Mise-en-scene

 Costume

After further analyzing our costume approach to this project, our costumes do not have to be flashy or unique which is a great thing since we do not have to spend extra money on making a fancy costume for our film. Since our idea is based around the gym having sports apparel is a must for us. 

Having clothes like this helps support our theme. A tight shirt can help show that Ryan is confident about his accomplishments in the gym and shorts to complete the look. This is one option we can consider due to how easy we can get this type of clothing. Both me and Sergio have this type of clothing so when it does come time to film we can easily grab this clothing.

The Tank top is also a staple for gym goers. This type of clothing helps one show off their accomplishments. When one wears this type of clothing the individual is usually confident on their appearance. We can show Ryan wearing this at his at home gym, at his desk, or at the commercial gym. The Tank Top will be a great addition to our film because when we have to film Ryan measuring his arms the Tank Top easily lets him see his arm on a mirror and easily measure that part of his body.

As mentioned earlier this type of athletic clothing will help complete the look we are trying to achieve. These type of shorts really compliment the whole “gym” athletic vibe we are trying to go for.

 

Since this film opening will take place around our time period, These type of shoes will help finish the look and keep it based on our time period. These type of shoes are seen everywhere in our day and time and are very trendy, so having this in our film opening will help show that it is in this current time period which is 2025.

Mise-en-Scene

 Props

A big part of a movie are the props that are used to give the viewer a better understanding of what the main purpose of the film is. With this being said the props we will be using for our project are very important to highlight the medical condition this individual is taking.

This is a close example of a prop we may use to film. The idea is to have this around the desk while he is writing in his journal. This is one prop that can help explain show the condition. We do not want to explicitly say that he has this condition, but show it with props and other actions our character Ryan will do in the film opening to show this. Additionally the use of other substances such as vitamins, or even performance enhancing substances like pre workout can be used as props to show that he is pushing himself to new limits. Ryan in our story is no ordinary guy who is struggling with this medical condition but is a character who has done a great job on researching his own body and keeping track of everything he is doing to maximize his results for his health and to live.

Knowing this information we can help the viewer understand Ryan’s medical condition with these set props, this is a unique way to show this. The only thing that the props do not show is that his condition is super bad and can result to his death.

References

Google Image Result for Https://Northjerseyrecovery.Com/Wp-Content/Uploads/2022/10/Njrc_prescription-Drugs.Jpg, Google, www.google.com/imgres?q=prescribed+pills&imgurl=https%3A%2F%2Fnorthjerseyrecovery.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2022%2F10%2Fnjrc_prescription-drugs.jpg&imgrefurl=https%3A%2F%2Fnorthjerseyrecovery.com%2Faddiction-treatment%2Fprescription-drugs%2F&docid=CmpLGWmcsmubhM&tbnid=otsz8WWkRPGxfM&vet=12ahUKEwjxufDX_9qLAxVQwckDHTjNIBAQM3oECHAQAA..i&w=700&h=545&hcb=2&ved=2ahUKEwjxufDX_9qLAxVQwckDHTjNIBAQM3oECHAQAA. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.

Amazon.Com: Amazon Essentials Slim-Fit Men’s Tank - Casual Wear : Clothing, Shoes & Jewelry, www.amazon.com/Amazon-Essentials-Mens-Slim-Fit-Tank/dp/B0D3PZ467X. Accessed 24 Feb. 2025.

“Terrain Mesh Gym Shorts - Black.” Ryderwear, www.ryderwear.com/products/terrain-mesh-gym-shorts-black. Accessed 23 Feb. 2025.

Script

Scene 1: Ryan at his desk listening to some music while doing homework/study. 

