Group Meeting #1

     In class, we met up with other students to discuss our processes and to share feedback and concerns. I explained to them that I'm at a point in my project where most of my planning is done and I now have to bring it to life in physical form, but one of my biggest concerns is what the my first scene should be. I shared the contents of my last blog post ("Going Back yet Moving Forward") with the group to have them read and understand the general storyline of my film. I got a lot of approval on my idea so far, and they all agreed that I should definitely start with one of the prop items that I feel is most important (starting the compilation of still shots of items around Alejandro's room). This made me think about how I should start with a picture of Alejandro with his parents in a happy time as one of the movie's main themes is the importance of family. One of my classmates also mentioned how it may be confusing to see glimpses of the character walking around in front of the object, but I stated my desire to allude to the fact that Alejandro is getting ready. This led them to suggest to cut to a scene of Alejandro buttoning up his shirt where I could also show him playing the first recording of the voicemail. I really like this idea because then the voicemail would be understood as a diegetic sound, which reinforces the fact that Alejandro is playing it to be able to feel closer to his mom on this important day.

    Regarding the voicemail, I expressed my worry of using a background song on top of the voicemail and everyone agreed that it may sound too noisy. My reasoning for instrumental music was to make the voicemail sound less eerie as the film is also a coming-of-age movie, which typically contains an abundance of songs to create a youthful energy, but my classmates said that the quietness may actually help express the melancholic tone that my character is feeling in that moment. They also said that the voicemail sounds like it'll be enough noise to not make the watching of the scenes uncomfortable, but it all depends on what I think fits best in the editing process. An eerie and seemingly quiet sound to start a film reminded me of the drama Atonement which starts with the keys from a typewriter. The sound aids in an atmosphere of disturbing nature as well as suspense and tension, but I think if I try to obtain a voicemail recording that sounds upbeat, I won't fall into an eerie tone but an introspective one instead.

Link: https://youtu.be/QO-Ity9GTQI?si=oDKNdvZixZ-VaKuQ

    A classmate also shared with me that they had assumed the appointment mentioned in the script was a hair or nail appointment, so I, once again, went back and added specifications! At this point, I have accepted the fact that the script is a living document, always subject to change. 

    We also watched a TED Talk in class about filmmaker Andrew Stanton's guide to creating a great story. He explains how most people who are watching a movie are appealed by the fact that they have to uncover and discover aspects of the story. Stanton provides this wonderful quote that really stuck with me by William Archer, "Drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty." He goes on to explain his personal 2 + 2 theory in writing stories which is to leave some questions for the viewers to answer. This not only makes the viewers continue to watch to discover the truth, but it also creates an interesting story with depth and meaning. This has made me rethink many features of the mise-en-scene elements apparent in my opening scenes, because I had thought to include a photograph of Alejandro with his mother in a time where she's sick (maybe expressed through a wheel chair or her on a bed), but now I want to leave it up to the viewers to assume what could have happened. I also don't want to show the graduation gown too early on in the scenes to have the audience wonder what Alejandro is dressing up for. The fun in movie watching is the piecing together of a puzzle, and my goal is to provide that within my project to create something that's interesting, entertaining, and meaningful.

Link: https://youtu.be/KxDwieKpawg?si=dnmbVm7R7QNzLM6E

Going Back yet Moving Forward

     Just my luck, the day after I create my screenplay, we have a lesson in class about writing screenplays. But just my luck! All I have to do is go back and revise it. In terms of formatting, I've learned that dialogue has to be centered on the page and character names are always capitalized. My teacher also mentioned how I should be pulling ideas from real-life conversations and thinking about specific speech styles in writing the dialogue, so I went back and fixed that, too, making some of the lines more casual like "going to" to "gonna." When the time comes, I'll also remember to go through the lines with the cast to make sure the words feel comfortable in their mouths as it's important to me for the lines to be spoken smoothly and naturally.

    A tip from the lesson in class was to also structure the whole storyline of the film in order to get a better idea of the purpose of the opening. So, as we know, my film is a coming-of-age drama that follows the main character Alejandro's journey of finding himself and learning to live with the memory of his late mother. The movie opens on graduation day and Alejandro is facing a big mental struggle to appear on stage as his mother has died of cancer a few months prior. It's hard for him to face this milestone without one of his biggest supporters, and it leads him to antagonize his father and distance himself from his friends a lot. The majority of the movie follows Alejandro during the Summer break before having to move away to college. He is going to an out-of-state college on a Soccer scholarship, but it's hard for him to leave his childhood home that keeps his mother's memory alive. The coming-of-age aspect is Alejandro acting out, resorting to partying a lot and distancing himself from those who love him, but his father and friends don't give up to get him back on track and realize that there is more to life. After many heart-felt conversations and grieving moments, Alejandro feels ready to move away and start on his college career in honor of his mother. The film concludes with Alejandro moving to his new home and getting ready to start his new chapter of life.

