Sound Conventions in Drama

  In previous postings I have analyzed genre conventions within drama, representation within genre, researched the experiences of the people to whom this story will focus on in this film opening, and analyzed film openings in drama to get a feel for what works and what doesn't. Now I want to focus on sound. Why is sound important? Sound establishes the tone of the scene to the audience without explicitly stating the tone right away. It doesn't give the audience the answer rather it's a small component, but major aspect, of film that makes the audience work for the meaning subconsciously. Through a Ted Talk by Andrew Stanton, The Clues to a Great Story, which we viewed in class he mentioned to hide the fact that you're audience is "working for their meal", meaning don't make it obvious that the audience is working out the solution in their head. That rather than giving them the answer in total, make them put two and two together. He quoted "drama is anticipation mingled with uncertainty." I believe sound is one of those important  factors that should follow this rule because of the fact that it establishes setting and tone, and if done correctly can give the audience a clue as to what is going on in the story or what might happen next.

What are some sound techniques that can enhance your films?

• Using sound bridges can help your story flow.
• Creating an atmosphere with music or sound effects appropriate to the ambiance of the scene.
• Emphasize actions with non-diegetic sound.
• Use audio cues or 'leitmotifs' to help tell the story.
• Build cinematic tension by gradually layering sound.

Spicer, Steven. “Sound Techniques to Enhance Your Films.” HitFilm Blog, fxhome.com/blog/sound-techniques-in-film/.

What are some sound conventions in drama?

  Diegetic sound is sounds that happen within the realm of the scene. For example if there is a door clicking in place after being closed and you can hear it within the scene, that is a sound happening inside the story- the characters are aware of it. This sound technique can help establish setting and sequence of events. An even more important sound technique specifically to the drama genre ( though it can be used for any genre) is non-diegetic sound. Non-diegetic sound is when the sounds used for a scene are NOT within the realm of the scene, meaning the characters are not aware of this music. This technique is typically used within this genre to establish the tone of the scene, what the audience is supposed to feel when viewing it. In this sense, non-diegetic  music is an especially  important component in the drama genre, as it is a genre that focuses on the human experience.This use of sound in film would be considered a convention to this genre. Some ways this technique may present itself within a drama piece would be incidental music, which isn't meant to be noticeable and adds tone to the scene and can aid the audience in connecting two scenes together and developing an idea of what the characters represent in the story, background music which can foreshadow an event or change in mood (for example: a slow, suspenseful crescendo of music to build up to a jump scare) parallel sound which is meant to match the content of the scene to enhance that part of the story (for example: a fight scene with enhanced noises of the fight as well as a fast paced music), and a sting which is a short stab of music used to enhance the drama of a situation within the film.

Examples of sound conventions used in drama productions

                                Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg - Chrissie's Last Swim Scene

  This scene is the beginning of the film, and plays a key role in establishing the problem that is going to be taking place within the story. In the beginning, Chrissie is running towards the sea as she is taking off her clothes, a boy who is seemingly drunk is struggling to keep up with her and is running out of breath. The use of diegetic sound here are the waves of the ocean and the seagulls cawing in the background, and eventually the sound of Chrissie running into the ocean and the sounds the water makes as it moves while she swims further out. As the scene where we see her silhouette swimming from the perspective of being under the water, there's a slow zoom in with music that matches the pace. It's a slow crescendo of classical music that creates a suspenseful tone, insinuating that something bad is going to happen to her as she is the main focus of this shot and the camera gets closer to her body at the same pace as the music builds up. Then it shows her above the water as this music continues, and right when she notices something is wrong there is a sting utilized of a dramatic halt to this music, right before she begins getting attacked by the shark. As she is getting attacked the music is soft in the background but parallels the content of the scene in it's violent tone as her screaming and thrashing in the water drowns it out. Once the attack is over and it is clear that Chrissie is dead, there is a sudden deafening silence, the only thing to be heard now is the sound of waves. It starkly contrasts the beginning of the scene and the build up to the attack, and provides the context that she isn't alive anymore.

