Quick changes

  To fully demonstrate that Andrea, the main character, is suffering in silence, I decided to incorporate a scene where Andrea's mother, Maria Victoria, lets her know that she will be leaving for the night, and that her dinner is in the fridge. This allows the viewers to fully understand that no one knows she is suffering, which is what happens with most bullying victims. 

It is very common for bullying victims to suffer in silence because they are often ashamed of feeling how they feel or embarrassed for being treated the way they are. Other victims are afraid of speaking about being bullied because they are concerned no one would believe them, seeing as though some parents have never experienced what it was to be bullied, or don't believe that words could hurt someone so much. Many victims also feel like they deserve what they are feeling, thinking they are truly what they are being said to be. 

Parents aren't usually told by their children that they are suffering, which is why it is important to see the warning signs that indicate that a child could be being bullied. As a parent, it is important to listen to your child and pay attention to any of their friends you haven't see around much anymore. When bullying is happening, victims experience being called names and getting embarrassed, but they also experience their "friends" choosing sides and choosing to leave the victim by themselves. It is also very important to watch their moods and grades. Bullying victims could be anxious and withdrawn, and can seem sad, moody and depressed after school or after being online. Kids who are being bullied also struggle keeping their grades up and find it difficult to concentrate on school work. 

Target Audience

My film will be unique. It will illustrate the outcomes of bullying on the young minds and the effects of a suicide by bullying on the family of the victims. It's a sad but true story which involves a spoiled teenager who loves a guy that, unfortunately, loves someone else. Since the spoiled teenager did not get who she wanted, she was angry and decided to release her anger on the innocent girl who the guy liked. The story of a sweet girl who chooses to end her life due to the words being said to and about her, leaving her family to grief and desperation.

The targeted audience for my movie will be a mixed gender of people ages 11-45 because my movie will illustrate not only what young kids have to go through, but also how most adults don't even know something is wrong. 

Music Always Helps

Music does a pretty good job establishing the mood and theme of movies. Music allows the audience to feel the mood of the film as they watch what is happening, and can create the tension, drama, or suspense necessary for the audience to understand the theme of the movie. Below is a link to the audio I will be using for the first scene of the film, the suicide scene.

 Sense of Loss

This track represents exactly the mood I am trying to achieve from the first scene. The music will be diegetic because it will be playing from the record player Andrea will have on, and it will play during the entire first scene. The music will get louder as the black screen approaches, and will come to a stop once "3 Months Earlier" appears on the screen. I believe this audio will help the viewer understand the mood of the scene, and ultimately the movie.

Filiming process

After many tries of doing the first scene, I decided that it was best to do it once it was dark outside because it is too bright for the lighting I want to achieve, so I filmed the second scene of the movie. Since the color blue represents melancholy and isolation, Andrea is wearing a blue jacket and carrying books from the library. After introducing Andrea  three months prior to her suicide, we see Albany staring her down and shoving her while saying mean things to her. I wanted to include this because Albany's attitude and actions towards Andrea is what ultimately drives Andrea to believe that she is not worthy of living anymore.
  At the end of the scene, Andrea can be seen walking away from the encounter with her head low and fast footsteps because she was embarrased and hurt from what had just happened.

Detail Thinking

While producing movies, it is always important to plan every single detail, whether or not the audience will notice them is another story. I have been concentrating on the details such as lighting, mise-en-scene and music because those details are an important part in helping set up the theme of the story.

For the first scene, I decided to include a two-point lighting, one of which will be a candle that will appear on the screen. I will use low key lighting will to create a sense of drama and unease, and will include the candle to demonstrate that there is not that much light in the characters' life. I will also include a sad song that will be a diegetic song because it will be the song the character is listening to while writing her goodbye letter. I want the viewers to interpret the character's emotions without the character having to say what she is feeling, which is why lighting, mise-en-scene, and music/sounds are very important in producing a movie.
For the second scene, I want to include the main character carrying books she had to return to the library because it helps establish her character and what she does on her free time. I had thought about filming this scene once the sun was set, but I decided not to because I want to show the viewers that bullying can happen whenever, wherever. I had a hard time trying to figure out what Albany (the bully) would say to Andrea as she tried to make her feel bad about herself, when I decided to include Andrea with her bag full of books and knew it had to be something relating to books. Bullies can make someone feel worthless, humiliated, saddened, etc. and will not realize how badly they are hurting someone, that is why I decided to include Albany saying "What a pity you're wasting your time studying so much when you're going nowhere in life... HAHAHA," and walking away laughing as Andrea picks up her books from the floor, again humiliated by Albany.
Lastly, I am trying to find the perfect song that could match with the emotions being showed and inferred during the first scene. It is very hard finding the perfect song, but these options cut close. Just from the song, I want to the viewer to feel what Andrea was feeling, and acknowledge what she will do. I also want to include a song as Andrea and Albany walk down the street, but the right song is still being searched for.

Words CAN hurt like sticks and stones

Along members from other teams, I was able to set the title for the movie. Sticks and Stones was mentioned as being related to bullying victims urging each other to stay strong, that words can not bring them down. I decided to make this the title to my movie because my movie highlights the fact that words can, indeed, bring people down, sometimes to the point where they cannot come back up. 
Sticks and stones originates from the rhyme "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me." Although many people are strong enough to not let words affect them,, not everyone is like that. Nearly 21% (1/5 students) report being bullied, 59% of students report to being cyber-bullied.  Approximately 18% of teens report self-harming, impacting 1/4 girls and 1/10 boys, and about 1 in every 20 teens commit suicide. Suicide attempts have almost doubled since 2008 and it is now the 2nd leading cause of death for people ages 10-34. 
Even if words do not hurt as much, or do not drive a person to commit suicide, bullying and cyber-bullying victims are at a higher risk of low self-esteem, depression, anxiety, family problems, academic difficulties, delinquency, school violence and suicide attempts. 

Ana Cubedu, Sydney Surico, Jessica Briceno, Oliver Sulla, Robert Trela

Statistics gotten from : https://meganmeierfoundation.org/statistics

Shots and Angles

  Thinking ahead for my movie, planning the various shots that will make the movie in advance is an effective way to create the right shots and scenes. 

For the first minute of the movie, I decided to establish the setting in which the main character, Andrea, will take her life. The shot will pan through the dark room where a pill bottle will stand in the night stand. The scene will continue to a close up to Andrea's crying eyes to establish her emotions at that moment. A slow zoom to the letter will detail her emotions further, where she will be finishing the sentence "I can't do this anymore." A tilt up from the letter to Andrea's face followed by a pan, following Andrea's eyes, to the pill bottle on her night stand to establish what she will do..

  The movie will transition to the past by a black screen captioned "Three Months Earlier." A long shot of Andrea walking from her job to her house, carrying books in her bag followed by a mid-shot of Albany walking down the street. A two shot will establish their relationship, which will include Albany elbowing Andrea, making her bag and books to fall on the ground. Albany will then take this opportunity to make a rude remark at Andrea, making her stumble further.