Andrew Briceno Portfolio Project

And last but not least, my CCR. It's been real, and it's been fun blog. Hope to see you again soon.

The time has finally arrived! Here is our film opening, Wiped Out. Hope you enjoy.

I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I finished editing the film opening today and it has already been updated to YouTube. The bad news is that I wasn't too productive today and haven't finished my critical creative reflection. I planned to upload both videos today, but it seems I will have to wait until tomorrow, which is also the day our project is formally due. For the majority of people reading this post in the future, I know this literally means nothing as you can most likely scroll up to see my project already posted. So I guess this isn't really good or bad news.... Anyways, after that awkward realization, I noticed that this is the last update I will be sharing on this blog before I post my final product and CCR. This blog has helped me stay on track and map out my progress through the project, and I feel it has been an instrumental part of our final portfolio (I may have shed a tear while I wrote that line).  I hope that you, the audience, enjoye

I have spent almost the entire weekend editing and can no longer stand my own project. What better way to relieve stress than rant about it on my blog! While I have taken breaks to do human things like eat and sleep and even my visit uncle, I have spent way too much time watching the same clips on my computer and am a bit burnt out. The first major task I faced was finding the right sound. Ben and I looked through several free music websites during class, and found a few sounds we liked but finding the perfect music or sting for every part of the opening is a much more daunting task than I imagined. Luckily, I have found almost everything I need on freesound.org which is a website I highly recommend as it offers free user-submitted sounds ranging from brushing your teeth, to alien invasions. The only difficult part is translating a tune in my head into a search query for a sound I can use. After spending a lot of time on freesound however, I believe I picked the right music and sting

Today, was the last day that Ben and I had in class to work on our final project and the last day before Spring break. Mrs. Stoklosa was right in saying that the time would fly by, and now all that's left is to finish editing and film our Creative Critical Reflections. Ironically, what we worked on in class today, is actually something associated with the beginning of a film, and that's the title. Throughout the project, we had put aside creating the title as we thought it would be more effective to create a title that encompasses our final product. After bouncing some ideas off each other, we ultimately decided on the title, "Wiped Out. " We feel that this title suits our film opening perfectly, as the protagonist, who we also ironically omitted to name, is literally "wiped out" as we first find him unconscious and realize that his memory has been wiped. Now that our piece has a title, we have everything we need to continue editing and finish up this pr

Today was our second and final day of filming. Originally, we thought today would be very quick and somewhat simple. Our only task, with the exception of filming the last 5 seconds of the opening was to create the flashback scene. We knew that this was the scene where we would utilize low key lighting to our advantage, but little did we know how difficult it would be to create. After researching online, Ben suggested we use a black sheet to create a black backdrop and light the scene using only the flashlight on his phone. While this did create an interesting shot, it was a bit too bright and we felt it would confuse the viewers as they would no longer realize that the scene is still taking place in the garage. Afterwards, we tried to open the garage door even less than we did for the other scenes, but even a crack of sunlight seemed to bright. Eventually, after experimenting a bit, we figured out how to create the scene we envisioned. A shot from the flashback scene We were

Unfortunately Ben and I couldn't film today. He was at a nearby event that lasted loger than he anticipated and by the time he was done, we didnt have enough time to utilize the sunlight like we wanted, and Sam told us he couldn't make it too. Since the remainder of our shots require low key lighting, we would prefer to meet during the week to create our desired level of lighting by opening the garage door a crack like we planned. In other news, this is our last week working on our project. The time has flown by and the upcoming due date seems daunting. However, I don't beleive this minor setback will prohibit the completion of our project. Mrs. Stoklosa told us to expect roadblocks and hardships as we progressed throught the project, and perhaps this is one of them. Anyway, I feel confident we can finish filming during the week, and begin the next portion of our project, editing. Wish us luck!

