Group Meeting Experience #2

Today, students were assigned to share our film ideas and project progress with 6–7 classmates that my instructor grouped us with. I did something similar earlier in Group Meeting Experience #2, when we had just started the project and were still brainstorming ideas. Now, most people in my class have a clearer sense of their concept and how their project is going so far. Out of the six people I spoke with in class, I chose the three that I found the most interesting.

"Calling Card" by Marat and Andres was a interesting one in my opinion. Most because they changed their idea and I was unaware of it. Their opening follows a thief called Shade (antagonist) who steals random objects. Shade leaves a single clue in an envelope/"calling card". These envelopes hints at where Shade plans to attack creating a trail of mystery for the protagonists to follow. The protagonists are Oliver and Matthew, two detectives hired to take on the case. They work together to track Shade's movements and piece together the meaning behind the objects he steals and the clues he leaves behind. Their issues were that they didn't film as much this week, their main problem their facing is their lack of problems so their focusing on building the setting, setting up the headline and gathering the items needed for the film.  Marat and Andres have an idea of the CCR answering 2 different questions with 2 different media activities. I enjoy the thief's eerie calling card creating a suspenseful trail that pulls people deeper into the mystery. I would like to see opening a lot.

Original Title Unknown by Ava is a story about a protagonist who discovers she is pregnant and, feeling scared and overwhelmed, decides to run away blaming her boyfriend for the situation. This whole situation creates an emotional suspense in the opening. One of the obstacles she faces is that Ava originally planned for the protagonist to escape on a bike, but since she no longer has one, she is forced to use a car which confuse viewers as they wonder whose car she will take and how she will get it.

"Cadence" by Sofia L. follows a runner who participates in long-distance track running while facing mental issues. The story shifts between scenes of him running and moments where he breaks own emotionally, highlighting the mental pressure he faces. One challenge Sofia faces is that she ponders on how the breakdown/mental issue film will be seen since it will have a powerful effect on the opening and is central idea of it. Sofia also has an idea of the CCR answering 2 different questions with 2 different media activities.

I didn’t receive much feedback during this group experience, but it was still enjoyable to hear everyone’s film‑opening ideas and learn how they plan to film their projects.

The Difficulties of Our Filming Process

While filming, we realized there was a major issue in our story that we should have planned for but didn’t. One of my partners arrived a bit late to the filming location, which meant the sun was already going down. Because of this, viewers will be able to see a noticeable change in lighting, which might cause some confusion. We filmed on a Friday at 5:30 PM, about two to three hours after school. In the future, we should have scheduled our filming earlier in the day, especially if we knew someone might arrive late.

At the Start:

Towards the End:

Another difficulty we had was that cars were going in and out the parking lot when we were filming. This difficulty was not as bad, but it did cause annoyance as we had to wait for a few minutes for them to leave again.

The last difficulty we faced during filming was that our original helper, who was supposed to help us on set, was unable to come. The original actor was meant to act as a substitute for Nicolas, but that plan fell through. Fortunately, Teo (who plays Nicolas) arrived with an electric car, while the original actor drives a gas‑powered one. The electric car made almost no noise during filming, which actually helped us keep the audio clean and avoid the unwanted car background sound.

Finished the Filming Process

Just yesterday, we finished filming our opening scene. In total, we recorded around 100 different clips, and the entire process took about three hours. We faced a few obstacles such as lighting issues and cars passing through the shot, but overall everything went smoothly. One of my partners, Kai, brought the main production equipment, including two cameras (one for filming and one for behind the scenes), as well as lighting and stands.

One of the most interesting scenes to film was the bag scene, where the characters fall into a trance. This moment is the central point of our story, so it needed to be executed perfectly. For this shot, we placed a light inside the bag so that when Ethan opens it, a bright glow appears, hinting that something inside is taking control of him. We used a low angle shot to capture Ethan’s facial expressions and build suspense as he opens the bag.

