Choosing the Sets - Mise-en-scene

      My film opening consists of two settings. One is at the dojang and one is in Allie's room. To film at the dojang, I will need to ask my master(aka owner) for permission. However, my friend who was in CBTV filmed there before so I am positive I will get permission to film. The dojang is the best place to film this opening because it really represents the sport of taekwondo. It immerses the audience by having Allie be surrounded by the mat and sports equipment. The space is also very open and I can film after my class is done. I have class almost everyday and it is always the last one to end, so this gives me a bunch of time to film.

American Tigers Martial Arts Dojang

      My bedroom will be filmed as Allie's bedroom. This is because it is easily accessible and I can film at any time. I can also film by myself so it saves me some trouble of planning days to have a friend come over and help film. If anything, I can ask my older sister to help me record some scenes. To represent Allie's personality, I am going to highlight the medals, trophies, and accomplishments on her wall. I also want her room to be slightly messy, as she had just lost her confidence when she got injured.

Choosing the Costume - Mise-en-scene

   A costume can say a lot about a character. Since I have casted myself to play the role of the protagonist(aka Allie), I need to first find the right costume for me that would fit the character's personality. It can express her individuality, status, and identity. Furthermore, since the Allie is a taekwondo athlete, she will need to be wearing a dobok. A dobok is a traditional taekwondo uniform. 

   Additionally, I want my protagonist to be seen as professional and skilled.  I can express this by having her wear a black belt, symbolizing her passion and expertise. However, it is also important to remember that she is still a teenage girl and still has a lot to learn.

   Another factor I need to figure out is which type of dobok I want her to wear. There is the white dobok, which is used for sparring, and there is a dobok with either red pants, bright blue pants, greyish blue pants, navy blue pants, or a gold top, which is used for poomsae (forms). In taekwondo, the color of your pants represent your gender and age group.

Sparring Uniform

Adidas Combat Sports - Taekwondo Sparring Uniform

Poomsae Uniforms

Custom logo -Poomsae Uniform

Red and Black Collar

Red pants = cadet (12-14) girls

Bright blue pants = cadet (12-14) boys

Black Collar

Greyish blue pants = junior/senior (15+) girls

Navy blue pants = junior/senior (15+) boys

Gold dobok = 50 and older

Heres a quick video explaining the different doboks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfhRBXTtb9Q

    Since I am the same age as my character, I will be wearing my regular uniform, which is the Greyish blue pants falling under the 15-17 age group for junior girls. This film will also only showcase the poomsae/demonstration side of taekwondo, so their is no need to wear the sparring uniform.

    For the scene taking place in the Allie's bedroom, I want her to be wearing something lazy like a hoodie and sweatpants or shorts. This is because it will represent her as losing her confidence and not putting in effort anymore. It creates a more realistic approach to the film. And for her wounded foot, I want to either wrap tape around it or I can put an ankle brace on it to highlight the injury. I have athletic tape and all kinds of braces from my previous injuries so I do not have to make any purchases.

Overall, I intend to display Allie as a typical teenage girl, so normal looking make up and hair will be fine. She will have her hair tied up in a ponytail when training, and when she is in her bedroom, her hair will be down. This will emphasize how Allie looks more put together before her injury, than after when she is lying on her bed.

Character Development

After examining the character and personality of the protagonist, I have finally come up with a name for my main character: Allie

I chose this name because I wanted to also emphasize that the character is not a tom boy just because she does taekwondo. The the name "Allie" means noble and a defender of mankind. This plays into her strong and persistent personality.

    Allie is a 15 year old sporty and sophisticated athlete. However, she can sometimes get self-conscious or nervous when it comes to getting out of her comfort zone. She has long black hair, brown eyes, and pale skin.

    During the film opening, I will emphasize her physical struggles when attempting the flash kick, as well as her mental struggles. The sport that she does really sets her apart from others. Taekwondo is a pretty niche sport and requires discipline, focus, and athleticism. I create a mood board to represent her character to help me better visualize her personality.

Mood Board

Resources:

Parents. (n.d.). Top 1000 baby girl names. https://www.parents.com/top-1000-baby-girl-names-2757832#toc-the-complete-list-of-top-1000-baby-girl-names

The Bump. (n.d.). Allie baby name. https://www.thebump.com/b/allie-baby-name

Storyboard and Script

     In order to shoot my film opening in an organized manner, it is important that I create a storyboard to plan out each and every individual shot so it is easier to know what I need to film. To make my life easier on shooting day, I should label what type of shots I need (Ex: Close-up of face) so I don't waste time trying to figure everything out on the spot. Storyboards can also help me visualize my production better so that I can make any last minute changes if necessary before I start filming.

