Creative Critical Reflection

Film Opening: The Tale of Valespire

     Hello world, I am now writing my creative critical reflection, and I think it is coming along well. I plan to do a director commentary for my video, this is where I would play my video as I speak over it. I think this is the most effective way to reflect upon my project, so when I say something specific I can show you exactly what I mean. As I am writing it I am realizing everything that is weird about my film (You will see what I mean). So far writing my reflection has helped me see everything that I can do to improve in the future. This weekend I am going to post my film and Critical reflection so you can see everything I am talking about.

     Hey everyone, So i finished editing my film opening today! WOO! When I first put all of my footage together in the correct order it seemed like something was missing, so I deiced to get so royalty free music to put in for the background of the world. I didn't realize it when I was filming,but some of my shots in the castle still have modern items in them. I can't really change that because I don't have time to re-shoot those scenes. So that sucks. Another thing that I had to do was get an establishing shot of the castle so the viewer would know the scene is in a castle. I had to create a scale version of a castle then I put it in the grass in front of some trees to try to make it look big.

This is what the castle looks like. In the film there is a dark effect over the whole shot so viewers wont see the drastic color change in the bricks.

The film turned out good, although it was not ny original vision. But the acting is still pretty bad. So now I have to do my creative critical reflection. That will be posted later in the week. Yeah so tthat's all for now.

     Whats up everyone, I FINALLY WAS ABLE TO FILM TODAY!!!! My scheduled and my friends all lined up, so it was a pretty good day. We had to film everything in the film today because I am very behind  in the project. There was one small problem about today though... Markham Park was closed due to Rock fest. It was terrible, we drove down there, but there was a police blockade. So We settled for the Tequesta Trace park. We found a spot that had lots of trees so it worked fine. The second part of my opening takes place in a castle so I rigged my bedroom to have a throne and I covered all of my 21st century stuff with sheets and posters. As you know I didn't have a budget for this film so the castle scene looks really cheesy and homemade, that was a bummer, but there was no way around it. The crown that the king wears is paper and the acting is not the best, but that is what I get for doing this at the last minuet.
    Also Yesterday I slightly changed the script. The opening scene in the Forrest is now a POV (point of view) shot from the perspective of the royal Valespirian spies. The characters cannot be heard but it is implied that they are talking about the amulet because Arthur's mentor gives it to him. The scene in the castle now includes an interaction of the king with the spy and then with Merek. The spy tells him that the amulet is with Arthur and then the king gives Merek the quest to retrieve it for his own evil plans. It is also all day time, nothing is at night. The costumes are OK but not  fantastic as well.

This is an image of the first scene of the film From the point of view of the spy looking at Arthur and his mentor. (Mentor- Right, Arthur-Left)

This is the Title card that I created for the film. I think it captures the video game theme that my story is structured upon and shows you the amulet in the "A" of Tale.

That's all for now... Tomorrow if editing day!

         Hey Bloggers, I finally wrote my script and drew my story board!!! I am about to show you my vision for the film opening,but I just want to say that I finally have all of the things I need to film so I will be filming Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. And now for my story board...

The first thing that will be on screen is the opening credits and title. I decided to do this because I enjoy it when films fade into the move from the title card. The first shot is an establishing shot followed by a long shot from behind some bushes looking at the characters, this is done to show that they are being watched. Then through the scene Arthur and his mentor are speaking in the woods about the ancient amulet. The mentor is used to explain the history of the amulet and what it can do.

Arthur grabs the amulet right out of his mentors hands and puts it on. The mentor explains when It will be activated. The last shot of this scene is the same one as the first from behind the bushes, but this time the camera pans away as if someone were running away from Arthur's conversation. The scene changes to an establishing shot of the Valespire castle. ( I'm going to have to improvise a castle because there is not one where I live).

