30 Minutes and a Flower

Ladies and gents I have a total of thirty minutes to draft and write this post.

As promised, in today's post I'll be discussing the end of my song, the 15 second interlude, if you will. Yesterday I was thinking about the image I that young Charlotte will be drawing and how I want it presented. Automatically the first image that popped into my head was that of "Tangled's" Rapunzel, infamous for the all of the drawings she's painted around her tower. As I try to load the gif while my mother, father, and I all share a singular hotspot (it took me 20 minutes to get on to this blog editing page), allow me to relieve your worries. 

No, I will not have Charlotte drawing flowers on the ground. That 1) would make no sense for her character and 2) has no connection to my storyline (the flowers are a motif in "Tangled" and serve more than one purpose throughout the film). It was when I was riding home from Jamaica and listening to "Future Friends" by Superfruit that I realized the image that I wanted our young heroine to create: a boar.

Yes, you may have seen this coming, it's possible that I'm just a little bit slow sometimes, but this was a huge revelation for me. The real question is what this boar symbolizes in the context of the film and how to make that clear. To do this, I decided to analyze the introduction, symbolism, and value placed upon the flower in "Tangled." (I apologize for the stressing of this particular case study but my little sister is obsessed with the film and because of her constant references the Mandy Moore has been stuck in my head all morning.)

QUICK PSA: IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN TANGLED READ AT YOUR OWN RISK.

The symbol is introduced in the very start of the film when Mother Gothel is shown using a magical glowing flower to preserve her youth, covering it with a false bush to hide her precious secret from the world. When the queen of the kingdom gets sick, the soldiers are sent out to search for a cure. When Gothel fails to cover the flower in a rush to get away, the soldiers find it and bring it to the queen. When Rapunzel, the queen's daughter is born, her hair exhibits the same ability to grant Gothel her desired youth. In this instance the flower symbolizes powerlessness, Gothel hiding it and eventually stealing the child with little difficulty.

As Rapunzel grows up, the flowers appear all over her sketches, symbolizing innocence and hope. Later in the film, Rapunzel's hair, which is what has the mystical powers of the flower, is pinned back into a large braid by a group of young girls in the land she was meant to grow up in. This event turns the flowers from a symbol of innocent hope to a symbol the borderlines on freedom. While this counteracts the typical meaning behind the putting up and taking down of hair (in "The Scarlet Letter," there is a scene where Hester Prynne takes down her hair in the forest, notorious for symbolizing freedom), I feel that by pinning back her hair, Rapunzel is pinning back the responsibility she feels for being with Gothel (there are a series of instances where Gothel tells her she's been kept away from the world because the world will only want her for her magical hair and that Gothel is the only one who can protect her, which is why Rapunzel must stay with her).

Then, when Rapunzel is once again locked up by Gothel, she begins to recognize the symbol of her kingdom in all of her drawings. While the symbol looks like a sun, it also looks like a flower. Both glow and guide Rapunzel on her path, so for this analysis we're just going to roll with it. Also, according to this page on Disney's Wikia,

"A single drop of sunlight fell from the heavens, and from this single drop of sun grew the golden flower."

I knew the comparison wasn't crazy.

Anyways, as she discovers this symbol's motif in her artistry, she continues to inch towards her freedom. In doing this, the flower grows to completely contrast what it once symbolized by representing strength and believe in oneself.

The final instance I'm going to reference is when Flynn Rider, Rapunzel's love interest is dying. Since Rapunzel's hair has been cut off, she feels powerless to stop what is happening. Then, when her teardrop saves his life, it blossoms into a flower, demonstrating that strength comes from within, positing that Rapunzel had it in her all along.

Yeah, I'm a sucker for Disney.

Anyways, as I currently have four minutes left and my gif still hasn't loaded, therefore, I'm going to have to apologize and promise to include it in my next post. Sorry, y'all! I'm going to leave you with a quick little promise to share what the boar will symbolize in my next post along with a glorious final interlude for your lovely ears.

Adios, amigos!

Magical Golden Flower. (n.d.). Retrieved March 29, 2018, from http://disney.wikia.com/wiki/Magical_Golden_Flower

I'M ON A BOAT

Y’all I’m on a boat. It’s very boaty. I kinda have a headache and wish that I was asleep right now. Or eating potatoes. Yeah. I also left my headphones in my room and as I sit here in one of the dining rooms listening to a person on the loudspeaker ask for “ALL PASSENGERS UP TO NUMBER 2175” for the third time, I’m struggling to maintain a calm face.

This is fine.

I may not have slept well last night.

It’s fine.