    This helps me create my opening by giving me ideas of plot points to allude to. For example, since soccer is a big part of Alejandro's life, I'm going to include soccer memorabilia in the set design and try to include a picture of a soccer team. To show that Alejandro was close to his mother, I'll add multiple photos of them together to show their close relationship. I'm also going to add pictures of Alejandro with his friends as his friends will be important characters that help him find his way. A new idea I've had is to add plane tickets in his bedroom to foreshadow his inevitable trip to college that he has to take at the end of the movie. Thinking about props, I was able to also decide on a location for the set! Call it convenience or call it genius, but I have chosen to film inside my older brother's bedroom. Though I'll have to move a few things around and swap the pictures to show the actor instead of my brother, I'll be able to keep the majority of the things the same: the bed sheets, the desk and computer, room decorations (which will allow the set to keep a sense of reality and lack the feeling of being staged or fake). Before starting to film, I have to compile all my props together to make sure the set is prepared to be filmed in. And oh wow! What a coincidence! My older brother's name is Alejandro, too! Okay... yes, it was done on purpose. I had an inkling that my brother's bedroom would be my filming location and I thought it'd be beneficial for my main character to share his name, especially since there is a plank that says "Ale" in the room. 

The Importance of Dialogue

    I love being the producer, director, and screen-writer of my own project. Don't be surprised when all the credits shown in the opening will contain the same name, because I'll gladly give credit where credit is due. Now, I'm taking the role of the writer, and I'm having a blast. The dialogue in drama films are extremely important because it reveals the thoughts and inner-workings of the character's struggles and growth. Dialogue also gives a piece of work meaning, which is what I'm trying to achieve with the inclusion of the voicemail. I want the late mother's voicemail to not only create a melancholic mood, but I want it to add a sense of introspective into the main character's relationship with his mother. This will help give insight on how impactful her death must have been on the main character and foreshadows conflicts the MC will have to face throughout the movie.

    In writing the script for the mother's voicemail, I recalled scenes from the Netflix series Never Have I Ever, a coming-of-age story that's also a comedy drama, where the main character Devi listens to a voicemail of her late father. In the voicemail, the father is having a natural one-sided conversation in asking where to pick her up, but he ends the voicemail with calling her his "perfect girl." This tells the audience how much he cared for her and (in the context of the show) how he was the more loving parental figure. This makes his loss that much harder on Devi and the feeling of sympathy and loss can be translated through the screen.

Link: https://youtube.com/shorts/_v01HhhV17Y?si=b-boq09hb-QlMbd6

    After watching these scenes and thinking about the tone I want to portray, I began to put my ideas into writing. I wanted it to be a casual voicemail like that of Never Have I Ever, but I also wanted it to allude to her death more as it may not be clear through the photographs that the mother has died. (Oh! And it's a good time to mention that I've decided that the main character's name is Alejandro! Ale, for short). I thought the best way to do this was for the mother to mention something about a doctor's appointment or therapy and the audience could infer that she's sick. I also wanted the voicemail to reveal something about one of the main character's passions which is soccer, so I came up with this:

Ale! It’s mom. I’m parked in front of Field 3 to pick you up. I’m sorry to have missed your game. My appointment ran longer than I expected. But Diego’s mom sent me a Ton of videos and I’m excited to hear all about it! I knew you’d win! My beautiful champ. Oh, I see you! This was useless then.

    The next step was to write the dialogue between the main character and his father. I wanted Alejandro to seem a bit standoffish, a typical trait of how teenagers are with their parents, and I think I did a good job with the declarative sentence of "I didn't even answer to your knock." I also didn't want the father to argue back as he is meant to be a character that will help Alejandro find his path. When putting everything together, I tried my best to compile it in a formal manner, including stage directions, as well. I also thought to add the stage directions of Alejandro looking longingly at his graduation gown at the end to allude to his feelings of dreading the day. 

