Filming Outside the House

Filming Outside the House

Now that we finished filming the scenes inside, the main bits of the movie were finally dealt with. Honestly the bulk of the film is going to be the scenes from inside so we didn’t have much to do on the outside. We had to do our red carpet and car shots, which should’ve been easy but it may have been one of the most painful experiences of my life. I had to wear high heels, which I was aware of obviously. But... I didn’t know how large the actual size of the heels were going to be. I don’t know the exact inch measurement of them because I forgot to ask, but I needed help to put them on. The moment I put my feet into those god forsaken shoes, it felt like my toes were being crushed by the strongest machine ever created. Then when I tried to walk in them, I needed someone to support me and keep me up so I wouldn’t fall over into the concrete and die from face-planting. We had to walk up and down the carpet multiple times because the camera was turning on and off a lot (it was on low battery) and we needed to get multiple takes. But in all honestly, it was really difficult to do even those few takes just because I had to keep my face in a smile while I was suffering the greatest pain i’d ever experienced in my feet. Luckily we finished and I immediately took the heels off because I couldn’t stand being in them any longer. No pun intended. One thing that did complicate the shooting was the fact that there were... weather complications. It was raining and sprinkling a lot, so we had to be really quick with filming so that the water wouldn’t get all over the camera lens and all over me. Plus it had to be fast so it wouldn’t ruin my or Jaheim’s hair. The bright side of it though was the double rainbow that came after. I didn’t even know it was happening till Emily called us outside and I screamed really loudly from pure excitement because— wow, rainbows.

Filming Inside the House

Filming Inside the House

I'll be honest, getting the wedding photo scene ready was easily the most stressful part of the entire filming process. I play the female role, so I had to change outfits twice... and both times I had someone doing my hair and makeup. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of being touched, especially not so quickly all over my face and head in general-- it wasn't pleasant. We took the photo of me and Jaheim as quickly as possible so that I could just take everything off already, and so that we could frame it. Right after I changed into the nice velvety black dress I wear for the rest of the movie, got my hair done again and then set up for the table/dinner scene we had planned. We decided to film our scenes out of order just for the sake of convenience.

One thing that was annoying was that the table we used had mirrors around the whole thing, so finding a good spot to film me and Jaheim without having the camera in the reflection was difficult. We ended up having to set it up in a corner, but i'm afraid footage of Jaheim might have come out too dark because of that. After all, Emily and Andrea did comment that the lighting on him was really awful. Another issue was that we didn't have enough plates for the scene, since we originally planned on having more... but due to complications we just decided to make it easier and have a few less. 

As for my thoughts on being filmed? Having to take my glasses off for so long was terrible. I have the worst eyesight in the world, I can barely see 3 inches in front of my face, so let's just say I was not having the nicest time. I think I did quite well at acting though, i'm good at keeping a straight face so that I can just get it done. I'm sure all of us just wanted to get out of there, or at least I did, so I tried my best to keep it clean minus a few times where I forgot my lines.

The best part was definitely the scene of me and Jaheim yelling at each other. I have a rather strong voice, it's a little deep and powerful. More masculine than the typical female voice, I guess, and i'm really great at screaming so that just worked out great for me. I may or may not have used that as a vessel to release some pent-up aggression of mine... but let's not get into that! Nonetheless, everything got done and that's all that really matters to me. That, and of course all the marshmallows I got to eat while I waited.

Also... this is definitely the most humiliating photo of me to ever exist. I can't stress how much I hate it, but it's pretty funny at the same time I guess.

Waiting to Film

Waiting to Film

In terms of prepping to film for the movie, everything is nearly complete. Our schedule is completed. There's only a little bit of time left until it'll be time to go over and film. For now, Emily is getting costumes finished up as well as the props we'll be using in our movie. Shes been spending a really long time holding onto the foods we'll be eating, since she made them in advance. Luckily a lot of it is fondant, so it won't spoil quickly. As for the rest of the group, we don't have much else to do besides wait until it's time to go to Emily's house. Including myself, so for the time being i'm just going to spend some time at home and do homework. In reality, i'll probably be watching more anime rather than doing homework, but that's just me being a procrastinator again. I don't have much to do besides English homework, plus some pre-calculus and AICE US History work. It'll be a bit of a lax day. I don't plan on going too crazy on studying. 