Luckily this boat does offer one great advantage: relaxation. As I typed that the loudspeaker went off again. Now I’m heading towards a tender. It is difficult to type this while I’m moving. Regardless, what I was saying before was that this trip allows me to actually think to myself a little bit, which means it’s the perfect time to finish my song. As of right now, I may reach the two minute limit in the middle of my song, but such as life. As far as I’m concerned, if you want to keep watching, I’ve done my job!

As of right now, my song is a total of 57 seconds long because I decided to cut out the very beginning of the song (the first 16 measures in the sheet music I shared in my blog post "The Power of Walking Your Dog"). Also, I approximated the length of my introductory scene with the assistance of this handy dandy online stopwatch (my dad asked to borrow my phone so he could check on his fantasy sports team online because he left his phone on this ship, he still hasn't returned it) I learned that the scene should take around 42 seconds. Don't worry, I left pauses where I knew cutaways would be taking place. Nothing's more fun than talking to yourself on an island!

Peep the ten trillion notes I have on the sides for this project ft. my agenda!

Wow. Okay. So, basically, I have fifteen seconds left to explore as much of Charlotte's development as possible.

Great.

This is just great.

me currently

I would try and speed up my song but I knew it was going to be quick from the moment I started the project so I made it as fast as I could. 

The question now is how to end my song.
Oh schnitzel. What I had next was what I was most excited for too. Now I'm sad.

Okay, I guess this is the plan then: turn the next part of the song into an instrumental break?

I'm going to cry.

Wait. I have an idea. I can draft an instrumental break and use the last fifteen seconds so show Charlotte drawing in the woods and creating a stunning image, ending the shot with an overhead that shows her artistry. Hold on, this could definitely work! It shows a start and finish to one segment of a story while leaving open the question of what would happen if her mother found out! It's not exactly what I imagined but it does leave the rest of the movie open...

I'm here for it! Alright!

After talking with my family about whether or not my new ending made sense (I call this my personal test group), my dad asked me whether or not I established where/when this was taking place well enough and I realized that I may not have made that clear enough. While my opening scene takes place a few years before the witch trials begin, I elected not to reference the trials yet. If anything, this conversation reminded me the importance of grabbing a second opinion! #thanksdad

Here's an updated draft of my script (additions are highlighted in yellow):

Bridget and Charlotte are walking home from church. There is clear distance between the two but they still walk in perfect sync. The pair is shown in an establishing long shot.

Bridget: Mary said that we ought to check on the ripeness of the potatoes. She said hers were perfectly ripe for yesterday’s meal.

Charlotte nods.

Bridget: It was nice of her to inform us since we are new to Salem.

Charlotte nods numbly. She is in her own mind.

Bridget: I know you were caught drawing again in the churchyard.

Charlotte is silent. She won’t meet her mother’s eyes.

Bridget: You know that taking pleasure from such an act is frowned upon, do you not?

Charlotte is silent.

Bridget: I expect not to hear of any sort of frivolous activity like this again. Is that clear?

Charlotte nods.

Bridget finally breaks their distance by looking down at Charlotte, her face seen scowling.

Bridget: I said “Is that clear?”

Charlotte matches her mother’s gaze for the next line and then breaks eye contact.

Charlotte: Yes, mother.

Well, that just about wraps up today's post! I'll share the instrumental for the drawing sequence later this week :)

Some suggestions for y'all:

• Hit Me With Your Best Shot from Rock of Ages
• Fight The Dragons from Big Fish
• Uptown Funk (Bruno Mars)

(n.d.). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from https://www.google.bs/search?ei=gh65WuvmKpGQ5wLbtKWABA&q=stopwatch online&oq=stopwatch online&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0i71k1l8.3932.3932.0.4211.1.1.0.0.0.0.0.0..0.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..1.0.0....0.v9RnZUx5HDQ

AICE Media Portfolio Project. (2018, March 23). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from http://amandamelissamedia.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-power-of-walking-your-dog.html

Im Ok Dog Fire GIF - ImOkDog Fire DoesntGiveShit - Discover & Share GIFs. (2017, July 17). Retrieved March 26, 2018, from https://tenor.com/view/im-ok-dog-bad-sad-gif-9238676

Amanda Uses Menken As Inspiration Pt. 400

Just a heads up, I will be on a boat for the next week! Because of this I am a little bit limited in the supplies I'll have available so I may just have to be extremely descriptive in my posts in order to establish what I see happening. Anywho, on with the post!

