Home stretch

    In 5 days, I will reach the end of this project. These last 10 weeks have been one silly experience that I honestly really enjoyed. Post production for the opening is in it's final stages and I'm in the process of creating the CCR. I had been waiting for this project since the beginning of the year and now being in the final stages, I'm really proud of what Tai and I made! 

    In retrospect, a lot could've been done differently. If it weren't for the circumstances, we would've loved to film sooner. It would've given us more time to film in general meaning if anything needed work or to be redone, we would've had the time to do so. The window shot at the end looked a bit clunky which is why it didn't make the final cut, so it would've been nice to have had more time to spend on it. I also would've loved to have Tai there during the second filming day. Having someone else there who was knowledgable on the story is nice since you can keep each other in check. Maybe I wouldn't have forgotten to make the awards on the paintings visible. 

    Post production can be both the fastest and slowest part for me. I can become a real perfectionist about the way every detail of the product is and sometimes i'll spend hours on the tiniest details like how saturated the red is while colorgrading or the duration of one individual clip. There were times in which i could say I was pretty much done but then I would go right back to tweak something. I think I had like 12 final products before finally settling. I decided not to include any special effects. After having done the line edit, I felt they didn't need to be done in order to convey the message, and since I'm already no longer glitching the awards on the wall, it may seem a bit out of place to include any at all. Regardless, I'm happy with the final product. 

    I'm thinking for my CCR I'll do a Podcast and a Video of some kind. I've recently been really into watching Hot Ones, a show that involves hot questions and even hotter wings. I think since it does dive deeper with the subjects it tackles and since tthe questions I have to answer ask for a deeper perspective on the opening, this type of video might suit it best.

    Only a few days to go!

Tear It To Shreds Please!

 


  I love getting criticism. Actually no, truth is, I used to suck at receiving criticisim for a real long time and I still struggle. What I do love is being able to improve my work, and that usually means, getting second opinions. I made a line edit of part 1 of the opening so I could show it to anyone that'd be willing to watch. Especially since I've decided to cope with the footage I have, I want to make sure the main message of the opening still stands. Here's some of the feedback I got.

    I showed it to my actor Wade first and he liked it! "You made it sound worse than it was." he says. Truth is, I didn't know how to feel about the first edit and I expressed this feeling to Wade before he watched it. He suggested I make the sequence of destroying the paintings a bit faster. The only problem with this, is that I'm scared the credits written on the paintings won't be legible. When I expressed this concern he brought up that I may have to sacrifice the potential impact for the sake of legibility. 

    Then I sent it to my good friend Isa (an alumni who took AICE media) and they loved it! Unlike Wade, Isa had not read my blog and was completely unaware about the goal for the opening and any planning that went into it. So I was able to get a completely raw opinion. Their two main critiques were to fix the mask a bit so Male can't be seen walking behind Wade and that the opening seemed rather final for an opening. I agree with the finality of it, but I feel with  Tai's scene which I have yet to edit, it should alleviate that problem. Fixing that mask and not murdering my computer is gonna be difficult but not impossible so I will be doing that!

    Lastly, I showed it to Sabrina, another alumni who took AICE Media and their response was not at all what I was expecting. They sent me a 3 page handwritten analysis on the opening which was SUPER HELPFUL. While they did give many pointers on technical issues that could be fixed the main points I spent the most time thinking about were the elements she asked about that I hadn't thought of initially. The shadow can be seen at the beginning of the opening which I though just helped show the artist is in the spotlight. However, Sabrina asked if there was more to that shadow, maybe an alter ego? Or maybe it's their consciousness looming over them. She also asked if the artist cutting up the paintings was a break from reality. I always thought of that part of the opening having happened in real life along with the artist hurting themselves, but we only see the paintings, because that is what the artists mind fixates on. I like Sabrina's interpretation though and it fits the message really well. The artist was so consumed with their work that they've lost their grasp on reality and have therefore, lost themselves. Lastly, Sabrina mentioned that it's interesting how the artist rips the producer credit. It subtly hints at the art worlds part to play in their downward spiral. While it did cross my mind the way the credits being torn would be shown, I didn't realize how well it tied in with the message of letting your artwork consume you, because even those around you fuel that unhealthy connection through praise or penalty.

