its 1 am and im editing

 If I don't get an A for the dedication I have towards this project I swear- It's 1 in the morning and I'm here, editing, stressing, and wanting to scream. It's not going so smoothly anymore, I've run into a few problems:

-I didn't hold some shots on for long enough, one of them was too short and I wanted to do a slow zoom on it. I tried first to cut a quarter of a second shot of it and just paste it over and over so the shot is longer , but then I couldn't do the slow zoom, because that required me to do it on one single shot at a time and that would take me forever. So I ended up just doing the slow zoom on the shot I had but also slowing down the speed of it so it would last longer, but I'm still so scared that it looks too artificial or its too fast :( In the shot, I wanted it to be longer because it's a close up of Rhia's face as she gets very overwhelmed, and the slow zoom would work to give emphasis to her emotions, and I'm worried it won't be the same as I wanted it to :((

-On to problem number two, I don't have a tripod. Now you could be wondering, Julie why didn't you just ask your teacher for one? I did not think of that and I thought I wouldn't need one since all my other shots looked pretty good even handheld. I could've even just used something else to hold the phone but I unfortunately did not think of that 😔 and now I have extremely shaky shots. Now those are only the beginning shots, the still shots of the props. Technically I don't need those, but I really liked the idea of having them there and so did my teacher, they would be good for the credits of the film!!! Because they wouldn't fit anywhere else tbh, sooooo.... I resorted to doing what I did to the slow zoom shot, but... worse. Just look how many I had to put together 😭 and its still too fast!!! And I don't know what to do!!! I mean I could refilm, which would be the best choice, but I'd have to put the set back together which... wouldn't even take me that long I'm just lazy, but we'll see.

-And last but not least, problem number three... the length. I know, all this time I've been worried about the film being too short, and I got a bunch of extra shops in the hopes that it would be enough... but I fear its too much now. I've put everything together and guess what, without the beginning still shots it was already 2 minutes!!! And I don't know what to do because I remember my teacher saying we could go I think 10 seconds above or below the limit? But... gosh this is difficult, what do I do? Right now I'm putting everything together and seeing what I have. I only have 2 seconds of still shots done which is literally nothing so I'm stressed.

filming/editing day #1!!

 Okayyyyy so after we filmed most of the project on Saturday, I wanted to jump straight into Adobe Premiere Pro (which is the editing system I'm using) and get all the clips together so that I could tell which we needed to redo and what more we needed to add. I.. got a little carried away (I like editing :D) and did a little more than just putting the clips together.

So I got about a minute of footage done, the blank spaces in between some shots are the ones we needed to redo or add, which we filmed on the second day. I'm really liking how this is looking so far, and turns out Premiere isn't that hard to work with, it's quite similar to DaVinci, the software I previously used for projects. 

I reason I chose to switch to Premiere for this project is because:

1- The school provided us with a fREE Premiere subscription so we could use it for our projects, and since DaVinci is usually free, one can assume that Premiere is better.

2- I've seen YouTubers and film producers use Premiere for their projects and they all turn out pretty well so I assumed that was the better route for me.

Of course, I wasn't used to this software so I was worried about not really knowing what to do but the system comes with a free little trial to help you know the basics of the program and that got me on track.

"Offering a clean, easily customizable interface, native support for a huge range of file formats, as well as lightweight proxy workflows, Premiere Pro CC lets you move through projects faster and deliver your best work, even on the tightest deadlines."

Anyways enough of this software talk, back to the filming.

Filming this project has been so fun and honestly so easy. As I said I'm working with a friend from this class, Aneesa, and she's really good at this and very nice! Even her sister who had taken this class before came and helped us out, which was really nice of her. We got most of our shots done in one takes, and did two days of one hour of shooting, which could seem like we didn't do a great job but we did, we just work well together. 

The lights worked so well as well! The red ones might give me a bit of trouble, which I'll have to look up some tints or color editing on Premiere, but the purple one was just perfect. 

I'm really looking forward to continuing to work on this project over Spring Break and hopefully getting a result worthy of a good grade :D. I feel like this is my baby.