So I think I have a set opening visual now, here's what I see happening:

The first scene that I described with my super awesome clearly extremely amazing mini storyboard in my post "The Power of Walking Your Dog" will be filtered with shots of a conversation between Young Charlotte and her mother, Bridget. This conversation will be a combination of song and line, similar to the conversation between Rapunzel and Mother Gothel in the Disney movie "Tangled" after Gothel sings the song "Mother Knows Best."
Towards the end of the song the two engage in a little bit of dialogue that fades back into song. This exchange can be seen from 1:57 to 2:34 in the video below!

One of the things most apparent about this scene is how it starts in a mid two shot which transitions into a shot-counter-shot over the shoulder conversation where Gothel is shown in a low angle and Rapunzel is shown in a slightly less intense high angle, suggesting that while one may think the two are on equal playing fields, 1) they are not and, 2) Rapunzel believes that she isn't as inferior to Gothel as she actually is. I plan to do similar things with my shots but I don't aspire to create the same dynamic between my characters. Bridget and Charlotte are on a different playing field, Bridget trying her best to uphold the Puritan belief and transport the same into her daughter, but it's much less sinister and should create more of a lowkey authoritarian parent vibe.

Another thing that I love about this interaction is how the light piano comes in after Gothel leaves the screen, just Rapunzel left with the lights out around her, her face downcast. Aside from the fact that her character in this movie is literally a source of light (if you've seen the movie you shoulder get both my reference to her ability, her change in physical appearance, and the duet between her and her love interest later in the movie), this visual establishes her loneliness. The area around her is barren and almost dismal, the piano floating in to reaffirm the sad tone. The softness of the piano and the fact that it plays a simple melody with no other instruments or notes behind it draws a connection between the sadness and Rapunzel herself, already established as a gentle soul. As I was already planning to utilize darker colors in my intro (my vision's very similar to how the trailer for the most recent production of "Carrie" used darker colors), this excerpt is what I plan to use as inspiration for the official opening of my film.

The utilization of instruments to push a protagonist onward after their dreams have been boxed in also reminds me of the song "Out There" from Disney's "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." This scene is very similar to the one we just watched, the only difference is that the music pushes the protagonist, Quasimodo, into a full solo. I've linked both the Disney cartoon and the musical version of the song below. (Check out 0:00 to 1:21 in the first video and honesty, just listen to the whole version of the second because Michael Arden is ridiculously amazing oops.)

As you can see, Alan Menken, the composer of both these fantastic scores, uses music almost as if it were the protagonist's friend, pushing them onward with hope or establishing how the protagonist feels without needing the protagonist to speak.

In my song's pre chorus, I do something similar by having the amount of instruments grow in volume, the tempo seemingly pushing the song along before Charlotte pushes all of it back to say something she doesn't need anything else behind her to say, coming directly from her heart. Also, the tempo slows down and the time signature transitions from the pulsing waltz of 3/4 to her own heartbeat, emulated by 4/4. I wanted to Charlotte to have a moment unguided by rhythm and percussion (at this point in time I've removed the eighth note of percussion), only assisted by the cello, before a few more instruments begin to join her, Charlotte gaining momentum and rhythm as any nervous energy is left behind, excitement filling her.

Okay, so now I'm in the car on the way to the port. Time to create Bridget & Charlotte's opening!

Bridget and Charlotte are walking home from church. There is clear distance between the two but they still walk in perfect sync. The pair is shown in an establishing long shot.

Bridget: Mary said that we ought to check on the ripeness of the potatoes. She said hers were perfectly ripe for yesterday’s meal.

Charlotte nods.

Bridget: I know you were caught drawing again in the churchyard.

Charlotte is silent. She won’t meet her mother’s eyes.

Bridget: You know that taking pleasure from such an act is frowned upon, do you not?

Charlotte is silent.

Bridget: I expect not to hear of any sort of frivolous activity like this again. Is that clear?

Charlotte nods.

Bridget finally breaks their distance by looking down at Charlotte, her face seen scowling.

Bridget: I said “Is that clear?”

Charlotte matches her mother’s gaze for the next line and then breaks eye contact.

Charlotte: Yes, mother.

While the conversation between the the duo is occurring, shots of their conversation will alternate with those described in my mini storyboard while the dialogue remains heard at all times. Charlotte’s lines may or may not be assisted by instruments. Here’s how I imagine these scenes to unfold:

Bridget and Charlotte are shown in an establishing shot on a dirt path. There is a close up of their shoes moving in sync as Bridget begins her first line before it transitions to a mid shot of Charlotte. As Charlotte nods there is a lack of sound present. The first shot of her looking at the woods is shown. When Bridget begins the next line she sighs first, pulling the focus of the camera back to Charlotte with her mother in a mid two shot. As Bridget finishes the line and there is silence, there is another cutaway, this time to the close up of the side of Charlotte’s face, her face taking up the left third, the woods taking up the right. The distance is similar to that established by her and her mother, which is shown directly after by another mid two shot. There is a close up of Bridget as she snaps her head towards Charlotte, still keeping her head up as her eyes look downward at her daughter. There is a close up of Charlotte as she lifts her head up before there is a cutaway to Charlotte glancing behind her before heading into the forest. As the shot zooms in from mid to close up and Charlotte turns back towards the forest, the previous angle from the earlier close up of the side of her face shown, the line “Yes, mother,” is heard as she grins a little bit and dashes into the forest, the camera cutting to a long shot of her before showing her face in a close up as she starts climbing through, the song beginning.

