I put together a short stop motion to display the process of putting together Lily's journal prop using DJI editing software. Enjoy!
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
Monday, February 24, 2025
Music & Audio
Hey again, Cambridge! Today's focus for the blog is what on Earth I'm going to do when it comes to music and audio. The music in a movie is such an underestimated tool to create the mood desired for a scene, and most people don't realize how much consideration goes into it. I know I want the music in the background of my opening to be classical music to make clear the time period in which I want my opening to take place. The only thing I don't know is how to find the right piece.
I'm aware of all the copyright-free music out there that I could easily use, but they're usually not very well made. I am also aware that if I want to use anything else, I have to obtain written approval to use a song. THAT would be even more difficult. My plan is to just find a song I want and then I'll figure out if I need permission (and how to get it).
First thing I did was simply search for "classical music to use in my own film." I then came across this website where you can pay to use artist's songs and get the rights to use it immediately instead of having to wait for a written reply.
I thought I just stumbled across the greatest thing ever. The solution to all my problems! Then, I checked the pricing.
However, I subsequently found out about the public domain. The public domain is music that is no longer protected by copyright. As in the owner or creator of the music has been dead for a very, very long time. You know what kind of musicians have been dead for a very, very long time? Ones who made classical music. Jackpot!
Songs I liked most as options:
- Debussy-Arabesque No. 1
- Sibelius-Andante Festivo
- Consolations, S. 172: No. 3, Lento placido
Saturday, February 22, 2025
Preparing Props
In my movie opening, I'll be filming with 4 key props: the journal, the feather pen, the noose, and the earring. I have to figure out how to arrange and make these props realistic and accurate by their wear and look.
Prop #1: Lily's Journal
In the 19th century, journals were hardly seen wrapped in paper but instead in materials like leather or wool. This was because most people carried their journals with them to many places, and their covers had to be durable and long-lasting since they weren't just sitting pretty on a shelf for eternity. I would also like for Lily's journal to have a kind of strap to close it shut for her to be able to tuck her feather pen into. Since she actually needs to write in the journal and it can't just be a prop to look at on the outside, I'd have to actually purchase one. I don't have much of a budget, though, so the next best choice is to find something cheap and inaccurate but film from angles where it looks fitting for Lily. Also, the wool journals I've looked into have ranged $10-$30, while the leather ones ranged $20-$50, so there's clearly a better option here.
Prop #2: Her Quill Pen
Prop #3: Rose's Noose
Prop #4: Rose's Earring
Final Note:
Fabric Snap Closure Lined Journal Gray - Gartner Studios: Lay-Flat Ruled Notebook, 120 Pages, Flexible Cover, Teen & Adult. (2020). Target.com. https://www.target.com/p/fabric-snap-closure-lined-journal-gray-gartner-studios/-/A-54158639#lnk=sametab
Konig, D. T. (2020, January 16). The Deliberate Knot - Common Reader. Common Reader. https://commonreader.wustl.edu/c/the-deliberate-knot/
Leavey, T. C. (2020). 19th Century (1800s) paper and journals. Ushist.com. https://www.ushist.com/props/writing-equipment_paper-journals.shtml
Quill – Facts and History of Quill Pen. (2024). Historyofpencils.com. https://www.historyofpencils.com/writing-instruments-history/history-of-quill-pens/
Redirect Notice. (2025). Google.com. https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FTraveler-Vintage-Handmade-Notebook-Himalayas%2Fdp%2FB01MTJ24JR&psig=AOvVaw36cnAAYg4BhU_sulRBvzvp&ust=1740417028357000&source=images&cd=vfe&opi=89978449&ved=0CBQQjRxqFwoTCPDSruqk2osDFQAAAAAdAAAAABAE
Wilson, A. (2023, March 16). The History of Pens. Executive Pens Direct. https://www.executivepensdirect.com/en-us/blogs/help-advice/the-history-of-pens
Friday, February 21, 2025
Set Possibilities
I know I want it to be set in a park/field setting with lots of trees and tall grasses. These are options going from closest to furthest from me!
- Peace Mound Park
This location is great because of the abundance of tall trees. I've previously been there, and, especially when the sun is bright, there's a beautiful shine of light through the treetops. The grass isn't overgrown enough to seem like a beautiful, unknown field, though. Also, I don't think the trees' branches are horizontal enough for someone to hang from them.
2. Regional Park
This park is the absolute perfect for filming because there's plenty of overgrown grass, trees, and a perfect view of the beautiful sky. No notes! Most likely will be my final choice.
