Production Post - My Costumes

I finally got to film. I know, I procrastinated A LOT. But I am proud to say that I am almost fully done with filming. 

Yesterday, I began filming during school. I managed to film my school scenes but unfortunately, I could not film my bus scenes. So today I did that. I also filmed my very last scene today (the most important one, in my opinion) as it concludes with the idea that my character is struggling with something mentally. This introduces a melancholy plot instead of a monotone one which is what most would assume having just watched the first minute.  

I did film a couple of BTS, but I will warn you, they are pretty monotone as well, since I am only one person filming. However, I tried to make it seem like what I was doing was interesting, and I hope at least that worked.  

As you can see, I didn’t talk to the camera like I should have. Anyways, I show my outfit, which is in fact my costume. I really strongly believe that costumes are a great way to represent certain emotions and while my outfit doesn’t look so much like I just threw it on, it does convey the colors that my character feels. The blue jeans represent how my character is feeling sad, and the black shirt/black belt represents the exhaustion and depression that my character carries and deals with.  

In contrast, I suggested my mom wear light blue jeans and a white top. Light blue signifies a more relaxed and calmer vibe, and the white can signify many things such as peace, innocence, and happiness. The innocence part might not make sense for some, but I was trying to relay the idea that the mom of my film is free from the mental burdens that her daughter carries.  

Anyways, I am going to begin editing tomorrow. Hopefully I have enough shots, which I probably do since I have like three takes of every scene. But still, I am praying. 

Production Post - FInding Music

 A big part of my film is the idea that music is the way my character grounds themselves. Since it is so important, I dedicated a whole day to finding music that fits into my genre of film (non-copyright music, of course). I recorded a few different times where I was searching for this music. 

As you could probably tell, I am going for music that matches the melancholy tone of my film. This means that looking for music in the genres of indie and acoustic will grant me the most success. Although there is nothing wrong with the songs I am currently selecting, I would much rather prefer the indie and acoustic songs I already know of. But, we are going to have to make do and it will all work out in the end. 

I also made a list of the top songs I downloaded already:

1) I Know It's So - While She Smiled

2) Sirens - Undertones

3) A Shadow Doused in Flames - Medicine Sword

4) Lips - Gutterball

5) Poison - Tom West

(The one that is the most fitting so far is #1)

The music that is played in my film will be plying while the main character is on the bus. The scene will go: Eli (my main character) will arrive on the bus, sit down and immediately put her wired earbuds in. Once she chooses a song and it starts to play, the credits will also roll in. The music will be faded out after this scene and as she's walking home, the music will be faint and stop once she arrives home. The music will appear once again at the very end of the film. While Eli puts her earbuds back in during this scene, not only will the music play, but the title will flash on the screen.

This day was very successful as I found many songs that fit the vibe I was trying to go for. 

Until next time!

My Planning for Filming

 So now I have to plan. Time has been movie VERY quickly and I think I only realized this like JUST right now. However, I still have sufficient time to plan as I already got my main ideas and most of my planning down.

This is my plan:                                                                                                                                                  I'll start filming this weekend for the home scenes that are included in my film. That won't be as difficult as my school scenes with all the planning I have to do to make it work. For my home scenes though, I am going to film during the day, at around 3 pm, at the time I'd usually get home so when I film my school scenes, they'll match up as they'll be at the same time of day. 

My home scenes will be me walking in through the front door, walking to the kitchen, walking up the stairs, and laying on my bed after I enter my room. This is all very natural to me so it won't be hard to act up. I will probably try and film this in one day as the filming is not difficult in itself, but rather the acting is. 

I wanted to rent a camera and a microphone, however with the limited time I have, I don't think I'll be doing that. Instead, I'll use my iPhone which still has a pretty good quality camera and if anything, I'll probably edit the video to enhance or diminish certain colors if I can. 

The next few days after today, I'll be looking for copyright free music since the music is so important to my film and I want to have time to pick good options that represent my character correctly. I'll also research inspiration for my costume today and tomorrow since I'll have to start filming tomorrow anyways. 

For my school scenes though, I am going to be starting this next week, when I'll actually be in school to make it all the more realistic. Since I have scenes in a classroom, hallway, front of a school, and on a bus, I'll have to fit these scenes within the actual time frame in which I experience them for myself. So, when the bell rings for my character, I'll have to wait till the last period to record this in real time to show the background of people getting up as well. Kind of like the scene in the movie 'Speak' but I plan to have myself on the opposite side of the screen.