                                 Braveheart (1995) Mel Gibson - Freedom Speech Scene
  The two main techniques used throughout this scene are non-diegetic and diegetic sound. As the crowds of men watching William Wallace ride around on his horse rallying up the crowds as an army to revolt against the English British, non-diegetic music of traditional Scottish music plays. The characters within the scene are not aware of this music taking place, but it helps establish the culture of the scene, who these people are on this side of the revolution. The music fades into the crowd as rumors and questions spread which is all diegetic sound. As William begins to interact with the crowd, giving the speech that is iconic to this whole film, inspirational music picks back up, now there is a combination of both of these techniques. Due to the inspirational music and words to match, it makes it clear that this is a build up for an extremely important fight in the plot. The music here possibly the most important sound component of this scene, without it the audience wouldn't really feel the tone of it and know what emotion is meant to be evoked.

                                       Carol (2015) Todd Haynes - Ritz Tower Hotel Scene
  Most of the non-diegetic music takes place in the beginning of the scene. For the rest of it there is diegetic sound of the background conversation taking place in the dining room of the hotel, utensils being used, and it eventually fades into the background as Carol and Therese begin their conversation. This establishes the setting. However, as mentioned in the beginning the music is in the beginning, and this aspect may be the most important emotionally contextual part of this scene. This is the part where Carol prepares to meet up with Therese to tell her that she loves her. In the very beginning, Carol is placed in the right third of the frame where she is seen sitting in a booth of what appears to be a diner, writing a letter to Therese asking to meet her at the hotel that night. The music is a dramatic, hopeful but sad classical sound that helps the context of Carol's hopes for how she wants this meeting to go, but sad because when viewing the movie in full the audience knows what has happened (I don't want to give away too many spoilers here, this is one of my favorite films and I highly recommend watching!) When this music is paired with this blue lighting tinge, it really contributes to the overall tone. The same music and color scheme is used in the next part of the scene where Therese receives this letter, and it's understandable here that this is an important part of the overall plot, and the plot is meant to be an emotional one, and considering it is about two women who find themselves in love with each other in 1950s America, it's not going to be one with a happy ending for the two lovers.

How do I plan to utilize these conventions within my own production?

  As seen in these examples and notes on conventions, there is a heavy emphasis and importance on conveying the tone of the scene through sound in drama, rather than establishing what is literally and outwardly happening explicitly through diegetic sound. Music being a big part of one of these components (typically used non-diegetically) that when paired with the actions of the characters makes a powerful impact on how the audience perceives the scene and understands the tone of it. I plan to use music within my film opening paired with intimate shots of the main character alongside the opening credits to make it understood right from the beginning that this story is an important one.

  

Scheduling the Filming Process

  To start off with, I just wanted to update on the coverage my social media casting call is receiving. Since posting at around 10:30 pm, I have received so far sixteen retweets from people all over south Florida! I am extremely grateful for the people sharing my request, and I am optimistic and confident about the next few days as this continues to spread that I will have an actor suitable for the role of my main character. I will continue to update on the coverage and potential candidates for the main character's role throughout my future blog postings.

Filming Locations

• My bedroom, specific mirror shots as well as lighting schemes due to my color LED lights
• This will be where the majority of the film opening is located
• Public settings - possibly a mall, though will be anywhere with a public restroom for a brief scene

Filming Dates

  
  This schedule may change and adapt due to availability of myself and actors, for now this is how scheduling works out. I will also not be available for any potential filming during spring break as I won't be in the country and school weeks aren't possible due to being busy with school, homework, projects, after school clubs and activities so I am planning all filming dates on weekends, alongside one possible Friday date. The later dates are set to provide time to communicate with actors, design any needed props, to buy necessary costume and makeup pieces, and organize scenes in a reasonable order for filming. I will also be sharing this template with any important people throughout this process for open communication and clear scheduling.

Getting to know the main character and her story!

