Dresses

 Hey guys! It's my birthday, yay! I just wanted to give an update on the final decisions for the clothes I'll be wearing on the short film as Margot. 

Day 1

this is the "happy dress", I bought it just for this film.

Day 2

This is the famous red dress I have used in my last portfolio project. I also wore it in one of this year's projects. It came to a point where it has emotional value to me, :P

Day 3

I want to film this on Friday. I already have everything prepared, so when I start filming it's not going to be complicated and stressful, but rather smooth and enjoyable.

That's all I can say for now! See you soon... I'll update you on how my day is going to go!

                                            

Poster Making Process

 Hey guys! I want to figure out what aesthetic I want for my piece! I will make a mood board and think about ideas for the posters more in depth throughout today's blog post!

- The first thing I know ( and you guys might have figured out) is that I really like a Wes Anderson vibe. The whole colors thing got me excited because I can make something inspired by him. Here are some possible inspo covers:

I also love the movie Call Me By Your Name, It's beautiful! I love the cover and the art in this piece, therefore I want to inspire myself with it too.

I think I want 1 poster to have yellow and green vibes, and another one to be either a contrast os color and black and white or blue or red, I don't know yet.

- some possible ideas are a picture of Marylin doing yoga (it's on the short film) with the garden leaves on the back, I can also draw a calendar and make a simple poster with just a calendar. I could also have a picture of Marylin on her bike as she is going out of her house.

Mood boards ( made by me or from the internet): 

How am I doing? How do I feel about this project?

 I feel like I don't talk enough about how I've been in my blog posts, and I know it's not what I am writing it for, but I feel like I should be able to take my stress away a little bit, take a second to think about what I am doing and how that affects me. Lately I've been very tired. I don't really know why, I try my best to sleep well, eat healthy and do all of that stuff. But for some reason, I am always tired and unmotivated, it's really weird. My job is also making me a little stressed, I feel restrained by having to work instead of doing things intuitively. I work around 6:30 hours to 7:20 hours ( which I wasn't even supposed to do but I have to) !!!!! Anyways, living in a little cycle when all I can think about is doing things right can be very sad. Although I love film and I love the project that I am making, sometimes I just feel like I should do something more relaxing and that takes less energy. I know I have issues with time management, and I have improved those and I'm still working on them, but I have some weeks where I just spiral down...

I hope it is understandable that I have my moments, but anything I don't do in one of those "spiral down" weeks I make up for in my energized weeks...

Another thing that has been stressing me out is that my birthday is coming up. I usually love my birthdays, but this time, I feel weird, I feel like time is passing by so fast that I am losing control of my reality.... the days are getting faster and I am sort of having a little crisis...

Anyways, I feel like I shouldn't keep going with this whole talking about me thing or else I'll go down a rabbit hole and write nonstop. This was enough ranting...

However, I am still obviously focused on the project, I love it, I want it to happen and I want it to be perfect. I want this to be the project I show to people when they ask me about my hobbies. After all, I did apply to university with a media production major! :P (go noles btw hehe)

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk!!!!!!

Updates!!

 Hey guys!!! I have a few changes to announce!

So, first things first, I finally found a name! It's going to be "hue of life"

I don't know if it's cheesy or not, but I'll take it because at this point anything sounds cheesy to me...

Another thing is that my dress finally came!!!! I have dresses for all of the days now: a yellow one, a red one, a blue one and a black one (which I am still deciding because there are too many options, I own mostly black outfits)

I created a social media page as well, it's called hueoflife_shortfilm and it's on Instagram. I used the professional account feature. I will delve deeper into that once I have some footage done. I once I have that on, I want to make a blog post about marketing regarding the social media page.

This is the social media page, it's naked rn but I'll make it pretty very soon!