For walking in the halls though, I want to film the actual halls during class change or dismissal, but they get kind of crazy so maybe I'll just get a whole bunch of my friends to just act as extras. Also, for the front of the school soon, I'll actually stand in front of my school and actually walk to my bus. My bus scene will actually be me taking the bus home and I'll get one of my friends on my bus to record me looking out the window aesthetically and whatnot. 

Kind of like the first picture which is also from the movie 'Speak', but filmed the same way as the second picture.

So, I'll have to get my friends to help me record and I will do this on Monday or Tuesday because the rest of the week, I want have time to go over my footage and figure out if I need to re-record something or start editing right away. 

Anyways, I'll keep you guys updated on how everything goes. Bye for now!

My Production Logo

 So, my production company logo is very basic. However, it reminds me of the simplicity in many things we value the most. Since my film was based on music and falls under the genre of coming-of-age, I felt it was only fitting to use a clip of a walkman in my production logo. This represents the creativity in my project but also the beauty in habitual activities. 

I'm not sure where I found this clip, I just know I didn't film it myself because I unfortunately do not have a walkman. I made the movements and transitions on Canva as I forgot there were better sites to edit on but it seemed the easiest option. 

The editing itself was not difficult, yet the planning was. At first, I had no idea what I wanted to do and didn't know what would be a good idea, however, I think what I settled on fit well into the aesthetic of my film.

Costume & Set (actors)

I have decided that for my costumes, I don't want to take away the vibe that people already have in this current day. Especially since most of my background characters are going to be extras that can't really be seen so I don't want to force anyone to change their normal clothes to try match the vibe I'm going for in my film. So, the only planned costumes I'll be using are for the main character, Eli, her mom, and possibly her friend who only appears for a few seconds. 

Eli will be wearing a dark grungy outfit with shoes like Converse and a tight fitted black jacket. I also want Eli to not really be wearing much noticeable makeup because she's a very lazy and unmotivated person. Therefore, it wouldn't make sense if she tried improving her appearance. She'll also be wearing wired earbuds throughout some scenes and have messy/frizzy curly hair. I also made a moodboard for her outfit/costume.

For her parent, who will only have a screen time of about twenty to thirty seconds, they will be wearing a basic outfit for inside the house when cooking and trying to relax. Something very casual like some sweatpants or flowy pants with a baggy blouse. As for the friend, I want them to wear baggy jeans and a fitted tank top with just some sneakers. These outfits are not going to be extravagant at all, but rather basic but put-together, unlike my main character's outfit.

As said in my last post, my mom will be acting as the main character's parent. The main character is played by me so my mom won't really have to do much acting there except for displaying the emotions I want to catch in my scene. Yet, I didn't introduce the friend who will be played by my best friend who's currently in drama, so she'll do her part really well. 

Mise-en-scene and Set

Today, I want to discuss my film's mise-en-scene and set. In my opinion, I think the ambience of the film is the most important part because it reflect the emotion and feel of the scenes that are taking place. So, for my film, I wanted to make it very depressing and somber. This means I have to include elements such as dark clothing, dark and low lighting, and almost nostalgic themes. For this, I created a mood board:

The movie that really represents this aesthetic that I want to implement into my film is the movie 'Speak'. In my film, the clothes I want my character to wear are dark, incorporating a lot of black and including no accessories. So essentially, I want the outfit to be bland and basic showing no effort into putting making themselves presentable. 

Since my character is like pretty much depressed and has no motivation, this idea will be conveyed through the outfit. However, for the background, I don't want it to be completely dark. Mostly because I want a little bit of warm dark light to be present, symbolizing the young spirit my character still embodies. Also, since it's only the beginning of the movie, I don't want it to be totally dark and I want there to be hope for the character's happiness.

For my most important location, I was very much between my house and my friend's house. This was mostly because I didn't really want to be the main character in my film and also, my house is a bit too modern to give the same vibe as a sad coming-of-age movie. But, I did end up settling on my house and me being the main character because it's just way easier that way. 

