Inspiration

 Let me tell you about how I came up with the concept of my short film. I am currently a choreographer for the junior kids at Inside Out Theatre Company and ever since being offered this opportunity, my life has changed. It has provided me such an amazing experience and helped me work and improve on my craft. Attached to this opportunity is an individual that has now become one of my biggest influences... Idy Vandepas.

Idy Vandepas is the head choreographer at Inside Out Theatre Company, she is the person who recommended me to my director, and the reason I am where I am today. She has believed in me, trusted me, and taught me so much as a dancer and as a performer overall. Idy and I have grown such a strong and powerful bond, that now she is like a mother to me. (I actually call her "mom" during rehearsals and people now start to ask me if she actually is my real mom lol)

Idy started her own company a couple years ago called the "Ame Project". This is a project she started in which she travels around the world and creates short films that are only told through the form of dance. She takes her company dancers to different locations and films, and directs, and choreographs all the films that all tackle a different story or challenge. This was always so cool to me and extremely fascinating. Therefore, when I found out we had the opportunity to make a short film for our portfolio project, I knew that I wanted to create a short film that was inspired by the films Mom makes. 

The Ame Project

Once I decided that I wanted the story of my short film to be only told through dance, I needed to actually figure out what my story was going to be about. Like the films on Ame, I wanted my film to be related to a challenge or obstacle that many can relate to. So I started to think of things that I struggle with and a story I wanted to share. After some time, I finally decided on the concept of attachment issues and not being able to let go of a certain someone or something.

Additionally, after I came up with my story, I watched all of the films on Ame and came across their most recent film called "Pulled". This film surrounds the concept of being pulled away from reaching your goals and always having obstacles that get in your way. This film influenced me even more and is now the biggest inspiration for my short film, "Ligatum".

First Group Meeting!

 During our AICE Media class, we had our first group meeting! While at these meetings, we get split into groups and all get a chance to share some information about our projects. I really enjoy these meetings because I get to talk to my peers about my piece and get some feedback and advice on things I might be stuck on. Additionally, I get to learn more about what my classmates are working on and all the different things they all come up with... which I think is pretty neat.

With this meeting specifically, I focused on getting some advice on what to do about the location of my film. I was really stuck on where to film and how to film. After explaining what my vision for the setting was, one of my group members, Tai, suggested I talk to Jim from Becon TV and ask him if I could film at his studio. This was really helpful because Tai recently did an internship for him over the summer, so she was able to give me some guidance on how to approach this. As a backup, more of my teammates suggested I film at the beach or gave me their opinion on my idea of filming at an "abandoned" ballroom. Their feedback and opinions really helped me come up with three different locations to film at and the pros and cons of all of them. 

My main option is to film at Jim's studio, but if all fails... The "abandoned" ballroom idea would work nicely for my concept. 

Another thing I brought up during our meeting was my issues relating to scheduling. Next week I am going on a big trip and once we come back, spring break starts. With this crunch time, I was really struggling to find time to film, edit, and get everything done. Yoav, another group member, is also going on this trip. So after talking about this obstacle during our meetings, he suggested that I talk with my actors and really break down the dates and scheduling issues that could be present to narrow down to a final schedule. He explained to me how he is also dealing with this issue since we both have the competition trip, but he helped me resolve it by giving me advice on how to figure out scheduling issues. 

Overall, I truly do enjoy these meetings. Listening to what my peers have to say about my work is really helpful and will assist me with improving my final outcome. Can't wait for the next one!

Title and Fonts

 Alright, time to come up with a title for my short film...

After doing some research on productions that are similar to my piece, I came across the film Suspiria. Ms. Stoklosa recommended I check out this film because they use interpretive dance and strong movements to represent meaning and build onto the story. This is very similar to what I wanted to do with my piece, so when I did some research on the film, the title and fonts used also stood out to me.

This film falls under the genre of horror. While my piece isn't a horror film, I want my short film to be abstract and avant-garde. So when I saw the title and the font used for the poster of this film, I was inspired and wanted do to something similar. 

The unique font, and the letters "falling" and being broken up is the approach I decided to go for the style of the graphic for my short film.

For the title itself, I wanted it to be a representation of my piece and the meaning behind it. As a quick summary, my film dives into the challenging issue of being attached to something or someone. Not being able to let go of a certain thing and not being allowed to move on due to barriers and obstacles that keep us trapped. 

With this concept, I want my viewers to interpret my short film however they see fit. I want my audiences to be able to relate in any way. This is why I decided I wanted my story to be told through interpretive dance, allowing full liberty to let the viewer's imagination explore and interpret my piece however they feel. 

To take the idea of "free interpretation" a step further, I wanted this to be represented through my title as well. Therefore I took the concept of my story and translated it to Latin so that it is in a language that not so many people understand. 

I took the word "tied", since my film is based on the idea of being "tied" to something, and translated it to Latin. Giving me the final result for the title of my short film, "Ligatum"

Font Name: DoubleBass

After coming up with the title of my short film, I began to play around with some fonts, colors, and styles. This is my final result! I decided to stick with primary colors, a unique font that staggers and collides the letters with each other, and a curve to the text to give it more dimension. 

I can't wait to work with this graphic more and start to add it to posters, images, and promotional projects for my short film!

