Character Development

Hey there Cambridge!

It is time to get deeper into who Brit Jones (janitor) is!

Name: "Brit Jones" was the first name the popped in my head when naming the janitor. I was thinking, what would be the name of a typical janitor?, and that name just popped up. "Brit" is his nickname given to him by his mother. So, of course, that means Brit needs a legal first name. That leads me to consider the names Brighton, Brett, and Britton. The first one seems too fancy for a lonely janitor and the last sounds like "Britain", which is a common girls name. To correctly distinguish the janitor for who he is, Brett (Brit) Jones is his legal name.

Personality/Background: Brit Jones is around 35 years old. He looks like he is in his late 20s because his body was preserved. His favorite color is sage green, and he is a lonely person. He spends most time as a couch potato watching TV and spending late afternoons and evenings cleaning bathrooms and floors. Brit is an introvert. He does not even hang out with his roommate often and acts like they are not much considered friends, although they get along pretty well. He grew up as an only child with his mother who died when he was 17 years old. It is important to note that Brit Jones is missing a good portion of his memory after he undergone life preservation, which he does not even remember doing. His brainpower is also poor because of this.

To summarize Brit Jones, he is an introverted, lonely custodian living a dull life and is curious about his past.

Development: In the beginning of the film, he is someone who accepts his lonely life and the fact that he doesn't remember his past. Later on, he becomes super curious as to what his past was about takes the opportunity to find out.

Mood board: 

This is the mood board I created to represent Brit.

• The headphone and hoodie are meant to represent his loneliness and how he is secluded from the world and other people.
• The mop, beetle, and keys is more clearly meant to represent his janitor work.
• The television, phone, and pillow represent his comfiness and couch potato behavior.
• The daisies, emoji face, heart, and flashlight are symbolic. They represent his kindness, how he is carving his own path to figure out his past, and his lost and confusion.

Click here for a playlist I made to illustrate Brit's emotions and vibe.

Brit's roommate mostly appears in the beginning of the film, including in the film opening. 

Name: "Lucas Castings" was the first name that popped in my head when I thought of naming the roommate. 

Personality: He is quite extroverted and very friendly and loud. 

Role: His presence is meant to juxtapose his excitement in life and energy to Brit's dull and loneliness. Making Brit seem super lonely and introverted. Lucas also reinforces the idea of Brit being fully alone again once he moves out. Ultimately, Lucas highlights Brit's character and personality.

Click here for a playlist I made to illustrate Brit's emotions and vibe.

Extra resource:

https://www.famousbirthdays.com/names/brett.html - famous people with first name Brett

Reflection:

Here is some background on Brit and Lucas, especially my main character Brit. Coming up with the story behind these characters honestly worked out easily and their personalities fit into the story so well. Lucas especially plays an important role when it comes to helping develop the main character.

Yours Truly, 

Macie 💗

Storyboard and Script

Hey there Cambridge!

Storyboard:

I created a storyboard for Focus on the Past! Storyboards are meant to organize shots to be filmed. They allow the filmmaker to figure out how the shots will work together so they can achieve the mood or purpose they wish to convey for a scene. In my storyboard, I included extreme close ups so the audience can focus on important details of the life preservation company and the janitor's emotion. I also noted the pace of the shots/cuts (to manipulate tension during a scene) as a reminder for when I am editing. 

Script:

Below is the script for the second scene of my two-minute film opening. I never wrote one for the first scene since there is not any dialogue there. A script outlines who the characters are and their dialogue. They also include a brief sentence of actions and emotions the character is doing or speaking with. Click here to view the script in its respective document. Otherwise, an image of the script is provided below:

I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek of Focus on the Past!

Yours Truly, 

Macie 💗

Roland Barthes's Enigma Code in my Film Opening

Hey there Cambridge!

Now that I know what my film, Focus on the Past, is all about, it is time to research a media theory to include in my film! I chose the Enigma Code by Roland Barthes since it is perfect to create a sense of mystery in a film.