    It's funny how decisions I gave less thought to in this production ended up working so well with the final product I'm trying to achieve, and I'll definitely be more mindful of those subtle details moving foward.

Aggravated Assault: Electric Boogaloo

     Having the footage at my disposal, I was eager to start the edit. I downloaded the song and started to edit the sequence to the beat of the music. Everything was going well until I realized one major issue: 

WHERE ARE THE AWARDS?!?!?!

    They are barely visible in some of these shots, let alone the main painting. Theres there, but how in gods green earth is the audience going to be able to interpret it as an award and not some random object hanging off the painting. Yeah it's that bad, they don't even look like ribbons. 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

    These paintings have been through enough violence for me to just give up now. I have two options: scrap the painting footage and refilm or cope. Refilming is tricky. It would likely mean remaking a lot of the paintings that were torn, which will be time consuming. On top of that, remember the filming schedule? So that's changed slightly, On top of getting kicked out of a parking lot for filming and having to reschedule times and days with certain actors, things haven't exactly gone to plan with wades short film. So being able to find a time that he's available to redo scenes would be a bit difficult especially since theres less than two weeks left for this project. 

I'll have to to keep you updated on this

Aggravated Assault: Part 1

     Today is the day I filmed the rest of the opening and guess what,  I got it done in one day! This means I have the remainder of spring break left to edit! I checked the footage and everything looks good so refilming is not necessary, at least for now. No one was hurt in the making of this opening but it sure does look like they were.

    Filming was hectic at first. I asked my friend Male and my sibling Quinn to be the hands putting paint on Cam. Call time was at 5 and by then my room was almost completely decorated (thanks to my lovely mother who helped out) and I had already set up the black backdrop and the spotlight. Male arrived first and I gave her the rundown of everything she'd be doing and Wade arrived second with the equipment. We set up the camera on the Ronin and I did a few test runs making sure I could get a smooth push in (especially since the Ronin is real heavy and can only account for so much shakyness). After that I called my sibling from they're room and we did a test run where they'd turn on the spot light and both Male and Quinn would pretend to come in and put paint on Wade as I walked in. Wade suggested we come up with a counting system to make sure everyone knew they're cues. Quinn would turn on the light and I counted to ten as I walked closer to wade. At 5 both Quinn and Male would run in with paint on their hands, At 9 male would crawl behind Wade. At 10 Male would pretend to snap his neck. Time was ticking as we did these practice runs and eventually male had to leave so we just had to go for it. The practice runs proved to be successful since the shot was almost perfect!

    We said our goodbyes to Male and Wade and I began to film the second scene in my room. Remember the wide angle lens I talked about? Well that came in clutch because it achieved the exact effect I was looking for. I tried to move fast since it was already 8pm so I set a finishing time to 11pm. Wade (being very skilled at lighting) was nice enough to help me light each shot which helped a lot in creating a dull look. The assault on the paintings had begun and it hurt my soul with every slash and rip, especially after I had spent so long working on them but anything for the shot right? Man it was brutal. I also painted all of the credits on the paintings except for two that I'll add in post. 

    Then it was time for the blood. Since my floors are hardwood, I preferred not to get too much of it soaked in there, and since I needed a shot of blood pooling on the floor, wade and I took it upon ourselves to put seran wrap all over the floor as a safety measure. For the shot of wade kicking a painting, I made sure the seran wrap was visible to avoid any continuity errors. Then, I got to putting blood on Wade. At one point he wanted to taste it (It's not corn syrup it's party city fake blood from 2 halloweens ago). Yeah, maybe not the best idea. Anyways, I poured blood on his hands to get the shot of him wiping blood on his forehead, then a shot of his bloodied hands, and then the fun part! I got to pour a lot of it on his head. It was quite messy and got everywhere, even on me, so handling the very expensive Becon equipment was a challenge to say the least. Thankfully nothing broke (not counting my poor, precious paintings). Then I had to get a shot of wade laying on the ground with the pool of blood coming from his head. I'm sure he had a fun time keeping a side of his face in fake blood for the minute or so it took to get the shot.

