Media Theories

 Hey blog!!!

So, Arantza and I are getting a much better idea about what we want our story idea to be, which means we can start thinking of the actual content in our opening. In order to start thinking of content, we can start thinking of media theories we want to include in our project and can help us create some framework for the narrative portion of the opening. So, here I'll research and talk a bit about some media theories we are interested in integrating into our project.

Todorov's Narrative Theory of Equilibrium

The theory of equilibrium states that all films must follow a specific 3-part structure. The narrative must start with equilibrium, where a norm/routine is established showing the normal life of the protagonists in the story. However, there must be a disruption, disequilibrium, where this balance is destroyed and the characters struggle and must learn how to deal with this and move on from it. The final part of this theory is new equilibrium, where the process of actually moving on from this major event and going back to a new routine, a new balance, just with new things being accounted for is shown. 

In between these 3 parts there are minor sections which make some believe this theory is a 5-part structure. Between equilibrium and disequilibrium there's a disruption, which is the actual problem being established, while disequilibrium is seen as more of the realization and recognition of this issue, leading to the protagonists to need to change something in their life to better this aspect of it. And then in between disequilibrium and new equilibrium, is repair which is where the character begins to fix the problem and put all the pieces broken in their life back together, which means the new equilibrium is the process of moving on from this repairment to establish a new normal life.

For our opening we wanted to establish the first section of this theory, equilibrium. We would show the protagonist with her best friend excitedly riding their bikes, their main mode of transportation, and barging into one of their houses. This immediately shows how close friends they are and always have been. The reaction of the mom will help show that both girls are pretty much considered their daughters and that everything is very "normal" in their lives right now, at least in the eyes of the main protagonist. What the main character doesn't know, is that her best friend is hiding an illness that would eventually, later on in the story kill her, serving as a disruption and starting the process of disequilibrium. 

Roland Barthes' Narrative Codes- Hermeneutic/Enigma Code

Claudia as media. (n.d.). Theory of Barthes. https://claudiamccarterasmedia.weebly.com/theory-of-barthes.html

Roland Barthes argued that there are 5 narrative codes in a story that are essential for creating meaning of parts in a film/book to watchers/readers leading to audience engagement. One of these codes, and the one Arantza and I would like to incorporate into our opening, is the hermeneutic/enigma code.

The hermeneutic code is used when a narrative keeps information to itself, developing mystery and evoking curiosity among audiences. This leaves a plot point unexplained until later in the story. Watchers are left to create their own guesses and ideas of what is occurring as it is not explicitly stated already, but enough information is given for people to know that something is off.

We plan to use this as one of our protagonists is sick and hasn't told her best friend. So to let the audience know that there is something wrong in one of the protagonist's life, that the other doesn't know, we will be using symbols, object, and conversations to sort of hint that there is an illness occurring that will likely change the course of the story. In the opening specifically, we will end it with pill bottles being very clearly shown, proving that one of the main characters is in fact ill.

Sources:

Media Studies. (n.d.). Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibrium and disruption. Media-Studies.com. https://media-studies.com/todorov/

Media Studies. (n.d.). Roland Barthes’ 5 narrative codes. Media-Studies.com. https://media-studies.com/barthes-codes/

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