Group Meeting Reflection 💻

Hey blog!!!

So, for the past few weeks, we've just been working on our film opening in class, but last class we did something different. We got together with around 8 classmates and had a group meeting. In this meeting we all took turns each explaining our ideas for our project and received advice and feedback about it from the others. It was interesting to hear about the different openings everyone was doing, however what I took most from this meeting was the advice given about mine. Arantza and I still aren't completely sure what we want to do for our video so hearing everyone's plot ideas for my story, their own plot ideas, and their advice on how my group could film/produce our opening truly helped solidify our plan. This also helped serve as a sort of checkpoint to see where in the project Arantza and I should be. Some people were already ready to start filming while others only knew what genre they were going to work with, so my process being in the middle of the two parts of the process made me realize that we weren't ahead or behind schedule, simply on time. 

I'm going to briefly explain the specifics of what we each talked about...

Brianna

-Coming-of-age film

-No plot or climax idea yet

-Wants to include a teenage girl who has no family/friends and something causes her to want to transform and change herself into someone new and better

-Wants to include a specific happy, upbeat song on the piano in the background of her opening

Brennan

-Suspense film "The Pushover"

-The opening will start with a psychotic kid walking back from school but is interrupted by bully making fun of him. Eventually the psychotic kid will murder the bully (not actually shown, implied with other shots) and the opening will possibly end with him dragging a bad (with the body inside?)

-Really wants to use a dolly zoom on psychotic kid

-For title, the letters on the screen (which will be big, plain, and white) will zoom/largen in the screen

Advice for me: Use the opening idea of the student who has to choose to go to college of stay with and take care of her chronically ill mom.

Sebastian

-Thriller genre

-No plot, climax, character, vibes ideas

Amelia

-Coming-of-age film

-Really wants to film on the beach

-The film will be about a "beach" girl who wishes to go to college abroad but is expected and is being pressured to stay at home and work at her family business. 

-Whole story (not the opening) ends with her on the plane on the way to her college abroad

-Will take place during the summer before college

-Not completely sure about opening idea but would like to do something involving the girl on the beach

Advice for me: Loved both plot ideas but recommended checking out Cobra Kai as inspiration if we chose the one with the chronically ill mom. Also, if using magazine to become flashbacks, recommended using the pictures as a transition from past to present.

Abrielle

-Coming-of-age film

-Film will be about an upcoming DJ who wishes to go professional but isn't allowed because he is currently still 16. He decides to enter a DJ contest and wins it, meaning he is allowed to play in a club, problem is, he is pretending to be 18, the minimum age to enter.

-The opening will show the kid working as a dj, making his own music, and him showing his friends his new song (they react very well and hype him up).

-Will make the flyer explaining the contest rules and information by hand 

Jade

-Mystery/horror film "Static"

-Unsure of plot/climax idea

-Will include a woman that is mentally unstable

-Wants the opening to take place in hospital, so her and her group already bought huge backdrops that they will be using to film in. Also already bought hospital gown that the woman will be wearing.

Color Schemes

 Hey blog!!!!

My partner, Arantza, and I haven't finalized our idea for our opening yet, but we know for sure that we want it to take place in the summer time in the early 2000s. So while the plot isn't developed, the color scheme basically is.

We want our film/opening to have warm tones and hues, so oranges, and for all the colors to be saturated and brighter. This adds to the sense of summer, a supposedly bright part of the year, plays on the feeling of nostalgia, and overall brings a lot of comfort warmth to audiences.

While some might not realize it, in film, oranges evoke feelings of warmth, happiness, youth, and creativity. This opening is meant to demonstrate this as our protagonist will likely be enjoying their last summer before going off to college. We want to illustrate the joyful feeling older audiences once felt when they were younger in the 2000s and enjoying carefree summers, nostalgia playing a huge role in this; the bittersweetness of the last summer before college, a bridge between the end of childhood and the rest of life, and overall make people feel seen. Arantza and I are both at this point in life, where we have already begun, or will soon begin to cross this bridge between childhood and "adulthood." And it sounds very serious, but a point of the film is to make sure that those in this stage keep their youth in tact, and don't allow anyone to tell them otherwise... something else that can be conveyed through the use of orange hues. 