    

And that was a wrap! Clean-up was quite the mess and a half and half a roll of paper towels was sacrified by drowning but we managed to not get a single speck on the white bedshee- PSYCH! It got on the white bedsheets (just a smidge but still disappointing). You're telling me I poured blood on Wade (who was right next to the bed), I poured blood on the ground next to the bed, and the first speck of blood falls on the bed during cleaning? Flawed but ok. Anyways, I backed up all the footage after Wade left and cleaned up the remainder of the equipment wrapping up the 2nd and final filming day!

Rest In Peace My Beloved Paintings.

Collaborating

     My main actor, Alex (some people call him wade) also has an AICE media project he's filming over spring break! While this may seem bad since this could mean he's busy and can no longer help out, we struck a deal. We'll both act for each others projects and help each other film! We'll also share the equipment from Becon so we're not fighting for the same stuff.

    We came up with a schedule that fits our needs for filming. I'm thinking of pulling a Skills USA and doing it all in one day but that depends on how long the first shot takes since it's the most elaborate. So, on the schedule, I split up filming into two days just to be safe. Wade is making a short film so naturally it's more elaborate and requires more filming time which is why the shedule has more filming days for him. I feel this schedule will keep up fairly organized that way we can get everything done for our respective projects. 

    Side note, I was talking to Wade about my opening to get some advise and he some interesting things. He mentioned how easy it is to get caught up in making the opening without having thought about how the rest of the story would play out. Now, while I have a vague idea, I had never delved too deep into it. So I took today to do so. I had quite a while to think about it on the plane ride and I figured, the film could follow Layla's story moving foward in time, and Cam's story moving backwards in time, that way the parallels between both of them become even more apparent as we follow they're stories. I feel it will also create suspense for the audience given that their prior knowledge of Cam's end will make them fear for Layla's fate.

    Having this figured out helps a lot with solidifying some of the choices I've made for the opening. It adds a bit more context to the first time we see each character. We first see Cam's end, then we see Layla's beginning. This also helps in solidifying Cam as a main character which will make it easier when deciding on opening titles.

Spring Break? More Like Spring Work!

     It's the day right before I go home from a long, arduous and emotionally draining trip. It's just hit me that I still have work to do! Heres the To Do List: Finish paintings, rearrange/mise-en-scene-ing my room for the part of the opening I like to call Cam's Demise. Set up a void scene. Check out equipment, figure out a spotlight, figure out blood, and figure out hands. 

    Finishing the paintings shouldn’t be terrible. I have my mother who has graciously offered to help and we plan to have a painting day on Tuesday the day after get back! I estimated to need about 30 paintings to fill up the walls of my room. Not a terrible amount since i already have 7 made including the main one from tai’s shoot. Also one wall will house only one painting and the back wall is the main one that needs to be covered. I’m glad I chose a abstract style though cause making 20+ paintings that i’d have to worry about details for would’ve been it’s own kind of hell. 

    Rearranging my room and turning it into an art studio is probably gonna be the hardest part. I plan to take out some of the cabinets and the keyboard I have so that there’s a bit more space. I’ll also likely have to change my bedsheets to something a bit less. . . pink. I also have to find a way to put up all the paintings without damaging my wall. My art supplies can be used as props to set out on the floor and tabletops. In order to not damage the hardwood floors I’ll probably find a tarp that I can set on the floor. This I feel will fit in as though the artist has something to protect the floor from paint spillage. 

    Setting up a void won’t be too hard. I’d like to thank my father for doing photography as a side hustle and having a black backdrop I can use! I might have to mask some of the surroundings in editing to keep it black since the backdrop isn’t as large as it could be, but that shouldn’t be a major issue. For the spotlight, I plan to use a cob light with a cone that will direct the light a bit more, but I also plan to ask Jim (the guy from Becon who's letting me borrow the equipment) if he knows of any better options for it.