After filming, we now have to edit around 100 clips for our movie opening. In my opinion, the editing stage is the hardest part after filming, and I will definitely need the help of my partners.

The Casting for the Opening.

For our movie opening project, we had one director/actor , one cinematographer (me) and three actors. Two of the actors are members of my production group, while the other two are friends we invited to participate, one of them being a group member’s sibling. Choosing our group members and assigning character names didn’t take long at all, since we already had strong connections and received great suggestions from others. Below are the names and pictures of everyone involved.

Sebastien Nicolas( Cinematographer) 

Sebastian (Group Member)

Nicolas

Ethan

Chris (Group Member, Director)

The Process of Creating our Logo.

The process of creating the name for our logo was not as difficult as it may seem. My group and I wanted a company name that included all of our initials and still sounded good. We decided on SMR Productions, the S representing my first name (Sebastien), the M representing my partner’s middle name (Matias), and the R representing my other partner’s last name (Rader).

We are aware about the creation of the name itself is simple, but we feel it sounds clean and serves its purpose well. The logo, however, was much more challenging to create than the name. Designing it took a few hours because we wanted something visually appealing and professional. We chose the color green because it’s a favorite shared by everyone in the group. We also made several improvements to the logo, which I will show in the photo below.

   Beginning

   Middle (Apologies for the poor quality)                                   Finale

As shown in the photo, our logo went through several small changes, mainly involving color adjustments, icon updates, and text positioning. We aimed for a minimalistic design that looked formal and resembled the style of a real movie production company. We also added animations to our logo, which you will see below. Since we don’t have the same resources or budget that professional studios have for their logo transitions or openings, we worked with what was available and created the best production logo we could. 

If the video above is not working, try this link instead. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vY4HW-vKiPyj7Q39dh432qadFOkkDAyn/view?usp=sharing. 

Sound in the Movie Opening

Sound will help our movie opening by building tension and setting the mood before anything major happens. Quiet background noise can make the park feel empty, and small sounds like footsteps or wind can make the scene feel more suspenseful. As the boys get closer to the strange situation, the sound can slowly change to make the audience feel something is wrong. 

Me and my team discussed that we will be using a variety of sounds, including foley and diegetic sound. We already picked the royalty‑free music that will play in the beginning to avoid copyright. This first track will create a calm mood while the boys are in the car, and we chose something that feels like they are coming back from a party.

As the story starts to build suspense, the audio will slowly fade out and a darker, more unsettling track will fade in. The bag in the scene will also have its own sound that feels “attracting” to both the characters and the audience. Some of the sounds in the opening will be created through foley, like the car door opening or the sound of footsteps. The trance moment is the main part of the sound design. When a character falls into a trance, a specific sound will play so the audience knows it is happening. Each time another character gets pulled in, the attracting sound from the bag will grow stronger.

When the fourth friend arrives in the car, most of the audio will lower or fade out to show something is off. Once he notices the others are gone, the sound will slowly fade back in. When he sees their belongings on the ground next to the car, the audio will rise again to build tension and lead into the mystery.

Character Development in the Story

As we started planning our opening, we realized that the boys’ personalities needed to come through even before we show them the suspension of the bag. Unfortunantely, they do not have official names yet, but we focused on how each one behaves and reacts at the moment. Every action shows who is confident, who is quieter, and who tends to follow the group.

Once they arrive at the park, their reactions begin to separate. One boy is more curious and willing to explore, another is unsure and hangs back, and another tries to act brave even though he is clearly nervous. These differences help shape their identities without needing dialogue. The tension in the scene comes from how each boy responds to something they do not understand, and those reactions reveal more about them than anything they could say.

The fourth friend’s moment is important because it shows how he feels about the group. When he arrives and realizes something is wrong, his confusion and worry help the audience connect with him. He becomes the emotional link between the boys and the viewer. His reaction shows how close they all are and sets the tone for the mystery that follows. Even though the characters are not named yet, their personalities come through clearly through their behavior and the way they handle the situation.