Roland Barthes

    Roland Barthes studied classical letters, grammar, and philology at the University of Paris. His theories were inspired by Ferdinand de Saussure's linguistics and led Barthes to the work he became most known for. The Hermeneutic/Enigma Code was introduced in Barthe's S/Z (1970) as he analyzed a short story by Balzac. He argued that multiple codes are incorporated into a narrative, one being the Enigma Code.

    This code explains how information is kept away from the audience in order to raise questions about the context and story, best known as developing mystery. This curiosity is what fuels the audience to keep watching. 

    This theory can be applied to my film opening as the audience, and even protagonist, is clueless as to why the janitor himself is pictured on the cover of a magazine for a strange experiment and what it reveals of his past. This mystery generates questions like "Why is he on the magazine?", "What doesn't he know about the featured company?", "What does this mean for him?".

Reflection:

I honestly think Barthes's Enigma Code is perfect for my mystery thriller. It outlines how a sense of mystery will be developed in my film.

Citation:

• Media-Studies.com. (2025, August 5). Action and Enigma codes. Media Studies. https://media-studies.com/action-enigma-codes/
• Roland Barthes (1915–1980). (n.d.). Lapham’s Quarterly. https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/contributors/barthes
• Enigma Codes. (2021, February 1). Eesha Saeed’s AS Media Blog. https://eeshasaeedmedia.home.blog/2021/02/01/enigma-codes/

Yours Truly, 

Macie 💗

Portfolio Project Idea Reveal!!!

Hey there Cambridge!

I am so excited to announce my idea for my film opening, as well as the process I went through to plan out the plot.

My film is called Focus on the Past and is about a lonely janitor who travels to an old town to discover if he was part of a life preservation experiment where his body was frozen and awoken 15 years later.

I included pictures of my initial notes and edits for the plot that I wrote out on my iPad while I was brainstorming.

Full plot:

My film idea with red marks
for editing.

A lonely janitor named Brit Jones finds a magazine from 2001 during his shift. He notices the cover presents an image of a wealthy man who owns a life preservation company and a frozen body undergoing the preservation process. The company featured in the magazine is known for preserving people in their bodies to awaken them years later. This freezing procedure makes the person unconscious, reduces brainpower, and limits memory. However, this company was shut down by the government once there was a report of a successful outcome. More importantly, the janitor notices how the preserved body looks much like himself and decides to visit the old, creepy town the company owner is from to uncover the truth of his own past.

It is important to note, though, that ever since the life preservation company was shut down, a small organization has been spying on the products/people of this experiment to see how they perform in real life. Once they realize Brit Jones is discovering the truth of his past, they begin tracking him down to stop him. In the end, it is revealed that the building Brit Jones cleans used to be the warehouse for the life preservation and was replaced by a furniture franchise, where Brit Jones now works today.

Film opening: 

The film opening will begin with a janitor mopping/brooming some place, like a bathroom. That is when he finds a magazine and notices the cover. He has a whole moment where he realizes that this magazine might be the clue to unlocking the truth of his past. There is a small sign at one point that someone else is there watching him. Now the title shows. The next scene will begin where he is in his small home, trying to call the phone number of the life preservation company on the magazine. The janitor is frustrated as no one ever picks up the call. He gets up to drink water or juice in the kitchen and 'freezes' in thought. His roommate comes in suddenly and scares him and warns that he is moving out soon and that Brit will be fully alone once again. The roommate sits on the couch and notices the magazine and wonders since when does somebody read a magazine nowadays and makes fun of the idea of a life preservation procedure.

My notes on what happens in the film opening.

The film opening introduces the context of the film through the magazine and reveals background information of this story. The part where the janitor 'freezes' with a thought is meant to allude to his past when he went through the preservation procedure. Next, him being all alone again will foreshadow his daring journey to an old town where he will feel lost and confused about the thought of his past.