    During the opening, the protagonist attempts to do a flash kick but ends up injuring her foot. Due to the fact that not everyone knows what a flash kick is, here are some examples of what it is supposed to look like:

https://youtube.com/shorts/55ZXsPOoKOc?si=Wl-Of60X1yIvkuMH

https://youtu.be/NVbG71ML6Wk?si=J-c241-8pis_Qmvf

Integrating Media Theory

After looking back at my media theory notes from class, I have two theories and one code in mind to integrate into my film opening.

Theory #1: Todorov's Narrative Theory

I want to incorporate Todorov's Narrative Theory into my production. This theory suggests that every story has distinctive sections for different parts of the film. The main parts can be divided into the equilibrium, disequilibrium, and the new equilibrium. This is how I will section out these parts throughout my film opening.

-Equilibrium: (Beginning of film opening) Introduces a calm environment (dojang) and a disciplined taekwondo player in control and confident in her training. Shows order and balance.

-Disequilibrium: (Middle of film opening) The taekwondo player has a slight hesitation before attempting a difficult skill. She fails to perform and injures her foot. Introduces doubt, disruption, and imbalance.

-New equilibrium: (End of film opening/After the film opening) A new setting in the teenage girl's bedroom. Her ankle is hurt and she is looking back at her past victories. The audience wants to know how the protagonist will resolve or deal with her injury. It hooks the viewers and leaves the rest of the film to fill in the new equilibrium.

Theory #2: Binary Opposition Theory

I also want to include the Binary Opposition Theory in my film. It suggests that the narratives are represented through elements of oppositions (Ex: Good vs. Evil).

My film opening will emphasize the oppositions of victory vs. defeat, confidence vs. doubt, and control vs. instability. 

Codes

The Hermeneutic (Enigma) Code is something I want to integrate to my project as well. This code is used when the film leaves out certain information to leave the audience with questions that will be answered from the rest of the production. For instance, some questions my viewers will want to know after watching are: 

-Why did she hesitate? -Will she recover from her injury? -Is she going to continue taekwondo?

Coming up with the Story (Ideas and Inspirations)

    Now that I have established the theme, representation, and genre, it is finally time to begin planning my storyline and main idea for my movie opening. So far I have two main plot lines, and I'm not sure which one is the right choice yet. Both ideas follow a teenager girl who is a dedicated taekwondo black belt. She attempts to do a difficult skill and ends up becoming injured. However, the way I convey the story through the setting and the time (past/present) is what's different about the two versions.

Plot line #1

    The girl is at a competition, she is competing on the mat and performing a complex routine. The crowd cheers. She is doing well so far, with no falls or imperfections. Then she gets to a difficult part of her routine. You can see a slight hesitation in her face as she attempts to perform a hard skill. She ends up landing wrong and injures her foot. Being ousted from the competition, the crowd gasps and she is helped off of the competition floor. The scene cuts to her on the sidelines with a second place medal around her neck and a wrapped up foot. She looks at her medal and sighs, as flashbacks of her winning gold rush into her mind. The opening ends with her coach tapping her on the shoulder, waking her up from her memories.

Plot line #2

    The girl is at her dojang (training gym), practicing a complex routine. She gets to a moment in the sequence where she begins to hesitate. To try to get back into focus, she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes. She visualizes what she needs to do in order to accomplish a difficult skill that comes next in this routine. After she pictures a perfect landing, she starts to attempt the trick. However, she overthinks it and ends up injuring her foot in the process. It cuts to her in her bedroom lying on her bed with an injured foot. She looks at her medals and trophies on her wall and flashbacks of her with happy memories of taekwondo appear in her mind. This creates nostalgia and motivation for her to not let that injury define her. The opening ends with someone knocking at her bedroom door so she snaps out of her flashback.

   After comparing these two versions, I have decided to choose Plot line #1. Although the first story is a great idea, it would be very difficult to film that because I would need to be at a competition and use the mats. This wouldn't work because there would be no time to film on the mats and I would need permission from the organizers of the competition. I picked the second story because I feel like I can easily film at the dojang that I train at and I can use my house as another setting. It is more convenient and I believe I can execute this film opening storyline better.

    My main inspiration for this film opening is The Karate Kid (1984). I have mentioned this film before in my previous blogs and I just think that it is a great film that truly represents what martial arts is all about. I wish that there were more movies that gravitated more around sports, especially martial arts. It deserves appreciation, and although sometimes the topic can be a little cheesy, it has great life lessons that come with it overall. The Karate Kid gives themes of resilience, determination, and finding inner balance. Furthermore, I want to emphasize these lessons into my own martial art production, Especial the theme of "never giving up".

