Filming Blog: Hectic Heights

So far, I have postponed my editing and extended my filming phase; although I am almost complete with capturing my raw footage, I would like to have all the footage at hand before editing certain parts and making it seem non-cohesive. The last parts I need to film will be captured this weekend; these parts include the airport and the sleepover. As the airport needs a distinctive time, which does not work with my weekly schedule, and the sleepover is a two-day process, both of these events seemed perfect to hold during the weekend. The process of sequential order was not necessarily the problem but rather which one would take more time. The airport is further away to drive toward yet has a small scene time; although, the house for the sleepover is a closer drive but will take more time to film. So, for the order, it was based on the way our schedules were set and which scenes could be shot. Furthermore, I also had an event planned this weekend so I was not completely available for the selected scenes. Conclusively, I decided to film the sleepover scenes first then the airport scenes; although that is going in sequential order, which I do not particularly favor, it made the most amount of sense. With all of this in mind, editing will occur at the beginning of the weekend; although this process may take a bit longer than the weekend itself, it will be ready in time for peer reviews. Since more scenes need editing than others, I will edit the scenes that need more progress than ones that take shorter times; not only is this process time-efficient but, it gets the bigger parts out of the way leaving smaller work for the rest of the week. Parts that need more editing, for example, include the introduction house where the college girl is first seen; not only does that part include various scenes, however, it includes music, dialogue, and the main titles. So, more time is needed to focus on higher amounts of edits rather than the specific edit itself; even so, I will edit the majority of my film with my own equipped software.

Filming Blog: Go Big or Go Home

Unfortunately, I could not film as much as I wanted to during February 21st-23rd because I attended an academic field trip to Orlando, FL for Business Professionals of America (BPA) and would not return until that afternoon. With the long duration of the trip as well as preparing and actively executing my work, I overestimated the amount of "free" time available during the weekend. By the time I returned back home, which is approximately 4 hours, there was very limited time to set up and film all the scenes that I desired; so, I had only filmed scenes that had little duration and were easy to direct. The scenes I filmed were quickly shot and a fraction of the raw footage may need to be re-shot; however, at this moment I will only be filming what is required and then reshoot any scenes that lack quality. As I filmed, I did achieve to get a variety of scenes such as the car and mall. I had filmed the car first then the mall; the development behind this is to follow the storyboard. Since the mall scenes succeed in the car scenes, that means, rationally, it should be later in the day for the mall scenes. Although, there was just enough bright lighting to still see the subject and the surrounding area. At this moment, I am viewing and judging my own performances so I have a general idea of what should happen. For the next week and weekend approaching, I hope to finish all of my filmings and start editing my already collected raw footage; for the editing, I want to specifically edit visually than audibly. In this aspect, it is very easy for me as I can edit visuals faster rather than audio; this is due to having the audio in the correct duration and positions so it is perfectly sound with the film. For the rest of my filming that still remains to be complete, I hope to film the house and sleepover during the same day then edit succeeding. Of course, following the same thought process as the already collected footage, the house will be filmed first than the sleepover.

Filming Blog: Delayed Schedule

In this blog, I will discuss the schedule change of my storyboard for my movie. For the past weekend or so, I have been editing my storyboard with replacing the park or shopping scenes; after further analysis, the number of places I have does not necessarily correlate to my genre; in fact, it made my schedule much more complicated and the story less complete. With the story constantly jumping from area to area, it discourages the consistency of the idea behind my movie; my story can still be an action genre when applied in a different way. I found out that my genre is applicable in the stance of movement and dynamics from a specific location rather than jumping from multiple locations which force fast developments between characters rather than developing a full relationship. I want my story to flow smoothly while also holding the original plot in mind; this is specifically hard to do in that situation of introducing many new and different topics. Conclusively, I have decided to fix the part of the storyboard with the park scenes; those scenes are very repetitive of what already happened (as in people questioning the college girl) and lead in a bunch of supporting characters that do not add much to the storyline itself. Whether we admit it or not, every character in a book has some degree of significance; it does not make any significance when multiple people all represent the same idea.
I decided to replace the park scenes with an extended version of the shopping mall situation; the twist is that more of her friends coincidentally meet the college girl before she leaves. This allows my story to remain consistent with the scenery and with the characters' relationships; it specifically focuses on the contrast of relationships between the college girl with her close friend versus her other friends. Although this may seem like a difference in personality and "fake" identity, people tend to do this gesture all the time; where people act in different ways around different people. Overall, I believe adjusting the park scenes were the greatest decision as it allows flexibility, consistency, and a formally complete movie introduction.

