Possible Final Idea

I have thoroughly been reconsidering my idea and have decided that the story will no longer be of an exaggerated, fictional world but an actual telling of a fictional story that occurred during the ban. Like my previous project, I want to focus on the power of art and how it could influence movements.

MY CHARACTER: An Iraqi young artist newly arrives in Miami. A focus of the beginning of the film will be his loneliness: he is surprised and awed by everything he encounters. Despite living in a beautiful setting, he is still alone and lost.

THEN, the ban is instituted and he is separated from his family. His family can no longer follow him to the United States: this will be shown through attempts at contacting them (a focus on social media).

HIS REBELLION: The character begins an art reform movement. He begins to draw various visuals of what he has encountered back home: his drawings elicit a humanitarian cry for help. His art will then be posted on a database where everyone can contribute. Slowly, people begin contributing and his reform movement grows. He protests heavily and meets with individuals who are willing to share their art. A specific scene I want to include is him mailing a package of all of the reform art to the White House, where a man (in another clip, representing the White House) is shown to be burning the art, which clearly details the troubles and poverty of the Middle Eastern people. When the ban becomes exempt for Iraqis, my character still continues to fight. "We will not fail" But the real question is: does this work? Does it prevail? How far will he go? How worse is it going to become?

MESSAGE: I initially wanted my message to be of "this could become much worse", equating it to fascism; yet, the message of resistance through art, in my opinion, is stronger and more feasible for me. The extreme measures of the ban (like a concentration camp or an underground illegal system against Arabs) is too controversial and unappealing to market. Yet, showing a relentless resistance of the people against an incredibly strong government sends a similar message: it does not guarantee freedom and liberty. The whole purpose of this film is to narrate specifically my character's intense journey through resistance and a main purpose of retrieving his family. Yet, as it progresses, the campaign grows into him: his courage and drive is especially revealed when he still continues to fight when the ban is exempt from Iraq. This story is an empathetic story detailing the hardships someone undergoes because of the ban and a separation between loved ones that sparks a movement within him. The best art movement is created as a reception and criticism to an ongoing issue.

Revision

I have been stuck on my idea, so I talked to my mother. She is an Iraqi woman who has lived through several wars and has strong sentiments against the ban; so I wanted to know: what would be the best way to portray this?

First, she wanted me to focus on it religiously, through depicting Muslims stuck in the airport and their union as they pray and socialize. I decided that it would be hard for me to find a numerous amount of actors and drive all the way to the airport several times; besides, it just doesn't work for my message. It's not only Muslims who are being targeted: it is the Arab population, which has recently been reinforced by Trump's second executive order.

The New York Times article details how the new order bans specifically countries, and how the administration has stressed that it is not against Muslims only. Whether this is true or not is arguable; however, de juro, it is a ban against all Arabs, and that is the message I want to provide.

My mother advised me to portray my character as lonely in Miami and astounded of all the grand beauty that he sees. She specifically wanted a scene where my character looks up and hears the sound of birds, as opposed to what is usually heard in Iraq: explosions and emergency vehicle sirens. She stressed a comparison between his life here and his life in Iraq, but I'm not sure if I can portray this properly, since I am not visiting Iraq anytime soon and cannot get any footage of extreme events.

Yet, I want to foreshadow a comparison. This character has arrived in Miami where safety is promised, yet this becomes misleading. The ban separates him from his family and he is left alone: is his life actually better? When he lives in a country plagued with discrimination?

I will elaborate on this idea further.

Teaser vs Trailer

I have conflict with my idea. I'm not sure of what to show and film after introducing the main conflict of the film: the government laws. I've already explained the progression of the discrimination from mild to severe, yet I still do not know how to showcase the severe discrimination. To help me with this, I am considering the difference between my two trailers. First, I wanted one of the trailer to focus on the main character's life before the conflict began while foreshadowing what is about to happen, and in the second trailer, the events of post-conflict are narrated. Yet, I've decided that this is not a smart decision: with my specific film idea, the events need to be fully shown in one trailer.
So? I am looking at teaser trailers. I compared the teaser trailer of the film Allied with the actual trailer:

The teaser trailer only shows the highlights of the film without actually explaining what the film is about. It shows elements of the romance and the thriller, yet it does not paint a clear image of the plot. Also, many shots present within the teaser trailer will be repeated in the official trailer.