Prepping for Filming

Prepping for Filming

Me and my group finally came down to a decision on filming. We have deadlines we need to meet, most importantly the deadline of the peer edit. Of course, we’re going to be having our film criticized by a classmate/group of peers so... we’re basically going to have to be done by very early March. There’s about three weekends left for groups to film, and me and my group have chosen to film this weekend. I’m going to get a ride around noon on Saturday and meet up with Emily and the rest of my group mates. From there, i’m getting picked up by her grandparents and then we’re going to go film in her grandparents’ house. I’m slightly intimidated though... Emily’s grandparents are a bit wealthy so they have a lot of things we can’t be touching once we get inside their house. I’m honestly just afraid of breaking something expensive since I obviously don’t have any money or means of replacing valuable items. Also... i’m afraid of becoming a dress-up doll for her grandmother because she desperately wants to dress me up because apparently I look like a pretty doll? That’s besides the point though. If i’m being totally honest, I don’t want to meet up with them at all. I’ve been having a really stressful week (life in general has been stressful lately) and surely i’m not prepared to spend time with people from school outside of school. I was looking forward to spending my weekend reading manga, drawing, practicing the language i’m learning, just doing my hobbies and all that, but I know I have to film the movie sooner rather than later. I know it’s basically now or never since my other group members often times have plans on the weekends... although I almost never do. Basically, this weekend is going to have to be a gold mine and we’re going to have to get everything done very quickly so that I can go home and catch up on all the sleep I lost earlier in the week from staying up doing homework. But as long as I stick to the schedule Emily made, I think filming day is gonna be a success. The only thing I find weird is that everyone expects for us to finish filming the entire picture in that one meet-up session, which to me sounds totally ridiculous and reckless, but in most cases in life i’m better off keeping my mouth shut so i’ve kept that though to myself. If we don’t finish though? There’s no doubt in my mind that i’ll be livid. So... I hope this works out. 

Planning Blog: Storyboarding

Planning Blog: Storyboarding

The storyboard for my film was done by two of my group members. In order of each scene, the following is drawn out: 

The first template shows a sketch of the film. protagonists (the married couple) in their wedding photo, before slowly zooming out to glass surrounding it as a foot steps down and shatters it, the couple will also be yelling at each other in the background as this happens although we didn't write that out explicitly. The camera will then cut to the couple arguing and yelling at each other. The next shots will be of a plate flying across the screen, followed by a bowl, and then a wine glass. Shots of each object breaking will be shown in between. The next scene is a scene of the protagonists in a fancy car. An establishing shot is used, and then a two shot showing one character looking at the driver, then jump cutting to the other looking outside the car window. The car then pulls up to the venue and quickly finish the drinks they were having before opening the door. One foot comes out followed by another with the camera zoomed into them, staying zoomed as the character walks down a red carpet with cameras flashing. Paparazzi will be shown accompanied by a bright camera flash that will then show the characters smiling. The second to last scene returns to the couples' home, showing food on their dining table. The female will look at the food, quickly looking away to meet eyes with the male before returning to the female as an eye-line match. As the final  scene, he food will then slowly be shown, revealing that what the characters are eating is... not quite right. This will take a bit longer to make the viewer intrigued, before ending the film (or well, the final scene of its beginning). 

Planning Blog: Title Design

Planning Blog: Title Design

For these Titles to work we need the editing to run smoothly. The one incharge of that is Jaheim. Emily will be incharge of most of the things that go into the film, like how it will flow, music, costume, and directing. The cast will be managed by Andrea and the film will be filmed by myself and Jaheim. The style of the font will be the same throughout except for the director. The sizes and colors will depend on how they are important and the background color. The way they flow is detailed in the Powerpoint. The tone of the titles are very muted and don't scream the real concept of the movie until the title and the directors name. The actors names (Victoria)(Jaheim)&(Andrea) will be shot into the scene with a prop. This will add a special aspect to the movie and test the level difficulty we can match.

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Planning Blog: Location, Schedule, etc.

Planning Blog: Location, Schedule, etc.

This was to show the schedule and what will go on during the scenes. For this the participants in the slide are the ones who will be filmed. The ones who will be behind the scenes will be Jaheim and I. I will be directing how the film persists. The location, sound, and schedule are as follows. With the specific dates those will have to be decided after the storyboarding process to estimate properly the amount of time needed. The health aspects of the planning process revolve around the specific scenes. There will be a first aid kit available along with water during the scenes with eating. The "health" during the car scenes is that they will wear a seat-belt and the car won't be moving. Due to the couple being celebrities the windows of the car will appear to be heavily tinted.

Planning Blog: Sound Script

Planning Blog: Sound Script

This is our sound script. In this power-point, we map out the general sounds that will be heard in the final product. Following the shooting scrip, we mapped out the general sounds of up each scene, both any possible dialogue as well as possible non-diegetic sound and diegetic. With the sound script, we don't have as much planning to do on the spot or any at all on the day we film. When planning though, we ran into another major issue. Our vision again relied on the subtlety and nuance of a charter. We found it hard to plan what exactly these characters would say. We again didn't want to leave it up to chance so we tried to describe any possible dialogue as best as possible. Areas like basic sounds were easier due to the genre research done beforehand. We based the scenes off of common conventions in the romantic genre.

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

Planning Blog: Shooting Script

This was the shooting script made for the movie we are doing. This script was a little difficult to work with in terms of how this will all fit, and if all of this will be too much for the beginning of the movie. This movie will only last around two minutes and therefore only 120 seconds. With this time-frame it was hard to figure out how all of the things will turn out to look. With the next blog (the sound script) it will mostly come together without the use of a visual. However visually is different then just writing it down as a script. Figuring out how this will match will be my next mission. To make sure it won't look like too much, and it will hopefully flow,once we add how this will fit together. With most dramas having many jump-cuts and romance films also having many jump-cuts this will be incorporated. The different scenes do give off the feelings of a drama/romance. However, at the end this will change with the different points of views being shown. This will be a good challenge and will be fun to see come together.