    Now, I have to leave my writing days behind and assume the role of casting director! Out of convenience, I think I'll have my mother record the voicemail, my father act as Alejandro's father, and my boyfriend (a 17 year-old) casted as Alejandro. And not to doubt anyone's acting skills, but I think it's beneficial that the lines are short and don't require a lot of emotion. The most difficult to get the tone right will most likely be my mother's acting of the voicemail, but, thankfully, as the voicemail will be recorded beforehand, she'll have an infinite amount of trials to record it to the best of her abilities. Throughout this following week, I'll have to properly ask the cast members to join my project and see what days they'll be available to film. Starting the filming process also requires me to figure out the set, props, and costumes involved, but I'm excited to tackle on these next steps!

Boards: Both Story and Mood

     Ta-da! I know, I’m a great drawer.

    This is a storyboard that roughly demonstrates the scenes and the order that I have in mind. Specific descriptions of the scenes aren't included because most of them will consist of a long shot of whatever is the focal point of that shot (picture frame, books, poster, etc.). However, below, the scenes display the movement of the main character in his room. This is to better help me to visualize how I want the framing to look when I'm actually filming the shots. All of these scenes will occur early in the morning, as high school graduations (having been to two myself) are typically early in the morning, especially for the graduates who have to arrive earlier. Keeping this in mind, I imagine for the scenes to be lit with a lot of natural light coming in from the window. I'm also planning for the first playing of the mother's voicemail to play during the compilation of the objects in his bedroom, with the first unobstructed shot of the main character being him tapping on his phone to play the recording again.

(QUICK INTERMISSION BEFORE WE CONTINUE, I'VE DECIDED ON THE TITLE!!!)

    This storyboard is a more detailed example of how the character will be moving around and interacting with his environment. Showing his urgency to play the voicemail again as well as his struggle to ensure his father doesn't catch him listening to it, helps to develops some background on how the main character is missing his mother and still mourning her, even when he is probably expected to be moving on. That brings me to the good news that the title of my movie is... drum roll please... don't look at the storyboard because that's just a filler... LIFE GOES ON. I felt like this was a strong title that depicted the character's struggles and his moving into adulthood.

    To further help me with my filming process and in organizing my ideas, I also created a mood board to help myself (and the readers of this blog) visualize what the colors and tones of the opening scene will look like. As blue is a color representative of sadness, I want the mise-en-scene elements to have some element of blue. I'm also thinking to keep the lights of the room off and only use the light coming in from the window to create a serene setting. I'm also visualizing the light from the window as a metaphor that life is happening outside of the main character's bedroom and he hasn't yet joined that world. But hopefully the lack of overhead light will still allow the frames to be clear and good-quality.

(I do not own the right to these pictures. Origin: Pinterest)

A New Schedule

 

   I figured out how to have text and a photo next to each other (thank you to the system of trial and error)! This is a small but mighty feat because I was honestly struggling to achieve this…

    So! To the left, is my new schedule for the project. I wanted to make a new one because I started to see that I was on a different track than how I had initially planned so I rewrote it to be more aligned with my current pace. I think this will actually be more beneficial because I have moved up the time to when I am supposed to begin filming for the film opening, which will ultimately be the most time consuming area of the project as the timing also depends around location availability and the actors involved. Reflecting back on my music video project, I have learned that it’s better to overshoot material and plan out a long period of time to get things right. This way, I’ll also be able to return to filming in case I catch anything inconsistent or wrong with shots during the editing process.

    Now that my affairs are all in order, I have started to structure the scenes of my opening scene. As I've mentioned, I plan for the film to open in a slow-paced montage of items around the main character's bedroom. I want it to open with the focus on a particular item, maybe a window or stack of books, and the main character can be seen through a shallow focus moving around the room. It'll then cut to more important contextual scenes like a picture frame of a young boy and two parents, soccer trophies, a youthful poster on a wall, 12th grade textbooks, a graduation gown, and photographs that show the main character growing up. 

    Throughout these scenes, the credits will be shown in the bare wall beside the centered item. I think after about 10 seconds of natural asynchronous sounds, a voicemail of the mother speaking will play and after it ends the first time, the scene will focus on the main character tapping on his phone. Then, the voicemail will play again while the main character moves out from the frame and the title will appear saying... I still need to work on the title actually. Then a knock will be heard at the door and the main character will stumble to grab his phone and turn off the voicemail. His father will open the door and urge him to get ready, and after a brief exchange of sentences, the main character will look at the graduation gown and look down at his hands and sigh. That's the general idea of the scenes for now, but I'm going to create a storyboard to better plan out the sequence and appearance of things. I'm also interested in adding some nondiegetic music, but I'm unsure if it'll make the opening too noisy or distract from the voicemail. I'll have to experiment different methods when I get to that point.