The official trailer narrates the plot perfectly and introduces the conflict. It borrows heavily from the teaser (since the teaser is released first), as seen above with the two identical shots. Thus, I have come to the conclusion that it is acceptable to use repeated shots in both trailers, and this will ease the process for me since the filming of the exaggerated detainment will consist of specific close ups (as not to reveal the amateur background). I am wary of repeating too much, however: for the shots that I will borrow from the teaser, I will make them more fast paced in the official. 

Drama Trailers

I have been researching various trailers and focusing on trailer conventions for the genre drama.

First of all, the American Beauty trailer was fairly bad. It was neither informative nor clear: what is the movie about? Who does it center around? The trailer throws in every possible character that appears and every side storyline that it actually makes the film look less interesting and appealing.

Despite 12 Years a Slave being a historical drama film, the trailer is representative of the storyline and characters. The trailer moves chronologically and utilizes a voiceover of the main character, Solomon, explaining what had happened to him. The trailer also adds music to fit the tempo of the events being portrayed: this heavily contributes to the emotional aspect of the film. One can predict that the film centers around emotionally intensive events with an especially powerful song that is sung collectively by the slaves and a quick shot focusing on Solomon singing it with a painfully hurt face. The trailer builds up to a climax that reveals the purpose of the film: that Solomon will not surrender. This is shown with climatic music and faster cuts of shots shown. 

This trailer is the best out of all three. It starts with establishing the setting and the main character's (Stephen Hawking) personal life: cementing the romantic love from the beginning. Then, the trailer moves on to the bigger challenges and achievements done by Stephen: his excellence as a scientist and his crippling disorder. The middle of the trailer introduces the main conflict: Stephen's disorder, while the second half of the trailer shows Stephen's life battling the disorder. This chronological, organized pacing gives a satisfying feel of the film and makes it look extremely appealing. The beginning of the trailer is progressed by the narration of Stephen's lines that he says throughout the movie (not a voiceover). As the trailer moves onto bigger ideas, other characters' lines are added, as well as a black screen offering short explanations. The trailer sticks to the actual film and represents it fairly: it's a good model!

Today I did well on my research and broadened my understanding of the conventions of the drama film. I'm looking forward to more!!

New Idea!

This past Saturday, I walked the lovely grounds of Vizcaya Museum & Gardens and was immediately inspired by the beautiful scenery and the natural layout of the gardens. Naturally, I began formulating ideas for my hypothetical film (that I am going to create trailers for).

First of all, I had a vision of a tourist exploring the beauty and culture of Miami. I pictured filming in Vizcaya, Wynwood Walls, and Bayside: a livelihood that cannot be found in another city. But then my ideas grew murky and transformed into an underlying political statement. As an individual who has been a direct victim of the ban executive order of President 45, I revolved the main message of my film around that, and voila! An idea!

An Arab has been granted a visa to the United States and moves to South Florida for their residency. The clips will focus on the Arab circulating Miami with beautiful, artistic scenery and a positive environment. This could include filming in a combination of the areas suggested above. Suddenly, the government releases a series of laws against Arabs (including a ban), and the character will experience intense discrimination. There is a progression of the discrimination, from the character not being allowed certain places and not being allowed to work to a shocking, hidden detainment: internment camps? The message of this piece is essential: the events occurring must be acknowledged as dangerous and threatening: they CAN expand into planned, systematic relocations.

Another inspiration for my idea was an article by New York Times that narrated couples and families being separated from each other in different countries due to the ban. Initially, my idea was to focus on the main character's separation from their loved ones and inability to reunite; however, it has extended to a hyperbolic political statement. I am unsure of whether to keep it that way; yet, I am still molding and advancing my idea.

Pilot

This is the official blog for my AICE Media A Level film trailer project. To visit my AS level blog, click here.