While I do apologize for the lack of storyboard, I’m literally in a car at this moment in time and will do my best to produce on later.

Until next time, I suggest listening to all of Tangled and (the musical version of) Hunchback!

AICE Media Portfolio Project. (2018, March 23). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from http://amandamelissamedia.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-power-of-walking-your-dog.html

J. (2013, April 04). Carrie - Official Trailer #1 (HD) Chloe Moretz (2013). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdoVioPv0fs

T. (2016, January 22). Hunchback of Notre Dame Musical - 3. Out There. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb5OGU8I04U

S. (2011, March 02). Mother Knows Best - Tangled [Blu-Ray 720p]. Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTJvlsHlSpo

Mother knows the best. discovered by ready to rock. (2018, March 06). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://weheartit.com/entry/134925523

Out There - The Hunchback of Notre Dame. (2014, January 21). Retrieved March 25, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxFD7Tk8Kps

Alea Iacta Est ft. Amanda's Q&A

The casting process is a long and arduous, never ending extravaganza. Okay, so when I first started this project I planned on having one single actress in my film opening.

What a dream that was. 

More on that later! First, allow me to explain why our band of characters has grown in size.

As the daughter of a photography obsessed (she calls it a hobby but, truthfully, she could make it a profession) mother, I’ve been around cameras my whole life. Fortunately, at this point in time she trusts me enough to handle her beautiful Canon on my own, so that’s what I plan to use for my filming. Being influenced by my awesome mother, I've always loved photography. Because of that, Amanda went a little crazy last year on black friday and bought herself a drone. Lucky for me, this happens to be exactly what I needed for my project! I can use the drone to capture images of the forest area from overhead. One of the things I really want to create with my shots is the clear connection between Charlotte and her environment. Now, here’s where this all gets tricky. In order to establish this connection as something stronger than any other presence in my female lead’s life, I need to present other, weaker relationships that illustrate contrast. This is where I had to ask myself some deeper questions.

Why is Charlotte more drawn to nature than to her surroundings?

Because she can be herself without facing scorn and ridicule.

What constitutes as "herself"? Who really is Charlotte, what does she value?

She's shy and quiet but rather creative. She loves to draw and she loves to play outside, which can be explained by her youthful energy and optimism. She's very determined and hates to break rules... when others can find out about it. She's meticulous and clever, able to cover her tracks with ease on account of her intellect. She values her family and respect, as most Puritans did during this time period, but she also values drawing, which the townsfolk may view as selfish. She grows to realize that in the forest she can sketch without people sniffing with tightly closed mouths over her shoulder.

What other relationships has she built in her community?

Like any young child, she must have friends and a family. Charlotte does not have a prominent father figure in her life, he died when she was younger for reasons she is unaware of. Her mother, however, is a prominent component of who she is as a person. She follows the Puritan ideology like a moth to a flame, going to bed and waking up at the same time every morning, never skipping church, and always remaining alert and attentive. She is a perfect Puritan model, almost robotic. Because of this, she feels her daughter must be just like her in order to preserve the Puritan belief she treasures so greatly. As she has not built any relationships beyond quaint acquaintances in her community, how could she build something firm with her daughter?

Tell me more about Charlotte's mother. If she isn't a witch, how could Charlotte ever be considered one?

She is distant, reserved, and composed. However, she's also secretive. She knows what happened to Charlotte's father but keeps the knowledge to herself because she believes she needs to protect Charlotte from what could hurt her. She's a little bit overbearing in this sense but only because she believes that she is doing what's best. Perhaps she had something to do with his disappearance? Maybe she has powers but, similar to how some believe that conversion therapy can change a person's sexuality, believes that by abiding by Puritan values she will be able to free herself from the burden she feels with these powers.

Okay. That was wack. Welcome to the inside of my theatre brain.

Anyways, the purpose for my writing all of this was to come to the conclusion that yes, I do want a mother figure present during the opening scene. On account of the fact that the audience would not learn about any hidden abilities she has prior to their introduction, I felt it pertinent to mention one of my favorite things about including this character.