Planning Blog: Storyboard

 The above PowerPoint is my Storyboard for my movie; although I wanted to color it for finishing touches, I realized my storyboard may change in the future which would cause conflict and more time-consuming work; so, for now, my storyboard is in pencil and will be colored when it is actually finished/ when the filming is complete. Also, I was notified that our class will have peer reviews soon and so I kept that in mind for my storyboard as well. My storyboard just reflects the combination of both the visuals and sounds; however, in the description box, there is more listed for visuals rather than sound as the sound is a simpler element. One thing to note is that the actors and objects that are more contrasted are usually more important; for example, the college girl is more bolded than compared to her other friends that show up later. Should any additional complications show up, there are backed up locations and back up actors; with any future changes should be noted in the later blogs along with my commentary on how it was resolved.

Planning Blog: Title Design

The above PowerPoint is my crafted titles implemented in my movie; their form and characteristics reflect those of example action movies with their titles. I mention the font, contrast, color, size, duration, credits, and titles to ensure clarity to the highest maximum. Most factors for the titles usually work together in cohesiveness such as the font with the contrast and size with duration. This design is formed very custom due to personal interests and likes, however, all specific characteristics are supported. The font will be very animated to show a school/ childish perspective to reflect the young beginnings of the college girl; the contrast is represented in the title to give greater emphasis and catch the attention of the audience; the color varies between the working title and the crew and also is consistently light; the size of the people is bigger than the jobs and the size of the working title is bigger than the people; the duration will not be long, only long enough to read the title presented and continue; the overall credits will be presented in places convenient for the audience (i.e. on a billboard, piece of paper, etc); and lastly the Working Title, Escapist, will be presented in the open and have a very "popped" perspective.

Planning Blog: Schedule, Location, Participants, Health & Safety

The above PowerPoint is my crafted plan and factors implemented in my movie; all of these factors are significant in some way, although, some are more significant than others. The schedule may be the most intense plan as well as fluctuated as we could encounter errors that schedule back the whole process. Most of the schedule occurs through February and to the middle/ late March. The locations will remain the same, especially with permission granted by the owners and/ or security. All consistent participants will have consent whether to be filmed or not; however, this is harder to apply to strangers/ pedestrians in the background. Health and Safety are both great issues; more so safety for this movie introduction rather than health. Both are regulated by parental/ adult guidance so, no participant should get injured.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

The above PowerPoint is my crafted sound script for my movie; specifically what the actors will be saying and what sounds will be heard in the background. Although some slight audio changes may occur, the majority of it will remain the same and the mood will be preserved. Additionally, I will only be observing royalty-free music unless given permission to use royalty music; of course, permission needs to be received before the due date of my project. The elements incorporated into music such as beat, flow, tone, pitch, and more establish the mood for the scene; this is why most of my music used will give a traveling or inspired vibe, to ensure the audience's engagement. Although, the bulk of the introduction includes dialogue between actors- especially in the middle of the introduction. Some audio will overlap such as the background music and dialogue which develops the intensity and gives a basic example of how audio is incorporated into films to engage attention; conclusively, audio is necessary for my film and helps to better convey the reaction and emotions of the audience.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

The above PowerPoint is my crafted shooting script for my movie; specifically what the actors will be doing, how they will be doing it, and in what surroundings they will be doing those actions in. Although some actions or angles may change, the majority of it will remain the same and the concepts will be preserved. In addition, I incorporated my favorite aspects of the action genre into the script mainly by the use of location changes; with the constant changes occurring roughly every 15- 30 seconds, it gives a swift mindset and captures the audience's attention by adding more motion and interaction. Other elements such as lighting and actor/ character development emphasize action by having the introduction and adjustment to a chaotic lifestyle. Lighting specifically focuses on the greater subject and what the audience should be signifying their attention to; both light and dark lighting are used in this matter, however, light tends to emphasize good and dark tends to emphasize badly. Personally, I believe it will be harder to film given such various amount of locations and timing that will be given to it; although, since most locations are in the same general area it should not be as difficult as I anticipate.