Inside the castle there will be a shot of the throne room door. You will hear the king scream "What!" as if you were walking in on a conversation Then you will see the king angrily asking one of his spys who he saw the amulet given to. The spy will respond (he is very scared, on the ground bowing at the kings feet.) The king then throws the spy out and calls for Merek. Merek enters and kneels before the king (his father). The king will then give him the mission to retrieve the amulet. Merek says that he will bring it back, and the king says if he fails then Merek will be banished. You will get to see that the king is very evil and that Merek is just following orders.

By doing the film in this order you see the two main characters and the lives they live. I understand that by doing it this way it is not very obvious that Merek is the protagonist, but he will be the only one that the audience should identify with. Arthur will not be interested in the story he will be told by his mentor and he will be kind of a dick when he is given the amulet. So the next post that you will see from me will be the first day of filming post.

     Hey Everyone, I wasn't able to film when I said I was going to try to because I didn't realize that I was going on vacation, but I am filming this weekend. On another note, I created the characters names: the villain is named Sir Merek of Valespire and the hero is named Arthur Fenwick. I looked up mediaeval names using this website HERE. The kingdom that this story takes place in is called Valespire, a name I created by looking at other names. Valespire is the evil kingdom that Merek is from and the one Arthur wants to destroy.
Right now I am creating a script for my opening. I don't think that I am going to have a chase scene as I previously stated because as I developed my villain more I don't think he is best represented chasing someone. I also don't think I am going to lead in with an ancient story being told with pictures because it is not turning out as I planned. So I am going to show the amulet being taken from the kingdom of Valespire in the past and then giving it to Arthur in the present, and I will lead into Merek being angry about the amulet being stolen. I am going to post the script when I finish it.

     Hey Internet,  I have started work on the beginning of my opening. The beginning is a brief story being told with ancient drawings, I have drawn three images for this section.

     This is the first picture in the story that will be told at the beginning of my film. The voice over will be accompanied by subtitles, it will be saying something along the lines of:" A long time ago in the kingdom of ____(to be decided)___, an evil king ruled the land. The king had all of the villagers do his bidding. A gemstone with great power was found withing the borders of the kingdom, so the king took it for himself". This will not be the exact wording, but it will talk about the king and the gem. 

     I have also started to create props for my opening. I have created a sword and the amulet that the gem will be inside that gives the hero power. I am planning on filming tomorrow, but I am not certain if I will be able to because many things are happening in my family right now (nothing bad) so I will see if I am available tomorrow. I will keep you posted.  

     What's up Web. So right now I am working on my story. I was going to create a character first, but after some peer review I have decided to develop the story first. 

     The basic story is that a hero has an ancient power in them that hasn't been seen for a very long time. The villain wants this power because it was taken from his family all those years ago by another hero. The film will follow the villain as the protagonist trying to take the power back. The hero will still follow the hero's journey, but the villain will as well. The hero's main goal will be to kill the villain, little does he know the villain is following the hero on his journey trying to trap/stop the hero and take the power. As I said before the film will be like an RPG with the main character gaining "party members" along the way. The climax of the film will be when the villain takes the power from the hero but instead of the power going into the villain it is stolen by an even greater villain, one of the villains"party members". This greater evil will be a person even the villain was not sure to travel with him. The rest of the film will be the villain teaming up with the ,no longer powerful, hero trying to stop the greater evil. (this is still a work in progress, but that is the story that I will create my characters from)

    The first character I have thought of is the Hero. (just as a side note: I will address each character by an aspect of them because I haven't thought of names yet.) The hero will be an over exaggeration of the hero archetype (this link will also go in depth about the villain archetype which I will talk about later). The hero will be a very cocky, confident, strong man who isn't afraid of anything, but with a defect. The defect will be the fact that he is nothing without the ancient power. When he loses it he becomes a broken man. I want people to see him as Mr. Perfect, a person that is incapable of failure. 

     The Villain will not focus on brute strength, but rather wit. Instead of trying to destroy the hero he will try to outsmart him. I am not going along with the typical Villain archetype because my villain will be the main character, so he can't be someone that the audience despises he needs to be likable, but still evil. Now the villains background. He is part of a royal family that lost the ancient power to the hero many years ago. The villain dive is that he wants to retrieve the power for his family because he feels as if they lost their honor to the hero. ( I will probably design the hero in a few days so I can show you what I want him to look like. Also he wont look like a dark fantasy villain because the audience should be able to see a part of themselves in the protagonist, so I will make him brighter and have a visible face unlike villains that wear masks.