It's Been Decided!

     I'm very excited to say that I have decided on a storyline and idea for the film opening!!! I know it feels like I pretty much had an idea already, but it was vague. My idea is for the film to be about a main character, most likely a boy, who is finishing his senior year of high school, but is facing all these challenges like dealing with the absence of his late mother, where to go for college, and what to pursue in life. The film will open with the main character getting ready for his graduation. Most (well, probably all) of the scenes for the opening will take place in his bedroom and there will be a lot of still shots of his room while either music or voicemails play in the background. The props shown in the scenes will reveal a lot about the character like college pamphlets, sport equipment, trophies, photographs, and the cap and gown for his graduation. I'm thinking to show photographs throughout his room that show a happy little boy with two parents and then a contrast of the boy, older and alone with his dad. I haven't yet figured out if this is the best method to allude to the mother's death in the opening, but I'll keep thinking about it.

Link: https://youtu.be/MBt8RVLNo4w?si=QRRKXiedeywC_AFs

    After watching a few more examples from movies that better align with the integration of dark themes and a coming-of-age story, I think it’s best to incorporate music or dialogue behind the scenes or even show glimpses of the main character moving around his bedroom in order to add some movement to the seemingly still shots. Seeing the opening scene to Beautiful Boy, Steve Carrell’s character is the only focus of the shot and delivers a minute-long monologue, but what makes the scene interesting is the dialogue. With the scarcity of elaborate mise-en-scene elements, the audience is able to focus on the actual words and hear the story of his son’s struggle with drug abuse. Contrastingly, another movie from the same genre, CODA, uses extreme dynamic movement to grab attention in its opening scene. Having an inkling that I want my approach to be establishing background in the character’s life, I think the best method would be to have a slower-paced opening, more like that of Beautiful Boy. I’d also be better equipped to recreate a scene like that of Beautiful Boy’s because of my smaller budget and desire to emphasize allusions to the conflicts in the main character’s life. At the pace that I’m on, I think I should reevaluate my schedule since I already have a good grasp on what approach and idea I want to commit to. I’ll have to work on that next before moving on with any other aspects of the project.

Link: https://youtu.be/b_D7tDaKTzE?si=3ziToXvGF53TNm4u

Scheduling & Research

    Now that I have a clearer idea of my film's plot and what I'm trying to aim for with my opening scene, I created a schedule to better complete this project. I want to ensure that I'll have enough time for everything, and I've found it's easier to organize my ideas and keep myself on schedule through the use of a checklist. As you can see from the photo below (if it's not too blurry), the checklist is organized by the three blog posts I have to write each week. I thought it was best to have it laid out this way to be able to know not only what I have to blog about, but to also know what step I should be at at that time of the week. The highlighted lines are to remind me to create a separate checklist for items like props, costumes, and locations, which I'll create closer to that time of my process.

So, if I want to make it a good habit to stick to my schedule, I better start now...

    A coming-of-age drama is a mix between two essentially popular genres. The coming-of-age part is one that I know well, especially as I'm approaching the time to move away to college. A coming-of-age film focuses on personal struggles of the characters and how the movie's plot helps them grow. One of the most important aspects of showing this growth and complex emotions is through the use of dialogue. At first, I hadn't thought to include any dialogue in my opening scene, and just use a compilation of moments of stillness, another aspect of coming-of-age films, but now I'm getting an idea to incorporate a voicemail from the main character's late parent (if I choose to go that route). 

    After the popularity that director John Hughes brought to the genre, many coming-of-age films primarily followed characters in high school and featured a fast-paced, youthful opening (see example of Hughes' Sixteen Candles). I'd like for my character to also be in high school, but I'm more interested in the dramatic aspect which would have to feature a slower opening with more melancholic tones. A film opening that comes to mind that I'd, currently, like to embody the feel of is that of Call Me by Your Name. These opening credits give off more of a sense of being frozen-in-time. The color tone as well as the overall mise-en-scene elements of the photographs also contribute to a sad and a "detached from youth tone," which is more pertaining to the genre of drama. Coming-of-age films can go many routes from comedy to romance, but I want to specifically focus on drama in order to incorporate elements like softer lighting and to be able to focus on the inner struggles of the main character's agony. As dark as it seems to sound, I'm actually extremely excited to get started on the film opening. I'm going to have to find a few more examples of exactly how I can embody tone in my opening, but I'm starting to get a clearer image of the story I want to portray.