3. Markham Park
2. Regional Park
3. Markham Park
When it comes to lighting and trees, it's the exact thing I envision. The way the light shines through the branches would have the perfect reflection when filming. The tall trees provide a dreamy magical forest vibe, which I LOVE.
Thursday, February 20, 2025
The Busch Family
Lily Busch:
Lily Busch is the main character in my story and the twin who goes through it all. A lobotomy is a procedure done to fix disorders of mood, not disorders of thought. For this reason, they're unsuccessful when attempting to get rid of schizophrenia but work for depression and insanity. After witnessing her sister's death, Lily had C-PTSD, or complex PTSD, which is classified as a disorder of mood, and was successful in being "cured" by the lobotomy. This was until she found everything out, but that's beside the point. Lily was always the more put-together of the twins on the outside and always had her hair done nicely, blush on her cheeks, and an ironed dress draped on her body. After being lobotomized, patients often lose a large part of their intellect and aren't capable of forming as intelligent thoughts as they could before. Because of this, Lily's hair was more messy, and her clothes were always a bit more wrinkled after the lobotomy. Overall, she behaves innocently and curiously, similar to a younger version of herself.
Rose Busch:
Rose was the more rebellious of the twins; while her personality was sweet and caring, she was never afraid to stand up for what she thought was right and go against what she believed was wrong. She was always extremely close with her sister and would rarely hide things from Lily. That's why when she found out what she did about her family and couldn't tell Lily for her own good, Rose had no choice but to end it all. She was more rough-looking, as in she would refuse to curl her hair and put pretty bows in it when courting season came around, which, by the way, was her least favorite time of the year.
Ada and Edmund Busch:
Ada Busch is the girls' mom, and she absolutely adores them. Though she didn't come from much, throughout her entire motherhood, she has appreciated them and spoiled them to bits since she never gave birth to a boy and has been shamed for it. Because of this, she has always wanted to raise women of class so that they can marry into an even higher class, and she is just obsessed with learning about anything and everything she can to teach her daughters. She is a very elegant woman, never missing a graceful entrance or canceling a social event for her family. She also spends most nights missing her husband, Edmund, because though they once had a beautiful love, he's been holding a grudge. Edmund Busch came from a very high-class family and went against her family's wishes to marry Ada because he loved her so much. He was never cold or distant until his wife was unable to provide a boy to carry the Busch name. That then became his life's mission to fix, which is where the messed up stuff they did comes in and the reason Rose commits suicide.
Sources:
Ahmed, A. (2016, September 12). 133 Mesmerizing Victorian Baby Names For Girls And Boys. MomJunction. https://www.momjunction.com/articles/victorian-baby-names-for-girls-boys_00408299/
HouseofNames.com. (2000). HouseOfNames. https://www.houseofnames.com/busch-family-crest/english
https://www.howstuffworks.com/about-author.htm. (2008, October 27). How Lobotomies Work. HowStuffWorks. https://science.howstuffworks.com/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/lobotomy2.htm
Mind. (2021, January). What is complex PTSD? Www.mind.org.uk; Mind. https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/types-of-mental-health-problems/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-ptsd-and-complex-ptsd/complex-ptsd/
Waterhouse, E. (2024, August 22). 181 Victorian Girl Names. Nameberry. https://nameberry.com/list/774/victorian-girl-names
Pictures:
Wednesday, February 19, 2025
Summary of Idea & Plot
Following weeks of research, brainstorming, asking for and getting advice, I finally have an accomplishable and clear plan for my movie plot and opening scene. The only aspects I'm missing are the movie's name, and my actress or videographer, but I'm otherwise fully decided on what I want to do.
The general plot of my movie is about a girl in the mid 19th century who witnessed her own twin sister's suicide and started going insane. Because she's of high class though, her family forced her to get lobotomized so that it didn't tarnish the family image. This all happens before the film starts, so the progression of the film itself is her narrative of slowly finding out what her family's been hiding from her but returning to her state of insanity as she finds more out because the lack of memory from the lobotomy makes her also forget how much her family loves her. For this reason, she believes they have the worse intentions in all their actions. The entire film is from her journal's perspective and her own narration of it. Because of this she qualifies as an unreliable narrator, which was exactly my goal.