She sings a capella.

Because the Puritans didn't have instruments in their churches? And she (currently) abides by all of the expectations of a Puritan? Whereas Charlotte is breaking more rules than one!

Get it?

I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN. AH.

As I tried to think about how I'd introduce her another vision came into view. Charlotte's supposed to be a teenager during the majority of the movie, so what if I showed her towards the end of the song as the actress my audience will be seeing for the duration of the film? This way I can introduce more of the common dialect and the development of character that brings her to where she is at the beginning of this story.

Then the panic sets in.

WHO DO I KNOW THAT HAS SOMEONE WHO LOOKS LIKE A YOUNGER VERSION OF THEM.

That's when it hit me.

WHITNEY RIBNICK.

In summary, I have a younger sister who looks a heck of a lot like me. She's also a theatre gal, so I figured I'd ask her if she was down to be in my film. In short, five minutes later she was trying on Charlotte's dress (which fit perfectly, I might add) as my feet did a happy dance around my carpeted floor.

I then made a quick announcement to my theatre class asking about who might be interested and found an awesome gal who was willing to join my cast!

And so, without further adieu, allow me to introduce the cast of The Blue Boar!

Whitney Ribnick as the younger Charlotte Lilly

Hadley Malbec as Bridget Lilly, Charlotte's Mother

Amanda Ribnick as the older Charlotte Lilly

Thanks for sticking around! Here are some tunes to keep you cheery!

• Welcome to Wonderland from Wonderland
• Sugar, We're Goin Down (Fall Out Boy)
• I Hope I Get It from A Chorus Line

The Power of Walking Your Dog

Ladies and gentlemen, do I have some things to share with you! Firstly, I'd like to open this post by saying I am not the best lyricist. When I was younger I was much better at that part of the creative song writing process, but as I've grown older the cliche sayings in my writing have made it exceedingly difficult to enjoy the writing process. Despite that, as I begin writing this post I feel the need to inform you, dear reader, that I'm doING MY BEST.

Since melodies often float in and out of my head, it was not difficult for my noggin to spew out a random combination of notes and rhythms. I was sitting in my room, fan on low, rabbit begging for attention (did I mention I have a rabbit? yeah, he's wonderful.), when I realized that I needed to get into my character's mindset in order to write something truthful. To do that, I had to decide exactly how I wanted my film to open.

That was the hard part.

I'm a creative person, and like most creative people, as soon as I have one idea, my brain automatically jumps onto another. Because of this, it was hard to decide which idea to settle on, but once I saw the vision I couldn't take it back. The first thing I saw was a younger version of my character, probably around the age of 7 or 8, looking back at the camera and running into a forest. First she would be seen in an establishing shot, her face towards the woods, her back towards the camera. The long shot would establish her as young on account of how short she is, the dress she's in almost swallowing her whole. The camera would then show a close up of her face from the side, looking towards the forest, before switching to a mid shot of the back of her that we saw earlier as she glances back before showing another close up of her face, more visible but her full face not completely seen. This would allow her emotions to be represented clearly, indecision and anxiety evident on her face. During this time there might be a slow zoom into her face. The zoom would stop abruptly as soon as her decision was made, her face determined. The shot would then go back to the side of her face as she looks towards the woods with a small grin on her face before going back to the establishing shot from before as she runs inside.

Below you will find a mini storyboard for this opening sequence, during which you would see credits including the names of the actors in my film and anything else I might elect to include. (PS: This is kinda the first storyboard I myself have created! I know that the next time I do this I have to be less wordy but I worked really hard and it's okay because I will produce a cleaner outline later as this was a 15 minute draft. Also I'm not an artist but we've already covered that.)

I hope that makes my vision clear for you, dear reader! Anyways, it was then that I realized in order to write these lyrics, I needed to be outside of my house. Fortunately for me, it was at that moment that my mom came and asked me to walk the dog. With my trusty phone and it's voice memo application, I set out of my house, pink leash in hand, image in my mind.

Here's the best description I could offer of this experience:

0:10 - 10 seconds in and my dog is walking faster than usual today. No idea why.
0:30 - She has slowed down and the weather is treating me well. I am pleased.
1:20 - Silence.
3:40 - I begin questioning the silence.
5:15 - Still silent and stressed, I dial my poetic pal Jackie's number to ask for assistance.
5:16 - No answer. Brilliant. This is going great.
5:17 to 6:01 - Arguing with myself extremely sarcastically and avoiding another dog walker because I look insane.

