Target Audience and Representation

 Oops...

Today in my Media Studies class we did a lesson on Creative Critical Reflections, and it made me realize how important it is to include my target audience and representation on my blog. I did plan for it and incorporated into my plot for the first two minutes, but I never mentioned it on here: A big mistake. I am here to atone for my sins... just kidding but I do need to tell you guys what I plan on doing regarding these topics. 

From what I've researched most mystery movies are rated PG-13 due to their nail-biting suspense and talk of sensible subjects such as death. Some examples include Knives Out, Glass Onion, Enola Holmes, and so forth. This basically means I can't make my target audience five-year-olds. However, it is a story involving a teenager and I want the audience to feel as close to the character as they can in terms of representation. So, it would be best if my target audience is teenagers, maybe even young adults, but in their late teens, more mature for the topics discussed. Age group 15-25. It would apply to people in this age group in the middle class and mainly female, with the whole ballet concept. 

For representation, as I previously mentioned I wanted a blonde female character to show they are more capable with their stereotypical selves. I also want to deal with the mental disease of obsession. Like not normal obsession, but hyper focused obsession, maybe even OCD. Genova is always too focused on solving the crime and ballet, that she doesn't have time to do anything else, and neither does she care. She loses friends in the process, both physically with the disappearances and just losing friendships. The intro won't show the losing friends part that much, but it will show the obsessiveness side to her. Lastly, the charcater would also represent teenagers and why they do the things they do.

Sources:

The Target Audience for Thriller Films: Who Enjoys Thrillers? | AMPLIFY XL

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - Symptoms and causes - Mayo Clinic 

Mise-En-Scene

 In order to film I needed to create some props per say. The main prop was the crime board and it took about 2 hours to do, especially since I was watching my favorite Netflix show while doing it. I had to go to Micheal's in order to buy red string and then when I got home, I handwrote a lot of notes and unorganized thoughts into sticky notes. I even went on Canva to design a "blog post" about the recent "NYC dancer disappearances." I then also got a picture of an NYC map and put dots where the people were last seen. I tried to add as much detail as possible: Of the things hung up, you can see that the pictures are from NYC, the phone numbers are from the area code of Manhattan, the street names all are in New York, etc. It was honestly really fun to make, and I put a lot of effort, so I hope you guys enjoy!

String I bought at Micheal's.

Production of crime board.

Final crime board.

Critiques

     Today I met up with a group of 5 people in my media studies class to talk about our projects. It was really helpful talking about our ideas and seeing how helping another solve their problem helps with our own problems. The other people in my group had problems with scheduling, plot ideas, and even just how to start the opening scene. What I learned from their problems were that I'm on the right track when it comes to time management. I've been posting lately, and I'm almost done with pre-production planning. Some other people still don't have a storyboard or an outline of what they are going to do. I also realized I should look at more mystery films, just to get a better idea of how to execute this film opening. 

     When we were reviewing my blog and ideas, everyone said they really like the idea, but they thought it was pretty abrupt of an opening. I think I might add a shot of Genova coming into the room, sitting down, and then start the whole montage. When I was planning, I was thinking, "Oh, like a tv show opening where there's a scene before hand and then the intro" but I know realize it has to be the actual first 2 minutes. So, I'll add more of an opening shot. Maybe even before the sitting down shot, I could add an establishing shot of the building she lives in. I have a competition in LA in 2 weeks, so I can film a building there. It might not be NYC, like it is in the plot, but I could fake it. I'm in Hollywood after all!

     Somone also mentioned it could be like the opening for A Series of Unfortunate Events and I looked it up and it's almost exactly like what I had envisioned. Obviously, it won't be about "unfortunate events" but instead of dancer disappearances in NYC. 

A Series of Unfortunate Events Intro

Filming Schedule

 Since this week I'm set to start filming, here's the schedule I created for the week:

Monday:

• Get critiques on ideas
• Revise project

Tuesday

• Set up "set"
• Start filming crime board sequence

Wednesday:

•  Continue filming crime board sequence (it will probably take two days)

Thursday:

• Film scene after the title sequence

Friday:

• Rest (I have SAT practice and drama rehearsal)

Saturday:

•  Finish filming anything I need to finish filming

Sunday:

• Sort through footage 
• Make sure I have everything
• Maybe make a line edit

Storyboarding

Alrighty then! Next step in my project is to storyboard it. Storyboards help organize ideas and give you a visual, no matter how bad you are at drawing. Not only are they helpful in the pre-production stage, when getting your thoughts in order, but also in the production stage. When you are out there filming, having your storyboard can be like your anchor. It can get overwhelming and you yourself don't know what shots you need, what you should film, ect. However, using a storyboard can help show you what shots you thought were a good idea and what shots had a purpose in moving the story along. 

