Storyboard

Storyboard

Here are the images for the storyboard of the film opening.

Images

Production Process

Deciding on Specified Scenes

I am currently in the process of deciding on and finalizing specific scenes to then move on to create the storyboard and script for the opening. In terms of scouting actors, I have already confirmed the availability and commitment of two actors, and I am considering looking for an additional two actors and/or actresses. The two actors who I have signed on are both quite knowledgeable about cars and have a deep interest in the subject, which makes them well suited for the film opening. In terms of the necessary equipment and editing software, I have all the software I need, and a decent amount of equipment. For the scenes in which moving vehicles are used, I have considered using a gopro mounted at a suitable angle either inside or outside the vehicle. However, the gopro footage is not always the best, and the audio is often low quality. If it does work out, I will borrow an additional gopro to get a second angle.

Scenes Under Consideration

Here are several scenes under consideration:

Intro Scene

The scene starts off in the garage with cars being worked on by a couple of mechanics. Two mechanics stand over a particular car, examining it, and then looking at each other before leaving the area. They then discuss the various cars in the shop they will be stealing and selling. Mechanic A cuts mechanic B short, saying he wants to keep the rare car for himself. Shocked and slightly enraged, B says its out of the question and could ruin their shot at getting more cars and staying under the radar. A agrees and apologizes, but as the two walk out, he looks back longingly at the car.

Shop Scene

This scene takes place with all the other cars out of the shop. Mechanic A is the last one left. After finishing his work on the car, he is supposed to take it to the owners house the following morning. After admiring it longingly, he sighs and gets in the car. A brief moment of silence, and then the engine turns over and the lights come on.

Getaway Scene

Driving through the night with the stolen car, Mechanic A is on edge as he is worried about mechanic B. Up ahead, who should he see but B. Coming to a sliding stop, he gets and B warns him of the consequences of stealing the car. The two struggle in a fight and A gets away, driving off into the night.

Part of Getaway Scene

As a part of the fight, a *gun would be pulled out and there would be a struggle for it. Mechanic A would drive away while mechanic B points and prepares to shoot, but lowers it in hesitation. 

*the gun would be clearly identifiable as FAKE for safety reasons, as it is made entirely out of wood, and is NOT painted to look real.

Scheduling

Sequence of Events

Here is my schedule for production of the film opening

Schedule

Feb 28th

Layout Drawings and Story-boarding

March 3rd

Actor and Actress scouting begins 

March 11th

Prop Gathering and materials begins

March 15th 

Filming begins

March 25th
Filming ends

March 26th
Editing begins

April 2nd
Editing ends

April 3rd
Production is finalized

Story

Plot Selection

Out of the three plots I came up with in my previous post, I will be going with the second plot.

Selected Plot

A mechanic (for now mechanic A), working at a successful garage spends most of his days tuning up the garage's clients' cars for track days and street racing. He himself wishes to get into the scene on the street but because of old debts, he cannot finance his wish. This changes when a new crafty mechanic (for now mechanic B), suggests they copy keys and install back doors to allow them to steal the cars of clients once the shop is done working on them and sell them. The golden rule: never keep one of the cars. Everything goes according to plan until a customer brings in an extremely rare JDM car. mechanic A, seeing his childhood dream cannot resist and runs away with the car, cops and mechanic B in pursuit.

Choosing This Plot

I chose this plot because I felt that it was a bit more unique than the others, while at the same time combining various elements used in other car-related films. It features an up-close look at the world of tuning, while at the same time, incorporating other street racing-related elements. This uses scenes similar to that of Fast and Furious, as well as Baby Driver and high-speed chase scenes like the BMW vs. Renault one in Ronin.

Planning

Planning

Plot Options

I have considered several plots based off of the research I conducted, and have currently narrowed it down to three different ones.

Plot Number One

An automotive engineering student who has dropped out of college is struggling to pay his bills and get a grip on his life, but still maintains his love for cars and racing. One night while drinking at a lonesome bar on a highway stop in the midwest, he notices a group of tuned-up cars leaving together. With his interest growing, he follows them, to find that they've closed off a portion of the street for racing. Watching some amazing cars battle each other on the asphalt fuels his desperation. Rushing a driver on the side of the road, he steals a prized antique Corolla, with a deadly powerful engine, and makes his way off into the night.

Plot Number Two

A mechanic (for now mechanic A), working at a successful garage spends most of his days tuning up the garage's clients' cars for track days and street racing. He himself wishes to get into the scene on the street but because of old debts, he cannot finance his wish. This changes when a new crafty mechanic (for now mechanic B), suggests they copy keys and install back doors to allow them to steal the cars of clients once the shop is done working on them and sell them. The golden rule: never keep one of the cars. Everything goes according to plan until a customer brings in an extremely rare JDM car. mechanic A, seeing his childhood dream cannot resist and runs away with the car, cops and mechanic B in pursuit.

Plot Number Three

The son of a former f1 driver who has passed away has grown up with his aunt and uncle in the rural Gunma prefecture of Japan, where he has lived for the most part a quiet life until he gets his license and discovers his fathers old racing gear and car. Determined to follow this new walk of life, he discovers that he is too old for karting, and cannot finance racing training for himself, so he decides to turn to the streets for skill-building. Wearing a ski mask and racing anonymously, he earns a reputation in the racing community and law enforcement. 