Around 7 minutes in, I kinda started recording whatever came to mind. As soon as I relaxed and looked around at the area I was in (which happened to look like a teeny tiny forest), the lyrics just started to flow naturally. While I initially aspired to used mature language in this, I realized that since in the very beginning she's a young girl, I could use my typical song lyric lexicon. Here's what I came up with:

"I can feel it

there’s a pulse inside me

even if I can’t see it

I know it’s there

I can hear it

like a thund’ring drum

and somehow now I’ve come

to embrace it

it calls me

begging to break the dawn

it beckons

me from the road I’m on

and when it calls I struggle to resist

but when the wind rushes past me

my whole world starts to spin

I can’t breathe

but I feel

something real reels me in

something real

pulls me from within"

So yeah, that's what I've got so far. It only took me about two hours of walking aimlessly to figure it out but I didn't mind because I actually enjoyed it. After that I sat at my laptop for a total of four hours and seventeen minutes in an attempt to translate what I wrote into sheet music and add the instruments I wanted to hear. This is what I've got thus far! Also, I figured out how to embed a slideshow into my blog post! This way, I was able to transfer all of the images of my sheet music into a slideshow and make it a lot easier for you, dear reader. This is especially helpful at this particular moment in time because I currently have 12 pages of sheet music. While this may not sound like a lot, first, it took me multiple hours, and second, you do not want to scroll through that.

This is the video I used to guide this process! PS: I elected to have my width set at 500 for the purpose of fitting into my blog post's width. Works great for Google Blogger!

Anyways, here's my sheet music and the tune itself! You may notice a few changes in lyrics as I had to fit the rhythms I wanted in. The guitar represents the voice of Charlotte :)

In my upcoming posts I'll talk more in depth about the decisions I made and why I decided to do certain things, but that is a tale for another time.

See y'all later!

How to insert a slideshow of photos into your blog post. (2014, July 04). Retrieved March 23, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bH4jCdcfqyc

Tampa = Inspiration Land

Howdy y'all.

Okay, so for the last few days (Wednesday - Sunday morning) I was in Tampa for the State Thespian Festival, which is basically a combination of a competition and theatre workshops. During this time I performed the piece I brought, a large group musical number called, "The Claws That Catch" from Through the Looking Glass. Not only did I perform in Ballroom A, which is where large group musicals always perform for the judges, but our piece was given the honor of representing our district at the state level, so we got to perform on the incredible Morsani stage at the Straz Center. As the musical follows the sequel to "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," the song is guided by the infamous Queen of Hearts as she calls for the creation of an evil creature known as "the Jabberwocky." For our take on the song, we decided that the Queen forced her card soldiers into becoming the beast itself, which you can see right down below. (Don't worry! I got their permission to post this! I'm in the last duo that gets up at the beginning of the number on the right hand side.)

It's been one heck of a time.

While it's lovely for me to share this information, one might ask, "Why are you telling me?"

Well, aside from the fact that I'm lowkey highkey deliriously tired and slightly incoherent, I was inspired by a series of pieces and ideas that came to mind while I was sitting in various rooms and attending whatever workshop I could scooter to quick enough. After thinking deeply about my film opening (I was deeply asleep during the nap I took before starting this post), I've decided that my film opening is based solely on introducing Charlotte. With the opening I aspire to establish the difference in her relationship to the people in Salem Village and the natural environment she is innately drawn towards.

While we already knew that the musical "Carrie" is one of my greatest sources on inspiration for my film, after performing my large group musical piece a series of times I recognized a few aspects of the music and style that I'd like to implement into my own opening. As you may have guessed because of the fact that my opening is focused on Charlotte, the opening number is most likely going to be a solo. This helps not only with time management but also with scheduling and whatnot, it's always easier to work with smaller amounts of actors than larger. Anywho, my large group musical piece is tied to "The Jabberwocky," a poem written by Lewis Carroll in 1871 in his novel "Through the Looking Glass" about killing a beast. Although the song is about bringing the beast to life, both the song and the poem open the same way,

"Twas brillig, and the slithy toves 

      Did gyre and gimble in the wabe: 

All mimsy were the borogoves, 

      And the mome raths outgrabe."

While I don't intend to utilize a poem in my song, I do think it would be wise for me to look into how people spoke in Salem during the Trials. I plan to make the language modern, yes, similar to how Pasek & Paul did in "The Greatest Showman," but I aspire to include vocabulary that was a part of the common vernacular, like Lin-Manuel Miranda does in "Hamilton."

