More Licensing Trouble

For the licensing of the song "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)" by Rupert Holmes, I have both good news and bad news.

The good news is that Universal Music did, in fact, respond to me. My teacher told me that some music groups are more than happy to help in this creation, but I did not think a group as big as Universal would respond. 

The bad news, however, is that they provided an additional form where I need even more permission just to use the one song. 

I am going to fill out the rest of the information and send it right back as I am so set on having this song in my film. As I stated in a previous post, soundtracks are so important to me and I want it to truly have an effect on my project. 

The email I received back read as follows:

Hi Jack, please fill out the attached form and return to Emily on copy.

-The UMe Team

Storyboard!!!

THE STORYBOARD IS DONE!!!!! I was overthinking which is why it took me the whole week to complete it. I already had the pictures done but for the rest of the week I tried to go into more detail for what I wanted to see in each shot. Storyboarding, in my opinion, is so helpful and helps me plan out my ideas in advance, and lets me see how they could unfold. 

For this storyboard, I drew 12 shots. The first was Logan in the pool, relaxing, followed by the pan in to his face. The next was him getting out of the pool and drying himself off before walking inside. The third was him watching the news broadcast from an over the shoulder shot. The fourth shows his room and how organized it is. The next is an example of the shots that show his awards and that he is a "future scientist." The sixth shot is of the other room, and how it contrasts his bedroom. The one following that is of the bags in the corner for his evidence. The eighth box shows his apron and the amount of blood on it after his experiments. The next page shows him in the car at night, driving to throw away the bags. The shot after is of the bags in the passenger seat next to him. The eleventh box shows him throwing the bags away in the many different cans. The final shot is the high angle of him smirking into the camera before it cuts to black.

The results for the storyboard are right here:

Music Rights

One of the most important parts of films, in my opinion, is the soundtrack. I am set on having music be an influence in setting the tone for me. Music has that impact, as it can really force people to think a certain way. 

For my opening, I am passionate on having the song “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” by Rupert Holmes, play in the background. The reason I chose this song was because of its carefree message and the fact that it is relaxing and calming. This is what my opening is, as it starts off so carefree and then jumps into his "hobby."

The problem I am faced with, is that I need the rights for the song if I want to use it. I did some research and found out it was produced by Geffen Records. This record label is not around anymore, but through other companies, is now owned by Universal Music. I ended up emailing them for their permission and I am waiting on approval or denial. 

The email I sent is as follows:

Hi, my name is Jack Sussman. 
I am available for contact at ********** or *************@gmail.com. (Do not want to disclose my info on the blog). 
I am currently doing a project for my high school media class in which I have to create a film opening. The name of the project is “A Day in the Life” and will be seen at my school, and online. 
I am requesting to use the song “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” by Rupert Holmes, released in 1979.
It would match my project perfectly as it sets the carefree tone. The film opening revolves around a teenage boy, relaxing, showing the audience a day in his life, while also hinting at his macabre hobbies.
The song will only be used in the background, to set the mood and show the carefree environment that the main character lives in. 
The length of the song needed would only be two minutes of it.
The media rights required are strictly internet. The project is presented in my class, but also put online for samples.
I will only need the rights for roughly 3 months, as that is when the project will be presented. 
I have no production budget, as it is a school project. 
The video would most likely only be seen locally, though it could possibly be seen worldwide. 
Thank you so much, and I hope to hear back. 
-Jack Sussman

Film Title...

 I am SO excited to announce that I have finally come up with a title for my film opening, and the movie that it is apart of. 

Drumroll please… “A Day in The Life”!!! 

I love this title because of how simple and innocent it sounds. The whole deal with our main character, Logan Parker, as I explained in a previous blog post, is that he has his murderous tendencies, but wants to be seen and recognized as a normal and sweet teenage boy. 

The film opens on him in the pool and walking through his house. Knowing nothing, it may seem like a coming of age film. As it continues, we are met with the other side of his life. 

This title further emphasizes the shock since it is so simple harmless. "A Day in the Life" sounds like it would be similar to "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" or "Big Time Adolescences."

I am unsure if I want to reveal the title during the opening, or right after everything has happened. It would either be shown while he is in the pool, right as the film opens, or it could be the very last shot, on a black screen, after his smirk.

Week 3

We are now in our third week of working on the film opening. I decided to spend this week with a little more planning, as I felt it was a little too early to begin the project itself. I began my story board, that I have not finished yet, to set a foundation of what I want my project to be. 

The pictures of what I have so far are as follows:

Besides the storyboard, I am also working on certain elements of the film itself. I want the soundtrack to have a purpose, so I may write another blog post about how that is going.

Besides those steps I am working on, I have nothing else for now but I will continue to blog when ideas come to me.

