes the moment feel more dramatic and important. Right after that, the phone ringing will be louder and clearer, which helps break the silence and grab the audience’s attention.

When the scientist says, “I found her,” I won’t include any music, so the audience focuses only on his voice. This makes the moment feel more serious and mysterious and it leaves the audience with questions about what will happen next.

Overall, I wanted the audio in my opening to feel simple but powerful. By using very little sound, soft suspense music and moments of silence, I can build tension and keep the audience interested without needing a lot of dialogue or loud effects.

Set design and lightning of my project

Hi there, welcome back! For this planning post, I'll be focusing on the set design and lighting for my film opening. These two elements are very important because they help create the mood and make the scene feel more realistic.

Since my opening takes place in a home lab, I will turn a space in my house into a lab setting, so I'll be filming at my kitchen countertop. I plan to film there because it’s a big space that I can use to record, and also the countertop is marble so I think it can create a good visual effect on the screen. I will place the props like the beakers, gloves, the lab tubes and the colored liquids on the countertop to make it look like a real scientific workspace. I want everything to look clean and organized so it feels more believable.

The lighting will also help to make the scene feel more suspenseful, so instead of turning on all the kitchen and living room lights, I will turn everything off and only leave  the floor lamp on. I can change the lamp to many different shades of white and yellow tones and I can also adjust the intensity of the light in a remote control, so since I'm aiming for a darker lightning in the room, I will use the darker tones on my remote control to add that effect. With that, I can create shadows and focus the light on Dr. Werner and the lab equipment, which draws the audience’s attention. Also, I will have all curtains down and the living room door to the outside closed, so this will make the room feel darker and more serious with the darker tone of my lamps. I also want the lighting to look slightly cold so the lab feels more intense. I will leave the pictures from my setting here:

                           (The floor lamp)                    

By combining a simple lab setup with controlled lighting, I can make my home look like a realistic lab and these choices will help me create tension and support the suspenseful mood of my film opening.

Prop elements for my project

Hi there! In this blog post I will be talking about the prop elements that I’ll be using in my film opening to make my video look more realistic and immersive.

Since my opening takes place in a lab, I will be using science related props like beakers, test tubes, a dropper and gloves. My mom’s friend is a chemistry teacher and she has these elements at her house because she takes them to school when she needs to teach lab lessons, so I’ll ask her if she can borrow me those props for my filming. Since I don’t have them with me right now, I’ll leave pictures of the props just to give an idea of what I’m planning. 

(Beakers)

            (Dropper)

 (Gloves)

These props immediately show people that the setting is scientific and that there is something serious going on, and the gloves and lab equipment help make Dr. Werner look more professional and focused on what he is doing. Also, I have food coloring at home that I can mix with water in the beakers and use it with a dropper to make it look more realistic, as if I the scientist is mixing different real chemical substances.

Besides all the lab equipment props, I will also be using one of those detective folders labeled “EVIDENCE”  that we see in movies to make it obvious that there is some kind of investigation happening, and that this DNA test is connected to a crime. Even though the audience doesn’t see many details, the prop hints that something bigger is happening, and this helps to create mystery without explaining everything. I will probably buy the folder at a nearby store that sell office supplies, such as Fedex. Here is a picture of a folder example: 

Overall, I think that at the same time my props are simple, they work really well to help the audience understand that there is something science/crime related happening, while they also help to bring mystery and the suspense.

Meet Dr. Werner

Hey everyone, I would like to introduce you to my character, Dr. Werner!

At first I didn’t know which name to choose, so I decided to search “men’s names that are science related”. I scrolled through the website and chose the one that I thought it seemed more like the name of an important scientist character for my film. I’ll leave the website link below:

https://morganwender.com/science-baby-names/

I chose the name Werner because it sounds serious and kinda mysterious. I want people to visualize him as someone who is calm, focused and very intelligent. Since I thought this name was a bit mysterious, I also want Dr. Werner to look mysterious, since he is running an unauthorized DNA test, and this ads up to the tension. Because of this tension added, it also makes people question his true intentions. During my opening, I don’t want to show much details about his face, so most of the shots will show only his hands working on the lab tests, as well as his eyes for a few seconds. Dr. Werner also has a deep voice, so during his only short line during the opening, it will make him look more serious and mysterious. I wanted his name to feel like a strong one because that helps to make the character more realistic in my opinion. 