Another part of the performance that I feel I could pull inspiration from is how we break out of our characters throughout the process of the song. The first instance of this happening is towards the end of the little scene between the Queen (played by Daniela Machado) and King (played by Gianni Palermo). If you can see the card soldiers faces, you might notice how the smiles or expressions they wear look uncomfortable and forced before they begin to break out of their plastic expressions, all of them reaching out for something in the distance. Regardless of whether they were reaching for help or because they felt as though their time to mold together was approaching, the contrast between what is seen on the outside and what is portrayed when they lose control is what I'm the most interested in. Like the card soldiers, Charlotte begins her story as just another face in the crowd, afraid to stick out (as seen with the lyrics "it hides in shadows waiting for its pretty prey" in the video) and forced to follow the crowd when eyes are on her. Although Charlotte will not be going through a demonic transformation in my film opening, I hope to showcase the difference in her character when she is with people and when she is without.

Anywho, stay tuned for an exciting week of updates! I'll be posting images of my costume for Lottie in the next post!

Carroll, L. (n.d.). Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll. Retrieved March 18, 2018, from https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/42916/jabberwocky

Jabberwocky. (2018, March 17). Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jabberwocky

R. (2013, August 16). Through the Looking Glass - THE CLAWS THAT CATCH. Retrieved March 17, 2018, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFsGeH2KB-o

Top 100 Vocabulary Words That Adults Should Know. (2011, August 23). Retrieved March 18, 2018, from https://drdianehamilton.wordpress.com/2011/07/22/top-100-vocabulary-words-that-adults-should-know/

Score? Score!

Here's a glimpse at a score concept I created today! It's really more of testing out how certain instruments sound together and the tone I aspire to convey, but progress is progress! Here's a copy of my work typed up for your viewing pleasure.

While the tune may appear only slightly ominous, the major chords pleasant to listen to, there is a purpose behind this. This concept would be for a scene that shows Charlotte alone, walking. Much like the character of Hester Prynne in "The Scarlet Letter" as well as how Bridget Bishop, the first "witch" to be hanged, carried herself, Charlotte is young, naive, and fearless. I have yet to decide whether or not she is actually a witch. Regardless of that, it's possible that information would be held back from you, dear reader. I've got to keep you interested in my film opening in one way or another!

Also, I've figured out how to make my music heard! Thanks to this heckin' niffy page, I'm now able to share all of my tunes with you as they are created.


Like I said, she's a work in progress. Despite that, I hope that the concept I created was clear. The repetition of the harp's three descending notes sets steady pace and avoids being too intense, the tenderness of the harp meant to allude to peace and tranquility despite the quickness of the notes. In my mind, this excerpt depicts Charlotte on her own, somewhere away from the chaos of Salem. The first set of images that came to my mind was that where Charlotte would be shown with a series of quickly transitioning shots in the forest that she might be running through. Much like Hester Prynne did in "The Scarlet Letter," I visualized Charlotte vying to escape reality even if just for a moment. The edits would be quick and filtered with images of nature to illuminate Charlotte's connection to the natural world, the first indication that she may not be like those in her village which would be shown surrounding her as she leaves for the forest, automatically establishing how she views the town and her life there as secondary to what the natural world has to offer her.

Also, to share some of my inspirations for the selection you just listened to, I was listening to composer Ryan Scott Oliver's "Cut You a Piece" from "35mm: A Musical Exhibition" when I decided to partake in one of my favorite hobbies, trying to transcribe what I here into what I see. When I was working on my transcription, I noticed that what I loved so much about the piece was it's repetitive melody line. As I continued to work on it I developed a pattern: listening, focusing on one line/instrument, writing down what I could recall, checking, and continuing. This is similar to how I created my melody, starting with repetition of a melody line. I elected not to include the same march-like rhythm of the drum because Charlotte's character doesn't abide to a drum, she's a free spirit. I also wanted to establish serenity, which is why I didn't choose to have a drum pushing her onward. This is her time to be herself, nothing tying her back. The quick pacing of the piece is meant to express joy and excitement, the trio of notes played by the harp deeping in the ninth measure to allude to her slowing down, the piece ending in a pleasant major chord in order to suggest that the journey has been completed, she has reached her destination and is pleased.

Witte, D. (1970, January 01). Mr. Witte's Music Tech Blog. Retrieved March 18, 2018, from http://mrwitte.blogspot.com/2015/03/embedding-music-and-videos-from-google.html

The Blue Boar & Miss Charlotte

After careful consideration (and a full four hours of sleep), I've finally settled on one specific film plot. As I stated in my blog post, "The Sub-Genre Search Begins," "my movie will definitely include a strong female character." What I didn't know at that point in time was who she was or what her purpose would be in my story. I also did not know that I'd be producing a historical film, which meant I'd have an array of characters to choose from when selecting who I want to appear in my film opening.