To convey the emotions we are trying to create in audiences, though, lighting takes a big part, as well. I won't go very in depth into this because, I believe, I will make another blog about this, the lighting chosen for our opening can make or break that sense of warm nostalgia we want. In the picture above, all the shots are shot with the natural sun, sunsets, and typically low, soft lights. Those types of lights are a part of the reason why oranges are seen better on the screen, if they were brighter, the cool tones would begin to slip out.

...

Manipulating saturation changes how bright or dull colors seem on the screen. To be honest, we have not defined how we want the saturation in our film to be, but both bright and dull colors could definitely help set our intended tone.

Pairing low lighting and warm tones with low saturation, brings a feeling of calmness and sort of remind the audience that everything will be alright. This is very necessary in our film as we want young adults to feel heard and remember that they're not alone, what they're going through is very normal and happens to lots of people, so they will make it out of it okay. Again with the nostalgia, low saturation creates emotions of sadness and, with the orange, just bittersweet longing and nostalgia. 

However, high saturation could also work in our favor, with vibrant colors being in charge of evoking certain emotions. While bright colors tend to clash with soft background tones, typically being used for action and urgency, very different from our film, it could still play with the nostalgia I keep talking about. There is a belief that when we were younger, the world felt brighter, the sun shone brighter, colors were more vibrant, and as we grew up, the world slowly got darker, whether it be because modernism caused everything to literally be darker, or it is simply us growing up, maturing, and reality hitting us. Either way, this seems to be a view that everyone agrees on. And not only that, but summer is characterized by colorful hues, eliciting joy. So using high saturation wouldn't be as bad as we think it might be, it'll help play on the nostalgia and bring that summer feeling we really want. 

Pinterest. (n.d.). [Pinterest pin]. Pinterest. Retrieved February 2, 2026, from https://mx.pinterest.com/pin/567664728025616942/

Sources:

Davies, H. (2026). What does each color mean in cinema? Domestika. https://www.domestika.org/en/blog/2810-what-does-each-color-mean-in-cinema

Fiveable Content Team. (2025). Warm colors (Intro to Film Theory). Fiveable. https://fiveable.me/key-terms/introduction-to-film-theory/warm-colors

Fiveable Content Team. (2025). Saturation (Intro to Film Theory). Fiveable. https://fiveable.me/key-terms/introduction-to-film-theory/saturation

Credit Sequences

 Hey Blog!!!

A requirement for our film opening is to incorporate credits scattered across the clip, so I'm going to analyze a few credit sequences in the coming-of-age genre. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012)

The opening credit sequence in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is the first thing the audience sees of the film. The film company and a few of the actor's names are displayed first, before the title of the film is shown and it goes back to the rest of the credits. All the credits are centered and colored white, contrasting with the black screen and dark clips in the background, making them stand out. What stands out the most, though, is the font used. This typewriter font, a major marketing strategy of the film, is used for the credits and title. It gives the story a more personal feel, as it is an it is a story explained through letters, likely written with a typewriter, by the protagonist, Charlie. The font shows that this film is telling an exact story from Charlie's point of view and evokes nostalgia and raw emotion, since the protagonist is "sharing" his life with the audience. 

For our project, I don't think we want the same vibe as this credit sequence, but I love the unique font, which is definitely something I am interested in using. An interesting font, rather than the minimalistic boring fonts typically used, would make our film more identifiable, almost like a brand. Also, since our story takes place in the early 2000s, a font that brings nostalgia and maybe contains funky, retro, or bold elements is a must. 

My Girl (1991)

The opening credits sequence of "My Girl" is very different from "The Perks of Being a Wallflower." It is much simpler and minimalistic while keeping that 70s childhood tone. Again, the white letters contrast with the darker backgrounds, but the font is very "normal." This "normal" font, however, fits with the mood being established, which is a morbid and dark one. It makes sense that the font does not seem happy as the entire scene is very somber. The simple words also ensure that the scene being shown, which includes dialogue and begins to introduce one of the protagonists, is full understood and not being interrupted by distracting words on the screen. The font itself is also very common in films from the 1900s, clearly illustrating what time period this film takes place in. And unlike the credits in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower," these credits are displayed at the bottom right of the screen, making sure no faces or objects are covered. 

I feel this whole opening is very unlike what my partner, Arantza, and I are going for, therefore we probably won't be using elements from this opening sequence. But I do like the credits displaying at the bottom of the screen, which is probably something we will be doing. If not that, the credits will be scattered across the screen, but still they'll be somewhere where important faces and objects arent covered. 