  Before I dive into discussing the script and scenes that will be taking place in my film opening, I think it is important to get to know our main character that we will be following the story of. As I was  planning out who she was I decided to use mural.co to brainstorm how I picture her in my head. In it, I used a diagram to map out and organize the little bits of information about her that are important such as her name, physical and personality description, the support and challenges she may face, as well as creating a moodboard for her style and personality, as well as parts of her identity and what she stands for.

  Here is her background so far, so I can establish how these things develop my main character into who she is. As shown here, I have decided on the name Maya Palmer. She is a 19 year old black trans girl navigating life after coming out and graduating high school. Her family is Caribbean, from the U.S. Virgin Islands and they moved to California when Maya was three. Despite growing up in a Christian family, she was raised by a young single mother and her grandmother as the only child and always knew she was a girl. Her family support her in her gender identity her mom being her biggest source of support when her dad left at an early age for disagreeing with the way her mother let her child express herself, and it helps her grow into the strong woman she becomes and is shown as in the film opening. She has a supportive and healthy background, and is generally surrounded by positivity in her life and while she had supportive friends in high school it wasn't all forgiving, especially the ignorant popular boys who didn't make her life easy being transgender and black in a mostly white and hispanic populated school. She works a part time job alongside going to art school with an internship in fine arts as she is in the middle of her medical transitioning process when news that raises controversy makes its way into her life. Does she protect her own self in such a vulnerable part of her life or rise up to the challenge and fight for what is right despite potential risks? Is this where she will find a loving community of people alike?

  To cast the perfect person to play this role, I will be taking to social media, specifically Twitter and Instagram, as mentioned in previous postings, to make a casting call. I will be posting a tweet and sharing a screenshot of the tweet on my personal instagram story, and ask those who retweet to also post this screenshot on their own stories. In it I will be asking for the main character on here, as well as a person to play the role of her mother and grandmother (if needed as it should be noted that due to potential circumstances, specifics may be altered). Any additional background characters or secondary characters will be casted through reaching out to friend groups and people within my school and area who are willing to participate.

Twitter casting call

    Stay tuned for the next postings where I will be featuring updates of casting integrated within my posts!

The final stages of research

  To really get a feel for how a film opening with my genre and its specific details, I decided to view more film openings within this genre and analyze, take notes, and share what I found on this blog posting. Then I will cover how I plan to stick to these conventions, become inspired, and how I plan to challenge them.

Moonlight (2016) Barry Jenkins

                                                                                            I have briefly discussed this film on my blog before, but it can't possibly be talked about too much. This film is most definitely in my top favorites and is markedly so within the past decade. It is about the life of main character Chiron, a young black boy in war on drugs era Miami as he grows up and into his identity with the support of the people who raised him. The representation, art direction, and overall story line is phenomenal. It also fits in with common themes to the one I plan to represent through my own film, focusing on intersectional identities and communities and how they navigate through life with these in mind.

Film Opening

 The film begins with a blank screen, with music playing as the production company's logo appears (A24) before we see a man pulling his car up onto the side of a road in an area that looks quite rundown, and there aren't many people outside apart from when we see the camera pan as the first man in the scene closes his car door and approaches two other men across the road. The camera follows him and as the conversation can be heard more clearly it is apparent that there is a drug deal going on. The camera consistently circles the three men as they interact with each other in a seemingly continuous shot that really gives the feeling of chaos in drug addiction and the sale of drugs as the only means to get by in a community where the residents are underprivileged (and how these communities tend to also overwhelmingly consist of minorities), but also establishes the setting and that there's a connection between the three, the first man starts conversation with the man selling drugs - they may be friends or know each other in some fashion- and the older man is trying to buy off of the second man. With this scene opening, though we are not yet introduced to the main character, we are introduced to what kind of setting this young boy will be growing up in and how this affects what he learns about himself.

Roma (2018) Alfonso Cuarón

Roma follows the story of Cleo, one of the two domestic workers who help Antonio and Sofia take care of their four children in 1970s Mexico City. Here, complications suddenly arise when Antonio runs away with another woman and Sofia finds herself pregnant. Sofia plans a much needed vacation to clear her head and create a tighter bond with her family, and invites Cleo along. This film has some really amazing representation, and is full of beautiful symbolism, shot in a unique fashion for a modern film set in the decade of the 70s.

