Getting Somewhere - Portfolio Project Blog Post #2

 GETTING SOMEWHERE
Beginning the AICE Media Portfolio Project

Scheduling Difficulties

    Originally, my group had planned to meet together to discuss our ideas in a single call, since most of our plans so far had been sorted out in smaller groups. However, due to conflicts in our scheduling, our plans of calling together fell through, and we must wait yet another few days. Hopefully scheduling does not become a repetitive issue, and if it does, we will have to find a way around that problem.

Choices, Choices

    In my previous post, I mentioned that we wanted to portray a certain "hollow" atmosphere in our film opening, highlighting on contrasting colors like blue and red. We all seemed to agree upon a common mood of emptiness and loneliness for this project, so as of right now, we plan on emphasizing on this aspect of the project. 

    Three of us called a few days ago, in which we discussed some potential plot points for our opening. However, due to the absence of one member and feeling overwhelmed from TV competitions, we found ourselves with no concrete ideas in mind. But, we always went back to two options: a dystopia or a science fiction piece. In an attempt to get our gears turning, I suggested we get ideas from a setting, and what better setting to emphasize urban hollowness than an office building? I just so happen to have access to an office, and we agreed that this could match our mood, so it was a hit.

    From here, we got to working on the general idea of our opening, making sure to look at both of our options. We want the opening to give some mild "Big Brother" vibes, but we also want to present danger early on in our piece. But, we couldn't think of a way to combine the extra-terrestrial with government control; introducing two conflicts, character vs nature and character vs society, felt like too much for the introduction. Logan, however, thought of a way to hint at a strange government without shoving it down the viewers' throats: a news channel.

    Using a news channel was perfect, as we want our protagonist to be completely oblivious to the conflict around them. This way, the news can be playing in the background so the audience can hear, while the main character seems to pay no mind to it. We developed this idea further, and we think that having our character be alone in the office is a great choice. We'll highlight this by having the final coworker leave within the first few seconds of the piece.

    We are still developing our idea, but we definitely think an extreme danger should be nearby the character as they go about their normal night of work. We want to display security footage behind them of their coworker being killed by a monster, perhaps while they drink their cup of coffee at their desk. For our final shot, I really want to do some blood running down a sewer grate from the sidewalk; this will reinforce the idea that the coworker has died without us 

actually having to show the monster who killed them.