Another thing is that I will be filming on Wednesday and Friday, and on Saturday and Sunday I am expecting to have either edited a good part, done the posters or social media. I want to end the whole process on April 6th, and work on the CCR for the other 4 days left. I want to seek advice for a better CCR because I remember my last project did not get good feedback for the CCR. I will be looking into my classmate's  advice as well as more experienced people that have taken this class before. 

I have a scene with a news reporter on the TV. I asked Larissa to be the actress for that part, and she said yes! I am also helping her with her project by acting. We love the teamwork, slay! I don't know what I would do without her, she helped me so much last year, not only for this class but for other things ( and I hoped I was helpful to her too). I am asking a friend to film but Larissa might film on one of the days, we'll see.

My storyboard and script were hard to make but I am SO SURE it will make the filming process 10000000000000 times easier, I won't have to brainstorm or anything while filming, it's going to be quick and practical.

I will be editing in Adobe Premiere, and 1 idea I have for a poster is a picture of the calendar (either drawn digitally or an actual photo) and the name of the short film... I will make a blog post about it as well. 

Storyboard Act II

 Hey guys!! I am done with Act II's storyboard!!!

This is the OneDrive Link: 

https://browardcountyschools-my.sharepoint.com/:b:/g/personal/0617044415_my_browardschools_com/EfZIQfFtTtxCrvAyMmqWob8BPaD3zjcQ0riCMf3TMBjWvg?e=UAirZ8 

Act 2 Script

 Hey guys!!! I finally have my Act 2 script! I am very happy about how the story is overall going smoothly! I do write a bit, my only concern is that my piece might exceed 5 minutes but I'll make sure it's not by too much. Act 2 is the longest act and therefore took me the most time. I had to think about how to portray the emotions I wanted in a way that seemed a little post-modernist, Truman show vibe, with very exaggerated and comical traits. I am happy with this piece! I want to start filming on Monday the 28th because the dress I ordered only gets here the 23rd and I have a family thing going on along with work.  

By the way, my free trial with Celtx ended and I'm so sad because now I can't do many cool stuff like exporting a link that is non- editable. That means I can't share the link with you guys :( But above is a sneak peek!

I'm as sad as Margot in Act II! 

My next step is the storyboard for act II and the script for Act III. I'll see which one I want to do first.  This is it for now, bye!

Editing

 Hey guys!!! Today I wanted to do research on editing because while I was doing the storyboard I remembered that I should learn more about some camera movements and composition techniques. It’s also nice to be able to step back from making scripts and a storyboard to see if everything works together.

Shot/ Reverse Shot

-shows dialogue between characters

-show person a’s face, then show person b’s face and this helps show their reactions

Continuity editing

-character looks at an object aqay from the camera view and then there’s a shot of what the character was looking at

-This includes POV shots and action match

Graphic match

- cut between two different objects, spaces or compositions in which two objects match

Crosscutting/Parallel Editing

-tells that two settings are happening at the same time

-keeps cutting from one action to another

Cutaway

- interrupts a continuous scene

-typically cuts back to the first shot

-helps create context and timing for an action

- good for fixing mistakes

Insert

-shot of the same thing filmed from a different angle

-visual interest

Jump cut

- two sequential shots that are similar

- develops timing and creates a sense of madness

Composition

-when someone looks at the camera, it brings attention to them

-light placement matters

-consider the rule of 2/3

- depth of field- distance between closest and farthest objects from the camera

- deep focus- entire image is sharp, has a small deprh of field

Zooms

-doesnt move the camera

- gives the impression of movement

zooming in- tighter

zooming out- looser

Act 1 Storyboard

 Today I completed the storyboard for Act 1! It is a little long, but I think I could organize my ideas pretty well! The images are pretty detailed and this will make my filming process way easier! :)

Here's a link for a document I made so that you can see the storyboard with better quality:

Short Film Storyboard A Level

Act 1 Script

 Hey guys! Today I started with my script. I used Celtx to help me organize it. I am still trying to figure things out but at least I am getting it done. I have also looked at tutorials on the internet ( like Wikihow: https://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Script) to help me better write my story. I am in between either doing the whole script first or alternating between script and storyboard. 