Coming-of-age movies: What is the coming-of-age genre? - 2024. MasterClass. (n.d.). https://www.masterclass.com/articles/coming-of-age-movies 

What is drama?. The Drama Genre. (n.d.-b). https://dramagenre.weebly.com/what-is-drama.html 

Picking a Genre…

    Choosing a genre and a way to approach my film opening has been harder than I thought. My mind feels like it has thousands of ideas constantly running on treadmills, so how could I possibly decide on a single storyline and genre? A way to tackle this stump, I thought, would be to watch as many film openings as I possibly could. So that’s what I tried to do. I watched a video by the creator StudioBinder about different film openings with the hope that I would be able to hone down which approach appealed to me most. After watching different examples from different genres, I believe that pursuing a film opening in the drama genre would be most interesting. What caught my attention was the example of the opening of the 2019 film Marriage Story. The opening focuses on establishing the relationship between the two main characters in a form where nothing seems to be wrong until the opening finishes to reveal that they are at a therapy session and their marriage is failing. I'm very interested in following the same steps by introducing a character who seems to be normal, but then the conflict is revealed and the peace is disrupted.

    Knowing that I wanted to start off with a serene opening that contracts the conflicts occurring in the plot, I have decided that my film should follow the drama genre, or more specifically, a coming-of-age drama. The next step required me to brainstorm possible plot ideas and how establishing the main character would help contribute to the plot that will be shown in the film. I jotted down a few ideas that all follow a similar storyline that I'm interested in doing. To best fit the common narrative of a coming-of-age drama, my main character will be a teenager (most likely around 17 or 18 years old, mainly because it's easier to cast my friends as the role and that's what age they are) and they'll be dealing with a large conflict that forces them to deal with many emotions and evolve as a person. My ideas range from the main character wanting to go on hunt to find their missing relative to a main character having to deal with abandonment or a parental loss. The idea I'm most leaning towards, for now, is having the main character live the day of an important milestone while dealing with the loss of a parent.

    Having a general idea of the story I want to portray with my film opening, I have to begin planning my process and experimenting with different ideas on how to proceed. At this time, many questions come to mind:

What should the first scenes consist of?

How will the audience know the the parent has died?

How much should be revealed from the film opening alone?

What pacing and sounds should be used?

    A lot of these questions can be answered easier through research of the conventional techniques of a coming-of-age drama film. I have a lot of research ahead of me to be able to know how to best fit my ideas together. Learning from the processes of my past projects, I should also develop a schedule for my work in order to make sure I stay on track. After conducting further research, first focusing on commonalities of the genre, I can begin crafting how to actually bring my idea to life with the resources that are available to me.

The Beginning of the End

    Today in class, we began discussing the steps and processes of the Cambridge Portfolio Project. I'm, admittedly, a bit freaked out. So far in all four years of my high school experience, I have never dedicated so much time on the same project. I'm worried to see how I'll be able to juggle weekly blog posts along with my other schoolwork and activities, but my mind is also racing with different ideas for a film opening. It's also scary to think about how close we are to the end of the school year and how close my time in high school is coming to an end. Within this reflection, I began to recall different projects I have completed over the past few years, and with it, the different media I have consumed. Going over the instructions, I immediately thought back to every movie I have ever watched, both old and new. This made the process suddenly seem exciting a I will be able to express my ideas and knowledge of film in a physical form. Am I going to go for a dystopian genre? I'm not sure my suburban town nor the rest of South Florida would be the best setting for that. Should I tackle sci-fi? I don't think I have the funds.

    Before I get ahead of myself, I need to first examine the different approaches my film opening could utilize. The first idea that I'm inclined to pursue is developing character. I think I will be able to brainstorm many ideas about a complex character and use mise-en-scene elements as well as interactions to develop them. One of the first things that came to mind was a film about a character with schizophrenia. How'd I get here? Well, I recently watched Daniel Kwan's and Daniel Scheinert's Everything Everywhere All At Once, and I remembered how one of the characters would place googly eyes on inanimate objects. The first time it had come up in the movie, I couldn't stop laughing. I started to wonder if I could implement an element of bringing things to life, and a method of doing so could possibly be someone who lives with schizophrenia and how their life is reimagined through different lenses. However, I'm scared of misrepresenting the disease and I would be required to do extensive scientific research in order to get it all right. I'll keep working on that idea.

