Final project

Saucy Business.mp4

First shoot for second scene

 I shot the second scene on Saturday, but I'm not happy with the footage I got. 

    I filmed the scene in portrait mode, didn't plan the individual shots which led to footage that looks like a Tiktok more than a scene in a film. I will have to reshoot the scene sometime this weekend, but actually think about what I'm filming, and filming it in landscape. In the previous shoot, I made a Bolognese sauce from scratch which took around 5 trips to Publix and 5 hours. 

    I didn't even like the sauce. I spent 5 hours for some bad footage and mid sauce that's too sweet. 

Here's the title screen I came up with. It says saucy business, but I may change the name.

Scripts for the film

 Yo, I'm going to share the scripts I wrote for the film opening. I have changed what I'm doing a bit so I'll explain what I changed first.

I was thinking, and having the mafia boss or whatever sitting behind a desk wasn't really interesting enough for the voiceover, so I have changed the focus from the leader, to one of the goons who is a chef. I am yet to record anything, so if the script is too long it will be subject to change.

Shop scene

Main goon: 

I’ve been told you missed a few payments 

Shop owner: 

Please sir, business has been slow since your last visit. The people, they think I work with criminals. 

Goon 2: 

It is clear that our verbal warnings have not been sufficient. 

Shop owner: 

But sir, there is no business

(the shop owner gets cut off in the middle of his sentence) 

Main goon: 

We communicated that you were to get the money you owe by any means necessary. 

Shop owner: 

Are you saying I should commit crimes to get the money? I could never do such a thing. 

Main goon: 

I said by any means necessary.  

Goon 2: 

You would rather be indebted to us than commit a crime? 

Shop owner: 

Yes, I’m an honest man with an honest living, and not an animal. 

Main goon: 

So me and my partner here are animals to you? (agressive)  

Shop owner: 

Well, I didn’t exactly say that but. 

Main goon: 

But what? I’m just a dirty thug? 

Shop owner: 

I mean yea-  (he gets hit in the face by the main goon)

 

Voiceover script: 

I owned a restaurant before I fell into this work. I see myself in the people I “encourage” to pay what they owe. Typically, debt that is left unpaid for too long is “transferred” to the people closest to a debtor. I had nobody. They saw potential in me. They took  everything and forced me to work for my life. I had no choice but to work. I felt nothing. They saw someone who did what they were told and said nothing. The only thing I didn’t lose was cooking. Cooking is all I have to get my mind off of work. If I don’t cook I’ll start to think. Think about what the people that call me have done to me. Think about running from this life. Think about what I do to these innocent people. The people that were not as fortunate as me. The people that owe so much, but are rich in life and family. How they can lose everything because the people at the top of this organization care only about money. They call me family but wouldn’t hesitate to take me out if their flow of money was interrupted. If I tried leaving they would find me. There is no way out other than death. Whether it is by my own hands, or the hands of my colleagues. I only know how to cook because of my childhood friend. His mother taught me. I would go straight from school to their home to cook. I would return to my foster home past dark but they didn’t notice. I was invisible. When I aged out all I kept was her recipes in the back of my head. I started working in restaurants as soon as I could. Started as a dishwasher, watching in awe as the head cook worked under pressure to serve his community. By the time I was 25, I worked up to line cook. Never worked a day doing that. That year, I took out a loan from the wrong people. Rented out the space from the Korean spot that closed down. I was on the top of the world before I realized who I borrowed from. I called the people they sent criminals, which only made the beatings worse. I felt stuck when a black truck stopped by me as I was walking . They took me. Forced me to sort in rat-infested warehouses. Everything got worse since then. 

Production company logo

Today I will talk about the process of making the production company logo for the portfolio project.

    First, I needed a name. I first thought of picking the letters in my initials and adding an ampersand between the two letters, but I thought it made little sense and I wouldn't want the initial to my last name on here. I thought to repeat the same letter twice but couldn't decide which letter to choose. I landed on H and began to sketch my first drafts. In the picture below you can see me trying to figure out how to even draw an ampersand, getting the logo somewhat where I want it in just two drafts.