    For the blood I’ll probably have to make it. I know a recipe that only requires corn syrup and food dye so that the blood is somewhat viscous, especially since I want it to flow slower for more flexibility when filming. 

    I know for the hands I'll need two pairs minimum, more would be great but more difficult to deal with especially since I have to make sure the bodies of the people aren't shown. This whole take needs to be a one shot too so a whole lot of coordination needs to go into it to make sure the hands come it at the right moment as I push in with the camera.

    I'm hoping that nothing goes wrong that cannot be managed at least. I've spent too long preparing for these moments.

Making a Trip Useful

    So this TV trip has been quite. . . interesting, to say the least. Ok being honest it's been terrible. Which is why I didn't expect to gain much usefulness from it. During one of my off days (I wasn't competeing in any competition that day but other teams from my program were) I decided to go to some of the workshops that the competition hosts organized. Most of the workshops I went to had a lot of industry proffessionals with probably a lot of interesting things to say, but they only really touched on basics I learned 4 years ago. That was until I went to the very last one for the day, titled "Film Aesthetics" 

    Having been through 2 somewhat useless workshops, I decided to hold my expectations low for this one. It started off with the presenter talking about some concepts I already knew (he mentioned the typical things you'd expect with mise-en-scene like lighting, color, set design, etc.). But then it started to get interesting. I never really though of how camera lenses can effect the audiences perception of a shot. I always went with what I thought looked good and was convenient. For example, I knew if I was shooting in low light, I needed a prime, (usually 50mm lens) since I can open up the aperture a whole lot to let light into the camera. However, I didn't often think about the effects of lens distortion on the audiences perpective. 

    The presenter asked for two volunteers from the audience to get a close-up of a person sitting in the front row. He mentioned that the lens was a wide lens (around 24mm-35mm). The close-up, ended up distorting the subjects face, making it appear a bit longer and more blown out. Then, he asked for two more volunteers, (I was one of them :) to switch out the lense for a 50mm. which is normally considered the lens that emulates standard human vision. Then we had to use it to get the same close-up of the subject. The presenter mentioned that the wider lens required that the camera be closer to the subject. To the audience, this distortion makes the audience feel as though they are uncomfortably close to the subject. It feels more intimate, or intrusive depending on the context. Meanwhile the more zoomed in lens required that the camera be placed farther from the subject to achieve the same close-up. In tern, the audience will feel like they're at a conversational and comfortable distance from the subject. 

    Now I already knew I wanted to use a wide lens for a shot or two, since I want to show the whole room. But now this gives it's use a whole new meaning. By having the camera be forced to move uncomfortably close to Cam, it'll make the artist feel uncomfortable. Which will give the opening a more unsettling tone (which is what I want given it's a psychological thriller). So now I have a a better idea of how to make the use of this lens, and other lenses more purposeful. 

Thank you workshop, for making my trip a bit more bearable.

Decisions Decisions! Decisions

    After having a conversation with our teacher, we realized we're on the right track with our progress (besides the whole filming late thing). This means that a lot of the decisions we have to make about how we want to go about doing certain things comes down to us. Yay! I love making having to make decisions about things I'm completely unsure about! STN is in less than a few hours so I won’t have much time to think about this film opening which means we need to make these decisions now or never!

    Decision number 1 is whether or not the awards will glitch between first and other places or if they’re stay stagnant with 1 award being first place and the others being lower places. Both options convey different messages which means I have to decide which message I want to convey more. The first option, would demonstrate Cam’s imposter syndrome as well as his low self esteem. He’s so incased in his own perception of his work that he literally cannot see the true recognition he’s been given for it. Meanwhile, the other option would show the artists frustration with the lack of recognition they feel they’re getting. 

me asking

    Decision number 2 is whether or not to splash the artist with paint in the first shot, or have hands cover them in paint. If we splash the artist with paint, it would likely convey the artist being overwhelmed with their job. If we have hands cover the artist with paint, it would likely convey how they're art has a literally grasp on them, controlling their life in a way that's toxic and destructive. The second option I prefer since it fits with the general theme of the opening a little more and I feel it will add a bit more impact to the second artists part. But whether or not my actor would be confortable with that is debateable. So, I asked! 