This takes me a very long time because it is very hard for me to get the right amount of detail; I don't want to go too into it or else I'll start to overcomplicate things.

If you are interested in reading it with more quality on the image you can use the link for my Celtx:  Act 1: Yellow, Yellow, Yellow

There were many things about Celtx that I liked. I want to explore their features better as I go.

Story Outline Updated

 Hey guys! Today I had a very revealing conversation that made me realize that I was over complicating things. When I tried to change my story from markers to candles, I dug myself a little rabbit hole that was hard to come out. But now I realized I'm #teammarkersandcalendar

This is how the story will be cut:

Act 1: Yellow, Yellow and Yellow

- introduction to the calendar and the markers

- Margot's yellow days

- emphasize how markers change her day

- emphasize how she doesn't use other colors

Act 2: Yellow ends, enters other colors

- Gets desperate and enters a manic episode

- chooses another color

- lives day on another color 

- comes back, decides to choose another color

- lives the other color, gets stressed out

 - comes back, decides to choose another color

- lives the other color, bursts out in stress and starts aggressively marking the calendars with the colors left so that they end

- montage of days passing and her marking the calendar

- stops when the colors end, she grabs them and throw them away.

Act 3: Black and White world

- Margot wakes up and she realizes her world is now black and white. 

- She looks in the mirror and feels a void inside

- everything is so quiet, it's eerie even.

- she starts narrating with her thoughts

- she notices how the calendar is what was taking over her right to write her own story, and how her need to feel happy all the time felt superficial.

- She burns the calendar and colors fade back into her life.

Character Design

 

Hey guys!!! I got my character design done for Margot today! It took a lot of time, I'm very happy with how it turned out!

Story Outline

 Today I will be making the story outline for my project. I hope I can figure out some questions I have about the overall plot of my story and how I will build it.

Premise

Characters

- Margot- Margot is the main character of the story. She is very curious and imaginative. She thinks that she is very mature for her age though, she likes to think she has her whole life figured out, which is definitely not the case. Her clean room and obsession for being organized shows how much control she likes to have over her life. She is an only child, and always had the same things around her: same schedule, same friend, same everything. This series of events might get the best of her because for the first time she will feel like she won't have control about her situation. She wears her hair on an off-center part with two hair clips. She has long, blonde hair that can be a little fluffy. 

- Lisa- Lisa is Margot's best friend. She is younger than Margot and more impressionable. However, even though she might be more innocent and ingenuous, she manages to see a realer world, which ends up making her react to unexpected life events better than her friend. Lisa likes to wear her hair in a side braid with flower hair clips. She wears a soft, modest dress with pretty details.

- Parents- Margot's parents are there to help her. When Margot received the candles, they wanted to have a talk with her to help her understand that life isn't what you want it to be all the time. However, Margot never has time to participate in that conversation. They feel guilty because they might not have prepared their child for real life. 

Location

House- The main location will be the house (I am using mine). 

Park- Vista View Park

Lake- still deciding which lake. 

Circumstances

In this universe, colorful candles are given to people each year. At the beginning of your life, you start out with a simple set of yellow candles. Once you turn 15, you start getting a new set of candles, with more colors to explore. 

Plot

inciting incident

Girl goes through her second candle (blue) from the new set and finds out that her new colors might not be as fun.

rising action

Girl becomes very sad about her friend not being at the lake to see her, then the next day becoming very angry and throwing a fit over what happened.

climax

Girl concludes that the fault for all of this happening was the candles, and she then steps on the candles and throws them away. She lights the yellow candle and goes to sleep.

falling action

Margot wakes up in a black and white world, nobody is there anymore. She gets desperate and starts crying hysterically. The universe has a talk with her and she realizes her errors. 

resolution

Margot notices that she never really saw a proper way of using her new candles. She then asks the universe for guidance, and she realizes that she never read the instructions for the new candles. The universe gives her a second chance and gives her a new set of candles. She lights up all of them and the world gets colorful as we know it.