     

Film Opening Credits

In the first three minutes are so, the opening scene is just the opening credits. However, despite these being just the credits there is still much to unpack and digest, despite this one, still shot throughout the entire opening. For about one minute of it, there is no sound, only a black and white image of floor tiles as the credits begin. After this, we begin to hear the sounds of something being mopped up, and then we see waves of water getting brushed across the floor. Since the water is consistent throughout this scene, it is fair to believe that water will be an important symbol within this piece, both as a symbol of Cleo's household duties and to foreshadow events that will take place later on. Not only this, but in the movie poster we see yet again more water from a beach behind the family embracing each other. The use of water here is a common motif throughout the rest of the film. Then we see the reflection of an airplane flying slowly by, being framed by two large buildings in the reflection in the puddle. The plane possibly represents the transitional changes in her life, and this contrast of water being mopped as a chore and a plane flying up above can suggest that there is a mundane tone to this film; it quite literally reflects a world that Cleo doesn't, and may never know as a domestic worker. Finally, the choice for a black and white filter for shooting this piece truly emphasizes the rawness of this film, that it will truly show what normal, every day people really experience with the human condition.

Call Me by Your Name (2017) Luca Guadagnino

Call Me by Your Name is a book to movie adaptation, starring Timothée Chalamet  who plays main character, 17 year old Elio. It's set in 1983, Northern Italy where Elio spends his summer days with his family in their 17th century villa where he soon meets his dad's doctoral intern, Oliver. Throughout the summer, they form a deep connection like no other that changes the rest of their lives forever. This film has been hailed as one of the best new LGBTQ films, with a beautiful story line, emotional acting, and wonderful art direction.
  

Film Opening

Right in the beginning, the film lets the audience know when and where this story is taking place with text saying "1983" that then transitions to "Somewhere in Northern Italy". The scene is set in Elio's bedroom, with another girl laying on a set of yellow bedsheets as she's looking at him pull on a red shirt and immediately there are a lot of symbolic mise-en-scene elements throughout their clothing. It's the summer, they're young and passionate and Elio is seen wearing this shirt throughout the rest of this scene, even when he meets the intern (and we know there is going to be romance involved). Their attention is then drawn to his window, where they look out to see his dad greeting another man, his intern. Elio is called to help Oliver carry his bags into Elio's room, where he will be staying. He is wearing a blue button up shirt with khaki pants, professional attire that helps give off the idea that he is there for work purposes. Throughout, there are a lot of interactive shots that never keep one shot boring, but it flows really nicely. The idea that they both start off as total strangers sharing a room, each having their own things that their summer will consist of, to the fact that we know this is a love story between the two keeps the viewers engaged, wanting to see the events that unfold that make this true.

How do I plan to stick to the conventions similar between these films, and how do I plan to challenge them?

  Firstly, I want to have my film opening include as much representation and diversity similar to the themes of these three exceptional examples. They include themes of race, ethnicity, sexuality, poverty, and so many issues that come along with these minority identities that I want to make sure is accurate to the story I am presenting. I want to raise awareness, but also represent them correctly and in a positive light - or simply put, as human beings just trying to navigate life just like the rest of us. I also want to keep the art direction engaging, whether through symbolism, introducing the main characters, setting, themes, and plot. I want to create something as beautiful as these examples, visually, audibly, artistically, symbolically and so much more. When something beautiful is created where a certain group of people see themselves in it promotes acceptance and self love to an amazing standard, something everybody deserves to have. That said, I do also want to bring awareness to the struggles these communities face simply for just being themselves. It's vital that these stories are heard, because the lack of coverage is affecting and even taking away lives, and promotes hatred for the things people don't understand. Through this, I want people to learn and expand their minds out of the little bubble their mentalities have trapped them in for so long. So in this way, I will be sticking to the overarching definition of the drama genre, where I introduce a character and present possible upcoming struggles as they navigate life, and how they resolve them.