Here are some sneak peeks of the film 👀

Sources:

https://www.adobe.com/content/dam/acom/en/products/creativecloud/pdfs/ibc/2018-top-reasons-for-premiere.pdf 

i really needed help

 Today in class we did group meetings!! If you don't know what those are, we were assigned groups in which we gave ideas and opinions on each other's work, and my god when I tell you I really needed that help. I really enjoyed seeing everyone's work and how for into the project everyone is. It made me feel better about still being filming since there are still people who haven't started filming or editing. Speaking of which, blog post soon about my editing process because oh boy do I have a lot to talk about that.

Here's a little picture of all of us! I really enjoyed this group I think we all really helped each other with constructive criticism and ideas to help each other's projects and I'm quite happy with what was said about mine :D

They liked it :D

I really enjoyed all of their projects as well, they were really good and it was nice to see... well, my competition.

Here are opinions and ideas they offered about my project so far:

• Voice overs: One thing I had thought about but not really written about in this blog is my worry about the dialogue. My piece is heavily dialogue-driven and the audio from the recordings isn't exactly professional-sounding, to say the least. It's not bad just not the best it could be. So, my group suggested I recorded voice-overs of all the dialogue and synch it with the footage. This is something I wanted to avoid because it's really hard to do (something I learned from the music marketing project) but since I don't have a microphone it might be my only option for a professional-looking film. I'll be considering this and talking to my actress about it but one pro about the voice-overs is that she can record them at home, so it doesn't require us to be in the same space or worry about each other's schedules (which is currently a problem we're facing).
• Shadows: This is something I had never considered before but I found quite intriguing. Some of my fellow students in this group pointed out that a way I could make it easier to distinguish between Rhia and the clones could be working with shadows. Since I'm heavily relying on lighting for this piece it could be a really good idea, and very doable, but I would have to give it some thought because I honestly don't see how shadows could add to this scene. This will require a lot of brainstorming. Time to give my brain a workout!
• Still shots: They agreed with me that adding still shots for my credits at the beginning of the film would be a good idea! And I agree, not only would it give me more time as I'm worried about not reaching 2 minutes, but it also fits the genre pretty well. A lot of coming-of-age movies have this kind of shot at the beginning of films to introduce their credits, usually with some music playing in the background as the character is sometimes in the same room, hinting at their actions. In my case, this would be before Rhia walked into the room, just with the muffled electronic music playing in the background. Something I would have to consider is the lighting for this though, would it be purple? Or would it be just dark since Rhia isn't in the room still? Would be visible if it's just dark?
• Credits: This one I actually suggested, and it is since most of us are doing the project by ourselves, to avoid the repetition of having our names for almost all of the credit roles, we could spice things up by putting different versions of our names in each one. For example, in the first one we write the full name, then the first name, then the last name, then nicknames, and so on. I think it's a fun idea that could be lighthearted but still professional.

filming day #1!! (costuming and set design)

 Alright soooooo something came up and we couldn't film yesterday, but it's okay!!! We got most of it done today!! Aneesa (the actress) was really sweet and nice and a great actress! We recorded from 6:30 pm till 7:45 pm which surprised me that we could get so much done in so little time. I'm a little worried that we don't have enough material for two minutes. I don't know... my teacher said that the script I had before was too long but I feel like this is too little... We'll see I guess, I'm gonna try to edit some tonight and tomorrow before filming time to see how much we have so far. 

Anyways!! Tomorrow we'll be recording more voice-overs and some in-between scenes, as well as some extra dialogue in case the scene is too short. I'm also considering having some still shots of some props around the room as they don't show up much at all during the scene and they can be useful when showing the credits for the film. These are things I'm gonna consider while recording tomorrow. 

Costuming

Here are the options Aneesa had to wear for the filming, both Rhia's outfit, and the Clones' outfits!

Prop/Set Design

This is what my sister's room AKA the set looked like! I tried to add as many teenage girl room things I could find in mine and her room around, small details and such. The makeup around for the owner of the house was just getting ready for the party, and the party list that she wrote, and other things.