This psychological period drama's opening scene will play out the following way:
She is laying face up in a beautiful field, looking at the clouds and there is no other sound but the typical ones of a beautiful sunny day. The soft classical music then begins, and she starts speaking what she's writing down in her journal out loud. She's shown laying in the grass writing, and she speaks of her morning, her dull life, and her "naturally flawed" memory. The entire opening consists of her confusion and wanting to know more about the world. We're shown different cuts of her running in the field, flowers, her pen tangled in the grass, leaves, trees with rays of sun shining through, and overall warm, beautiful, light editing. Once her mom calls her to come back inside, she sighs and rolls her eyes but picks up her things and starts walking when she passes a tree. When's she's walking past said tree, the editing becomes darker and gloomier and the music shifts slightly in a negative light. She's looking around when she notices and stops to notice some rope tied around one of the branches and an earring on the grass directly below it reflecting the sunshine. She hears the laughs of two young girls playing near her. Then her mom calls for her again and she immediately starts running towards the house, but the camera stays on the tree and the title is displayed while she's running. The continuation of her moving off stage is going to limit the title from looking like the ending and more like the entrance.
After laying out my plan, I have to decide on a title which I think would have to do with either falling (into madness) or hanging on to something (like noose on a tree branch). Something adorable sounding that will sound completely different after you've watched the movie. Maybe "Falling Through the Rose Bush" and the main character's name could be Lily and her twin was named Rose (both flower names), but that isn't revealed to the very end. Yeah, I think Falling Through the Rose Bush is a perfect title.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025
My Chosen Media Theory
Narrative Codes -Roland Barthes
Hermeneutic or Enigma Code:
Symbolic Code:
Monday, February 17, 2025
Group Meeting #1
Hey Cambridge! Before the long weekend, we had a class where we were put into groups of four and offered/gave advice on each other's movie opening ideas. We went one by one and spoke about what we have so far, ideas we're interested in, and then the other three people gave their tips. I'll touch base on my classmate's ideas, but mainly what I came in with and walked out with.
Pedro:
Oona:
Tiziana:
Sergio:
What I Walked In With
Advice Given To Me
- "Instead of the traumatic event happening at the beginning of the movie, it should happen before the start."
- "To give it a more psychological feeling, maybe the viewer doesn't know what happened until the very end."
- "What if the main character doesn't know until the very end either?"
- "Yeah, like how in The Truman Show he slowly pieces together odd parts of his life until he figures out what's actually going on."
- "You should watch Shutter Island, it's on the topic of lobotomies."
- "Just how in the beginning of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Joel has impulsive actions and finds random things he has no recollection of."
- "I know you said you wanted minimal dialogue, but what about a voice-over? It would help with the whole unreliable narrator thing."
- "Do you know what you want the actual traumatic event to be?"
- "I feel like aimlessly wandering or running in a field would fit the cluelessness."
- "That sounds really good, there could even be different close-ups and eye matches to small things in the grass to show that she's very attentive and innocent since the memory wipe."
What I Walked Out With
Conclusion
Sunday, February 16, 2025
Going Back to the Regency Era
A crucial aspect of any period piece is costume design. I need to analyze color and the costume itself within my main character's costume design.
History
Styles
Trends
Weston Thomas, P. (2009, February 24). Regency Fashion History 1800-1825 | Beautiful Pictures Empire Line Dresses. Fashion-Era. https://fashion-era.com/fashion-history/regency/regency-fashion
Tuesday, February 11, 2025
Interpreting the Schedule
Obvious steps towards the final product:
- Research
- Planning
- Production
- Editing
- Revision
- CCR
Week one (2/9 - 2/15)
- Research
- Costume design
- Music
- Begin setting up
- Storyboard
- Find actress or somebody to film
Week two (2/16 - 2/22)
- End setting up
- Thrift/purchase costume
- Find park to film in
- Schedule filming
- Practice hair design
- Script
- Find music
Week three (2/23 - 3/1)
- Production
- Filming
- Begin (and possibly end) foley
- Begin voice over if decided on
- Editing
- View next week plans
Week four (3/2 - 3/8)
- Editing
- Line up shots to music cues
- Line up foley
- Line up voice over if decided on
- Visual editing (adjust lighting)
Week five (3/9 - 3/15)
- Revision
- Double-triple-check timing, editing gaps, foley overlaps, and length
- Plan a mock analysis on my own opening
- Revise missing items
Week six (3/16 - 3/22)
- CCR
- Plan a smaller research chart on my own opening
- Write reflection
- Compare to examples to edit and improve
Week seven (3/23 - 3/29)
- Free time in case there are challenges or delays along the way
Saturday, February 8, 2025
Looking for My Ideal Credit Sequence
Though in my last blog I mentioned I'd wait to research stylistic and mise-en-scene choices regarding the period I want my opening to take place in, I now realize why waiting so long is a bad idea. Because of this, I will focus this post on the period drama aspect of my opening. My idea for my opening is to use the tragedy convention of psychological dramas, meaning that a tragic event took place before the movie commences and the film consists of the "aftermath" or breaking down of the main character's emotional state. I also liked the idea of an unreliable narrator, so perhaps the trauma can be the stem of their unreliability. Still, I want to keep the contrast aspect of perfect on the outside and odd on the inside. For this reason, I want the credits to develop a pristine, Regency Era type of setting and mood.