  I plan to challenge conventions additionally through representation. Often times, these particular minorities are underrepresented in media, whether that be through minimal representation, politically incorrect representation, or being shown as background characters as an excuse for directors to earn brownie points without actually having to develop a story for these characters and make them alive and human. I want to bring them to the forefront, to bring a name and a life and a story to these people, and to make real life stories heard through fictional and engaging means. The entire purpose it to make them alive and human.

Production Planning Outline: research, research, and more research!

 

The Final Decision is Here!

All about the topic I chose, and the work put in that made the choice

  I have finally chosen a topic I want to focus on! With enough research and some ideas for the filming process and story plot, I can now share my ideas. I have worked diligently on researching this topic, and will continue to do so, and I will share pictures of documenting process for planning throughout this post as I move along. As seen in my last posting, I was running through the different concepts I would consider by describing the topics I'm most passionate about, and have decided on the representation of  young Black transgender women.

A quick flip through of my outline 

Synopsis 

A young, Black transgender woman navigates life in a world filled with hatred, but finds family and a strong community in her loved ones, people who share her intersectional identities, and allies alike.

Research 

  Plenty of resources have aided me in my research of this particular demographic, I wanted to delve deeper into their history, current statistics, and the experiences of transgender youth, Black LGBTQ youth, and transgender women of color specifically through reading surveys and interacting with the communities.
   The resources I have used for the statistics shown have been highly reliable sources regarding these topics. I used the websites hrc.org (Human Rights Campaign), glaad.org (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), and transequality.org (National Center for Transgender Equality) for the following statistics, as seen through these images recording my research process:

Statistics Pie Charts, a drawing within my outline
(Source: glaad.org)

• In 2019 alone, at least 26 transgender or gender non-conforming people were murdered
• 91% of them were Black women
• 81% were under the age of 30
• 68% lived in the South
• "In the seven years that the Human Rights Campaign has tracked anti-transgender violence, an average of 22 transgender or gender non-conforming people have been victims of fatal violence per year."
• In the reporting of these cases, the victims are often times misgendered in local police statements and media reports.
• HRC partnered with researchers at the University of Connecticut to conduct a survey of over 12,000 LGBTQ youth and capture their experiences, more than 1,600 Black LGBTQ youth responded.
• LGBTQ youth of color and transgender teenagers experience elevated stress and unique challenges
• Only 11% of youth of color surveyed believed their racial or ethnic group is regarded positively in the U.S.
• Over 50% of trans and non-binary youth say they can never use the school restrooms that align with their gender identity
• According to a U.S. 2015 survey for transgender people:
• Nearly half (46%) of respondents were verbally harassed for being transgender
• 47% were sexually assaulted at some point in their life. In communities of color, these numbers were higher: 53% reported being sexually assaulted in their life time.

Research of Representation in the Media

  To ignore these statistics in general is fatal for the lives of many. And in film, representation is extremely important. In my attempts to find potentially really good representation of characters within these communities, I found it to be extremely limited. Often times, when I searched for representational films, they featured mainly white, gay, cisgender men as a representative for the entire community (completely ignoring the diversity of the LGBTQ community) and the few that represented the T in LGBTQ were usually about white transgender characters, and played by cisgender actors.

Still from The Danish Girl (2015)

  The two closest examples I got to where The Danish Girl (2015) directed by Tom Hooper, which was a biographical romantic drama film loosely based off of the true story of Lili Elbe, an artist married to wife Gerda who was also an artist. Lili is historically the first transgender person to undergo medical transitional surgeries, and due to this in the last stages of the transitioning complications had caused her to pass away. Her story has been captured beautifully by this film in a way that it will always be one of my favorite films of all time, it history of this community runs. However, as mentioned before a bigger issue within this is that the actor who played Lili (Eddie Redmayne) is a cisgender man. Though his acting in this piece was brilliant, and he did plenty of research within the transgender community to make sure he was representing the story as true to the experience as possible, the idea of a cisgender man playing a transgender woman can spread the harmful idea that trans women aren't really women, which simply isn't true. That is why it's so important to cast transgender actors for transgender roles.

