Critical Reflection

Final Project

Special thanks to Eric Patterson. 

Painting the Roses Red

I have been searching on several royalty free music websites and have not been successful in finding music that satisfies my overall vision of the film opening. So I decided to compose my own. Below is a photo of my work so far.

(I honestly should have done this a long time ago; I would've saved myself from so much stress.)

As inspiration, I took the original key of "Painting the Roses Red" from Disney's Alice in Wonderland and altered it. I played around with the notes and rhythms, changing and altering them in the process. The melody is also a lot slower, therefore seeming darker. 

When listening to the melody, one could hear the inspiration, but the creation is entirely my own. I plan to add chord structures in the final piece to complement the melody.

Searching for Sound

I have been trying to find music for the film opening so I have been searching on Incompetech, a royalty free music website. I want music without lyrics since I will add words over the music later.

The nondiegetic sound is incredibly important to the film opening; I am depending on it to create the mood and meaning of the film. The lyrics I am adding along with the background music will also add essential meaning to the plot of the film. Therefore, I have been searching for music that matches the dark and eerie quality of the film.

I am heavily relying on sound in this project to drive the film further in meaning than the film opening standing alone would, especially since I have a limited amount of time to get the gist of the film across. Now in the position of creator, rather than consumer, I look at the importance of sound in film in an entirely new perspective. I understand the impact of sound in film better than I previously did.

Prohibited Items and Costume Design

I realized while researching that psychiatric hospitals are incredibly restrictive and paranoid. I researched the psychiatric ward at  Austin Lakes Hospital and The University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry and discovered numerous prohibited items compared to the amount of accepted items.

These hospitals imagine all the possibilities of how patients could hurt themselves.

Strings and laces are not allowed because the hospital has the concern that a patient could try to hang himself. Zippers are prohibited in the case that a patient may try to cut himself. Patients aren't even allowed to have flowers delivered by visitors due to the fear that glass vases and thorns could be used as cutting devices.

I had to make changes to my initial costume design when I learned of this information. I initially wanted the character to wear a loose fitting and disheveled-looking sweater, but I had to throw away that idea since the sweater would have strings and a zipper. So my main character is limited to sweatpants and a plain shirt.

I also had to make sure that no jewelry was on her hands, neck, or ears. No jewelry of any kind is allowed in those hospitals. I had to take all of these restrictions into account when filming. This research has helped me become as accurate as I can be in this kind of setting I am trying to create.

Behind The Scenes

A look into the process of filming this production. 

Location, Location

I have a narrative and I am finishing up storyboarding, but the hugest obstacle for me has been finding a location I like. When I describe what I want, the location sounds easy enough to find: an empty, simple room. But I look around my home and see stairs, difficult to move beds, and windows I don't want to be there.

I realized finding what I want is not as easy as it sounds.

Although it sounds simple, I am very particular with how I want the location to look. So I am broadening my horizons to other locations. Areas in the school, friends' houses perhaps. But no such luck.

I have been searching for a while and I hope I find an area that checks all the items on my list soon.

I need to.