Filming Day 3

 Filming with my best friend went well! Since we only had to shoot one scene, it was very quick and easy. For starters, we used the house right in front of ours to act as Selene's house instead of another in our neighborhood. We did this because our house has extraordinarily bright lights in our driveway and porch, that we can turn up and make even brighter using my dad's phone. So, I turned up the brightness even more so that the light acted as a background light for the scene, which helped with the brightness level. Also, my mom helped film the scene of me and Ari walking away, which is the last scene of the intro. I changed the scene a little bit to what it was before and on the storyboard, making it kind of a tracking shot and pan towards us. For example, in the scene, the camera is looking at Ari as I walk up to her from behind where my mom was shooting. Then, once I reached Ari, we walked down the sidewalk together, while my mom moved the camera to film us on the sidewalk. I am very proud of how it came out and can't wait to edit it!

Some Setbacks!

 Today, I looked at the footage that I had and saw a lot of problems with how it came out.

For starters, the scenes and clips that were shot outside were very dark and grainy, even when I tried to brighten it on After Effects. Another problem was how shaky some of the clips were of when I was showing the pictures of me and my parents around my room. The last complication was the music. it didn't really fit with the mood of the scene. So, I will need to find new music for the video. As for the clips, my friend is coming over tomorrow night to help me reshoot the outside scenes again. Unfortunately, my friend Kailey, who helped me the first time, is unable to help me tomorrow and is busy, so my best friend is coming instead to help me in her place. The good thing is that Kailey was only in one scene, so it will be easy to substitute my best friend Ari for Kailey. And for the shaky camera, I used my dad's GoPro to reshoot those scenes with a tripod, which is a better quality camera and came out more steady than the first time. As for the scenes outside, I am going to use my dad's phone, which is much newer and better and has a better camera quality, especially outside at night, which will make it look much better than before.

Filming Day 2

 My friend just left my house, and we finished filming! It went really well and only took about an hour. When she came over, I showed her the storyboard and started filming the scenes that move or pan up, which I could not do on my own. 

One of the technical difficulties that we had to work through was the scene where I walk out of my room and turn off my lights, which are the purple LED lights. However, since I lost the remote (whoops), the only way to turn them off is using an app on my phone. So, Kailey could not record me using my phone and also turn off the  lights when I needed her to. So, I borrowed my mom's phone so Kailey could record me on there, while turning off the lights with mine. We used my mom's phone because it is the same phone as mine, and if we were to use my dad's phone, the camera quality would be different and better in that one, making it look inconsistent when I put all of the clips together. I then sent myself the videos.

Then, after that, we went outside to shoot the last few scenes. One of them required Kailey going on my dad's latter in the street to record me leaving my house. I took a picture of her up on the latter to use in my CCR and to show her in the process of filming me. For the next scenes, since they were supposed to take place at Selene's (Kailey's) house, we went to another house in my neighborhood, one where my friend lives so we were not just shooting in the driveway of a random person's house. We did this instead of going to her actual house to film just to save on time, since we can do the same thing without actually going all the way to her house and back. Since there was a scene both Kailey and I were in, I asked my dad to come out and film that scene. Finally, Kailey filmed the last scene of me, and we were done! I am very excited to edit them all and put it all together this week, and I cannot thank Kailey enough for helping me!

Filming Day One

 Today was the first day of filming! Because I did not have my friend with me, I did the things that I could do alone, such as the record player and the showing of the picture of me with my family around my room. I also showed the government letters and emails. I did this by writing up a letter and used a font that is professional looking and emailing it to myself, then using the "inspect" function on my laptop, I changed the name and email address to make it look like the government official in my film's name. This way, when I showed the email on my laptop, it did not say it was from myself, but from someone else. I then copy and pasted that letter onto a Word document and found a government seal and put it on the bottom to make it look more official. After printing two of those, I put them on my table with ripped envelopes to make it look like they were opened and taken out of the envelopes. 

To film me putting the record on the record player, I used my dad's tripod to keep my phone up and on position, and had it on books and things to get the right height. Then, for the end of the scene, when the record stops, I used the motion sensor light I have on the top of the shelf with my record player so that I can see it better. Right when the record stopped, I waved my hand above my light, making it turn off, which made the recording totally dark as if the screen goes dark.