In terms of appearance, I imagine Dr. Werner wearing simple but professional clothes that a scientist working at his home lab would wear. He will be wearing a lab coat, gloves and glasses. I don’t want him to look very dramatic because I want the suspense to come from his actions and the mystery, and I want to make it obvious at first that the main character is a scientist, so I chose to use a simpler costume that is still effective in my opening. I searched on Pinterest “male scientist outfit” and I’ll leave pictures for my inspiration here: 

                           

Overall, I want to make Dr. Werner feel intelligent and serious, but also mysterious. His character helps to build the tension in my film because the audience isn’t sure if he is the hero, the villain or something in between, so I’m really excited to bring him to real life! (Also, my dad will play Dr. Werner so that’s a plus on why I’m excited to being filming because I think it’ll be so funny).

Project script!!

Hey there, welcome back! For my project script, I chose to use a website called “Celtx”, where I could type in my screenplay and write it correctly. I also watched this YouTube video below to help me use the platform, since it was my first time using the website and writing a script. 

Now, here is the finalized script for my project: 

Media Theory research

Hey everyone! In this blog post I will be talking about media theories and some ways that I can incorporate them into my project. 

I used a Media theory sheet that my teacher gave us in class to do my research and choose the media theory that I would like to use in my opening. Here are the pictures of the handout sheets: 

One media theory I want to use in my film opening is Roland Barthes’ theory: Enigma Code. This theory is about creating mystery by not explaining everything to the audience. Instead of giving clear answers, the film leaves questions and makes the audience feel confused so that it makes them want to keep watching to find out more. 

In my film opening, the Enigma Code will be used by keeping important information hidden. In the beginning of the film, the audience can see a mysterious folder with the FBI symbol on the desk with a file inside that folder containing a crime report and a case number with a blurred picture of a woman. However, we don’t know who this woman is yet, but it hints at the audience that she is probably the criminal that committed the crime they are trying to solve. Still, we don’t know her motivation and who she is, but by using this theory, it gives us the idea that she is dangerous and that she will be important for the rest of the story. Also after that, the scientist is working on a DNA test, but we still don’t know who does the DNA belongs to either (until the last scene of the opening).

Also, in one of the last scenes of my opening, the scientist says “I found her” and this part also uses the Enigma Code. The word “her” is very unclear, because we don’t know who this girl is, whether is the criminal or the victim, which makes the audience wonder who is her and why is she important.

By using the Enigma Code, it helps my film opening feel more suspenseful because it leaves questions unanswered and the audience becomes more interested in the story and wants to continue watching to understand the mystery. At least this is what keeps me engaged in suspense/thriller movies and I hope it creates the same effect in my opening!

My final project idea!

Hi there!! Today I will be explaining a little bit more about my final project idea and some of the inspirations that I had to create it. I hope you enjoy it!

So, for my final project, I will be creating a 2 minute suspense film opening called  “The Hidden Match.”  The opening focuses on a scientist working alone in a lab while running a DNA test of an  unknown person. At the beginning of the opening, a folder with the FBI logo is shown, as well as a crime report file with a case number, the suspect's name and a flyer with the woman’s face saying "WANTED". This makes the audience realize that the story has to do with something about a crime suspect. While hinting at what the story is about, we still don't know who the suspect is, why she has done that and why are DNA tests being done by the scientist, which works perfect to create a suspenseful and mysterious opening. 

To give a little bit more of context, the woman that is shown in the crime report is actually the missing daughter of my main character, the scientist, who was mistakenly swapped by the hospital when she was born. She murdered the last director of the FBI forensic science department, which is written in the case report that will be shown really quickly at the beginning of the opening with a close-up shot. However, I can’t include all of these informations right away in the opening because it would end up with the suspense and I want to leave the audience wondering who is the woman, if she has any connection with a character shown, and why did she do that, maintaining the suspense of the story.

At the end of the opening, the scientist evaluates the result of the DNA test, which is positive, and makes a phone call where he says, “I found her”  to an unknown person, leaving the audience with unanswered questions and building up the tension to keep them engaged and interested in keep watching the movie to get answers.     

My main inspiration for this project comes from suspense and crime films that use mystery to keep the audience engaged. These films withhold information at the beginning and slowly reveal details over time. I was especially inspired by stories that involve science and investigation, where the audience needs to connect clues together rather than being told everything directly.

