Group Meeting

    Throughout the making of our projects, our class sometimes will get into groups to discuss our projects and obtain feedback from them. Luckily, since we're three people working on one project, we get an advantage of getting feedback from multiple groups. In my group, along with Lucia, we shared the story of what happens step-by-step in the film opening, while providing context of why we made these choices. For example, we pointed out that there will be a sequence of shots showcasing Mara's messy room, while also showing a letter that's being written to her sister. We also explained the plot outline of our film, of Valerie reacting to and overcoming her sister's suicide. We then explained how that ties to the title, Dear Mara. Andrea had similar explanations.

(This is our initial storyboard. I will go into detail about camera shots soon.)

    Our group luckily had a few suggestions to improve our opening. They liked the concept of the plot, but believed that the opening does not establish that Valerie will become the main character in the story. One group member recommended to add a clip that takes place a few days or weeks after her death, to show that the story does continue and it is centered on Valerie. We also mentioned where we wanted to put the title (the seventh box on the storyboard), and how we wanted to put it there because we simply weren't sure where else it would fit. However, they suggested that if we do have the clip at the end, we could add the title as soon as it cuts to black, right before the last clip.

   Andrea's group recommended her to change multiple parts of our opening. They actually suggested something contradictory to ours. They said it would be best if her death wasn't showcased, instead to focus on showing that she was suicidal and depressed, to imply that she dies later on in the film. What they also recommended was to add emphasis on the letter written to Valerie, by providing stressful flashbacks to when she was writing the letter (using an electric buzz in the background to make everything more tense and noisy). This could happen right before Valerie opens the door, and then when she does come in, everything becomes calm again. It was also recommended that there should be another reason for Mara's death instead of blackmail, such as her parents (shown during flashbacks), but there was not much explanation why. Focusing on mise-en-scene and heavy room contrast was also encouraged among the group.

                                              

    After the group meeting, Andrea, Lucia, and I discussed what would be best to change based on the feedback. We couldn't implement everything into our project as it would most likely go over two minutes. We decided to add the final clip of Valerie a few days or weeks after the main scene, as showing her reaction immediately after would be hard for the person playing her (and none of our friends are actors). We'll make the time jump obvious by showing the date in the first scene, and showing the date a few days later in the next scene. This idea is great for implying that Valerie will be the main character for the rest of the film. We can fade the scene out, as many singular movie clips end like this. With this clip, the title would be better displayed after Valerie walks into the bathroom.

    Along with adding a time jump, we also liked the idea of adding flashbacks while showing the letter. It could emphasize how stressed she felt before, and how empty she feels now. It doesn't need any dialogue, as long as there is a good sequence of shots and use of audio. However, contrary to the group discussion, we decided to keep the idea of blackmail. We believed it was a realistic version to cause pressure, and editing text could be used to show it without dialogue. With the parents' voices in the flashbacks, it would be a lot harder to provide context and getting good adult actors. We agree with the group saying that we should focus on mise-en-scene elements and room contrast. I want to make a blog post further investigating how we could contrast the messy room and clean room the best, and maybe include lighting. With this, I definitely need to incorporate more research on shots and composition for stressful flashbacks, mise-en scene, and editing (credits, title, text messages, etc.). My problem currently is that I'm worried that all of these ideas combined would go over the two-minute mark in the opening, and trying to squeeze them into the timespan would make it look messy. I will see how to fix this before we begin filming.