Here is how the room looked with the purple and red lighting!!

filming preparations!

 
I know I haven't done one of these in a while but I'm so overwhelmed with work right now that I thought I really need it. God, I'm so stressed with this project it's not even funny. I really like my idea and so does my teacher, but it's just so much pressure and I put it on myself because I'm a big perfectionist 😔 Hopefully though, everything will be okay.

Anyways, here's this week (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) and next week's schedule before spring break!

As you can see, tomorrow is my first day of filming! I'm so nervous my anxiety levels are through the roof right now, but I'm trying to keep it together and remember this is supposed to be a fun project!!! 
Today I was supposed to gather all the props and everything I needed for filming but I have an issue: I'm not actually sure what props I need! I'm recording in my sister's room which is already a teenager's (or was) bedroom so there isn't much I need to change there, maybe just include more pictures and things like that? I'm not sure. Maybe I'll find someone online or on Pinterest to be my Grace and print out pictures of them?? I'm such a mess 😭

Trying to avoid my problems, I decided to get my camera and filming equipment ready instead! So here's a brief review of them.

Filming Equipment

I decided long ago I wanted to work with colors to develop tone within my piece, but it will also develop the characters and their personalities as well as struggles. I had a hard time finding something I could use because I Had No Idea What I Was Looking For. But alas, my dad helped me pick a light that could work. The only thing is... It's quite tiny. So I kinda maybe sorta ordered four of them :D he was not happy about that and honestly yes it was quite exaggerated but I have no idea how well it will work!! And if it will illuminate the whole room!!! So four was the way to go I want no judgment okay?

 

This is the Ulanzi VL49 RGB Led lamp, a fancy name I know. But here's basically what it does 

·               【 60 high color rendering led beads】,

·               【 Illumination angle up to 120°】

·               【HUE & Brightness & CCT Adjustable】

·               【Large Capacity Battery-Rechargeable】

·               【Magnetic Attraction Design-Magnet】

·               【Small Size-Easy transport】

I really liked these lights because they're small and the magnet thing :O it's gonna help me so much during filming, as well as I saw a video on Amazon that showed it in action and it looked really good!

Now for the camera, unfortunately, I can't afford nor do I have a professional camera, so I'll probably be using my dad's iPhone 13 pro because I heard a lot of good things about the camera quality. In fact, here's some research on it.

 I don't really have much of a choice when it comes to this since this is the best camera I can afford, but based on my research I think it will still be pretty good to work with. There isn't much of a difference between the camera of the iPhone 13 pro and the iPhone 13 (my phone) and so if I cannot use my dad's phone I'll be using mine.

Sources: 

https://www.dxomark.com/apple-iphone-13-pro-camera-review-outstanding-video/
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08MDQ3CJY/ref=cm_sw_r_wa_api_glt_i_dl_BGPYAE3G05RDM52ZX0Q4

organizing thoughts

 Yes, I know I haven't remade the storyboard yet. To be completely honest I'm not sure I will, maybe if I have some extra time seeing as I'm so overwhelmed with assignments and projects right now. But regardless, I'm making a list of shots and sounds that I plan to use during filming, again everything's subject to change 'cause I'm extremely indecisive. But!! Yeah!!

PS: I haven't listed all the shots since my piece is heavily based on dialogue, which would take forever, so I listed the most important ones for the plot of the scene. 