Theme

Growing up can be hard. You might find events that weren't expected, but it's important to remember that after all, you have control about how to deal with different situations, you can change your life by the way you look at it. Ignoring your true feelings and trying to be happy all the time doesn't work. There will be uncomfortable moments in life and you have to learn how to deal with them.

Sources: 

https://www.docformats.com/story-outline/#:~:text=What%20Is%20a%20Story%20Outline%3F%20A%20story%20outline,somewhere%20to%20refer%20to%20during%20the%20writing%20process.

Adjusting my Story (Update: just kidding :P)

 Hey! I took a lot of time today to think of a way that I could make my story more interesting! Here it is! I will obviously still find things I have to adjust but I think I have a clearer picture now!

Girl receives her candle set every year. She used to only get yellow candles assigned to her. On her birthday, she receives another set of candles. This time, she only has one yellow candle. She is super excited to try out those new colors! She is a teenager now!  The parents look at each other with a face of worry. They explain to her that when you grow older, you start to see other colors, and that it might not be what she expects. The girl calls her friend on her phone, very excited, talking about her new colors! She asks if the friend also has other colors, but she hasn't. They schedule to talk in the park the next day. The girl lights up a green candle and goes to sleep. As she wakes up the next day, the candle is turned off. Her world is green now! She feels very relaxed and wants to connect with nature. 

They meet up at the park and she starts talking to her friend about her experiences. She is amazed at these new candles! colors are so much fun! She feels very hippie, and starts meditating and hugging trees. The friend doesn't quite understand, but is happy for her. They have a talk about how different and how better their lives are going to be with these magical, new colors!

     They both have to go home now. The girl bikes home, and starts talking to her parents about how her day went. They are happy for her, but want to talk. She says she's tired, and will have the talk the next day.

     Before turning off the lights, she turns on her Blue candle. She wakes up the next day, extremely sad. She has no motivation to do anything. She looks at herself, and feels horrible. She goes to the lake, as scheduled with her friend, but she never gets there. 

     Red candle moment- she wakes up, very angry at her friend. She calls her and starts bashing on her. Her friend tells her that she must have gone to the wrong location. She tells her back that she doesn't know what she's talking about, that she would never get the location wrong. She starts asking if she decided to start hanging out with people "her level" because she can see new colors now. The friend tells her to calm down. She is so furious. So angry. She can't believe that these colors ruined her friendship! She needs to stop this. She has a scene where she decides to smash the candles and burn them. "I'll receive a new, fixed set" she thought. And she didn't get all the colors back. In fact, she didn't get any colors back. 

        Her world is now black and white. She doesn't understand what is happening. She calls her friend, but nobody answers. She walks around the house to see if her parents are there. They are not. She doesn't know what to do, she feels hopeless. She walks out of her house to see if there is anyone out. She comes back home without any hopes. She starts writing on her diary about how she regrets doing what she did. She wishes she had one more chance. The universe hears her and interacts with her. She says she wishes she had at least heard what her parents had to say. The universe tells her that things are not always going to go the way she wants them to, and that she missed her chance, but if she wanted to hear what her parents had to say at that moment, she could've. She notices that the candles were not good for her. 

        She decided to destroy the candles, even the happy ones, and start living life in a different way. she grabs all candles, all matches she owns, and lights up a fire. As the whole thing is burning, the world starts receiving colors normally- not just one color. This is what her parents wanted to talk about- how you should have all colors together. Even the ones that frustrate you are essential for the world to have color.

UPDATE!