This week I met with another group of students to discuss and critique each other's portfolio projects. The meeting made me feel confident about our progress so far, as we have already done most of our filming which puts us ahead of most others. Obviously, the project isn't a race, but luckily once we film the last scene tomorrow, we'll have a little over a week to edit it and be able to finish our project by April 11th. The members im my group gave me a few suggestions to improve our film opening. For example, after our credit sequence, I was recommended to flash in the title of our film like a bolt of lightning, or display the title with some eerie static. I really like the last suggestion, as it ties in with the VHS tape that is important to our plot. In addition, we also discussed the title we should use, as we have yet to title our film. While some of the suggestions definitely encompassed the mystery and suspenseful tone we intend to create, we could't agree o

Before we delve into the editing process of our film opening, Ben and I have discussed how we plan to incorporate sound. Our film opening will rely on a few different sound techniques. First, and most importantly, we are still searching for an eerie score that we will play throughout the opening credits and beginning scene, this non-diagetic sound will create a fearful and mysterious tone for the beginning of our film. In addition, we plan on incorporating a few stings that could create suspense. For example, adding a sting throughout the flashback scene will indicate to the viewer that something terrible will occur, Furthermore, we have also discussed several diagetic sounds that we will use to make the scene more realistic. Towards the beginning of the scene, the protagonist will awake to a loud bang on the garage door which we have already recorded and plan to implement during editing. In addition, we plan to include the sounds of several other aspects such as the door slamming towa

After designing our setting, there was only one thing left to do... Film! Well, actually, Ben had to put some make-up on first. And no, I'm not talking about his lipstick, I mean the makeup he needed to fit into character. Below is a picture of our star, Ben Eiglarsh in all his makeup dirt and blood glory, in the film opening's first scene. In just a few hours, we were able to come home with a good amount of footage, and knocked out the majority of scenes we planned in our storyboard. When arriving to the set, the first thing to consider was the appropriate level of lighting, While the garage's lights were too bright for what we originally envisioned, we found that opening the garage door a tiny bit would allow just enough light for the camera, while still creating a shadowy scene. At our next day of filming, which will most likely be next weekend, we have to film one of the opening's most important scenes, the flashback. Luckily for Ben, this scene doesn'

We found our set, and are all set to start filming ASAP. Because Ben's father is a realtor he was able to recommend us a property with a pretty bare-bones garage. Below is an image of how our setting appeared when we first found it. After we decided this garage would be our set, it was time for a makeover! We brought in a chair where the protagonist would wake up next to, and a collection of items we scattered around the room and wrote our names on for the credit sequence. However, once we arrived with the stuff, I noticed the large barren board in the background and had an interesting idea. Because, our film takes place in the secret hideout of a pair of murderers, I though it would be extremely creepy and fitting if we were to print out pictures of some of the "victims" and pin them on the board. Ben immediately agreed, and we drove back home in order to make this idea a reality. After making it to Ben's house, we printed several images of the 17 young child

This week I was assigned a group of 6 other students, and had time to critique the progress they have made on their portfolio projects as well as receive feedback on my own. In regards to my project, I explained to them the plot of our film and what we hope to accomplish through out film opening.  By projecting my computer on a big screen, I was able to guide them through my blog and discuss our specific choices. One major question that arose was how we plan to find the creepy, abandoned garage where we plan to film. While we are still attempting to find the right place, Ben's father is a realtor and told us he would be able to show us a few uninhabited properties that could work for our film. In addition, the group gave me a few suggestions, first and foremost would be to include a few lines of dialogue that could help indicate the protagonist has lost his memory and his unaware of his surroundings. Because the protagonist is alone in the room, somebody suggested that we should in

As mentioned in several posts, and our storyboard, Ben and I plan to implement various techniques into our film opening that will allow us to accomplish our purpose of creating mystery. This post will attempt to explore a few of those techniques and discuss their importance. 1. Lighting: Ben and I have decided that the use of low-key lighting will be essential to our film opening. In this blog post, Caleb Ward describes the ability of low key lighting to easily create drama and mystery. He states that by using low key lighting to create shadows and contrast, it can be extremely effective in creating an uneasy feeling among viewers. His blog also discusses how to set up and film with low key lighting, which is something Ben and I must consider before we even begin filming. Low key lighting will be especially important in the flashback scene we plan to implement as we want a shot where the faces of the two men are concealed and low key lighting will help us accomplish this. 2. Sound