Orange is the New Black cast

  However, my next example does hold up to this standard, and it does so well.  In the Netflix original has truly immortalized Lili and reminds people of just how deep the Orange is the New Black, Laverne Cox, an actress who is also a Black transgender woman, plays Sophia Burset in this show, a prison inmate who is also a hairstylist and transgender woman in the show. The experiences Sophia faces in prison as somebody who belongs to these communities, especially the abuse she endures in later seasons of the show are appalling and even more appalling is the fact that these experiences are consistent in the lives of Black transgender women in prisons all over the nation. Often times, they are even put in a men's prison where they are subject to even more transphobic violence and a complete disregard for their identities by not being placed in a women's prison. Though Sophia is not the main character in this TV show, the representation of her character and the struggles she faces within it are incredibly realistic and raw.

      As you can see, representation is scarce. Don't get me wrong, there are more productions out there representing these intersectional communities, but simply having the characters there for representation brownie points hardly makes truly good representation, and that is what is missing most often when it comes to people with multiple minority identities being shown in the media. My goal for this project is to make sure I am interacting with these communities, the news, the history, everything I can to make sure I am giving an accurate presentation of these human beings who deserve a whole lot more than the world has offered them. I want to be accurate in the information presented about the marginalization of these women in particular, but I also want to make sure that it is a story of hope, that they do get a "happy ending" for a lack of better words. That these women in it find a strong bond of love in their peers, their family, communities, and allies, and know that they are loved and can in turn develop a strong love and confidence in who they are. I want it to be brought to awareness the hatred they face because of who they are and that it can be fatal, how we who do not face these kind of struggles have to be there for these women in our lives, but to additionally share the overwhelming power of love that the world also has to offer and that it is something they need and deserve.

The Beginnings of my Production: getting inspired, my ideas, and plans

  I won't lie, trying to choose out of the numerous topics I would love to focus on in the opening scene of my own production is a tough decision. The things that inspire me the most are current events and the diverse human experience, both my own and the people around me. I tend to love artistic choices that make a statement, typically societal, philosophical, or political. For example, the topics I am the most passionate about are heavily based in human rights and awareness, such as erasing the stigma of conversation about mental health and illness, talking about the LGBTQ+ community, and the inhumane treatment of immigrants (particularly immigrants of color) because all of these are parts of my identity, or communities I belong to, and certain parts of these topics are my own experiences.

  Right away, I knew I wanted to make something that involves something from one of these topics. This is why I figured drama would be the best fit genre to depict the life of a character who belongs to one of these communities, and not only preface the struggles that they have to face because of said community (or potential intersections of any three of those communities) but show the beauty of diversity and the good things in life that they deserve. These communities unfortunately face awful hardships in life, ableism, homophobia and transphobia, racism, and xenophobia, but a goal of mine I want to pursue within my opening scene is to bring awareness to these struggles and their voices, the human behind them, but to also show that despite anything horrible that life throws their way that they do belong here, they do have a reason to stay in this world, and that they do have a purpose they need and deserve to live out.

  To begin with my outlining process, I knew that depending on the topic I want to focus on, I would have to plan on getting the stories of people who belong to these groups. Though I deal with mental health issues, I am very high functioning. If I were to go this route, I would want to research and hear the stories of people who are lower functioning, or who suffer more debilitating disorders than my own. Though I am an immigrant, I am a white European immigrant. If I were to take this route, I would want to make sure I am depicting the stories of people who suffer at the hands of racism and xenophobia who are also immigrants, because that is not something I face. Finally, if I were to go with the LGBTQ+ route, I immediately saw two possible ideas. Here, I could either intersect the topic of mental health and this particular community, given that statistics show that LGB adults are more than twice as likely to experience a mental health condition than their heterosexual counterparts,  LGBTQ people in general are at higher risk than the general population for suicidal thoughts and attempts, high school LGB people are almost five times as likely to attempt suicide to their heterosexual peers, and 48% of all transgender adults report that they have considered suicide within the past 12 months, compared to 4% of the entire US population. ( https://www.nami.org/find-support/lgbtq )