While I'm completely familiar with the characters who drove the plot of Arthur Miller's 1953 play, "The Crucible," which tells an exaggerated and somewhat fictionalized version of the Salem Witch Trials, I aspire to shed light on different characters in order to bring a new story to the screen. I often find that in the present day, musicals' storylines are being taken from movies and books more and more often. I won't deny that I love musicals like "Legally Blonde" (taken from film) and "Dear Evan Hansen" (taken from a novel), but there's something to be said for the inspiring genius of musicals like "In the Heights," "Rent," and, of course, "Wicked." Taking inspiration from "The Crucible," I plan to utilize a similar combination of fiction and truth.

As I was scanning over the timeline mentioned in my blog post, "What a Witch," I read about a woman who escaped from prison. After she was tried and found guilty in the beginning September of 1692 (September 9th, according to the Wikipedia page linked above), she managed to break out in less than a month and avoid being hanged (September 22nd). This woman's name was Mary Bradbury.

Instantly I was smitten with the idea of using her as my main character. I decided to dig into her character more as after reading through a few fictional novels on the trials as a child and scanning an overview of "The Crucible," I never saw her name. In her Wikipedia page, it is stated,

"Witnesses testified that she assumed animal forms; her most unusual metamorphosis was said to have been that of a blue boar... Through the ongoing efforts of her friends, her execution was delayed. After the witch debacle had passed, she was released. By some accounts she was allowed to escape. Others claim she bribed her jailer."

A BLUE BOAR.

WHAT.

As there is no possible way to truly confirm nor deny how Mrs. Bradbury managed to get out of her cage, I thought "there's no reason I couldn't use this concept for my opening!" There happens to be one small problem, though. Her age. She was baptized in 1615, meaning that she was around the age of 77 when this happened. Unfortunately, this goes directly against my vision of a young woman on trial.

Because I can't give up the stunning image of the blue boar that now resides on the insides of my eyelids, I've decided to use her story as inspiration for my own fictional character. As I would like my character to be a teenager, I decided to research the most popular names for female children during the 1600s. After finding a few names that I liked, I decided to research their meanings on this website and found that I really liked the meaning behind the name, Charlotte, which means free woman. I want my main character to be completely immersed in the natural world. She abides by Puritan and societal expectation but, just like the creator John Calvin feared, she defies it in secret. She does not intend to be a rebel, it's simply in her nature to immerse herself in the natural world in every way possible.

The title for my film is currently undecided, but I must admit that calling in "The Blue Boar" is the first decent idea (in my personal extremely educated and profoundly professional opinion) that I've had thus far. According to Wikipedia, boars symbolize "toughness and courage." After reading this, I had to cross check it with another reference, so I found this webpage which said, "[boars] symbolise courage and ferocity in many cultures."

Here's a little (and by little I mean this took 3 hours because I am not an artist) doodle of how I see Charlotte in my head. The inspiration for her appearance and attire came from the images next to her, both of which coming from movies based in the Puritan time period.

The images underneath were taken from the film "The Witch," which takes place during the Witch Trials themselves. As you can see in both images, the girl's hair is tied back by a headpiece. they also have very light makeup (this is the film world, after all) and no jewlery, which makes sense as Puritans didn't believe in the value of worldly possessions. Their outfits are also layered and long, women always shown in dresses or with a long skirt, their chest covered by another layer underneath their visible top. The colors are very modest and plainative, nothing ostentatious. Because of this, my sketch has a plain face, her hair swept back. As you may have noticed, a few strands of her hair are falling out of her bun, intentionally highlighting how while she may appear Puritan enough to fit in with a crowd, she could never entirely follow what they preach. The fact that she has visible freckles as well highlights how she spends much of her time outside, an indication of

The real question to address is whether or not my leading lady possesses actual abilities...

Guess you'll have to check out my outcoming posts to find out!

• A Little Bit (Alex Brightman) from "I Could Use a Drink"
• You, Me, The Sea (Ethan Slater)
• Million Reasons (Lady Gaga)

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Sommers-Dawes, K. (2016, February 22). 10 moments from 'The Witch' that will make you clutch your face in horror. Retrieved March 13, 2018, from https://mashable.com/2016/02/22/what-happened-in-the-witch/#7akJ92Gyomq0

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Val, M. (2016, February 16). Video of The Witch talks about how it was to recreate the seventeenth century. Retrieved March 14, 2018, from https://jovemnerd.com.br/nerdbunker/video-de-a-bruxa-fala-sobre-como-foi-recriar-o-seculo-xvii/

Wild boar. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2018, from https://treesforlife.org.uk/forest/mythology-folklore/wild-boar2/