First group meeting!

For our first group meeting this year, I worked with Emi, Adriana, Aneesa, Vicky, Mariana, and Daniela. The goal of the meeting was for everyone to present their project ideas, explain their concerns, and then get feedback and suggestions from the rest of the group. We went one by one so each person had time to explain what they were planning and what they were unsure about.

First up went Emi, which I secretly think is so cool,and her idea was like wow.. I'm showing the notes I wrote first!

Notes:

Emi working with Joaquin and Andrew

- Dark comedy short film

- Critique of power struggles

- Gorey

- Makes a deal to get power

- Statement about joining religions for power

- Completes task for devil, loses humanity at the end

- Script is finished

Concerns:

- Location filming

- How to differentiate and make a nice symbol 

Suggestions:

- 1 death (instead of 3)

- Film at Markham Park

- Make your own symbol (instead of the pentagram)

Summary:

Emi presented a dark comedy short film that critiques the idea of power struggles, especially in relation to religion and manipulation. The story follows a character who makes a deal in order to gain power, but as the story progresses they slowly lose their humanity while completing tasks for this deal. By the end of the story, the character sacrifices something extremely important but still never receives the power they were promised. Emi already has the script completed, which is really impressive this early in the process. The main concerns they had were about filming locations and how to stage certain scenes. Our group suggested filming in Markham Park, which could provide a darker forest environment for the climax of the story. Another suggestion was to reduce the number of deaths in the film so the story could stay focused and impactful within the amount of time we have. I'm excited to see this! 

After that came Adriana, 

Notes:

Adriana is working with David

- Comedy short film

- Guy teleports by flipping a penny

- Every time he goes somewhere new he tries to do a kind act and it backfires

- Researched other short films

- Interested in using fast cuts

Concerns:

- Scheduling

- Ending 

Suggestions:

End with David completing a kind act but when he tries to teleport again he drops the penny down a drain/sewer

Summary:

Adriana’s idea is a comedy short film about a character who can teleport by flipping a penny. Every time he teleports somewhere, he tries to perform a good deed, but things end up going wrong in funny ways. The project focuses heavily on comedic timing and editing, especially with fast cuts to create the teleportation effect. Adriana mentioned that scheduling might be a challenge because her partner David has a busy schedule. One suggestion from the group was to end the film with the character finally completing a kind act successfully, but when he tries to teleport again he accidentally drops the penny down a drain, leaving him stuck where he is. 

I personally thought this idea was very cute in a way and I can't wait to see how they film the process. 

Now came Aneesa and her idea was just like how do people think of these things, I'm absolutely stunned.

Notes:

Aneesa working with Quinn, Nico, and Zach

- Meta dark comedy

- Heavy on breaking the fourth wall

- Camera starts on initial subject and falls in love with another subject

- Subject 1 tries to win back its attention

Concerns:

- Developing storyline and making it make sense

Suggestions:

- Spotlight turning off on main subject

- Mic turning off on main subject

- Give context to studio setting

- Casting call (actor desperate to get role)

Summary:

Aneesa’s project is a meta dark comedy that plays with the idea of breaking the fourth wall. The concept revolves around a camera that starts by focusing on one subject but eventually becomes more interested in another person. The original subject then tries to win back the camera’s attention. The film is meant to be very self-aware and funny, almost like the audience is watching a production unfold. One challenge they mentioned was making sure the storyline stays clear and understandable. Our group suggested creating a studio or casting call setting, which would help explain why the camera and spotlight behave the way they do. Other ideas included using visual cues like a spotlight or microphone turning off when the focus shifts.

Vicky's turn!

Notes:

- Victoria is working with Kenna and Renn

- Coming of age

- Message: even through fears and stress, you keep growing

- Girl plants seed, life gets stressful, she forgets about it

- Using a sign to show day 1 day 2 etc

- Plant = metaphor

- Friendship breakup (friend gave her the plant)

Suggestions:

- End with voice over

- Buy 3 different plants to show growth

- Focus pulls

- Use calendar to show days passing

- Weeks instead of days

- Camera is calendar – writing on camera

Summary:

Vicky’s film is a coming-of-age story centered around growth and personal change. The story follows a girl who plants a seed and takes care of it at first, but as life becomes stressful she forgets about it. The plant becomes a metaphor for how people grow even during difficult moments. The story also involves a friendship conflict connected to the person who originally gave her the plant. Some concerns were about how to visually show the plant growing within the short film. The group suggested using multiple plants at different growth stages and using visual techniques like calendars or time markers to show time passing. A voiceover at the end was also suggested to help reinforce the theme.

I think this film idea is super meaningful to teenagers today and I want to see how it is executed!

After that, came Mariana 

Notes:

- Mariana is working with Audrey

- Drama short film

- Boy has older sister who is excited to go to college

- Boy is very laid back

- Starts with a therapy session

Suggestions:

- Quick death

- Ideally have an adult play therapist

- Maybe car crash

- Younger sibling instead

- Therapy session a year later

- Put date on bottom of screen

Summary:

Mariana’s project is a drama short film that explores grief and family relationships. The story focuses on a boy dealing with the loss of his sister and reflecting on their relationship during a therapy session. The film will likely include flashbacks showing moments between the siblings before the tragedy happened. Mariana mentioned they were still deciding exactly how the sister’s death occurs. The group suggested keeping the event sudden so it fits the short film format and focusing more on the emotional impact rather than the cause. Other suggestions included having an adult actor play the therapist and adding time periods to help show that the therapy session takes place sometime after the loss.

And last but not least, Daniela 

Notes:

- Daniela working with Gaby

- Music promo

- Annie Lemasters

- Taylor Swift / Olivia Rodrigo vibe

- Dramatic story based

- Artist in Nashville

- Story fully acted out

- Builds up to running on the beach at the end

Suggestions:

- Film at sunrise instead of sunset

- Plan everything before filming because of limited time

Summary:

Daniela’s project is a story-based music video for a song by Annie LeMasters. The tone of the video is inspired by artists like Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo, focusing on emotional storytelling and relationship drama. The story follows a relationship that begins happily but slowly becomes more toxic over time. The video builds toward a final scene at the beach that represents emotional release. Daniela mentioned wanting a sunset look for the visuals, but one suggestion from the group was filming at sunrise instead, since it would give more time to capture the shots and avoid rushing the scene.

Hearing it was going to be a music video was exciting and the concept is cool, I can't wait to watch it!

Overall, this meeting was really helpful. Everyone had unique and creative ideas across different genres like comedy, drama, dark comedy, and music video storytelling. Listening to everyone’s concepts and the feedback they received helped me think more critically about storytelling, production planning, and problem solving. The suggestions people gave each other were thoughtful and practical, especially when it came to locations, editing techniques, and visual storytelling. Hearing everyone else’s ideas and solutions also inspired me and made me feel more excited about developing my own project.