   

  The second possible idea was to focus on the topic of the most targeted group in the LGBTQ+ community; transgender women of color, more specifically black transgender women. With the age expectancy for transgender women being 35, and 26 transgender people (again primarily black transgender women) brutally murdered in 2019 alone, this is an appalling statistic that has yet to be addressed by anybody outside of the community, often times fully ignored. It should've never been ignored to begin with, they were people too: Dana Martin (31),  Ellie Marie Washtock (38), Jazzaline Ware (34), Ashanti Carmon (27), Claire Legato (21), Muhlaysia Booker (23), Michelle Tamika Washington (40), Paris Cameron (20), Chynal Lindsey (26),  Chanel Scurlock (23), Zoe Spears (23), Brooklyn Lindsey (32), Denali Berries Stucky (29), Tracy Single (22),  Bubba Walker (55),  Kiki Fantroy (21),  Jordan Cofer (22),  Pebble LaDime Doe (24), Bailey Reeves (17),  Bee Love Slater (23), Jamagio Jamar Berryman (30), Itali Marlowe (29), Brianna "BB" Hill (30), Nikki Kuhnhausen (17), Yahira Nesby (33) Johana "Joa" Medina (25),  Layleen Polanco (25). 

( https://www.hrc.org/resources/violence-against-the-transgender-community-in-2019)

  The ways I plan to hear these stories and experiences are through heavy research. I plan to continue with the research I presented here, listen to the stories of my peers and others, listen to the people within my intersectionalities that are more marginalized than me, read books, watch documentaries, read articles, interviews, ask questions to the people I want to involve, and get as heavily informed as possible. I plan to cast potential actors for the film by announcing a request for people around the area who fit the description of the main role(s) on Twitter and Instagram. These are fantastic tools to reach diverse audiences, I have personally seen the reaching success of production companies such as Blumhouse, using Twitter to call on a very specific person for a film plot which gained a lot of attention on the app, calling for a transgender Latina woman who was also a bruja as there main character to a film which follows a transgender Latina teenage girl who is kicked out of her home for coming out, and goes to live with her bruja grandmother. Another great example I have seen where social media has been used to hire actors, is that of the highly successful A24 production, The Florida Project. Bria Vinaite was hired through instagram to play the role of Halley, the main character  six year old Moonee's struggling mother. This was her very first acting experience, and it still ended up making the film a truly authentic piece. With this idea in mind, I also plan to work with the actors rather than tell them every little thing that needs to be said or done. I want my direction to be a guideline, not the rules because I want the person's experience being who they are in this world to shine through the most of all.

  In my next blog post, I will be discussing the finalized option for the subject of my film opening production, and how I plan to go about it. In the mean time,  keep an eye out for more of my progress!

  

Film openings within Drama

Drama and it's Film Openings

The importance of film openings

Why is a film opening important? It sets the scene, the time, the place, the people, and the setting. Most importantly, it has to draw the audience in. Without a great film opening, there is not much incentive or reason for viewers to keep on watching. This not only has been true throughout media history, but with time audiences have gained a greater need for instant gratification. With new technology making everything available to you almost the minute you want it, our patience for "something exciting" has slimmed down dramatically. However, this doesn't necessarily mean there has to be a fast-paced, action-packed beginning that throws the audience straight into the plot (though this certainly is an effective method), it just means the audience's attention needs to be captured and engaged in a way that is appropriate to the context of the movie's plot and potential sub-genre. That said, genres rules are not set in stone. They should be used as a guideline for your artistic expression, however that may look.

