Visual Metaphor Proposal

1.   Project Title: ME / me

2. Team Members:

   Isabel Yang, Crystal Zhang, Eva He

3. Concept | Storyline:

       1). Who are you going to interview? Or What is the piece (article, poem, story) for the narrative voice over?  

We base our narrative on our personal experiences.

       2). What’s the story about?  

The story is about the internal conflict behind the glorious appearance that the character creates to foul others. The entire story will be a first-person narrative of different characters – switching between the protagonist and the people around her. 

We planned to shoot our project in five scenes:

1. The protagonist at home – the internal conflict of getting up and the unpleasant life situation (black and white, without stabilizer, low resolution, lose focus, overhead shot)

Place metaphoric items into bag

*Extreme Close Up on the protagonist’s facial expression (eyebrow and mouth)

2. The acquaintance in the library – Sees the protagonist as a vibrant and optimistic character with the protagonist in bright-colored clothing (colorful, stable, low angle shot). Transition: bright pink pen as part of the time stamp and shown throughout the interaction scene. (9:00)

3. Interaction with a teacher – Conversation mentioning the protagonist is a good student and has a scholarship. The vanity. A diverse character with many hobbies the protagonist is good at (cut montage shots of character singing, playing piano, playing frisbee, etc). Transition: stickers on the laptop as the background of timestamp and leads to a montage of characters’ hobbies

4. Conversation with the best friend – talk about the internal conflict, and friend show understanding (intensify the guilt of the protagonist). Transition: friendship bracelets as a symbol of close gap (0:00)

Place metaphoric items into bag

5. Back to bed – back to a more intense internal conflict (black and white, a sense of alienation, lose focus, overhead shot)

Here is our character list:

• Protagonist  – Crystal
• The acquaintance in the library – still deciding (Owen?)
• The teacher – still deciding 
• The friend – Isabel

       3). Which part of the story are you going to focus on? 

We want to focus on an extensive presentation of contrasts:

•   First-person perspective of other people when approaching the protagonist vs. the first-person perspective of the protagonist’s herself
•   The pursuit of adore from other people vs. the self-consciousness
•   The protagonist at home vs. the one outside

       4). What kind of style/aesthetics are you going to pursue?

      We want to enhance the contrast through color correcting on the different perspectives – monochrome during the protagonist’s monologue, and colorful in other people’s narratives. The color and style of the protagonist’s clothing are going to represent the persona that other people see.

IV. Execution Plan: 

       1). What equipment are you going to use when shooting the movie? (cell phone, DSLR camera, sound recorder, stabilizer..)

We are going to use the camera, stabilizer, sound recorder.

       2). Which locations will it be shot at? When is it? Day time/night/unknown? Why?

We are going to shoot it mostly during the day. We are going to shoot most of the scenes at either of our homes. The scene where the protagonist interacts with the acquaintance will be shot in a library (not the one in NYU Shanghai).

       3). What are some challenges you might encounter and how will you prepare?

Since our project will largely focus on the emotional changes of the protagonist, we might not be able to deliver the emotions effectively. The transitions between each scene talking about the interactions between the protagonist and other characters might not be as smooth as desired. The contrast that we hope to create might also be not as clear and impactful. Thus, we will prepare the solutions while designing the screens in storyboard drafts. We will also take more shots from different angles to explore the best way of expression.

       4). How will you collaborate? How will you divide work? (Gantt Chart)

      Currently, we planned that Crystal will perform as the protagonist, Isabel will perform as the best friend character, Eva will perform as the teacher character, and Eva will mostly take on the cameramen role. To avoid the distinctions in styles of editing, we plan to have Crystal and Isabel edit the footage together.

Task	Owner	Location	Start Date	Due Date	Duration	PCT of Task Complete
Starting Date			11.19
Storyboard  First Draft Design	C & I		11.19	11.22	4 days
Storyboard Drawing	C		11.22	11.22	1 day
1st round capturing footage (scene 1 & 4 & 5)	C & I & E	Crystal’s home	11.23	11.23	1 day
2nd round capturing footage (scene 2 & 3)	C & I & E	Pudong Library	11.26	11.26	1 day
Audio script	I		11.25	11.25	1 day
Recorded audio	C & I & E		11.25	11.29	5 days
Half-way of first draft edit (class revision)	C & I		11.23	12.1	9 days
First Draft Edit	C & I		11.23	12.4
Second Draft Edit & Further Refinement	C & I		12.4	12.8	4 days
Final Deadline				12.8

V.   Storyboard Draft