Actors and set:

For the janitor position, Brit Jones, my boyfriend plans on playing the role. The roommate will be his brother and the spy, although they will barely be seen in the film opening, will be my sister. This cast is tentative and can change. I might switch the actors for Brit Jones and his roommate.

The janitor will be cleaning a bathroom in the first scene of the film opening. My friend suggested I use a park bathroom since those are likely to be dirty. Although, I could change the setting to not be a bathroom. My teacher suggested the idea of possibly filming at school. I could also try to convince my dad again for me to film at the restaurant he manages. The next few days, I plan to check out different locations and confirm one.

Creating my title: 

The image below shows the three titles I had in mind for this film. Brit Jones was a definite no. It sounded too much like Indiana Jones and I feel like naming the film the protagonist's name is mostly if the film is actually about them or their journey/life. I did not want to focus on his journey to the old town, but rather on the purpose of it. Next, I came up with Focus on the Past. This one I like a lot. It sounded great and focuses on exactly what I would like to focus: the janitor's past. Just in case, I tried to come up with another potential title, hence Moving Backward, but that one did not sound right. So, no.

My title ideas with red notes of my initial thoughts of them.

Upload (2020-2025)

Inspiration: 

My plot was created from a one sentence mad lib I made to build the plot. I filled in the blanks with my first immediate thought for it. Below is an image of my first notes on it and the plot, written below that, came to me right after. As you may notice, the characters and setting have changed, but the story is still the same. Even though I really did not have a major inspiration for this film, it does remind me of Upload (2020). In this show, a man is uploaded to a virtual world once he dies so that he can continue life. The bodies go through a whole process in order to send their mind into the program and the body is then kept for future experimental purposes, like creating clones. It somewhat mirrors my plot on how there is a procedure to preserve a body and then awaken it so that it can exist in the future.

Original one sentence mad lib.
Green highlights for ideas that changed
or no longer exist.

Reflection: 

Well, this is my breakdown for my film's plot and what will occur in the first two minutes. I still have to confirm a location and who exactly is playing who in the film, but other than that, I feel ready to write the storyboard and script. I am really excited get going with the most exciting parts of this project, filming and editing, and that moment is coming close! I'll catch you in the next blog where I bring in a media theory to include in my film.

Citations: 

Upload (TV Series 2020–2025) ⭐ 7.8 | Comedy, mystery, Sci-Fi. (2020, May 1). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7826376

Matadeen, R. (2020, May 3). Upload: Explaining the upload process in the Amazon series. CBR. https://www.cbr.com/upload-disturbing-upload-process-explained/

Yours Truly, 
Macie 💗

Reflection from Group Meeting #1

Hey there Cambridge!

I got to meet up with six other students in my AICE Media AS class to discuss how our portfolio projects are coming along. Caesar, Kai, Nicole, Gaby, Ava, Sofia, and I discussed possible plots for our films, certain obstacles, and provided feedback on each other's blog.

I went first and explained the complicated plot I created the night before. I mentioned how I created myself a short, one sentence mad lib and filled in the blanks with the first word I thought of to come up with my plot. The picture below of my mad lib is not super close to the beginning of my plot, but it literally took me straight to the plot idea I have for my film (revealing in a post soon); thus, I recommended creating a mad lib and filling it out to my group. Additionally, there are a few plot twists I wish to include in my film, and my peers reminded me to ensure all the plot twists are not revealed at once.

My mad lib I created and filled in that took me to
figure out my plot.

"The price of happiness movie" search
that made us realize the title exists.

A common obstacle between us seven students was film titles. It honestly is quite hard to come up with one. I shared my prospective title, Focus on the Past, and my group members loved that idea. We helped Ava and Nicole brainstorm titles that would match their plots. For Ava's, about a teen running away, we were thinking of Just Keep Running. Later, Nicole suggested that she could do The Price of Happiness for her film, but then we realized that is an actual movie. Then we also realized that many movies have the same title, though, so it is still an open option. I suggested the benefits of doing a research post about film titles and how they are created.

