Props

Props we made from scratch: 

Fancy envelope: 

1. I looked up an envelope template and I cut it out to trace it on the red paper.

2. I cut it up and started folding it where the dashed lines were on the original template.

3. I glued it together and made sure that a piece of paper would fit inside.

Letter: 

1. Before I started writing the letter, I had to make sure paper fit into the envelope because it was a pretty small envelope. Since regular paper wouldn't look good or fit, I decided to use this paper from a journal I had lying around.

2. I then cut the end off to make it look like it wasn't from a ringed book.

3. I then went on Canva to find some nice fonts to see how I should write it and I found a perfect one called Sulat Rizal

4. Next I wrote a draft in pencil to see how it looked

5. Then I wrote it in pen, I added some words to it as well. 

Logo/Wax Seal:

My partner made this super nice 3D logo out of her nail gel and chrome powder!! Were planning on putting this on the front of the envelope, and the wax seal will be on the back where you open it.

1. print the words out, she used the font New Icon 

2. Use builder gel to make the letters. Roll it into a thin worm then use a spatula to shape it on the paper

3. Cure it under UV light 

4. Dust the chrome powder on

1. Roll the builder gel to a ball

2. Stamp the gel with a round cap

3. Use dotting tool to engrave the % logo

4. Cure it under UV light

5. Dust it with chrome powder

Overdue Bills:

My partner found a cool website where you can find some fake debt mail templates. She edited it to look like it was addressed to Alea Punter. She also named the street Alea lived on to be "Albatross Street", because an albatross is a bird that symbolizes debt. 

After she printed a few papers of the bills out, she put them in the regular white envelopes and used her printer to print out what they would usually stamp on past due bills. 

Props we DON'T need to make from scratch but will use: 

Lottery Tickets/Scratch offs: 

Dirty Dishes/Full sink, they don't have to be dirty we will probably just stack a few dishes under like one or two saucy ones: 

Microwaved Popcorn/Snack (not healthy):

Sources: 
- Reddit user. (2023). And nothing… 4 in a row nothing not even a 10 [Online forum post]. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/Lottery/comments/11ce9vd/and_nothing4_in_a_row_nothing_not_even_a_10/
- Henderson, A. (2023). How long should you let dishes soak? Southern Living. https://www.southernliving.com/how-long-should-you-let-dishes-soak-11844524
- Delish Editors. (2024). Reasons not to eat microwave popcorn. Delish. https://www.delish.com/food-news/a62718777/reasons-not-to-eat-microwave-popcorn/
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. (n.d.). Debt collection model validation notice [PDF]. https://github.com/cfpb/debt-collection-files/blob/gh-pages/print/cfpb_debt-collection_model-validation-notice_en.pdf

Were going to start filming tomorrow and hopefully we can get it done this weekkkk! But still have it look very nice, because I don't want a bad looking project, but we probably shouldn't spend too much time on filming because I think editing takes a lot more effort....

OH YEA Happy Valentines Day :)

About the character

 Naming our character:

We decided to take from her gambling problem and create a name from it.  For her last name, we were first considering using the word Gamble, but we felt like it was too obvious that the name Gambelle or Gambale would come from Gamble. Instead we googled synonyms of gamble and the world Punt came up, and it sounded like a real last name so we decided to go with that. For her first name, we googled "Girl names that mean risk" and we saw Alea, which we thought was a very pretty name. Her name is Alea Punter. 

Background of Alea:

Alea: 23, an unemployed college graduate. She majored in acting, which her parents didn't approve of, and unfortunately, that also meant they wouldn't pay for college. She wanted to figure a way to get rid of the debt quickly so she could pursue her dream of becoming a celebrity actress, however, that led to her taking advice from the internet... Which lead her to her addiction, she's a mess and does nothing all day but watch TV, bet and gamble her few winnings hoping for a larger one.

Alea Punter's mood board:

Alea's Personality:

Alea is lazy, naive, and a risk taker. She's always wanted to become a famous actress, but she didn't put much effort into it. Now in debt and not being able to hold a job, she started gambling and buying lottery tickets all because of a random person on Reddit... She'd rather take the risk of the lottery rather than working hard. 

Sources: 

Nameberry. (n.d.). Alea - Baby Name Meaning, origin, and popularity. https://nameberry.com/b/girl-baby-name-alea#google_vignette 

Audio

     Our film opening, won%, is all going to be diegetic sounds, or mostly diegetic, I'm not entirely sure if we should add music yet. I feel like adding music wouldn't fit the opening because it's about a lazy, lonely gambler who's in debt. 

    Instead of starting with music like most films, were starting with the sound of a sports game in the background (for most of the film, until they turn it off) and a microwave with popcorn popping in the back and this is during the credits, eyeline match and up until we hear the microwave beep (mid shot on the couch). Then we will hear shuffling off the couch, we probably will put footsteps but very low since they are probably going to be wearing socks or are barefoot. 

    Next, were going to hear the microwave open then it cuts to the tv with the sink, if we do a focus pull on the sink, we might also do a focus pull on the audio and make the droplet sound louder. Then we will hear her take a bowl from the sink, maybe wash it too. After that, we hear her put the popcorn into the bowl, open it (maybe add "ouch" because the bag is hot), and then close the microwave and walk away. The next major sound we will hear is the mail being all taken away together, so like the sound of thick paper shuffling. 