Coming-of-age Openings

 Hey blog!!!

Here are 3 openings for the genre my partner and I chose...

Little Women (2019)

The opening scene of "Little Women" does is unlike other films, it begins in the end. This movie is very different from others in the sense that it isn't a continuous story, it jumps from the past to the present as events happen, paralleling both points of time. So, the end of the story serving as the beginning, not only fits with the rest of the films' structure, but it also shows a clear ending, eliminating confusion caused by the time jumps. This type of opening also helps build anticipation. It shows a clear ending but leaves the audience wondering why or how this happened to the character, making them want to continue to watch. 

The main character, Jo March, argues with a male newspaper publisher in a tense manner, immediately showing some of the main themes of the rest of the story: gender roles, individuality, class differences, and work. She is shown as a lesser being, both class wise as she is clearly a little in poverty while the publisher is higher class, and gender wise, being a woman in the 1800s wanting to pursue a creative, male dominant job. But she ignores that and continues to fight for her place in society, not letting anyone tell her she can't achieve her goals, setting her aside from the stereotypical woman in that time period. Lastly, her hard work is demonstrated when she shows the publisher all the pages she wrote and the excitement she felt running on the streets after they agreed to use the short story. Altogether, this demonstrates the main conflict of the rest of the film, before it even actually starts.

Film wise, this opening contains a lot of mid and long shots, developing the setting and the characters reactions, actions, and moves simultaneously. The use of these shots allows for audiences to understand where and when the story takes place, while also learning who the main character is as the background and characters are balanced. Also the use of a mid shot of Jo March's back at a lower angle to introduce her, is a very powerful move that you don't see often. Introducing a character without actually showing them at first adds a sense of mystery, making the audience curious as to who this character is and why they are important. And to ensure that watchers know that Jo is important, they shot this from a low angle, which asserts authority and gives her power, only making the audience even more curious. Not only that, but making her centered, framed by a square/door, with contrasting colors (her being hidden in the dark shadows in the middle of the light door, shining outside light), only makes this shot even more powerful. 

The use of color is also very big in this film, with the present being shown in dark, cool tones and hues and the past in bright warm ones. In the opening, this is shown as it is in the present and uses these colors, demonstrating reality hitting Jo March and her life shifting from childhood to adulthood. This along with the use of low lighting really emphasizes how Jo sees her current life compared to her past. At the end, however, when the title is shown as a book, the audience still not knowing that it is Jo March's book, color is brought back, the cover saturating the colors shown. This illustrates how Jo sees her childhood as a special, colorful moment in her life and it is all documented into this little book that is being told to the audience.

Lastly, I did not mention this, but the beginning shows a quote by Louisa May Alcott, the writer of the original book and basically the real life version of the main protagonist, Jo March. This isn't something you see in every film, but commonly used in period pieces or adaptations. This quote set the mood and tone of the film before it even starts and gives some context to the tense scene that is about to play out.

Dead Poets Society (1989)

The opening of "Dead Poets Society" focuses on developing the setting and environment of the story rather than the main characters. Through the use of symbols and people's reactions, the school is shown as a very strict and pretty suffocating place. The authority asserted by the teachers with the students all being lined up perfectly, in a military way along with the introduction of the 4 pillars demonstrates the pressure these boys experience to be a stereotypical "perfect" son and scholar. It also shows how little individuality each boy has, introducing one of the conflicts that will be developed later in the story. The students are not allowed to be themselves, do what they want, and are clearly being pressured by their parents, as well, who seem to enjoy the ceremony and look to be very serious and put together. 

The costume design, hairstyles, and overall mise-en-scene all show how prestigious this school is. They are in a very small room but the use of candles, straight and color coordinated uniforms, and almost identical hairstyles, show how lack of freedom these boys have, being tied down to fit into the school look. The action of lighting up the candles are also symbolic as they are lighting up a dark room, demonstrating how the new knowledge, sense of individuality, and creativity they will discover throughout the rest of the film, will open their eyes in the tough times they are experiencing. 

Film wise, the boys are almost always shown at a high angle, showing them as inferior to the adults in the room. And to further establish the setting and illustrate what is happening, long establishing shots are often used in this scene. Lastly, there are multiple sequences of close-ups focusing on the elegant place, clothing, and the pillars of the school, again showing the obedience demanded of its students.