As we go around the group, I begin to realize how most of us are producing a thriller. We were talking about why we chose that genre; we agreed that it provided lots of creative freedom to plan out the plot of the film. Especially since most thrillers have a protagonist of a random background who undergoes multiple unexpected plot twists. Moreover, it is easier to create the storyline for a thriller than some other genres. When you think of the coming-of-age genre, that a small few were doing in our group, they need to create something pretty relatable to a teenage audience. Unlike thrillers, which lets you branch out to diverse ideas.

After going around our group circle, speaking of our films and film openings, we went around to share our blogs. One of the blogs I enjoyed looking at the most was Gaby's since she included pictures of her researching for her blog! I love the idea of sharing that part of the portfolio project and I think I will start doing that too. Kai's blog was actually super cool to read because his analysis for movies in his genre was well written and included lots of AICE Media Studies vocabulary!! I loved giving feedback on the blog and speaking about what worked well and what did not. For example, a few people never italicized movie titles or forgot to cite, so I reminded them to do so. I also got to help Ava adjust the width of her blog so that the posts won't be squished in a narrow space!

I also made more recommendations like reducing the number of citations by maximizing the most you can get from a source. For example, I mentioned how I write the title and a description for the movies I analyze in my blog and I take both information from the film's imdb link. This is opposed to how I use to search for a movie poster then go to the imdb link for the description.

Reflection: 

Spending class time figuring out where we are all at and how we can move forward was a helpful experience. I enjoyed listening to everyone's ideas and suggesting ways they can overcome their challenges. I really enjoy conversing with people, so getting the opportunity to have a productive conversation with everyone was meaningful to me. Looking through other student's blogs was something I looked forward to since I got much more insight into their progress and process in their portfolio project.

More Resources:

• https://darkskiesfilm.com/how-are-movie-titles-written/
• https://variety.com/2023/film/features/how-are-movie-titles-decided-hollywood-1235554998/
• https://olenachepurna.com/blog/the-formula-of-a-great-movie-title
• https://youtu.be/50czxbcc6MA?si=-kTab7nXNH4NLP6C

Citations:

• The Price of Happiness (2011) ⭐ 6.8 | Drama. (n.d.). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1585977/
• IMDB: Ratings, reviews, and where to watch the best movies & TV shows. (n.d.). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/

Yours Truly, 
Macie 💗

Gaining a Deeper Understanding of the Thriller Genre

Hey there Cambridge!

I need to come up with a plot/story for my film before I can plan out my film opening. In order to think more creatively, I will look more into certain types of thrillers and common tropes to get some inspiration on the plot I will create. *Following tropes would be unoriginal, this is only for inspiration and to start thinking more creatively.

First off, there are many types of thrillers:

But I would like to complete further research on mystery, suspense, psychological, heist, and conspiracy.

Mystery: In these thrillers, a puzzle is being solved, usually to discover the truth about something. There are many twists and reveals while the protagonist(s) try to uncover the truth.

Rear Window (1954), a bored photographer passes time by watching his neighbors and begins to suspect one of them of murder.

Suspense: This one creates tension, uncertainty, fear, and dread as a protagonist(s) goes through dangerous and mysterious situations. The audience here is clueless as to what will happen next.

The Fugitive (1993), Dr. Richard Kimble was unjustly accused of murdering his wife and must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt.

Psychological: This one explores the human mind and also creates lots of tension and suspense. The protagonist character in psychological thrillers is very diverse. They could be an ordinary person in a not-so-ordinary situation or a criminal mastermind.

Vertigo (1958), a former detective is conflicted as he deals with his personal issues and is becoming obsessed with a beautiful woman he has to track down.

Heist: A heist thriller is all about characters trying to pull off a robbery. Along the way, there are many twists and reveals.

The Thomas Crown Affair (1999), a wealthy, successful playboy steals artwork but begins falling in love with an investigator hired to catch him.

Conspiracy: These ones have complex plots, like of political conspiracies or other dark secrets. There is usually a protagonist who tries to uncover secrets and a mystery in order to find the hidden truth.