A24

    Another approach that appeals to me is using my film opening to establish background. Two of my favorite media genres are drama and dystopian, and I was interested in creating something within either genre. Going with either genre would require a detailed background on the situation of both the characters and the world in which they live in. I could possibly make use of my film opening to portray a background for one of these stories. I would have to closely consider all the aspects of my plot and which elements will be helpful to introduce at the beginning of said story. I have a lot of work and brainstorming to do. Once I do come up with an idea, if I choose to establish background, then I'd also have to find the best location for the context of the story. Establishing background also involves the incorporation of scene elements, which requires me to also explore different props I can include.

    I'm excited to start upon this journey and let my mind wander on different ideas and storylines. This blog will also be a mean of gathering my thoughts and reflecting upon my process. Thinking about what lies ahead, I’m excited to use the knowledge and practice I have gained from my past projects, especially when crafting the music video. Though the title of the post seems dismal, it’s actually a start to a thrilling experience of putting everything I’ve learned together into this final project.

Music Marketing Project: The Full Process

    The first step to the Music Marketing Project was to pick out a song from the assigned genre and begin to build a band and concept around that song. After being given three Rock songs, my group chose "So Caught Up" by an Australian group, the Teskey Brothers. The way we chose to approach the crafting of the band was to start with a number of people and genders. We juggled through ideas of having a two-person band or an all-girl band, but we eventually settled on having a coed band of five members. The motivation behind this choice was that we wanted the band to have a friendly and relatable energy, stemmed from friendship and kept together with the music. Sticking to a commonality within the Rock genre, we also wanted our band to have some drama like dating rumors between the two lead vocalists. Doing so, everything else was able to fall into place as we agreed that our main inspiration for the project was the band Fleetwood Mac.

    Inspired by the 70s style and drama of Fleetwood Mac, my group also had to recognize trends of the 21st century and how we could use the resources today to promote a band. Like most musicians, we gave our band "Lemon Drops" social media accounts across many platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. This allowed us to give a story to our band, which is that the members have been friends for a while and have been posting original music on their social media accounts for a couple of months already, garnering a small fanbase. In creating a background for the band, we were then able to decide that we wanted the band to emit a vintage feel while also being relatable and grounded. 

    The next step was to research current musicians to figure out how they market and distribute their music. Studying the original makers of the song themselves, the Teskey Brothers, and a younger Rock band called the Inhalers, we were able to figure out the best method for the Lemon Drops to be introduced into the official music industry. We selected a date for their music to be released and planned to have it available to stream on most popular streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. We also thought it would embody the Rock image more if the band released physical music such as CDs and vinyls. Releasing CDs and vinyls also connects us to our target audience of people 15-30 who are passionate about music. My research showed that there is a revival in physical music among adolescents and young adults, and vinyl sales are up by 22% as a result (The Foothill Dragon Press). Popular artists like Taylor Swift have even released multiple color options of the same album on vinyl because of their popularity. So, having CDs and vinyls available to purchase for the Lemon Drops is beneficial to both their brand and music sales.

    Afterwards, we decided on the live performances, which mainly consisted of rock or blues festivals, where the band could perform and market their song. Based off the fact that the band has a lot of anticipated songs, we also thought it was fitting for the band to release an album and join as the opening act to famous Irish musician Hozier. Hozier performs mainly soul and blues music, and we plan for the Lemon Drops to gain a lot of attention from performing at his concerts where his fans are primarily teenagers and young adults. Once we had our information, we began to compile it all together and create marketing practices such as posters and social media posts. Gathering friends who would be able to help us with our goal, we set up days to meet and took pictures that would serve the image of the band.

    Creating a story board for our band's music video, we brainstormed storylines and shots that would be both visually captivating and portray the band well. Putting it into practice, however, stirred us away from our original plans. We ended up brainstorming new ideas to accurately embody the band's concept and came up with a new idea for a promotional video. The reason we shifted from a story to a promo is because we wanted the video to emphasize that the members of the band are what are being marketed through means of social media and fan interaction, so it was important that the band's first music video also displays the members as themselves to accomplish that.

    Completing this project has taught me many things about my planning and execution processes. I've learned to constantly look back at my work in order to make sure everything is being translated the way I planned for it to be. It's also ideal to have a clear idea of the task at hand and work in a timely manner for everything to be completed on time. At first, I wasn't managing my time wisely and I could feel the consequences of that when it came time to put everything together. When developing my Cambridge portfolio, I now know to split the work up evenly and how to best assemble my efforts. I also have learned many things of the media sphere and how to better portray real-world situations in my project. In the future when forming a similar project, I can look forward to correctly achieving what is being asked and enjoying the creative aspect of the task.