So, here's the story board that I made:  Portfolio Storyboard

Here too!:

The Main Character & The Setting

      I figured that I should probably focus on my main character's personality and things she holds dear, because it is what defines her. This should be present during the intro, at least a little bit. Plus, hints of her personality and possessions can be used in the montage when showcasing different objects and cutting from one thing to the next.

      I feel like her color palette should include blues, reds, pinks (for ballet reasons), blacks, and oranges. It would mark her intelligence, passion, wealth, and adrenaline seeking side. As I previously stated, I want her to be a blonde (it doesn't have to be that blonde but maybe a dirty blonde, enough to please the blondes but also relate to the brunettes out there) and preferably with light eyes (so that honestly the shots involving eyes for the intro would look cool with the lighting). I want her to have a necklace of some sort that she fumbles with each time she is deep in thought, which is often. With clothing, I want her to be all preppy whenever she is in dance, but her street clothing can be large T-shirts and jeans. There's no need for crop tops in her character and the storyline. I feel like the contrasting looks represent her two different lives and how shocking it is to her to see them connect all of a sudden with the disappearances. 

Genova's Mood Board

Created by me on Canva!

     As for the setting, it will take place in a boarding school for dance in a big city. Although I don't go to boarding school, I am currently doing research on what life is like for dancers that do this. I follow a pointe shoe brand, Russian Pointe, on their Instagram. They have ambassadors that take over the page's stories and they are mostly young adults/teenagers that go to foreign academies and live there for a little while. They live with other dancers that dance there. They do a day in the life blogs and so on. I feel like it is a good source to hear from these people themselves because they are all equally as passionate about dance as my main character. Obviously, one would find the place boring if they didn't have a passion from dance. I am also aware that social media, no matter what platform, can be a little misleading at times. That is why I also am asking my dancer friends, that have gone and slept at ballet summer intensives in other cities and even one who moved to New York City to dance at ABT, for their experiences; to make the feeling and tone more authentic. 

Instagram URL: @rpcollection1998 • Instagram photos and videos

Narrowing Down The Plot

     Alrighty! So, I have figured out my genre and sub-genre. Genre: Drama. Sub-genre: Mystery. Now I just have to create a plot to it, even if I am making a montage of sorts, because it needs to introduce a film that does actually have a plot. 

       The main character, let's call her Genova, is a dancer and is passionate about ballet. She lives in a big city and is currently going to a dance academy there and is living in one of their boarding houses. Therefore, she has no family around (none to stop her from investigating). Dance, however, is not this girl's only interest. Her dad used to be in the FBI, and she can never stop herself from listening in to the police radio. She always wants to know if she can solve a crime faster than they can. It was kind of a game for her. However, when dancers start missing from her own studio, including one of her best friends, she starts to realize how very real these crimes can be. She decides to investigate and is horrified by the things she finds... eventually solving the crime, but at what cost? Now obviously, all this won't be revealed before and during the opening credits, but it helps build context for the intro, and helps make sure it doesn't stray too far from the main theme of the movie. 

    For the intro plot I was thinking, maybe it can start off with one of those boards with the red string connecting everything. That can be our main focus in the montage. It can cut to other stuff that foreshadows the plot; For example, since I'm making it dance related, it can cut to a bloody pointe shoe, or one cut up into pieces. It can then cut to a "newspaper" clipping with a heading of missing ballerinas and so on. Every so often it can cut back to the board, or zoomed in pieces of the board, which holds clues and connections between all the missing dancers. It could hold papers in their handwriting, pictures of them on and off stage, a list of people they are close too, etc. There could be some extremely close ups of the main character studying the board, and their hands taking things off and adding things on. It can all be to the beat of the music and using special effects, such as glitches to make it seem more engaging. All of this would be showing the credits too.

Example of crime board

Pointe Shoes