Shots/Movement List 

• Opening shot: mid-shot of the door, slightly from the side so that we can see as the door opens and Rhia comes in, but it focuses more on her than the rest of the room for now.
• Rhia walking in the room: after closing the door the camera will follow Rhia with a pan still in a mid-shot, and as she looks around the room a little, she slumps to the floor with her back to the bed, which will be shown through an action match composed of the mid-shot of her falling off frame to the close-up shot of Rhia sitting against the bed.
• Rhia texting: this will be composed of multiple different close-up shots of both Rhia's face and her phone as she texts through different angles and fast-ish paced editing to create the feeling of stress and anxiety. 
• First clone appears: mid-shot of the first clone, Rhia Clone #1, is sitting next to Rhia so that a little of her shoulder is still in frame but another version of her is also there, making it clear it's a clone/someone that isn't actually there. 
• Second clone appears: there's some interaction between Rhia and Clone #1 before there's a technically long shot of Clone #2 sitting on the dresser (TBDWF) where most of her body is shown, just to be casual.
• Third clone appears: yet again after some interaction between Rhia and the clones, a mid-shot of  Rhia Clone #3 leaning against a wall (TBDWF).
• Rhia talking to the clones: Rhia's shots will mostly contain close-ups to better capture her feelings and facial expressions, while the clones will be more represented through mid-shots.
• Rhia overwhelmed: through close-ups, Rhia will be shown closing her eyes and hyperventilating while juxtaposed with other shots of the clones arguing with each other and her.
• Fourth clone appears: through a mid-shot just like all the other clones, this shows enough of them to establish mood and behavior but not too much so that it won't be obvious that there aren't actual clones in the room simultaneous if that makes sense.
• Climax: close-up shots of clones #1 and #2 saying "yes" and "no" right after each other and followed by a close-up of Rhia's face as she yells.
• Throwing phone: three long shots from further away as Rhia throws her phone across the room, one from the direction she's throwing the phone at, the other from the side showing the phone in the air, and the last one from right about her shoulder where we see her profile and the phone flying across the room.
• Phone shot: quick shot of the phone across the room.
• Rhia grabs phone: I'm not sure if this would be a long shot or establishing shot, but it will be taken from a high angle so that Rhia is viewed as inferior and insignificant as she walks across the room and grabs her phone, followed by her walking back (probably mid-shot.)

TBDWF: to be determined while filming.

Sounds/Effects List

• Door opening
• Music: muffled and non muffled
• Muffled chatter (party) 
• Heavy breathing
• Grunts
• Fabric moving
• Sitting down (slumping)
• Texting and messaging
• Phone notifications
• Dialogue
• Heartbeat
• Slight ringing (possibly? add tension)
  
  
• Muffled sound effects
• Bright colors (exposure and saturation)

back to pinterest i go

 Okay now that the characters are done and I've gotten completely obsessed with them, as one does, I've decided more or less how I want them to dress and everything. Since Grace won't really be in the film opening besides one Instagram post, I will probably just use a random picture of a Pinterest girl or something, no need for casting in that sense. But for Rhia, I need costumes for both her and her clones.

So the idea for Rhia and the clones (that sounds like an old rock band) is that whenever Rhia would be on screen she would be wearing purple, but whenever the clones are on screen they would be wearing red, even better if it's different clothes for each one but keeping the color red. This way it would be easier to distinguish between Rhia and the clones as well as help develop that tone through the colors (my goal :D)

✨Inspiration Boards✨

So as you can see, keeping the purple theme for Rhia and contrasting it with the red theme for the clones. Since I haven't discussed what kind of purple and red clothes my actress has with her yet, I'm considering any kind of outfit in that color scheme would work, as long as it is clear what the color is and what it is representing. (full post of chosen clothes and props coming sometime soon :D)

I've also started looking into what LED lights I'm gonna buy and what I want the room to look like, and here are a few boards for that.

✨Inspiration Boards✨

My idea is I will buy the LED lights (if completely necessary though I'll use some DIY lighting, hopefully, it won't come down to that) and the lights will kind of look like they are coming from outside the room maybe? I don't want it to look like there are LED lights in the room, I want it to look natural almost like the character's aura, but still making sense with the context because she's at a party, and y'know there are these lights at parties I think. 

But anyway, back to the point, whenever the camera is focused on Rhia the lights will be purple, and when they focus on the clones they will be red.

Location: My sister's bedroom

My reasoning to this is, well it is a party in someone's house, and she could've like went up the stairs and looked for an empty room to be alone and not overwhelmed and it was probably the house owner's room (which I've been thinking... it could be Grace's house 👀 could help develop the context for the plot of the movie).