There are multiple props around the desk to help give more information for the viewer such as medical records, a measuring tape, a journal logging his information, a food scale, other additional vitamins or substances he may drink. Creds will be seen in this scene

Scene 2

- He starts seeing flashbacks of him getting bullied and is  in the room measuring  the size of his arms and main muscle groups, the time would be around early afternoon right before a workout. This scene can also show flashbacks of him receiving bad news ( highly unlikely) The creds will continue

Scene 3

He is working out, the workouts are based around what he has to improve and do so he can maintain a healthy life, this would be filmed in home gym to show that he is working to improve his health. (He will eventually build up the courage to go to a commercial gym in a later scene) creds will continue

Scene 4

Around mid workout he receives a call from a close friend of his called Daniel (he is a great friend) telling him he should come check out a public gym. He hesitates and doesn’t really know what to do, after some convincing he agrees to go, will end with him arriving or getting to the gym. Creds will come to an end

Scene 5

In the commercial gym and is looking around because  this is a new environment, Daniel introduces him to some friends that are just randomly there. They all have a great workout and see that Ryan is actually really strong. All of Daniel’s friends start complementing him and ask him questions, Daniel mentions he should compete and points to a flier.

Scene 6

Once Daniel points to the poster, Ryan walks towards it and Daniel’s friend say yes you should compete. This will give him the opportunity to show that anyone can overcome any obstacle if they put their mind to it. It will end with him looking at the flier and hearing an alarm clock to symbolize the start of the movie.

This is not the final script and there will be a few modifications, for the most part most of these scenes will stay as is.

Defiance

 

Our Project Idea

As stated in previous blog posts this project focuses on the idea of a character battling a disease called distal muscular Dystrophy. This will not be said or shown during the time of filming but we will have scenes that will show Ryan our character working out to combat this disease. There are still some tweaks we have to make to our script since me and Sergio do not know exactly we might do on our second scene, you may see our script in a later blog post. 

We are trying to take all the pointers our teacher gave us into consideration and the lighting for this project is of most importance. Since our first ideas were not really clear we thought our approach was better ,but after giving it more thought I realized how much our teacher was right. We plan on filming at a home gym and commercial gym to also highlight his journey. There will be props that will show the meaning and purpose of this film and give a reason for viewers to be engaged, since this will be a individual who dealing with a incredibly hard disease. 

The name of this film opening will be titled Defiance. We both believe this title is suitable for the intended message we are trying to portray to our audience. Props are very important and play a key role to help the viewer realize why this character is doing what he is doing, and thanks to the help of his friend he is open to a new path that will be shown throughout the actual movie not film opening.

Media Theory

 Active Audience Theory 

I believe this media theory fits the film opening I am doing. As the director of this film opening (sounds professional lol) I wanted to make a film opening that other people can relate to and this what this media theory focuses on.

First off, knowing the definition of Active Audience theory is important. Active Audience Theory - Stuart Hall - says audiences are active consumers that interpret media through the lens of their own experiences and social contexts. This definition comes from a paper our teacher gave us in class listing all the media theory, this falls under the category of media contexts. 

To give an example of how this may be incorporated can be seen with a movie called Creed 2

Creed 2 (2018)

This film can show a great example of active audience theory since this movie can relate to many people. What I mean by that is that many people can interpret the purpose of the movie which is a legacy. Many people who have viewed this film have knowledge from other films in the past such as rocky, this is where the active audience theory plays its part, many people who remember the films like rocky can interpret this movie through personal experiences they might have remembered from that film. The way a consumer interprets can be different due to many factors such as family, friends, careers, etc. 

Now you may ask how this may relate to my film opening, well the way the creed film is expressed in this blog does is not the intended way I want the consumers of my film to think of entirely. The way they think about their personal experiences is where I want my main focus to be. I want people to get the message that they can do anything if they put their mind to it, this applied for any situation no matter what one individual may be experiencing. This message may not be easily understood by just simply watching, but if one truly interprets this media in this way they can understand the complex message behind it. 

Group Meeting #1

Meeting

Today’s activities consisted of meeting with different classmates to get some ideas regarding our projects. This was an amazing opportunity to get the chance to hear others opinions on what the best approach could be for my project. When the teacher showed us the groups we all had to go to a table to meet. I was only familiar with one of the people within the group since we had worked on our midterm project together, the rest were relatively knew. Benjamin had the idea to make a word document that we could share to post all of blog URL’s, the only problem was that it was not accessible for the first 10 minutes. 