For the school scenes, I'd film during one of my classes that would allow me to film in them. I'm alos going to be filming during class change or dismissal so I can get a whole bunch of people in the hallways to make it look realistic. However, this might be really embarrassing. Also for the bus scenes, I'd just be filming on my actual bus which would also be very embarrassing too. Although, I am going to have to pick a rainy/cloudy day or just a day that isn't super sunny because I really want to tie in the dull/dark ambience. The music I'm using for the bus scene is also going to help with this.

The scenes that are supposed to be in a house are going to be filmed in my home. I am going to have to figure out a way to make my house look more warm and darker rather than white and somewhat modern as it is right now. But after I do so, I will film my kitchen scenes with my mom, who'll be acting as the parent of my character. In reality, she's not going to be acting at all because she really is my mom. 

The scene that I really have planned out is the scene where the main character is in their room. For this, I am going to make sure almost no light is coming in through my windows and I want to turn on my lamp that has a yellowish tint. It'll also be quiet, exemplifying the lonliness that my character personifies. The only thing is, my room is also very bland and modern looking, as you can see in this picture.

Nonetheless, I am going to add posters and decorations to my walls and in my room to give a sort of grungy teenager vibe and I'll be adding a darker blanket to match this. 

Sound

 The Sounds I'd Use

During my film opening, there won’t be much conversating between the characters. I planned on just having monotone sounds to describe the main character’s (Eli’s) life and feelings. So, I will have to use lots of sound to substitute for the lack of talking. 

I don’t think I’ll have to do many foley sounds as my sounds are typical sounds you hear in your life. This is also representative of how the main character lives their life (very normal, repetitive, and monotonous).  

The first sounds are very important as this includes the ringing of a bell, kids talking, papers rustling, and backpack/zipper sounds. I might have to do foley sounds for one of these, but these sounds are important for my plot because they introduce the setting of a school. Later, the main character will be walking to their bus and there will still be sounds of voices of kids talking and I also want to include the outside sounds of school like birds chirping and bus noises. And, when my main character gets on the bus, there will be kids' voices along with music overlaying that. That's one thing I'm worried about because either I have to make my own music or pick a song, which are both difficult. 

For the kitchen scene, I'd use stove sounds like pots/boiling/clanking of dishes and sounds like opening up the fridge and closing it. These I'd definitely have to do some foley sounds for. Lastly, for the room scene, I'd have opening a door sound and closing a door sound and phone notifications. There are some other soudns like sighing and some other secondary sounds that I'll also be including.

Unfortunately for my foley sounds I won't have a studio like this one: 

But, I will have to make do with what I have and hope for the best. I believe that I'll be perfectly fine.

My Character and Their Development

 Personally, naming my character was really difficult, especially since I wasn’t sure if I was going to use their name in my actual film opening. So, I started off by just naming the MC (for ‘main character’). Now, I named my character Eli. However, I did know exactly how to develop my character’s personality. I made this character out to be very depressed and who turns to the feeling of isolation to feel safer with themselves. During my film opening, this is represented with them ignoring their friend at the beginning and their friend towards the end and being very cold and distant towards their parent.  

I wanted to do this to kind of convey the idea that they used to be outgoing, and they used to enjoy socializing, but something happened for them to break off that part of themselves completely. Along with this, they constantly stare at the floor while walking, as if looking up will disrupt their ‘routine’ of solitude and will disrupt the peace they are so desperately trying to chase.   

However, the premise of my film explains that the character experience character development as they meet someone who encourages them to find the light in life instead of just sulking in the dark. The character is also presented as someone who finds comfort in music when their silence of being isolated becomes deafening so, later in my film I wanted to show that they not only just find comfort in music anymore, but it also galvanizes them to take a more positive route in life. Nonetheless, this idea is only for my completed film, and I’ll only introduce the main character and the main problem in my film opening. The rest of the representation for this idea is going to be implemented through my execution of my film process.

My Script

Welcome back! Today I'll actually be sharing the script for my film opening. This is a very rough draft and since I haven't completed my storyboard yet, my plotline is not well thought-out yet (at least in my opinion). However, I still would love to share. So, as promised, this is my script:

Scene I - School

[Scene opens with MC sitting down at a desk at school]

MC: Staring at something in front of them.

[School bell rings]

MC: Looks down at desk with papers and quickly packs up.

MC:  Walking through halls looking down at floor.

MC: Walks out of school gates. 