Social Media Research

 Hey blog! so, as a part of our portfolio projects, one of the components is to create a social media presence for our form of media. In my case, my short film. However, before I delve into this extensive part of the project, I need to research different productions that have a similar vibe to my film to reach the right audience, present my piece correctly, and get an idea of how to style and publicize my film.

3 productions that fit the style of my piece are:

- Suspiria 

- Chicago 

- La La Land

All three of these productions are very theatrical and use dance as a way to progress the plot and build an interpretive piece. The social media for these productions are all different and would work well with inspiration for my piece. 

All three productions use Instagram as their main form of publicity. The one I think I will focus on the most is the Suspiria one. The Suspiria Instagram uses photos of their dance pieces which would fit perfectly with my piece since my film is silent and relies heavily on the choreography to tell the story.

For Chicago, their production does not have an Instagram page, but their Musical version of the movie does. Therefore, I will use their profile as inspiration since it relates to the theatrical vibe I am going for. Chicago uses dance as a metaphor for what is going on in the scenes, this style of story-telling is what I am striving for with my short film.

 

Chicago's Instagram page also uses their dancers as a form of publicity, advertising their show as theatrical and very dance influenced. I would like to have still shots of the choreographu from my short-film in order to captivate my audinece and have them visualize my main form of portraying my story.

 

At the end of La La Land, there is a whole 7-minute silent scene, in which we are told the remainder of the protagonist's story through motion, movement, dance, and theatrical performance. 

I strive to accomplish this with my short film. Therefore, using this production as inspiration works great!

La La Land's Instagram page uses heavy editing to fit the vibe of the film. Their posts consist of animations, and representative elements that tie in to the whimsical world of La La Land, intriguing the audience and keeping them within the narrative world.

After scrolling through the productions Instagram page, I realized I want to use text and animations that will cohesively work together to fit the aesthetics of my piece. I want my social media page to feel like a piece/attachment of my short film. 

These films truly helped me understand how I should style my social media and the measures I must take to publicize and promote my film. I know see how I can attract my audience and represent my short film through social media. 

Genre Research

 Hi blog! Let's talk more about my short film. The approach I wanted to take with this piece was different than anything I have ever done before in my films. 

Dance is a huge part of my life and has made me realize that it has also helped me cope with so much. It is a form of expression and can tell so much, yet so little, through movements and choreography. Therefore, I decided to tell the story of my short film through dance and only dance. My short film is a silent short film that constructs meaning and develops a story in the form of dance.

Now, once I was set on this idea, I started to think of what I wanted to tell. What message did I want to spread and give others something to relate to and resort to? While I was trying to decipher this, I stopped and thought to myself, "Wait, what is the genre of my film?"

I knew it didn't fall under the genre of a musical because there is no singing, and I knew it wasn't something like fantasy because there are no qualities that would fall under the fantasy genre. So I began to do some research to figure out what the genre of my film was. 

After doing some research, I figured out that my short film falls under the genre of experimental.

This article helped me a lot with establishing that this was the genre of my film: What is Experimental Film — History, Examples & Movements

The article provided me with examples, gave me definitions, and overall a deeper understanding of this genre that helped me realize that my short film can be considered an experimental film. 

Portfolio Project Timeline

Portfolio Project Timeline:

Week One:

-choose the project genre

-begin developing a full short-film plot

-research genre and story ideas

-develop the title and choose the font

-consider possibilities for actors

Week Two:

-continue research on project components

-continue to develop story – land on final ideas

-finalize actors

Week Three:

-continue to research/plan project components (digital/print)

-develop an outline

-develop filming/editing schedule

-create a shot list/storyboard

-create an Instagram page

Week Four:

-continue to research/plan project components

-begin production of video component

-document production process (for social media and blog)

-post to social media

Week Five:

-finalize research/plan project components

-continue production of video component

-start editing video component

-begin planning print component

-post to social media

Week Six:

-continue post-production of video component

-continue planning of print component

-post to social media

Week Seven:

-research information relating to Critical Reflection

-finalize video component

-work on print/digital components

-post to social media

Week Eight:

-research information relating to Critical Reflection

-finalize video component

-work on print/digital components

-post to social media

Week Nine:

-create Critical Reflection

-finalize print component

-post to social media

Week Ten:

-create final, overall project reflection

Choosing my Portfolio Project

 It's time...

We are now starting our portfolio projects! I am very excited but very intimidated at the same time. This year, we have a lot more media options than last year. There are so many media forms I can pick from, but which one should I do!?

I could do a music video, work on something I don't get to do too often... but no, it's hard to find a real band or artist that I can work with. I would rather be able to do any song or artist I want. 

I could do a documentary and put into work all the new skills I have learned this year regarding documentaries. This one I actually am leaning towards a lot because I enjoyed working on our doc earlier in the year. It was something I had never tried and allowed me to work on something different. However, the fact that it has to be an excerpt from an episodic documentary can be a challenge. I tend to enjoy working on full-length pieces rather than excerpts, especially considering that it would only be an episode from a whole series. Additionally, having to refer to the other episodes of my docu-series on my social media is also challenging. Maybe I will skip out on the documentary option...

The other choice I am highly considering is the short film. With the short film, I can create whatever storyline I choose and be as creative as possible. I can try new genres and attempt to step out of my comfort zone and create a film that is still true to who I am, but explore themes through an abstract and avant-garde lens. 

After considering some possible options. I am most likely going to choose to make a short film for my portfolio project. I can't wait to begin on this project and document it all on here. Stay tuned!