The entire group went quite, this is when I took the opportunity to read my blog url out loud to start of the conversations. I projected my idea which everyone agreed was not bad at all, but was provided some ideas on what type of music I can go for which would be rock. To fit the character in my project I believe that the best way to incorporate this into my project would be when the character is in the commercial gym, showing that the morale is good. A different approach was mentioned in regards on how I should portray the character. The main purpose of this character is to show that he has a lot of motivation and works to be a better person. My original idea was to have a lot of props around the table that can be viewed showing this part, but Lucia mentioned that the character should have flashbacks to the hard times he has been going through. This was a really good idea that I might steal and might make some tweaks when writing my script.

Benjamin

Benjamin was the next classmate that took the mic in the group. Once he had pitched his project idea I had realized we had very similar genres, although his focused on two individuals who would push each other to be better, I cant quite remember what sport it would be, but I am pretty sure it would be football since he mentioned that he would be filming on a football field and the gym. He mentioned how we wanted to make his film opening a bit more like a montage, I mentioned how with my discussion with the teacher 

Juan

Juan was my partner for the midterm project which was pretty fun to film, but once he had the ability to start saying his ideas, he told us that he had not completed all of the blogs. Although, he had not been on track with his blogs he still had a really good idea which all of the group members agreed was pretty unique. As we would say he “cooked.” He wanted to focus on the genre of horror and wanted to make his film a thriller. He was the only one that actually had a name for his project which was manslaughter.

Lucia

Lucia had kept up with all the blog posts and told us the genre she wanted to focus on was on coming of age. She did not have a plan on what to do but she asked us to help her with this. Benjamin offered a great idea suggesting that she could be a bully in school, or cyberbullying, and when she’s at home or at home she can show that her life situation is rough and not all that great. She really liked the idea but she was not writing it down so I suggested to write down all the random information we were throwing at her to gather some ideas on what she could do.

Amanda

Amanda was the last person to go and like Lucia she had an idea on what genre she wanted to do which was Drama or a mystery/ thriller. We all took the time to look at her blog posts and were very well organized. She told us that she wanted to use dark colors in the color scheme of the film opening. After this Benjamin had used the bathroom and there was around 10 minutes of class remaining we had not yet taken a picture together, so we did that really quick. Like mentioned earlier she also wanted us to suggest some ideas on what we think she could possibly do for her project, or different approaches. Juan suggested some funny ideas and we had all gotten along with each other pretty quickly. 

I received a lot of ideas that I could do to make my film opening better and the group that I was in also received some great pointers as well, this was really fun and different.

This was the amazing photo we all took together :)

Color Schemes

 What is the purpose of a color scheme?

    The purpose of a color scheme is a specific combination of colors that is chosen to convey a certain mood, or atmosphere, or theme. With this being said the way I incorporate specific colors in my film opening can make or break my film. 

    After discussing with the teacher the ways the colors would be shown are of the at most importance. She suggested to show the shots of the gym with very bright colors, which at the time was a massive curveball for me. After thinking about it more, it does make more sense for the shot I am trying to go for. I do feel as if the best time to film these the shots with most movement is when the character is in the commercial gym this is because he would already be in the final stages of his journey. This would also be when he sees the chance to join a famous competition that would eventually bring prosperity to his family.

Raging Bull (1980)

I bring up Raging Bull again because this is the type of color scheme we are trying to go for. To further elaborate I believe the shots where he is at his home gym should portray more of these deeper shade colors, this is because it would show mood I am trying to go for. The reason why this character is working so hard is for the disease he is trying to overcome. It would show him very dedicated to what he is doing and can show the character in a better way, at least that’s what my mind is telling me right now, I plan on getting more clarity with my teacher and my partner so we can both tackle this the best way possible.

Coach Carter (2005)

    Coach carter is another film closely related to my intended genre. This film has showed me some great examples of what we can do as a group to incorporate the shots the teacher was thinking. The warm goldish color that can be seen is a color I am trying to go for when shooting in the commercial gym, this is because the characters mood would not be as serious but more joyful hopefully allowing the viewer to comprehend the atmosphere and mood of the scene. There are still questions I would love to ask the teacher to have her opinions and will do next class!