    When they get to the couch, we will hear her start eating the popcorn and ripping open the mail and then throwing it away, she will do this a few times before she finds the fancy red envelope ( blog post soon about making the prop). We still hear the TV at this point but we will focus and blur the audio of the game and focus on the sound of opening the envelope. Then we suddenly hear her phone ringing, and she picks it up. We hear the anonymous voice on the other line and the character responding, then hanging up. She looks around, TV still on, and she turns it off. It's silent for a bit, other than some sounds from neighbors outside (maybe), and she decides to call them back and we hear the ringing tone, and it ends there!!

Soundscape (not the official one just a test/idea one kind of for the blog post):

I was originally going to upload an audio or video file but it doesn't work so I just put a link hopefully it works

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ifLp5RIEhjRznloPZ5ZZJQQk1lcH0gxs/view?usp=sharing

Media Theories

 The media theories my partner and I think we will use in our film opening project:

The ones I think were definitely going to have in our project is the Enigma Code or Action Code, both of them are leading up to mysteries, where the only difference is the Enigma Code is when information is withheld and the Action Code is actions that lead to something. It's hard to say for certain which we are using because we haven't thought through the what they are going to say in the phone call or letter, but we will probably decide next week. If we did the Enigma Code, the ending would be the main character calling back the unknown caller and it would end there, while the Action Code would be the character calling the unknown caller back but then they said they would do it and end it there. 

The one I'm not certain we will use, but still considering it is the Binary Opposition Theory, which is by Levi Strauss, where the story is made of concepts of good vs evil. I'm not sure how we can use that one since our main character is not really good since they have gambled all their money away and is living a very lazy life. It would probably be useful for the whole film where we would see character development, but we are just making the film opening, so it's best to stick with the Enigma and Action code.

This is our media theories paper that our teacher gave us to study and where we chose our theories from

won% storyboard!!

We just finished our storyboard! 

It's not perfect and some things aren't fully decided yet, but it's pretty much how the film opening is going to look. We might add some things or take it out based on the resources and time we have. Also if the drawing doesn't look too good, sorry, but don't worry because it's gonna look great in the opening (i hope).

I think I forgot to add where were planning on putting the title, so I'll just explain it here. My partner and I were planning on putting the title on the fancy envelope during the over the shoulder shot in the third page of the storyboard sheet. I was thinking of writing it in cursive, or something similar, in gold/shiny ink. We would zoom in on the envelope as they are examining the writing, like feeling it over or something, because that's something I would do if I got a fancy letter with very nice writing on it. I was also thinking that they could say the title, like "won%....?", in a very slow and confused voice.

 

won%

    My partner and I finally came up with a plot!! It's a mix of drama and thriller. We decided to name it won% because won sounds like one. The character has to win the game to win the money (won), and no one except the character should live to win it which is where the % comes in (one%). However, it also represents the one% of the population, like in squid game, who have so much money they don't know what to do with it. So for entertainment, they pay people to watch people fight each other for money. 

   The film opening starts with many close ups of places in the dark house, such as the sink, piled up with days of dirty dishes, messy laundry all over the place, and old food laying around the house. You can hear a sports game/horse race playing in the background. Then the character is introduced through a mid shot. They're watching TV with a blanket over them, also in the background we hear the microwave and popcorn popping. Then an eyeline match of their eyes and the TV, we can tell they are anxious because someone or a team is loosing, suddenly the microwave beeps and they get up to get their popcorn. It's a tracking shot following them to get the popcorn, but they get distracted as they are getting the popcorn, looking back at the TV, it's another eyeline match. They grab a bowl from the sink because they are lazy and then there is a focus pull on the dripping faucet. 

    They notice the mail on the counter, all past due bills but also ads for horse races and betting on games. They grab the mail, but accidently drop it, pick it up and go back to the couch. As they open the mail, they are throwing the paper all over the living room not caring to be clean. As they go through their mail, the see a very nice envelope with fancy writing, as they open it they read it very confused. Suddenly they get a call, no caller ID. They accept, someone with a heavy voice changer, they simply ask YES OR NO, confused, they hang up. They look around their house, dirty and messy, thinking if they should accept this odd offer. After a few thoughts, they call them back, and the opening ends there. 

Our major inspirations:

Parasite: (the look around the house)

The Substance: (the call/offer)

Squid Game Season 1: (survival game/title)

Scream 1996: (the phone call)

 

    

Group Meeting #1

First Group Meeting!!

    

On 2/2/26, my class was separated into 4 groups, where we all give feedback and help to each other after we explain our plots and show our blogs. 

 

During this meeting, I realized that many of my classmates were doing action as their genre, and raids in their film openings. I was very surprised by this because raids are harder to do especially when they probably don't have the right props, costumes, and amount of people. It would be expensive and probably hard to find many large weapons and FBI shields, and it would be hard to find 10-20 people to act as the raiders at the right age if they are showing the faces and heights. One of them who were doing the raids also wanted to do a scene where they show government officials in a meeting, but I was wondering how they were going to make it realistic, because usually the buildings are always crowded and loud. Also, all of government officials are usually over the age of 30, and he was having his friends act as the government officials, which would look VERY odd. 

When it came to me, I knew I wanted to do something coming of age, teenage drama, and something they could all relate to, because those movies are my favorite. So, I asked everyone what they struggle with and think other people also do. I had many good suggestions like insecurities and feeling left out, however, I wanted to do something more academic related because course cards are due soon and I kind of had the idea to do something about struggling to fit in with a very competitive school, like my school. However, I didn't know my partner was going to ask her group about how we could do a thriller, so I think we may change the genre...

                                                                       My Group and I!!!