Sets and Technical Aspects

One of the most difficult parts of the project will be creating the sets and the technical aspects that go into filming. I am currently creating a storyboard for the opening, but to make it even easier to see, I will provide pictures of exactly what I am imagining for each shot/set.

For the first shot, I wanted a shot similar to the one above from "Palm Springs." This is to show Logan's carefree manner and vibe. 

The most difficult part of creating the sets will be how to make the room where he does his experiments. I was imagining something similar to the room above, which is from the film "Saw." I am most likely going to change the lighting in my guest room, take out some of the furniture, and purchase different props/wallpaper to make the room seem much dirtier and give off "mad scientist" vibes.

I was considering the final shot of the opening to be after Logan gets back from dumping the bodies and he is in his room. He is laying in his bed when gives a little evil smirk to the camera above. When I thought of this, it seemed like an exact mirror of Emma Stone's smirk in "Cruella" as shown above.

Character Introduction

Hello readers. I have adapted my ideas into my main character. As I stated in the last entry, I am going for a character that resembles the other three that I mentioned. For those that are not up to date, I am modeling my character after Patrick Bateman from "American Psycho," Arthur Fleck from "Joker," and Lou Bloom from "Nightcrawler." My story revolves around the main character and his killing spree, and how he hides it, as a teenager. He is the protagonist of the film but is undoubtedly the villain at the same time. 

And now... to introduce...

Logan Parker.

Just off of the name, you may be thinking, "Oh... it sounds like a normal kid, what's so special."

This is exactly what the character IS though. He wants to come across as a normal teenager who goes to school, hangs out with friends, etc. 

The backstory for Logan is also what makes him so "innocent." He grew up in a loving home, with loving parents. He is an only child, and his family dynamic is no different than any other. He is presented as the "golden child." As we will see in the opening, there are little things in his room that show who he is. For example, a bookcase full of trophies and medals, to show he is "perfect." A spotless and organized room and the books covering his desk show that he is a good student and a good son. 

The most important part about the room, however, is the details shown. We see that has a lot of trophies and metals, the majority of them have plaques reading "First Place Science Fair", "Future Scientist or Surgeon", and stuff like that. The books on his desk are all biology, anatomy, and dissection oriented. After hearing this, you are no doubt thinking, "So what if he loves science. What does this have to do with his character at all." The reason I am telling you all of this is because this is what made him who he is as a killer.

Since he could remember, his favorite subject has always been science. He fell in love with it at a young age. His parents supported it and got him experiments and different kits as a child. At some point, he started enjoying it too much. He made science his entire life and became even more curious. He wasn't satisfied with videos or little toy experiments, as he truly wanted to figure out, "What makes someone, someone." This is where his story begins. He figured, that if he were able to see how the brain was truly wired, and how the body worked as a whole, he could figure out the answer to his question. 

The only problem was that he did not have the resources to do the experiments, but his stubborn mentality did not give up. On a walk one day, he tried to figure out his problem when he came across a group of homeless men. Unfortunately for them, a light bulb clicked in Logan's head. He went home and thought about the consequences of his idea. 

Now, you're wondering, "What's his idea." To kidnap one of these homeless men, do experiments on them, and figure out his problem. While this sounds absolutely insane, it wasn't for Logan. I compared him to the three characters earlier because along with being psycho murderers, they have something else in common: they will not stop until they get what they want. Logan Parker was so destined to figure out his question, that he created a whole plan to carry out his "research." He would lure them in with a free meal before drugging them and bringing them to his house. He picked the homeless men because no one would notice if they disappeared. Of course, he would do this on weekends when his parents were out of town. At the house, he would then experiment on them, while they were on anesthetics. He did not kill them, however, because he needed the brain waves active for his research. 

Once done with his experiments, he would split up the evidence and, after eliminating the smell, would place it in various garbage bins throughout the neighbourhood the night before garbage day.

As we will see in the film opening, Logan is relaxing before one of his experiments. He sees the news broadcast and notices the homeless man run up and yell about how his friends are going missing. Logan hesitates for a minute, as he was the kidnapper, but calms down when he realizes everyone will think it is a schizophrenic homeless man, and no one will take him seriously. At the end of the opening, we see Logan throwing away the evidence before going back to his room.

To summarize, the teenage boy, Logan Parker, seems very sweet innocent and smart but is secretly a murderer who kidnaps people to do experiments on them. The movie will then revolve around him trying to continue his research when a few fellow teenagers start to pick up on his activities.