Drama Film Opening Samples:

                                                     A Beautiful Mind (2001) Ron Howard

A Beautiful Mind is a drama loosely based off of the story of mathematician, John Forbes Gnash, and his onset of schizophrenia in college that reaches a crescendo in his early career and marriage, but ultimately becomes a renowned mathematician that made fundamental contributions to game theory, differential geometry, and the study of partial differential equations awarded with the Nobel Memorial Prize. The film opens with a scene set in what appears to be a classroom. The room is filled with neutral colors, typically brown which is seen on the walls. This gives a simplistic feeling to it, that the focus shouldn't be on the room itself but what is going on inside it that gives it's context. A series of shot/counter-shot editing techniques go back and forth between the man giving a lecture to his students (again all dressed in neutral colors, suit attire), and the main character John Gnash, who is seen sitting alone, the only one in a grey-black suit compared to his peers, and is seemingly distracted, not looking directly at the lecturer and seems quite fidgety. An eyeline match between him and another student, who is among his peers and sits confidently, paying attention to then looking back and smirking at John in a condescending way emphasizes the idea that John is an asocial and                        nervous kind of character. These edits are all captured with slow zoom in shots that further establish the kind of tone this film, which is that of the perspective of a mentally ill man and how his perspective influences his life. Then, it cuts to a scene outdoors, the men gathered outside socializing. Here we see a slightly different version of John, he's observant, reserved but calmer, and is quite witty. Here, the smaller, less obvious details that something is different about John are insinuated through what he observes.

12 Years a Slave (2013) Steve McQueen

12 Years a Slave follows the story of Solomon Northup, a free black man living in New York pre Civil War, who is captured and enslaved in the south. He faces the cruelties of a slave owner, alongside unexpected kindness from another. After twelve years, he meets an abolitionist from Canada by chance that changes the course of his life forever. The opening scene to this particular film begins with a mid shot, and shot/counter shot editing techniques to convey a group of people being given instructions. We see a group of enslaved people being ordered by a plantation owner on how to properly cut sugarcane. They're all wearing the same drab clothing, showing them stripped of their humanity and individuality and gives the uniformed sense that they are all experiencing this as a collective solely because they happen to be black people in the south. Something really clever I noticed was that the owner said "make it sing", referring to cutting the sugar cane correctly, it then cuts to the camera moving in through the fields to the enslaved people cutting the sugarcane as they sing cultural songs while they worked. Then there's a low angle of two white men sitting idly by, watching the work happen while they fan themselves. The angle helps give the perspective of the enslaved people working, both the literal idea that the white men are above them but also contributes to the lack of power they have to defend themselves against the cruelties of these white men. The scene then transitions to one with a shack, and several of the enslaved people and the main character eating their  "meals", when Solomon notices the dark juice of the berries. Later that night, we see him try to write a letter with a makeshift pen and the berry juice but is shown to fail when we see his facial reaction and chucking the ink pot off the table in frustration.

Drama Genre: What is it and what makes it?

 Drama

What is Drama?

Different from theatrical drama, in television and film the drama genre is one of narrative fiction that is intended to be more serious than humorous in tone, that focuses on the development of realistic characters who must deal with realistic emotional and/or physical struggles that make sense to the setting of the production.

What makes a film belong to drama?

As mentioned in the definition above, it must portray realistic characters with realistic struggles that are reasonable to the setting. However, despite this seemingly strict definition of "realism" that only goes as far as what the creator has in mind for the plot. What is the setting? What is the time period? Is it completely fictional or loosely based off of a real person? What makes a drama film could mean many things, given the various sub-genres that branch out from this broad one up for creative interpretation. As long as the production depicts realistic people facing realistic struggles throughout the plot, drama can be whatever you make it.

Difference between television drama and film drama?

The only change here is the format, while the definition stays the same. With television (TV shows) the drama plot needs to be built to last an extended period of time, episodically and there is usually a new drama within each season. With film, the drama plot concludes within a few hours, and should be constructed accordingly.

Drama's Sub-genres:

•  Historical/Period Drama - productions with the theme of drama set in a specific time period or era



Ex: Titanic (1997)

• Romantic Drama - productions that focus on the elements of love and it's emotional struggles



Ex: The Notebook (2004)

•  Melodrama - productions with a plot that usually endangers the character to invoke emotional reaction within the audience



Ex: Oliver Twist (1948)

• Crime - productions that follow a criminal or major crime taking place



Ex: The Godfather (1972)





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