The color scheme, however, contrasts from the tone in the opening. While the opening establishes a serious and strict mood, the orange hues convey warmth, happiness, and nostalgia. This shows that this is still a part of the boys' childhoods and foreshadows the happiness and freedom they will feel in the future. 

Scheduling!!!

 Hey Blog!!!

So, as to not fall behind, procrastinate, or be stressed during the next few weeks, my partner, Arantza, and I organized our time. We will try to follow this schedule to the best of our ability, you'll probably hear about it if we fail, but we hope everything goes according to plan!

Week 1: 1/25-1/31

-Research 

-Plot planning

-Storyboard

Week 2: 2/1-2/7

-PRE PRODUCTION: 

     Finish storyboard

Find locations/actors

Costume design

Props

Script

Week 3: 2/8-2/14

-Start filming (if weather allows)

(focus on indoor shots otherwise)

-Research

music

Week 4: 2/15-2/21

-Finish filming (if last week was not possible)

-Start editing

-Record necessary foley

Week 5: 2/22-2/28

-Continue editing

Focus on sound

Revisions (critique together)

Week 6: 3/1-3/7

-CCR

Week 7: 3/8-3/14 + Week 8: 3/15-3/17

-Extra week in case of delays

Transitioning

 Hey Blog!!! (and Cambridge graders)

So, as I said in the first genre research blog, we have officially begun our Cambridge exam and I wanted to briefly explain what I will be doing and writing about for the next 7 weeks. 

In the next 7 weeks, my friend and I will be working on a film opening, made entirely from scratch, that will be worth 50 percent of our AICE Media exam grade. We have already decided we wanted to do a coming-of-age opening, but still haven't talked about the specifics yet on what exactly we wanted to film. We liked the idea of having this clip taking place in the past, like 80s or 90s, but we're still not sure, we'll keep you updated on that. We also really want to add a bike scene, so that will be in there.

From now on until March, I will be writing many, many blog posts explaining everything that we have done and plan to do to develop this opening. It'll probably be a very stressful few weeks but I'm quite excited to see what we come up with. You will be seeing a lot of research, behind the scenes, and sometimes posts like this with small updates and briefly explaining what's happening.

So, I hope you enjoy the ride!

-Sofia

Portfolio Project Genre #2

 Hey blog!!!

Here's my romance genre research:)

Romance Research:

The romance genre, like the coming-of-age one, is very broad. Romance can be a part of any film, whether it's fantasy, coming-of-age, dystopian, quite literally anything. But it always focuses specifically on the love story of a couple, their falling in love and their struggles to make it happen. The target audience for this genre is mainly teens/young adult to adult women and is commonly watched with significant others. This genre really plays with cliches and stereotypes as well, making it cringy for some, yet it is one of the most used genres in the history of film and continues to infect screens worldwide. 

Content Conventions:

This genre consists of a love story/romantic relationship. Exploring themes of passion, intimacy, conflict, and personal flaws, these films follow the journey of two people falling in love, getting together, and staying together, facing an insanely large number of challenges to allow for this to happen. This genre relies on dramatic scenes leading up to a final one before ending with either a happy ending or tragic one.

Romance typically features relatable characters with common flaws for audiences to understand what these characters are experiencing and feeling, and basically allowing for them to put themselves in their place, imagining what it would be like if they replaced one of the characters. The use of tropes, crucial in romance, adds more depth into the protagonists' personalities and relationship, showing their way of thinking, reactions, how they interact with one another when faced with a conflict, and also simply makes a film more entertaining. The most popular and loved tropes are enemies to lovers, love triangles, fake dating, and grumpy/sunshine, which are all very different but still make up a romance. Other tropes include how a couple meets, like bumping into each other and dropping whatever was in one of the character's hands, being academic rivals since elementary school, and randomly choosing each other to fake date, all of which could happen to people in real life, making it more appealing to audiences. 

There are also many common settings throughout this genre that make scenes more romantic and visually beautiful for example the beach for picnic dates and iconic cities to create excitement. As mentioned before, this genre is very cliche and predictable, so basically everything that appears and occurs in these films are repeated. Using a bouquet of flowers for forgiveness is a classic example of this.