Research of Genre

I have decided to pick the tone for my film. I have researched several movies similar to what I am going for. Three of these include “American Psycho,” “Joker,” and “Nightcrawler.” I am going for the suspense/ thriller film with the protagonist who is somewhat of an anti-hero. The characters Lou Bloom, Patrick Bateman, and Arthur Fleck are all the protagonists of their films but are the villain at the same time. They are all mentally insane but are always in the spotlight, so we have no choice but to watch them. My character in the film will relate to these three characters in the sense that even though he is a teenager, he is mentally ill, and has the same idea of no content for human life. This goes hand in hand with my film, as it centers around the main character and his lack of empathy.

“American Psycho,” made in 2000, revolves around the main character, Patrick Batman (Christian Bale), and his narcissistic rampage of sex and murder. 

“Nightcrawler,” released in 2014, explores the disturbing mind of Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is a struggling cameraman and thief who will truly do anything for a chance at fame and attention. 

“Joker,” the 2019 film revolving around Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a mentally ill comedian, examines the crazy character and shows what can happen when people stand up against a greedy and unfair society. 

First Story Ideas

For my genre of movie, I am considering doing a suspense film, with a lighthearted tone possibly. IF POSSIBLE, I would like to include the song "Escape (The Pina Colada Song)," Rupert Holmes.

I am currently working on a storyboard for the opening, though I understand it will take a little bit. 

My "script" right now is as follows:

The film opens with a boy in the pool, on a floatie. He is carefree, not worrying about anything and just relaxing.

It can either be one continuous shot, or quick edits, depending on the tone I want to go for. 

He can be alone, or with friends, but I am leaning towards alone. 

He could be drinking a pina colada or any drink just to add that sense of vacation. 

He gets out of the pool and dries off. 

He walks inside, as he still has this carefree persona and walks past the TV.

The music lowers, while the news is on, covering an event.

There is a local news reporter, who is covering seemingly normal news. We then see a dirty, seemingly crazy homeless man run up to the camera and start screaming about how his friends keep slowly going missing, before the news cuts.

The other reporters do not think anything of it and laugh it off.

The boy stops for a moment, ponders, and continues on his way through the house. 

As of right now, he is shirtless, with a towel around his neck. 

He walks into his very clean room and puts the towel down before putting on a tank top. 

We see his walls, with medals and awards for "Future Scientist," notes from his parents and other accolades.

This sets the tone that he is a normal child, who is smart and seems to be loved by others. 

He stays in his room for a little bit, before walking into another room. 

The following room has papers on the window and contrasts the bedroom as much as possible. It is filled with science equipment and gives off creepy vibes. 

There are cuts to different parts of the room to showcase everything there. One of the parts shown is of black garbage bags in a corner.

When it shifts back, the boy has an apron, goggles, and the full "scientist outfit" on. 

It cuts to him placing stuff into the different bags that were in the corner. He then begins to label them and starts taking off the gear. 

When he's taking it off, the camera shifts to what each bag says: extra fat, limbs, brain, etc.

The next cut shows him in his car, with the clock reading 2:18 AM, with the bags next to him. The scene shows him putting the bags into different garbage cans to spread out the "evidence."

Cuts to his bedroom where he turns on his light before getting in bed. There is an overhead shot of him looking, and then slowly smiling. 

The film cuts to black, and the title is shown. End.

Transition to Portfolio!

Hey to all my readers! I just wanted to let you know that will officially be shifting the focus of my blogs. I will now focus purely on… wait for it… THE PORTFOLIO PROJECT!!! I’m thrilled to create my own art and make a film opening of my own. I am considering the coming of age/ comedy genre, though anything can change. I hope you enjoy this journey with me as I am so excited for the beginning of my project!

Music Marketing Blog Post #2

Case Studies and Related Artists

For our case study, we discussed five pop artists and their music. Some examples were Dua Lipa, and her song "Levitating", Joshua Bassett, and his song "Lie, Lie, Lie," and The Weeknd, and his song "Blinding Lights." By examining case studies like these, we were able to relate it back to our up and coming artist, Deenah. 

From examing data relating to these artists, we were able to find our target audience for Deenah, which were younger generations, more specifically, teenagers and young adults. Deenah herself is about 20 years old, so she can relate to the younger audience. While she aims more towards women, men still enjoy a lot of her music. 

To captivate the attention of our audience, we made sure to add an inspiring theme to Deenah. She is able to relate to teenage girls around the world and tell them that they do not need a man. She does this through lyrics in her songs and her social media presence. She also dresses as though any teenage girl would, to relate to the audience. 

Marketing

We immediately began to think about how we could truly get Deenah out to the world. Our options included a music video, brand deals, and most importantly, an online presence.

Online Presence:

We created an online presence for Deenah by creating an Instagram, TikTok, and Spotify for the artist. 

She has already amounted to millions of followers on Instagram.