Reflection

For my AICE Media Studies project, I chose to work by myself and create a film opening. I chose to work by myself because there was no benefit from working in a group, whereas everyone has to do the same amount of work and I wouldn’t have to rely on as many people in order to film. I chose to do a film opening because I was more interested in films than I am into magazines and felt as if creating a film opener would be more fun. During the creation, I ran through many obstacles so which some preventable while others were out of control. Whether it was problems with the weather, schedule conflicts or technical difficulties I was able to overcome those issues and create this opening. The biggest problem during production was scheduling, the actresses and I work part-time jobs, played sports, and in school clubs so as a result, we would rarely have chances to meet. Most of the scenes required both of the actresses to be present. However knowing we were on strict schedules, this allowed us to focus strictly on the opener. The title of this opener “Shedevil” was inspired by “Acrimony” where the word had a deeper meaning, the dictionary meaning for “Shedevil” is “a malicious or spiteful woman.” and I felt as if that word captured what I wanted the ex-girlfriend to be, someone who’s out for revenge and looking to cause problems. After brainstorming the title, I created a storyboard and jotted all my ideas and began putting the pieces of the puzzle together and moving around where I wanted each scene to be and what angles/shots I’d use in the scene.
When filming, I always made sure to take at least two shots of every scene in case as a form of insurance for me, along with allowing me to pick whichever one I believe came out better. For certain scenes I wanted to reshoot the same scene in different angles, to see which one I felt best captured the story. Since I chose to be by myself for this project, I asked two of my friends if they wanted to act in it and we began scheduling when we could all meet up. My friend Isabella offered to be the crazy ex/ stalker so that left Callie with the role of being the new girlfriend. The locations I researched in my older blog posts weren’t used as my idea for the film changed once we got together. Originally I planned to use a park for a majority, however, I scrapped that idea and used my house and the local town center to film. For my mise-en-scene I had to go out and buy some clothes to fit for all the actors, I wanted us to be wearing something relatively young, but for the girls I wanted them to have opposites. For example, in some scenes, Isabella is seen wearing a sundress while     Callie in another scene is wearing a long sleeve. This was done in order to show a time difference but as well as showing how they are different in their sense of style.
My opener contained some similar conventions as my genre such as ending on a cliffhanger. Most movies in my genre contain a cliffhanger as a form of suspense and I felt it would be a necessity to follow that format. I end with the crazy ex sneaking into my room and catching me by surprise, in order to leave the viewers guessing on what would happen next. Like I’ve mentioned in my previous blogs, “13 Cameras” and “Acrimony” planned huge roles as inspiration, they both end on cliffhangers in their own manner. A different approach I took was the way of narration, I have Isabella narrating as a diary, which allows the viewers to realize she’s becoming crazier as the days go by, from her journal entries. I wanted to follow some of the norms for my genre but also do some things differently. From the way she’s “writing” in her diary to the way she's acting, you’ll be able to tell she’s forgetting who she is as a person and losing self-control. Normally the crazy ex is either killed or talked some sense into her, but with my approach, I’m offering something out of the ordinary by having Isabella narrating from her point of view however not filming for a majority through her view, along with not having her dying or getting talked out of her personal mission.
Shedevil would be a movie targeted for young adults and teens since the movie is a psychological thriller riddled with suspense. With the movie centered around a happy couple, those in a relationship can somewhat relate to the couple in the film and those who have a crush on someone. With my movie have suspense within the first two minutes of the movie, the viewers will know more will be coming and have them on the edge of their seat. Not to mention the plot twists, factors and cliffhanger the movie would be containing. Since the target audience is young adults and teens, all the actors were dressed to fit the target.
Throughout the production of "Shedevil", I learned numerous tricks and tips in editing and how to properly film movies. Before this opener, I wasn’t the best at editing and filming but I feel as if I got better during the production in order to try to master the opener. This also required me to think outside the box when it came to certain problems. One issue that is well documented was the sage I encountered with the audio from my camera. I ended up having Isabella do a voiceover which required me to get the timing to match the voiceover ultimately, requiring some skill in editing and timing. Since I was the producer I paying attention to detail and as a result opened my eyes on the process of filming, I would be looking at the background, take double takes, use various shots/angles and look for the best lighting.
Throughout the production of “Shedevil”, I believe I grew as an editor and producer and am proud of the end result. I believe my film is unique and is something the viewer would enjoy for various reasons.