MC: Glances up from floor to something in the distance.

[Camera POV match to another person in distance looking at MC] 

Person: Looks at MC and puts up their hand reluctantly as if trying to wave.

MC: Glances back down to floor. 

Person: Slowly lowers hand down as they look back at friends around them and smiles at them.

Scene II - Bus

[Commotion of kids talking and being loud on a bus]

MC: Walking into bus and sits down at seat by themselves.

MC: Puts on headphones and picks a song to play as they lean against the window, staring off into distance.

Scene III - Home

[Birds chirping and sun is bright. MC is walking home]

MC: By themselves, music still playing in headphones. Staring at floor as they walk.

MC: Arrives home and opens door. 

MC: Steps inside. Takes off headphones and music stops.

MC: Walks straight into kitchen.

[Parent is cooking on the stove already]

Parent: (Glancing twice behind them to look at MC.)

Parent: (while stirring pot) Oh, you’re home! How was school?

MC: (without glancing over) Fine.

MC: Opens fridge and looks inside. Takes out apple, looks at it, and puts it back.

MC: Leaves kitchen and heads up the stairs.

Parent: (while looking behind them) Did you- 

Parent: Stops talking as they realize MC left kitchen. Looks disappointed. Back to stirring pot.

Scene IV - MC’s Room

[Opens with inside shot of MC opening door to their room.]

MC: Opens door and closes it. Drops backpack onto floor and collapses onto bed.

MC: Just staring at the ceiling for a while. 

[Phone dings and lights up.] 

MC: Glances over and then looks away. Continues to stare at ceiling.

[Phone dings a second and then a third time.]

 MC: Forcefully shuts eyes and sighs. Picks up phone and goes to notification.

MC: Turns onto side and shown staring at friends text message.

Friend: (on messages - first text) Yo

Friend: (second text) U coming tonight

Friend: (third text) Everyone’s pulling up

MC: (staring at text for a few seconds then types) Nah

Friend: (on text) Yo what’s up with u? U don’t go out much anymore

MC: Stares at text and starts to type but deletes. Turns off phone and puts it down with a sigh. 

MC: Puts headphones on and blasts music. Shuts eyes.

I hope that you all enjoyed! Let me know if there's anything I should add. Storyboard will be coming soon!

My Film Opening Idea

My Idea

Originally, I had planned to do a film opening under the genre of horror but my idea was so butt, as my teacher recognized how under-developed and not thought out it was. However, now I can do a film opening of a genre I actually am comfortable with, which is coming-of-age. 

For my film, I want to follow a main character who's depressed and just pushing through life until they meet a character that shows them how to appreciate what they have. But, in my film opening, I am only going to include the introduction of the depressed main character. The whole film idea was created so I can have a better insight on what I want to do in my film opening.

So my idea is to start filming a kid in school as the bell rings and they get out of school and go on their bus. During this scene, I'd film the character leaning up against the window of their bus seat and put on their headphones, while the audience can hear a faded out version of their music playing. I'm not sure whether or not I'll let the music fade into the scene completely, because I still want to include the sounds of the kids and the commotion on the bus. While this is happening, I'll start putting the credits over the shot of the character looking very pensive yet sad, which is portrayed through the music they're playing, making the whole scene have a somber feeling.

After this, they are shown getting off the bus and walking home still with the music (by the way, all these scenes are going to show the character all by themselves to show that they are basically a loner which makes the audience more empathetic towards them). As they near/enter their home, they take off their headphones, ending the music and they start walking towards the kitchen, opening the fridge to scavenge for food. One of their parents will suddenly enter the frame, and greet them by asking "How was school?" and the character will reply with an curt/abrupt response of "It was fine" giving a sort of stand-off-ish vibe. Then they will pull out a food item, such as an apple but then as they are looking at it, debating whether or not they should take it, they put it back and leave the kitchen empty handed, saying no more to their parent. 

After, the main character will be shown walking up the stairs and entering their room. As they enter their room, they will suddenly drop their backpack harshly on the floor while collapsing onto their bed as if they were exhausted. The character will then just be staring at the ceiling in the same outstretched position until their thoughts get interupted by a ding. The ding then is shown to be coming from their phone which lit up in response to the sound and the character just looks over and then looks away, ignoring it almost completely. Then, it dings again and the character, once again, looks over, but this time they will let out a heavy sigh and then grab their phone. As they are looking at their phone they will maybe sigh again? I'm not sure about that part but then they change their position to be laying on their side, kind of curled up and looking at their phone. 