      That is all I have now, but I will tell you when I reach a new breakthrough. 

     Hey Internet, I think that I thought of a good idea for my opening. I think I may start the opening with a chase scene through the forest. This will introduce the main villain, title, setting, but not the main character. I want the villain to be chasing a friend or acquaintance that knows the main character. Then when the chase is over I will change the scene to the main character in his/her normal life.    

http://www.virtualoceania.net/newzealand/photos/cities/wellington/019l.shtml

     This is the type of setting that I want the chase to happen in (I will get a picture of my actual filming location soon). 

     The rest of my story will be about the main character being the "chosen one" or the one with ancient power. The villain wants this power to gain control of the rivaling kingdoms. (The main villain is of royal decent). The main character will gather a party of people with different skill sets like an RPG (role playing game) style video game. They will face many challenges on their way to defeat the villain.

     Even though I'm still developing the story I will probably draw up elements that I want in the film and will post the when I am done.

     Hey Internet Surfers, I have good news! I figured out where to set my film opening. There is a park close to my house that is very big and looks like a forest. Perfect for my fantasy adventure film. The park is called Markham Park  there are many different locations that I could use there. There is a forest area, a lake, and open fields that I could use to show my film. 

       Now that I have my setting I can decide what will be happening in my world. My fantasy world will be over run my darkness (evil) and there will be a glimmer of good still left in the world. There will be a sort of rebel group and a group of people that dislike the evil but don't do anything about it. I want there to be different tribes of people that live in certain places around the world. I would like the world to be like Lord of the Rings or The Legend of Zelda video game series. 

     So now I am going to create a situation for the characters to be a part of. I will get back to you when I figure it out.

     Hello people of internet land. So I have decided to go with the adventure genre because (as you can see from my last post) I think I could create a more structured story using the hero's journey. I'm not saying that I couldn't use the hero's journey in an action movie, I'm just saying that I think  I could create a better adventure film opening using it. I also don't want to make a very serious piece because I wouldn't be totally invested in it, and the adventure genre could be more friendly.
     Now I should probably think of a story. I am going to create the world before I decide what will be happening in it. I would love to create a science fiction or fantasy film ,but the location that I would be filming in doesn't look like either of those things. Without a budget for my film I am restricted to filming in my town with no ability to change the set. The only exotic (relative to my home) setting that I could create would be a forest which could work for a fantasy film if I can think of a story that could incorporate a forest. I'm going to have to find an area that I really like before I make a decision. I will probably do the same thing that I do when I don't know what to draw ( I'm an artist). Write down 6 different locations and roll a die to see where my story will take place. If I can't find a good place or think of a good story I may decide to go with my backup idea which would be a black and white detective film, but I think I will be able to create an adventure film. I will post again when I found a place or have another idea to spit out.

     Hello to everyone who can access the internet. My name is Eric Weinstein and I have been given the task of creating a two minuet opening for a film. This blog will tell you the exact process that I will go through to make the best film opening that I can.

     Today I am researching the various types of film genres that I may use for my film opening. The action and adventure genres caught my eye when I thought about their potential for a film opening. If I choose to create an opening for an action film I could start out with an action sequence: a chase scene with hints to the characters personality in the way he/she runs away or in the actions they preform as the character runs. If I choose to create an adventure film opening I could potentially create an ordinary character, but at the same time showing the potential of the character to become a "hero". I would follow the hero's journey if I go with the adventure genre because many successful films follow this format.

So I would have to start by showing the character In the ordinary world with hints of a big journey ahead, similar to the openings of Lord of the Rings or Star Wars. Then there is also the fact that I have to be able to actually create the scenes I wish to make, so I have a lot of thinking to do about the genre of my film opening and the scenes that I want to create.