The other scene that I recorded was the scene of Iris packing her bags without showing her (my) face. I did this by also using the tripod and after a lot of trial and error on the angle, and I recorded myself putting things such as clothes and my wallet in my bag.

I shot multiple takes of each scene, just in case one of them did not come out right. I also made them longer than needed in case I need to cut them. I also got pictures of me filming my project to use in my CCR.

My friend is coming over Sunday night to help me film the rest of it, so that next week I have to work on editing and doing my CCR!

Let's Talk Props!

 Props are a very important part of films. According to Dickgeorge.co, they "complement and motivate the character, helping the actor feel more ‘the part’, setting the scene, identifying a particular time and place and cultural setting, sometimes even becoming a huge focus of the film." If you think of about any movie, you can name countless amounts of props that hold a significance to the story, or even just give it more character and helps move the story along.

In my film, I have numerous props that I need to make or plan our before I start filming. For example, the laptop on the desk with the email from the government on it, as well as the letters from the government. To make these, I will just write an email to myself signed by the government to make it seem realistic, and get pieces of paper and envelopes and print out letters as well. Not only that, but I have to find pictures of my parents and I when I was younger to put around my room to show the camera in the close ups. They have to be young pictures of me because Iris' parents died when she was around 7-8, and any pictures of them with me from when I was older would not fit with the storyline. I have pictures around my house, I just need to put them different places around my room to make it seen like they're always in there. Then, I'll print out pictures I have of me and my friend (who is playing Selene) that I have on my phone and put them on my bulletin board in order to be able to film them in the close ups. Finally, I will need a drawstring bag to use as the bag that Iris packs all of her things in while she goes on the run. I have a plain black drawstring bah that I can use my own clothes in the filing to put in the drawstring bag to show Iris packing. If I think of any more, I will add onto this list!

In the meantime, I have written about half of the script for my CCR, and I am going to finish it tomorrow, so when I finish filming and editing my film, I can just film and edit my CCR and be done! 

On Schedule?

 With a little less than two and a half weeks to turning in my film and CCR, it is time to start planning the end schedule and planning my endgame.

With this week being spring break, while I am busy with work and seeing my friends and family, I will still have extra time this week to work on my project than other weeks. So, this week, I am going to work on the filming of my project. Like I said before, the filming process will take about 2 days, between me filming the scenes that do not need another person, and the ones that do. I can film the first part tomorrow night, and the other parts whenever my friend is able to help me film. Until then, I can work on my Creative Critical Reflection (CCR) and answer the questions that are on Canvas for it. I can answer the questions and plan how to film my CCR in a day, and film and edit it in another day or two. The editing of my film will also take about a day, since it will not be too hard to put the clips together. So, all together, with all of the days needed to film, edit and plan the CCR, I need about at most about 6 days, with an extra day added just in case there are any technical difficulties and something needs an extra day. So, from this, I can see that I am on track with the dates of when everything is due! Can't wait to start filming!

The Music

 As discussed in my last blog post, one of the main things that I have to decide on is the music, which is a very important part of the intro. It helps set the mood and also helps tie all of the clips and scenes together. While I was planning on using a song such as The Chain by Fleetwood Mac, I decided against it because of the problems that I would face with copyright and having to ask for permission to use it. So instead, I went on Chosic.com and tried to find free to use songs there, but they were not the type of songs that I wanted to use, since they were all kind of odd instrumental music for projects, not movies like mine. However, I will keep the website in mind for when I try to find background music for my CCR, since that will be perfect for that. 

Instead, to find the perfect intro music, I decided to try to go to YouTube to try to find non-copyrighted music to use there. Fortunately, I found one that I liked linked here. This works because even though it does not have actual lyrics like I wanted in the beginning, It has the sad vibe that can carry the scene, since the scene will have kind of a sad tone because Iris is packing up her stuff and running away in order to try to find what happened to her late parents. I like the second half of the song better because of the beat and girl singing notes in the background and how it has a more emotional feel to it, while also being more upbeat with the beat in it. I am picturing that I am going to change the camera angle to each beat, which I think will work well!

Group Meetings Pt 2!