    Then I wanted to see it in a different format so I went to Microsoft Paint to sketch it a little more. I drew two more drafts on there and got a better idea of what I want the final draft to look and started to add words to the design. 

    I then, began on Canva to finalize the design of my logo. I created a text box, put the "H&H Productions" inside the the text box, got the font size how I want it, and picked the two fonts to finish the logo. 

    I asked a classmate about the design, and they said I should add more color, but I like the more minimalistic design to it.

Portfolio Audio Planning

 Today I will share what I plan for the audio for the portfolio project.

    Dialouge will not be super important to developing the character, plot, or setting but will still be treated as important as it is in most productions. Right now, I'm thinking of setting up a phone hidden from the camera to record the dialogue. Syncing the audio and video may ne difficult for teh editing portion but I'm unsure of any other way to record the dialogue between the shop owner and the goons. 

    Only recording the dialogue means I may have to create and record my own foley sounds for when the goons beat the shop owner. I was thinking of beating something like a chicken breast but I am still unsure how I will get those sounds.

    The audio from the monologue seems like it would be a lot easier due to the non-diagetic sound, meaning it can be recorded separate from the video. Before, during, or after the monologue, I was thinking about playing classical music. I will likely get this music from a website like Epidemic Sound, Pixabay, or BenSound.

I am still quite unsure of how everything is going to happen but I believe it will come together well.

Portfolio Group Meeting #1

We had our first group meeting this week on tuesday, and I have learned quite a bit about how I should approach these blog posts, as well as the production itself. 

I was not able to show my blog on the first day, tuesday, because the period ended before I could present my blog, and thursday lacked the time necessary for everyone to get into groups. I have not gotten criticism on my project or ideas since I had not posted them on here until this week. As for my groupmates, they had some great ideas with genres from action to comedy, and even psychological horror. I did enjoy hearing about their ideas, and showing them different perspectives and only wish we had the time this week for me to recieve that criticism as well. I can't really state exactly what I had learned from this weeks group meeting, but it defintely showed me how I want my blog and its post to look as well as made me think further about my idea. 

Portfolio Idea and Inspiration

Today I will talk about the ideas and inspiration behind my portfolio project.

Where my thoughts are at right now, I'm thinking of having a mob boss sitting at a desk talking to two of his subordinates, basically ordering them to collect money from a shop owner. The goons and the shop owner discuss for a bit and the shop owner doesn't have the money and gets beaten off-screen. I might include a monologue from either a subordinate or the boss. I think it would be different to have my credits like carved into what is going to look like a brick wall of an alley. This form of credits may be difficult to pull off from due to me needing to pretty much build a wall, make it seem dirty and aged, carving 10+ names and a production logo. I am also concerned about lighting the credits as it can't be too bright that it loses its feeling of a dark city alley, but it can't be too dark as to keep the names legible. Using the bricks/credits as a sort of transition is something I had in mind, but the whole idea seems a bit unrealistic.

The format of the credits as well as what I've been thinking for the opening are open for change, and using the criticism I hear from my classmates during the group meeting might help to guide me along the right path. I don't want to overload myself, working on my own, but want to have my project be unique. 

As for inspiration, The Simpsons played a large role. I started watching The Simpsons 5-6 years ago, and have watched over 20 seasons of the show. In the show, there is a character named Fat Tony that is the mob boss of the mafia found in Springfield. I do believe that the character is based quite heavily on The Godfather, but I cannot verify that. In season 18 episode 1 Homer has to take over Fat Tony's position, pressuring Moe, his friend, to pay what he owes to the mob. Moe, the bartender at the bar Homer goes to, then asks Homer to pay off his tab, Homer pays Moe, Moe then returns the money to Homer for the mob. This scene inspired me for the shopkeeper part, but the part showomg the mob boss is inspired by The Godfather. The costume design for that scene will be somewhat similar to the opening of The Godfather. The monologue that might be in the opening is based on The Goodfellas, at the end of that Film's opening.

Writing this blog as well as researching for other blogs give me a chance to think quite thoroughly about what I want this opening to be, and what I can do with the alloted time and resources. Analyzing the film helped me refine the very rough ideas I started this week with.