Sneak Peeks

Here are some few pics and vids of our film opening, we are so close to uploading it and we can not wait for all of you to see it.

Changes

Hey guys it has been a while since I have blogged. I know I'm sorry. There is so much that you guys have missed and I am going to tell you right now. I am not sure if you guys remember how my partner and I were going to use children as our participants for the film opening. Also we were going to film with red lightning and a bathroom as our setting. Unfortunately, all those things have requirements that we both can not meet. The children were just too far from our location, and we had another set of children but their mother is going through pregnancy. The red lightning and bathroom was just not something we pictured in our heads.


So PLOT TWIIIISST!

We switched everything up. We made the main character one of us. We switched the lightning and the location of the film. We started filming and I have to say that I am actually impressed on how we contributed all the production techniques we have learned throughout the school year.

No more spoilers, the film will be coming out soon.

Don't sleep on it.

Group Meetings

On Friday, we had group discussions where everyone in the class gets put in a group to receive ideas and critiques from others. To be honest , I really enjoy these because it gives me a chance to find out what my project needs help on. Additionally, I can give help to others as well. Throughout these group meetings, one person gives a concise summary of their film and the behind the scenes process. During the time that the person is speaking every person in the group adds a comment based on what the person is speaking about. I personally find it very interesting because I get to take inspiration from the other participants.

I like that throughout these group discussions, I can ask my peers questions regarding my project. Group meetings are really useful because it gives me strategies on what I can improve on, resulting in a better project.

Film Process

                My partner and I had a conversation with my teacher regarding our project. She gave us a variety of tips that can come in handy when it gets closer to filming. She also mentioned since our genre is psychological thriller we are going to need to film a lot. The film has to be a minimum of two minutes long, so we are going to over shoot. This means that we are going to shoot a lot of scenes, just so we do not have any scenes missing. Not only will my partner and I over shoot, but we will also shoot with different phone angles. This way since its a psychological thriller, the viewers can get different angles from the same scene. This results in a more chaotic feeling. W e would incorporate dutch angles which is a shot with a slanted angle. These shots are most likely used in action movies.
                                We also made plans to meet with the nine year old boy who is going to star in our film. Since he lives all the way in Hollywood, its a little far from where our city is located. So combining schedules with my partner and the boy is one of our main challenges, but we'll get through it. 

Light bulbs

         I was thinking, and I thought about how dope it would be if we used red lights to create a more scary and tense feeling to the scene. However, I do not have red lights just laying around my house so I have to go to Home Depot to see if they carry red light bulbs. IF they do not have red light bulbs which I know they will, I can just purchase red spray paint or red paint and cover the bulb completely. With the use of the light, we will incorporate a plethora of extreme close ups, this will result in a more emotional connection with the character and the viewer.
     To give you more of an idea, I'll insert some pictures of how I would like the extreme close ups to be:


This is the closest to the representation of what I want, except it'll be under a blanket shadowing with the red light. 

Changes

At the start of my blogs, I had mentioned that my friend and I were going to shoot some scenes in the bathroom. Because of the fact that the bathroom foreshadows as a "safe place", however, because of the difficulty of our plot we realized it would be extremely difficult to film in a bathroom. There are many difficulties that come with this, for example, the lighting. We want to get filming as soon as possible, and by the time that the light bulbs get ordered and delivered to my house, it'll waste too much time. Not only that, but none of us have a bathtub that stands alone, normally bathtubs usually have a wall on the back. We would need something like this: 

However, we researched on Best Buy and Amazon to see how much it would cost to buy a bathtub, and it's pretty expensive. Prices range from like the cheapest $200 to the most expensive about $2000. The bathtub is definitely not that important, so we had to think of something different. We decided to brainstorm and we came to the conclusion that hiding under a blanket would be a good idea. We think its a good idea because it creates more connection between the character and the viewer. It allows a more vivid scene. 

Sounds

       Sound is extremely vital in films. Mainly because it gives dimension to the scene, adds emotional impact to the scene, complements visuals, and  allows visuals to be more realistic.  Throughout the course of Aice Media Studies, we were taught a plethora of different types of sounds used in films. These sounds include: synchronous sound, asynchronous,diegetic, nondiegetic, sound motif/leitmotif, sound perspective, sound bridge, voice over, addressing audience, and expository voice, sound effects, score, music, sting, and foleyartist.  

We are thinking about making some of our own sounds and editing them on the scene. We want to use sound effects to  build the viewer's adrenaline. Normally, when the sound begins to increase, something is going to pop up. We would also use sound bridge which i s a transition from sound to sound. 

Of course depending on the different type of sounds we make, we'll place it in a category. 

See you soon!

Character Development

           I am not sure if you guys remember how my friend and I were indecisive about our gender for the film. I mentioned how I really wanted a girl, however, we are going to chose a boy.  I was kinda upset I'm not even going to lie, but I think it's the best choice we have.
          My friend's sister has these two boys whom she babysits. One of them is really interested in the film industry, so we decided that this would be a great opportunity for him to learn. We plan on giving him a little lesson about all the fancy camera shots and angles, so he can find out the behind the scenes process of a film.  Later on in his life, if he still dreams to purse being an actor  he could use this experience as an extra bonus for his resume.

Symbolisim

         I'm not sure if I have explained to you the plot of the film. Basically,  our character is going to be anxious and scared of what's going on around him/her. He /her knows something is wrong, but  they don't know what it is.  They're just scared. So as the film begins to progress, the character starts to pack things up in his backpack. He grabs the things that a re most sentimental to him.

These include: a frame of his parents, notebook, pens, map, and a candle. We want to add more to the backpack, but  we are still thinking about it.A frame of his parents just in case it is the last memory of his parents. A note book to send clues  if they can't find him. A map to navigate his way throughout the city while he's on the run. Last but not least... the candle. You guys are going to have to keep up with me to find out ....


To be continued... 

Production Location

Hey guys, I just  got off t he phone with my partner, and we discussed some few things.

First of all, since this is a psychological thriller we are researching our location to film. We had the idea of the film being taken place in a room that connects to a bathroom.  You might be asking , why a bathroom? The bathroom is supposed to foreshadow the importance of safety  because it represents a safe place for the character. However, the problem with that is the lighting situation. Usually in thriller films, lowkey lighting is used almost throughout the entirety of the movie. So, I  was looking on Amazon  to see if they sell dim light bulbs.   I  was brought to this page which showed me hundreds of different types of light bulbs. The first one that pops up is one of my top favorites because it has the settings to change the type of lighting I want. https://www.amazon.com/s?k=dim+light+bulb&crid=2S6USRDKQHIJH&sprefix=dim+light+bulb%2Caps%2C158&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_10  

We're still indecisive about the light bulb situation, so I'll keep you updated !

XOXOXO, Hanna