 Yesterday, we met in groups in class and discussed our projects and ideas so far, and gave each other critiques and advice on how to make our projects even better. It was a very helpful activity, as the people in my group asked me questions to things I didn't even think of before. For example, someone in my group asked me how I am going to put music in my project, such as the song I am going to play on my record player and as background music. While before this group meeting I was thinking of using a song like The Chain by Fleetwood Mac as background music, I would need to ask for permission to use it, and have to do a lot of research on how to do that. Instead, I am going to use a website that a girl in my group recommended called Chosic.com, in which you can look up songs and find songs similar to that one that are not copyrighted and can use in my project. By doing that, I can play the record in the scene but just play the non-copyrighted song over it as if that was the song I was playing. This way, I do not have to worry about using a copyrighted song and ask for permission from the producers. 

Preparing to Film!

 Because I was out of town this weekend and could not film the project, I had to move the date on when we are going to film my project to later this week. Since we have off school Friday, I am thinking of filming wither then or sometime over the weekend, but which may be difficult since I work long hours at my job over the weekend. However, since my film opening takes place at night, I think it will be easier to find a time to film. 

Based on the amount of shots and the different angles and techniques that I need to use for my intro, I think the filming process will take about two days. Luckily, I can do almost half of the shots myself without the help of my friend having to film me, since many of the shots are of around my room and showing different things such as photos and are not of me. This is nice because it will help my friend out, since she will not have to help film as much and I can film the other parts of my intro on my own a different night this week. 

The most difficult scenes to shoot will be the long establishing shots, since they are from up high looking down at Iris (me) as she is walking through the dark. However, the way I am going to do this is to get a ladder and have my friend film on the ladder, which will make the shot seem higher and steadier than if my friend were to just hold the camera up. I also have access to my dad's drone, which can record footage and he can fly around, creating smooth shots from all around the scene.

The other hardest scene to shoot will be the last scenes of Iris (me) and Selene (my friend) talking, since the scene shows the two talking and jumps back and forth between the two of us, depending on who is talking. This will just be a very tedious scene to shoot since we will have to pass the camera back and forth to one another to get us saying each of our lines and editing it to look like we are talking to each other. 

The final challenging thing that I have to think about is how to get photos and videos of the filming process while it is happening to include in my CCR, since there will be no one to take photos of my friend and I while we are filming the scene. However, if I cannot find another one of my friends to help shoot it, I can always have someone such as my mom take the photos, which will be easy and efficient, instead of another one of my friends having to come over to my house. 

I look forward to the filming process later this week and what it will bring!

Font for the Title

 Fonts are one of the most important parts of creating and marketing a movie. The font is one of the first things that a viewer sees on the film poster and in the intro title scene in the actual film, so it is important to pick the right font for the film. The font is the thing that tells the audience what type of film it is based on the style of it. So, we are going to look at different fonts in our genre to figure out what font is the best to use!

Power Lord

Film Noir

Basic Map

Sound Wave

These were my favorite fonts I found on the website FontSpace. Starting with the first one, Power Lord, while is very bold and easy to read, I think is too action based, which will not match the genre of my film. I think that the same goes for the second one, Film Noir, since that one is very large and bolded, making it seem very action themed. With Sound Wave, while I could use the sound wave effect at the bottom to make it fit, but the font itself is very blocky and would not fit the story of two teenage girls running to find out about one of their parents. However, I really like the Basic Map font. It fits because it is not too action styled, and not only has a mysterious style to it that plays well into the plot of my film, as well as having a  kind of shaky style to it, which can show the unstable nature of Iris and Selene's situation. I can't wait to see how this font looks in the film!

The Storyboard!

 I finished my storyboard drawings last night, and I am really happy with how it came out. 

As shown below, the film intro opens to a close up to the vinyl record and Iris (played by me) putting the needle on the record and playing the music. The camera then changes to show the back of Iris in a mid-shot, while she is putting things into her bag and packing. It then switches to a mid shot of Iris' body so that the audience cannot her face, but her lower body is shown so you can see her packing her bag. At this point is where the credits start playing on the bottom of the screen, showing the director, producers, and cast. This will continue playing on each shot until the title plays. The camera then cuts to her desk, where there is the laptop open and on showing an email from the government and military about them planning on them taking her and ravaging and destroying her grandmother and her house in

a matter of 7 days. The scene then switches to a shot of a dresser in her room, which has abandoned and unopened letters from the government on it, which contain the same information as the laptop. The camera goes back to the shot of Iris packing her bag, the camera finally pans up to show her face for the first time, showing her eyes tearing up, since she was sad to have to leave her house and run away from her grandmother. While she was finishing packing, the camera switches between the different photos on the wall and throughout her room, showing pictures of her with her parents when she was young and her with her best friend Selene. After that, the camera switches to a long shot of Iris with her bag in her hand and at her door, getting ready to leave, looking at her room one more time and turning off her lights. As the lights turns out and Iris leaves her room, there is a shot of the record stopping as the song comes to an end. 