The Da Vinci Code (2006), murder and clues in paintings lead to the discovery of a religious mystery.

After detailing exactly what makes a certain thriller, I feel like I am leaning more into suspense and mystery. Psychological and conspiracy seem to be a bit complex and difficult to come up with. A heist thriller seems like fun to do, and I would love to do it, but I feel like it will be difficult to get creative with since it is always surrounded by the idea of stealing something. The other two, on the contrary, seem fun, exciting, and not-so-hard to create a plot for. Now, I am going to dive deeper by looking into the common tropes of these two types of thrillers.

There are many tropes when it comes to thriller films. It can be about suspects, revenge, lies, mysterious strangers, a stalker, or a powerful protagonist. 

Yet each type of thriller has its own unique trope:

Suspense: Suspense thrillers commonly follow the lines of an isolated local, mysterious stranger, missing person, or a stalker. These tropes put the audience on the edge of their seat. They also create a sense of danger and fear, like will they be okay? or force out a shocking reaction. This genre is great when the filmmaker wants to create suspense and uncertainty.

Mystery: Common tropes for mystery thrillers include anonymous killer narrator, closed circle, the end... or is it, puzzle thriller, or hidden villain. All these include a sense of mystery, like how did this all happen? who are they?, while creating suspense and big reveals (will they make it out? what will happen next?). These are only a few mystery thriller tropes, and they all work well to combine a sense of mystery and tension in a film.

-------

Reflection: This research helped me gain so much more clarity, not only about the stories that make up a thriller genre, but about what idea I would like to focus on for my plot. A mystery type of thriller seems to be the best choice for me. It allows me to get creative, and, after all, who doesn't like a mystery? Doing a mystery thriller will be best to create uncertainty and tension, while also incorporating some suspense. I really do think it is my best bet when planning the plot for my film!

Extra Resource: 

• https://thrillermagazine.org/2024/11/11/thriller-tropes-we-cant-get-enough-of-and-a-few-were-tired-of
• https://youtu.be/OEAirlwy5eA?si=83CtgChGNUNfxZFg
• https://youtu.be/lLcM9mh9sic?si=xMyAw6PqGubDtnxQ
• https://movieweb.com/greatest-heist-thrillers-of-the-21st-century-ranked

Citations: 

• 20 kinds of thrillers. (n.d.). https://www.storybuzz.com/blog/thrillers-20-kinds
• Screen Bites. (2014, November 6). Opening sequence | Rear window | Screen bites [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3uo8sd_xBc
• Rear Window (1954) ⭐ 8.5 | Drama, mystery, thriller. (1954, September 1). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0047396/
• Movie clips channel. (2025, March 17). The Fugitive 1993 Opening scene [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9DH-ajhDZo
• The Fugitive (1993) ⭐ 7.8 | Action, crime, drama. (1993, August 6). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106977/
• Dr. Allison Rittmayer. (2014, September 20). Vertigo opening scene [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uyxAwxkHNw
• Vertigo (1958) ⭐ 8.2 | Mystery, romance, thriller. (1958, May 28). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052357/
• Queroladas: OST & Scenes. (2025, October 8). The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) - Opening scene + Titles [1080p] [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5xjRVhmBEY
• The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) ⭐ 6.9 | Crime, romance, thriller. (1999, August 6). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0155267/
• Tim Smith Media. (2016, October 29). The DaVinci code opening scene [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDGW8WrM7Qc
• The Da Vinci Code (2006) ⭐ 6.6 | Mystery, thriller. (2006b, May 19). IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0382625/
• Brewer, R. L. (2024, January 27). 21 Popular Thriller Tropes for Writers. Writer'S Digest. https://www.writersdigest.com/write-better-fiction/popular-thriller-tropes-for-writers
• Mystery Tropes. (n.d.). TV Tropes. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MysteryTropes
• Caper Crew. (n.d.). https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaperCrew. https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/CaperCrew

Yours Truly, 

Macie 💗