In the 1996 film EMMA, the opening credit sequence features the perfect extreme long shot to display the period they're portraying in the movie. The horse-driven carriage and the regal font for the title pair together flawlessly. The carriage moving somewhere as the title is being shown implies that there's more to come and doesn't make putting it at the end of the opening feel conclusional. Instead, it alludes to their next stop and adds a sense of continuation even though the opening itself is ending. The font difference between the original author's name and the title is subtle but makes such a difference. The smaller cursive font makes the all-caps bold title have an even bigger impact by comparison. I like how it develops a familiarity with the protagonist from the beginning.
Friday, February 7, 2025
Film Openings Genre Inspo
Though I want to create a film opening that isn't only a psychological drama but also a period piece, I'm going to dedicate the mood board to doing research for the period elements and the film openings research for psychological dramas. The genre has so many different interpretations, and I wish to find and be inspired by movie openings focusing on unreliable narrators.
Wednesday, February 5, 2025
Investigating Genres
Period pieces are films that strongly hint or revolve around the time period they take place in. Usually staged in late 18th century to early 20th century, social standards or norms of the era are often the spine of these stories. The mise-en-scene in these openings are mostly for the purpose of developing setting and the time period. For instance, sound should be period classical, clothing should be appropriate to time period and financial level of character, lighting should not be electric due to the lack of electricity, and props should replace all electrical and/or digital items.
Psychological pieces are films that dig deep into societal or personal issues. There's six characteristics these could develop plot off of. Unreliable narrators are protagonists whose inner process the audience has a view into during the duration of the film, but their own disorder or miscommunication block anybody from knowing what's genuinely happening at every moment. Feeling watched can create a very confusing and eerie vibe in a film since neither the audience nor the protagonist know if that "gut feeling" is only paranoia or what's going to save their life. The tragedy plotline is when the main character experiences a tragic event, and the film consists of their subsequent emotional fallout. Moral dilemmas are when the character is faced with a decision that challenges all morals and ethics known to them previously. The spiral down the ladder of darker emotions that plague the human psyche that might be worsened by an aggravating circumstance is also another convention that would show the main character's descent into madness. Finally, the epiphany is when the audience and main character come to a puzzle piece realization that makes everything make sense in the end after taking them through a traumatizing and puzzling journey.
References
Lee, M., & Seccombe, C. (2022, August 27). Genre Breakdown: Psychological Fiction. Www.inthemargin.com.au. https://www.inthemargin.com.au/features/genre-breakdown-psychological-fiction
Molly. (2009, September 28). Mise en Scene in the opening of “Pride and Prejudice.” Molly’s Blog. https://mollyclifton.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/mise-en-scene-in-the-opening-of-pride-and-prejudice/
Taylor, E. (2025). See Stunning, Rare Photos of a Young Queen Elizabeth. Hearstapps.com. https://hips.hearstapps.com/hmg-prod/images/the-crown-real-life-queen-elizabeth-2-1514412217.jpg
Truong, P., & Newbould, N. (2023, November 14). See Every Single New and Former “The Crown” Character vs. Their Real-Life Counterpart. Cosmopolitan. https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/g14506480/the-crown-real-life-characters-photos/
Process of Props
I put together a short stop motion to display the process of putting together Lily's journal prop using DJI editing software. Enj...

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Hey Cambridge! Before the long weekend, we had a class where we were put into groups of four and offered/gave advice on each other'...
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Narrative Codes -Roland Barthes Hermeneutic or Enigma Code: When a narrative withholds information to develop mystery or leave a plot point...
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In the One Word Film project, we were instructed to make a one-to-two-minute film showing something that could realistically happen i...