The next shot is a low establishing shot outside of Iris' house at night and shows her walking outside, leaving. In the bottom left corner of the screen will be the title, 7 Days. To get this shot, I will have my friend film it from the middle of the street on a latter so I am below the camera walking away from it. From there, it will be another establishing shot of the outside of outside of Selene's house, with her waiting outside while showing Iris' back while walking up to her. The next few shots goes back and forth between the two as they speak, and finally ends on a zoom in on Iris when she tells Selene that they should get going.

Filming Update

 My friend and I are planning on filming during spring break in a couple of weeks, since I am not going to be in town next weekend and will not be able to film or do any work for the project. However, this gives me more time to plan how we are going to film and all of the different things that go into it. 

The first thing that I have to figure out is lighting. Since the intro for my introduction takes place at night, I need to figure out the best way to light up my film so that it is visible. However, since it is inside and will mostly take place in my room, I am able to use the lights I have in there to light it up. For example, I have colored LED lights that light my room up whatever color I want, and I am thinking of using those, since making the scene a color like that would make it more dramatic and emotional than just white lights. It will also make editing easier, since I will not have to do color corrections on those scenes as much.

Another thing that I have to do is figure out what music I  want in the background of my intro. I am going to make another blog about that in the future and what type of music I want and how I am going to get it into my film without breaking copyright rules.

Finally, I need to do my storyboard, which I am going to start working on this week. Using the storyboard, it will make the actual filming process go quicker and faster, since I will already know ahead of time what scenes I need to film and how and what angles to use instead of just doing whatever scenes and shots pop into my head. Planning always helps!

Figuring Out The Title

 In this blog, I will go over the importance of titles and the significance they hold in your film. I will also go over the top options for my film title and which one I think works the best.

The film title is one of the most important parts of creating a film. This is because this is the first thing that the audience sees from your film, even before it comes out and they watch it. If the title is uninteresting or not memorable, chances are the audiences will not want to watch it as much as other films. There are many different ways to title your film, such as after the name of a character, such as Harry Potter or Forrest Gump. This shows the audience who the main character is and who the story is going to revolve around. Another way to name a film is where the movie takes place, such as Titanic or Pearl Harbor. Also, films can have titles that are not as direct, but gives hints as to the significant things that goes on in the film. These types of titles are good because they help stick with the audience while also not giving too much away about the film until they watch it. 

Looking at these different ways to name a film, I can figure out how I want to name it and which of the names I came up with I like the best. However, I also have new ones that I came up with as well:

On the Run

Runaway

Between the Lines

The Search for Truth

What Lies Behind 

From these and the ones that I had yesterday, my top choices are 7 Days, Family Secrets, Night Runners, and Search for Truth. I think I am going to make the title something that gives hints to the significance, as well as is short and catchy enough for people to be able to remember it and be able to recognize it on commercials and want to see it. Therefore, I think I am going to go with 7 Days, because I think that has the most to do with the actual plot of the film, as well as being recognizable and easy enough for people to remember who see ads for it.

Sources: http://15minutemoviemethod.com/the-importance-of-titles 

What's in a Title?

 In this blog post, I am going to brainstorm any ideas for a title that I have in order to pick a title that is fitting and works well for my film.

• Hunting
• 7 Days
• Family Secrets
• The Chase
• 168 Hours
• The Code
• My Father's Letter
• Night Runner

I will be adding onto this list tomorrow, as well as picking a favorite and the one that I will choose to be the title of my movie tomorrow. For now however, out of these, my favorite is either 7 Days, Family Secrets, or Night Runner, since those are the ones that I feel like people will be able to remember them and are more catchy and have to do more with the storyline. So tomorrow, those 3 will go up against my tops for tomorrow to see what the title of my film is going to be.