I don' t know what I was thinking, I was insecure about how my story was at first but now I think that I was really overthinking. My story was simple and original, and I should keep it that way. Pretend this was just a brainstorming blog lol

Another thing is that I basically came to the conclusion that my film will actually be experimental, and that although I was uncomfortable with the content itself, experimental has more focus on the narrative.

                                 

Shot Types

 Hi everyone! I noticed that I always start my blogs with "hey guys", so I wanted to say something different idk :P

So today I wanted to do some research on shot types. This is because I think it's important for me to know my options before doing a storyboard. This way, I can understand how each can create different effects and meanings, and have better quality on my piece. I love experimenting with and researching different shots, it's fun! 

Establishing shot

- sets up context for the scene, used a lot at the beginning of a piece.

- Establishes setting, time, relationship, etc.

- provides context without having to specifically state it

For example, in Edward Scissorhands (1990), there is an establishing shot of the abandoned house in the neighborhood. It helps establish that the character might go in there and the story will start taking place in that area.

Extreme Long Shot

- used as establishing shot a lot

Life of Pi (2012)

 The ELS helps show how Pi is in the middle of nowhere, but simultaneously how nowhere can be beautiful.

Wide Shot

- Subject fills the frame.

- entire body. 

- helps to show movement and establish emotions ( mostly in the case of agression and anger, but could also show happiness through a person jumping around, for example)

In this scene from Up (2009), the wide shot lets viewers see how the couple is interacting and understand the situation happening.

Medium Shot

- from the waist up

- easier to see a person's gestures and body language while still showing some of the background.

In The Wolf of Wall Street (2013), viewers can see how the main character is happy and celebrating through this medium shot.

Close-Up

- Shoulders and up

- more intimate, conveys emotions better

The Shining (1980)

The character's psychopathic facial expressions are easily communicated to the audience in this close-up shot.

Extreme close-up

- specific subject fills frame

- helps show extreme detail

Psycho (1960)
In this scene from Psycho, viewers can see the tiny details in Marion's face. They see that she cried, and her eyes are wide open... she is dead. It makes the scene more dramatic and impactful.

Two-Shot

- Helps settling relationship

- shows equality and interaction.

Mean Girls (2004)

In this scene, viewers can see the dialogue between Gretchen and Katie. Gretchen tells Katie secrets about her life and that makes them bond. They are seen as equals now.

Over the shoulder shot

- over the shoulder of someone, 1/3 of that person is shown 

- the real focus is the other person's reactions and emotions, establishes a point of view and a relationship.

- shows dialogue.

Mean Girls (2004)

Although the shot is filmed from Katie's Classmate's shoulder, Katie is the actual focus. 

POV Shot

- Show a subject's perspective

- camera should be placed at "eye level"

Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows Part One (2010). Shows Harry looking at his own reflection and lets viewers see his perspective.

High Angle Shot

- filmed from above a subject

- makes them seem smaller and weaker.

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (2005). Veruca is filmed in a high angle shot to show how she's just a little child.

Low Angle

- Filmed from below

- usually used to show power over something, dominance. 

- can also represent an ethereal and powerful creature when combined with high key lighting.

The Lorax (2012). Once-Leer shows his power over nature with a low angle shot.

This is the best image I could find of what could be an ethereal low angle shot. It makes the statue look very grand and powerful.

Dutch Angle

- Camera is tilted to create a sense of confusion chaos madness, or even fantasy.

- Can also give a homemade vibe.

From American Horror Story: Asylum (2012-2013)

The Dutch angle helps transmit the confusion and crazy things surrounding Kit's reality. He needs to escape but doesn't know how.

This is it for today! This blog is going to help me a lot because now I can start thinking about my storyboard and what shots to use. Also, I just wanted to say that most of the movies and series I mentioned are great and I love them! Anyways, I am going to start working on my story outline and character design. See you there!

Sources:

https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/close-up-shot/

https://unsplash.com/photos/T0uR_2QHous 

https://boords.com/blog/16-types-of-camera-shots-and-angles-with-gifs