    Last decision is a silly one and that's whether or not I want to use a fog machine. Now, hear me out. It would be used for the opening shot of the opening when the spotlight is on the artist. The goal is not to make it look like theres fog, moreso to create a bit more atmosphere especially since this is a void shoot. It would hopefully show the rays of light coming from the spotlight which would emphasize the theatrics of it all, making the old artist look exposed. But would this be too much? I've never used a fog machine like this before so I feel this will require further testing. I'll get back to you on this.

    So two of my 3 decisions have been resolved making the rest of this a little easier. I'll likely have the awards glitch out, since I prefer the imposter syndrome narrative. Not only do I feel it's more relatable for my target audience, but I also feel it fits the overall tone I want to set for the opening of what the story will be about. Also, (after recieving permission from my actor) will likely have the artist be covered in paint by hands to convey the art consuming the artist rather than overwhelming the artist. Fog machine is still up for debate.

The Easy Part

     We finally filmed! Wow this weekend was busy. So we knew we wanted to film Tai's parts this weekened since Tai was going away for spring break. So we decided Sunday was the best day possible since Friday we had school and a meeting after school which would cut down daylight time and Saturday we had a 9+ hour practice from 7am-5pm which we both knew we'd be dead tired from. Sunday was the only off-day. So heres how it went!

    I woke up that morning knowing I had other homework on top of having to go film. The plan was to wake up at 9am and finish one of the two assignments before having to leave at 11:30am to meet Tai at 12pm (Tai lives a half and hour away). Scrap that plan because I was exhausted and fatigued from yesterday and just wanted to sit and watch youtube and drink coffee (I didn't get any work done). An old friend came over to pick up a cake from my mom, we struck up a conversation and OH LOOK it's already 12 and I'm not at Tai's house. I say goodbye to the old friend, grab all of the necessary items, throw them in the car and bolt! I got there at 12:30 miraculously and we immediately got to work!

    The paintings didn't have signatures on them so I decided to use some of  Tai's black and white paint to quickly add a signature as well as a symbol saying "REPLICA" Then we hung up all of the paintings on an empty wall in the room as well as printed out some fake news paper clippings of the artist to hang alongside them. The actual filming process went smoothly. A lot of shots needed to be done handheld because of they're movements but I do with I had either the Ronin from school or from Becon which would've garanteed a bit more steadiness. I'm really hoping the handheld doesn't look terribly shaky, checking in camera for that is not always reliable. 

    The finaly shot of Tai looking out the window may need to be refilmed. The camera was battling between the bright sunlight hitting the window screen and the dark interior of the room. My lights weren't powerful enough to keep it bright. I'll have to see when I check the footage how bad it truly is and if refilming ends up having to be the plan. 

    Overall the day went smoothly and quickly. We did everything we needed to do in about 3 and a half hours which was one of the faster filming days I've had. I'm hoping the footage turns out well!

So? Who is Doing The Silly Funny In Front Of The Camera

    So we have everything planned! Now who's gonna act? Luckily, we only really need 3 actors. 2 main actors and 1 background actor.  This makes it a bit easier since we don't really need to rely on a whole cast of people being available at the same time and day to film. Tai and I can play two people and then we'd only need 1 more person. 

    When thinking of Cam, Tai and I immediately thought of our friend Wade. Cam needs to show a lot of expression, both in their face and body movements. We thought Wade would be perfect because he is quite good at physical expressions. Also he claims to "know how to fall" so that should come in handy when he has to collaps on the ground. He won't have to say any line of dialogue which will let him focus soley on his physicality. He is also someone we've worked with before on many other projects, and has acted in projects such as these before. so we believe he'll be a good fit for the roll, as well as someone we know we can rely on and work well with. he claims to know how to fall

    For Layla, we were thinking Tai could play that role. They're already good on camera and can act pretty well both physically and with line delivery. Also she already has a pretty strong handle on the character which helps in the sense of having to get into character. 