As Ben and I created our storyboard and discussed how we plan to create mystery, I realized how important our film's setting will be. The protagonist awakes in a mysterious garage after he was knocked out and injected with a memory serum (although he doesn't know that yet). Creating a setting that will parallel this sense of mystery and confusion will be a difficult task to accomplish but certainly one that will increase the quality of our film opening. By researching the importance of setting, I discovered that setting must be as treated as importantly as a character, as it can effectively create tone, emotion, and ideas ( Renee ). By creating the perfect setting, Ben and I can create our desired eerie and mysterious tone without even relying on the actions of the protagonist. Currently, we plan to intertwine the idea of establishing a setting in order to create mysterious tone with our credit sequence. As demonstrated in our storyboard, Ben and I plan to film a long t

Ben and I have been working on our storyboard and have already made significant progress. Our storyboard illustrates several of the shots and techniques we plan to implement in our film opening beginning with our plan for the opening credits until the protagonist leaves the mysterious garage he wakes up in. By mapping out the individual components of our film opening, the storyboard lead us to discuss and consider how we plan to execute the different shots, compose our frames, implement sound, and edit the piece. I believe storyboarding is an essential component of film making as it makes the filming process significantly easier. By mapping out each shot and indicating the technique used throughout the piece, storyboards allow the writer’s idea flow throughout a paper in an easy to understand fashion. While I think we should make out storyboard a bit longer and include more detailed shots, it serves as a great place to start as it has already given me a vision of how filming and ed

Today we came up with the idea that will serve as the basis for our film opening project. After researching and brainstorming we have decided that our genre will be  a mixture of Mystery and Thriller/Suspense. Our idea is as follows: The film opens after an opening credit scene with a shot of a man waking up in what appears to be an old abandoned garage with blood dripping down his forehead. He wakes up with a raging headache and cannot figure out what happened before he got to this setting. The scene fuzzes out and a cutaway is used to reveal a shot of a man grabbing another man and injecting him with an unknown substance, the shot will most likely rely on low-key lighting, as we intend not to reveal the men's faces. As the scene returns to the original character, the camera pans around and in the darkened back corner of the room, the camera pulls in on a VHS tape that is on the ground. The man gets up and proceeds to walk out when he sees a girl dead on the floor. This opening wi

An extremely part of the film opening project is research. After meeting up with Ben and discussing what we wanted our opening to accomplish, we realized the next step was to research the genres we were interested in, in order to recognize what characteristics we will have to implement in out project. By visiting utilizing several resources such as the   New York Film Academy's Ultimate List   and   Filmsite's Film Genres  we were able to access information about the various film genres as well as hone in on our particular area of interest.  With hopes of incorporating the elements of mystery and suspense into our piece, a couple of genres drew my attention. First, the   Thriller   genre stood out as I learned that this is the genre which most often creates intense excitement, suspense, uncertainty, and tension. In addition, I was interested by the Psychological Horror genre as I believe an opening of this variety could certainly accomplish what Ben and I are hoping for. T

Hello! My name is Andrew Briceno. This blog will be the home for everything related to the film opening that I will be creating with my partner, Ben Eiglarsh. Today in class Ben and I viewed a few examples of film openings that students have created in the past and are very excited to awaken our minds in search of a great idea. By watching the samples, I noticed that I enjoyed the film openings which strive to create a sense of mystery and allude to an upcoming conflict. I believe that when done right, film openings that create a sense of mystery and allude to conflict can grab the viewer's attention, and encourage them to watch the entire film in search of answers. Although we will solely be creating the opening of a film for this project, I believe that we can create a scene that creates an engaging sense of mystery and leaves viewers wanting more information.  Two great examples of film openings which accomplish this task are The Wachowski's  The Matrix (1999) and Steve