Elizabeth Berrios Final Project Blog

Currently in production, my team is planning on shooting tomorrow evening. We have decided to shoot at an ice cream parlor downtown at around 6pm. This is so we can get some shots with daylight if needed but also sunset/in the dark. This is so we can add to the theme and match the mood of a murder mystery genre convention. I assume filming shouldn't take too long, and getting there so early will give us time to take some test shots and feel out the space. We are also planning on comparing film on a normal phone camera or a digital camera to see which would add the ceratin look we are going for. So far, one of our actors cannot make it, but we should have enough that it will still look natural. We also still have to discuss what the dress code is and what the looks will be for production. 

The film I chose is “No Hard Feelings”. After looking over the summary and watching the film the title makes sense but I would not be able to guess the plot just based off the title. Based off the title and the images used I would think it’s a comedy about a struggling 20 something year old not a romcom. The styles of art used in the film is very lighthearted and comedy-like. I would not use this style in my opening sequence as my film would be a different genre and theme. In my opening sequence I hope the viewer will think it is a normal maybe coming of age film. But there will be a plot twist that makes it a thriller/ murder mystery. But the title can still add some meaning to the film, similar to this film. My title may not add too much meaning just by looking at it but after watching the film, the title will make sense. That way the title doesn’t give the entire plot away.

  In this film, there will be no talking, just music in the background.

In scene 1, it will be everyone listed as an actor except Jason. Jason, Hailey, and me will be the people helping, directing, and filming behind the scenes. Scene 2 can be any of the listed actors. Scenes 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 will again be all the actors listed above. Scene 7, 8, 9, and 10 will be focused on Margaret.

The genre I selected is crime/murder mystery. The crime/murder mystery genre has been a staple of cinema since the early 20th century, evolving from literary detective stories and film noir into its category that includes psychological thrillers, dramas, and neo-noir films. Early influences include Sherlock Holmes Baffled (1900), one of the first detective films ever made. Fritz Lang’s M (1931) introduced psychological depth to crime films by focusing on the mind of a serial killer. The 1940s and 1950s saw the rise of film noir with classics like The Maltese Falcon (1941) and Double Indemnity (1944). These films established tropes such as morally ambiguous protagonists, femme fatales, and shadowy cinematography. Alfred Hitchcock revolutionized the murder mystery thriller with Rear Window (1954), Vertigo (1958), and Psycho (1960). His use of psychological tension and innovative storytelling set new standards for suspense. The genre evolved further with neo-noir films like Chinato...

  1. Some materials we would need are ice cream and actors. We can probably use a normal phone camera or an older camera for that grainy look for filming. For costumes, it'll be typical teenage clothes (a top and jeans). Our storyline is a murder mystery downtown in the city as a girl walks home alone after hanging out with her friends. Which is why we'll need the location to be downtown and at an ice cream shop. While there is no murder weapon, we will have an actor to be the one kidnapping her to depict the crime. The main and only prop here that we would use is ice cream, which we can just buy on set at the shop. As for actors, we can use friends and some people from my group. As for lighting, we would need to arrive at the film location a little before sunset to portray time change. When the friend group walks into the ice cream shop, it'll still be light out, and once they leave, it'll be dusk. This is also so when the main girl is walking down the alleyway, the mo...

  Production: On a small scale, I probably won't have a huge budget for film technology, actors, costume and design, or editing. With my final project, I will probably use some of my friends to be actors and just use my phone to film and probably iMovie to edit. I would love my final project to be financed so I could have a decent budget for it, but I probably won't. But it would probably be better if it's not financed so I would have more creative freedom and not be held to any expectations that it has to make some money back. So I'd rather be independent.  In my film, depending on the genre, I would probably use family and/or friends to be in it.   For production, I also need to find locations to shoot and what message I want to convey to viewers. Distribution: Since I would probably do a small-scale production, I would be distributing the film myself. I could probably upload on other social media platforms, such as YouTube or Instagram. I would have no way to rele...