    For the one side character, we decided I could play that role, out of convenience and practicality. It's a small role with only one line which isn't much I'd have to be doing, especially since I don't trust my own acting abilities. Now having actors solidified, we are one step closer towards making sure everything is ready for filming.

What A Wonderful Week :(

     i've just had one of the worst weeks I've ever experienced and we're only halfway through! Wooo! Tai and I had a really lovely, totally wonderful, not stress inducing at all, and completely calming conversation about this goofiness and it totally didn’t make my blood boil and fill me with immense rage. I’m at a loss for words with sillines I’ve had to deal with and it’s honestly burnt me out. I’m tryin not to let this fatigue get in the way of the project. So here’s a progress update. 

    Painting is. . . Slow. I haven’t gotten much progress into it with the immense amount of homework I’ve had this week. The canvas’s from Amazon arrived and they were smaller than expected, so on Friday I’m going out to Micheal’s and getting the large one needed. Friday will be my designated day to finish all the paintings. Remember how I mentioned painting is a form of therapy for me? We’ll it’s really gonna have to come in clutch this 

    I messaged good ol’ Jimmy G (Jim Guarasci) the executive producer of BECON about checking out equipment with a list of what we potentially might need! Luckily, he said it should all be available on Tuesday 21st (which is the day after we come back from STN) for us to check out. This is perfect with filming set to be during spring break.

    Filming has been set to happen this weekend, but only the second half of the opening. But wait, I haven’t checked out from BECON! Good thing is, some of the equipment we need is available in the CBTV closet, which won’t  be open for spring break but is open for this weekend so we plan to snag that stuff. Tai is going away for spring break so filming at least the second half this weekend will help us avoid having to delay any more progress.

    We've done a lot to prepare for this so nothing theoretically should go wrong, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

     

    

    

Painting As A Form Of Therapy

     A part of me felt the need to procrastinate the painting process. I was exhausted from the responsibilities the week had bestowed upon me and all I wanted to do was lay down on something comfortable and turn my brain off. I knew at some point I had to get started. So while procrastinating some other class's homework, I prepped the paint, grabbed a cup of water and a brush, and started painting. 

Pablo Picasso: The Tragedy

    I forgot how much I loved the hobbie. It's been a couple months since I had really sat down to paint for leisure, so it took me by surprise how theraputic it is. I played a youtube video for background music and immersed myself in the artform. I stuck with mainly cool tones for the paintings since a lot of them are supposed to reflect the state of mind of the old artist, but I did make a few warmer colored paintings that can be both used for the old artists earlier paintings that may be up on his wall, and some of the new artists paintings. The cool blues I feel help to associate the old artist with a negative state of mind. I took inspirations from Picasso's blue period and Van Gogh's Starry Night. Picasso mostly used blue's during a period of immense depression which I feel helps to had subtext to the state of mind of the old artist. Van Gogh's Starry Night also uses a large amount of blue tones, and the style of showing prominent strokes I feel helps to demonstrate how meticulous these artist may be.

Vincent Van Gogh: Starry Night

Sam Perez: Silly Little Paintings

    

    We still have a long way to go with the amount of paintings we need to make, but at least we already have a starting point. I'm excited to paint some more!

Silly Little Issues

     So Tai and I came to a unfortunate stand-still on the project. The plan initially was to film during all of spring break after we come back from the STN trip. The funny thing is that Tai is now going to tour colleges over all of spring break so they can no longer film during those days. There is no set date yet of when she leaves and comes back so organizing filming days has become a bit of a struggle. I honestly felt quite unsure about how we were going to finish this project, now having been presented with this information, so I consulted my partner, and frequent collaborator who did it last year and he suggested two options:

Tacos Mode

    He at first said (and this is gonna sound real weird) "turn on tacos mode." Now you may be thinking, what is tacos mode? For context, during winter break, my partner and I filmed an entire short film (named "This, That, and Tacos") over the course of 5 days. How did we do this? Early start times and late end times. Our filming schedule was the equivalent to a 9-5 job, It wasn't "meet up for 2 hours and see what we can get done." While efficient, this method took a lot of energy out of us, and if this is the trajectory the film opening is going to go in, I need to mentally and physically prepare. Also, without set dates for tai's unavailability, it could potentially mean I'd have to lead at least half of the filming all on my own, which while it isn't my first time leading a project on my own, I wouldn't call myself a proffessional.

