Complications with School

Complications with School

I'll be honest. I haven't done anything in a few days, basically everyday since quarantine started. On Friday school for my whole district/county was cancelled, and it's recently been extended until April 15th. Coronavirus has basically taken the world by storm. The internet is exploding with COVID-19 memes, CEO's of conglomerates are stepping down, countries are in shambles, politics in general is just totally done for. Honestly though, i'm having the time of my life. School is obviously something that i'm very blessed to be enrolled in, but it's so stressful these days that i'm really not sure if I can do it anymore. It's taking a big toll on me, basically my mental health since around December has just been really bad. I know that this whole ordeal isn't something I should be happy about, but i'm overjoyed that I actually have some time to myself. Spring break was already on the way, yeah, but having more time is like icing on the cake. I've just been watching anime and having online movie nights with friends. But in all seriousness, school is gonna be out of commission until probably March 30th. By that time I think online assignments and videos will probably be dished out, at least I know for sure it will be by one teacher of mine. Me and my group are still carrying on with reshooting and editing, this just kind of makes things more difficult than they really needed to be. Especially in terms of filming the CCR, which we were planning to film together taking turns so that it could just be easy. But I think i'm going to have to film it on my phone and edit it together, which is kind of annoying, but I guess there's nothing to do about it. I know it's supposed to be something similar to like an interview or talk show type style. I had the idea to maybe have my cat sit next to me and meow into a microphone and then put subtitles over it so it looks like she's asking me questions. It sounds funny, obviously, but I might scrap it. It might end up just looking pretty stupid. Re-editing is going to be a hassle for my group members that are more in charge of it, which I feel bad about, but again. We can't do anything else about it. After all, we can barely leave the house. Quarantine has really set the world on fire. People are afraid to leave their homes these days, all the shopping centers are closed or have very limited hours so malls are just completely barren. It's almost like living in a ghost town. The beach is closed off, grocery stores are going empty. Especially in terms of paper products-- I went to Target to try and find toilet paper and the entire section was literally clean gone. It's like a mini apocalypse that I think people are freaking out over way too much. But I could just be being naive since i'm young and have an okay immune system, so the virus wouldn't really affect me if I were to get it. Work hours are being limited for a lot of people also. My parents are coming home earlier since they're getting practically no business. A lot of places are turning into appointment only schedules temporarily. It's all pretty wild. But i'm taking this break one step at a time. Starting with catching up on the sleep i've lost over the last decade. 

Planning the Reshoot

Planning the Reshoot

The next step in filming my final project is the fated reshoot. In the beginning, I thought the idea of a reshoot sounded stupid, in all honesty. It sounded time consuming and I was really overconfident in how my film would turn out the first time everything was shot. But now that i’ve looked back at the comments people have on it, mainly from the peer review, I can see there are definitely some things that just aren’t right. Even when me and my group were editing it honestly just didn’t seem totally right to me. I think our storyline is very flawed and we don’t make enough use of the different angles we need to incorporate. Now that the reshoot is coming up soon, it should run smoother and we should be able to get actual proper footage this time. I mean, when we filmed some things like the scene at the dinner table, the footage just didn’t come out right at all. The lighting from the windows was so bright that when the camera focused only on Jaheim it was basically impossible to see anything other than his massive silhouette. Also as i’ve heard from peer reviews... our storyline is exactly very clear, at least in terms of what we’re trying to do with it. The general idea is there, our props are really good and everything makes sense but the story itself isn’t fleshed out enough. It feels more like a kind of confusing introduction to a movie that you didn’t watch the trailer for. I think that the reshoot is gonna have to be the time where we fix all of our mess-up’s and add in some new angles so that we can actually fit the criteria to pass. Yes, filming can be fun and it shouldn’t feel so much like a chore since this is just a high school class, but it would be pretty nice to actually pass the class so I can get my credit. We’re going to film again on the weekend (I think) so hopefully the weather will cooperate this time and just be sunny. Although I must say, i’m not ready to wear those ridiculous heels on my feet again. They’re monstrous, it’s like being put through torture but it’s just on your feet. Being in costume in general is not going to be very enjoyable for me. I don’t like being touched, but someone has to do my hair and someone has to do a bit of makeup on me so i’m gonna have to deal with people running their hands all over my head again without screaming at them. My self control has grown an astounding amount since I started this class at the beginning of the year. But with all that being said, I hope this reshoot goes better than the first filming sessions.

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).