I will then show the phone and what it is focusing on. And what it'll be focusing on is a text message from the character's friend asking the character to hang out with their said 'friend group' that night. But the character's response will reject the invitation and the friend's response to that will be something along the lines of "What happened to you? You never hang out with us anymore." As the main character reads this, they will start to type a letter then erase it and then just turn off their phone completely. They will then silence their phone and put their headphones back on to listen to music and drown out their thoughts. And that will be the end of my film opening. 

I got most of my inspiration from 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower', 'Didi', and 'Speak'. Mostly, I just want to make a sad, yet inspirational coming-of-age film and my inspirations directly reflect my intended ideas.

Media Theory

 Media Theory For Film Project

For my film project, I have decided to do a coming-of-age film. Usually when I watch these types of films, I always interpret them in my own way. This kind of explains the media theory "Active Audience Theory" by Stuart Hall. It says that "...audiences are active consumers that interpret media through the lens of their own experiences and social contexts". This quote comes straight from a hand-out containing some of the many media theories used in different media spheres.

Since I noticed myself experiencing this through coming-of-age films, I decided to incorporate it into my film since many other people experience it as well. Most people often think very differently from each other about a theme that is trying to be established, such as the film 'Perks of Being a Wallflower'. In this film, audiences tend to connect the theme to friendship and the power it holds while others may connect it to growing up and overcoming trauma. This is because we all have experienced different lives and different situations in our own lives that alter our perspective on other's experiences.

Though 'Active Audience Theory' is the main theory I want to include in my production, I also want to incorporate the use of the 'Identity Theory' which also plays a huge role in coming-of-age movies. This is because people tend to relate themselves to characters on screen and, as the hand-out says, "...makes sense of their identity through affiliation with larger groups." As someone who is a teen, it is sometimes very crucial for us to have someone to relate to so we can explain our own selves.

Group Meeting #1 - Discussing Our Project Ideas

In class, we were paired with a group of people to talk about our own projects. We were divided into three groups, each with about 8 people, and we all just shared our ideas for our projects. All my group members had great ideas that were so creative, I was almost mad at myself for choosing such a basic plot for mine.  

The first person to share was Gus. He was very sociable and had such a good, organized blog. His idea was to make a film opening that felt like the film ‘Bullet Train’, which he included as inspiration. ‘Naked Gun’ was also a film in which sounded very much like the vibe he wanted to convey, yet he hadn’t watched it which surprised some of the group members. Overall, his idea sounded very interesting, and he articulated his words really well. 

Sebastian was the second person to share, and his idea was to construct a comedy car film. He wanted to create a vibe like that of Fast and Furious, where it is witty at times then suddenly changes to be more serious. What I thought was funny was that he wanted to do a jail scene and wanted it to look authentic, so he called the police station, asking if he could film there. Of course, they said no, but at least he tried. 

Ishaan wanted to make a comedy film where he would incorporate physical and dialogue comedy into his scenes. The scene would start with his main character coming home, only to find his front door already open. So, as anyone would assume, he thought his house had been broken into. As he enters his house, he grabs the first thing that he could use as a weapon, which was an umbrella. That represents the physical comedy he wanted to add. The audience would find out that it was just the character’s friend surprising him. I thought this idea was pretty comedic, with the umbrella really pulling everything together.  

Vitor’s idea was one that was very complex. He included so many details, some that I can’t remember. What I remember though, is that he wants to do a thriller/drama film and he wants to include his friends who are band kids. He would assign the wrong instruments for them except for the person who’d play the keyboard who is good. The premise of the story is that the band is dragging the keyboardist down and they end up doing “dumb stuff” and they get kicked in their butts.  

Lina wants to make a coming-of-age movie. She doesn’t know her whole plot yet, but she’s taking inspiration from Napolean Dynamite and Ladybird. She wants to include school scenes following the main character. This is very similar to what I wanted to do for my project, so I really enjoyed what she had to say. 

Overall, my group was very sociable and had great ideas, though two people didn’t really talk since there wasn’t enough time to share. I liked doing this group assignment because I got to hear more ideas to include in my own project.