Skills USA Mode

    Option #2 and the more demanding option would be to "turn on Skills USA mode." Again for context, my partner and I also worked together on a competition called Digital Cinema, as part of the general Skills USA competition, which is basically yet another TV competition I'm participating in. The gist of Digital Cinema, is that we have 48 hours to create a short film that can be up to 5 minutes, that follows the prompt given to us at the start of those 48 hours. This was no longer a 9-5. This meant working non-stop as quickly as possible, and for as long as possible, avoiding any unnessary(this means all) breaks. The only real downtime we got was a grace period of about 6 hours for sleep, just sleep. If the first option sounded bad, this option is inhumane. . . 

   

 . . . but not impossible. I mean, if I've done this before, theoretically, I can do it again. And it would cut back the amount of time taken up in production, so we aren't as strained in the last two weeks of the project. The main downside is, I might lose my sanity in the process (ok that's a bit dramatic but the point still stands!). I think if I go about this in such a way that I can still leave room to breath during filming for both myself and the actor I'd be working with, than I think I can do it. 

Looking At A Calendar

     I’ll admit, I don’t typically like scheduling. I'm the type of person that once I flesh out the idea, I want to jump right in. However I see the importance of scheduling and given the situation Tai and I are in, I decided to actually look at a calendar. At first, I was intimidated. Looking at the quantified number of days we have left to finish the opening sparked some unwelcomed anxieties. Questions about how early we can film, how much time we have to edit, and whether or not we'll even be able to get together for production began to plague my mind. So I started with the most recent.

    During my economics class (this time I finished the classwork) I spent a good 40 minutes finishing the storyboard, labeling shots, setting up the goals of filming days, and setting up an shot list order. The storyboard helped to put into perspective how many shots we truly need for the opening (we only need 25). This not only makes the filming process feel more manageable, it will also help us in editing, knowing exactly how many video clips we need in the timeline and exactly where each clip will go.  

action v cut

    I labeled every shot in the storyboard with both a description and a number. 

The description should help with communication on set as well as with remembering the point of each shot. During the music video project, production was slightly disorganized and part of the reason why was because the storyboard was hard to interpret by the rest of my team.  I created it so I understood it pretty well, but that wasn't the case with my fellow group members. I would often get asked question about how to frame the shot, what exactly is happening in it, and what kind of movement is the camera doing. This made me realize that if i had given a shot descriptions, a lot of the issues with communication could've been avoided, and filming could've gone smoother, which is why this time I'm not taking any chances. 

    The numbering of each shot at first was just to get an idea of how many shots there were in total. Since I would draw the same shot back to back, I needed a way to destinguish between frames that describes actions, and frames that described cuts. However, while organizing the order of shots list, the numbers ended up being a really easy way to organize each clip without having to write the full description. This will definitely help in organizing the way we film, especially if multiple shots can be done with the same setup. The filming schedule is also extremely helpful because it give us a good idea of the goals we need to accomplish for each day of filming, as well as gives us an idea of how long each day will last. It also helps since we have a friend of ours acting so scheduling with him will be easier since we can give him the full scope of what we're doing, from which days and times we'll need him and what he'll be doing throughout the opening.

I've checked out from BECON-TV before

    This week, we can get started on making the props. I can begin painting on friday with the supplies I have, and Tai can begin working on newspaper props. I have already gotten the paint and have some leftover mixed media paper I can use while I wait for the items ordered online to arrive. Tai has 5 small canvases, a bit of paint, and some paintbrushes to she can use to make some of the other paintings. 

    Next week, we can finish props, I can make the fake blood, we can find the clothing each character each character will wear, and we can secure the actors. The week before we leave for STN (Student Television Network competition for our TV program at school) We can check out equipment from BECON-TV a wonderful resource for all things production (they have everything from cameras, tripods, and array of lighting equipment, and even props).

The full schedule