Images from The Karate Kid (1984)

Resources:

Synergy Martial Arts. (2024, August 16). Five life lessons you can learn from The Karate Kid. Synergy Martial Arts. https://synergymartialarts.ca/2024/08/16/five-life-lessons-you-can-learn-from-the-karate-kid/

Group Meeting #1

    Last class, we did our first group meeting. I was grouped with Carolina, Arantza, Andrea, Lidia, JP, Mateo, and Eli. During the meeting, each person shared which genre they had chosen, and discussed a little bit about their ideas for their film opening. After we heard their ideas, we gave feedback and helped each other brainstorm to help each person expand and gain more opinions on their choices. Overall, it was a great way to get more ideas for the film opening and share more knowledge to help others with theirs.

   When I proposed my idea to my group members, they recommended that I could use filters and different coloration settings to make my flashback scenes look more timely and realistic. It was nice to have a several opinions for this project because if the story isn't good, it cannot be produced properly or as well. They liked the idea of my film opening and suggested that for the flashbacks I should utilize more videos rather than pictures because it is more visually entertaining. Although they said if I were to use pictures, they would have to be quick flashes of them in between other flashback videos.

    Carolina said she wanted to do the mystery genre. She explained that her and her group were going to film their opening in a dark garage. She explains a story of a crazy woman in a prison cell, getting flashbacks to a murder that she is implied to have committed. Carolina will play this character and she wants to wear a dirty robe and will try her best to use make up to make her look older and crazy. She asked us for some ideas on how to incorporate a flashback scene into her opening. We then suggested she could use a transition of her writing on the prison wall, to panning into a flashback, where her arm would transition across the screen.

Here is her blog: https://carolrabacrepa200928.blogspot.com/

     Andrea wanted to do a Dystopian themed opening. She discussed that the beginning would start off with a woman scrummaging across a destroyed street after a war, looking for food. She then wanted the next scene to be of the woman when she was little, eating at the dinner table with her family before the war. We suggested that she could transition the future woman about to take a bite out of food she had found from the street and then it cuts to the younger version of herself eating a food of the same shape or dimension. To get actors, she has a friend who is an actor who will play the role and her mom with most likely play the future woman. 

Here is her blog: https://andreasmstudiesblog.blogspot.com/

    Arantza wants to do a coming-of-age film genre. She explained that the movie will start off in the summer with two best friends who are excited to go to college together. After certain events, one friend passes away. The rest of the film would be about how the other friend griefs and overcomes their best friend's death. She said she was inspired by the "Barely Legal" film opening we had watched in class and wants to incorporate that type of aesthetic into her production. That means she is going for a vintage, 90s look. Our group suggested her to use the seasons to evoke the emotions of the main character. For example, in summer there are warm colors and sunshine, creating happiness, spring is rainy but colorful, bringing hope, autumn feels nostalgic, and winter gives off sad emotions through cool toned color schemes and dull weather.

Here is her blog: https://mediastudiesblog2526.blogspot.com/

     Lidia is looking to do something Sci-Fi related. She wants her film opening to be of a scientist who creates these futuristic glasses that can see into and predict the future. When the scientist puts on the glasses, he sees himself being murdered and sees that he is going to be killed in five days. She wants the story to be about how he tries to change his fate. She was having a difficult time in coming up with what happens after he sees his fate through the glasses. One of our group members suggested that after there could be an extreme close-up of his reaction, and then I suggested that after that there could be a knock at the door. The knock implies that the video is just the film opening and that there is more to the production.

Here is her blog: https://blogging4scool.blogspot.com/

   Eli wanted to do something with psychological horror. Her idea was that there are many mentally crazy people going to a therapist in the same town. They all recall a story of a traumatizing, such as a shooting, but all of their stories are different. As she said her idea, we suggested that the therapist should be the main character and she can become a detective in solving what really happened at the tragic event that took place. So she ended up thinking about if she wanted to take a more mystery genre type route or a more horror type route. Maybe she could incorporate both if she chooses to.

Here is her blog: https://eliwritess.blogspot.com/

    JP decided to do a horror/thriller type film. His story is that there is a boy who was killed by his bullies. The thing is JP didn't know how he was going to execute this. Carolina suggested that one of the bullies could throw a rock at the boy's head. Then I had suggested that a shadow of the boy being killed is a better option because it is easier to produce. We had also advised him to include a voice over of mean words or phrases the bullies would call him, so every time he would be hit by the rock, a cruel word could be heard at the same time.

Here is his blog: https://mediajean.blogspot.com/

     Last but not least, Mateo chose to do a crime film opening. His production is inspired by mafia movies. The opening will take place at a big event, like a wedding, and it will introduce a family who all have committed foul crimes. This will be done through a narration of going through each and every family member. I suggested that he could use freeze frames to create emphasis on each individual criminal. He is also planning to film his opening at a place in Weston Town Center so the event looks more realistic.

Here is his blog: https://mateosuperawesome.blogspot.com/

Here's a resource that one of the group member's had suggested when finding music for our project:

https://copyrightalliance.org/faqs/how-to-get-permission-to-use-a-song/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

(Proof of Life)

Our group: