DONE WITH SHOOTING!

 DONE WITH SHOOTING

    Today, my group and I got together one final time in order to shoot the remaining part of our film today was the day that best fit us all, so we left school early and went to Aarons's house where we have been shooting. We concluded the final part of our film, and we think that it turned out great. The filming today went better than expected and even though we changed a few things up in the spur of the moment it was still very effective. Now the editing progress will begin. I enjoy editing but it can become tedious at times so I am estimating it to make me 2-3 days spread out. All the files have been moved to my computer and I will probably begin editing tonight. Me and my group mate Aaron will begin filming our CCR most likely on Thursday and complete them on that day too as they are not that long.

     All I have to do for the CCR is come up with a script for both videos as it makes the process of filming so much easier. Editing the CCR is also not that hard as js some light touches such as music and some visuals as well as cuts here and there are required. I also made a change to my CCR decisions after talking to my teacher initially I decided to do an interview and a podcast but I realized they might be too similar, so I am switching to a podcast and kind of a show-and-tell since the CCR filming will be done in the house where the opening was shot I can go around places where shots where taken and talk about them and explain to them while sneaking in the questions in there. I am very excited to see how the opening and CCR come out and can't wait to finish them both.

(PICTURES OF MY GROUP AND I SHOOTING
AND CLEANING THE HOUSE)

The beginning of the end

 THE BEGINNING OF THE END 

    What I mean by "The beginning of the end" is that today I received all the pieces of footage from the first half of our film and will soon begin to work on them and edit them. We are now coming close to the final chapters of this project and though much work is still left undone I look forward to completing it soon. Tommorow in class we will finalize everything we need to shoot the last part of our project, since we will film this last part tommorow after school. We decided that this time works best since like I previously said a lot of us are busy with work and we also need to shoot as soon as possible and during the day, therefor tommorow after school works best for us. 

    I will update the blog tommorow after we shoot since I will alo bein editing and start shooting my CCR some time this week as well probably around Wednesday and me and my group mate Aaron will help eachother with this, so I will update on that as well. Overal I am excited to continue to work and perfect this project and will give my next update soon!

Roadblock part 2

 Roadblock Part 2

Today we came to the conclusion that coming up or figuring out a shooting schedule that worked for all of us would be more complicated then we anticipated. A lot of us have work and that makes our schedules more compact and complicated. The scenes that we are missing to shoot are the ones that are in the morning and a lot of us have work. This makes it more complicated for the whole group. We want to find a time that works for all of us because we want to finish the project as soon qs possible in order for us to begin filming our CCR and our personal parts or the overall project. We are currently trying to find a time when that fits us all in but it has proved harder then we thought. As of now we have a time set for Monday after school since we want to get it done soon and during daylight time. 

FIRST DAY OF FILMING

 FIRST DAY OF FILMING 

    Yesterday, my group and I finally met up and started shooting. We went to my groupmate Aarons' house at around 7:30 at night. Once we got there we started shooting but quickly noticed that as we went on we had different opinions and some of us wanted to style things differently than we had planned. So we stepped outside for a minute and decided what changes we wanted and didn't want to make, finally, we came up with this. Since it is spring break and a lot of people are out traveling it was very complicated to be able to get people to come over to Aarons's house to be extras especially since they would have to come back on later days too for consistency with characters. Due to this, we decided that it was best for us to make the first half of our intro just us (The friend group) getting ready for the party as opposed to actually being in the party, making it easier to film with little to no people.

    With these changes in mind yesterday we were able to complete all of the shots that are set in the nighttime of us getting ready for the party, and we are currently working on finding a time that works for all of us in the morning when we can shoot the shots of us cleaning up, this has proved to be a bit complicated as there are so many of us and a lot of us work but we plan to get this second part of the opening done before the weekend ends.

(PICTURES OF MY GROUP AND I
FILMING AND SETTING THE SET UP)

( A PICTURE OF M Y GROUP MATES
AND I)

SCRIPTS

 SCRIPTS

    As a group, we decided that the best step that we can now in order to secure success for the future of our project is to create a script. A script will allow us to have a good base for our story and for us to not get lost easily. This script will make filming a lot easier and let the actors Aaron and Juan have a structure of what they have to say and when they have to say it. It will allow us to create something that we know will not go off the roles and that will be something that we are proud to create. 

    Creating this script will allow us to fill all the holes that we may have in our story, we will have to create the whole story from start to finish and once we do, when we film, things will go much faster and flow. According to "Filmmaking Lifestyle" a script is the backbone of a film and one that tells you how the film as well as its individual scenes should be shot and what is the content of the scenes themselves, it may also help prepare actors for the scenes as they can read it over and better prepare to deliver a certain line (FL, N/A) Now that we have decided that we want to make a script to make things easier for us, we just have to decide when to make it, most likely this will be done tomorrow as we are moving on to filming on Tuesday

(EXAMPLE OF TYPE OF SCRIPT WE WISH TO
REPLICATE)

.

UPDATE ON SHOOTING SCHEDULE

  SHOOTING SCHEDULE (UPDATE)

     When discussing in class, me and my group members began to converse about when we all plan to start shooting. This is the most important part of the project as having a good breakdown of when everything will be shot and edited by allows for a quicker and easier process. It makes life more simple for everyone and is effective. After having this conversation, we decided that the best course of action was to begin filming during spring break next week. This gives us enough time to finish up and perfect the elements of our film that we are missing or are not happy with. Luckily, all of my group will be at home during spring break giving us plenty of time to film. 

    The rest of this week will be focused on completing all elements of our film, planning and storyboarding. These parts of the project are crucial for having a successful opening and allow for the filming process to flow. After, some day early next week we will begin to film in my group members Aarons house . Having the whole day off everyday for the entirety of next week will prove to be fundamental and will give us plenty of time to film as we can go film almost everyday and have the whole day if we need to to film.

INDIVIDUAL ROLES

 INDIVIDUAL ROLES

  Today during our class time, me and my group met up for some minutes and decided what each of our individual roles will be for this project. We each chose and assigned each other the role which we think fits us best. Personally I chose editing because when it comes to this I really like to feel like I am in control. This obviously doesn't mean that we will just completely forget about each others responsibilities, what I mean by this is that just because I am in charge of editing, it doesn't mean that my group members will not provide me with input and help about things that can be done better and what things they want to incorporate. My groupmates Aaron and Juan decided that they mainly wanted to be actors in the film, the main ones that is. Enrique will be filming. Like I said previously though, we will all assist each other in everything, me and Enrique will still act and will be part of the main characters but not as much as Aaron and Juan. And we will all still help with the filming and give advice and ideas for it but it just wont be our specific focus.

    We thought that assigning each other specific jobs was best since it made the overall production easier for everyone. Whoever is in charge of each individual thing, though they will receive advice from other people it wont be their main focus and everyone will have majority control over their roles in the  production process. I thoroughly enjoy editing, therefor doing it for this project wont be an issue.

LOCATION/SHOT SCOUTING

 LOCATION/SHOT SCOUTING

    Today me and the rest of our group went to our groupmates Aarons house to spot where we want to shoot our film. Since his house is the one that we are using to film, we thought that it would be a good idea for us to go scope it out, this way we can get an idea of what rooms we can/ want to use and what shots we want to do in them. We found a time that was accesible to us all and went to his house. Aarons house is very modern and nice, whihc we thought would benifit us by showing and exemplifying the highschool party envirooment we want to create. But this also could be a problem since it is so big meaning that it will require more people in the film in order to make the house look full. As oppsosed to in a smaller house less people are needed to make something look packed. Aaron has a media room with cool lighting where we plan to shoot most of our close up shots due to its size and lighting. He also has a pool where we plan to film other shots of characters and them even possibly jumping in the pool. His kitchen and living room are also very good for shots where we want to incorporate lighting into the film as they are either mostly white ( Living room) or mostly black (Kitchen) giving us a good canvas to bounce color off of.

    We think that it was a good idea for us to go do this today as filming will start very soon, and having a shot list that includes the places where we want to shoot individual shots will benefit us in the long run. We will probably go back before filming starts just to finalize our ideas for shots and be fully prepared to start filming.

(Mostly white living room)

(Mostly black kitchen)

(Pool area)

(Media Room)

STORYBOARD

 STORYBOARD

    Today my group and I are doing our storyboard, hopefully, we are able to meet later on in the night to finish it. We know that this process is long and tedious and that having a good storyboard is something of utmost importance. It can be a guide to how you want your movie to go. Once you start shooting the movie sometimes you may sway in a different direction while shooting it, but having a storyboard prevents this from happening and keep you on a steady path. If we want to later change something in our movie we can do so but the main idea should stay concise and concurrent throughout the film. 

     We still don't have an exact idea of how long our storyboard is going to be but we're expecting anywhere from 20-30 boxes considering that we aren't going to include every single shot on their probably every other shot and the ones that show our filmmaking technique. We also think that it is crucial for all of our group members to be present when creating the storyboard since we want everyone to have as much input as possible on what the story should be made of, at the end of the day its not any singular person film but all of ours as a whole. We are also still debating whether we will make the storyboard on paper with a pen/pencil or online using a software 

(EXAMPLE OF DIGITAL STORYBOARD)

(EXAMPLE OF PHYSICAL STORYBOARD)

UPDATE

 UPDATE 

Yesterday in class we where able to get into our groups and discuss the further plans for the our project. We talked about how we wanted to go forward with our film and how we wanted to plan everything taking time into consideration. We decided to go forward with the calendar that I made and this weekend focus on the planning, next week we will start shooting which we predict will take around 2-4 days if we work for around 1 1/2 - 2 hours everyday. And finally the last week will be to do our editing and do our personal parts of the presentation such as the CCR.

This means that we will start planning soon and finish up our planning and our storyboards tomorrow. I’m excited to continue this and to see how it forms I will write tomorrow when we do our storyboard and planning.

SCHEDULE

 SCHEDULE 

    Today, my group and I had a quick meeting to discuss the following weeks and how we want to disperse our schedules, this included days of planning, shooting, and editing. We decided that the best way to go about this would be the following: We would conduct all of the planning elements and complete them all this week, doing storyboards, scripts, and everything else that goes into this. The next week we would start filing probably on a Wednesday so we can film all the way through Sunday and have as much time as possible. Then the next week would be all dedicated to editing the film and all of its components. This calendar would leave us with plenty of time, around one and a half weeks, to do our CCR. We feel that this is the best direction for us to head as we're not leaving everything for the last minute and spreading things out accordingly.

    Today's blog was a little shorter since I really don't have much to discuss except my upcoming plans, but I will have much more to talk and write about this week and what follows because I will be doing much more.

(CALENDAR I MADE SHOWING OUR DISTRIBUTION
OF WORK THROUGHOUT THE UPCOMING WEEKS)

SHOTS

 SHOTS

    Yesterday in class, we had a quick meeting with our teacher to discuss some of the ideas that we have for our film, and get feedback, as well as to make decisions about the type of shots that we wish to incorporate in our film. One idea that was mentioned that I personally really liked, was that of beginning the movie with a tracking shot, the shot would start at the front of the house going through the front door, and showing the party once it goes in. The camera would then move through the house and through various rooms showing the different characters in different areas and doing their freeze frame introduction then. We really liked this idea but think that it might be too complex to be able to do it well. First of all, it would be really hard to get the camera steady enough to do this for the whole film. It would also require the whole party to be done in one take since it is continuous. The set design would have to be really complex as we would have to make the whole house look like a party instead of just one room. Lastly, we would need a lot of people to participate in our film since the party needs to look full at all times, this is an issue since the person whose house was using reasonably doesn't want to have 30-40 people in his house, especially since they would have to keep coming back day after day for shooting.
     

    A way that we thought to solve this was to go and shoot some scenes at an actual party, although this is an idea it isn't very doable. First of all, it would be very hard to be shooting at a party with all the people constantly moving meaning we wouldn't be able to redo shots that well. It would also be a hassle to deal with background sound as well as people constantly moving. Lastly, and I think most importantly the set design would be different and not consistent, we would have a different house and different background in the party scene and in the morning scene. This is going to take a lot of thought as this is a very important part of the film and how we decide to plan and shoot it is crucial. We are going to have a group meeting tomorrow in my groupmate Aaron's house to discuss things such as this and other things as well. We will also be able to discuss set design since Aarons's house is where the film will be shot at. The things that we discuss tomorrow will help us move forward and I will write about them here, on my blog.

(Tracking shot example from movie "Wings" 1927)

CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION (CCR)

 CREATIVE CRITICAL REFLECTION (CCR)

    Today in class, we discussed the creative critical discussion reflection, or just CCR for short, this is a vital part of our final exam which has us make two different types of videos answering 4 questions. These questions specifically the first two dive deep into the process behind the film's major decisions such as target market and genre. These first two questions are more complex and require more thought put into them as well as screen time. The other two questions ask mostly about the elements and tools that you used in your production and why. The type of videos that the CCR can be are very broad and range from things such as talk show interviews to podcasts.

    While watching some CCR examples, an idea that really caught my eye was that of a podcast. I feel that this is a cool way to express your thoughts vocally and then back them up with images on the screen, perhaps also a logo of so said podcast. I also would like to discuss with my teacher the idea of making a visual podcast much like the ones that bigger podcasts such as Joe Rogans or Logan Pauls make. I could upload this video on Youtube, but an issue is that maybe it can look too much like a talk show interview which is the other idea I want to do. I also think that this talk show interview idea allows for space to incorporate really unique elements both visually with images and set designs, and vocally with the voice one speaks in. I would answer the first two questions most likely on the podcast since they are more serious and more technical and I would answer the other two during the talk show interview, as they are more fun and easygoing questions, much like the vibe or talk shows. I think that these two ideas are really interesting and I could put my own spin on them and make them good. 

(EXAMPLE OF TALK SHOW)

(EXAMPLE OF VISUAL PODCAST MENTIONED
"IMPAULSIVE")