Research (Opening Examples)

Opening Research

While researching film openings related to my idea for an opening, I came across several that stood out to me as what I was looking for. These openings are discussed in detail below. 

The Fast and The Furious (2001)

Perhaps the best example of what I am looking for in an opening, the first installment in the F&F franchise does it best. It starts off in the Port of Los Angeles, featuring shots of the surrounding infrastructure before showcasing a truck full of expensive electronic devices. An over the shoulder shot of a dock worker letting the info about the truck slip is shown as it pulls out. The scene switches to the truck on an empty highway at night, when three black Honda civics pull up and take a formation around the truck, hijacking it, and making a speedy getaway. This scene perfectly balances and combines the two elements critical to racing action films: crime and illegal street racing with fast flashy cars. The opening also does not reveal detail on the characters but gives a vague outline of the plot and events later to come in the film, overall being very effective as an opening.

Similar Scenes; Ronin (1998) Chase Scene

Although not directly related to the approach I am taking, and the previously listed opening, the car chase scene in Ronin has some very useful elements. The start of the chase is due to the group attempting to make a getaway with a briefcase that is the source of conflict between multiple bounty hunters and the Russian mafia. The chase, featuring a BMW 535i and a Peugeot 406, is shot in extreme detail and blended in well with a typical French urban area. The chase scene is also very long and showcases a wide variety of stunts and rally techniques. Although I will not be going to such extremes in my opening, the concepts are very useful.

Research

Research

In order to properly create my film opening, I am researching the genre, and more specifically, the types of films within it that reflect my ideas for a film opening and can give insight into what content and plot can be used in my opening.

Action Film Overview 

The focus of the primary genre is action. Action films can take place in a realistic urban environment that the audience has a high chance of recognizing (Ex: Avengers (2010) taking place in New York), with the plot usually revolves around some sort of conflict, whether it is a battle or war, a disaster either natural or manmade, or a competition. All action films have a hero, and most have a villain. Sometimes these films are based on real events but others are usually based on novels or comics. Characters often fall under the good or bad umbrellas whether they are supporting or the main characters. For example in the James Bond films, there is usually a supporting character introduced partway through the film (Ex: Luigi Farrera in For Your Eyes Only) that helps the protagonist gain a crucial step forward towards the solution/victory but pays with his or her life for it. For the main characters, they can consist of spies, heroes, soldiers, average people cast into the spotlight, athletes, warriors, policemen, bounty hunters, hitmen, race car drivers, and even animals or aliens. These varied formats give action films a lot of flexibility.

Racing Action Films

Racing action films have been on the rise in popularity since the late 90s, surging in popularity in the mid-2000s, and still doing fairly well today. Different from films about specific race car drivers and circuit racing, these movies usually focus on the illegal street racing scenes across the world. In some cases, these movies also include crime, either on a petty or grand scale, due to the illegal nature of street racing itself. To understand the movies, one must get the origin of the subject. Street racing took off in the United States and Europe with drag-racing back in the 60s. American and European automakers (particularly American ones) were putting out cheap, high power cars that encouraged this sort of activity. Fast-forwarding 20 years to the late 70s to mid-80s, new forms of racing took ahold of Japan. The first was toūge (mountain pass) racing and the second drifting. The two somewhat intertwined, they are essentially high-speed flashy races through narrow mountain passes in which either cat and mouse rules or overtaking are used. This was extremely popular up until the mid-2000s when the Japanese Police Force issued crackdowns. For drag racing, it was popularized by the Fast and the Furious films, while toūge was popularized through the iconic anime Initial D. The Fast and the Furious saga, in particular, became a multi-billion dollar franchise, starting out with the elements of crime and street racing and eventually changing into battling villains and using extreme stunts with exotic cars. For my opening, I will focus specifically focus on content similar to that of Fast and Furious films and one-off movies like Baby Driver.

Opening

Opening

I have decided to choose the action genre of film for my media studies portfolio project. Specifically, I will be working with the subgenre of racing films (specifically street racing and petty crime) similar to other movies such as baby driver and the original fast and furious trilogy.

Covering Ground

The focus of this film will revolve around a street racing film that could have a bit of petty crime mixed in. Inspired by movies such as the Fast and The Furious (2001), 2 Fast 2Furious (2003), the Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006), and Baby Driver (2017). These films all revolve around the high paced and intense races mixed in with a good story often related to crime. I am also considering using the beginning of a chase scene, such as the car chase scene in Ronin (1998). I have not decided on a specific story for the plot, much less individual scenes. I have thought up several props, have cars available for the scenes, and people available for casting and crew. More updates including a title for the film will be blogged soon.

Music Post

For the Music Marketing Project, we chose the song Blind because we felt it was somewhat similar to rock, which is an extremely popular music genre worldwide. In addition to this, we took inspiration from Slipknot and their signature masks, which would become our band's name and logo, as well as us wearing masks. Tne of the marketing trends we noticed with in our genre (nu metal) is that like rock and many other genres, vinyls have become extremely popular again. This desire for an old school 80s aesthetic is extremely marketable for bands and can bring in a ton of additional revenue. In addition to this, we created merchandise from caps and mugs, to hoodies and t-shirts that featured our logo and fit the aesthetic of our band. Production is quite a tedious task, especially for a music video conveying a specific story and theme. This took a good deal of planning and organization to get everything right. The same thing applies to the marketing campaign, although it requires research to back it up. Overall, our previous knowledge on the success of rock would be our gateway to this project.