Plot wise, most romances turn out the exact same way. Usually, a couple meets in a cute way, instantly connecting. Sometimes they get together immediately, others they spend a longer time due to external conflicts. At first, there is always one character that refuses to get together, again, because of external conflicts where they simply cannot be together, but after enough convincing and suffering on both ends or the fact that they cannot stay away from each other, they give the relationship a try. At this point, the cute lovey dovey things occur and their chemistry is over the roof. They tend to work perfectly together, always on cute dates and always making the other the best version of themself, but eventually something happens where they begin to think that they can't have each other. Conflict is very important in romance, creating the angst needed to develop the plot. Dramatic dilemmas like family issues, misunderstandings, keeping secrets, and opposing lifestyles are all examples of this. After spending some time apart, the lovers realize, that this isn't possible. They can't stay stay away from one another, they need each other. After an emotional scene, they make up and end up together once again.

Technique Conventions:

There are multiple techniques that play into creating a romance film. The most popular ones being color theory and lighting. The colors used in the mise-en-scene throughout the film, along with the overall lighting helps create the ambience the director wants to show the audience. Usually bright colors start off the films, with yellow, blue, and red dress on the girls as they go through dates and are happy to be with the guy. The background involves hues of orange and yellow, creating that cozy feeling while everyone is happy. But once the conflict occurs, there is less lighting, and the focus is now on darker and neutral colors, emphasizing the sad tone. But once everything is well again, the bright, happy colors return.

To emphasize emotional turmoil and connection, showing face expressions is extremely important, so most of these films develop through mid-shots and close-ups, especially during intimate scenes. 

And lastly the soundtrack is crucial to a romance film. Soft love music is often used to better demonstrate the love shown from the characters, before it turns either very melancholy and, on other occasions, very chaotic and heavy as conflict is occurring. Emotional scenes where the protagonists get back together depend on emotional music that moves the audiences and helps them truly feel the overwhelming need each character has for each other.

Institutional Conventions:

The marketing for romance films isn't much different from those of other movies. They use the same strategies as every other genre, like trailers, social media usage, and collaborations; however, they tend to focus on the emotional portion of the film. Throughout all of the marketing, they really push the angst and drama by always showing the very emotional scenes, moving audiences enough to get them to watch the film. They also tend to show the beginning of the film a lot, the couple's happy scenes where they are seem like the ideal couple, to the point where one thinks that nothing could go wrong. Eventually those find out that that is incorrect once they watch the film.

Since romance isn't necessarily popular now, with people enjoying other genres more, the marketing of these films through social media is crucial. Connecting with audiences before the film is used by using popular actors doing interviews, starting or taking part in trends, and more, causes people to connect with the movie before it even comes out.

Distribution wise, romance doesn't usually do well in theatres, so they focus on putting these on online streaming platforms like Netflix, HBO, and Prime. Here target audiences can find these films by simply scrolling through their recommended and those who connected with them through social media, have easier access to them.

Films:

The Notebook

2004

"The Notebook" is a classic romance focusing on the love story of Noah and Allie. The intensity throughout the whole film makes this romance quite a good example of this genre too. Noah and Allie meet when young and after a few rejections, get together and become the couple everyone aspires to be. But, as expected, a conflict causes them to break up and they continue their lives separate. Years after, something brings Allie back to Noah where they realize that they never truly stopped loving each other. After a few more problems are solved, they end up together. And while, there are a few plot twists, the main plot is that of a typical romance film.

The protagonists face a lot of the same conflicts that other romance characters face, like family disapproval, misunderstandings, distance, and other relationships pushing them apart from each other. This movie contains a lot of emotional scenes, which is what makes it so enduring to watch and reels in audiences. Many can relate to it in some ways and knowing that in the end, Noah and Allie still end up together, showing their true love, really affects watchers.

The Notebook (2004). (n.d.). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0332280/

Sources:

Hellerman, J. (2023, March 6). We love the romance genre in film and TV. NoFilmSchool. https://nofilmschool.com/romance-movie-genre

Michellehui. (2016, February 27). Genre conventions: Romance. It’s Already Here. https://itisalreadyhere.wordpress.com/2016/02/27/genre-conventions-romance/

Pereira, G. (n.d.). The structure of romance. DIY MFA. https://diymfa.com/writing/structure-romance-writing/

Ringel, S., & Dagerman, D. L. (2025, April 23). “We uncovered just how many pain points exist”: Distribution case study of indie romantic comedy ‘You, Me & Her’. Distribution Advocates. https://distributionadvocates.substack.com/p/we-uncovered-just-how-many-pain-points