While I was researching for some suspense film openings to inspire myself, here are some of the ones that I liked the most: 

   Se7en (1995

  Gone girl (2014)

  Zodiac (2007)

I really like these three openings and they inspired me because they are suspense and crime films that create mystery by not revealing everything at the beginning . In  Gone Girl , the opening leaves questions without clear answers, which helps to engage the audience right away. I also really liked  Se7en  and  Zodiac because of how they  use darker and colder tones, investigation and how they build tension slowly, and that's exactly what I want my project to feel like. They inspired me to focus on mystery and suspense rather than explaining everything in my opening. I also watched the video below to help me get more ideas of more elements I could add into my opening to make it better: 

I hope you enjoyed reading my project idea and I can't wait to begin filming it and turning it into a real story! 

Group meeting #1

Hi there! 

For our first in class group meeting, we had to share our blogs, the ideas that we had for our project and our opinions about it. I was in a group with 7 people, Maia, Mia, Isa, Luke, myself, Emma and ​​Vanessa, and we spent the whole class discussing and helping each other with our ideas. 

Maia was the first one to talk about her project, and she explained that she was doing a coming of age story about a girl who started her own blog and shared her thoughts and experiences about her life through her posts. I really liked her idea specially because she was very creative when developing her opening title. She showed us the many different versions of titles with very diverse fonts and all of them looked really beautiful. I truly loved her project idea and I thought it was so unique and personal. 

Mia went second and she also wanted to do her project about a coming of age story. She explained that she was inspired by the sitcom "Boo B...", and her story will be about two best friends who used to hang out at a park everyday, but suddenly, one of the girls gets hit by a car and ends up dying. However, the other friend realizes that she can actually see and hear the ghost of her best friend. I really liked her idea and I thought it was pretty engaging. I suggested Mia to end her opening as soon as we hear the car crashing sound, and Maia added up by suggesting that the title could be "Best friEND", which I thought it was really amazing and creative because it relates so much to the story. 

Isa went next and she wanted to do a coming of age opening as well. At first, the movie would seem like a horror film about a mysterious person knocking on one of the main character's house, but that unknown person would actually happen to be the protagonist best friend, turning the film into a coming of age comedy about two bffs. I thought her idea was great because I love watching movies that reveal something I was not expecting, and I would definitely watch a coming of age movie, which is my favorite genre, that looks like a different genre at first, but it's not. 

Then, Luke went. He said he was still thinking more clearly about the project, but his main idea was to do a drama/comedy opening about a dialogue between two best friends. One of them would happen to be really extroverted, while the other extremely introverted, highlighting their differences and how opposite they are, but both are best friends still. I thought it was fun and different!

After Luke, it was my turn. I started the group meeting without being so sure about what I would do for my project, but I ended up choosing an idea afterwards. I was in doubt between doing something in the suspense or coming of age genre, (Two complete opposite genres, I know), but I chose to go with suspense. I told the group that I wanted to do something within the science field about a scientist doing something mysterious in which I'm still unsure about what exactly he will be investigating. The group helped me a lot and Maia and Mia suggested that I could do something DNA related and use science labs elements like beakers for example. Vanessa and Emma told me that I could use the liquids in the beakers to introduce the title in the opening and I thought that was genius! Having that in mind, I thought about doing a story about a scientist investigating someone's DNA (probably a criminal or suspect), adding a bit of crime to the story. 

Emma went next and she explained that her film opening will be a mystery story about a disturbed girl who is in jail. She said that there will be scratches on the walls showing a name that becomes important later in the film. Emma also showed us some of the set pieces that she bought to make the video, including jail cell bars and a grey background to help create the setting. I really liked her idea because I love mystery movies and I thought it was very creative.

And then, Vanessa went and was the last group member to explain her project. She said that her and her group’s idea was a thriller film about a victim of bullying who fights back by killing the bully. She wanted the film to focus on how and why the victim makes this decision and to show that the character was mentally unstable. Honestly, I think this was one of my favorite ideas. 

Overall, the group meeting was so fun and it helped me a lot. At the beginning, I was unsure of what I should make my project about, but in the end, I had a clearer idea of what I wanted to do. Everyone was so nice and gave such great ideas and advices that I would have never thought about on my own. Now I’m really excited for the next group meeting because the first one was so fun and engaging!